Entries tagged with “morality” from Trans-cendental

Year C, Third Sunday after Pentecost.
Scripture: 1 Kings 21:1-21a, 2 Samuel 11:26-12:15

Those of you who are liturgically inclined may know that we're in "the season after Pentecost". This, and the season after Epiphany, are considered "ordinary time". "Ordinary time" just means we're not in a special fast or feast time like Advent, Christmas, Lent, or Easter.

The lectionary is a set of readings on a three year cycle. Many churches use the lectionary to determine what scripture will be read each week; some, like Hope, don't always follow the lectionary.

In ordinary time, the lectionary ordinarily provides two sets of old testament readings: one that follows the scripture in the order it appears in the Bible, and another that chooses readings based on harmony with the new testament theme.

Ordinarily, only one old testament reading is used.

Ordinarily, the two old testament choices do not line up.

But this is no ordinary church, we are no ordinary people, and this is no ordinary set of readings.

I attempted to register for a class at Northern Baptist Seminary.

The seminary I attend, Chicago Theological Seminary (CTS), is part of the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS), which "was formed in 1984 by twelve theological schools located in the Chicago area to provide means for cooperation among the member institutions in the areas of student cross-registration, library access and acquisitions, interchange among faculty members in the disciplines of theological education, and communications between the schools."  - http://www.actschicago.org/index.html

Students at ACTS schools may register at other ACTS schools:

Available to the approximately 3,000 students currently enrolled at its member schools are 400 faculty, about 900 courses offered annually, and library collections of 1.7 million volumes and nearly 5,000 currently received periodical subscriptions.
   - http://www.actschicago.org/index.html

Except, in the case of at least one school, if you're gay.

Now, granted, there is a stated exception:

Exceptions to the process of cross-registration exist (1) during the summer term when tuition is normally paid to the school offering the course; (2) for D.Min. courses other than Pastoral Care and Counseling and for those students in the ACTS D.Min. in Preaching Program; and (3) in certain courses with limited enrollment. Each school in ACTS reserves the right to limit enrollment in certain courses for pedagogical reasons and to set its own policies for the admission of students from other schools to such courses.
 - http://www.actschicago.org/catalog2009/cat06.html#how, emphases mine.

I attempted to cross-register for a class at Northern Baptist Seminary (which has the awesome domain name of seminary.edu). I was aware that the seminary was more conservative, and I did not expect it to be easy to take a class there. But I was willing to sit with far more conservative students in a far more conservative school, in part to keep from having my graduation date from being pushed back another two years, and in part because I do not want to be estranged from my more conservative brothers and sisters in Christ.

I didn't want to go stealthily into the seminary for several reasons. First, I am not ashamed of who I am, nor the path taken to get here. While I don't advertise my sexual orientation or transgender history to everyone, I don't take steps to hide these parts of my life either. To do so is to walk in shadow, and I prefer to be in the light.

Second, to hide an aspect of one's life can result in feelings of betrayal should the secret be found out. It is damaging to a relationship when trust is broken: witness what happened with Ted Haggard.

Third, even if the secret is never found out (unlikely as a simple web search will find enough information about me), keeping a secret from those with whom one is in relationship creates an inauthentic, dysfunctional, and, dare I say it, sinful relationship.

So, to be as honest and authentic as possible in my relationship to the class, I sent e-mail to the professor teaching the class. I explained my background (Evangelical Free, Bible Students, Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, and United Church of Christ), my school affiliation (CTS), and my sexual orientation and transgender history. I asked for advice on what I could do to make the situation easier for everyone involved.

I did not expect the culture clash to be easy. I also did not expect, however, to be rejected from taking any classes whatsoever.

My e-mail to the instructor was apparently forwarded to the administration who, in a very polite but firm e-mail, explained to me that the school's admission policy is applied to cross-registered students. The seminary, in their catalog, under code of conduct, states:

In matters related to homosexuality:

1. Northern will not knowingly admit as a student any person having a homosexual lifestyle.

2. If, without the knowledge of the Admissions Committee, a person is admitted to the Seminary and is found not to be a practicing homosexual, but to be striving to overcome homosexual tendencies, such a person will, in Christian love, be counseled to obtain the best help available so that with the power of God such a person may overcome the problem.

3. If, without the knowledge of the Admissions Committee, a practicing homosexual is found to have been admitted to the Seminary, when such knowledge is discovered, such said practicing homosexual would be counseled to seek education elsewhere and to enter some other vocation, and failing voluntary withdrawal from Northern, would be disallowed to continue at the Seminary.

4. In no case would the Seminary recommend for ordination or for ministry any practicing homosexual or an advocate of a homosexual lifestyle.

5. Congruent with its policy of institutional integrity, Northern Baptist Seminary will not hire a practicing homosexual or an advocate of a homosexual lifestyle, and it reserves the right to dismiss from employment any such person on the grounds that it would conflict with the purpose of the institution.
- http://www.seminary.edu/about/PDFs/Seminary%20Catalog%202008-2009%20Revised.pdf

This means they are reinterpreting the ACTS policy to say:

Each school in ACTS reserves the right to limit enrollment in all courses for pedagogical reasons and to set its own policies for the admission of students from other schools to all courses.

This in order to prevent any homosexuals from taking any courses at their school, ever.

Northern Baptist may believe my twenty-one year relationship with my spouse to be sinful and unChristian. They may believe my transition, twenty-five years ago, to living as my identified gender to be a violation of Deuteronomy 22:5.

They may well object to my behavior off school grounds, but they were not going to change that by rejecting my cross-registration. They can't make me a straight white male again by denying me the chance to study with their professor and students.

So exactly what is sinful or harmful about my taking a class at their school? Exactly what is made worse by my presence there?

At their school, I'm certainly going to hear about their viewpoint on homosexuality and transgender issues - especially since the class I was going to take was on the Pentateuch, which includes Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Were they afraid that I would rebut the reading of the few verses applied to homosexuals as they were glossing over the dietary laws, mixing of fabrics, wearing of tassels, uncleanness of women during their periods and after giving birth, trimming of beards, and the Jubilee year? Were they concerned that I would point out that Levitical law says nothing about Lesbian relationships? Did they worry that I would point out that the word "know" in Genesis 19:5 is the same as the word "know" in Genesis 18:19? (I really wasn't planning on it.)

And, perhaps more to the point, how is this following Jesus' example? Did Jesus teach only the holy? Did Jesus not teach prostitutes, lepers, tax collectors, Samaritans, Syrophoenicians, Roman soldiers, and (at the cross) thieves and murderers?

I am disappointed that Northern Baptist Seminary chose to not honor its covenant with the Association of Chicago Theological Schools.

I am also sad that sixty faculty and staff are more afraid of me than I am of them.

I was watching a rerun episode of South Park ("Make Love, not Warcraft") the other night. In it, the boys find a player who is just "killing" other payers' characters for no good reason, ruining the game for everyone.

Have you ever played a game with someone who doesn't play fair? Maybe it's someone who hides a card up a sleeve, or has a hidden stash of Monopoly money, or uses a non-regulation bat. Doesn't that take the fun out of the game?

But it is just a game, after all. So does it really matter if someone cheats?

I think it does matter. It matters to those who have been cheated and, if we're honest, it takes some of the fun out for the cheater. In some cases, not playing by the rules can raise the risk of physical injury to players.

So why do we play fair? Not because of some reward or punishment, but because playing fairly makes the game more enjoyable.

I think life is like this. There are some who believe in a single afterlife, some who believe in many reincarnations, some who believe this life is but a dream, and some who believe that the only reality is the one right here. One thing that is true for all of these ways of looking at life is that playing fair makes life better, and cheating makes it worse.

We need not rely on the carrot of Heaven nor the stick of Hell to tell us to be respectful and honest in our dealings with each other. All we need to understand is that life is better when we play fairly, even when we are in competition with each other for resources, ideas, or respect.

Love builds up. And what builds up helps everyone.

So Glenn Beck says that Social Justice is the equivalent of Nazism and Socialism. Of course, Nazism and Socialism are about as alike as drought and rain, but we'll leave that alone. And Beck tells his viewers to leave their churches if they say anything about Social Justice.

So what's a church to do? Charity only, without calling for change in the system?

On the surface, that seems ok. We'll give to the poor to help them out, but we don't want any changes to our financial and social systems. Yet it is our systems that create and maintain poverty. Charity does not erase poverty, it merely treats the symptom.

Imagine a person who could not walk to where the food was. You could bring food to the person, but that person would have to eat again. The person becomes reliant on charity for survival.

What would Jesus do?

Sure, we have the parable of the sheep and the goats, where Jesus speaks about visiting the sick and imprisoned, feeding the hungry, and clothing the naked, but is that all Jesus calls us to?

Did Jesus bring the man crippled from birth a loaf of bread and a fish? Did Jesus hand the paralytic a meal?

Of course not. Jesus healed people and restored them to community. Jesus made people whole in body and social status.

And was Jesus content with treating prostitutes, tax collectors, Samaritans, and others as unclean sinners to stay on the outside of society?

Of course not. Jesus ate with them and even said they would be getting into heaven before the (self) righteous.

Charity without change is a formula for continued dependence and subjugation. That is unethical, unjust, and unChristian. (It's also economically foolish, because it means keeping a class of people dependent on you.)

So I say:

If you belong to a church that offers charity but does not work for change, run as fast as you can and leave that church. It is not a church of Jesus Christ.

I was thinking today about our tendency to help when it's convenient.

When we have a few extra dollars, we contribute to charity.

When we have extra food, we give some to the food bank (some of us offer the dented cans or things we don't want to eat).

Yet need does not wax and wane with availability. Homeless people don't disappear when there's a shortage of beds in shelters. People don't magically have enough winter clothing when there are no coats available. People aren't magically filled when there is no food available. And the needs of people for community don't disappear when churches decide they have no room for "people like that".

(Crossposted on Pam's House Blend)

A friend of mine changed his Facebook status to "...lost his fundamental civil rights today."

This got me thinking: Can we lose our fundamental civil rights?

I thought about the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

 Please note that the founders did not say the government created these rights, only secured the rights people already had.

There is also the ninth amendment to the US Constitution:

Amendment 9 - Construction of Constitution. Ratified 12/15/1791. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

So can a law or constitutional amendment remove a person's rights?

My church is Plainfield Congregational United Church of Christ, part of the Eastern Association of the Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ.

Candidate and ordained minister the Reverend Michael Dale "Mike" Huckabee find support for capital punishment in the death of Jesus:

Interestingly enough, if there was ever an occasion for someone to have argued against the death penalty, I think Jesus could have done so on the cross and said, "This is an unjust punishment and I deserve clemency."

After all, if Jesus wasn't OK with it, he might have prayed "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want." Oh, yeah, he did - as documented in Matthew 39, Mark 14:36-39, and Luke 22:42-44.

Well, why didn't he say something about his unjust treatment on the cross, like "you guys are wrong" or, knowing his gracious nature, "Father, forgive them." Oh, yeah, he did - as documented in Luke 23:34.

Yet if we are going to use the death of Jesus, who by tradition and faith was innocent and blameless, as justification for capital punishment, it is only a minor step to say that it justifies the execution of the innocent.


That's the problem with using past violence to justify violence in the present - it assumes we cannot learn a better way. The rule of "an eye for an eye" was meant as a limit - that one could not extract more in vengeance than the initial harm. Yet even "eye for an eye" leads to the eternal violence of retaliation.


There is a better way - the way of deescalation, of relaxing the tensions, of mending relationships. That does not mean we should let murderers go free - but it means that revenge does not offer anything more than temporary satiation of our own blood lust.


I cannot make my enemy stop hating me by killing his loved ones.

References:
http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2007/12/huckabee-faith-baptist-pastor-sermons.html

Have mercy, been waitin' for the bus all day.
Have mercy, been waitin' for the bus all day. - "Waitin' for the Bus", Gibbons, Hill

In the Chicago area, riders may be waiting a bit longer for the bus. In fact, depending on where they're waiting, it could be months... or years. Deep service cuts are about to take effect due to a lack of funding for public transportation.

When Tyra Hunter was 24 years old, she was riding in a car in Washington, D.C. Her car was broadsided by another car. She was knocked unconscious due to the collision, but regained consciousness by the time emergency crews arrived. She was still dazed and had respiration problems because some of her teeth had been knocked into her airway.The paramedics went to work on Tyra, but in assessing the injuries they discovered she had male genitals.

At this point, one of the caregivers said "This ain't no bitch. It's a nigger. He's got a dick and balls." The paramedics ceased treating Tyra and instead laughed and joked about her while onlookers demanded they get back to work on her.

Later, after treating another injured passenger, other emergency workers found Tyra gagging and trying to move away from the insulting paramedics. Finally, a supervisor demanded that her airway be cleared.

In addition to these insults and lack of care, she was received at the hospital as "John Doe", given a contraindicated medication, and was not given blood that had been ordered for her. She died from lack of oxygen in her blood.

This is the kind of health care some transgender persons can expect. Value judgments can override common decency and mercy - and the basic job requirements. Amazingly, the District of Columbia defended the paramedics on the basis of their first amendment rights to free speech.

Time and again, I come back to what Jesus taught about how we treat others: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". "Love your neighbor as yourself" . The parable of the Good Samaritan, in which the person who acted as a neighbor to a victimized person was the one who didn't even get along with people of his kind. The parable of the sheep and the goats, where Jesus says that as you do to others, you do to him.

And yet, this is what we can expect from some of the people who choose a career in caring for others.

This is not how to do health care.

This is not how to do emergency care.

This is not how to be a Christian.

This is not how to be a human being.

Whatever one's opinion of transgender people, they are people. There is no excuse for allowing people to suffer while we laugh.

My prayer is that the paramedics learn to care for all others, and that they do not need to experience what Tyra did in order to learn it. I would not wish that on my enemies - because I love them.


Trial notes: http://www.gpac.org/im/tyra/tyindex.html



Remembering our dead: http://www.gender.org/remember/.
Transgender Day of Remembrance is November 20.

So the candidates were asked when children should be told about homosexuality. In programs like "It's Elementary", we're not talking about telling kids to be gay, or how to have gay sex. We're talking about different relationships. The fact is that there are kids who have same-sex parents - and it's good to teach kids to not beat up on the ones with same-sex parents, just as it's good to teach them to not beat up on children of divorced parents.

But the way some talk about tolerance, it would seem that it is the worst form of child abuse.

And isn't learning about other people a big part of elementary education? I remember learning about the people of Pompeii and about Umskikuk the Eskimo in Social Studies class. Learning about different people - and to not hate or be afraid of them - is an important part of growing up. After learning to respect people who are different, (we hope) adults will be less likely to attack people based on differences.
 
Of course, some people are afraid that such programs indoctrinate children into a lifestyle. Perhaps the Pompeii part of 6th grade social studies is what led to toga parties. I don't know - I've never been to a toga party. I have, however, been to Alaska and visited Inuit there. I didn't join them to live there the rest of my life, though.

Perhaps what people really fear is that a broad public school education will counteract the narrow training they give their children at home. It may really be about control - if we limit a child's knowledge, the child will only see limited options as an adult.

"Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray." - Proverbs 22:6

So what is the right way? Is it the way of judgment of others, or of love for others?

It saddens me that people who are followers of Jesus need the help of public schools to teach their children to love their neighbors. Parents, teach your children to do what you believe is right - but also teach them the love that Jesus had for others - even (perhaps especially) for those who were scorned.

References:

• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-heffernan/why-not-ask-presidential-_b_66683.html
• http://www.bilerico.com/2007/10/antigays_protecting_gay_kids_worse_than.php
• http://www.newday.com/films/Its_Elementary.html
• http://www.bilerico.com/2007/10/its_still_elementary.php

The City of Chicago has awarded $14 million to a man who accused two Chicago Police Department officers of  doing a "cavity search" using a screwdriver, causing internal injuries. While the officers claimed innocence, they could not explain the presence of screwdrivers in the glovebox of the police car, not the presence of fecal matter in the glovebox.

Meanwhile, a New Jersey woman was followed by a car registered to a company that doesn't exist. The Postmaster of the town in which the car is registered cannot comment because "it's a sensitive matter".

Are these our public servants?

It's certainly not the way I understand service.

While the disciples argued over who would be the greatest, or requested the favor of sitting at the left and right hands of Jesus, Jesus told his followers that the greatest would be the least, and the least: greatest. Jesus's own humility in serving the disciples - demonstrating hospitality to his own followers - shows his own ability to be a servant.

True servants do not spy on those they serve. Those who do right do not hide in shadows - or behind post office boxes for companies that don't exist. And true servants are not cruel, and do not seek to debase those they serve - even if such a person is a suspect.

The heart of service is in respect and in love. If we love one another, we will respect each other. Jesus taught his followers to even love their enemies - how much more should we love those of whom we only have suspicion?


References:

• http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Cityroom_Read.aspx?storyID=13705
• http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Cityroom_Read.aspx?storyID=13731
• http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Cityroom_Read.aspx?storyID=13741
• http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Cityroom_Read.aspx?storyID=13767
• http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Cityroom_Read.aspx?storyID=13917
• http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Cityroom_Read.aspx?storyID=13999
• http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Cityroom_Read.aspx?storyID=14060
• http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/ny-nyroc245387882sep24,0,1911059,full.story
• http://www.goodasyou.org/good_as_you/2007/09/is-that-wiretap.html

In Colossians, Paul speaks of marriage: "And you husbands must love your wives and never treat them harshly."

So what of same-sex relationships? There are some who refuse to recognize same-sex relationships, but a failure to acknowledge something has not effect on whether it exists.

There is abuse in some same-sex relationships - both Lesbian and gay. Unfortunately, few domestic abuse shelters are equipped to deal with women abused by women, or men abused by anyone.

In the case of women abused by female partners, shelters rarely have programs to help a woman deal with physical, sexual, verbal, and psychological abuse by a female spouse. The assumption that women are beaten by men often runs high, and a Lesbian may find such a shelter to be a poor fit. The offender programs are generally geared toward men, and often - for the comfort and openness of sharing -  do not allow women to attend.

In the case of men abused by male partners, the options are almost universally non-existent. It is rare indeed to find a shelter for abused men - whether the offender was male or female. And an offender program for men who abuse women may be hostile to a gay man.

Fortunately, awareness of this problem is increasing. As reported in the Miami Herald, training for health care professionals has begun. Knowing that domestic abuse can happen in any kind of relationship is the first step toward recognition and intervention - and eventually, recovery.

Am I my brother's (or sister's) keeper? While Cain asked that about the very brother he killed, we can all ask that about any person who is abused. We must recognize our connectedness as God's creations and work to protect each other.

And for persons being abused by a same-sex partner: please seek help. Although help may be scarce, it does exist. Do not give up hope. Tell your physician, police, hospital workers, therapist - tell someone.

We are all created in God's image. Do not allow anyone to be abused.

References: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2007/10/doctors-shed-li.html

I gave you all a break on Sunday, but it's time to resume preparation for National Coming Out Day.

OK, so I'm gay. Or Republican. Or transgender. Or I like to gossip. Why not stay in the closet?

There are certainly advantages to being in the closet. There aren't a lot of questions to answer. You don't have to worry about people criticizing you.

All you have to worry about is being found out.

Brian Wingfield has an interesting article on sex scandals - and the publicity that surrounds them - in Forbes. But it's not just notoriety one risks.

Repressing an important aspect of one's life can lead people to behave in erratic ways, such as text messaging young people, seeking sexual partners in parks and public bathrooms, and patronizing prostitutes. And if this sort of behavior comes to light, the fallout can be enormous. Representative Mark Foley resigned from Congress in disgrace. Ted Haggard lost his ministry.

In addition to the personal losses these men incurred, their families, friends, and constituents or parishioners also suffered by being put at risk and by feeling betrayed  by trusted leaders.

How great can the toll be?

Michael Crawford reports that a 55 year old man killed himself rather than face the consequences of being caught in a park sex sting.


The toll can be quite high, but even the less controversial parts of our lives can wreak havoc.

We might just keep quiet about where we stand politically, so as to not lose standing with friends. Yet how does it feel to listen to people say things with which you disagree, talking to you as if you were with them on the issues? We don't have to get in big arguments, but we're often afraid to just say "well, I feel differently".

In the third chapter of the Gospel of John we read

19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.

Whether or not we are ashamed of the things we do, we should bring them to the light. We cannot at the same time condemn something and secretly do the same thing.

Had these men, who so loathed homosexuality, merely admitted they struggled with it, their lives would have been much healthier.

When we are ashamed, we should admit what we do and who we are and get help.

When we are not ashamed, we should celebrate what we do and who we are.

If instead we hide what we do and who we are, we deny ourselves, harming ourselves and those around us.

National Coming Out Day is October 11.

References:

• http://www.forbes.com/business/2007/10/06/politics-politicians-sex-biz-wash-cx_bw_1008sexscandals.html
• http://www.bilerico.com/2007/10/man_commits_suicide_after_tennessee_park.php

It's Monday morning and time to head back to work. Well, it's time for some of us.

But not for Susan Stanton. Fired from her job as city manager of Largo, Florida after announcing she was transitioning from living as male to living as female, her latest bid for employment hasn't panned out either.

Such is the body politic, which has a tendency to consume its own pieces. Surely the church is better.

Alas, no. Marla Evans has more free time on Sundays, now that her church has told her to stop coming to play guitar (for which she was paid) and to stop volunteering to teach Sunday School. This even though Marla never showed up at church as Marla - always as her pre-transition identity as Mark. The church found out she was transgender because of a news story.

Can we justify this separation? I've heard the phrase "sin is anything that separates us from God", but to me that's only half the picture: sin against God. What about when we separate others from us? Is that not sin against each other?

I Corinthians 12 suggests it is such a sin.

The Apostle Paul writes that we are all one body and the body is not made up of one part but of many.

The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

If that is so, how can the Body of Christ, represented by this church, say to this member of the body "I have no need of you"? Are Marla's talents diminished by her being transgender?

In fact, the members of the church are harmed by missing Marla's musical and educational talents. Again in I Corinthians 12, Paul writes:

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

And so, every part of this church - the children in Sunday School and the people in worship services - suffer because the person they knew as Mark has been severed from the body.

Every organization, every body, should guard against removing persons that offer so much to their organizations. And if any organizations should know this, it should be the churches.

references:
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070928/NEWS0119/70928016/1075
http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S202050.shtml?cat=10335
http://rebeccaaugephd.blogspot.com/2007/09/transgendered-woman-says-she-was-asked.html

     I keep hearing about fundamentalists: Christian fundamentalists, Islamic fundamentalists and (occasionally) Jewish fundamentalists. And if there's one thing Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, questioning, queer, leather, supportive, and other  (did I miss anyone?) people know about fundamentalists, it is this: They don't like us.

     So what are the fundamentals of Christianity anyway?

     We could look at the teachings of Jesus. Jesus told one man, who claimed to have followed the law perfectly, to sell his possessions and give the money to the poor. I don't often hear pastors harping on that one, but there's a strong illustration of using one's privilege to help others.

     Jesus also forgave people - constantly, and without requirement of penance. There's a lesson by example, but how much forgiveness do we hear from pulpits?

     Jesus healed people, and how many healing words do we hear from pulpits?

     But if there is one strong lesson from Jesus, it is this: The two greatest commandments are to love God and love one another. Jesus says that all of the law and all of the prophets are based on these two.

     Jesus did not invent those ideas - they were already part of Jewish belief.

     We can argue about the Trinity, the meaning of Jesus's death, the question of Jesus's resurrection, and whether the bread and wine (or grape juice) have any real Jesus in them. We can stress out all we want about who's in and who's out, whether there is eternal torment, and what sins are too vile for us to forgive.

     But all of that is fluff. The fundamentals, my brothers and sisters, are these:

• The first is this: 'Hear O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
• 'The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

     To me, that's true fundamentalism.

     So call me a true fundamentalist.

     As someone who transitioned over two decades ago, I don't have much to fear with respect to being called out on gender identity. I have much more to fear due to my identity as a lesbian in a 17 year relationship. Yet I am unwilling to use my privilege as an apparently cisgender person to grab for protection as a Lesbian while leaving behind my less privileged brothers and sisters.

     It is morally wrong for me to abandon my brothers and sisters. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus tells of two respectable leaders who chose not to help a man who was robbed, beaten, stripped naked, and left for dead. They knew they were at risk of becoming ritually unclean, requiring them to turn back to Jerusalem - a costly delay.

     Yet a Samaritan - who didn't even get along with the Jews - was so moved by the man's situation that he stopped to help and even paid to have the man stay at an inn and recover.

     We have the opportunity to stop and help - even if it causes us delay - or to walk on with the hope that the man will not suffer too much waiting for us to come back

     If it is more difficult to pass ENDA with transgender language included, what does that tell you? It tells me that more people are willing to accept discrimination against transgender people and, therefore, transgender people need this law even more than gay and Lesbian people do.

     Waiting until people don't want to discriminate before passing an anti-discrimination law makes no sense.

     Waiting until people don't want to discriminate against a class of people before passing an anti-discrimination law to protect that class makes no sense.

     I'm siding with the Samaritans on this. Walk on by at your own risk.

     In tales of a pop icon, we learn who the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, supportive, and questioning people are. Some see these people as the enemy, trying to destroy society. If you read the article, you might realize these are real people who are experiencing real harm.

     "Who is my neighbor?" is a question often asked. Jesus told a story about two religious leaders who passed by a man - who had been beaten, stripped naked, and left for dead - for fear that they would become ritually unclean and have to turn back to Jerusalem to be cleansed. An outsider, someone who was considered to be "the wrong kind of people", was moved by compassion and stopped to help the man - even paying for his stay at an inn to recover. The question Jesus asked was "who was the neighbor to the injured man?"

     We all have the choice of being strangers or neighbors. May we be moved by compassion to choose to be neighbors.

     I was part of an online discussion where one of the participants equated two ideas:

• Calling those who oppose homosexuals "homophobic"
• Calling homosexuals "moralphobic"

     So let's examine this. In the first example, people are opposing homosexuality. The term "homophobia" implies fear of homosexuals. Might there be other reasons to oppose homosexuals, other than fear? If there was no fear of harm from homosexuality, what other reason could there be? I will admit I am at a loss here, but perhaps a heterosexual reader can enlighten me.

     In the latter example, homosexuals are opposing... well, no. Homosexuals don't oppose heterosexuality, heterosexual marriage, or celibacy. And homosexuals in general do not oppose morals, although the set of morals they embrace may not include "sex is only for a married man and woman". In fact, many homosexuals want the responsibilities of the bonds of marriage. That hardly seems to be a fear of morals.

     But perhaps I'm missing the point. If I am, I hope someone will explain it to me, and to my female partner of nineteen years.