Am inspired by this prayer for the Gulf. Here is an excerpt from this litany of “I am’s”:

I am a fisherman and I worry about my livelihood.
Vast areas of the ocean are closed to fishing, and
now oil is creeping into the estuaries and marshlands
that serve as fish and shrimp nurseries.
Breath to breath, body to body, we are One.
So be it.

I am a dolphin used to swimming freely around
the ocean oil rigs, but now when I dive
and surface I must go through layers of oil.
My pod and I cannot get away from it.
Breath to breath, body to body, we are One.
So be it.

This case in San Jose, CA is interesting. Briefly, the instructor at the community college discussed the origins of homosexuality. The Mercury News reports:

The student alleged that Sheldon said maternal stress caused male homosexuality, and that “there aren’t any real lesbians — that women just get tired of relationships with men.” Further, the student said that Sheldon told the class, “there are hardly any gay men in the Middle East because the women are treated very nicely.” The student also said that Sheldon added this advice: If men wanted a strong son, they should treat their wives nicely; if they wanted a “sensitive” son, they should abuse their wives.

The article quotes Stanford law professor Pamela Karlan on the free speech question.

“If Sheldon said, ‘Here is what scientists are thinking,’ that’s probably protected. But if she said ‘There aren’t any real lesbians or gay men in the Middle East,’ that isn’t protected.

As provocative as Sheldon’s alleged comments are, what’s interesting here is the line between offering opinions and storytelling versus discussing something that’s in a textbook.

We often tease out analogous events or issues when leading a discussion on a particular text. Making up a scenario or retelling a real episode or “story” often helps bring the point or question to life. Then there’s offering an opinion on something. I try not to do that, and if I do, I try to give a disclaimer that carefully distinguishes my view from, say, William James’ view. Then there’s constructing arguments from the text or the position the author is discussing (i.e., someone else’s argument) or is making himself. I try to analyze those arguments and draw them out. Both sides. Now we’re at a meta-meta discussion of the issue.

What I’m pondering is whether I’ve been guilty of the same behavior. I know, it’s highly unlikely, but I always like to “examine myself” when I’m tempted to engage in finger-pointing. I really don’t think I do what Sheldon is alleged to have done. I think it’s a reminder, though, to stay far away from this line lest one inadvertently cross it.

When I taught World Religions and had a component that encouraged students to visit other places of worship outside of their own tradition, I made it a point to remind students to read up on the religious etiquette. This takes it to another level, though, with travelers acting badly.

The daily almsgiving occupies a special place in the heart of this northern Laos town, where about 1,000 monks occupy nearly three dozen temples, and villagers rise each morning to participate in the ritual of giving them food. In the past several years, though, it has become a must-see item on visitors’ checklists. Now, hundreds of foreigners photograph, and sometimes even join in, the ceremony in ways that can degrade its sanctity, such as dressing immodestly, and standing in the way of the monks.

Someone once asked me, “Does everything have to be a theological issue?” I’ll let you guess what my answer was. But this development in 21st century worship does raise some thorny issues. I understand both sides. I think the technology can be quite useful but I also take seriously the “embodiment” or incarnational issues it raises.

Young is part of a new generation of pastors who can be in two places at one time. They are using technology — high-def videos, and even holograms — to beam their Sunday morning sermons to remote “satellite” churches that belong to their congregation.

It’s no doubt the “Trekkie” in me that sees no problem with holograms. Holodeck vacations anyone? If NASA, Buzz Lightyear, or anyone else manages to go to Mars or beyond, it might be nice to have a friendly worship service, say for healing, for death, for any number of events, while separated from home base. A more down to Earth example would be services beamed into remote military posts in Afghanistan or scientific posts in the Arctic.

On the other hand, the disembodiment, de-incarnational charge is legitimate, I think. Hermits and solitaries aside, most religions do factor in some corporate, communal elements. The question really is whether virtual community adequately fills this need. What’s the beer commercial? Great taste? Less filling? Perhaps the holo-vangelist experiment warrants a “yes” and a “no” to each of the two questions.

My concern here isn’t solely on the religious side of things. What I’m most interested in are the educational, or rather, the pedagogical issues this raises. Online learning. Can there really be such a thing? Once that question is asked, seriously asked, and even more seriously considered, one soon realizes that the answer is elusive. Social scientists, psychologists, cognitive scientists, education experts, and conflicting data notwithstanding, the matter may very well come down to where one stands on the nature, and thus, the purpose, of a human being.

See? And you didn’t think that everything had to be a theological issue.

In my mind, the issue now seems to be how long it will take for the “traditionalists” to head for Rome.

It is unclear how many people will leave the Church of England as a result of the July 12 vote, but some synod members said that defections are inevitable.

For some the central question is the biblical one, of course. But for others, the key question is the absence of equality. This is going to be an interesting discussion–at least I hope there is a discussion–within the African American church when, not if, when the Prop. 8 case arrives at SCOTUS-ville. The issue for the Church is one’s understanding of “biblical truth” and how it informs one’s vision of social justice. If that’s the paradigm, then there’s going to be some serious mental gymnastics one does on this issue. And as the pastor mentions, thinking that one has a lock on interpreting scripture can lead to an extreme case of hubris. There’s part of the rub, at least. One is sure that the Gospels, for instance, demand a certain action or attitude. A case of hubris or not?

And I thought I’d had my little rant for the day with my prior post about the Church of England and the subjugation of women. But now this. Oy.

The Vatican is preparing to update the 2001 norms that deal with priestly sex abuse of minors, in effect codifying practices that have been in place for several years.
At the same time, it will include the “attempted ordination of women” among the list of most serious crimes against church law, or “delicta graviora,” sources said.

It doesn’t make for happy reading.

Lots of folks have been predicting a split between the traditionalist and the “mainstream” members of the Church of England. One certainly cannot call them “progressives” even though the “traditionalists” would argue that they are in the mainstream. From my perspective, though, calling the others “progressive” is just too hard a label to swallow. First it was gay clergy. It’s hard to knock the CoE because of their “gay wars” when the Episcopal Church is fracturing over homosexuality, too.

But women clergy? Especially women bishops? I never imagined “the end” of the worldwide Anglican communion would come over that issue. (Yes, this clearly shows what a sheltered life I’ve led I’m afraid.) Apparently a third of the clergy in the UK are women. I’m sure it’s much, much higher in the US. But the Anglican communion is comprised of more than dear old “Britain”. The ultra-conservative Southern hemisphere is an increasingly powerful force and they don’t mind throwing their weight around. The combined forces of the traditionalist “South” and “West” are formidable indeed.

The NY Times reports that the compromise on women bishops Archbishop Williams offered the conservative wing, in part, was this:

But the votes on Saturday appeared to have blocked, perhaps conclusively, a settlement under which hard-line traditionalists might have accepted the appointment of women bishops. The proposals would have provided for a “complementary” male bishop with independent powers, working alongside a woman bishop, to minister to traditionalists unwilling to accept a woman as the head of their diocese.

Talk about “separate but unequal”. Yikes.

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Very good blog post on outing oneself as an atheist by Lauri Lebo.  This wasn’t surprising:

57 percent of U.S. respondents said they felt they would suffer at least minor social repercussions in the workplace if they came out as an atheist, compared to only 35 percent of respondents in Canada, 24 percent of Australians, 15 percent of residents of United Kingdom, and 12 percent of Western Europeans.

But this was new and news to me about Pat Tillman’s death.

In an interview with ESPN.com, Lt. Col. Ralph Kauzlarich, who led the second investigation into Tillman’s death, said the reason for the family’s dogged pursuit of the truth of his death was because they didn’t believe in God.

I must say that it requires skill to compose weekly church signs. This one (from the CNN website) had me scratching my head. It’s hard to know where to begin with this one.

If man evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?