Religion and Politics

While liberals and progressives might think that the NC legislature couldn't possibly bother with any more anti-gay hate legislation after the passage of Amendment One, I'm sure the Carolina Taliban has a few more ideas up their sleeve.

I wonder where the money for this is going to come from:

Cornerstone students will attend classes at Cathedral of His Glory Church in north Greensboro for the next three to four years while the board plans a permanent building. Leaders hope to begin renovating church classrooms soon and finish by the time classes start.

Okay, let me get this straight: The Adademy's Board hasn't even developed a plan for a permanent structure, which means nobody knows how much it's going to cost (the taxpayers) so, for the time being, money will be spent (by the taxpayers) renovating a church to use in the interim. If they remained true to their stated ideals, this would enrage Greensboro conservatives. We're waiting. While we're waiting, here are a few interesting nuggets from their application to DPI:

Myers Park Baptist is and has been one of the more progressive congregations here in Charlotte and when I use progressive I don't mean it in a purely political context. If I wasn't an Episcopalian, this is where I would probably go to church. They have installed solar panels, open their facilities to many community groups and just generally are a great asset to our city.

This summer they have been holding a series of talks on how people of differing viewpoints can live together and respect each other. Yesterday, Parks Helms a former Democratic county commissioner and Wayne Powers a Republican who is now running for county commission talked about Christianity and politics.

From the Charlotte Observer:

There is a long history behind understanding biblical texts and what one discovers is that there has never been any diversity of interpreting biblical teaching on homosexuality until the last few decades. The suggestion that the Bible is unclear on this topic has no historical veracity.

It's not so much that the Bible is unclear, it's that current scholars (like yourself) choose to ignore so many other teachings which society has outgrown, like slavery being okay, adultery being a capital offense, etc. And then there's 1 Corinthians 12/25:

On Monday, both the North Carolina House and Senate adopted resolutions honoring the Boy Scouts of America in recognition of their 101st anniversary yesterday.

Unsurprisingly, neither resolution (House, Senate) mentions the Scouts' anti-gay and religious discrimination against youth members and adult leaders. And, unsurprisingly yet again, not a single member of the legislature had the courage or conviction to vote against the resolution.

Dear state lawmakers, do you actually care about children -- all children -- or just the straight and religious ones?

(Crossposted from InterstateQ.com)

Separating religion from ones politics is probably impossible. I have never heard an objective discussion of politics from a deeply religious person, nor have I from a person religiously atheistic. From my perspective, it is these two extremes which cloud and prejudice the voices of the rest of us who spend our lives hoping to be relevant and effective during our time among the living, while simultaneously trying to be both heavenly (spiritually) minded and of some earthly good.
This morning, while in church, there was a guest evangelist speaker ...

I saw a chance on Equality NC's website to share a letter with local leaders on the "defense of marriage" amendment. I see CA moving in the right direction, and I don't want NC to move in the wrong one. (Arnold wont let it happen through legislation, but will through the courts... whats up with that? But I digress) Check this out, and feel free to share a copy of your own letter if you choose to. http://eqfed.org/campaign/amendment08 Here is my letter:

The Real Qustion IS - Who Are You Obama?