Wik Wikholm Reviews "8: The Mormon Proposition": Must-See Viewing about Role of Religious Groups in Attacking Gay Rights

I meant a day or so ago to mention Wik Wikholm's fine 1 April review of the documentary "8: The Mormon Proposition" at the glbtq website, and then forgot to do so.  A lazy Sunday evening is the perfect time for me to take note of this review before it slips away from my notice.  For anyone following the role of religion in the battles over gay rights in the U.S., this sounds like a must-see film.

Inciting Violence in the Name of Jesus: Pastor Terry Jones and Americans' Obligation to Speak Out

Lizette Alvarez reports in the New York Times today that Pastor Terry Jones of the Gainesville, Florida, Dove World Church says he'd do it all over again, even knowing people would be killed when he publicly burned a Koran.  Jones tells Alvarez he did it to "stir the pot" and "shake the boat" and to show that Islam and its holy book are instruments of violence, death and terrorism.

Fashioning a Table Where Each Has a Name: I Miss the Mark

I believe Cyrus Cassells is correct when he prays, in his magnificent poem "Down from the Houses of Magic,"

O grant us strength to fashion a table 

Where each of us has a name – 

In Soul Make a Path Through Shouting [Port Townsend, WA: Copper Canyon, 1994]).

Heartwarming Irish Video against Bullying of Gay Youths

End of Week News Round-Up: Catholic Congressional Briefing re: Gay Rights, Elizabeth Johnson, Other Philadelphias

A number of interesting news items as the week ends:

Fasting for Justice

 

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: 

to loose the chains of injustice 

and untie the cords of the yoke, 

to set the oppressed free 

and break every yoke? 

Is it not to share your food with the hungry 

and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— 

when you see the naked, to clothe them, 

and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 

Then your light will break forth like the dawn, 

and your healing will quickly appear . . .  . (Isaiah 58:6-8)

A Reader Writes about Elizabeth Johnson Condemnation: What Are They So Afraid Of?

When I blogged yesterday about the condemnation of Elizabeth Johnson's book Quest for the Living God, MollyJ posted a great comment, asking, "What is the church so danged afraid of?"  Molly also notes that the bishops' response to Johnson sounds very "agendized."