The News Of the Year In Religion

December 8, 2007 on 8:10 pm | In Liturgy, Mind of the Minister |

Dear ones,

Every year at the turn of the new year I give a sermon called “The Good News Of the Year In Religion” or just “The News Of The Year In Religion.” And you help me write it!

This year I am thinking about the presidential race and how religion is shaping up (sadly) to be a major factor in the campaigns. Note the sad spectacle of Mitt Romney pandering to the Religious Right earlier this week, doing a little tap dance about how much he loves Jay-zus and pulling out that tired old misrepresentation of the Founding Father’s original intent to “make this a Chreestiyan nashun!”
Aw geez, Mitt. And I had so much respect for… your hair.
He got thrown a few bones by some of the big guys so I hope he’s proud of hisself. I myself hear the soft thumping sounds of Joseph Smith rolling over in his grave.

So gimme some good news! Tell me about something that happened in your community (Milton, I’m looking at you!). Remind me of a little story that didn’t make it to the front pages. Help me explain, in one paragraph, what the hay-ell is going on in the Anglican communion.

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  1. My news isn’t local, but it’s about the letter written by the Muslim academics to Christian leaders, stating things they feel they have in common with Christians. Don’t have time to summarize it, but it’s a few issues back in the Christian century, in the issue with “Sound Theology” on the cover. I thought, Wowsers, wouldn’t it be cool if everyone wrote letters of what they believed themselves to have in common with other religions?

    Comment by Rev. Gidget — December 8, 2007 #

  2. One paragraph for all the kerfuffle in the Anglican Communion? You do set the bar high don’t you? :) There is always the one sentence reply:

    It’s about power and authority; keeping the “right” sort in it and the “wrong” sort out of it.

    Now I doubt most embroiled in the middle of this dust up would admit that but that’s how I see it. I’m a life long Episcopalian, discerning for the priesthood. I am sick and tired (past it really) of all the bickering and fighting over this stuff when people are still starving and dying of malaria and women are still being raped and then beaten in punishment!

    The longer explanation is it’s been building for years, even before the ordination of women by the Episcopal church in the 70s. When Episcopalians say “Everyone is Welcome” we mean it, not everyone within the church understood that (see San Joaquin) and not everyone in the rest of the Anglican Communion gets that either. (See we have this vow in our baptismal covenant wherein we promise to respect the dignity of every human being.)

    The idealistic side of me says its really about theology and scripture. The realistic, seen-too-much-of-the-ugly-underbelly-of-religion side says its all power and money.

    Sorry, probably rather longer than you wanted PB, been needing to get that lot off my chest today.

    -Tandaina

    Comment by Tandaina — December 8, 2007 #

  3. Sounds as though you already know the story of the small but heartwarming victory over religious intolerance that happened in Milton this year. If not, Perpetua was right in the thick of it and can fill you in.

    Comment by fausto — December 8, 2007 #

  4. Well, I think one thing to count as Good News for 2007 is the defeat in the constitutional convention of the constitutional amendment referendum mess on same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

    Love 1, Intolerance 0

    -m

    Comment by Michael — December 9, 2007 #

  5. I echo the thought on the letter by the 138 Muslim leaders, “A Common Word Between Us” which was met by a letter signed by 300 Christian leaders. You can read about it at http://www.acommonword.com I also blogged about it this past week, so you can find links there.

    The constitutional convention victory is likewise a big piece of good news.

    I would add the Interfaith Walk for Climate Rescue that happened in the spring http://www.climatewalk.org (who is that dapper man in the hat and stole on the far right in that picture on the front page of that web site?…but far left in politics & theology, LOL)

    Comment by Ian Lynch — December 9, 2007 #

  6. I’d say the one-sentence explanation of the current Episcopal kerfluffle is found right smack in the middle of the Book of Common Prayer:

    “Things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made….”

    Amen, alleluia.

    -.S

    Comment by Sara Miles — December 9, 2007 #

  7. Something about the shift that appears to be happening in the so called “religious right” toward more concern about envionmental issues, poverty, global stuff, etc. and less emphasis on bedroom politics? That might be best left until after the election.

    Comment by Madgebaby — December 10, 2007 #

  8. Can someone fill me in on what happened in Milton? I would love to know.

    And as much as I cannot believe I am writing this (because I believe he has flip-flopped more than a trout out of water, and many of his statements now are downright scary), for what it is worth, I found parts of Romney’s speech to be fairly inclusive, in a religious sense…did he actually say that we were founded as a Christian nation, or that the founding “fathers” drew from a Judeo-Christian heritage (which, given the background of most of them, we really have to concede…apart from Jefferson, most of them did practice in their own Christian denominations…and their Enlightenment philosophies were directly influenced by those steeped in a Judeo-Christian tradition).

    Didn’t he highlight what he found admirable/awe inspiring in Islam, Catholicism, Judaism, as well as more mainstream Protestant Christian and Mormon worship?

    Please, I’m in no way stumping for this guy on the campaign trail…I just am not sure that I am getting the fire-and-brimstone -good-old-bible-thumping -Chreestiyan vibes from him, like I am from Huckabee (whom I do not heart at all!!).

    Comment by tom — December 11, 2007 #

  9. This is a much smaller scale event than many other people have been touching on, but also one of hope. In Tallahassee Florida there is an inter-faith group called the “Nehemiah Assembly” that comes together to challenge and change many of the injustices and inequalities in our small city. The assembly boasts members from many different faiths in the area, including Catholics, Protestants, Jews and Quakers (there are others represented as well, but those are the highlights that come to mind.) This is truly an example of coming together in love, through love to change the world. Here’s a link to an article if anyone’s interested in reading more. https://thefloridacatholic.org/pt/pt2007/ptarticles/20071102_pt_interfaith_gathering.php

    Comment by Kate — December 11, 2007 #

  10. Yes, Tom, Mitt’s speech did get some things right, but he also said that “under God” belongs in the pledge and “in God we trust” belongs on our currency, AND that judges need to be religious to understand the constitution. I blogged about it at http://www.CrossLeft.com this week.

    Comment by Ian Lynch — December 11, 2007 #

  11. Oops, Cross Left is the name of the site, the link is http://www.instituteforprogressivechristianity.org/crossleft/

    Comment by Ian Lynch — December 11, 2007 #

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