Dropping the Word "Church"

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The First Amendment of the US Constitution prevents the government from creating or establishing a religion, and thereby guarantees religious freedom to all US citizens. The First Amendment protects the right of the individual to worship or to not worship. However, the separation of church from state does not require a separation of religious conversation, signs, signals or language from politics.

On the other hand, diverse religions have been protected by the state in many countries. Examples of state religions include The Church of England, Lutheranism in the Scandinavian countries, Roman Catholicism in Italy and Spain, Judaism in Israel, Islam in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Iran, and Buddhism in Thailand.

In the 16th century, Catholic and Reformed churches vied for state sponsorship. The principle Cuius regio, eius religio (state follows the ruler's religion) somewhat ameliorated the unrest, but rulers often put political interests above religious convictions. It was written that "an Established Church is only a political machine." (Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Chapter XVIII)

At best, the mutual support of Church and State can help to preserve a religious tradition. At worst, it can become tyrannical and exclusionary. This happens when the leaders of both Church and State do not uphold Church dogma or retain the meaning of words. Some suspect that the recent study called "New Things: A theological investigation into the work of starting new churches across 11 dioceses in the Church of England" reflects this condition. The study was conducted by the Centre for Church Planting Theology and Research in Durham. 

The Reverend Dr. Will Foulger is the main author of the report. He has been vicar at St Nicholas' Church in Durham since September 2023. His parish website identifies the church simply as "St Nic's Durham." Prior to September 2023, Foulger taught theology and mission in Durham, and gained experience in church planting in Nottingham.

According to the study, words like "community" and "congregation" were preferred over the word "church." Even though more than 900 new C of E congregations were established by 11 dioceses in the past 10 years, none of them used the word “church plant” or “church.”

According to Dr Foulger, the findings of the new report may suggest language change is “forcing us to redefine what we think a church is in the Church of England.”

Dr. Giles Fraser, vicar of St. Anne's in Kew, expressed to the Telegraph that the sudden drop of the term "church" reflects "a misplaced desire to be relevant and modern-sounding."

A Tempest in a Teapot?

Ultimately, it is certain that the Church of England will never change its name. It will never be called the "Community of England" or the "Congregation of England" because those designations are meaningless. 

Would the disestablishment of the Church halt the trend of seeking to be culturally relevant? If the USA experiment is a measure, the answer must be no. In the USA, there is no shortage of nontraditional names for Christian congregations.

Speaking of his Messianic Christian congregation, Ben Frostad, explains, "You may have noticed that I avoid using the word 'church' to describe the corporate body of believers in Messiah."

In New Hampshire, an example involves two congregations simply called "Converge." One is located in Lebanon and the other in New London.

"Gather Asheville" doesn't use the word "church" when talking about themselves, said the lead pastor, Rev. John Redwine.

Fr David Epps has observed, "in order to market the church, the very word, 'church' is often dropped altogether." Among the new nomenclatures are words such as fellowship, world outreach center, chapel, ministry, and tabernacle.

In a time when the indeterminate label "woke" is often applied to studies, proposals, theories, religious trends and politics, it is wise to investigate matters for oneself. Having done so, I conclude that the uproar over the "New Things" study will fade as quickly as the next uproar appears. 

Is President Obama a Muslim, a Socialist or Confused?

Time Magazine reports that 24% of Americans believe that the current occupant of the Oval Office is a Muslim. The White House felt it necessary to defend the President, saying that "President Barack Obama is a Christian who prays daily as it looked to tamp down growing doubts among Americans about the president's religion."

White House spokesman Bill Burton added, 'The president is obviously a Christian. He prays everyday.'"

So do Muslims, Bill.

H/T: Rick Lobs Blog and there's a good discussion on this at Midwest Conservative Journal.

From all that I've seen and read it appears that the President is conflicted.  It is more likely that he is a socialist sympathetic to Islam for emotional reasons. Traditional Islam is not sympathetic to socialism, however.  The poor are cared for through the distribution of alms handled by clerics and Islamic charities, not through tax-payer funded government agencies.

President of Serbia and Hierarch Irenaeus

El presidente de Serbia, Boris Tadic, destaco en conversacion mantenida con el nuevo jerarca de la Iglesia Ortodoxa serbia , el patriarca Irinej (Irenaeus), que la Iglesia ocupa un puesto importante en la sociedad serbia. El presidente y el patriarca conversaron sobre la posicion de los sacerdotes y monjes de la Iglesia Ortodoxa serbia en Kosovo-Metohia, asi como sobre la proteccion del patrimonio cultural, se destaca en el comunicado del Gabinete del presidente de la Republica. Tadic y el patriarca Irinej evaluaron conjuntamente que es indispensable acelerar los trabajos de construccion que faltan por hacer en el Templo de San Sava de Belgrado. Un tema de conversacion fue la conmemoracion del 1700 aniversario del Edicto de Milan, manifestacion que se celebrara en la ciudad de Nis el año 2013.

From here.

The Serbian Orthodox Church elected Bishop Irenaeus (Gavrilovic), Bishop of Nis, as the new Patriarch of Serbia, succeeding Patriarch Pavle who died on 15 November.

The 45 bishops which make up the electoral assembly of the Serbian Orthodox Church named three candidates on Friday morning 22nd of  January: Metropolitan Amphilochius of Montenegro, Bishop Irenaeus of Backa and Bishop Irenaeus of Nis, and chose the new Patriarch by lot.

Bishop Irenaeus is already quite senior in years, having been born in 1930. He has  been bishop of Nis (a large town in southern Serbia and the birthplace of St Constantine the Great) for 35 years. He is a graduate of the Theological Faculty in Belgrade and did a doctorate in Athens, and known to be a "moderate" among the Serbian bishops.

From here.

Christianity: The Only Revolution

There is a 3-part series on Orthodoxy as Second Terrace. Here is Part 3:

Orthodoxy is a religion of memory, but conservative America (rightly reacting to statism) is dedicated to nostalgia. The past is framed with a sentimental, hallmark peachy filter, where the blemishes and moles are airbrushed away. Nothing happens in the past of nostalgia, except a succession of Norman Rockwell prints. The whole montage is narrated by the whisky voice of Thornton's Our Town narrator: birth, youth, romance and marriage, hearth and home and death. Stephen Foster sings offstage.

I love this montage: I am drawn toward it like a siren. For me, the Sirenum Scopuli are not between Scylla and Aeaeia. They are at Almanzo's farm in New York, or at Walton's Mountain with the little old ladies and those inimitable mason jars and the Big Chief Tablet (I had one of those, just as graphite-smudged).

Nostalgia and sentiment are perilous reactions to Babylon and its progress: going home and trying to find the little house on the prairie, with the apple-wood smoke curling up from the chimney and crunchy leaves and a ham on a marble slab and the silence of winter chill groves, draped in silver gauze is a place you want to visit now at your peril, and can, despite the morose fact that you were never there.

Christianity is history, which is always forgettable: the imaginations of nostalgia are easier come by. Christianity is history: history is Christianity.

Sadly, Christianity is also a very urban, revolutionary thing. It is urban in that it cannot be thought of outside of fellowship. Moreover, it claims that human nature is rooted and must flourish in communion. There is no sense of rugged, Marlboro Man, Wyatt Earp individualism in Christianity: many Americans – and I'm one of them – dream dreams of riding into the sunset, but are awakened rudely by the knowledge that we couldn't cut it, we're too humane.

It is revolutionary. It is the only revolution.

Read it all here.

Italian Government Fined for Crucifixes

On Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights fined the Italian government for having crucifixes in its schools.

It’s yet another example of oversize, secular bureaucracies pitted against the most natural forms of agreement, in this case the nation.The European Court of Human Rights ordered that the government pay 5,000 Euro ($7,390) to Soile Lautsi, a mother of two who claimed that public schools in her northern Italian town refused eight years ago to remove the crucifix from the classroom.

We might at first wonder, “It’s amazing that they’ve had crucifixes in the classroom for so long.” Yet, living in a culture where our battles have been over whether Catholic colleges may retain crucifixes, that only demonstrates our own lack of understanding of European history.

Manuela Mesco, writing for England’s The Guardian, explains that the reason crucifixes are hanging in Italian classrooms is that the decision was the result of a legal and political agreement between the Italian state and the Catholic Church.

That agreement, known as the Lateran Treaty (Patti Lateranensi), reached in 1929 between Benito Mussolini and Cardinal Pietro Gasparri, writes Mesco,“established a framework for the mutual recognition and cohabitation of the secular and the religious domains within the Italian state.”

Article 7 of the Italian constitution states: “The state and the church are, each one in its own domain, independent and sovereign.”

“The agreement, among other things, states that crucifixes must hang in every classroom and tribunal in the country,” says Mesco.

Read it all here.

Banning Public Christmas Displays

Two months before Christmas, like clockwork, the Christmas Wars have begun. In the first battle of the 2009 Christmas season, a federal lawsuit has been filed to allow a public Nativity scene in Warren, Michigan.

For 63 years, a privately maintained Nativity scene has been displayed on a public median in Warren. Every year, Warren resident John Satawa has filed for and received a permit to display the Nativity.

Not this year. That tradition was abruptly ended by the Macomb County Road Commission after it received a threatening letter from the atheist organization the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The commission, in response, decided to ban the display.

Last Friday, the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Thomas More Law Center filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Satawa against the commission.

Read more here.

John Paul II and Change in Poland

In a new documentary, Nine Days that Changed the World, Newt and Callista Gingrich, in partnership with Citizens United and Peace River Company, explore this claim.

The Polish trade union movement languished for years prior to June of 1979, attracting only modest popular support. Sixteen months after John Paul II’s nine day visit to Poland, and the 1980 Gdansk shipyard strike, the Solidarity movement became the first officially recognized free trade union in the Communist bloc, with over 10 million members.

What transpired during these nine days that so moved a nation to begin to free itself of its Communist shackles? Why did millions of Poles, almost one third of the entire nation, come to see the Pope during his public appearances? What was the nature of the Communist system in Poland that made John Paul II’s visit a liberating moment?

Nine Days that Changed the World answers these questions and presents the Pope’s historic trip to Poland as the cataclysmic event that transformed Poland and Eastern Europe.

Read more about this project here.

Putin and the Orthodox Church

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin with His Holiness Kirill Gundyaev at his formal installation at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow on 1 February 2009.

Left to right: Lyubov Sliska, the First Deputy Speaker of the RF Gosduma, President Dmitri Medvedev, Svetlana Medvedeva, his wife, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin

Here is an excerpt from His Holiness Kirill's speech:

"Through the Will of the Holy Spirit and the delegates of Local Council, today, I, who am unworthy, was elevated by my fellows to the throne of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, and received the symbols of the patriarchal office from their hands. Today, your prayers and good wishes admonish me before I assume the patriarchal duties, which are neither easy nor smooth. The Lord and the Church imposes a heavy cross on the patriarch, so, he must bear it selflessly with complete dedication to his duties, to which I was called today at the moment of my elevation to the patriarchal throne. It is no accident that the greater paraman rests on the shoulders of the Patriarch, it is the symbol of renunciation of all that is not concerned with the patriarchal ministry, a symbol of willingness to be faithful to God until the end, in obedience to His will, in the image of Him who humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2: 8).

No, the Patriarch cannot have a private life. His life entirely belongs to God and church. His heart aches for the people of God, especially those who are no longer in the unity of the Church and those who have not yet found faith. Patriarchal ministry is a special spiritual podvig (endeavor), which cannot be borne alone or only with the support of a limited circle of associates. This podvig involves the entire hierarchy and the fullness of the Church in all her diversity, manifested by the talents inherent in its members, through prayer, fellowship, and sobornost (collegiality in the Spirit).

Therefore, conscious of my unworthiness, with great inner turmoil, I now ascend to the high place of the patriarchate, humbly bowing in prayer before my holy predecessors who ruled in Moscow and Kiev, who now stand before the Throne of God."

Russia and US Most Religious Countries?

When U.S. President Barack Obama met the head of the Russian Orthodox Church on Tuesday, July 7 in Moscow, he praised Patriarch Kirill for his promotion of Christian unity. Persumably, Omaba had done some background reading before offering this praise.

Patriarch Kirill offered a form of praise for America when he stated, "Dialogue between our countries' Christians is very important, as the two nations should be friends," adding "Both the American and Russian nations have the same Christian system of values. We are the most religious countries."

The Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia also wished Obama success in his term as President, saying that many Russians linked him with the hope of better Russian-U.S. relations.

California Couple Needs Permit to Study Bible at Home

Fox News reports the latest government intrusion on Religious Freedom in America. Report follows:

Pastor David Jones and his wife Mary have been told that they cannot invite friends to their San Diego, Calif. home for a Bible study — unless they are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars to San Diego County.

"On Good Friday we had an employee from San Diego County come to our house, and inform us that the Bible study that we were having was a religious assembly, and in violation of the code in the county." David Jones told FOX News.

"We told them this is not really a religious assembly — this is just a Bible study with friends. We have a meal, we pray, that was all," Jones said.

A few days later, the couple received a written warning that cited "unlawful use of land," ordering them to either "stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit," the couple's attorney Dean Broyles told San Diego news station 10News.

But the major use permit could cost the Jones' thousands of dollars just to have a few friends over.

For David and Mary Jones, it's about more than a question of money.

"The government may not prohibit the free exercise of religion," Broyles told FOX News. "I believe that our Founding Fathers would roll over in their grave if they saw that here in the year 2009, a pastor and his wife are being told that they cannot hold a simple Bible study in their own home."

"The implications are great because it’s not only us that’s involved," Mary Jones said. "There are thousands and thousands of Bible studies that are held all across the country. What we’re interested in is setting a precedent here — before it goes any further — and that we have it settled for the future."

The couple is planning to dispute the county's order this week.

If San Diego County refuses to allow the pastor and his wife to continue gathering without acquiring a permit, they will consider a lawsuit in federal court.

Click here to watch the full FOX News interview. Go here to read how this was resolved.

Margaret Thatcher Meets Pope Benedict

Baroness Margaret Thatcher, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 4 May 1979 to 28 November 1990, met with Pope Benedict on Thursday. May 28. She once said, "I am in politics because of the conflict between good and evil, and I believe that in the end good will triumph."

An Anglican Blogger writes:

The world’s greatest living Conservative politician has met with one of the world’s greatest conservative theologians. Not as a prelude to conversion: indeed, Carla Powell, who organised the meeting, said: “I think there is more chance of Pope Benedict becoming a Methodist than Baroness Thatcher converting to Rome.”

Margaret Thatcher remains as devout a Methodist as John and Charles Wesley were dedicated Tories. And, unlike Tony Blair, she did not presume to proffer advice on how His Holiness ought to run The Vatican or adapt his theology to accommodate the tastes and fashions of the modern era. From reports, the principal topic of conversation appears to have been her endorsement of a Gordon Brown policy.

No, Baroness Thatcher has not lost her marbles. She simply reiterated the Prime Minister’s invitation for His Holiness to visit the United Kingdom. In an election year, this would be very useful to him, if only so he could bask in a little reflected (though quite undeserved) glory. The ‘feel-good’ effects of a Papal visit coinciding with the imminent beatification of Cardinal Newman may persuade thousands of disaffected and disillusioned Roman Catholics to return to the Labour fold.

Read more here.

Supreme Court to Hear Mojave Memorial Case

A white steel pipe cross that has stood off a lone highway route by about 10 miles in the California Mojave Desert will be at the centre of a case before the US Supreme Court in October, 2009. This is a unique case of Church/State separation in the United States.

The Christian cross has in one form or another been in this location since 1934, and was originally a war memorial to American First World War veterans. (The lonely road is between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.) The cross is now claimed by veteran’s organizations and by the individual who privately erected it. It is located on the public parkland, erected without permission.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) represents the Plaintiff — who is a “practicing Catholic” by his own definition, and a retired Assistant Superintendent of the desert park district. The Plaintiff’s argument goes, according to the ACLU: "The [9th Circuit] said this case is really quite simple. Using a sectarian religious symbol is not permissible on federal land.” Peter Eliasberg, managing attorney for the ACLU of Southern California, so states the argument in a report by BA Robinson of the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. The government argues the cross is a war memorial.

Attorney Eliasberg states, "…[The Christian cross] doesn't honour Muslim veterans, Jewish veterans, Atheist veterans or Agnostic veterans. It's a preeminent symbol of a [single] religion. If we want to have a war memorial on federal land, the government certainly knows how to do that without using a divisive sectarian religious symbol.

"In a telephone interview lasting half-an-hour from his office in Arizona, the attorney Joe Infranco retorts, “One person’s agenda (Mr Buono’s) should not diminish the sacrifices (of) Americans and their families. The legal theory used in these cases is offended observer.” Mr Infranco argues, “It bothers people that one person’s offence causes the destruction of a memorial that millions of veterans want to see maintained.” Mr Infranco, who has talked about this issue for a long time, says in a verbal headline during the interview: “Two American veteran’s organizations, the American Legion, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (among others) weighed in against by lone atheist: Frank Buono.”

Mr Buono, says he is a “practicing Catholic,” and has not talked to his parish priest or bishop about the subject, Mr Buono continues in explanation, and adds in argument: “If open and available to all religious symbols, and all religious beliefs, [the memorial would be okay], but the park service originally rejected a request to put a Buddhist symbol there. To me this (Christian cross) was an (act of) endorsement of a specific religious view of tolerating and accepting a trespass on federal land.”

Explaining his 10-year cause, Plaintiff Mr Buono remarks about the use of a cross or religious symbol, in this specific case the white cross of iron pipe: Is this a war memorial by intent? he was asked in the interview: “When a private person erects a religious symbol on federal land, no matter what they call it … in the case of the cross it (is) improper. That it is a war memorial is not relevant to the case.”

Continuing by phone, Mr Buono reports with emphatic emphasis, the federal park service asked Henry Sandoz to remove the cross, (another in a long serious of replacements of the originally erected by private persons). It was Mary Martin, Superintendent of Mojave National Preserve who asked. Henry Sandoz refused. “Mr Sandoz erected the cross that is now there with no permit or authority for the purpose to serve religious purposes for sunrise (services). Henry Sandoz did not remove it.”

US Congressman Jerry Lewis, Redlands, California sponsored a vote by the US Congress to allow a private purchase of the park property on which the cross stands. Mr Buono says, this was, “his error.” After the private purchase, the American Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Congressional measure, and the cross remains standing, but covered.

Mr Buono claims this erection of the cross is an, “illegal act by a private individual which led to the erection of permanent display of a religious symbol on public lands.” “What is my concern? It doesn’t make me happy (because) I know that what guarantees freedom of religion in America is strict separation of Church/State. Strife occurs elsewhere in the world is in places where religion is not separated from State. The best guarantee by government neutrality towards religion.”

Congressman Jerry Lewis (not the actor/comedian) did not respond to our enquiries about his measure to save the cross from removal.

Mr Infranco, the attorney for the Alliance Defense Fund, who is defending the cross, will make the oral arguments before the US Supreme Court. He says he is not aware of any organized American Church position on the issue at this time.

Source: Religious Intelligence

Gordon Brown on New World Order

Gordon Brown has made an overtly religious call for a new world order based on the 'deep moral sense' shared by all faiths.

Making the first speech by a serving Prime Minister at St Paul's Cathedral in London, he quoted scripture as he urged people to unite to forge a new 'global society'.

The Prime Minister argued that through all faiths, traditions and heritages runs a 'single powerful modern sense demanding responsibility from all and fairness to all'.

He quoted the Christian doctrine of 'do to others what you would have them do unto you' and highlighted similar principles in Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism.

'They each and all reflect a sense that we share the pain of others, and a sense that we believe in something bigger than ourselves - that we cannot be truly content while others face despair, cannot be completely at ease while others live in fear, cannot be satisfied while others are in sorrow,' he said.

'We all feel, regardless of the source of our philosophy, the same deep moral sense that each of us is our brother and sisters' keeper . . . we cannot and will not pass by on the other side when people are suffering and when we have it within our power to help.'

He went on to suggest the world economy and society should be rebuilt around a Zulu word for hope - themba - which is also an acronym for 'there must be an alternative'.

The speech was an extraordinary break from his predecessor Tony Blair, whose spin doctor Alastair Campbell famously declared that 'we don't do God'.

At Westminster it was also seen as high risk for a Government mired in allegations of sleaze to put morality and faith at the centre of its political and economic message.

Read it all here.

Secularization of Spanish Society

BARCELONA — For a country steeped in Catholic tradition, these are alarming times.Public schools are being told by judicial order to pull crucifixes from their walls. City buses with billboards espousing atheism have been rumbling through the streets here, prompting yowls of blasphemy from Catholic leaders.

"Probably God Doesn't Exist," bleated an ad plastered last month across Bus 14, a normally sunny mode of transport past this city's harbor. "So Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life."

The so-called godless buses — which copy a campaign begun in Britain — have appeared in Madrid and Malaga, Spain, and are planned for elsewhere in Europe. For Spain, the stunt is a provocative sign of the times.

This democracy is engaged in a bracing debate over God and state and deciding whether Catholic or secular visions should mold social policies and young minds.

A new citizenship course, introduced in secondary school in September, left politicians and church leaders tangling over what values should be formally taught. Laws passed in 2005 that recognize gay civil unions (called "solidarity pacts") and ease divorce still rankle Catholic elders.

Read it all here.

Test Case in Church-State Law

This Thursday, my church's property case will go before the Kentucky Supreme Court in what is recognized as "a test case" in church-state law. The case has been in litigation for 7 years. The State appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court when it lost in the Appellate Court.

Our's is a unique situation. We own a piece of land which we purchased with the intention of building a larger house of worship when the time comes that we have out-grown our present building. There is a small house on the property which we rent so that it won't sit vacant, increasing the likelihood of vandalism. Because the church receives some income from the rental, Kentucky Tax Commission seeks taxes from the church on the property. If St Andrew Orthodox Church loses the case, we will owe 7 years of back taxes. This will force the church to sell the property.

It would also set a bad precedent for church-state relations in Kentucky.

San Francisco Goes After Catholic Archdiocese

SAN FRANCISCO, January 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A San Francisco assessor has called for the Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco to hand over $15 million in taxes because of an internal restructuring of the archdiocese, a move that some are describing as "retaliation" for the Church's opposition to Proposition 8.

Assessor Phil Ting concluded that the Catholic Church owed the city taxes after the archdiocese was restructured and its property, which is almost all used by parish facilities, was consolidated seven months ago.

"Because we knew the accusations (of unfair treatment) could be out there, we worked to look at every single document so we could totally and completely understand their argument," Ting said. "We looked at all the various exemptions that could have been applied, and we felt that none of them were applicable in this case. That meant it was our determination that this was a taxable event."

Ting claimed that because the restructuring involved "separate legal entities," it was "not just a cosmetic" change and therefore liable to be taxed.

The archdiocese immediately filed legal action and questioned the precedent for Ting's decision.

"San Francisco Recorder Phil Ting has taken a step that is unprecedented in the history of the state of California. He has determined that an internal reorganization of church property, within the family of corporations of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, constitutes a 'sale' and is subject to a property transfer tax," archdiocese spokesman Maurice Healy told the San Francisco Chronicle.

"A tax on transfers of property, all owned by the Catholic Church, within the same family of Archdiocesan corporations, is unprecedented in the history of the state of California and the law is overwhelmingly in our favor on this subject," said Healy.

Many are decrying the move as retaliation for the church's support of California's same-sex "marriage" ban, as pro-homosexual “marriage” San Francisco residents and politicians have made no secret of their ire at the Catholic Church and other religious groups for supporting Proposition 8.

"This is fishy at the least and evil at the most," Randy Thomasson of California's Campaign for Children and Families told LifeSiteNews.com. "Phil Ting is doing to the Catholic Church what has not been done in other venues, taking away the Church's tax-exempt status in regards to property.”

Thomasson said that Ting, "who went head to head with the Catholic church over marriage between a man and a woman ... is aiming his rifles … right at the Catholic Church, and this is something that a higher court should be more just in its analysis."

The call to tax the Catholic and Mormon churches, which helped propel Prop 8 fundraising and campaigning, became a mantra of same-sex "marriage" supporters ever since the amendment passed in November.

During the Mayor's Prayer Breakfast last year, which was attended by Archbishop Niederauer, Mayor Gavin Newsom lambasted the Catholic Church and the archdiocese for their support for Proposition 8. The crowd reportedly responded with a standing ovation - minus the archbishop and a handful of other religious leaders.

Jack Smith of the Catholic Key blog suggested that Ting, who at a No on 8 rally declared he was "proud" to have signed several same-sex "marriage" certificates, had political motives for the aggressive move.

"Any clear-eyed observer might view this action by Ting, who's rumored to want the Mayor's chair after Newsom, as pandering to the anti-Catholic sentiment of voters in San Francisco," said Smith.

Related reading: San Francisco Proposed Ban on Circumcision; San Francisco Archbishop Attacked for Upholding Catholic Doctrine

Warren Praises Obama's Choice of Gay Bishop

The Rev. Rick Warren, the conservative evangelical minister who will deliver the invocation at Barack Obama's inauguration, has extended an olive branch to Bishop V. Gene Robinson.
Robinson, an openly gay Episcopal bishop, had reacted angrily to the selection of Warren, who opposes gay marriage, calling it a "slap in the face." But then Robinson was selected this week to give the invocation at the inaugural opening ceremony at the Sunday afternoon concert on the Mall.

Today, Warren issued a statement praising Obama for selecting Robinson, saying the president-elect "has again demonstrated his genuine commitment to bringing all Americans of goodwill together in search of common ground. I applaud his desire to be the president of every citizen."

Read it here.

Obama Blew it with Robinson!

Alice C. Linsley

President elect Barack Obama just doesn't get it. He thinks that to build a strong base of support for his second term in office he has to include everyone and signal diversity. He doesn't realize that by inviting gay Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson to speak at his Inagural, he has slapped the faces of millions of Anglicans worldwide who have fought for 5 years to restore unity and stability to the Communion that was torn apart on the day that Robinson was consecrated.

The Robinson invitation will erode a good deal of the support Obama may have gained by inviting progressive Protestant Rick Warren to speak.

Like I said, Omaba just doesn't get it. He has bought the culturally popular lie that the Church and the Scriptures are nuetral toward homosex. The fact is that not a single sacred text of any of the world religions regards homosex as normative, good or a civil right.

Even African American pastors are shaking their heads. They recognize that homosexual activity is self-destructive (gay men on average live 20 fewer years than heterosexual men) and the Civil Rights Movement was not about self-destructive "rights" or societal acceptance of permiscuous lifestyles.

Not that I'm accusing Robinson of a permiscuous lifestyle. His sexual identity crisis came after he fathered children with his wife. It developed in the context of a sick denomination that rubber stamps every innovation that undermines traditional values and God's authoritative order in creation. The Episcopal Church still has some clergy and parishioners who hold to the "Faith once delivered", but they are few and far between. Most have left in heartbreak and anger. Robinson didn't cause them to leave. They left by choice and they are still very angry about what happened to their church. They aren't soon to forget.

Robinson continues to be the self-appointed crusader for gay activism in The Episcopal Church and that fact makes him a very risky Inagural speaker for Obama.

But like I said, Omaba doesn't get it.

Steve Waldman gets it though. He has noted that "...the Obama folks got so tangled up in the culture war politics -- balancing on gay rights, gender and race issues -- that they forgot, or downplayed, old fashioned religious base-covering", which is to say that Obama should have invited a Protestant Pastor, a Catholic priest, and a renown Rabbi.
_______

For how Obama's choices of religious figures for his Inagural highlight excluded Americans, go here.

Nigeria: Double Standards and Injustice

The injustice against Christians in Muslim-majority areas of Nigeria continues even as paid merceneries intimidate and murder Christians in the fringe areas like Jos. The Nigerian government continues to fail in bringing those responsible to justice.

Meanwhile local authorities grant building permits to Muslims but deny permits to Christians. Here is the report from the Anglican Church of Nigeria:

"We believe that there is a disturbing lack of reciprocity with regard to the establishment of and support for Christian institutions in predominantly Moslem areas. While there are no obstacles to building mosques and Islamic schools in areas that are predominantly Christian; building permits are denied churches and Christian schools in Moslem majority areas. We call on the governments, local, state and federal, to ensure that Nigeria stays true to its constitutional obligations of freedom of religion throughout the entire nation since we believe that failure to do this will be a continuing source of friction."

Read the full report here.

Richard John Neuhaus RIP

The Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, an eminent Catholic intellectual who tutored President Bush in Catholic social teaching and helped build the political coalition that made his election possible, died Thursday (Jan. 8) at age 72.

Neuhaus died soon after 10 a.m. of complications from cancer, according to a statement by First Things, the intellectual journal he founded in 1990.

Though he often portrayed himself as a simple priest, Neuhaus rose from a rabble-rousing leftist cleric in the 1960s to become a presidential mentor, helping Bush define his policies on gay marriage, abortion and stem-cell research, among other issues.

In 2005, Time magazine named the Catholic priest one of America's 25 most influential evangelicals. "Father Richard helps me articulate these(religious) things," Bush said at the time.

The two met nearly a decade ago as Bush was considering a run for the White House.

"Father Neuhaus was an inspirational leader, admired theologian, and accomplished author who devoted his life to the service of the Almighty and to the betterment of our world," Bush said in a statement Thursday. "He was also a dear friend, and I have treasured his wise counsel and guidance."

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