At Least it's Not the Gays Fault This Time

Apparently our economy has gone to hell because of abortions. No, seriously, we're paying more than $4.00 a gallon for a tank of gas, the housing bubble has burst, people are losing their homes and jobs and consumer confidence is lower than Bush's approval rating, but our leaders and their selfish choices have nothing to do with it. Abortions. That's the cause.

This according to John McCain endorser John Hagee:

If you do not accept the blessing of children, and [you] do as America has done, is to curse the children through abortion, you will bring the judgment of God on your society.

The liberal mental midgets protesting for abortion-on-demand are too brain-dead to see that they have brought the judgment of God upon America’s economy. Why are America’s major universities right now recruiting students from abroad? Why? Because we killed ours.

How's that for some "God Damn America"???

Where's the media on this one, calling Hagee "McCain's pastor problem"? Hello? I'm waiting.

Like I've said before, everyone with half a brain understands that abortion isn't the reason the economy is in the toilet. It's the leadership wasting billions on an illegal war and allowing war profiteers to raid the national treasure that has busted the economy. Corporate greed and stagnant wages for workers ... all the choices of those in charge. Abortion has nothing to do with it. Abortion isn't even prohibited in the Bible - show me chapter and verse and prove me wrong, please.

This is why the loonies like Hagee get ignored - everyone knows he's full of shit. But, when Jeremiah Wright speaks the truth about America's ills - our selfish culture of greed and neglect of the poor - he gets trampled. You see, he's speaking the truth and people get pissed when someone speaks truth to power. We roll our eyes when idiots like Hagee make stupid statements, but take up arms when someone questions why we treat the poor and outcast horribly in the home of the free and the land of brave.

So, don't expect the mainstream media to make much of Hagee - they know he's just a nut. Wright is truly dangerous, because he's pointing out the truth of America's sins and it has nothing to do with abortion or gay people.

Go West, Gay Lovers

Time to book that plane ticket to California - where the Supreme Court has opened full marriage rights to gay and lesbian people.

"It's about human dignity. It's about human rights. It's about time in California," San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, pumping his fist in the air, told a roaring crowd at City Hall. "As California goes, so goes the rest of the nation. It's inevitable. This door's wide open now. It's going to happen, whether you like it or not."

The good news is that California doesn't have residency requirements like Massachusetts, so it's time to book that exorbitant plane ticket and get hitched!

Hopefully the judges won't stay their own order until after the elections in November like the bigots want them to. If they don't, gays and lesbians can get married within the next 30 days. As Massachusetts has proven, gay and lesbian marriage does not harm anyone else's marriage and has not yet brought the downfall of human society. Instead, it has help MA earned the distinction as the state with the lowest divorce rate in the nation. So there, right wing whiners.

This is not a question of "morality" or "sin." It is a question of whether or not in a free society adults can choose who they want to spend the rest of their lives with and share their love and property with. Marriage is a civil contract between two people and should be open to anyone, regardless of the gender mix of the couple in question. This is a matter of law, not religion - and the California court understands that - thank God.

The right wing is screaming about "judicial activism" but the court merely understood that California's constitution demands equality under the law. This is the correct ruling, creating equity for all couples, despite the gender configuration of said couple. Bravo!

The wingnuts will launch their constitutional amendment drive - and we must make sure they do not succeed. Voters defeated such an amendment in Arizona, so it can be done. Let's support California as it seeks to beat back the darkness of bigotry.

Support Equality California.

I wish I was a lesbian

A little Friday afternoon fun:

Contemplating Death

Hey everyone, I've been a bit shaken up today after my partner came home and told me that she almost died in a traffic accident last night. Construction had traffic stopped on the interstate around 10 p.m. last night when a tractor-trailer crested the hill at a high rate of speed heading right for my partner's car. She said the truck slammed on his brakes and fish-tailed down the hill before finally coming to a stop off the road right beside her car.

I held her a little tighter after she told me this - terrified that my night could have been very different with police showing up at my door instead of my love.

I've had trouble letting it go today, running the scene over and over in my head of how devastated I would be today if that trucker had been unable to avoid a collision. Surely she would have died or been seriously injured.

I've said before I'm not afraid to die and I still think that about myself - but what of those I love? I realize I'm terrified of them dying - especially my partner. Not just because my life would be devastated without her, but because of the legal fights that could possibly follow despite our wills, powers of attorney or body disposition papers.

How do you all cope? Have you lost loved ones before?

My partner watched her husband die a few years back and still misses the man she considered her best friend (even though she knew all along she was a lesbian - she still loved him a great deal). I just don't know how I would go on if my partner died suddenly.

Not to be a downer, but this has just been bugging me all day. I can't wait to get home tonight and hug her again and again and again. All we have is the present moment and I want to make all of them with her very special so I don't regret anything if the unthinkable should occur.

Love now, friends, because it's the only time we have to do it.

Hope I die before I get old ... um ...

Well, I don't think this is what Pete Townshend had it mind when he wrote My Generation, but then I remember, Pete could be one of the geezers in this video. It's a hoot. Check the old lady doing the Pete windmill and oh, the destruction at the end!!

It's Log!

Here's a blast from the past. I don't know why, but this song was in my head this morning, so I had to go out and find it.

It's log,
It's log,
It's big, it's heavy, it's wood!



Everyone loves a log ...

Earth Day Sermon

To celebrate Earth Day, I would like to reprise my sermon entitled: Becoming Hafta Farmers

An excerpt:

The Earth is alive, and like any live thing it needs care and tending for it to grow and thrive. We human beings have been falling down on the job - and mainly because we don't truly understand our job. I was taught that human beings have "dominion" over the earth - and when we say "dominion" we mean that we have ultimate power over what happens on the earth. That means we can bend nature to our will through clear cutting forests if we want to - it doesn't matter if we destroy habitats of rare species. We have dominion. That means we can pollute the air just as much as we want to. It doesn't matter that we're raising the temperature of the planet. It doesn't matter that we're polluting at such a pace that we're poisoning ourselves. We have dominion! And besides this isn't our home anyway - we have our true home in heaven. And at this pace we'll see it fairly soon!

Read the whole thing!

Pre-order your copy of Bulletproof Faith today!

Hey everyone, my new book Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians is now available for pre-order. It comes out in mid-September, but it's never too soon to get those orders in.

As GLBT people of faith, we are constantly under assault. Whether we hear "Love the sinner, hate the sin" or it's equivalent, "God Hates Fags!" we are told both in church and society that we are somehow inferior. How can we defend the hope that is within us without losing our cool?

My book helps our community reclaim the spiritual self that criticism from society and religion has led many of us to surrender. Instead of focusing on apologetics or giving advice on how to better debate our opponents, this book is a guide on being Christian and gay - not by having the best apologetic or proof-text but by shoring up the inner life and one's self-esteem as one who is loved by God regardless of what others have to say on the subject. Bulletproof Faith empowers readers to withstand even the most aggressive assaults without fear, doubt, or anger.

Here's what Archbishop Desmond Tutu had to say about the book:

"Gay and lesbian Christians are constantly demoralized and told they are not children of God. In Bulletproof Faith, Chellew-Hodge reassures gays and lesbians that God loves them just as they were created and teaches them how to stand strong, with compassion and gentleness, against those who condemn them."

Amazon is running a discount for those who pre-order the book. It's due out in September from Jossey-Bass. Use this link to order and Whosoever will get a little kickback from Amazon.

http://tinyurl.com/6dt4ln

It's not too early to start planning for a tour to support the release of the book.

I've already set up a reading and book signing in Knoxville, Tennessee for the weekend of October 18-19, thanks to Rev. Ray Neal at MCC Knoxville. I'll be doing a workshop, book signing and preaching that Sunday. I hope you'll join us there.

If you're not close to Knoxville and want me to come to your area, please contact me at editor-at-whosoever.org so we can begin making arrangements now. The cost is simply travel expenses and lodging (I'm always willing to stay with host families to save costs) and a love offering for Whosoever taken up during the workshop or during Sunday service.

Let's spread the word that God's unconditional love covers us all, regardless of sexual orientation. This is Good News that our community is still very hungry to hear.

I look forward to hearing from you and visiting your area soon!

Now, go - pre-order!