As Southern Baptist Churches Lose Members, President of Southern Baptist Seminary Chides Anthony Weiner to Find Christ

One of the increasingly tired tropes found on many Catholic websites, when the right-wing brethren taunt their progressive brothers and sisters, is that membership in conservative churches remains robust, while it's falling in churches that cave in to liberalism.  

Robert Scheer on the Seven Republican Dwarves: Assault on the Idea of Government Protecting Citizens

Robert Scheer at Truthdig on the seven dwarves we saw cavorting on the Republican stage Monday night: 

Tea Partiers Sponsor Christian Summer School in Florida: Children Taught the Me First Gospel

Summer school, anyone?  If you have time and money to spend, and, more importantly, children to train up in the right and godly American way, you may want to consider the Tea Party summer camp being offered in the great state of Florida this summer.  Tampa Liberty School is for children ages 8-12, and will be offered by the Tampa 912 Project at the Paideia Christian school in Tampa.

Remembering Harriet Beecher Stowe: The 19th-Century Debate about the Human Worth of Some U.S. Citizens

It's interesting to think of the current debates about including gay and lesbian persons against the historical backdrop of the similar debate about slavery in the 19th century.  Just as the debate about whether or not to welcome gay and lesbian human beings to the human community and churches now roils society at large as well as churches, the debate about slavery set brother against brother and sister against sister in the 19th century.

All Are Welcome (*Restrictions May Apply): Ongoing Discussion of the Place of LGBT Human Beings in Catholic Communities

I blogged on the weekend about the ongoing turmoil over issues of welcome, of inclusion or exclusion, centered on understandings of Catholicism in one Catholic family to which I have exceptionally close ties--the family of my longtime partner, Steve.  In case anyone imagines that this struggle to understand what Catholicity means against the backdrop of gay and lesbian lives is unique to this particular Catholic family, I recommend the discussion taking place now at America's "In All Things" blog as Michael O'Loughlin writes about what happened after a Catholic parish in Boston, St. Cecilia's, recently decided to sponsor a liturgy announcing that All Are Welcome during Gay Pride month.

Cooking to Save the Planet: Southern Pan-Fried Chicken, Done the Right Way

Since some readers seem to like my meanderings about cooking, I thought I'd push the envelope (or my luck?) a bit and follow yesterday's posting with one today describing how my mother fried chicken.  She made the best fried chicken ever cooked, of course.  Even her in-laws admitted that.  So it has to be true (smiley face imagined here, because, of course, I'm teasing, though her chicken was uncommonly good).

Anthony Weiner and the Juvenilization of American Political Leaders

I haven't commented on the Anthony Weiner situation because, honestly, what's there to say?  Men behaving badly: it's hardly a new or engrossing script.  Powerful men behaving as if the rules of human decency that apply to ordinary mortals have no sway at all for them, once they obtain 1) money, 2) power, 3) cachet, 4) trophy women, 5) fill in the blank.