Podcast Interview With The Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy Of The Interfaith Alliance
Mon Feb 6th, 2006 at 13:42:55 PDT
This afternoon I spoke on the telephone with The Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy. Rev. Gaddy is president of the The Interfaith Alliance and The Interfaith Alliance Foundation and serves as the Pastor for Preaching and Worship at Northminster (Baptist) Church in Monroe, Louisiana.
Rev. Gaddy is also the host of Air America's new program State of Belief.
Use the below link to download the podcast of this interview for your iPod or personal computer.
Download Gaddy.m4a
(click with the RIGHT mouse button on the hyperlink and choose "Save Target As" and save to your desktop or other folder - once downloaded click on the file to listen).
Rev. Gaddy talks in the interview about the launch of State of Belief, the mission of The Interfaith Alliance, federal budget cuts, and religious liberty. This is a must-hear conversation with one of America's leading religious figures.
Coffee Hour (Open Thread)
Mon Feb 6th, 2006 at 13:37:58 PDT
Happy Monday, everyone!
I'm on my way out the door, check back with you later!
The Clash
Mon Feb 6th, 2006 at 11:52:31 PDT
Over at Big Orange, they're going rounds about the prophet cartoons story. Soj argued the other day - citing this blog in agreement - that the controversy has been kept alive in large part by the Saudi government in order to distract from domestic issues.
MarkinSanFran responded with Juan Cole, who believes that the outrage is more of a grassroots affair. Soj responds here, asking why the reaction has been so delayed.
Why does this matter? Commentators across the map are noticing the same things: the vitriol (and now violence) of the protests, the tenuousness of Muslim claims to outrage, and the contrast between intellectually free-wheeling democracies in the West and some of the anti-democratic tendecies of Muslim (usually Arab) nations. This is, most agree, a fundamental clash of values.
More in the extended.
The Prayer Closet--a daily prayer request thread
Mon Feb 6th, 2006 at 05:14:03 PDT
Please place any prayer requests below. My tradition is Roman Catholic (though I am not a practicing Catholic), but I welcome all people to join in as the power of prayer/good energy is undeniable. If you have any favorite prayers or passages or quotes or meditations, please send them to me to share--meeshka1@msn dot com
Please do not argue about the requests of others--you may do that elsewhere!!! If you wish to offer comments of support--please do so! If you choose to rate prayer requests, please do so carefully since the person cannot respond. I like to use a "4" as an AMEN! If you disagree with a request, please just refrain from rating--this is a place where people need to feel they can reveal and unburden their hearts without being criticized. Should any trolls come our way, just surround them with prayers.
Oh so much more after the fold:
Republicans Pick Religious Liberties Foe As Majority Leader
Sun Feb 5th, 2006 at 21:33:20 PDT
The Republicans in the US House of Representatives elected John Boehner of Ohio to be the new majority leader this week. Boehner replaces arch conservative Tom DeLay. DeLay, of course, has been indicted on corruption charges. Reform advocates are worried that Boehner will be no better than his predecessor. Common Cause reports:
"The Republican caucus made clear on Wednesday that it's resistant to some of the easiest changes Congress could make to reduce the influence and access of lobbyists," said Common Cause President Chellie Pingree. "How many members of Congress have to be indicted before their colleagues 'get it?' There's a dangerous pay-to-play culture flourishing in Washington and it must be stopped. Congressman Boehner promised to be part of the solution to reform. He clearly has his work cut out for him."
Boehner's election raises a host of other concerns. His conservative outlook and ties to the Religious Right lead many to believe he will be a Delay clone.
The Rev. Welton Gaddy, president of the Interfaith Alliance and host of Air America's State of Belief, released a statement this week on these important developments in Congress:
"The election of Congressman Boehner to be Majority Leader has the potential to be a disaster for the religious liberties of all Americans. "Mr. Boehner has shown an almost total disregard for the Constitution's religious liberty guarantees and more than two centuries of American history. He has been a leader in supporting government funding of religious discrimination in federal, state, and local programs such as Head Start. And he is closely aligned with those who would impose creationism or intelligent design on our public school science classrooms.
"My fear is that Mr. Boehner might march us further down the road toward abolishing the religious liberty guarantees enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution, thus denying Americans the first freedom upon which this nation was founded. I hope this fear is not realized."
It seems clear that the Republicans have promoted another radical ideologue to lead the House. America would have been better served by a moderate voice from the Republican Party who would have reached across party lines to engage Congress in a serious commitment to working toward solutions for America's most pressing problems.
Let us pray that our fears are unfounded and that Boehner will use his position to help usher in a new time of true bipartisanship and moderate policy goals.
Torah Parsha: B'shalach
Sun Feb 5th, 2006 at 21:06:54 PDT
Exodus 13:17-17:16
To steal blatantly from Dr. Ellen Frankel's "The Five Books of Miriam" again:
Torah teaches: the Israelites journey into the desert, carrying with them their memories and the bones of Joseph. Regretting now his decision to let the Israelites go, Pharaoh pursues them with his army of chariots, hemming them in at the Sea of Reeds. Although the Israelites are protected by a divine cloud and G-d's promise of deliverance, they despair and complain to Moses. Then G-d instructs Moses to part the waters with his rod and lead the people through to safety. After the Israelites have reached the other side, the Egyptians pursue them, only to be drowned by the collapsing walls of water. In celebration, Moses sings a song of triumph. Miriam leads the women in dance and sings her own song.
The people journey on and soon complain of hunger. Then G-d miraculously provides quail and manna, instructing the people to gather only as much manna as they need for each day, with the exception of Friday, when they are to gather a double portion to last over Shabbat. And when they complain of thirst, G-d instructs Moses to strike the rock at Horeb, out of which flows fresh water.
Then the warlike nation of Amalek attacks the Israelites. And Moses holds up his rod to ensure victory as Joshua leads the people in battle. After they have won the battle, G-d promises to blot out utterly the memory of Amalek.
Death is almost as prominent in this parsha as it was in the last - although death of a different kind. Whereas last week what we saw was vengeance, even against the innocent who benefited from Israel's servitude unknowingly, this week we see killing in self-defense. It's an important distinction, but that isn't really the point I want to make. Suffice it to say that the lesson there is that anyone may kill in self-defense, but only G-d may kill to right wrongs.
Death is much on my mind right now. See, a good friend of my family died Friday night. That's where I've been - dealing with all of that. My father's been asked to serve as a pallbearer, and I have the distinct honor of offering my friend a memoriam here at SP tomorrow night. Watch this space.
That said, what has stunned my friend's family - and the point I want to offer from this parshah - is the number of people who were affected by my friend and who loved him and who are upset that he's gone. You always sort of know, in the back of your mind, that other people know your friends, but you don't realize how much they mean, and how many people cared for them, until they're gone.
It's been said that a person's not really dead as long as their name is remembered. The best example I've ever seen of this is in The Truth by Terry Pratchett, where men who died on the Trunk (roughly equivalent to the telegraph) have their names sent from station to station, up and down the line, forever.
And here, G-d promises not just to allow the Israelites to massacre their enemies in the person of Amalek, but even to blot out their memory. The worst kind of death is the death that is left unremembered. Those who have no one to mourn them, those whose graves have been forgotten (there was a great story a few weeks ago about an Oklahoma cemetery that had been found under overgrown brush that had been burned away by the recent fires), those who have no graves of their own - these are the worst, because there's no one to mourn them.
I have to ask, who will mourn the Amalekites? Yes, they were "evil," and yes, they attacked the Israelites without provocation, but still, those who lose, those who are left without chroniclers and legacies - who mourns for them?
Let it be us. Let us mourn the forgotten, the lost, and the unloved. In the end, there can be no greater political act - the act of loving-kindness, g'milut chasadim.
Coffee Hour - Sunday Book Edition
Sun Feb 5th, 2006 at 15:01:34 PDT
Are you all reading? Huh? Huh?
We have one week left til our big discussion of Nickel and Dimed. We will be at church that morning and have quite the drive back so I hope to have the diary up after 2pm EST on Sunday. Definitely earlier than dinner time.
Below the fold I have included some questions to think about while you are reading (stolen shamelessly from the Reader's Guide at the back of my copy). I haven't included all of them, just a few that I thought might be helpful to think about in advance. If you have other questions you would like to see the group tackle, please share them in the comments.
And, if you're reading something else interesting and want to share - please do so! Floor is open for book talk!
St. Gracie's
Sun Feb 5th, 2006 at 04:04:10 PDT
Worship@St. Gracie's
Sunday, February 5th, 2006
Peter Art:
Healing HandsOpen Thread
Sat Feb 4th, 2006 at 18:38:34 PDT
Here's what made Mrs P and me late getting home on Friday night. From the Lancaster Intelligencer-Journal:
State police Trooper Thomas E. Tran said a westbound 1997 Mazda B4000 pickup driven by Lois Weaver, 52, of Elizabethtown, crossed the grass median and struck an eastbound 1997 Dodge Ram pickup driven by David Amundson, of Avoca, Minn.
Amundson was pulling a trailer filled with six cows. The collison forced the cattle onto the highway.
"The cows stayed calm," Hess said. "They didn't run but instead stayed clustered together."
Firefighters corralled the cattle until a dairy farmer arrived with another trailer.
Weaver was hospitalized, which isn't funny. But the cows stuck together, thank God.
What? You got anything better? Embarrassing baby pictures, perhaps?
My Conversation with God
Sat Feb 4th, 2006 at 14:58:27 PDT
I close the lights, and snuggle down into my blankets. I am just about to fall asleep when a blinding light fills the room. I cower under the sheets, afraid to look.... I peek an eye out. Someone is seated at the end of the bed, although I feel no weight on the bed at all (no, I do not have one of those comfort foam beds)
I blink. It's still there--oh pooh.
"Ummmm--hello?"
My dog Zanzibar, simply wags her tail, as a celestial hand reaches over to pet her. Zanz sighs and rolls contentedly on her back. A lot of help she is.
Could this be? Oh no...nah...not possible. I blurble "Oh my Gawd!"
Blogging Our Blessings
Sat Feb 4th, 2006 at 08:12:54 PDT
Mail Call
What are you doing today? How about taking the time to write a Valentine--and send it to one of our soldiers?
It's not surprising that mail call is one of the brightest spots in a soldier's life, when they're so far from home and in harm's way. I know we are all unhappy with the person & policies that sent our service men & women abroad, but the soldiers themselves are doing the job they were sent to do in the best way they can.
Valentine cards for service members overseas need to be mailed by today to be sure of getting them delivered by Feb. 14, the Postal Service said.
"Cupid may have wings, but we have to rely on more conventional methods," said postal consumer advocate Delores Killette.
Tips for Military Valentines
If you don't have any personal contacts, AnySoldier.com helps connect you to service men and women. Surf over to their Where to Send page to read personal messages and requests from individual soldiers.
Mail can be a small but important blessing. I can remember times when that hopeful trip to the mailbox was the most exciting part of my day, and that was just when I was a bored college student, procrastinating on some midterm paper and hoping for a card or letter from my long-distance sweetheart. And as much as I might hate seeing bills or junk mail, it was still nice to see something in that little box.
More tips and thoughts on mail below the fold!
Coffee Hour - Weekend Edition
Sat Feb 4th, 2006 at 06:28:21 PDT
Happy Saturday, all.
