Category: Religion

Catholic Archbishop Weakland Comes Out as Gay Man

Posted on by TL

A Catholic Archbishop from Milwaukee is coming out, according to the Human Rights Campaign:

In religion news, a former Wisconsin Archbishop is coming out as a gay man in a new book.  Archbishop Rembert Weakland says he wanted to be candid about his struggle understanding his sexual orientation, suppressing it and then finally accepting it.  He is the former head of the Milwaukee archdiocese.

Weakland’s book, A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop, will be released in June.

News that Weakland is gay is not new.  In 2002, he admitted to a relationship with another man.  From the National Catholic Reporter:

Most Catholics already know that Archbishop Rembert Weakland resigned in 2002 after it came to light that he had had an affair with a man and paid him to keep it quiet after the man made a sexual assault claim. Weakland publicly apologized for his indiscretions and received a standing ovation in Milwaukee, where he has continued to live.

The difference now is that we’ll be able to read Weakland’s own words.  An advanced review of the book in Publishers Weekly called it “the poignant journey of a soul.”  Here’s the complete review:

When Weakland resigned as Milwaukee archbishop in 2002 after revelations of a past homosexual relationship and a confidential payout, it was seen as another stunning episode in the unfolding clergy abuse scandal. It was especially painful to liberal Catholics who viewed Weakland as their champion. Weakland was publicly penitent, but other events that year—chief among them the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law in Boston—made Weakland’s drama a footnote. With this frank and well-told memoir, that’s no longer the case. A Benedictine monk, Weakland is up front about his homosexuality in a church that preferred to ignore gays, and about his failures in overseeing pedophile priests. But this is really the poignant journey of a soul, not a mea culpa about sex, with chapters on his hardscrabble boyhood and fascinating, and sometimes sobering, insights into the life of a bishop and the tensions between the American Catholic Church and the Vatican. At points the narrative has more than enough detail on the life of a globe-trotting abbot. But overall this is an invaluable historical record and a moving personal confession. (June) 

In 2002, the Catholic Church blamed gay priests for the clergy sex scandals, a scandalous lie in itself.  Pedophiles are overwhelmingly heterosexual.  Gay Catholic priests have been run out of the ministry for years.  In 1998, Rev. David Garrick, a theater professor at the University of Notre Dame, resigned, saying that the university has failed to embrace part of the broader Catholic family, those who are gay and lesbian.

Weakland has had his own issues in Milwaukee.  Was he denied the red hat because he is gay?  Who knows.

For years I have had professors tell me that upwards of 50% of all Catholic clergy are gay, and some of them are the most oppressive.

Weakland is a good man, and he has demonstrated compassion.  Read his book and get to know him yourself.

Sanctimony Incarnate: Glendon Declines Notre Dame’s Laetare Medal

Posted on by TL

The University of Notre Dame’s Observer has the news:

Mary Ann Glendon declined acceptance of the University’s Laetare Medal in a letter to University President Fr. John Jenkins Monday, saying she was “dismayed” upon hearing Notre Dame is conferring an honorary degree upon President Barack Obama.

Her decision marks the first time the award has been accepted and then declined, according to Julie Flory, a University spokesperson.

In the letter, which was printed on “First Things,” an online journal about religion, culture and public life, Glendon said she was “profoundly moved” when she was selected to receive the Laetare Medal.

This is sanctimony incarnate.  Where were all of these pious Catholics when Torturer-in-Chief George W. Bush was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame,  George W. Bush who started a war for oil, George W. Bush who is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis?

I’ll tell you where they were: these “Drill-Baby-Drill” Catholics were cheering when Bush came to Notre Dame.

As a Catholic and an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame, I offer three cheers again for Fr. Dan Jenky.  The Faculty Senate at Notre Dame supports Jenkins. The Notre Dame faculty has traditionally stood on the side of common sense, long ago expressing support for ND’s gay and lesbian students.

The Observer editors also blew it in the lead headline for this story: “Former U.S. Ambassador to Vatican ‘dismayed’ that Notre Dame will honor pro-abortion Obama.”

Nowhere does the story reference Glendon referring to President Obama as “pro-abortion.”  She may have said so in her letter to Jenky, but this is not a part of the story.

Here’s a wake-up call to the right wing: President Obama is not pro-abortion.  He’s pro-choice, a political position many believe is the best avenue to bring down the abortion numbers.  I have yet to meet the politician, pro-life, pro-choice, or moderate, who is pro-abortion.  No one wants to see more abortions.  No one wants to see a woman in the position where she even considers abortion, or feels compelled to get an abortion.

I’ll pray for Ms. Glendon, but make no mistake: this is pure, old-fashioned political grandstanding, a ploy of movement conservatives.

Maybe Glendon just wants to run for office.

Conservative Blogger Matt Drudge Near Top of Out Mag’s Power List

Posted on by TL

Out Magazine has released their Power 50 list, featuring the leading figures in the gay community.  Much to the chagrin of the far right, I’m sure, Matt Drudge makes his debut on the list in 6th place.

Right-wingers know Drudge is gay, right?

From the lead-in to the list:

Power and Money have always been close companions, and the global economic crisis has only made them more so. But the Out Power 50 list has never been only about person wealth: congressman Barney Frank rose to the top this year because of his power over national financial policy. On the other hand, since just about everyone from Warren Buffet (not on our list — he’s not gay) to Dolce & Gabanna (also not on the list — they don’t live and work primarily in North America) has taken a personal financial hit, changes in person wealth generally didn’t affect rankings.

Any surprises?  Rosie O’Donnell dropped from 31st to 42nd.  The editors are sorry to not hear from Rosie any more, “We’ll admit it: The world is quieter, and maybe even a bit more boring, without daily updates from the mouth of Rosie. (She’s even abandoned her blog, at least for the time being.)”

Jodie Foster dropped from 13th to 36, “There’s not much doing in the life of Jodie Foster these days. But as the highest-paid openly lesbian actor in Hollywood — she got $15 million for her role in The Brave One — she’s got a lot of sway.”

Facebook creator Chris Hughes makes his debut on the list at number 32, “Not only is the 25-year old Harvard grad a cocreator of one of the most triumphant starups in recent history — a little marvel called Facebook — he also helped Obama land in the White House. Hughes left Facebook in February 2007 to serve as director of online organizing for Obama and launch My.BarackObama.com (orMyBO), allowing supporters to form groups, raise funds, and plan events online. ”

Neil Patrick Harris debuts at number 28, the editors saying, “Named one of last year’s Entertainers of the Year by Entertainment Weekly, Out cover guy Harris could do no wrong wherever he showed up.”

Suze Orman moved from 24th to 22, “Personal finance guru Orman came out publicly in The New York Times two years ago, but with the economy now on life support we need her more than ever. ”

Making his debut to the list at number 7 is Anglican Bishop Gene Robinson, “Baptized Vicky Gene (his parents had been hoping for a girl), Bishop V. Gene Robinson has been a lightning rod in the debate over the church and homosexuality ever since his consecration in 2003. But while the 77 million — member Anglican church of which Robinson is a member remains deeply conflicted over the issue, his series of meetings with Barack Obama in the run-up to last year’s election was a powerful signal of the new administration’s inclusiveness. ”

In what may be the biggest surprise, or disappointment, to the right wing and conservative America in general, Matt Drudge debuts on the list at number 6:

Matt Drudge — the archly conservative 42-year-old owner of the right wing news–aggregating site Drudge Report—also happens to love Chaka Khan, The Young and the Restless, and sex with men. Though he often plays coy about his homosexuality — “I go to straight bars. I go to gay bars,” he once said — he had a long-term relationship with a male landscaper. The power of Drudge is formidable; he reports that his site averages 20 million page views a day. Unfortunately, his agenda is often antigay, anti-choice, and anti-tolerance. No one said power was always used for good.

The weird right is taking being led over the cliff by a gay man.  I suppose there’s poetic justice there somewhere.

Media Whores Randall Terry, Fred Phelps Coming to Notre Dame

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Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame!

Notre Dame President Fr. Dan Jenky will not rescind the university’s invitation to invite President Barack Obama to give the 2009 Commencement address at Notre Dame and receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree.  Jenky is right to stand by his invitation.

The invitation has drawn the attention of two media whores: radical pro-life activist Randall Terry and radical closeted anti-gay activist Fred Phelps.

Randall Terry respects life so much that he once arranged to have a dead fetus sent to Bill Clinton at the 1992 Democratic National Convention.  No word on where or how he procured the fetus.

Terry tells The Observer that his movement had, regretfully, fallen out of the spotlight, and needed a boost.  He said he first heard the news that Obama was going to Notre Dame last month:

“And when we came back, and I followed the news of President Obama’s invitation, a light went off in my head, that, that’s the line,” Terry said. It was the “golden opportunity,” as he called it, for the pro-life movement.

So Terry packed his bags and moved himself and his family – his wife and four children – to South Bend just a week after the announcement was made. And he’s staying, he said, until the Commencement ceremonies on May 17.

“We’ve already got over 20 local volunteers, within the next 10 days we will have six full time staff on the ground. Many local alumni are bending over backward to help us because of their outrage at this,” Terry said.

Terry has already held press conferences at ND.

Members of Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church have also announced their intention to picket the Notre Dame Commencement.  The group was in Pittsburgh today picketing the funerals of the three police officers shot and killed last week.

I won’t link to Phelps’ Web site — don’t care to contribute to his Google page rank.  But the site does indicate that Fred and his group will picket at ND.  Their rationale?

Obama Hates you, take U 2 Hell! E Angela Blvd & N Notre Dame Ave How appropriate that the biggest pedophile mill in the whole entire world would have Beast Obama speaking at their 2009 Commencement.

And it goes on from there.

Terry has pledged to “make a circus” of the Commencement.  Well, the stage is set.  Phelps and Terry will have to compete for the spotlight.

Who will win?

Time to call out the angels.

Three Cheers as Old Notre Dame Invites Obama

Posted on by TL

As an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame, I was very pleased to hear that the University has invited President Barack Obama to deliver the 2009 Commencement Address.  I was in the room in 1985 when then-Gov. Mario Cuomo spoke at Washington Hall, presenting his views on abortion.   I still have my copy of his embargoed talk.

I applauded the University then, and I applaud them now as they invite the President to address the graduates.

Some Catholic groups are not so happy.  From The Observer online:

Several religious and pro-life groups nationwide are expressing outrage and threatening to protest in South Bend after the University announced President Barack Obama will deliver the 2009 Commencement address at Notre Dame’s graduation ceremony May 17.

Assistant Vice President for News and Information Dennis Brown told The Observer a rumor that University switchboards were overwhelmed with callers and had to be shut down Friday night is false – a claim made by a March 20 article on pewsitter.com.

Although many outside groups are protesting University President Fr. John Jenkins’ decision, The Observer reported in an Oct. 8, 2008 article that Obama led the student body with 52.6 percent of the vote in a mock election held by student government, in which 2,692 undergraduates and graduate students voted.

Further along in the article, we read, “A representative in the office of Cardinal Francis George, president of the USCCB, said Cardinal George declined to comment on the issue because Notre Dame is out of the organization’s jurisdiction.”

I’m sure the Bishop John D’Arcy of the Fort Wayne-South Bend diocese will weigh in.  He’s a frequent critic of the University.  But the University is doing the right thing.

I first met President Obama when he was running for the United States Senate, and was immediately convinced that he is a man of outstanding character and intellect.  I consider him a man of tremendous compassion.

I’m very proud of my Alma Mater today.  Three Cheers for Old Notre Dame!

Aquan Lewis Dies in the Depth of Winter

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Aquan Lewis died in the depth of winter.  We need to know why.

But first, we need to mourn his loss.  All of us.

Police and school officials are releasing very little information, but the news today is sobering.  The 10-year-old student from Oakton Elementary School in Skokie took his own life.

From the Chicago Tribune:

An autopsy today ruled the death of a boy found unresponsive Tuesday in a boys bathroom at an Evanston elementary school a suicide, officials said.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office made the ruling today and said 10-year-old Aquan Lewis, of Skokie, died by hanging, an office spokeswoman said.

Lewis was pronounced dead at 4:05 a.m. this morning at Children’s Memorial Hospital, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

A janitor at the school had said the boy had been taken down from a hook in the restroom on Tuesday.

Speaking at a news conference at Evanston-Skokie School Dist. 65headquarters at noon, police and school officials steadfastly refused to discuss even the most basic details.

Supt. Hardy Murphy expressed sorrow over the death of a pupil, but declined to say much more. “If there is someone to blame, I have to take it,” he said, because the death occurred while he is chief of the district.

Commander Tom Guenther, a spokesman for Evanston police, remained equally tight-lipped. He refused to give a time line of when the boy was first noticed missing from class, who found him or what time he was found.

We need to know more about what happened to this young man.  There are rumors circulating that need a response before a tragic situation gets even worse.   Was Aquan a victim of bullying?  What could lead a child so young to hang himself?  Was it really suicide?  Family and friends say no, it couldn’t be.

We need to know.

This story is even more sad given the promise this young man showed, the spark:

Oakton parent Candace Smith of Evanston visited Aquan’s home shortly after the morning meeting at the school. Smith said she and Aquan’s mother had grown up together.

Smith said she was struggling to make sense of his death. She described Aquan as a good student who enjoyed school, loved to read and played sports.

“This was a young boy [who] was loved and respected. This is a tragedy for this world because we don’t know what he would have become,” Smith said.

The boy had just finished his first season of tackle football with the Evanston Junior Wildkit Football program. At just over 80 pounds, he was assigned to the flyweights team, where he rotated between running back, receiver, cornerback and safety, said program director Craig Thompson.

His speed and athleticism made him a versatile player, but the friendships he developed with his two dozen teammates were just as striking.

“He started out more reserved, but he developed a good camaraderie just by being around other folks,” Thompson said. “He was getting better every week.”

Why would any of our children kill themselves?  What more do we need to do to ensure they don’t?

I’ll not waste time with unnecessary speculation, but police and school officials need to be more forthcoming.  We need to know what happened to this young man.  Why did this child, so full of promise, choose to take his own life?

Meanwhile, we mourn with the family and friends of Aquan Lewis, and offer our prayers and support.

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” -Albert Camus

Rev. Warren: Obama’s First Big Mistake

Posted on by TL

Barack Obama and Rev. WarrenNo matter how try to I spin this in my mind, it still makes no sense.

Why did President-elect Barack Obama invite Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at his inauguration?  Warren is the senior pastor of Saddleback Church in southern California, a man who supported Proposition 8 in California, the California constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

Why him?  What kind of pandering is this?  Why honor Homophobia-incarnate front-and-center on such an historic occasion?

Joe Solmonese, President of the Human Rights Campaign, perhaps put it best in an open letter to the President-elect:

Let me get right to the point.  Your invitation to Reverend Rick Warren to deliver the invocation at your inauguration is a genuine blow to LGBT Americans.   Our loss in California over the passage of Proposition 8 which stripped loving, committed same-sex couples of their given legal right to marry is the greatest loss our community has faced in 40 years.  And by inviting Rick Warren to your inauguration, you have tarnished the view that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans have a place at your table.

Rick Warren has not sat on the sidelines in the fight for basic equality and fairness.  In fact, Rev. Warren spoke out vocally in support of Prop 8 in California saying, “there is no need to change the universal, historical definition of marriage to appease 2 percent of our population … This is not a political issue — it is a moral issue that God has spoken clearly about.”  Furthermore, he continues to misrepresent marriage equality as silencing his religious views. This was a lie during the battle over Proposition 8, and it’s a lie today.

We will forever remember Bill Clinton’s First Big Mistake, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” his infamous collapse as Commander-in-chief before the far right forces of the military?

Has Warren undergone a conversion in the last few weeks?  The HRC has been calling for religious leaders to join the fight against Homophobia for years.  Warren is Homophobia personified.

Sorry, I don’t get it, Barack.

Who’s next?  Bob Jones University President Steven Jones for evening prayer?

Let the pandering begin.

Catholic Bishops to Confront Obama on Abortion

Posted on by TL

Obviously perplexed and upset at their demonstrable lack of influence during the presidential election, the one-issue United States Catholic Bishops are determined to confront President-elect Barack Obama on the issue of abortion.

Several bishops issued statements before the election expressing their belief that “Catholics could not in good conscience vote for a candidate who favored abortion rights after Obama pledged to pass legislation that would overturn state’s restrictions on abortion such as late-term abortion bans and requirements of parental consent,” according to the Chicago Tribune.

The problem, of course, is that the bishops, as a whole, view the abortion isolated from all other life issues, including, but not limited to, sex education, contraception, welfare, health care, etc.

Here’s the news from the Chicago Tribune:

In a direct challenge to President-elect Barack Obama, America’s Roman Catholic bishops vowed on Tuesday to accept no compromise for the sake of national unity until there is legal protection for the unborn.

About 300 bishops, gathered in Baltimore for their national meeting, adopted a formal blessing for a child in the womb and advised Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George, president of the conference, as he began drafting a statement from the bishops to the incoming Obama administration. That document will call on the administration and Catholics who supported Obama to work to outlaw abortion.

This is going nowhere.  The bishops have a problem here. Obama won the Catholic vote.

From Zenit:

More than half of U.S. Catholics voted Tuesday for a presidential candidate at odds with the Church’s stance on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage, despite the urging of more than 50 heads of dioceses to support pro-life candidates.

Brian Burch, co-founder and president of the Catholic-based think-tank Fidelis, spoke with ZENIT about the results of the election, and why he thinks a majority of Catholics voted for Democratic candidate Barack Obama, an admitted supportor of abortion rights.

The majority of Catholics get what the bishops are missing: life is bigger than one issue.

There was a time when the Catholic Church defined the beginning of life differently.  St. Augustine, for example, taught that human life began when an infant draws its first breath.  Augustine did not object to terminating a pregnancy.

Listen, I don’t favor abortion at all.  Frankly, I don’t know anyone who does.  No one wants to see unwanted pregnancies, and I know no one who actually wants to see more abortions.  But when the bishops insist that the only solution to life issues in this world is a law forbidding abortion, they are naive.

How do we build a society where there are fewer unwanted or unplanned pregnancies, and how do we support those who do become pregnant in these situations?  How do we create a world where there are fewer rapes, where there is less violence against women, where there is no incest?  Do we do this by passing laws that turn every pregnant woman and her doctor into criminals?

Absolutely not.  While that is an easy solution, it will not stop abortion, nor will it ensure that our society has “respect” for life.

The Catholic bishops have lived long without women in their lives.  This was not always the case.  There was a time when bishops and popes married happily and had families.

That was a long, long time ago, and they are out of touch on this one.

Vote “NO” on Proposition 48 in Colorado

Posted on by TL

From our friend, Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomer:

In Colorado, Proposition 48 is up for vote on Tuesday. It is a rather simple statement; here it is in its entirety on the Colorado ballot:

Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution defining the term “person” to include any human being from the moment of fertilization as “person” is used in those provisions of the Colorado constitution relating to inalienable rights, equality of justice, and due process of law?

Basically, this amendment to the Colorado Constitution would define a person as an legal entity at the moment a human sperm fertilizes an egg.

Prop 48 is ridiculous for any number of legal reasons. For example, if a woman who is pregnant for a day has a few drinks which cause damage to the embryo, can she be charged with reckless endangerment? What if she takes medicine that saves her but endangers the embryo? If I drive a pregnant woman around, can I use the HOV 3 lanes?

Phil has many good points, but the most important thing to remember is this:

The real point is, Prop 48 isn’t about science, and it’s not even about legal issues. It’s about religion. This proposition is obviously based solely on religious beliefs; there is little reason outside of that to even bring the argument up that a fertilized egg is entitled to rights as a human being. It is only the belief that the human soul enters the cell at that moment that this is an issue at all.

Proposition 48 is religion trying to create legislation, pure and simple.

I happen to believe religion is a good thing.  However, when “religion” is used to abuse, that’s out of line.

Stand up for what’s right.  Vote “NO” on Proposition 49.