Notes from the Balcony

Ongoing comment and dialogue on being a new church in a new world - A Blog by John Montgomery

[The Bible] is not, for a start, a list of rules, though it contains many commandments of various sorts and in various contexts. Nor is it a compendium of true doctrines, though, of course, many parts of the Bible declare great truths about God, Jesus, the world and ourselves in no uncertain terms. Most of its constituent parts, and all of it when put together (whether in the Jewish canonical form or the Christian form), can best be described as story. This is a complicated and much-discussed theme, but there is nothing to be gained by ignoring it. - N.T. Wright

Monday, June 4, 2007

Why we can't wait any longer!

Please see the attached post --

While I am pretty confident that the American people will reject the imperialist neo-conservative and right wing fundamentalist agenda that Bush is pushing in the next election - I am not sure that we can afford to wait for 18 months until he is out of office. Certainly, there are forces that are in the United Methodist Church that must reject any suggestion that Holsinger's participation in the denominational judicial council qualifies him as some sort of consensus leader. His participation has been nothing but a narrow-minded bullying that promotes an agenda that is out of touch with compassionate community. Justice (the context for any judiciary mechanism) has been ignored and made trivial under his leadership.

The following is a post from John Podesta's Center for American Progress daily newsletter.



ADMINISTRATION -- BUSH NOMINATES HOMOPHOBIC SURGEON GENERAL WHO WANTS TO CURE GAYS: Last week, President Bush nominated James W. Holsinger to become the next Surgeon General of the United States. "As America's chief health educator, he will be charged with providing the best scientific information available on how Americans can make smart choices that improve their health and reduce their risk of illness and injury. ... I am confident that Dr. Holsinger will help our Nation confront this challenge and many others to ensure that Americans live longer, better, and healthier lives," Bush stated. But as BarbinMD points out, Holsinger's nomination to be "America's doctor" is troubling. He has a long history of prejudice toward gays and lesbians. For example, Holsinger founded Hope Springs Community Church, which "ministers to people who no longer wish to be gay or lesbian." Holsinger said that he sees homosexuality as "an issue not of orientation but of lifestyle." In serving on the United Methodist Judicial Council -- the "court" that resolves "disputes involving church doctrine and policies in the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination" -- Holsinger "opposed a decision to allow a practicing lesbian to be an associate pastor, and he supported a pastor who would not permit an openly gay man to join the church." And in the early 1990s, Holsinger resigned from the United Methodist Church's Committee to Study Homosexuality "because he believed the committee 'would follow liberal lines.'" He also warned "that acceptance of homosexuality would drive away millions of churchgoers" [Arkansas Democrat Gazette, 5/26/07; Time, 6/24/91]. Despite this history, Holsinger-supporter Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher (R) inexplicably insists, "Anyone who knows Jim Holsinger knows that he's not an individual given to prejudice." A date for Holsinger's Senate hearings has not been set.

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