Faithful America to U.S. Catholic Bishops: Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

The snapshot is a photo of a sign Steve and I saw yesterday in City Lights bookstore in San Francisco.  (Sometime down the road, I may bore you with a few details about why we've been traveling in California--in addition to the requirements of Steve's work and a bit of a Christmas break for both of us.)

Human Rights Leader Frank Mugisha Speaks Out about Anti-Gay Violence in Africa

Yesterday, commenting on Pope Benedict's statement to the synod of African Catholic bishops in 2009, I wrote,  

Minnesota's Gay Community Apologizes to Philandering GOP Leader for Ruining Her Traditional Marriage

Despite the lies and venom of the Cardinal Georges of the world, there abides amazing grace in the gay and lesbian community--grace that constantly amazes me, when I observe the resilient, courageous, loving gay and lesbian people I know who keep on keeping on through it all.  Who keep on loving, caring for others, sacrificing to tend to aging parents and ailing family members, picking up the pieces when families fall apart, loving one another in faithful relationships that give generatively to the surrounding community.

Merry Christmas to the Gay Community from Cardinal George: Gays = Klan

Just in time for Christmas, the former president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, gives the gay community a special Christlike designation: we're like the Ku Klux Klan, George informs Fox news broadcasters.  The occasion for the remark?  Next year's gay pride parade in Chicago will pass in front of a Catholic church, and George thinks the parade will disrupt the church's Mass.  The parade organizers have now pushed the time of the parade back to accommodate the church.

Winter Solstice Celebrations Around the World: A HuffPo Slideshow

And to feed the spirit when hope is challenged: I like this Huffington Post article surveying the way in which cultures around the world commemorate the winter solstice, which is today--though I'm baffled that the article speaks of these celebrations as "pagan."  Particularly when it notes that many of these celebrations in Western cultures are rooted in pre-Christian religious celebrations (as Christmas itself is, and this is why the Puritans in both England and New England sought to outlaw the feast).  And when it mentions that the Talmud takes note of the winter solstice and even has a name for the event.  

Advent, Hope, and the Current Situation of the Catholic Church

I like very much the gist of Maureen Fiedler's review of John Allen's book about U.S. Catholic Bishops Conference president Timothy Dolan (even if M. Fiedler did choose to censor a comment I made recently in response to her article about Hilary Clinton's defense of LGBT human rights--a comment supporting Fiedler's analysis).  Allen's book about Mr. Dolan is called A People of Hope.

African Religious Leaders Standing Against Anti-Gay Oppression: Naomi Abraham Reports

I blogged last week about the dismal situation in which LGBT persons find themselves in Africa, where more than half of the nations in the continent still criminalize homosexuality.  Throughout much of Africa, gay and lesbian persons face outright violence, and the violence is escalating as American right-wing religious groups deliberately escalate homophobia and encourage the leaders of African nations to target the LGBT minority.