Another Parody...

The Gathering Storm Ad

Response to Gathering Storm

The TRUTH about The Gathering Storm Ads (NOM)

From the blog The Friends Of Jake

As mentioned in the post below, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has launched an ad against those awful homos to explain how gay marriage challenges their (NOM's) civil rights. The ad features

(1) A California doctor who must choose between her faith and her job
(2) A member of New Jersey church group which is punished by the state because they can’t support same-sex marriage
(3) A Massachusetts parent who stands by helpless while the state teaches her son that gay marriage is okay

Problem is, none of them are real; the audition tapes have emerged.

However, as noted on the Human Rights Campaign News Release, the features do come from actual cases (over and over again, these are the cases they cite Not many, eh?)

All three examples involve religious people who enter the public sphere, but don’t want to abide by the general non-discriminatory rules everyone else does. Both (1) and (2) are really about state laws against sexual orientation discrimination, rather than specifically about marriage. And (3) is about two pairs of religious parents trying to impose their beliefs on all children in public schools.

The real facts of each case are:
The California doctor entered a profession that promises to “first, do no harm” and the law requires her to treat a patient in need – gay or straight, Christian or Muslim – regardless of her religious beliefs. The law does not, and cannot, dictate her faith – it can only insist that she follow her oath as a medical professional.

This had nothing to do with marriage AT ALL and happened before the recent CA gay marriage kerfuffle. The fact, or otherwise, of gay marriage in California was completely irrelevant. This case was ONLY about discriminating in providing a service to a lesbian couple. The doctor had no problem providing the service to others: it's not that she was forced to do a procedure against her faith. Just that her medical license requires her, once she decides to perform a procedure, to perform it on all citizens seeking her help. Replace "gay" with "black" and you get the picture.

The New Jersey church group runs, and profits from, a beachside pavilion that it rents out to the general public for all manner of occasions –concerts, debates and even Civil War reenactments— but balks at permitting couples to hold civil union ceremonies there. The law does not challenge the church organization’s beliefs about homosexuality – it merely requires that a pavilion that had been open to all for years comply with laws protecting everyone from discrimination, including gays and lesbians.

The church group was receiving PUBLIC FUNDS to provide access to this pavilion. If it were private property, there would be no case. The case is that once they receive public funds, all the public is equally entitled to use. Solution: don't like all the public? Don't accept their money, keep private property private.

The Massachusetts parent disagrees with an aspect of her son’s public education, a discussion of the many different kinds of families he will likely encounter in life, including gay and lesbian couples. The law does not stop her from disagreeing, from teaching him consistently with her differing beliefs at home, or even educating her child in a setting that is more in line with her faith traditions. But it does not allow any one parent to dictate the curriculum for all students based on her family’s religious traditions.

Again, gay marriage is really irrelevant. The gays are present whether they are married or not. She wants them back in the closet, and silent. This is understandable, but is no different than a Catholic parent faces when their child meets people on a second (straight) marriage after divorce; or learns about contraceptives. Or a Jewish parent whose child is friends with a kid eating ham sandwiches. Values are taught at home. An essence of our society is that we keep our own values but can intermingle in the public square.

These are the facts. If you see this ad, or hear it discussed, know the facts and fight back.

Our Call to Mission - From Bruce Garner

In comment on a discussion about the impact of Vermont's Decision to allow Equal Access to Marriage, Bruce Garner, member of the Executive Committee of the Episcopal Church and former President of Integrity, get's to the heart of the matter... I excerpt this with his permission:

"My experience is that folks will continue to find any way they can to perpetuate discrimination, regardless of the area of our common life together where such discrimination might be found. I would wager that some, perhaps even on this list, regret the overturning of the miscegenation laws....though most would not admit to such attitudes.

I am of the opinion that our church has a teaching role in this discussion. And once again I return to our baptismal covenant promises. Either we baptize into full membership or we do not. If we do not, then we need to own that and clearly state the level of membership into which we are baptizing someone....regardless of the reason for that limitation.

We seem to always conveniently overlook the fact that neither of our creeds, none of the Ten Commandments, nor the Summary of the Law contain any qualifiers at all with regard to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, sexual identity, economic status, educational status, legal residency or any other adjective we might want to slip in there. They summarize our creedal beliefs. They provide direction about our relationship with God and with each other. As Rabbi Hillel noted about the Summary of the Law, all else but the summary was commentary.

We CLAIM to want to grow our church. Yet the greatest source of growth for us, namely young people, has no interest in distinctions about race, gender, sexual orientation or any of the qualifiers we continue to squabble about. We will not attract those young people into or back into the church until we listen to what they are trying to teach us: They are not interested in our reasons for the squabbles. They don't see the need for such distinctions, despite what their elders keep trying to tell them about "what the Bible says."

Time and time again, I have noted that the crux of our duties may be found in the end of the 25th chapter of Matthew's account of the Gospel. Jesus tells us to feed the hungry, water the thirsty, clothe the naked, house the homeless, visit those who are sick and in prison. He does NOT tell us to determine where they sit on any scale of doctrinal purity as a condition of our engagement in ministry to and with them. And as I have also noted before, the Letter of James makes it clear that, to paraphrase, the growling noises of empty stomachs will drown out the salvation message of the Gospel. We are hypocrites if we attempt to preach at people who are more interested
in the source of their next meal or place to sleep.

Thanks, Bruce. We must keep our eye on the prize and put it into the context of the Gospel call to us in the Episcopal Church in 2009.

Lee Cutler on Social Justice

Lee Cutler, our new Secretary/Treasurer, speaks passionately of the value of involvement in social justice in the union.

Kevin Jennings of GLSEN at NYSUT RA

Twenty years ago I stood in this room to support a resolution on Domestic Partner Benefits. I was congratulated for being brave enough to say "I am a gay man." 20 years later a plenary speaker who is an openly gay man spoke to the assembly from the podium.

Today Kevin Jennings, founder of GLSEN spoke to a riveted crowd about the need to support Dignity for All Students which has been before the the legislature for 9 years.

Kevin message was powerful in its witness to how big the problem of harassment based on perceived or real sexual orientation or gender identification is. He spoke of the role of educators in supporting and providing role models to all students who identify themselves as different.

I wish that 20 years ago I had the guts to stand before my class and say "I am a gay man."

Knowing I touched students in many ways is wonderful. I will always live with the regret that I did not do enough.