The whole title is:

I'm Sorry Conservative Christianity, I Can't Do it Anymore.

This article is by Chris Kratzer. The link is here: http://chriskratzer.com/im-sorry-co.....do-it-anymore/

I wanted to post portions of this article because it bears witness to Conservative Christianity: Protestant, Evangelical, and yes, even Catholic. Chris starts his article with these words:

There was a time, I tried.
I wanted to fit in, to be a shining star of conservative faithfulness lighting up dark skies. The dream of being successful for Jesus and gaining the gleam of His eye seemed like the apex of all pursuits. I could feel good about myself as I strapped in and revved the engines of the Monster Truck named “Conservatism,” enjoying a kind of favor that positioned me above a world of sin-obstacles and rebellious human traffic—it was perfect. With conservative Christianity there was a stage upon which to spiritually perform, a pre-defined system of belief to simply absorb and plug in, and a self-validating mission to assimilate everyone and anyone who would listen and buy in. It was all so cut and dry—a faith that was calculable, concrete, and clear in defining who was in and who was out, who was faithful and who was not, and who was right and who was wrong.

Yet now, things have changed—I would say, much for the better. A revelation welling up from my soul of a different way of believing and living has shown itself to be an unstoppable force. I can’t deny the air that I am breathing for the first time and the life it is giving—Grace has awakened me. No, it doesn’t all add up in my mind like ducks marching in a row, but it doesn’t have to when it’s all adding up in my heart and soul.

It’s not that I don’t love you anymore—I do. It’s not that I don’t accept you without conditions—I do. It’s not that I don’t believe you are filled with good intention and tremendous God-adorned worth and value—I do.

I’m sorry conservative Christianity, the bottom line is this— I just can’t do it anymore.

The article goes on to explain his reasons in subpoints:

I Can’t See People As Being Inherently Evil And Lost-
I Can’t Support A Consumer Driven Christianity-
I Can’t Live With One Eye Open In Fear Of A Bipolar Deity-
I Can’t Ask My Wife [or husband] To Submit To Me-
I Can’t Deny The Validity of Science-
I Can’t Turn Off My Brain, Deny My Individuality, And Freeze Dry My Beliefs-
I Can’t Believe The Bible Is Perfect-
I Can’t Compete With You And Your “Sold Out” Family–
I Can’t Love People Conditionally-
I Can’t Condemn The LGBTQ Community-
I Can’t Embrace A Gospel That Is For Me, No Gospel At All-

The article said a lot. Churches have rules and interpretations of Scripture, rituals and rubrics, and rich history to pull from. But without GRACE, these all ring hollow, "A noisy gong, a clanging cymbal". [1Cor.13:1, the "Love" verse]

He goes on to say:
I’ve tasted and seen that God is pure Love and Jesus is all Grace, and now my soul won’t let me consume nor settle for anything less—for to do so would be a blasphemy against the Spirit and His work in me. It is the Grace of God that empowers, teaches, and inspires us to divine change and right living—nothing else can or will. The conservative Christian gospel filled with “to do” steps, conditions, rule-keeping, fear-living, and hell-requiring is to me, no Gospel at all, but rather a sure ministry of death. I just want to live my life truly living because my heart has been overcome and irrevocably endeared to a Gospel that is nothing but Grace, life at its very best, and pure freedom.

I hope that I have piqued your interest in reading his whole article.

"Grace is brave. Be brave."

Dineegla

I have never met Fr. Shane Neese, but his Facebook post rings true!
Dineegla

I have never been one to keep silent about issues that affect others. And I am not going to start now.

I have heard much back and forth about politics of late, and have said my piece about where I stand. But as a Christian, as a Religious, and as a Priest, I must say more – regardless the personal cost.

Many that voted for the current president say they voted for him because of changes he promised, they liked what he said about “making America great again,” and looked the other direction at the racist actions and the hatred that spewed from his mouth. They turned a blind eye to how he treats women, how he refuses to pay for work done.
These same people are remaining silent in the face of what is happening right now in our country and around the world.

Silence is consent.

If you are not actively raising your voice against the violence that has been an ongoing part of the campaign and now the administration, then you are honestly part of the problem and somewhere deep down, you agree with it. Otherwise, you would be fighting against it.

Strong words I know, and I know that some will be offended and outraged that they were called out as part of the problem. Oh well! Sometimes the truth hurts.

Many have forgot what it means to be Christian. Oh, they say all the right words, sometimes, and use God’s name constantly, and swear on the bible that they are followers of Christ. But a true follower of Christ would be hurt to the quick with how humans are being treated right now in this country and yes, around the world.

A true follow of Jesus would be shedding tears over how the Indigenous people are being treated because of an oil pipeline; over the silence in Flint, MI over the contaminated water; over the cruelty being shown to immigrants here on US soil. The list goes on and on.

You say God hates queers, and blacks, and Asians, and Mexicans, and whoever else you dislike. I beg to differ with you. God doesn’t hate anyone – you do! And please don’t quote antiquated scripture verses that were meant for a specific people at a specific time. Don’t quote me that a man that lies with another man is an abomination while you stuff your face with ham and wear clothes made of mixed fibers. You are not able to pick and choose what you wish to follow from scripture. It’s not a cafeteria line.

Jesus never once spoke against anyone except those that used religion to hold people down. Jesus never once turned his back on anyone, and even went so far as to break down the taboos of his own people. He touched lepers, he talked with Samaritans, he fed the hungry, healed the sick – regardless of who they were, and taught only love.

If you cannot bring yourself to show compassion to another human being, yet call yourself Christian, then you are part of the problem, and yes, I will say it, you are not a Christian. If you are so filled with anger and hatred because someone isn’t exactly like you and doesn’t think and believe exactly as you do, then you are part of the problem.

Loving Jesus and being a follow of Jesus requires us to love unconditionally, just as He did. To love without counting the cost, without looking at the color of their skin, or who they love, or what they wear, or where they are from. Loving Jesus means you love others. PERIOD.

And if by chance you are not popular with your friends because you choose to love as Jesus loves, then you need to find new friends – real friends.

Yes, the cost of following Christ is high. You must give up living for yourself and concerns about only yourself. You must think about others and their needs. You must refocus your attention to taking care of the least among us, and even to using your own resources if necessary. You must get used to having people hate you because you refuse to hate others. You must realize that everything you have – everything- is a gift from God and no, you didn’t earn it, and no, you don’t deserve it.

You must realize that God’s love for you is something that you can’t earn, can’t repay except in love of others, and something that no, you don’t deserve, but He loves you anyway, in spite of yourself. And because of that unconditional love God has for you – you are required to love each and every person the same way. You may not like how they are living their lives, or how they treat other people, but you are not called to judge, you are called to love.

You will no doubt say, “then why am I judging anyone and saying they are not Christian?” I am not judging, I am pointing out very simply that if you are not being Jesus to everyone, you simply are not being Jesus at all.

During this Holy Week and the upcoming Easter season I encourage you to reach out and love unconditionally, without counting the cost. Jesus loved you enough to die for you. Can you die to self and reach out in love and compassion to all?

May God bless us with a deep love for each other,
Fr. Shane Nicholas Neese, AIHM

​After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone: and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning in his clothing was white as snow. The guards were shaking with fear of him and became like dead men.

Then the angel said to the women in reply, "Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus crucified one. He is not here for he has been raised from the dead as he said."

At a time in our lives and situations that might not be as what we want, it is comforting to know that there is a God who has sent His Son so that our God can become one with his children. It is amazing that all this happened to fulfill God's desires for US that we might walk more fully in the love of His Son, Jesus Christ. We, as Christians, have been given a great gift, and as such we are to live our lives the way our Creator first wanted us to.

Easter can be a time of Resurrection, Renewal, and Re-dedication. It is hard to walk with the Lord every day. We get tempted, we fall, we lose our way and feel crushed by the world and all its garbage. A passage in Scripture feels like a joke, a cruel taunt that we can never be Like Him.

But that's not true! That's a lie! The passages in Scripture involving "Easter" are meant to give us hope. They are God speaking to us: "I know it's rough, but you can make it because I am walking with you."

Take some time this Easter Week for yourself and spend some time with The Father. In prayer, silence, meditation, or just a break from video games, or just resting on your bed, give some time to Him. May this Easter bring you joy and PEACE!

Dineegla

Jare here. Sorry for the lack of content--we're working on that, but I had to take this pause (paws) and make sure you all could feast your eyes on Nexrad's fursuit!

https://twitter.com/MarcusTechKat/s.....580160/photo/1

Of course, he's having no fun whatsoever. ;)

Good morning friends, Jarrell here, I hope you're all doing well.

I wanted to talk for a few minutes from my perspective on what motivates morality in individuals. We hear a lot about morality, which is often coupled with the phrase traditional values, or family values. But what does the word mean to the person using morality in a sentence? It varies from person to person. Some are referring to opposite-gender sexual relationships as the basis for family. Some refer to the traditional handshake being as good as a contract. Some have the Golden Rule in mind, 'treat others as you would like to be treated,' basically. If someone is said to have a good moral character, they're often a protector, or someone you feel you can trust. It doesn't speak of their infallibility or super-human perfection, but it's more about their guiding standard in life--the thing that helps them make good decisions, keeping them on a good path.

A Pastor once said in their sermon that mankind has been placed above all the animals because it's been given him the knowledge of what it is to do right, that we have the Ten Commandments as our guide, and that without a knowledge of God there can be no morality. I'm paraphrasing, but that was the gist of it, that there is no hope for mankind to ever be or do good if they reject the Commandments.

Yet scientists have observed in animals, especially in primates and marine mammals the capacity for good, for fairness, or empathy, often being a protector while putting their own lives in jeopardy, and not just for their own family members.

Pastors often speak of an eternal judgment for those who chronically do wrong or who reject the plan of salvation, yet eternal life in Heaven for those who are good, do good, or do accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. There are a few denominations, especially Baptist preachers who will sometimes use the fear of going to Hell as a motivator for their congregation to do right, accept Jesus and be baptized. We certainly don't want to go to Hell, and if there is life after death (though no one here really knows) we should want to spend it in a place that God created for us. But should we really let our fear of spending eternity in that other place be our motivator to remain moral?

Animals certainly have no knowledge of life after death, eternal reward, Heaven or Hell, or Jesus' sacrifice. But of the higher forms of life, many of them can be found at rare times doing something truly good out of their own empathy for another -- not for personal gain, not because there is promise of reward, but because it's the right thing to do.

So there is definitely something else at work here, some motivator other than reward or punishment. It is often said, a person who harms others doesn't lack religion, but lacks empathy. There is something at the core of a person, the essence of sincerity, which dictates whether they are moral or immoral. Yet they may not be inherently good or bad. I don't think a person is predestined to be an immoral object lesson for others.

There's still a person's will, their attained knowledge which can lead to enlightenment such as in the case of the fictitious Ebeneezer Scrooge after his night with the three spirits. Though he seemed irredeemable, he still remembered what love was, though he'd pushed it out of his life for so long. In coming face to face with his entire self through past, present, and shadows of things yet to come, and how his life inextricably affected others', he got the bigger picture and it changed him. Of course there was also a bit of 'if you don't change, you're toast' but the wider message was how he could make the world a better place just right where he was and with the means available. It was that vision which lasted well after any thought of judgment if he didn't.

So let our morality be out of our compassion of others, and not simply out of our fear of judgment if we don't.

 JarrellWoods

I think Nexrad is preparing a journal for us, but in the mean time, since it's been so long since we've heard from anyone...

How y'all doing? :)

I don't know if you've been keeping up with the unfolding nightmare I'll dub the Drumpfstorm, but suffice it to say it's been a week straight out of the Twilight Zone. The good news is, the media and even some in the GOP seem to be waking up nearly to the point The People have been for awhile. I'll not go into detail here because hey, this place is supposed to be for furries and LGBT+ and religious and spiritual discussion and the like.

If you want to keep up with news of the most hated president in (at last count) 60 years, his tantrums, constitutional violations, and such, follow Rainbow_ark on Twitter, because that's where the resistance is happening as far as all the new information as it's made available. Many of you have been kindly RTing and faving many of my posts, and being involved in the array of activities we as citizens can be engaged in. It's all making a difference, the marches, every time we jam the WH phones or contact our representatives. Keep up the pressure as if everything we hold dear depends on it.

Above all, don't let these troubled times control you. Get out once in awhile and remind yourself there is good in the world, because there is, and it's everywhere. Got a fursuit? Suit up and delight some kids at a local park. Don't honk at the next person who cuts in front of you. Be that change you wish to see.

We'll get through this.

 JarrellWoods

We're of course back from visiting my parents and Renee's parents. Unfortunately I wasn't wrong about mine. We had a fairly nice visit even with Mom getting a little into the whole 'now we can say Merry Christmas' thing at breakfast. I gently explained that for some it's Chanukah and for others it might be something else, that saying Happy Holidays doesn't have to be a generic cop-out like they think it is. Instead it's admitting we don't know what a person celebrates just on sight. 'But for us it's CHRISTMASSS' she said. Okay, fine. Whatever. It's a combination of their decreasing lack of empathy for others not of their tribe as they get older, and their certainty there's been this concerted war on Christmas because of Obama and his PC crowd.

So it didn't ruin our cinnamon roll breakfast. We were fine. Everyone just sort of backed off and left it alone.

But it came down to the last 20 minutes of our visit before we were loading up to head on over to Renee's parents.

Mom: Well, come January 20, we'll have a new president.

Me: Yes.

Mom: If you're against Trump, we don't want to hear about it. All of our friends and relatives are all for Trump. And after Trump is in for his term, Pence will make a good president too. E***** said she used to have him as governor and that he's a good man. We're looking forward to America being great again. Obamacare (blah blah) Supreme Court (blah..)

Me to Renee: So I'm ready to go on over to your parents. Are you about ready?

So yeah, our visit to their house was pretty much ruined at that point. Did you catch all of that? They don't want us to even talk about him if we're against him (which they know we are) but they get to talk all they want about him, because it's their house I guess. And "all" of their friends and relatives are for Trump, so how do you think that made me and Renee feel? They constantly tell the two of us, we're the only family they have, yet they do something like this.

If it wasn't for them being my parents, I'd never visit them again. But we are truly all that they have, because everyone else has either moved away or been pushed away by them.

And the coup de gras? Dad unplugged their internet because they said it's too expensive. So now they're completely isolated from any potential news worth viewing which leaves only FoxNews.

So you can imagine how happy of a camper I am. I'm part of the resistance as I know many of you are too. We're all in for a bumpy ride, but don't lose hope. Rest assured there are millions of us. We are not in the minority by any means. Follow https://twitter.com/Rainbow_Ark because I'm always posting stuff to be involved in politically there along with the usual furry trash and other stuff. :D

It's sort of Christmas week, with Christmas eve being Saturday. I'm at work here in Reston Virginia. it's a pretty day out there, though deceptively cold; Google says 35°F and I'll take their word for it.

We've had a whirlwind of work over the last few weeks--my workmate is off today, but I'm caught up with everything for the moment. I was just sitting here reflecting alternatingly on this year and on this coming weekend.

The holidays crept up on us fast. We didn't put up the tree nor even the lighted candy cane display thingies up in our windows facing the road. Everything is still in boxes in the basement. But we'll be away for the weekend, because you see, it's always us who have to do the traveling for the holidays, or any holiday.

We'll be away two nights. Bijoux will be fine. We'll just mound up her kibble in her bowl, fill her water to the brim, and clean her litter box just before we leave. She'll sleep most of the time we're gone.

The first night will be with my parents and the second with Renee's. We generally only come down to see everyone maybe 4 times a year. We know the subject of Trump is going to come up with my parents, we just don't know quite how. They hated Obama, but to hear them talk, Trump is a good soul who's so misunderstood. Yeah.

Fox is their main news source, and any talk of maybe expanding their horizons with some -actual- news is either ignored, or challenged with who am I to say that Fox isn't fair and balanced since the station obviously says so itself? Their son and daughter-in-law aren't as smart as they are because we're "liberals" said with a twinge of disdain, while they're true blue American Conservatives. They remind us of the difference whenever they can, though they constantly reaffirm they love us as if it's such a burden they bear to not bar us from their holy presence. I'm exaggerating a little of course, but only somewhat.

Like I said, we only see them maybe 4 times per year. How I wish it could be a pleasant visit without having to decide what is best to do or say when they press something political that they know from the onset is contentious. Sometimes it's fine. We wait for the shoe to drop, and it never completely does. All I can do is hope we're wrong, and this will be one of those times.

How are the rest of you getting ready for the end of this very -interesting- year?

 threetails here. Jarrel, Nex, and everyone else, if this is not appropriate I will gladly remove it. This is reposted from my personal page but I thought I'd share it here since it has everything to do with my journey.

I need to come forward about something.

One of the things really vexing me is that I can't make a living off being clergy in my church. We have a very small congregation and our coffers are honestly just enough to sustain the church itself with a few minor splurges for new fittings and fixtures here and there. We're part of a small denomination and each parish is extremely DIY and while we're not averse to growth, we don't want to grow for the sake of growing or become a cash cow for our clergy because that'd disrespect our entire purpose.

The good news is, because no one's in it for the money, my instruction (which is more an apprenticeship with a structured reading list with journals to help us develop our own exegesis of the material) is free of charge. Even the books are, for the most part, on loan from our bishop at no cost. I can, of course, buy some of my own books and equipment if I choose (and I've already bought a couple of books that seemed very useful) but if I can't afford them, they are provided for me.

The bad news is, I can't really give this the attention I would like to because I am forever distracted by the business of making a living, or trying to figure out how I'll get well enough to deal with juggling both church business and a day job. The last job I worked had me stretched to the breaking point trying to do that and I'm currently trying to recover from a major decompensation I had due to the resulting stress.

So I have a proposal, and I wanted to run this by people. I would like to start a GoFundMe to essentially become a mendicant.

A mendicant is a person who pursues their spiritual practice while being supported by charitable donations. It is something that used to be common in the west many centuries ago and is still common practice in many parts of Asia. Once upon a time, people like me who really didn't "fit" outside of an ascetic profession would have had this as their only lifeline. Nowadays, it's hard for a mystic to survive; most have to sell their services in some way, or learn some craft that can make them a living; the ones who can't usually end up living under bridges or going through a mental health care system that fails them at every turn because it can't understand them as anything but a problem to be solved.

The truth is, I've had this idea for years but I was afraid to bring it up because people get really cynical when you start asking for donations to take up a profession that doesn't actually produce any material wealth. I'm still not sure it's a good idea to ask.

I can offer some guidelines of good faith though, to show that I'm not just sponging and that I am actually working toward the priesthood like I say I am. For starters, I can make my reading notes publicly available so that my supporters can see that I am actually doing my studies. And of course, I would be obligated to work toward my goal and to post my progress as I moved through the various orders.

Honestly, this is the only thing I can really think of sticking with long-term, aside from writing, that doesn't make me sick with dread.

Any thoughts on this, though? Is it a terrible idea? Are there ways I can make sure that people know I'm not just freeloading and that I am, in fact, actually spending my time just as I said I would?

Jare here,

I just ran across an article that addresses, or at least recognizes some concerns I have for family gatherings as the holidays approach. To put it mildly, it's been a rough couple of weeks. Many of us have relatives who are Trump supporters and while some of them will no doubt be cordial, not wanting to stir up such raw emotions on Thanksgiving, too many will be gloating over his "win" and the prospects of him "making America great again."

So how do we survive this? For some of us, our parents are in their twilight years and we really don't want to waste time and energy in heated political squabbles, yet many of us by our sexual orientation, religion, or skin color, represent the very example of what Trump has vowed to oppress. So here is the article to hopefully help with the process...

In the midst of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving an official holiday, hoping that the day would help to “heal the wounds of the nation.”

Now 153 years later, after one of the most divisive elections in history, we probably need this day more than ever.

However, some millennials, particularly the more liberal ones, are choosing to opt out of the festivities this year — their wounds too fresh. Their fears about the consequences of a Trump presidency, as well as a general disdain for family members who voted for him, are still very real.

Christina Heiser, 28, is a New Yorker who only lives a few miles from her parents in Queens. This year she’s skipping Thanksgiving with them to avoid what she considers to be inevitable, and painful arguments.

“After this election, I decided I couldn't go home to my parents’ house on Thanksgiving,” said Heiser. “As a woman (and as someone who has close friends who are LGBT, minorities, etc), I'm too upset about the outcome of the election to be around my dad, who is a huge Trump supporter.”

Like many millennials, 63 percent of whom did not vote for Donald Trump, Heiser is concerned that people in her father’s generation are too quick to look past the racist and sexist rhetoric spouted by their president-elect, and don’t stop to consider the real impact his words have on women and minorities.

“[My dad] says the reason he voted for Trump was because Trump is an ‘outsider’ and will ‘get rid of the corruption in Washington.’ He also believes Hillary is a ‘criminal,’ — but he forgets some of the things Trump really stands for.”

Ben Breier, 30, is another millennial who won’t be returning home this Thanksgiving or Christmas. In lieu of gifts or a plane ticket home to see his conservative family members, he’s made donations in their names to Planned Parenthood.

“I actually don't know how to tell them that I'm not coming home. So I haven't yet,” said Breier. “I spoke to my cousin, who is gay and in Los Angeles, and he's also trying to figure out what to do in the wake of this. Our extended family is incredibly politically divided.”

Being politically divided is nothing new for American families, and these divisions are often compounded by age, demographics, and what happens when young people start making decisions on their own. However, this year these rifts seem to be particularly intense because this election cycle made us all hyperaware of the deep-seeded racism and misogyny in this country.

“My boyfriend (who was a big Hillary supporter like me) said he would purposefully pick a fight with my dad over the election the next time he sees him, so I decided it'd be best for all of us to not to be together on the holiday,” says Heiser.

However, not all millennials want to avoid these confrontations — in fact, many embrace the dialogue. In The UnConvention Facebook group, which has been an ongoing collaboration between PRI.org, 92Y, and Mic, many people scoffed at the idea of skipping the holiday because of disparate voting records.
“I'll be at Thanksgiving because my family is small,” wrote Katherine Speller, 24. “And, like I've been doing over the last few days, I'll be pushing conversations about the white nationalists, climate deniers and evolution deniers being appointed to cabinet positions; I'll be encouraging constant awareness of the various hate crimes inspired by our president-elect's rhetoric and will be reminding them that their queer daughter/granddaughter/niece who loves them is still here and not shutting up. I expect that people who voted Trump be willing to stand and be counted for what they believe.”

“If any of my family does support Trump, I don't plan to berate them for it, or write them out of my will,” wrote Charlotte Cohn, 22. “I already decided that I wasn't going to act angry or condescending towards Trump's supporters any more. Instead, I'd like to talk to them on a person-to-person level, to understand why they voted the way they did. Only through engagement and civil discourse can we confront the problems of bias, discrimination, and white nationalism in America.”

While some millennials will be avoiding the tensions, and others embracing it, there is, of course, a third option: surprise. Kelly Helfrich, 30, said she never goes home to Arkansas for the holidays, but she did hear a story recently that made her feel a bit better.

“My conservative grandpa led a dinner prayer that ended with, ‘I hope Donald Trump finds God because he is clearly is not a Christian. God save us all.’”

The link: http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-11-.....nksgiving-year

 threetails here.

Well, I guess you could call this a sermon. I'm not clergy, not yet anyway. I'm a lay server with plans to enter holy orders. But I've been thinking a lot lately about this idea of radical honesty and what a wonderfully good adjunct to a Christian life it is to lose pretenses, say what you really feel, and build closer relationships by not hiding behind a mask all the time.

As a transgender woman, I had to learn a great deal about radical honesty. I had to admit to a lot of things I'm not comfortable with admitting in the process of using my transition to become a better person. And although I have things I don't advertise a lot of facts about myself in public, I basically have no secrets any more. It's all unsecured, open, and available.

Here's a good place to start with radical honesty: never say "I Love You" unless you mean it.

Words have power, don't use them in vain. If you tell someone you love them when it's not true, those words lose their power.

Matt. 5:13
"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men."

Here we have the salt losing its taste, the only thing that makes it worthwhile. The salt- like a word overused- loses its meaning and purpose.

If I can get a little Kierkegaardian here a moment, the whole point of being a Christian is to live a life of meaning and purpose. It's both scriptural and intuitive. The meaninglessness of words is the worst existential crisis a Christian can face, since the Word itself is held to be a spiritual being. If words have no meaning, then the Word (Logos) ceases to be divine.

When you pair this with Matt. 7:6, again we see trampling underfoot as imagery for using your virtues in vain:

"Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."

Now, here we have a verse that may seem problematic at first. Are we to assume that those we don't really love are pigs who don't deserve it?

No. Not at all.

If anything, when you go through the people in your life whom you love, or think you should love, and you encounter someone whom you feel intellectually you should love but don't, ask yourself, why don't you love them?

Meditate on it. Focus on it. Treat it like one of the most important questions in your life and development as a Christian because believe me, it is. Someone who calls themselves a Christian but lacks a mature understanding of love is... well, we've probably all met at least a few of those in our time, haven't we? It's not a pretty thing.

Then once you understand who you love and why you love them, take it one step further: try to be more loving. Recognize the gap between those you love and those you think you should love, and use that gap to figure out where you need to grow the most. Some of the people you don't love will be easy to love once you think honestly about who they are, and whether or not they're positive, supportive, and loving people themselves. Then go one further: Love the people who are difficult to love. And always strive to grow in that direction.

This is my commandment, That you love one another, as I have loved you.
John 15:12


 threetails here.

I don't have much left to say after this past week's election.

I know many of you are very afraid. And many of you expect a long, painful struggle ahead.

Please know that whatever happens you are loved. You have many people of faith who care about you, and the LGBT community which will not give up its hard-won struggles no matter what.

Here's a song I've been listening to often lately. May this music be a blessing to you.

https://youtu.be/Nw-qZptWvrc

Hello everyone!

This is  threetails, a long-time friend of Jarrell's and an early member of RA. He's asked me to make some posts here so I thought an intro to my journey would be a good start.

I came from a very conservative Evangelical background, growing up mostly in South Carolina in the 80s and 90s. I was around when the megachurches really started becoming a thing, and I got caught up in the politics of it all.

But in the 2000s I fell out of it. I started questioning the politics behind a lot of what was being preached, and I realized that I was attracted to men.

I took my faith seriously though. I decided to investigate the claims of pro-LGBT theologians and apologists rather than just writing them off. The results of that early searching formed my contribution to the "Yes, Jesus Loves Me" Bible study on the Rainbow Ark website.

I got deep into theology and apologetics for a while, then I had the ambitious goal of actually trying to piece together the true, original Christian doctrine. Of course, better and more seasoned theologians had already stumbled on that and I was ultimately not prepared for this. In the end, the confusion of what was "true" and "essential" led me to spend several years as an atheist.

I had some spiritual experiences in 2009-2010 and explored Wicca for a while. I don't regret looking into it but it wasn't what I was looking for. Ultimately, it did cause me to take stock of who I really was as a person and I discovered two things about myself: first, that I have always been a dyed-in-the-wool intuitive, mystical, and spiritual person; and second, that I wasn't a gay man like I thought I was. I was transgender.

Facing those two things simultaneously while negotiating a cross-country move and some very difficult times in my life was a very challenging thing to go through. Ultimately, about the same time my gender dysphoria hit critical mass, I had an extremely powerful mystical experience. I underwent what is known, in mystical circles, as ego death; the person I thought I was for most of my life had been stripped away and I was made aware of a certain "penultimate truth" about my identity.

These experiences led me to explore Buddhism for a while, which I still have a lot of respect for. Then came my foray into Gnosticism. I was already familiar with the Gnostic texts from my first look at theology back in 2004-2006, but I had initially written them off because of their later date and because I simply didn't get them. But after everything that had happened, it all made sense to me.

I began going to a local Gnostic church in Portland a while back. I had looked into a bunch of different ones, but some of the Gnostic movements were into some really dark things that I wasn't comfortable with. In the end I found one called Ecclesia Gnostica (NOT to be confused with "Ecclesia Gnostica Catholica" which is an offshoot of OTO). EG is exoteric (shared teachings), has open communion, and follows a relatively traditional Christian mass derived from the Liberal Catholic Church.

Is it for everyone? No. And we don't pretend to be. But for my part I found I was happy enough there that I am now a lay server and studying to eventually join the priesthood. My bishop knows I'm trans and has been extremely supportive all the way.

I actually have my own group at  gnosticfurs to post my more uniquely Gnostic ideas so I'm not here to promote gnostic Christianity, though I haven't updated in a while. In the mean time, I'll be happy to share some of my broader thoughts on the role of the Christian in the world and the role of LGBT people in the church. If anyone has specific questions about the Gnostic tradition or about my personal journey feel free to ask.

Blessings,
Three

Jarrell here.

On the one side we have the LGBTQ person, and on the other there is the long-established religious doctrine, and it often seems like never the twain shall meet. This is the struggle that I've tried to put on display in our resource known as Crossing Paths.

We of course know of instances where they do meet, but it's often from the work of an outlier, or an incremental progressive shift in a historically stodgy and patriarchal system--the belief that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, so therefore our doctrine should not evolve, or that the mere suggestion that it needs to evolve is akin to being apostate. This of course presupposes that the doctrine was flawless from the beginning--a notion that quickly unravels with any knowledge of church history and what church leaders used to believe, and what we now know to be the atrocities some of them committed in full support of their "holy" doctrine of the time.

The fact is, doctrine HAS changed, or at least has allowed for some space between the ancient words for a measure of wiggle room.

But even when there is acceptance for LGBTQ people, the acceptance is nearly always limited and tenuous. When the acceptance goes too far, the one offering the liberty to them, is often cut off from the rest of the body like a hangnail, or they're at least chastised by the self-appointed keepers of the doctrine.

How often have same-sex couples been denied Communion, as if it was the church's right to deny that which Jesus taught should be shared freely? After all, it is symbolic for His body and blood, not that of the church's.

For us individually, we seemingly have to search and find that sweet spot between not denying our orientations and identities, yet trying to stay connected to the faith that has given us so much comfort. The church leaders would often have us choose between one or the other. They say if we just believe enough, then Jesus can make us right. We go through therapy, some of us, and we pray --real hard-- and believe. some of us spend thousands on programs that are supposed to make us cis straight people so that we can be useful vessels in God's ministry. Nothing works. Our attractions and feelings are too integral.

So now we're faced with two choices: life of self-hatred to be true to the faith, or letting go of the destructive faith and being ourselves. There's a third choice of course, that maybe the doctrine is not infallible, and we can find a balance that doesn't offend the faith.

In my own instance, I left the faith and am now agnostic. I've been so since June of this year. In my case this had little to do with the church's often imperceptibly slow moves toward showing compassion toward LGBTQ people because I've never equated the doctrine or the religion, with God. I can keep the two separated in my head. I can see the latter as perfect, and the former as our continued struggle to try to know.

In my case, my departure had more to do with no longer being able to abide with the circular reasoning which kept anything and everything from being questioned.

That said, I completely support others' beliefs and faiths they have. I don't see myself ever becoming hostile toward any belief system but fully support the path that anyone finds themselves on, as valid as the one where my life and experiences have brought me. But if someone finds themselves in a situation between accepting themselves, or rejecting their sexuality or gender identity to stay true to their faith, I'm more apt than ever to tell them to ditch their faith if it is what has them denying their reality. Because when it comes down to it, you have empirical evidence, and you have faith. Faith, as sincere as it may be, can be misplaced.

So while we're all observing the twists and turns of major religions' acceptance or denial of LGBTQ people, their gifts, and their rights, let not those outcomes dictate how you conduct yourself as the unique individual you are.

Is anyone suiting today at work?

I'm just doing a partial of my handpaws, footpaws, and tail because at present, I'm too fat to fit in my raccoon bodysuit. Also, it's kind of fun to type in my handpaws (having to go back and correct errors you don't see).

Stay safe everyone!

http://www.glaad.org/spiritday

(Jare here. My eyes are doing much better, in fact, better than they have as a team in probably more than 5 years, so I'm pretty happy with the results. Now, we'll sit back and see what my health insurance will cover.)

Thursday, the NBCUniversal family – including NBC 6 – will join with GLADD and Go Purple to celebrate Spirit Day. The initiative encourages people nationwide to take a stand against bullying and show solidarity with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.

You can join in the efforts by wearing purple to help send a message of unity and that bullying is wrong and unacceptable.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/.....397561961.html

I got my purple shirt on! :D

To me, the day means an opportunity to remember your worth and validity. It's about not being subject to and limited by your current situation. It's acknowledging that 'sacred' you, deep inside and taking care of yourself, rejecting negative influences and weapons constructed to demean and diminish you.

You do not deserve to be bullied. Ever. Surround yourself with true friends--not the fair weather kind--allies who will look out for you, and who share in your successes and joys.

Above all, stay safe, whether that means to come out, or to stay where you're at for the time being. The time is right when you say it is, and not anyone else. Know you're loved.

Hi everyone, Jarrell here.

I'm still recuperating from my recent eye surgery which itself was a success, but somewhere afterward, I received or inadvertently gave myself a corneal abrasion. So while my big blob of vitreous is now gone, everything is pretty fuzzy in my close-up eye. So you can imagine how difficult it is to read this incredibly small text here on FurAffinity. I'm depending on the red underlines to let me know if I've spelled anything wrong, but I hope I'm making sense because there's great difficulty in going back and reading something I've typed. I should be fine in about a week, but if any of the other 3 admins would like to post a journal it would be greatly appreciated. :)

I wanted to make a little informational post with links which will likely be a help to some of our members.

http://myrainbowark.com/1resources.html <= As many of you know, we have a Resources page on our website which features links sent to us by our members--sites that they recommend, that have helped them in their journeys. I was recently asked by one of our long-term members for links to resources which could be shared with a concerned parent trying to come to terms with a son or daughter who has just come out to them. I gave them two from this page...
http://www.familyacceptance.com/home.html Family Acceptance, How our picture-perfect family was torn-apart by our son's revelation.
http://godmademegay.blogspot.com/p/.....to-louise.html A Letter to Louise: A Biblical Affirmation of Homosexuality
If you have other sites that you would like to share with your fellow Arkers here, please send the links and I'll include them on this Resources page. Send to: jarrell[at]myrainbowark.com

You wouldn't know it now unless you were in the furry fandom back in 2000 to 2006, but furries used to practically own LiveJournal. Now, it's SoFurry, and FurAffinity, and several others, but back then, everyone had their LJ. Some of you still do, but you may not have logged in for awhile. It's where Rainbow Ark started in February of 2004, and where we still are now 13 years later, though to a diminished degree.
http://myrainbowark.com/topjournals.html ...there is this stats page I renew every month which features Rainbow Ark, but also lists links to the current top 20 Rainbow Ark-related community journals--related in the subjects of LGBT+, Religious/Interfaith, or Furry. These are the top players who still have some decent activity and of which might be of interest to our fellow Arkers.

(Jarrell here, currently on vacation in OBX N.Carolina. Sorry for the lack of commentary--have not yet had my vitrectomy which is now scheduled for October 7th, which when complete will mean much better sight out of my close-up eye for the impossibly small text on FA.)

~ ~ ~

Trey Pearson, the lead singer of alternative rock band Everyday Sunday and a formerly married father who came out to the world as gay in May, was axed from the lineup of a major Christian festival after several members of the event's production crew threatened a walk out if he was included.

The festival, called Joshua Fest, is an annual three-day event in Northern California described as a nonprofit "family friendly Christian music festival" that ministers to "young families and teens."

"We have something for everyone. From music that ranges from worship to hard core, to heartfelt workshops and open forum discussions about faith, pain, and hope. To workshops designed to strengthen your marriage," it explains.

Since 2003, Joshua Fest says it has hosted hundreds of faith-based bands like Tenth Avenue North, Family Force 5, Building 429, and for King & Country, among others.

Almost every year for the last decade, according to Billboard which first reported on Pearson's dumping, the gay singer had performed at Joshua Fest.

Since Pearson's coming out announcement he has been advocating for the LGBT community.

Shortly after announcing he was gay, Pearson went on ABC's "The View" and declared that he still considered himself a Christian.

"Yeah, I feel like I'm more in love with Jesus and the Scriptures than ever. As I've progressed in my faith and as I've experienced this grace, this restoration, being able to embrace truth without being scared," he told the show's hosts.

Pearson and his band also headlined the Columbus Gay Pride Parade in Ohio in June.

When asked on "The View" how the church was reacting to his new lifestyle, Pearson said he was pushing to change the church's position on homosexuality.

"There are all kinds of wonderful people in the church. It's changing right now. We've had to go through a lot of things, you know. There's times where we've had to go through what it's like for women's rights. What it's like for black people's rights, for minorities' rights. This happens to be a pressing issue of our time but it is changing and I want to see our church change," he said.

"I want to see my denomination change. I want to see people to be willing to have the conversation in an open way where we're willing to listen to people's stories, and that's why I think it's so important to tell because there are millions of people going through what I am going through right now," he added.

And it was this advocacy that reportedly made some Christians uncomfortable with Pearson performing at Joshua Fest.

Just weeks before Joshua Fest was set to start over the Labor Day weekend, Pearson, who was still among the headline acts to perform, said on social media that he was about to make history.

"I am overwhelmed, and honored, to announce that I will be the FIRST OPENLY GAY ARTIST TO EVER PLAY A MAJOR CHRISTIAN MUSIC FESTIVAL!!! I will be playing main stage on Sunday evening at JoshuaFest, in Quincy, California. Joshua Fest happens Labor Day weekend, and I will be there with Skillet, Switchfoot, Relient K, Crowder Music, NF, Five Iron Frenzy and more!" he declared.

Two days after making the announcement, Pearson told RNS that he was humbled that Joshua Fest would still allow him to perform.

"I feel so humbled, honored, and excited to be a part of seeing the world change," he said.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/g.....lk-out-169536/

Hey all,

 foxwolfgoof here.

I've had an idea in the back of my head for awhile. I've wanted to refine it further before posting it here, but I had a friend send a message to me last night that made me realize it was time to speak up.


So, this is it, without proofreading, without editing. It's straight out of my message to my friend.

----

I realized that there is infinite space for God to exist awhile ago.

One theory of the universe is that it's finite and expanding at the speed of light. We will never reach the edge of it. It's possible and likely that our universe is spreading out like a drop of water, thinning out until it'll be so thin it won't even be 'wet' - the heat death of the universe.

However, there are forms of matter and energy we don't understand. We may one day, but there's a really foolish assumption made by human beings that we can comprehend everything in the universe.

It's manifest everywhere on this world that we're the result of Darwinian evolution. It isn't 'adaptation' as defended by certain groups that literally interpret the Bible - it's full blown evolution. Genetic potential's readily apparent in our dog breeds. I've written algorithms that use evolution to solve programming problems that couldn't be solved iteratively (by checking all possible solutions) if every atom in the known universe (10^80) was a computer making 10,000,000 tries a second for the entire age of the universe thus far (13.7 billion years, or 4.32*10^14 seconds). Multiply them all together and there's a BIG number. The programs that simulate evolution solve the problems in 45 minutes on a desktop computer.

The observed universe is about 5.5*10^23 miles in diameter (I believe?) Earth is about 7900 miles in diameter Meaning Earth occupies 1.4*10^-18% of the observed universe.

We evolved as a highly specific solution to a problem posed by biology. in a corner of the universe so small it's even less significant than a speck of dust in the corner of a warehouse. Pretending that our understanding that grew out of such a remote corner of the universe could expand to, well, everything...that's foolish.


Let's talk about putting God into a box. Mathematically we can draw a rectangle on paper and say that it represents everything that ever was, is, and will be. It represents infinity to infinity. Every possibility exists in this box.

It's the universal set.

Then we can draw a circle in a corner of the box and say that circle represents everything that humans can experience.

And in that circle we can draw another smaller circle that is everything that humans can imagine.

And in the circle of things we can imagine we can draw a circle that is everything that humans can observe.


My belief is that religion rejects parts of what we can observe and know as true in order to protect doctrine that keeps people in power.

My belief is also that atheism and possibly agnosticism reject parts of what humans can imagine.

Both religion and areligion reject parts of the human experience and thus deprive us of part of ourselves. The universe is far greater than what we can understand. Somewhere out there in the universal set is something we could call God. What shape and form it takes is beyond me. I just trust it's benevolent because if it isn't we're sort of sunk.

So, I'm spiritual but not religious. There's too much math out there that suggests we aren't important enough to decide what is 'natural' and what couldn't possibly be!

---

Q.E.D., Q.F.D.,
~QBF

I just saw this article today with the title:
Gay, celibate and Christian: US evangelical in Melbourne for same-sex talks and it begins...

Wesley Hill takes the view that if you're gay and Christian, you have two choices: monogamous heterosexual marriage, or a life of celibacy. He chose the latter.

"The more I searched the scriptures, the more I couldn't convince myself that same-sex marriage was a faithful Christian vocation," says the US evangelical, who is currently in Australia for a series of talks that have raised concerns among the gay community, progressive Christians and the Andrews government...

...and it continues. The link being: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/g.....06-gqmiet.html


So it's this old question on many people's minds. We have a large number of gay Christians who study the scriptures and come to the conclusion that same-sex relations for those who are oriented as such are healthy and scripturally sound, and we have a fair number of people who study the very same scriptures and come to the conclusion that gays should remain celibate. Of course, this guy has the extra added: okay to be married as if you're heterosexual, which seams like a really bad idea, but we'll ignore that aspect and just go with the sex, or celibate outcome.

So what's right? What should we be doing? We have two very sincere, supposedly well-researched conclusions, and it's dangerously over-simplifying to suggest that the celibacy conclusion is based on some type of self-loathing bias coloring the outcome.

If God cares about these things, and we care about our relationship with Him, we don't want to be angering Him simply because we choose to believe something which we might be severely warned not to engage in. As a bisexual man in a monogamous straight marriage, I don't have this pressing need to know for myself. But I've studied and have come to my own conclusions so that I could wholeheartedly encourage my friends who are gay Believers.

The fact is, there is very little scripturally about same-sex relations, either right or wrong. Jesus never mentions one thing about same-sex relationships, but does acknowledge there are "eunuchs" either by injury or by their own choice, but there is also a third group which are "born" that way. This is significant because in the ancient world "eunuch" did not mean a celibate person, but one who had no sexual desire for the "opposite" sex. Those "born" that way didn't choose it as a lifestyle. There are many ancient writings about sexual relations among eunuchs.

In the clobber passages often used against loving committed same-sex relationships, when you break down the Greek and Hebrew, they are admonishments against gay prostitution, religious ritual sex, and having gay relations on your wife's bed, but it's all ambiguous at best. To come to the conclusion that gay relations are wrong, is pretty much stating that because the Bible doesn't make it absolutely plain that it's okay, then it must be wrong. That gets a little troublesome when you realize that there is no biblical permission to use a smartphone, or to replace your grass with gravel, or go skydiving, or to keep cats as pets.

There are however non-ambiguous scriptures against divorce and adultery which Christians rarely judge either other for, and never to proclaim that someone is going to Hell over, as many do about gay people who form loving committed relationships, where there is nearly nothing in the Bible about that specific subject.

So no, there is nothing I know of biblically giving permission for gay people to be sexually active.

Realize too that many of the admonishments singling out so-called sex sin are post-scriptural. In the 13th century Thomas Aquinas argued that 'sodomy' is second only to murder in the ranking of sins. Did he get that from the Bible? Not at all, but I'm sure it was through the same 'fasting and prayer' in which other scholars of the time came to their possibly different conclusions of.

So what's the answer then? Where do we go for answers in the Bible when it is often the source of such ambiguity? I've been Agnostic with Deist leanings ever since the beginning of June this year, but I respect people who are trying to be true to their Christian faith and I'd like to direct you, as I've recommended before, to a very wonderful and lengthy passage in the New Testament by none other than the Apostle Paul, Romans chapter 14...

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+14&version=NKJV

Jare

...so I'm going to plug The Furry History Project that we host on our website! <^.^>

http://myrainbowark.com/fhp00.html

Have you seen this thing? It's fantastic! And it's all painstakingly researched by Perri Rhoades.

She had this hosted in a very limited way a few years ago on a LiveJournal, and she wanted it more accessible, so I offered to host it for her and she sent me all the hundreds of photos and artwork associated with it, and I replicated all the links she had in the original, and we went through and fixed the broken links, and voila! I even kept the same style navigation she had to preserve the original intent and feel of it.

This doesn't just go back to the beginnings of the fandom! Oh No, this goes way WAY back to the dawn of man and their relationship with animals and the first inklings of anthropomorphism in art literature. Then as each era is examined, the reader begins to see a progression of events and how it all corresponded with world events of the time--everything perfectly aligned to birth the furry fandom that we've come to know today.

It's a ton of information and images to view, so give yourself some time, and realize you're not going to give it justice in only one sitting. Take your time with it. Enjoy. Feel good about the history, and reflect on aspects which sparked your interest, and all the things you've learned since you became a part of the furry continuum.

~ cross-posted from rainbow_ark LiveJournal ~

The article is here...
http://www.christianpost.com/news/a.....aching-166408/

I'm not going to post the physical words here, partially because it's quite long, but also because of some possible triggers where you have an individual who is sincere in trying to share some love with his former LGBT community.

Now, he knows Jesus, and is sharing how free he is from being his old gay self (though he admits he still has same-sex attraction), and he wants others to experience the same freedom.

The real disconnect comes as he's attempting to frame the conversation between his loving Christian self, and the 'unenlightened ones' who 'falsely' think his message is hateful and driving so many to suicide. He turns the tables and suggests it's the pro-LGBT lifestyle people who have the hateful message.

This article is not written in a vindictive sort of way. I don't get the impression that he thinks he's better than everyone else. It doesn't prompt me to want to slap him or scream at him, or even hate him. It's one of those types of stances that would make many of us wonder where we're supposed to begin in having dialog with him--keeping in mind too that he's heard it all before in terms of being gay.

Part of the disconnect is working with the false premise that LGBT people who are openly LGBT (and not trying to fight their 'unnatural desires') have turned their backs on God, the very one who can help them. In other words in his world, either you're living as a gay person, or you're living for God, and when you live for God, you don't have time to be gay--again, all in the spirit of just wanting to share some love and some truth which hopefully will help just one struggling soul.

Further, he's overly sure of what the Bible says about acting on gay desires. So anyone who does differently than what he believes is therefore going against the Bible, since he is apparently incapable of questioning his own stances on what he thinks the Bible says on such things.

As much frustration as one can feel in tackling such things, I think we must have these conversations with others. How do we go about confronting this? What are the first steps? It's going to vary with each individual situation. There are some of you who have had to deal with both sides within yourself. You had to come to the place where you either denied your innermost feelings, denied your faith, or found a way for them to coexist. What are some of the things which helped you come to terms? Chances are, those will aid you in how you talk with others.

But in any case, make sure you are grounded first, because sometimes even the most well-meaning words given in love, can cut you deep. The level of vulnerability needed to try to bridge a divide can leave a person open for attacks, not from a troll--although there are many of those too--but often from a person who cares sincerely for you, but may be sincerely wrong.

Jarrell here.

If there are any disgruntled Bernie supporters because of his recent endorsement for Hillary, and you're planning on a protest vote for Trump, I thought you might like to see the highlights of the new Republican platform:

GOP Passes 'Most Anti-LGBT Platform' in History, Log Cabin Republicans Shocked

Led by some of the nation's most anti-gay politicians and even the head of an anti-gay hate group, Republicans late Tuesday voted on and passed the final draft of the GOP 2016 platform. The Log Cabin Republicans issued a fundraising email immediately, shocked, apparently, telling supporters, “moments ago, the Republican Party passed the most anti-LGBT Platform in the Party’s 162-year history.”

“Opposition to marriage equality, nonsense about bathrooms, an endorsement of the debunked psychological practice of “pray the gay away” — it’s all in there,” the email reads, as the Miami Herald's Steve Rothaus reports.

“This isn’t my GOP, and I know it’s not yours either,” wrote Log Cabin President Gregory T. Angelo. “Heck, it’s not even Donald Trump’s!,” he claims, although that's debatable.

“When given a chance to follow the lead of our presumptive presidential nominee and reach out to the LGBT community in the wake of the awful terrorist massacre in Orlando on the gay nightclub Pulse, the Platform Committee said NO.”

As NCRM has been reporting all week, along with passing an amendment calling for an unconstitutional "religious freedom" bill, the First Amendment Defense Act (FADA) to become law, the GOP platform committee passed a plank that effectively says children raised in a "traditional" family are better off than children raised by same-sex parents or single parents.

Republicans voted for amendments that call for to the Bible being taught in schools and voted for transgender people to use the restroom of the gender they were assigned at birth. They also voted to keep a call for a ban on same-sex marriage in their 2016 national platform, voted to support anti-LGBT conversion therapy, and voted to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman, only.

~ ~ ~

So if you're voting for Trump in particular, for whatever reason, and Republicans for House and Senate seats, I don't want to know about it. That's your business. But you need to think long and hard about any type of protest vote for Trump as some type of retaliation for your candidate of choice not being the nominee. Protest votes for Trump is what has resulted in him being the last clown driving the car that started with some 16 or 17 GOP candidates. The time for protest votes are over--they've produced what we now have.

If you're a Bernie supporter, hey I'm one too. I feel your pain. To many of us, Hillary represents many of the things Bernie's campaign has been bringing to light of what's wrong about our current systems in place which keep big money and corporations in charge. But also keep in mind, when Bernie and Hillary were in Congress, they voted the same on bills over 90% of the time. Their stances are not that different though they come from different worlds as far as their methods for producing the intended results.

You've trusted Bernie all along, so why stop now? He knows what he's doing. He's thought over the implications and the very real aspect of Trump becoming president. He knows we can't let that happen. Bernie's campaign wasn't all for nothing. He woke up liberal America to what was going on. He moved Hillary to the left on many issues. His input to the Dem platform produced the most liberal platform in decades, possibly ever. Bernie-ites are running for Senate and House seats. The fight continues, but there's a time to be pragmatic about it, and like it or not, that's the road Bernie's taken.

But Number One, we cannot CANNOT let Trump win. I'll not waste my or your time here listing the myriad of reasons why. Number two, Jill of the Green party unfortunately cannot win. That's just not going to happen. This is my opinion, and you might not agree, but this is the way I see it: If you want to write in Bernie if he's not on the ballot, write him in. If you're in a red state, vote for Jill or Hill. If you're in a blue state, vote for Hill. Those of you like me old enough to remember what happened between Bush vs. Gore, with the Nader spoiler, I don't need to explain that further.

Me personally, since I'm in red W.Va, since it's going for Trump, I'll likely vote for Jill to help give the greens a good showing, and maybe by next time we'll have three parties in play.

I started thinking about this again because of a rather earth-shattering statement from Pope Francis the other day that you've undoubtedly read about...

~ ~ ~

Pope Francis said Sunday that Christians owe apologies to gays and others who have been offended or exploited by the church, remarks that some Catholics hailed as a breakthrough in the church's tone toward homosexuality.

"I repeat what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: that they must not be discriminated against, that they must be respected and accompanied pastorally," Francis said at a press conference aboard the papal plane returning from Armenia.

"The Church must ask forgiveness for not behaving many times -- when I say the Church, I mean Christians! The Church is holy, we are sinners!"

As he often does during unscripted moments -- particularly papal news conferences -- the Pope spoke expansively, saying the church should seek forgiveness for a number of historical slights committed in its name.

~ ~ ~

It's pretty monumental, really. No Pope has ever come close to this type of admission or declaration concerning gay people. It's kind of like his former "Who am I to judge" on steroids.

Yet, thinking about it another way, it is no surprise many within the LGBT community want more--more than just lip service when they see no actual change in policy, and that much of the same oppressive structure is still in place--still harming people by making them feel less than whole, less than God's perfect plan. Nothing has fundamentally changed in the Catholic church as far as stances of the institution marriage, and how the gay person is not afforded the same covenant, and their options less than their heterosexual counterparts.

Yet, it's still something, to reread his most recent statements above and realize this has never occurred. In Papal attitude, there IS change, there is a clarity which didn't exist before, and the encouragement for other Christians--not just Catholics--to reach out in love to their gay brothers and sisters, and apologize for their actions.

So I guess my question is, should we be glad for incremental changes? Should we use the opportunity to address the very real forms of discrimination which are still in place in the Church, or should we just gracefully receive what we get at the moment?