Colleagues List, May 15th, 2010

Vol. V.  No. 38

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Edited by Wayne A. Holst


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Blogsite:

http://colleagueslist.blogspot.com/


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Colleague Comments on:

"Gandhi and Puxley"
(May 8th CL Issue)


May 8th, 2010

Wayne:

"I don't read everything, but I do scroll down to see what
you have. And this week, I got trapped by considerably more
of the pieces you chose to include. Well done."

Jim Taylor

___


May 8th, 2010

Wayne,

"Thanks for the Puxley remembrance. Many good memories!"

Ontario Friend


*****

Special Item:

Book Notice -

The Language God Talks:
On Science and Religion,
by Herman Wouk

___


Colleague Contributions:

Mark Noll
Ronald B. Mayan

___


Net Notes:

Taize at Cluny
Moroccan Crackdown
Why We Lie So Well
Lord Jesus Christ Hit by Car
Update on the Catholic Crisis
Second Jesus Book by Pope Out Soon
Ecumenical Congress Opens in Germany
Priest's Legacy Survives and Divides Mexico
Laura Bush Supports Gay and Abortion Rights
Lambeth Palace Exhibits 400 Years of History

_____


Global Faith Potpourri:

Fourteen Stories from
Ecumenical News International

___


Quotes of the Week:

Dorothy Height
C.S. Lewis
Edward Gilbreath

___


On This Day (May 9th  - May 14th)

May  9, 1994 - S. Africa chooses Nelson Mandela as president
May 11, 1973 - Charges Dismissed Against Daniel Ellsberg
May 12, 1943 - Axis forces in North Africa Surrender
May 13, 1981 - John Paul II wounded by Turkish assailant
May 14, 1948 - Israel born as British rule ends in Palestine

___


Closing Reflection - Robert Funk

(end)


*****


Dear Friends:

In February, I introduced you to a new book by
94-year-old author Herman Wouk - "The Language
God Talks." This week, I offer a book notice of
this "summing up" of a famous writer's views on
the relationship between faith and science.

There are many books of this nature on the market
today, but few reflect the decades of reflection
that this one does. I began reading Wouk many years
ago and was pleased to learn that he is still alive
and as cogent as ever. We can learn from his
Jewish perspective as well.

___


Colleague Contributions:

Mark Noll - introduces us to eleven theologians from
almost two millennia of church history that we should
know more about. Thanks, Mark. (Christianity Today)

Ronald B. Mayan - suggests to the pastors and other
church leaders of his synod (Alberta and Territories
Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada)
that during this 480th year of the Augsburg Confession
(the formative teachings of Lutheranism and also of
Protestantism in general) they might consider reading
several pages a day. Since this is both challenging
and historically significant material, I thought that
many on Colleagues List might be interested too.
Thanks, Ron (Bishop's E-mail List)

___


Net Notes:

"Taize at Cluny" - Significant, international faith
communities - both ancient and modern - are reflected
in this recent linking of Taize and Cluny, both located
near each other in Burgundy, France (News From Taize)

"Moroccan Crackdown" - Christian witness in Muslim lands
is never easy. Here is an example of what is currently
happening in the north African nation of Morocco.
(Christianity Today)

"Why We Lie So Well" - Moral issues are not the sole
purview of religions, as this article from an important
popular newspaper reminds us (Wall Street Journal)

"Lord Jesus Christ Hit by Car" - a quirky tale, to add
a little comic relief amid our serious reflections
(The Huffington Post)

"Update on the Catholic Crisis" - The pope is becoming
more forthright in his comments and actions re the need
for serious church reform. This week, en route to Lourdes
in Portugal, Benedict had some important things to say to
reporters. I provide material on the wider story by the
BBC, New Catholic Times, the New York Times, Sojourners
and National Catholic Reporter)

"Second Jesus Book by Pope Out Soon" - three years ago,
the pope published his first of several planned books on
Jesus. Catholic News Service, Washington asked me to review
this book and it appeared in at least thirty Catholic
newspapers and on websites around the world (at that point
I stopped counting as this was far and away the largest
circulation distribution of a review of mine!) Now, the
pope is publishing his second book in the series, and I
wanted you to know about it (Cathnews Asia)

"Ecumenical Congress Opens in Germany" - German Christians
are proud of their annual Kirchentag (ecumenical church
days) co-sponsored by the Evangelical (Protestant) and
Catholic churches in that country. This year the event
is taking place in Munich (Zenit News from Rome)

"Priest's Legacy Survives and Divides" - Marcial Maciel
Degollado, now-deceased founder of the Legionaries of Christ,
has been publicly disgraced and his errors acknowledged by
the order he founded. Still, he remains a hero to many in his
home country, Mexico. (New York Times)

"Laura Bush Supports Gay and Abortion Rights" - Some months
back, colleague John Stackhouse commented on the inability
of Conservative Christianity to provide a united front
against the gay issue. The fact is, the gay issue is a
generational divide and older members of modern societies
are also having second thoughts. Laura and George Bush
reflect this contemporary confusion (The Telegraph, UK)

"Lambeth Palace Exhibits 400 Years of History" - travelers
to London this summer will be able to visit  the historic
residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. A major centre of
the Church of England and of Anglicanism (The Guardian, UK)

_____


Global Faith Potpourri:

Enjoy the fourteen stories I have gleaned this
week from Ecumenical News International, Geneva.

___


Quotes of the Week:

Dorothy Height, C.S. Lewis and Edward Gilbreath
provide snippets of wisdom, provided as usual
by Sojourners Online.

___


On This Day (May 9th  - May 14th)

This week, we remember the following historic events:

South Africa chose Nelson Mandela as president (1994)
Charges Dismissed Against Daniel Ellsberg (1973)
Axis forces in North Africa Surrender (1943)
John Paul II wounded by Turkish assailant (1981)
Israel born as British rule ends in Palestine (1948)

___


Closing Reflection

Robert Funk, founder of the Jesus Seminar - anathema to
some, guiding light to others - offers us something to
think about as we conclude this week's issue.

_____


Blossoms are about to pop open on our backyard crab
apple tree.

This is always a sign of good things to come...

On that note, I conclude my introduction to what I
hope is a sign of good things to come in this issue
of Colleagues List!


Wayne


******************


SPECIAL ST. DAVID'S LINKS

Contact us at: asdm@sduc.ca (or) admin@sduc.ca
St. David's Web Address - http://sduc.ca/

Listen to audio recordings of Sunday services -
http://sduc.ca/services.htm




___


ST DAVID'S ACTS WEB PAGE

Created and maintained by Colleague Jock McTavish
http://stdavidscalgary.net/

__


ANNOUNCING:

ST. DAVID'S 50th ANNIVERSARY
TOUR OF CELTIC LANDS - 2011

We plan a 15-day tour of special Celtic sites
in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England -
April 26th - May 10th, 2011.

A highlight of the tour will be a visit to
St. David's Cathedral, Pembrokeshire.

Tour reservations - $300. Sale opens May 2nd.
Call church office for details: 403-284-2276

ALL 36 PLACES ON THE TOUR HAVE BEEN SOLD OUT

We are starting a waiting list for this trip;
also, the possibility of a second tour in 2012


*****


THE FUTURE OF FAITH by Harvey Cox

Monday Night Study, January 18th - March 29th, 2010

An insightful description of where Christian faith
is moving in the twenty-first century.

Follow our class videos, power point presentations,
other notes and study resources. Bookmark this link:

THIS PROGRAM IS NOW COMPLETED.
WATCH THIS SITE FOR CONCLUSIONS AND UPDATES.

http://www.1journey.net/stdavids/SD/BookStudy/24/24.htm


___


STUDY ARCHIVES

A collection of twenty-five+ studies conducted since 2000 can
quickly be found at: http://bookstudies.stdavidscalgary.net/

This collection of study resources represents a decade of
Monday Night Studies at St. David's, plus extra courses too!

You are welcome to use our course outlines, class notes and
resource pages in your personal and group reflections.


********************************************************


SPECIAL ITEM

Book Notice:

THE LANGUAGE GOD TALKS:
On Science and Religion,
by Herman Wouk. Little Brown, 2010.
183 pages. ISBN #978-0-316-07845-0.

Publisher's Promo:

"This book will interest any person of faith who has
followed Wouk's storied career and read his fiction."
(Publishers Weekly )

Here is Herman Wouk's gem on navigating the divide between
science and religion. In one rich, compact volume, Wouk draws
on stories from his life as well as on key events from the
20th century to address the eternal questions of why we are
here, what purpose faith serves, and how scientific fact fits
into the picture. He relates wonderful conversations he's had
with scientists such as Richard Feynman, Murray Gell-Mann,
Freeman Dyson, and Steven Weinberg, and brings to life such
pivotal moments as the 1969 moon landing and the Challenger
disaster.

Brilliantly written, "The Language God Talks" is a
scintillating and lively investigation and a worthy addition
to the literature.

Others say:

"In this book, as in his previous ones, whenever Herman Wouk
speaks of God it is always with both exquisite curiosity and
warmth." (Elie Wiesel)

"In a crowded book market filled with self-serving and redundant
theories about humankind's place in the grand scheme, it is rare
to encounter an original, honest, charming voice. Such is the case
with Wouk's latest work... Wouk's humility, humor and insight make
the book a joy to read and a wonder to contemplate... Authentic,
accessible prose mixed with real insight." (Kirkus Reviews )

"... as engaging as [Wouk's] megaselling historical novels....
Hard not to like." (Booklist)

___


Author's Comment:

"The Language God Talks" is a sort of summing up, Wouk told
Publishers Weekly. "Science is not a new topic for me. I have
included it in many of the subplots of my books over the years."

Because I am a man of letters (humanities) readers may not
realize the lengths to which I have gone to get a handle on
scientific methods.

"I had to do deep research, extensive reading of science books
and traveling to interview many scientists... For me, dabbling
in science served to strengthen my own faith."

(Wouk is now 94 and it took him four years to write the book)

"I hope its brevity, 40,000 words, may help this new volume
appeal to a general audience of non-specialists."

"The book starts with three chapters on science, followed by
five on my faith. The parts on science took most of the time,
as I battled with my ignorance all the way...

"... but the task totally engaged me. I never tired, never once
thought of giving it up... I thought about my first meeting with
Feynman, when he asked me if I knew calculus and I admitted I
didn't. "You better learn it," he said...

"It's the language God talks."

_____


My Thoughts:

"The Winds of War" (1971) and "War and Remembrance" (1978) are
two of the author's books I remember reading years ago; also,
"This is My God." (1973, revised edition)

The first two were profound philosophical reflections on love,
war and coming-of-age. The other was a theological rationale for
his Jewish faith.

As I reflect back, Wouk was one of the first authors I read who
struggled to integrate both secularity and spirituality. He wrote
out of an American Jewish ethos when many of the leading Jewish
thinkers of his time had either lost their faith or had serious
reservations about it because of the holocaust.

Wouk was always rock-solid in terms of his faith even though he
was well aware of the thinking of its cultured despisers.

In chapter six, Wouk says that S. Y. Agnon once remarked
"Remember Herman Wouk, we are storytellers, Stories, pictures,
people! No thoughts...

"Wise old Agnon, Israeli Nobelist in literature, pointed out the
way I came to assume to meet the challenge of science and faith.
Neither a theologian nor a scientist, I tell stories. I continue
to integrate the New Drama and the Old in my mind and spirit, not
by reasoning about faith and science, but by creating pictures."

Wouk calls up pictures from many of his books from over the years
- fiction and non-fiction - summarizing a lifetime of writing.

Books like "The Caine Mutiny," "Marjorie Morningstar" and
"Youngblood Hawke" were his attempts to struggle with issues of
faith in real situations. Some books, not all,  were Jewish in
character and setting. Yet, all dealt with universal themes
concerning life's meaning.

Wouk believed that he had to discern these meanings from
within the context of his own Talmudic heritage, and that other
writers should speak from their spiritual traditions as well.

Still, he did not hesitate to encounter those who rejected
a faith tradition as he believed he had much to learn from
secular, scientific people too.

"Summing up" books like this one are helpful because they
contain a lifetime of accrued wisdom and the experience of
a man who lived his faith authentically in the context of
his times.

Read his book for a wise and engaging perspective.

____


Read the Wikipedia article on Herman Wouk:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Wouk

____


Buy the book from Amazon.ca:
http://tinyurl.com/2a4mcty


*****


COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

MARK NOLL

Review:

"From Origen to Barth:
Eleven Theologians You Should Know"

Books and Culture
May 11th, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/29ykf2v

_____


RONALD B. MAYAN

(From) Bishop's Letter for June, 2010

"Let me challenge you then, in this 480th anniversary year,
to read the Augsburg Confession in the month of June --
two pages of Brother Philipp's (Melanchthon's) writing every
day.

Here's the address of the website:

http://www.lcms.org/graphics/assets/media/LCMS/augsburg.pdf

+Ron

Synod of Alberta and the Territories
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada

___

Wikipedia article on Philipp Melanchthon:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philipp_Melanchthon


*****


NET NOTES

TAIZE AT CLUNY
May 8th, 2010

On Sunday 2 May, to mark the 1100 anniversary of the
foundation of Cluny, the community led a prayer in the
transept of the abbey church:

http://www.taize.fr/en_article10115.html

Brother Alois recalled that Taizé, while seeking its own
way, had been inspired by the monks of Cluny, especially
by their capacity "to cross borders in Europe", which was
specially significant just before "Europe Day" on 9 May.

Applying this challenge to welcoming young people in Taizé,
he added, "We brothers were led, without having planned it,
to live an international openness day after day. And with
young people from all continents we try to discover the inner
wellsprings that enable us to live as one human family, despite
cultural differences."

Brother Alois also recalled a little known fact: "When, in 1960,
the prefect of Saone-et-Loire and the Bishop of Autun, by mutual
agreement, asked whether our Taizé Community would be willing to
relocate and settle in the walls of the Abbey of Cluny, Brother
 Roger declined the offer. The spiritual heritage of Cluny would
have been too heavy for our little community to bear..."


*****


MOROCCAN CRACKDOWN

Expulsion of Christians surprises missiologists.
by Bobby Ross Jr.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/2fsvgkx


*****


WHY WE LIE SO WELL

Wall Street Journal
May 11th, 2010

New studies suggest that lying starts young ‹ as young
as 2 years old ‹ and that what happens in our brains
when we lie is different in adults than children.

http://tinyurl.com/35euuuw


*****


LORD JESUS CHRIST HIT BY CAR
BRITTANY CANTARELLA CHARGED

The Huffington Post
May 7th, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/2fcl9nu


*****


UPDATE ON THE CATHOLIC CRISIS

Pope Accepts Bishop's Resignation

BBC
May 8th, 2010

Pope Benedict accepts the resignation of German Bishop
Walter Mixa, who has been accused of hitting children.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/europe/8669747.stm

_____


Power and Authority the Real Issues

New Catholic Times
May 10th, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/2cjffnq

_____


Pope Blames Scandal on Church's Sin

BBC
May 11th, 2010

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8674350.stm

_____


New York Times
May 12th, 2010

Pope Issues His Most Direct Words to Date on Abuse
by Rachel Donadio

Pope Benedict XVI said that the "sins inside the church"
posed the greatest threat to Catholicism.

http://tinyurl.com/22vtvhx


_____


Reflection on the Pope's Comments

Sojourners Online
May 12th, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/2f7g9s3

___


On the crisis, Benedict XVI changes the tone

National Catholic Reporter
May 12th, 2010

by John L. Allen Jr.

Lisbon, Portugal -- Not long ago, there was a brief flurry
of speculation in the Italian media hinting that Benedict XVI
was insulated from the full gravity of the sexual abuse crisis
swirling around his papacy. Tuesday morning, however, Benedict
XVI seemed to show that he gets it just fine.  Read more ...

Cut and paste this link into your browser/address bar
http://ncronline.org/node/18259

_____


Ecumenical News International
News Highlights
13 May 2010

Pope's words on scandal offer hope say some Italian media

Rome (ENI). Italian media, frequently sceptical about the
way the Roman Catholic Church has been dealing, or failing
to deal, with a continuing child sexual abuse scandal, have
seen some hope in the way Pope Benedict XVI is now dealing
with the problem. When the pontiff made a call for
"penitence" and "justice", and described the sexual abuse
of children by Catholic priests as a "truly terrifying"
example of "sin within the church", some Italian newspapers
commented favourably. Benedict made his remarks on 11 May
to reporters accompanying him on his flight to Portugal.
The Pope's comments are being seen as countering some
statements by other church leaders, who had blamed
controversy over paedophile priests on hostile press
coverage. One senior cleric described the coverage as,
"petty gossip".


*****


SECOND BOOK ON JESUS BY POPE OUT SOON

Cathnews Asia
May 11th, 2010

Pope completes 'Jesus of Nazareth' second volume

Pope Benedict has completed the drafting of the second
volume of his book "Jesus of Nazareth" which has now
been sent to the publishers.

Work on the "Jesus of Nazareth" series began in 2003,
when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Read more...

http://www.cathnewsasia.com/?p=14095


*****


ECUMENICAL CONGRESS OPENS IN GERMANY

Zenit News from Rome
May 13th, 2010

Evangelicals and Catholics Co-Sponsor Event

http://www.zenit.org/article-29252?l=english%3E


*****


A PRIEST'S LEGACY SURVIVES, AND DIVIDES, IN MEXICO
by Marc Lacey and Elisabeth Malkin

Despite revelations about sexual abuse by the Rev.
Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Legionaries of
Christ, his influence remains powerful in his home
country.

http://tinyurl.com/2bychcp


*****

LAURA BUSH ADMITS SUPPORT
FOR GAY AND ABORTION RIGHTS

The Telegraph UK
May 14th, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/2cs8w8m

*****


LAMBETH PALACE TO EXHIBIT
400 YEARS OF HISTORY

The Guardian (UK)
May 13th, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/25e4cwb


*****


GLOBAL FAITH POTPOURRI

Ecumenical News International
News Highlights
07 May 2010

'Just peace' needed in Afghanistan,
says world churches' leader

Geneva (ENI). Seeking military victory against the
Taliban will not guarantee a "just peace" for the
people of Afghanistan, says the head of the world's
largest grouping of churches. "Violence will only
come to an end if at the same time we build up Afghan
society," the Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary
of the Geneva-based World Council of Churches, said in
an interview with the Rheinischer Merkur, aGerman
weekly newspaper. Tveit was interviewed in advance
of the 12-16May Ecumenical Kirchentag, or church
convention, in Munichorganizedby German Protestant
and Roman Catholic groups. The WCC leader is tospeak
at the opening of the five-day event, which is
expected to drawmore than 100 000 participants.
The military conflict inAfghanistanhas been hotly
debated in Germany in recent months.

_____


S. African 'green bishop' wants rich
to repay 'ecological debt'

Johannesburg (ENI).  South Africa's "green bishop" says
those who have exploited the African continent should
repay an "ecological debt." "Wenow know that we can have
clean energy, and companies that have contributed to the
climate change must pay," Anglican Bishop Geoffrey Davies
told Ecumenical News International during a meeting in
Johannesburg to discuss how churches might influence
future United Nations discussions on climate change.
Davies, known as the "green bishop" for his work on the
environment, is the founder and executive director of the
 South African Faith Communities' Environment Institute,
which brings together people from many faith groups who
are committed to environmental issues.

_____


Evangelicals pray, Catholics urge talks
to solve Nicaragua tension

Managua (ENI/ALC). Pentecostals and Roman Catholic
bishops in Nicaragua have calling for calm amid
escalating tensions in the Central American nation.
The Nicaraguan Evangelical Alliance (AENIC), which
represents a large section of the country’s Pentecostal
churches, on 2 May convened a prayer vigil in the Bible
Square of Managua, calling for an end to the violence
and the political,economic and social instability in
Nicaragua, ALC, the Latin America and Caribbean
Communication Agency, reported. In recent days
supporters of President Daniel Ortega were reported
to have provoked protests against opposition party
attempts to prevent his re-election in 2011.


*****


10 May 2010


ENI clinches award as top religion news agency

Geneva (ENI). Ecumenical News International has won an Award
of Excellence as the "best in class" religion news service
from the Associated Church Press. "What impressed me about
ENI news is the breadth and depth of the reporting," said award
judge Leon Alligood, a journalism professor at Middle Tennessee
State University. "The writing was well edited and engaging."
The award for work done in 2009 was presented on 8 May to Peter
Kenny, editor-in-chief of Geneva-based ENI news, at the annual
ACP awards ceremony in Arlington, Virginia. ENI news also
received a second award of excellence and two awards of merit
for its reporting.

_____


Cardinals at odds with each other
over sexual abuse allegations

Rome/Trier (ENI). The Vatican has become embroiled in new
allegations about dealing with clergy sexual abuse after the
archbishop of Vienna was reported to have accused a senior
member of the curia of supporting a cover up. At the same time,
leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Germany have confirmed
that Walter Mixa, the former bishop of Augsburg, whose resignation
was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI on 8 May, is being investigated
by the state attorney in Bavaria over sexual abuse allegations.

_____


Church campaigners join multi-nation
survey of British election

London (ENI). While British politicians were negotiating after
parliamentary elections gave no party an absolute majority, a
team of international observers expressed surprise at the way
the poll was held. The 11-member team from the Commonwealth -
a group of 54 nations, mostly former British colonies - included
members of Roman Catholic justice and peace groups. "Kenya may
not be a paragon of democracy yet, but we can offer Britain some
perspectives that may be of value," Kenyan lawmaker Ababu Namwamba
was quoted by The Times newspaper as saying after the 6 May
election.


*****


11 May 2010

Russian Patriarch avoids 'Stalin'
as dictator debate simmers

Moscow (ENI). Church debate in Russia continues to simmer
over the role of  dictator Josef Stalin, but Patriarch Kirill
I of the Russian Orthodox Church has said in a Moscow sermon
that the Second World War was redemptive for his country,
while making  no mention of the former Soviet ruler's name
in his address. "The church does not look at the war as
historians or politicians do," said Kirill on 9 May at the
Church of Christ the Saviour. "The church has a particular
stance, a particular spiritual point of view." The Patriarch
said he believed the war had redeemed Russia from its sins.
"We know what took place among our people after the bloody
events of the beginning of the 20th century," said Kirill.
"How many lies, how much evil and human suffering there was."
The patriarch did not mention by name Stalin, who led the
Soviet Union during the Second World War, but the church
leader did take issue with historians who equate Nazi
Germany with Stalin-era Russia.

_____


Kenyan churches launch 'No' campaign with prayer rally

Nairobi (ENI). Christians in Kenya have held a national
prayer rally in support of their campaign for a "No" vote
in a pending constitutional referendum. At the 8 May event,
organized by Protestant, Evangelical and Pentecostal
churches, Christians waved red cards, singing and dancing
to gospel music to signal their rejection of the proposed
draft constitution. The referendum is scheduled for August.
"I urge you to have a dream; to have a dream of another Kenya
founded on justice and equality before the law, to have a
dream where all people embrace and practice their religious
beliefs without inference," said the Rev. Peter Karanja,
general secretary of the National Council of Churches of
Kenya.


_____


German churches gather against backdrop of sexual abuse

Trier (ENI). Ahead of an ecumenical convention in Germany
that tens of thousands of Roman Catholics and Protestants
will attend, the head of the World Council of Churches has
said that the current worldwide scandal of sexual abuse by
clerics has implications for all Christian denominations.
"It is not only a problem for the Catholic Church," said
the  Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, WCC general secretary, who is
a keynote speaker at the 12-16 May Ecumenical Kirchentag
(church convention) in Munich. "For the public as a whole,
it is a simply question of the credibility of the churches,"
Tveit said in an interview with the German Protestant news
agency epd.


*****


12 May 2010

'Reach out to other faiths' call made at
German church gathering

Munich, Germany (ENI). There has been a call on the opening
day of an ecumenical convention gathering thousands of people
in Germany for churches to expand their cooperation to include
members of other faiths.. "It is no longer just a question of
dialogue between Catholics and Protestants," Eckhard Nagel,
the Protestant co-president of the Ecumenical Kirchentag
(church convention), told journalists on 12 May in Munich
in southern Germany. Nagel said that inter religious dialogue
would have a "special place" at the five-day event, and noted
that Munich is sometimes called a "city of religions" because
of its faith make up. "The important signal that will go out
from Munich is that inter religious contact does not mean
inevitable tension or even a smouldering fire of perpetual
conflict," said Nagel. Rather it is, "an opportunity to learn
from each other, and to seek solutions together for issues
that are not always straightforward".


_____


S. African cleric warns,
'World Cup will increase sex trafficking'

Cape Town (ENI). The World Cup soccer tournament is due to
kick-off on 11 June in South Africa and the president of the
Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Buti
Tlhagale, has warned that sex trafficking will increase in the
country during the event. "As Christians, we must resist with
every strength we have this dangerous and degrading form of
modern slavery," Tlhagale told an 8 May rally of about one
thousand people, who had gathered in Pretoria to pray for an
end to human trafficking.

_____


Church leaders alarmed at increasing violence in Iraq

Geneva (ENI). The general secretary of the World Council
of Churches has joined peers in the Middle East in expressing
concerns about the escalating rate of violence against Christians
in northern Iraq, following attacks on buses carrying Christians
in Mosul, in which a shopkeeper was killed. "As we express our
solidarity with the people of Iraq, and convey our condolences
to the families of the victims, we are very concerned about the
new escalation of violence against Christians in Mosul," said
the Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World
Council of Churches. Thousands of Christians protested in
northern Iraq on 3 May about the previous day's bomb attacks
on the buses, which were carrying students and workers. It is
believed the explosions wounded around 200 people...


*****


13 May 2010

First female German Protestant head,
who resigned, gets ovation

Munich (ENI). Thousands of people at a church
convention in Munich have applauded the first female leader
of Germany's Protestants, who stood down after a drink-driving
offence in February. "God turns towards people even when they
are not the people that he had hoped, dreamed and imagined them
to be when he created them," Margot Kässmann told 6000 people
on 13 May at the Ecumenical Kirchentag, or church convention,
taking place in the Bavarian capital. It was Kässmann's first
major public appearance since she resigned. Four months after
being elected head of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD),
the umbrella for 24 million Protestants, Kässmann, then the
Lutheran bishop of Hanover, resigned from all her leadership
posts after police caught her driving when she was over the
legal limit of alcohol and had jumped a red traffic light.

_____


Church closures spell hard times for US candle maker

Syracuse, New York (ENI/RNS). One of the oldest U.S. candle
makers is planning to slash its work force in part because of
decreased demand from a shrinking number of Catholic churches
to buy its products. Emkay Candle told its 46 employees that
as many as 38 of them will be laid off in 90 days. That would
leave just eight people to make candles at the company, which
has been making them at the same location since its founding
in 1925, Religion News Service reports.


*****


QUOTES OF THE WEEK

Sojourners Online
May 11th, 2010

Without community service, we would not have a
strong quality of life. It's important to the
person who serves as well as the recipient.
It's the way in which we ourselves grow and
develop.

- Dorothy Height, a founding matriarch of the
  American civil rights movement

___


May 11th, 2010

Our imitation of God in this life ... must be an
imitation of God incarnate: our model is the Jesus,
not only of Calvary, but of the workshop, the
roads, the crowds, the clamorous demands and surly
oppositions, the lack of all peace and privacy, the
interruptions. For this, so strangely unlike anything
we can attribute to the Divine life in itself, is
apparently not only like, but is, the Divine life
operating under human conditions.

- C.S. Lewis, from book "The Four Loves"

___

May 13th, 2010

Whether it's the sin of racism, greed, pride, or
indifference, doing what comes naturally is what
always gets us in trouble. Better to channel our
thoughts, actions, and desires through the purifying
filter of God's Spirit and [God's] Word.

- Edward Gilbreath, from book "Reconciliation Blues"


*****


ON THIS DAY

On May 9, 1994, South Africa's newly elected parliament
chose Nelson Mandela to be the country's first black
president.

http://tinyurl.com/2cpcky8

_____


On May 11, 1973, charges against Daniel Ellsberg
for his role in the Pentagon Papers case were
dismissed by Judge William M. Byrne, who cited
government misconduct.

http://tinyurl.com/2br4qax

_____


On May 12, 1943, during World War II, Axis forces in
North Africa surrendered.

http://tinyurl.com/37g3q7z


_____

On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II was shot and
seriously wounded in St. Peter's Square by Turkish
assailant Mehmet Ali Agca.

http://tinyurl.com/2f3kjky

_____


On May 14, 1948, the independent state of Israel was
proclaimed as British rule in Palestine came to an end.

http://tinyurl.com/25lp73h


*****


Closing Reflection:

A Jesus who drops down out of heaven, performs some magical
act that frees human beings from the power of sin, rises from
the dead, and returns to heaven is simply no longer credible.

The plot early Christians invented for a divine redeemer
figure is as archaic as the mythology in which it is framed.

We must find a new plot for a more credible Jesus.

- Robert Funk (founder of the Jesus Seminar)


(end)

Colleagues List, May 8th, 2010

Vol. V.  No. 37

*****

Edited by Wayne A. Holst

*****

Blogsite:

http://colleagueslist.blogspot.com/


*****


Special Items -

Gandhi Weekend at St. David's

Highlights

- movie
- reflection/impersonation
- Non-Violent Peace Force

My Summary Comments

___


Book Notice:

"Letters From India 1932-1945"
by Mary Puxley and Molly Titus

___


Special Colleague Article:

Isabel Gibson on Abortion
"A Matter of Principle"

___


Colleague Contributions:

Jim Taylor
Ron Rolheiser
Diana Butler Bass
Gary Nickel
Harry Winter

___


Net Notes:

Let There Be Sex
Satan Goes Secular
Bonhoeffer Stood Fast
Update on the Catholic Crisis
When a Congregation Chooses Its Pastor
Pakistani Gets Death in Mumbai Attacks
Tiananmen leader embraces Christianity
Anglican Bishops in Secret Vatican Summit
Kerala Political Groups and Communist Support
Preacher Arrested Saying Homosexuality is a Sin

_____


Global Faith Potpourri:

Thirteen Stories from
Ecumenical News International

___


Quotes of the Week:

Samir Selmanovic
Alan Canfora
Simone Weil
Rebecca Sweeney
Swami Sivananda

___


On This Day (May 2nd - May 7th)

May 2, 1945 - Berlin falls; Nazis surrender Italy and Austria
May 4, 1970 - National Guards kill protesters at Kent State U
May 5, 1961 - Alan B. Shepard Jr. first American space traveler
May 6, 1937 - Dirigible Hindenburg crashes in Lakehurst, NJ
May 7, 1945 - Germany Surrenders, WWII Ends in Europe

___


Closing Reflection - Henri Nouwen

(end)


*****

Dear Friends:

This weekend I offer you my reflections on
the Gandhi Weekend we have just celebrated
at St. David's United Church, my congregation
in Calgary.

As a complement to that, my book notice is a
bit unusual - a locally published (Nova Scotia)
collection of letters by Mary and Herbert Puxley
(missionaries to India during the time that Gandhi
was formulating his techniques for what we now call
"peaceful non-violent revolution" (Satyagraha) and
his fight for India's independence from Great
Britain (Hind Swaraj).

Many people now know Gandhi's perspective on this
story. This book provides the perspective of
many Western Christians of the time, serving under
the English colonial system, known as the Raj.

I am pleased to share both perspectives with you
in light of more than half a century of hindsight.
In doing this, I am also re-introducing myself to
old friends, the Puxleys, from my own student days
in Toronto during the 1960s.

___


Colleague Isabel Gibson of Ottawa celebrates the work
of colleague Margaret Sommerville (Montreal) and shares
her own previously unpublished article on her ethical
struggles with abortion after many years of on-going
controversy.

Thanks, Isabel for "A Matter of Principle."


___


Colleague Contributions:

Jim Taylor - offers "Adrift on an ocean of information"
from his weblog this week.

Ron Rolheiser - writes about "Living with our anger" - and
letting go of bitterness - found currently on his website.

Diana Butler Bass - writes about our failure to take faith
history seriously. This "broken memory" results in much grief,
she tells us this week (Sojourners Online)

Gary Nickel - shares an article from a new website he wants
to tell us about. "For Those With Ears to Hear" appears on
http://www.truthout.org/ - informing us of the denial of
profound violence still rampant in religious institutions.

(I have subscribed to this free service myself. Thanks Gary)

Harry Winter - Oblate priest friend serving in Minnesota
wants to remind us of co-operative ventures currently
being undertaken by Catholics and evangelical Protestants
in the USA (see Manhattan and Westminster Declarations)

___


Net Notes:

"Let There Be Sex" - A not unsurprising development
is the emergence of shops in the UK, catering to the
sexual needs of religious couples (The Guardian, UK)

"Satan Goes Secular" - What happens when there is no
longer a need for God? Can Satan and the existence of
evil be similarly disposed of? (Wall Street Journal)

"Bonhoeffer Stood Fast" - a review of a new book on
the great German theologian entitled "Bonhoeffer:
Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy." The author says
Bonhoeffer submitted to nothing but the Word of God
(Christianity Today)

"Update on the Catholic Crisis" - This week I bring
you articles on the Legionaries of Christ, Vatican
politics, faithful Catholics, Cardinal Wm. J. Lavada
and growing  internal church conflict over the abuse
issue (New York Times, The Tablet, UK)

"When a Congregation Chooses Its Pastor" -
Presbyterian writer Bill Tammeus writes an article
on local congregations taking responsibility for
the selection and call of their own pastors - which
is common among Protestants but not in Roman
Catholic parishes (National Catholic Reporter)

"Pakistani Gets Death in Mumbai Attacks" - we now
have a verdict on the remaining perpetrator of the
terrorist bombing that rocked Mumbai India in 2008.
(New York Times)

"Tiananmen leader embraces Christianity" - Chai Ling,
the only woman leader of the 1989 Tiananmen Square
protests was baptized a Christian on April 4th.
(AsiaNews.it)

"Anglican Bishops in Secret Vatican Summit" - It
appears that more traditionalist Church of England
bishops are planning to affiliate with Rome
(The Telegraph, UK)

"Kerala Political Groups and Communist Support" -
Kerala State, South India has a communist government
but some Christian groups are no longer supporting
it and some of its leading officials are leaving
(CathNews Asia)

"Preacher Arrested Saying Homosexuality is a Sin" -
A Baptist preacher in  Wokington, Cumbria was
recently arrested for including homosexuality with
a list of sins such as blasphemy and drunkeness.
(The Telegraph, UK)

_____


Global Faith Potpourri:

Again this week I have collected more than a
dozen global faith stories, from Geneva-based
Ecumenical News International

___


Quotes of the Week:

Samir Selmanovic, Alan Canfora, Simone Weil
Rebecca Sweeney and Swami Sivananda offer
their wisdom from many cultures this week.

___


On This Day (May 2nd - May 7th)

Read these stories from the New York Times Archives:

Berlin falls; Nazis surrender in Italy and Austria (1945)
National Guards kill protesters at Kent State U (1970)
Alan B. Shepard Jr. was first American space traveler (1961)
Dirigible Hindenburg crashed to earth in Lakehurst, NJ (1937)
Germany Surrenders, WWII Ends in Europe (1945)


___


Closing Reflection - "Courage to be revolutionary"
                        A Prayer by Henri Nouwen


Here ends the latest introduction to Colleagues List.

Wayne


******************


SPECIAL ST. DAVID'S LINKS

Contact us at: asdm@sduc.ca (or) admin@sduc.ca
St. David's Web Address - http://sduc.ca/

Listen to audio recordings of Sunday services -
http://sduc.ca/services.htm


___


ST DAVID'S ACTS WEB PAGE

Created and maintained by Colleague Jock McTavish
http://stdavidscalgary.net/

__


ANNOUNCING:

ST. DAVID'S 50th ANNIVERSARY
TOUR OF CELTIC LANDS - 2011

We plan a 15-day tour of special Celtic sites
in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England -
April 26th - May 10th, 2011.

A highlight of the tour will be a visit to
St. David's Cathedral, Pembrokeshire.

Tour reservations - $300. Sale opens May 2nd.
Call church office for details: 403-284-2276

ALL 36 PLACES ON THE TOUR HAVE BEEN SOLD OUT
(Possibility of a second tour in 2012)


*****


THE FUTURE OF FAITH by Harvey Cox

Monday Night Study, January 18th - March 29th, 2010

An insightful description of where Christian faith
is moving in the twenty-first century.

Follow our class videos, power point presentations,
other notes and study resources. Bookmark this link:

THIS PROGRAM IS NOW COMPLETED.
WATCH THIS SITE FOR CONCLUSIONS AND UPDATES.

http://www.1journey.net/stdavids/SD/BookStudy/24/24.htm


___


STUDY ARCHIVES

A collection of twenty-five+ studies conducted since 2000 can
quickly be found at: http://bookstudies.stdavidscalgary.net/

This collection of study resources represents a decade of
Monday Night Studies at St. David's, plus extra courses too!

You are welcome to use our course outlines, class notes and
resource pages in your personal and group reflections.


********************************************************


SPECIAL ITEMS

GANDHI WEEKEND AT ST. DAVID'S
May 1st-3rd, 2010

Some Highlights

Shall and Pramila Sinha, born in India - now
Edmontonians and Canadian citizens for forty years -
brought a dimension of the Gandhi story and witness
to our congregation last weekend that I hope will
have a lasting impact.

During their time with us they were involved in four
particular activities:

Q and A after the showing of the Gandhi movie on
Saturday evening. A children's message and regular
reflection at Sunday morning worship. A Monday evening
presentation on their Non-Violent Peace Force missions
in Sri Lanka and Uganda.

___

The Movie

Gandhi - (1982)

A descriptive site with links to related resources
Click: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhi_%28film)

Then click hot link: Gandhi (film)

___


Watch a Gandhi movie trailer, click:
http://www.movie-list.net/classics/gandhi.mov
It may take a minute to open this trailer

___


Following the movie both Shall and Pramila answered
questions about India in Gandhi's time and today and
from their perspectives as Indian ex-patriots.

We were interested in Gandhi's Hindu philosophy of peaceful
non-violent revolution in a setting where the colonial power
(Great Britain) had a high, established system of justice.

The genius of Gandhi was that he confronted the British Raj
by challenging it with its own laws and saying it was no
longer welcome in India.

If another colonial power had been there in the place of
the British Raj, would things have been different? Could
Gandhi have had the same impact on Adolph Hitler, for
example, that he had on the British? Shall said that he
could have, but would probably have used different tactics
and change might not have come as quickly as it did.

We asked about the Dalits, or untouchable castes, that
Gandhi was deeply committed to liberate. Pramila told us
that Dalits are not all the same, and many have been able
to find liberation through education. Indeed, this remains
a major challenge for India today, but education is the key
to freedom for growing numbers of Dalits.

Christianity has done much to bring education and freedom
to the Dalits. This has not always been welcomed by Indian
Hindu nationalists.

_____


Sunday Morning Worship

On Sunday morning Pramila spoke with the children and
made two points based on her understanding of Gandhian
principles. "Come to know who you are," she said.
"Define and declare your space."

It was helpful to know that these insights transcend
eastern and western spiritualities and faith traditions.

__


Shall assumed the image and dress of Gandhi and presented
a number of the Mahatma's key principles. The "Great Soul"
of India, Gandhi spent his life experimenting with truth.
His autobiography focused on that very theme.

To experiment is to assume an open approach to life and
to allow experience and human reason to guide one's quest.
Gandhi was able to transcend sectarian truths and allowed
this to speak meaningfully to all citizens. He sought to
embody the truth that he himself sought to live.

We too need constantly to experiment with what we discover
to be true and to live that with integrity.

___


Monday Evening

Pramila gave a power point presentation showing pictures
of her work in Sri Lanka with the Non-Violent Peace Force.

See Non-Violent Peace Force (International)
http://www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org/

She spent the better part of three years working with an
international and inter-faith team to work with the Tamils
and Singhalese people seeking peace in local villages.

See Sri Lankan Civil War:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Civil_War

At the same time, Shall was engaged in similar efforts
in Uganda years after the Idi Amin dictatorship -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uganda#Human_rights

___


Conclusion:

I had the opportunity to speak with both Shall and Pramila
at the end of their visit and I had strong need to tell her
the following:

You spoke of coming to Canada from India and - grounded in the
values of your Indian culture and faith traditions - you have
sought to establish yourself in this country.

But you have done more.

Using the freedom and support you have found in this country
you have gone to other parts of the world with a mission of
peacemaking to places where that has been much needed.

I have German/Irish cultural and Christian religious background.
Many people with my background have made Canada their home
over many generations. I know of a number who have also used
the freedom and support found in this country to go to other parts
of the world with a similar peacemaking mission.

We come from eastern and western cultures and faith traditions
but we share many common values. It is a wonderful thing to
be Canadians who are committed to global peace and justice!

Thank God for people like the Sinhas who express their values
in their deeds as well as with their words!


*****

Book Notice:

LETTERS FROM INDIA 1932-1945
by Mary Puxley and Molly Titus
Community Books: Lockeport, NS.
2009. 209 pages. $24. (incl. p&h).
ISBN #978-1-896496-68-9.
(see order address below)

Publishers Promo:

Mary Robertson Sedgewick marries Jimmy (H.L.) Puxley
in Toronto in 1932, a week after her 20th birthday,
and heads to India, where she lives and writes letters
for the next 13 years. In these letters she introduces
us to Ronald, Joyce, Gladys, Betty and Reg. as well as
Tula Ram, Hira, Ayah and Mahaj; and to Aryan Samajists,
rajahs, the low caste and the wealthy, big game hunters,
professors, Indian civil servants, and intrepid women.
She takes us from the dusty plains to the waterfalls and
heights of the Himalayas; from the city of Agra to the
"excitement of the real jungle."

An encounter with German sailors from a cruiser in
Bombay; Chamberlain's infamous speech on the wireless,
and English relatives plastering the nursery fireplace
against a gas attack foreshadow the upheaval to come.

With the words "don't worry" to her mother (and perhaps
to herself) Mary downplays the anti-imperial ferment
and the very real possibility of a Japanese invasion
of India. Set against a backdrop of momentous world
events, the letters - vivid, perceptive, compassionate,
witty and informative - draw the reader into a world
which remains forever fascinating.

Although we hear Jimmy's voice in one or two of his
surviving letters, most of the "Letters from India"
are Mary's. Many characters turn up on their pages,
not least of which is Mary, the letter writer herself.

The letters have been selected by Mary and Jimmy's
daughter, Molly Titus.

___


Editor's Words:

(One wintry afternoon... it was time to open an old
steamer trunk from the 1930s. It was a year after Mary
Puxley's death.) Out slid hundreds of letters written
by Mary to her parents in Toronto...

The parents with whom we had lived during their last
frail years were being revealed to us in the glow of
their youth...

This book is an edited selection from more than 400
letters... written from India, mostly by Mary...

There have been times that I have been tempted to edit
out phrases and ideas which today we would find shocking
... but I changed my mind and left them as indicative
of the time and culture that Mary was part of - warts
and all. Mercifully she matured, as our culture has.

Jimmy is brought up as part of the "landed gentry"
in England. Sent to a "prep" school at a distressingly
young age, he then goes to Eton and Oxford. (It was
in Oxford, while studying economics, that he made his
first contacts with India.)

Jimmy wins a Commonwealth Fellowship to study at Yale.
On hs way from England to (America) Jimmy meets Mary
and her family (on the ship, of course.) They are on
their way home to Toronto from a trip "abroad."

(Mary too spent time in Oxford, but found it a rather
artificial existence for women in those days)

(After graduation) Jimmy turns down a position in an
English bank, one at Eton... and opts instead for a
position as professor of economics at St. John's
College, Agra, India - a position financed by the
Church of England Missionary Society.

Together they become missionaries.

Mary said later she had had no "orientation" at all.
The winter before her marriage she attended the School
of Missions in Toronto and learned about Hinduism,
linguistics, first aid, anthropology, bookkeeping and
birth control. In hindsight she must have felt that
this preparation was wanting.

Mary felt is necessary to take all the trappings
from the culture to which she belonged to an entirely
foreign environment.

Mary is a Presbyterian, but she married a Church of
England man, and became C. of E. herself; but her
Presbyterian questioning outlook never left her.

Mary and Jimmy seem to move easily in the Indian Civil
Service... but their real centre is the missionary
community and the Indians with whom they work...

In this day of e-mail and quick response to any
situation, Mary's letters are a treasure. They are
well written, immediate and lively, and illuminate
a certain place and period - India towards the end
of empire - through the eyes of a young Canadian
woman. Her questioning, Presbyterian, democratic,
colonial make-up, perhaps allows her to see India
through eyes different from those of the run-of-the-
mill imperialist.

Mary is one of the proudest and most patriotic of
Canadians, born, brought up and educated in Toronto.
But the Canada to which her heart belongs is Nova
Scotia. (It was to Nova Scotia the Puxleys retired.)

It is sad that all of Jimmy's letters to his family
in England have disappeared. A few of the remaining
ones are included in this book.

He writes wonderfully...

- from the Introduction by Molly Titus


___


My Comments:

I met Jim (H.L.) Puxley - as did a number of other
readers of my Colleagues List - at the Ecumenical
Institute of Toronto on St. George Street (U of T
campus) during the mid-1960s.

"Pux" - as we called him - assembled the first
generation of Canadian students of ecumenism -
45 years ago.

Together we planned annual meetings of the Canadian
Theological Students' Association. For the first time
in Canadian history, Catholic, Anglican and Protestant
seminary students met regularly to discuss current
theological issues together. We came from across Canada -
a first. We also came from French as well as English
Canadian schools - also a first.

Pux was the initiative behind it all. He was the mind
and spirit prompting these heady activities for young
theologians from many traditions. I will never forget
his booming, jovial voice and raucous sense of humour.
For example, he was an Anglican canon and would laugh
at the fact that his son (a brother to Molly) considered
himself to be "a real son of a gun... yuk, yuk, yuk..."

I had come from Waterloo, Ontario and the Lutheran
seminary there. It was a joy to hob nob with the
"big city boys" from Trinity, Wycliffe, Emmanuel,
McMaster, Regis and St. Augustines.

I met "high" and "low" Anglicans, Jesuits and diocesan
priests in training, for the first time in my life.

We were all caught up with the new spirit of Vatican
II and I suspect many of those dreams have never
left us to this day.

Periodically, the Puxleys hosted parties for
us, and it was there I first met Mary. Together
they were charming hosts. Coming from strong
but rural German roots in SW Ontario, and meeting
these genuinely human but cultivated people was
quite an experience to be sure!

Herbert Puxley helped me to secure an international
student scholarship at the World Council of Churches
Graduate School of Ecumenical Studies in Bossey,
(near Geneva) Switzerland during 1967-8 - more
than forty years ago! It was my introduction to
a much broader Christianity than I had known.

Thanks again, my good friend.

More than any other individual, I credit "Pux"
with starting me on an inter-church and inter-
faith journey that profoundly shaped my life
and ministry to the present.

It is very significant for me to read these
letters from Mary, and the few from her husband.
They do a lot to help me understand how two
wonderful people were being transformed from
English colonials to Canadians of great
character and broad, generous spirits.

I do not expect that many of you my readers
will share my feelings about this book. Still,
there is one important aspect here that is
most important for any who would read these
letters. They convey the thoughts and feelings
of sensitive and human people in a land that
was changing profoundly due to the visionary
contribution of the English-trained, Indian
lawyer M.K. Gandhi.

Gandhi himself would have been pleased to come
to know these contemporaries Herbert and Mary.

And so will you.

___

Buy the Book:

Community Books,
c/o Kathleen Tudor
RR#1, Lockeport, NS. B0T 1L0
(902) 656-2223 (phone/fax)
kathleen.tudor@ns.sympatico.ca

Copies may also be obtained from:
Editor Molly Titus (daughter of Mary Puxley)
mollytitus@eastlink.ca


*****


COLLEAGUE COMMUNICATION

ISABEL GIBSON
Ottawa, ON.

Wayne:

I was interested to see that Dr. Sommerville is to
receive an (additional) honour.

Our Ottawa Citizen carried her piece this week on
the flurry of intensity surrounding the government's
maternal/child health initiative and the inclusion/
exclusion of abortion funding. By (correctly, in my
view) labelling the pro-choice position as much of an
'ideological' position as the pro-life, she contributed
to the ongoing effort to encourage 'light, not heat',
per Woodrow Wilson, in our public discourse.

Copied below, a piece on this same general topic that
I wrote before the last US presidential election but
never got published.

As for me, my biggest problem these days is those
pesky squirrels, which like to lop the blooms off
my tulips. If this goes on much longer, I may
have to register with the squirrel-gun registry!

Isabel

___


"A Matter of Principle"
 by Isabel Gibson

Canadian conservatives are often appalled by what they
see as our Supreme Court making law as opposed to
interpreting it — as one example, the ruling that led to
legalized gay marriage. Their usual preferred solution
calls for a greater role for Parliament, our legislative
branch.

American conservatives were likely disappointed 18 months
ago when their Supreme Court ruled that it did not have
the authority to over-turn Doe v. Bolton, an abortion rights
case similar to Roe v. Wade. Will abortion opponents make
judicial power an issue in the coming presidential campaign?

Balancing judicial and legislative power appropriately is
tough. While scholars argue the constitutional principle,
interest groups are more pragmatic, supporting the party or
candidate more likely to uphold their own views. Nowhere
is this tendency more marked than in contentious public
policy issues - 'issues over which reasonable men may easily
and heatedly differ' as Justice White, a Roe v. Wade
dissenter, described them in 1973.

More than thirty years later, reasonable people still
heatedly differ on abortion. Principles, after all, are
not amenable to compromise. More, others' principles can
be hard to see.

When Roe v. Wade was first making headlines, I was baffled
by the apparent conflict between two stereotypically
conservative positions: against abortion because it was
murder, yet four-square for capital punishment. If a woman
didn't have a right to choose, why did the state? If
fertilized eggs and unborn babes had a right to life, why
not adults, albeit convicted murderers? As I opined to all
who would listen, there was clearly no principled position
here.

Interrupting me in mid-rhetorical flourish, a friend proposed
principle to cover both positions: "one strike and you’re out."
Its full articulation was this: "From the moment of conception,
everyone deserves their chance at life. That prohibits abortion.
Mess up totally (say, by taking someone else's life), and you
forfeit your chance. That enables capital punishment."

It was a startling moment. Maybe anti-abortionists and capital
punishment proponents had principles that seemed obvious and
high-minded to them. Allowing for that possibility was a first
step to examining my own views more closely. What I saw was
more hairball than conceptual clarity. Thirty years later,
not much has changed.

On abortion, now as then, I'm no card-carrying 'right-to-lifer'
but neither do I think abortion is nothing more than a woman
determining the disposition of her own body. My views donÂ’t
accord with either camp’s extreme rhetoric; neither can they
be neatly explained by a single principle. Rather, they’re
distilled from a brew of competing principles, feelings, and
instinctive reactions.

I want to protect the helpless, yet respect the mother's life
in all its dimensions. While recognizing the father's stake,
I am unwilling to require his consent, thereby bestowing a de
facto veto. Believing that moral choice belongs with
individuals, not committees, I am still disgusted by reports
of serial abortion. Determined not to return to the days of
desperate teens and back-alley butchers, I am nonetheless
sensitive to those doctors, nurses and administrators who
oppose abortion on moral grounds. Pro-life - I like to think
so, but not as it has come to be understood. Pro-choice -
yes, on balance, given the alternatives. Pro' - a world in
which abortion were never necessary - yes, that too.

Similarly, my anti-capital-punishment stance is an uneasy and
shifting truce among conflicting feelings and ideas. Valuing
each individual’s life equally in theory, in practice I
empathize with victim, not perpetrator. Because police work
and forensic technology are imperfect, and a good defence not
a given, I fear executing the wrongly convicted. My gut
screams to kill those who commit violent crimes against
children; my judgement doubts the noose's deterrence value.
Offended by arguments reducing human life to an economic
calculation, I nevertheless acknowledge that lifelong
incarceration siphons money from worthy purposes. Wanting
to believe in redemptive possibilities, I despair over
psychopaths’ prospects and wonder how to weigh one person's
second chance against another's lost chance.

A hairball indeed.

Abortion and capital punishment nicely illustrate what a
complex, messy world it is, and how poorly served we are
by slogans if what we want to do is think about, and talk
about, public policy. If we have the inclination, where
do we begin?

We start by critically examining our own positions. Most
likely, they will reflect a trade-off among several
principles, not to mention feelings, instinctive reactions,
pragmatic assessments, self-serving rationalizations and
untested assumptions. Faced with the real-world messiness
of our thought processes, the recognition that 'principles'
aren’t all that's in play, we might be ready to dial-down
our own rhetoric, ready to listen to what others have to say.
We might even be ready to follow Woodrow Wilson’s advice -

"The thing to do is to supply light and not heat”. If
principled positions are beyond us, principled processes
need not be.


*****


COLLEAGUE CONTRIBUTIONS

JIM TAYLOR
Okanagan, BC

May 5th, 2010

ADRIFT IN AN OCEAN OF INFORMATION

I have a set of encyclopedias sitting on the top shelf
of my office. I haven't looked up anything in them for
five years. Anything I need, I can find faster on the
Internet. Read the article...

http://edges.canadahomepage.net/category/soft-edges/

_____


RON ROLHEISER
San Antonio, TX

May 2nd, 2010


LIVING WITH OUR OWN ANGER

Letting go of anger and bitterness is a
non-negotiable condition to going to heaven...

http://tinyurl.com/23rr42f

_____


DIANA BUTLER BASS
Alexandria, VA

Sojourners Online
May 5th, 2010

DOES WESTERN CHRISTIANITY SUFFER
FROM SPIRITUAL AMNESIA?

http://tinyurl.com/27d4uny

_____


GARY NICKEL
Ft. Saskatchewan, AB

FOR THOSE WITH EARS TO HEAR

Wayne

I found this article helpful...

Truthout.org
April 30th, 2010
by Davidson Loehr

http://tinyurl.com/2dhmt2r

_____


HARRY WINTER
St. Paul, MN.

May 2nd, 2010

MANHATTAN AND WESTMINSTER DECLARATIONS

Wayne:

I've been very impressed by the websites for the
Manhattan Declaration of last November, and the
Westminster Declaration of this April.

Evangelicals and Catholics together have challenged
the entire English speaking world to protect life
and family and faith in the public square. Cardinal
Francis George OMI had a great deal to do with the
1994 statement which started it all (I have his
explanation of that on my page on the parish website:
<http://www.stcasimirchurch.org/> and our national
Oblate website will have his comments on the
Manhattan Declaration on it soon (OMIUSA).

Any chance of including info on the two Declarations
on your blog next week?

___


Harry:

Here they are!

Manhattan Declaration link:
http://manhattandeclaration.org/home.aspx

Westminster Declaration link:
http://www.westminster2010.org.uk/declaration/


*****


NET NOTES

LET THERE BE SEX

The Guardian UK
May 4th, 2010
by Cath Elliott

"Christian Sex Toys" Making an Appearance

http://tinyurl.com/23ag6vc


*****

SATAN GOES SECULAR

Wall Street Journal
May 7th, 2010

In a world without God as foil,
how do we account for evil?

http://tinyurl.com/2emh4ba


*****


BONHOEFFER STOOD FAST

Christianity Today
May 4th, 2010
by Collin Hansen

Martyred German pastor showed
theology has consequences.

http://tinyurl.com/2f7xenj


*****


UPDATE ON THE CATHOLIC CRISIS

Pope Reins In Catholic Order Tied to Abuse

New York Times,
May 2nd, 2010
by Rachel Donadio

The moves against the Legionaries of Christ constituted
the most direct action on sexual abuse since the most
recent scandals have engulfed the church.

http://tinyurl.com/237kf89

_____


New York Times
May 3rd, 2010

Abuse Case Offers a View of the Vatican's Politics
by Daniel J. Wakin and James C. McKinley Jr.

The abuse case against one of the most powerful priests
in the Roman Catholic Church remained stalled for years.

http://tinyurl.com/28eau6q

_____


Who can mock this Church?

New York Times
May 2nd, 2010
by Nicholas D. Kristof

Jesus wasn't known for pontificating from palaces, covering
up scandals, or issuing Paleolithic edicts on social issues.
Does anyone think he would have protected clergymen who raped
children? Read more...

http://tinyurl.com/269ho42

_____


New York Times
May 6th, 2010

Cardinal Has a Mixed Record on Abuse Cases
by Michael Luo

The record of Cardinal William J. Levada, whose Vatican
office oversees cases of sexual abuse, shows that he
often did not act as assertively as he could have.

http://tinyurl.com/248tjd5


_____


The Tablet (UK)
May 8th, 2010


Schönborn attacks Sodano and urges reform

The head of the Austrian Church has launched an attack
of one of  the most senior cardinals in the Vatican,
saying that Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College
of Cardinals, "deeply wronged" the victims of sexual
abuse by Catholic clergy when he dismissed media reports
of the scandal.

In a meeting with editors of the main Austrian daily
newspapers last week, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the
Archbishop of Vienna, also said the Roman Curia was
"urgently in need of reform," and that lasting gay
relationships deserved respect. He reiterated his view
that the Church needs to reconsider its position on
re-married divorcees. Read more...

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/article/14678


*****


ANGLICAN BISHOPS IN SECRET VATICAN SUMMIT

The Telegraph, UK
May 2nd, 2010

Leading traditionalist bishops in the Anglican Church have
secretly told senior Vatican officials that they are ready
to defect to Rome, taking clergy with them.

http://tinyurl.com/284cukk


*****


WHEN A CONGREGATION CHOOSES ITS PASTOR

National Catholic Reporter
May 5th, 2010
by Bill Tammeus

For almost a year now, I've been doing something in my
Presbyterian church that Catholics don't get (or have)
to do.

I've been serving on a pastor nominating committee. Our
job is to search for a new senior pastor and, when we've
found one, recommend that our congregation vote to call
him or her (yes, Presbyterians have been ordaining women
since 1956 — and I even know that now-retired first
ordained female.)

The congregational vote then needs to be matched by an
affirmative vote by our presbytery, the regional
governing body of the 100-plus Presbyterian churches
in our area.

There are, of course, advantages and drawbacks to this
system. One drawback is that it often takes 18 months
to two years after one senior pastor leaves before
another is installed. That also can be an advantage,
in that it gives a congregation a chance to reassess
its nature and future and to decide on the specific
skills it should look for in its next pastor.

Bishops in the Catholic church must make those
decisions, and usually there is little or no space
between one priest's last Sunday and a new priest's
first Mass.

It has always seemed to me that in that kind of
appointment system, there is more of a possibility of
winding up with a mismatch between priest and parish.
United Methodists use a similar system and this kind
of complaint is not uncommon among them.

There is no perfect system for training and hiring
clergy, but I've been thinking that both Protestants
and Catholics might benefit from something like the
system that some segments of the early church used —
one in which clergy in effect arise from the
community they ultimately serve.

This is not a new idea with me. Indeed, in his book,
"Like His Brothers and Sisters: Ordaining Community
Leaders" Bishop Fritz Lobinger, who before his
retirement served in South Africa, suggests something
quite like what I have in mind.

In a recent article describing his vision of homegrown
priests, Lobinger writes this:

"I know that if the church continues to admit only
celibate, university-trained candidates to ordination,
there will be no hope of ever overcoming the scarcity
of sacraments. I equally know that the early church
indeed did ordain local leaders who were married, had
received brief local training, were chosen by the local
community, and had proven their worthiness over some
time. I am not alone. There are hundreds of bishops
who feel that renewing this ancient tradition is the
only solution to the shortage of priests."

I'm not here to tell the Catholic church how to solve
its priest shortage problems. But I think there are
countless advantages to having clergy of all faiths
with close ties to the communities they serve.

Identifying members of one's own congregation or
diocese or presbytery who might serve as ordained
leaders could, in fact, lead to clergy who know in
a deep and profound way the heart of the people to
whom they minister. What a concept.

In any Presbyterian church there's always a starting
over that happens when a new pastor is called —
especially when, as often is the case, that pastor
comes from elsewhere. My congregation called our
previous senior pastor from Scotland, for instance,
and the one before that from Florida. The man from
Scotland worked out well. The Florida man was a
disaster. But in both cases it took a good year for
the pastor to have a good sense of who we were.

No doubt it will take a long time to change our
systems for training and ordaining clergy, but
surely we should be thinking now about how to do
this better.

As Philip Jenkins says in his new Christian history
book, Jesus Wars, "A religion that is not constantly
spawning alternatives and heresies has ceased to think
and has achieved only the peace of the grave."

----

Bill Tammeus, a Presbyterian elder and former award-
winning Faith columnist for The Kansas City Star,
writes the daily "Faith Matters" blog for The Star's
Web site and a monthly column for The Presbyterian
Outlook. His latest book, co-authored with Rabbi
Jacques Cukierkorn, is "They Were Just People:
Stories of Rescue in Poland During the Holocaust"

E-mail him at wtammeus@kc.rr.com.


*****


PAKISTANI GUNMAN SENTENCED TO DEATH
FOR MUMBAI ATTACKS IN 2008

The New York Times
May 6TH, 2010

The lone surviving gunman from a 2008 terrorist attack
that killed over 160 was sentenced to death by hanging.
One of 10 attackers, Ajmal Kasab and an accomplice were
responsible for about 60 of the deaths, most of them at
a train station,where pictures and video footage showed
him firingindiscriminately at passengers in a waiting
area.

Read More: http://tinyurl.com/23ohnjo


*****

TIANANMEN LEADER EMBRACES CHRISTIANITY

Asia News
May 7th, 2010

Chai Ling, the only woman leader of the 1989 Tiananmen
Square protests, was baptized on April 4th. She had asked
to become a Christian in December 2009. Read more...

http://tinyurl.com/235ksmw


*****


KERALA POLITICAL GROUPS AND COMMUNIST SUPPORT

Cathnews Asia
May 3rd, 2010

Church leaders in Kerala have hailed news of a Catholic-
dominated political faction ending its two-decade-long
support of communists and merging with another group...
Read more...

http://tinyurl.com/2a67zjz


*****


CHRISTIAN PREACHER ARRESTED
SAYING HOMOSEXUALITY IS A SIN

The Telegraph UK
May 2nd, 2010

http://tinyurl.com/2adxkul


*****


GLOBAL FAITH POTPOURRI

Ecumenical News International
News Highlights
3 May 2010

Tanzania Lutherans reject aid from
'pro-gay marriage' churches

Nairobi (ENI). The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania
says it will not accept money or help from groups that allow
or support the legalisation of same-sex marriages. "Those in
same-sex marriages, and those who support the legitimacy of
such marriage, shall not be invited to work in the ELCT,"
says a statement posted to the church's Web site
(www.elct.org/).

"We further reject their influence in any form, as well as
their money and their support." The statement was posted on
the Internet after a meeting in the northern Tanzania city
of Moshi, at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, on 27-28 April.
It comes in advance of the 70-million strong Lutheran World
Federation once-every-seven-years assembly in Stuttgart,
Germany, from 20 to 27 July and where homosexuality is
expected to be a divisive issue.

_____


Conviction of rancher over killing
of US nun in Brazil, hailed

New York (ENI). Church officials have hailed the
conviction of a Brazilian rancher in plotting the murder
of Dorothy Stang, a U.S.-born Roman Catholic nun and land
rights' activist in Brazil who was killed in 2005. The
1 May conviction of Regivaldo Galvão, in the Brazilian city
of Belém, closes a chapter in a case that had drawn
international attention over the issue of land rights in
the Amazon rainforest. Stang, a member of the Sisters of
Notre Dame de Namur, a Catholic order founded in France,
which works in 20 countries, including Brazil, was killed
in 2005. She had been campaigning to preserve rainforest
land sought by wealthy ranchers. Stang had worked in Brazil
for 40 years.

_____


Pope says Turin Shroud is 'icon written in blood'

Rome (ENI). Pope Benedict XVI has travelled to northern Italy
to venerate the Shroud of Turin, a piece of linen that some
people believe wrapped the body of Jesus after his crucifixion.
"The Shroud is an icon written in blood, the blood of a man
scourged, crowned with thorns, crucified and wounded in the
right side," Pope Benedict said during a meditation in Turin
cathedral. Earlier he visited the shroud, which shows images
of a man who appears to have been crucified. Church authorities
say that more than half-a-million people have visited the shroud,
on display in the cathedral for the first time since 2000. Some
Christians believe that the images on the shroud show Jesus and
that the marks on the cloth are a result of his resurrection
from the dead.

_____


Panel faults Obama for lagging on religious freedom

Washington DC (ENI/RNS). The U.S. government is not doing enough
to protect religious freedoms abroad, the independent U.S.
Commission on International Religious Freedom has said Thursday
in its annual report to Congress and the White House. "The problems
are above and beyond what we saw last year, and the administration
must do more," said Leonard Leo, chair of the commission, which
was founded by Congress in 1998, Religion News Service reports.


*****


04 May 2010

Russian church warns of extremism
as it remembers bomb victims

Moscow (ENI). Leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church have
called for increased efforts to denounce religious extremism
as they prepare to mark the 40 days since suicide bombers at
two metro stations in Moscow killed 40 commuters and injured
dozens. "I am convinced that Russia, through its participation
in international organizations Â… must strive for a ban on the
ideology of pseudo-religious extremism and for it to be
equivalent to the ban on Nazism," the Rev. Vsevolod Chaplin,
chairperson of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for Church
and Society Relations, told reporters in Moscow.

_____


Critical theologian warns on
'wholesale' blame of church for abuse

Warsaw (ENI). Vatican critic Hans Küng has warned against
"condemning the church and its priests wholesale" for the
current spate of sex abuse allegations. "It would be a bad
generalisation to place the whole clergy and Catholic Church
under suspicion," the Roman Catholic priest was quoted as
saying in an interview with The European, a Berlin-based
online news service. Küng also said he still agrees with
Pope Benedict XVI on some key issues. The 83-year-old Swiss-
born theologian was speaking two weeks after criticising the
Pope in an "open letter" to Roman Catholic bishops worldwide
in which he said Benedict's papacy had "failed".

_____


Christian leader 'alarmed' about threats
to Indonesia's pluralism

Manila (ENI). Life is becoming difficult and dangerous for
Christians in Indonesia because of outside extremists, the
head of a grouping of churches in the Muslim-majority nation
has warned. "For centuries, Muslims and Christians have been
living in harmony and have been coexisting peacefully, but
agents [from outside] of extremism and uniformity based on
Islamic Shariah law are threatening the peace and harmony of
our country," said the Rev. Gomar Gultom, general secretary
of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia.


*****

05 May 2010

Religious leaders warn against votes
for 'racist' political parties

London (ENI). Religious leaders in the London district
of Barking have urged voters to shun "far right-wing"
political groups in an election where the leader of
the British National Party, which campaigns against
immigration, is seeking to be elected to the British
parliament. "Racist ideologies, seeking to divide
people on the grounds of ethnicity have no place in
mainstream British politics and I encourage people
to vote in such a way as to prevent racist political
parties making any electoral gains," said the Rev.
David Hawkins, the Anglican bishop of Barking. Hawkins
did not specifically mention the BNP. Britain votes in
parliamentary elections on 6 May.

_____


US Southern Baptists make plans
to tackle declining baptisms

Washington DC (RNS/ENI). U.S. Southern Baptist leaders,
grappling with several years of declining baptisms, have
unveiled a proposal challenging members and mission leaders
to commit to new approaches to evangelism. The report calls
for individuals to increase financial support beyond the
current average of 2.5 percent of annual income, and for
its International Mission Board to evangelise foreign
populations within U.S. borders, Religion News Service
reported. "When the Southern Baptist Convention was founded,
the world was rather easily divided into `home' and `foreign'
missions," states the report released on 3 May from the
Great Commission Resurgence Task Force. "Now, with
revolutions in transportation and the movement of peoples,
the world has come to North America."

_____


European churches' leader to take up
new post in England

Geneva (ENI). The Conference of European Churches has
announced that its general secretary, Archdeacon Colin
Williams, is to take up a new post in Britain. In a 5
May statement, the European church groupingsaid that
Williams, a Church of England cleric, would become a
team rector in Ludlow in central England. "The presidium
of the Conference of European Churches wishes Colin well
in his return to pastoral ministry and thanks him for
his service to the unity of the European churches through
his time as general secretary," Bishop Christopher
Hill, a vice-president of CEC, said in the statement.


*****

06 May 2010

Indian churches study 'zero tolerance'
rules on sex abuse

Thrissur (ENI). Churches in India are responding to
allegations of sexual abuse by clergy around the world
by considering their own guidelines to deal with the
issue. "Our message should be crystal clear, that
churches will not tolerate anyone who is guilty,"
said the Rev. Christopher Rajkumar, executive secretary
of the National Council of Churches in India's commission
for justice, peace and creation.

The NCCI, which groups 30 Orthodox and Protestant churches,
is taking to the June meeting of its executive committee,
guidelines on dealing with sexual harassment that were set
out in April at the general assembly in Kuala Lumpur of
the Christian Conference of Asia.

_____


Christian sworn in as Nigerian president
after death of Yar'Adua

Lagos (ENI). Nigeria's acting president, Goodluck Jonathan,
a Christian, has been sworn in as the country's president
following the death of his Muslim predecessor,
Umaru Yar'Adua.

Jonathan is expected to serve as president until next year
when a general election will be held. There is widespread
speculation that Jonathan will seek to stand in that
election. Members of the ruling People's Democratic Party
from the north of the country are, however, insisting on
a Muslim northerner as a candidate.

_____


Faith leaders in Sweden form council
to support religious freedom

Uppsala/Geneva (ENI). A national interfaith council has
been created in Sweden to highlight the role of faith
groups in creating understanding and to respond to those
who are hostile to religion. "We want to strengthen the
freedom to believe in and practise religion, both
individually and infellowship, but we also want to
be a voice for public discussion of ethics and
spirituality," said Archbishop Anders Wejryd of the
(Lutheran) Church of Sweden.


*****


QUOTES OF THE WEEK

Sojourners Online
May 3rd, 2010

"Our Scriptures have spoken to us, and our lives ought to
speak back. That's how we love our religions, challenge
them, care for them, transform them, and help them deliver
their promises to the world."

- Samir Selmanovic, from book "It's Really All About God"

___


USA Today
May 4th, 2010

"We wanted to bring the war home. But we never expected that."

- Alan Canfora, one of nine students injured, along with four
who were killed, when National Guardsmen shot into a crowd of
protesting students at Kent State University, forty years ago
today.

___


May 4th, 2010

"The lure of quantity is the most dangerous of all."

- Simone Weil, French philosopher/social activist

___


May 6th, 2010

When I was in high school I thought a vocation was a
particular calling. Here's a voice: "Come, follow me."
My idea of a calling now is not: "Come." It's... what
I'm doing right now, not what I'm going to be.

Life is a calling.

- Rebecca Sweeney, an American who held a variety
of jobs, including six years as a nun

___


May 7th, 2010

Work is the worship of the Lord. Do not make any
distinction between menial and respectable work.

- Swami Sivananda, Indian spiritual teacher/writer


*****


ON THIS DAY


On May 2, 1945, the Soviet Union announced the fall of
Berlin and the Allies announced the surrender of Nazi
troops in Italy and parts of Austria.

http://tinyurl.com/293cqrh

_____


On May 4, 1970, Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on
anti-war protesters at Kent State University, killing
four students and wounding nine others.

http://tinyurl.com/272yw4w

_____


On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. became
America's first space traveller as he made a 15-minute
suborbital flight in a capsule launched from Cape
Canaveral, Fla.

http://tinyurl.com/25buwma

_____


On May 6, 1937, the hydrogen-filled German dirigible
Hindenburg burned and crashed in Lakehurst, NJ, killing
36 of the 97 people on board.

http://tinyurl.com/24oj57j

_____


On May 7, 1945, Germany signed an unconditional surrender
at Allied headquarters in Rheims, France, to take effect
the following day, ending the European conflict of
World War II.

http://tinyurl.com/24zhhj3


*****

CLOSING REFLECTION

Sojourners Online
May 7th, 2010

Courage to be revolutionary

God, give me the courage to be revolutionary as
your Son Jesus Christ was. Give me the courage to
loosen myself from this world. Teach me to stand
up free and to shun no criticism. God, it is for
your kingdom. Make me free, make me poor in this
world; then will I be rich in the real world,
which this life is all about. God, thank you
for the vision of the future, but make it fact
and not just theory. Amen.

- Henri Nouwen, from "With Open Hands"



(end)