Monday, July 11, 2016

one vote short - for less than a day


Tonight was the vote on changing the Marriage Canon of the Anglican Church of Canada to include same-sex marriage. It passed the house of laity and the house of bishops, with over 2/3's majority in each. But in the house of clergy, it was one vote short of passing.... 

And then the next day, an error was discovered which shifted the motion into passing!!



"But will we be addressing root causes of homelessness among lgbtq youth?" wonders someone attending the 2016 General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada.

That's a good question. If ending homelessness is not just about providing housing, the root causes  behind the homelessness of many people should be addressed, or we will just be treating the symptoms....

Yet is is much easier to provide some housing than it is to recognize and acknowledge that we are complicit in causing the problem. Let's take homeless lgbtq youth, for example. We are complicit because for years, the church has preached and acted against those who are part of sexual and gender minorities. Complicit because for years, the church has closed its heart to the least of these. Complicit because churches that are progressive in regard to their understanding of Scripture often still seem ashamed of the sexual and gender minorities in their midst, not offering a full and public welcome.

Read more here. 

And read more here. 

Friday, July 08, 2016

apology from the Baton Rouge Police Department


Alton Sterling and Family. Picture from Twitter
In memory of Alton Sterling, age 37, killed by Baton Rouge Police Department officers who responded to a report that a man selling CDs had threatened someone with a gun. July 5, 2016.


















we just want to say

father of five in red shirt
selling CDs outside store
someone called in
an altercation

die Bullen pinned him to the ground
he's got a gun one shouted
the other did his sworn duty
and gored him to death

Forgive us
we had hoped to spar with a white dude
but the night was dark
and his dance card was full

poem by rob g



Read the story here.

Last stanza in poem refers to this:
If only #AltonSterling had this luxury. pic.twitter.com/uueoZE5eDP

This is a false apology poem in the style of William Carlos Williams. If you are new to my blog, be aware that this is a social commentary blog. Most posts are rather frank and some are hard-hitting. Read more about this blog.

Thursday, July 07, 2016

#equallyAnglican

"We are your LGBTQ friends and family 
in the Anglican Church of Canada.
These are our stories."

#equallyAnglican logo designed by philip hamilton. Red cross in black circle, with four multi-coloured leaves, one in each quadrant

Just out in advance of this year's General Synod of the Anglican Church of Canada, the #equallyAnglican Facebook page features almost 30 images of Anglicans (see sample below) as well as videos and more, sharing the stories of lgbtq friends and family in the Anglican Church of Canada.

#equallyAnglican - picture of Pam Hill and Rwv. Sylvia Brightwell


Check it out!

Friday, July 01, 2016

depictions of god on this blog

Ah, yes. God is a man. Or at least, looks like a man.Those defaults that I've been taught all my life by the religious culture that I'm embedded in have really sunk in.



Until something shakes them up a bit:



It might seem like an innocuous tweet, but Broderick Greer is someone I pay attention to. And so after reading it, I thought to myself, oh, while I know that God is not a man with a beard, and while I have even depicted Jesus as a queer black female, I do sometimes depict God as a man with a beard.