by Rev. Stephen Parelli, Bronx, NY.
In an article published by CitizenLink, a ministry of Focus on the Family, Col. Bill Spencer, writing on the repeal of DADT says "What can change this now? Sadly, I think only a future war will have us rethink how we best organize our troops to fight and win wars. At that time, cooler heads will prevail, and we’ll determine who best should be fielded to defend us. The social curiosity that will have been the openly gay service experience will vanish as the nation — at great cost — rediscovers the real purpose for having a military."
According to the article, "Col. Bill Spencer (Ret.) served in the U.S. Air Force for nearly 29 years. He is now a family policy council representative at Focus on the Family."
Col. Bill Spencer goes on to write that soldiers "in the field are left with these thoughts: 'Does my country not think of me that much? Does the country think it should hobble its forces in the field with these distractions during time of war? Does the country require us to deal with this, as well? Am I indeed a patriot without a country? What moral madness awaits us next? When bullets are flying at me, and everyone back home is apparently just thinking about themselves and their own private behaviors, it’s too much to ask of me to sacrifice my life.' ”
Finally, he asks his "fellow citizen" if "after Saturday’s vote, would you give your life for our Senate? Would you give your life for our president? Or, would you go home to your family? Sadly, you know the answers already. If you never made a phone call or never entered the debate on this issue, it’s too late to care now."
According to Wikipedia, "Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s. A component of the American Christian right, it is active in promoting interdenominational work toward its views on social conservative public policy."
OTHER SHEEP BLOG: A blog on "faith and LGBT concerns" worldwide
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Focus on the Family representative Col. Bill Spenser's Faith-based Misguided Respeonse to the repeal of DADT: Says it will take a new war for us to reestablish DADT; that soldiers in the field will ask 'what moral madness awaits us next?'; and that citizens will not serve their country now that DADT is repealed
Friday, December 10, 2010
Baptists urged to observe Human Rights Day
INFORMATION SERVICE from:
Baptist World Alliance
Eron Henry, Associate Director of Communications
Neville Callam, General Secretary
Website: http://www.bwanet.org/
Email: communications@bwanet.org
Phone: +1 703 790 8980
Fax: +1 703 893 5160
December 9, 2010
For Immediate Release
Baptists urged to observe Human Rights Day
Washington (BWA)--The Baptist World Alliance calls on Baptist churches around the world to make time during this season of celebration to reaffirm our commitment to human rights through the observance of Human Rights Day.
Human Rights Day is celebrated annually across the world on December 10 in honor of the United Nations General Assembly's adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first global enunciation of that kind, on December 10, 1948.
For more than three decades, the BWA has encouraged Baptist churches to highlight this emphasis by promoting Human Rights Day. We urge all Baptist churches around the world to reaffirm this historical commitment by observing Human Rights Day on their days of worship on December 11 or 12.
2010 is the 62nd anniversary of the UDHR. The declaration has served as an ideal to be pursued by every nation, and has inspired the implementation of laws at national and international levels to protect the basic rights of individuals and peoples. A global movement for human rights has sprung from it, and has generated greater awareness not only of the intrinsic rights of every human being, but also of the existing violation of those rights in various places around the world.
Today, the principle of the sovereignty of the national state is understood vis-à-vis the respect for the basic rights of the individual. When those rights are not respected, the international community is urged to act through the mechanisms of international law and popular mobilization in favor of those whose rights have been violated irrespective of their nationality.
Human rights advocacy, however, is a continuous process and struggle. It is a constant battle against the evil of dehumanization and of disrespect for God's image in each person.
Theologically speaking, human rights spring from the theological understanding of human dignity, which is a gift from God to all human beings. Human rights are the socially constructed instruments through which human dignity is protected and promoted.
Human rights are reflected in the Judeo-Christian tradition, which includes the idea of the dignity of human beings created in God's image; the promotion in the Decalogue of respect for God and for the neighbor; the claim of the Hebrew prophets in defense of the poor, the widow, and the foreigner; and the incarnation of Jesus Christ and his call for the reconciliation of the world.
Furthermore, although we value the symbolism of the International Declaration of Human Rights, as Christians, we understand that declarations of human rights need to be fleshed out by men and women continuously committed to stand up for the oppressed.
Baptist theologian Thorwald Lorenzen stated, "The concern for human rights is intimately interwoven with the history and theology of Baptists." The origins of the Baptist vision were closely linked with the claim for religious liberty, for freedom of conscience, for freedom of opinion, and with freedom of assembly.
Already in 1612, Baptist pioneer Thomas Helwys had written down the first document in the English language that argues for freedom of religion for all people. His brave and bold words echo in the corridors of history to this day: "Men's religion to God is between God and themselves; the King shall not answer for it; neither may the King be judge between God and man. Let them be heretics, Turks, Jews or whatsoever, it appertains not to the earthly power to punish them in the least measure."
By observing Human Rights Day, Baptists join together in a strong voice to remind the world of our love for freedom for everyone and our commitment to justice everywhere.
Resources are available on the BWA website, http://www.bwanet.org/.
---------------------------------------------------
Steve Parelli's note: I'm filling the pulpit at East Bronx Baptist Church. This announcement was past on to me since I am this Sunday's preacher -- to be included in the announcements. How wonderful! My exact sentiment on this topic, especially as a long standing Baptist.
See my writings on religious toleration, separation of church and state as applied to marriage equality:
So, Who’s Getting Married in New Jersey? by Rev. Steve Parelli
How Baptist Doctrine May Obligate the Evangelical to View Same-sex Marriage as Primarily a Civil Matter and a matter of Individual Conscience by Rev. Steve Parelli
Baptist World Alliance
Eron Henry, Associate Director of Communications
Neville Callam, General Secretary
Website: http://www.bwanet.org/
Email: communications@bwanet.org
Phone: +1 703 790 8980
Fax: +1 703 893 5160
December 9, 2010
For Immediate Release
Baptists urged to observe Human Rights Day
Washington (BWA)--The Baptist World Alliance calls on Baptist churches around the world to make time during this season of celebration to reaffirm our commitment to human rights through the observance of Human Rights Day.
Human Rights Day is celebrated annually across the world on December 10 in honor of the United Nations General Assembly's adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the first global enunciation of that kind, on December 10, 1948.
For more than three decades, the BWA has encouraged Baptist churches to highlight this emphasis by promoting Human Rights Day. We urge all Baptist churches around the world to reaffirm this historical commitment by observing Human Rights Day on their days of worship on December 11 or 12.
2010 is the 62nd anniversary of the UDHR. The declaration has served as an ideal to be pursued by every nation, and has inspired the implementation of laws at national and international levels to protect the basic rights of individuals and peoples. A global movement for human rights has sprung from it, and has generated greater awareness not only of the intrinsic rights of every human being, but also of the existing violation of those rights in various places around the world.
Today, the principle of the sovereignty of the national state is understood vis-à-vis the respect for the basic rights of the individual. When those rights are not respected, the international community is urged to act through the mechanisms of international law and popular mobilization in favor of those whose rights have been violated irrespective of their nationality.
Human rights advocacy, however, is a continuous process and struggle. It is a constant battle against the evil of dehumanization and of disrespect for God's image in each person.
Theologically speaking, human rights spring from the theological understanding of human dignity, which is a gift from God to all human beings. Human rights are the socially constructed instruments through which human dignity is protected and promoted.
Human rights are reflected in the Judeo-Christian tradition, which includes the idea of the dignity of human beings created in God's image; the promotion in the Decalogue of respect for God and for the neighbor; the claim of the Hebrew prophets in defense of the poor, the widow, and the foreigner; and the incarnation of Jesus Christ and his call for the reconciliation of the world.
Furthermore, although we value the symbolism of the International Declaration of Human Rights, as Christians, we understand that declarations of human rights need to be fleshed out by men and women continuously committed to stand up for the oppressed.
Baptist theologian Thorwald Lorenzen stated, "The concern for human rights is intimately interwoven with the history and theology of Baptists." The origins of the Baptist vision were closely linked with the claim for religious liberty, for freedom of conscience, for freedom of opinion, and with freedom of assembly.
Already in 1612, Baptist pioneer Thomas Helwys had written down the first document in the English language that argues for freedom of religion for all people. His brave and bold words echo in the corridors of history to this day: "Men's religion to God is between God and themselves; the King shall not answer for it; neither may the King be judge between God and man. Let them be heretics, Turks, Jews or whatsoever, it appertains not to the earthly power to punish them in the least measure."
By observing Human Rights Day, Baptists join together in a strong voice to remind the world of our love for freedom for everyone and our commitment to justice everywhere.
Resources are available on the BWA website, http://www.bwanet.org/.
---------------------------------------------------
Steve Parelli's note: I'm filling the pulpit at East Bronx Baptist Church. This announcement was past on to me since I am this Sunday's preacher -- to be included in the announcements. How wonderful! My exact sentiment on this topic, especially as a long standing Baptist.
See my writings on religious toleration, separation of church and state as applied to marriage equality:
So, Who’s Getting Married in New Jersey? by Rev. Steve Parelli
How Baptist Doctrine May Obligate the Evangelical to View Same-sex Marriage as Primarily a Civil Matter and a matter of Individual Conscience by Rev. Steve Parelli
Thursday, December 2, 2010
A Love Letter to Christopher
by Rev. Stephen Parelli
December 2, 1010.
Bronx, NY.
Today, I found Christopher’s “My Life" posted on his Facebook "Notes." I gave it a very careful first reading and then I read it a second time. I ingested every word as if he was right here speaking to me personally.
Christopher was a huge part of my daily life until age ten; you see, I'm his father. Christopher turned ten in June of 1997 and in October of the same year, I left. There was no discussion prior to leaving; nothing to prepare the family; no plans as to how father-children would be able to see each other after the separation. Nothing. One day I was there; the next day I was gone. In a sense, in that the separation was so sudden, Christopher's father had died unexpectedly. Actual death, however, would have been perhaps easier on Christopher -- there would have been closure and the full knowledge that his father loved him. But because his father chose to leave, how could his father really love him, having left him and his mother.
Children -- when parents separate -- need to know that the parent is not leaving the child, just the spouse. But, of course, that is not how the child experiences it unless a lot of time is spent together between the leaving parent and the child. (And, of course, even if the child knows the father has not left the child, there is the problem of the young child seeing the mother hurt and suffering – how could the father do that to his mother?)
Unfortunately, though the father sought with all his heart (writing his own pleadings) to obtain child visitation rights -- it just never was granted -- the courts said it was up to the children to decide -- the oldest being 18 and the youngest 12 (Christopher) -- at the time the courts became involved. Post cards I mailed directly to the house were returned. Phone calls home were more often refused. It was a difficult time for everyone . . . the children, the mother and the estranged father. Most every attempt I made to be with the children was refused me.
Time together with Christopher never materialized . . . and it broke my heart as much for him as for myself. I wanted so much to be in his life in a meaningful, qualitative way.
That was 13 years ago. Christopher and I have been separated now for more years than we were originally together.
And boy, did I enjoy those ten years. Christopher was homeschooled until age ten. And we did a LOT together during those years. His dad was a real part of his daily life. And I loved it; and Chris loved it. It was great then. If only the good times as father and son could have been structured into the years that followed the separation. The father did all he could in his power to make that happen. But it didn't. And we have both suffered for it.
Christopher, who was being homeschooled, entered elementary school (at age ten) for the first time in September and I separated in October. I've often been ill-at-heart imagining how horrific it must have been for Chris to be entering schooling for the first time -- a private, Christian day school -- only to lose his father the very next month. A lot of changes for any child to handle. I've thought of him as being all day in school wondering about his dad; will his dad be home when he returns home from school, etc. And, of couse, his father was not at home. The hope throughout the school day, the pain of reality at the end of day. The new found hope the next school day, the new fresh blow of pain at the end of the day. It had to be excruciating. Christopher had to be traumatized. How could he even think in school?
I sought the courts and the mediator for counseling for Christopher and for his father/mother. To be in counseling together. I was driving to western NJ from NYC to schedule these sessions. They never materialized. Christopher never got the professional counseling I was requesting and arranging for. There was no cooperation on the other end.
Requests I made to see the children were being refused on many levels -- grandparents, mother, the church youth counselor (who testified in court that “the children don’t want to see their father” -- no recommendation from the church that they should attempt to be with their father, even through counseling) -- and the children themselves were refusing to be with their father. I knew there was a conflict of interest within each child -- to want to see the father but not want to see the father -- family members vocally maintaining the unworthiness of the father -- the father being gay and living with his significant other. The children were caught in the middle, although to this day they claim "we are making our own choice in not spending time with you." How does a 12 year old make that choice on his own --- or does he have to be "carefully taught" (from the musical South Pacific, or in this case, "subtlety taught" being 12 and not a 5 year old for whom “carefully taught” may apply more accurately).
His dad, a former pastor of a Baptist church that he was pastoring right up until the day he left his family, had moved to NYC where he immediately began working -- only about two weeks after arriving -- doing marketing, cold calling -- knowing he had to get work as fast as he could in order to send home what little money he might be making -- about $200 per week then, if I recall correctly.
Happily, his father is still living with his lover. 13 years now. Something right in all of this. Married in 2008 in California. It has been the life that his father has always dreamed of. A life of love with another man. I know that may sound strange to Christopher; but it is what all human beings long for, I believe: which is to know another and to be known for who we really are -- love. And that packaging, i.e., who we really are, comes differently per the person -- we are all unique; but to be loved and to love, that part of being human is universal. Love is what makes us human and what allows us to really relate to others.
The love I have with my spouse is not less or more than the love I have for my children; it is a different kind of love; but it is all love.
The love I have for Christopher is deep, abiding, fatherly and ever present. I think of him often. I desire his success -- which means I desire for him what he desires for himself, his passions, his hopes, his wishes. And I bless him in his calling to do much in film making. I bless him that he may make the world a better place because he makes films – whatever kind of films: for fun, for knowledge, for activism, for entertainment – to bring happiness into this world. In all of this, I give him my blessings.
And, too, I respect his choices and decisions -- and part of that respect is to respect how he feels and what he believes is best for him in either developing or not developing a relationship with his father, as difficult as that might be for me to accept. But I bless him in his decision and in his timing.
The years of hurt that he has felt are/is immense -- and he can point it all back to that one single day when he came home, and without any kind of warning and without any kind of support in place, his father was suddenly gone: no good-byes, no stated plans of when he would see his son in the future, no written letters, no personal sign of love found, only his silent departure. Just gone. The father who played, sang, hiked, took him to sports, swam, camped, Disney Word, sightseeing (not so much fun), learned violin together (a little testy here), and of course -- the father who preached from the pulpit - - - and now this! Gone!
The Christopher I know was a happy, huggable boy with whom I wrestled, played tricks on, read to and watched most- all-of his soccer games, if not all of them. He was the best-fun-loving son a father could have. And you should see how cute he looked all dressed up on Sunday mornings. He loved his dad, you could see it. (Oh, and don’t forget how you learned to read and write the Greek alphabet – you were great at that – and but a child!)
Little did he or I know that my life was riding fast the rails of a train-wreck in the making. Everything was in place for sure disaster. And that disaster inevitably came. I am a gay man who was trying to live the heterosexual life. It doesn't work for 99% of us. And those who claim it works -- I've seen the holes in their stories. The odds were against me. I was 17 years into my marriage when I left; Chris was ten years old.
The love that I had for Christopher then, is the love I have for him now, and have always had, even though I was, for a time prior to the separation and following, dysfunctional. I was depressed. I was lost. I was finding my way. I was not fully present. I did space out at times and this was very difficult for the children to experience. They never knew their father this way.
As I sit here today, and read Christopher’s “My Life” on his Facebook note, no friend of his can read it with any more interest, love and a sense of investment than I do. That is simply the claim that most parents can make –though I would never deny the bond or place that friends can have. The hope that I keep alive within me is that Christopher will forgive me for the hurt my separation caused him and will strive for a day when we can, by God’s grace, renew what we had when father and son were happy in relationship together so many years ago. Damn, those were sweet days. To be now his father again, and to love the child in the man, and the man as he is. That can be. We can wish it so; we can work it so. Life is too short for it to be otherwise.
From the father who never really left you, although it doesn’t feel like that,
Dad
December 2, 1010.
Bronx, NY.
Today, I found Christopher’s “My Life" posted on his Facebook "Notes." I gave it a very careful first reading and then I read it a second time. I ingested every word as if he was right here speaking to me personally.
Christopher was a huge part of my daily life until age ten; you see, I'm his father. Christopher turned ten in June of 1997 and in October of the same year, I left. There was no discussion prior to leaving; nothing to prepare the family; no plans as to how father-children would be able to see each other after the separation. Nothing. One day I was there; the next day I was gone. In a sense, in that the separation was so sudden, Christopher's father had died unexpectedly. Actual death, however, would have been perhaps easier on Christopher -- there would have been closure and the full knowledge that his father loved him. But because his father chose to leave, how could his father really love him, having left him and his mother.
Children -- when parents separate -- need to know that the parent is not leaving the child, just the spouse. But, of course, that is not how the child experiences it unless a lot of time is spent together between the leaving parent and the child. (And, of course, even if the child knows the father has not left the child, there is the problem of the young child seeing the mother hurt and suffering – how could the father do that to his mother?)
Unfortunately, though the father sought with all his heart (writing his own pleadings) to obtain child visitation rights -- it just never was granted -- the courts said it was up to the children to decide -- the oldest being 18 and the youngest 12 (Christopher) -- at the time the courts became involved. Post cards I mailed directly to the house were returned. Phone calls home were more often refused. It was a difficult time for everyone . . . the children, the mother and the estranged father. Most every attempt I made to be with the children was refused me.
Time together with Christopher never materialized . . . and it broke my heart as much for him as for myself. I wanted so much to be in his life in a meaningful, qualitative way.
That was 13 years ago. Christopher and I have been separated now for more years than we were originally together.
And boy, did I enjoy those ten years. Christopher was homeschooled until age ten. And we did a LOT together during those years. His dad was a real part of his daily life. And I loved it; and Chris loved it. It was great then. If only the good times as father and son could have been structured into the years that followed the separation. The father did all he could in his power to make that happen. But it didn't. And we have both suffered for it.
Christopher, who was being homeschooled, entered elementary school (at age ten) for the first time in September and I separated in October. I've often been ill-at-heart imagining how horrific it must have been for Chris to be entering schooling for the first time -- a private, Christian day school -- only to lose his father the very next month. A lot of changes for any child to handle. I've thought of him as being all day in school wondering about his dad; will his dad be home when he returns home from school, etc. And, of couse, his father was not at home. The hope throughout the school day, the pain of reality at the end of day. The new found hope the next school day, the new fresh blow of pain at the end of the day. It had to be excruciating. Christopher had to be traumatized. How could he even think in school?
I sought the courts and the mediator for counseling for Christopher and for his father/mother. To be in counseling together. I was driving to western NJ from NYC to schedule these sessions. They never materialized. Christopher never got the professional counseling I was requesting and arranging for. There was no cooperation on the other end.
Requests I made to see the children were being refused on many levels -- grandparents, mother, the church youth counselor (who testified in court that “the children don’t want to see their father” -- no recommendation from the church that they should attempt to be with their father, even through counseling) -- and the children themselves were refusing to be with their father. I knew there was a conflict of interest within each child -- to want to see the father but not want to see the father -- family members vocally maintaining the unworthiness of the father -- the father being gay and living with his significant other. The children were caught in the middle, although to this day they claim "we are making our own choice in not spending time with you." How does a 12 year old make that choice on his own --- or does he have to be "carefully taught" (from the musical South Pacific, or in this case, "subtlety taught" being 12 and not a 5 year old for whom “carefully taught” may apply more accurately).
His dad, a former pastor of a Baptist church that he was pastoring right up until the day he left his family, had moved to NYC where he immediately began working -- only about two weeks after arriving -- doing marketing, cold calling -- knowing he had to get work as fast as he could in order to send home what little money he might be making -- about $200 per week then, if I recall correctly.
Happily, his father is still living with his lover. 13 years now. Something right in all of this. Married in 2008 in California. It has been the life that his father has always dreamed of. A life of love with another man. I know that may sound strange to Christopher; but it is what all human beings long for, I believe: which is to know another and to be known for who we really are -- love. And that packaging, i.e., who we really are, comes differently per the person -- we are all unique; but to be loved and to love, that part of being human is universal. Love is what makes us human and what allows us to really relate to others.
The love I have with my spouse is not less or more than the love I have for my children; it is a different kind of love; but it is all love.
The love I have for Christopher is deep, abiding, fatherly and ever present. I think of him often. I desire his success -- which means I desire for him what he desires for himself, his passions, his hopes, his wishes. And I bless him in his calling to do much in film making. I bless him that he may make the world a better place because he makes films – whatever kind of films: for fun, for knowledge, for activism, for entertainment – to bring happiness into this world. In all of this, I give him my blessings.
And, too, I respect his choices and decisions -- and part of that respect is to respect how he feels and what he believes is best for him in either developing or not developing a relationship with his father, as difficult as that might be for me to accept. But I bless him in his decision and in his timing.
The years of hurt that he has felt are/is immense -- and he can point it all back to that one single day when he came home, and without any kind of warning and without any kind of support in place, his father was suddenly gone: no good-byes, no stated plans of when he would see his son in the future, no written letters, no personal sign of love found, only his silent departure. Just gone. The father who played, sang, hiked, took him to sports, swam, camped, Disney Word, sightseeing (not so much fun), learned violin together (a little testy here), and of course -- the father who preached from the pulpit - - - and now this! Gone!
The Christopher I know was a happy, huggable boy with whom I wrestled, played tricks on, read to and watched most- all-of his soccer games, if not all of them. He was the best-fun-loving son a father could have. And you should see how cute he looked all dressed up on Sunday mornings. He loved his dad, you could see it. (Oh, and don’t forget how you learned to read and write the Greek alphabet – you were great at that – and but a child!)
Little did he or I know that my life was riding fast the rails of a train-wreck in the making. Everything was in place for sure disaster. And that disaster inevitably came. I am a gay man who was trying to live the heterosexual life. It doesn't work for 99% of us. And those who claim it works -- I've seen the holes in their stories. The odds were against me. I was 17 years into my marriage when I left; Chris was ten years old.
The love that I had for Christopher then, is the love I have for him now, and have always had, even though I was, for a time prior to the separation and following, dysfunctional. I was depressed. I was lost. I was finding my way. I was not fully present. I did space out at times and this was very difficult for the children to experience. They never knew their father this way.
As I sit here today, and read Christopher’s “My Life” on his Facebook note, no friend of his can read it with any more interest, love and a sense of investment than I do. That is simply the claim that most parents can make –though I would never deny the bond or place that friends can have. The hope that I keep alive within me is that Christopher will forgive me for the hurt my separation caused him and will strive for a day when we can, by God’s grace, renew what we had when father and son were happy in relationship together so many years ago. Damn, those were sweet days. To be now his father again, and to love the child in the man, and the man as he is. That can be. We can wish it so; we can work it so. Life is too short for it to be otherwise.
From the father who never really left you, although it doesn’t feel like that,
Dad
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Urge the State Department to Offer Visas to "Outed" Ugandan LGBT Activists
Click here to sign the letter below which urges the State Department to Offer Visas to "Outed" Ugandan LGBT Activist (Source: Blogger by the name of Richael who claims to be a sophomore at Georgetown University studying international health.)
But first, just a reminder of the "hate" that is being flammed against homosexuals:
The letter you sign requesting the State Department to Offer Visas to "Outed" Ugandan LGBT Activist will be sent to the following:
Subject: Offer Visas for Outed Ugandan LGBT Activists
But first, just a reminder of the "hate" that is being flammed against homosexuals:
The letter you sign requesting the State Department to Offer Visas to "Outed" Ugandan LGBT Activist will be sent to the following:
Eric P. SchwartzThe Letter
Asst. Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration
U.S. Embassy
Kampala, Uganda
Office of Public Engagement
The White House
Subject: Offer Visas for Outed Ugandan LGBT Activists
One year ago, a Ugandan parliamentarian introduced an "Anti-Homosexuality Bill" that if passed, would impose the death penalty on LGBT HIV-positive citizens found to be having sex. The bill also would impose life imprisonment for other LGBT Ugandans found to be sexually active.
This bill is an example of the blatant homophobia Ugandans face every day in their homeland. And if this weren’t enough, it just got worse.
Earlier this month a Ugandan newspaper published a list of the "Top 100 Homosexuals" which included their full names, pictures, and addresses and called for their hanging. Since the list was released, there have been a number of personal attacks and property damage towards some of the listed individuals.
One can only imagine what may happen next.
I am asking that the U.S. Department of State immediately offer visas for these "outed" Ugandans to enter the United States before their lives are threatened further.
As a country, we have repeatedly put pressure on Uganda to drop their homophobic bill, and domestically Secretary of State Clinton even recently made an "It Gets Better" video in support of queer youth in the states. I urge the Administration to stand up for the rights of the LGBTQ community, including our brothers and sisters in Uganda, and offer every single one of the individuals listed in that newspaper immediate refugee status and a visa to enter the United States.
Sincerely, Click here to sign the letter
Friday, October 29, 2010
Rev. Makokha's last full day in the USA, October 27, 2010
Many people participated in making possible these events: The Convener of Maranatha, Karen Taylor; the pastor of Rehoboth Temple, Elder Joseph Tolton; Rev. Pat Bumgardner, pastor of MCC-NY; Bridget Cabrera, associate pastor of Young Adult Ministry at SPSA; Dr. Dorothee Benz of MIND; and Jose Ortiz, Other Sheep Coordinator for Africa. Rev. Stephen Parelli coordinated John’s visit to NYC.
John 's last day: an interview and an evening meeting (See photos of this event on Facebook)
Tuesday, October 27, was Rev. Makokha's last full day on this, his first visit to the United States of America. He spent this day at the Parelli-Ortiz home --- first, with an interview with OUTTAKE that Steve had arranged in advance; then, by spending the afternoon working Other Sheep Kenya at Jose's desk and computer; and briefly, by providing photos for the PowerPoint presentation Steve was finishing up for the evening meeting at the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew.
To the airport - And a special thanks for Jorge Lockward for providing lodging
The following day, Wednesday, October 27, Steve went to the home where John was staying - the home of Jorge Lockward on the Upper West Side in Manhattan - and helped John with his luggage and accompanied him to the JFK airport by way of the A train. The luggage was full with many books, other resources and a laptop -gifts from individuals and Other Sheep to take back for the Other Sheep Kenya resource center.
After checking in, John and Steve lunched together in the airport and discussed further the needs and goals of Other Sheep Kenya.
Another great visit from Africa ...
Rev. John Makokha's visit to NYC -- and to Tennessee, Ohio and other parts of the Mid-west -- was much appreciated. Once again, someone from Africa has personally, and effectively, made known the LGBT needs and other social needs in Kenya, and in Africa in general.
Another individual (name withheld) coordinated John’s visits outside of New York City.
 |
| Makokha at Parelli's desk area on interview with OUTTAKE |
by Rev. Stephen Parelli, Other Sheep Executive Director, Bronx, NY
A big thanks to all those who helped in NYC with arranging for John's speaking engagements
Together, and with the help of many friends in New York City, John Makokha and Steve Parelli were able to present Other Sheep Kenya in four church settings and one home setting: The Riverside Church, where we presented to Maranatha - Riversiders for LGBT Concerns; Rehoboth Temple in Harlem; Metropolitan Community Church of New York; Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew, United Methodist (SPSA); and the Parelli-Ortiz home in the Bronx.
 |
| Makokha presenting at SPSA, October 26, 2010 |
 |
| Makokha with Dorothee Benz of MIND |
Tuesday, October 27, was Rev. Makokha's last full day on this, his first visit to the United States of America. He spent this day at the Parelli-Ortiz home --- first, with an interview with OUTTAKE that Steve had arranged in advance; then, by spending the afternoon working Other Sheep Kenya at Jose's desk and computer; and briefly, by providing photos for the PowerPoint presentation Steve was finishing up for the evening meeting at the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew.
 |
| Attendees at Makokha's Other Sheep Kenya presentation, hosted by the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew, United Methodist, October 26, 2010 |
To the airport - And a special thanks for Jorge Lockward for providing lodging
The following day, Wednesday, October 27, Steve went to the home where John was staying - the home of Jorge Lockward on the Upper West Side in Manhattan - and helped John with his luggage and accompanied him to the JFK airport by way of the A train. The luggage was full with many books, other resources and a laptop -gifts from individuals and Other Sheep to take back for the Other Sheep Kenya resource center.
 |
| Makokha with Kent Klindera of amfAR Aids Reserach |
 |
| John Makokha at the desk of Jose Ortiz, Parelli-Ortiz home, Bronx, NY, October 26, 2010 |
Rev. John Makokha's visit to NYC -- and to Tennessee, Ohio and other parts of the Mid-west -- was much appreciated. Once again, someone from Africa has personally, and effectively, made known the LGBT needs and other social needs in Kenya, and in Africa in general.
Another individual (name withheld) coordinated John’s visits outside of New York City.
 |
| Rev. John Makokha (right) with Steve Parelli, on the A train to JFK airport, with suitcases packed with rescource materials -- And a lot of good contacts from networking. Wednesday, October 27, 2010 |
With only a two-week notice, much was accomplished in NYC
John's visit to America was from October 12-27. He purchased his tickets on Oct. 9, having learned perhaps just three days earlier that he was being invited by friends of Reconciling Ministries Network. His trip included a visit with the board of RMN. Much was certainly accomplished in view of the fact that Other Sheep in NYC had just a two-week notice before his arrival in NYC.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Dinosaur bones, African mammal exhibits, and the marginalized of East Africa
by Rev. Stephen Parelli, Executive Director, Other Sheep
“The greatest religious problem today is how to be both a mystic and a militant; in other words how to combine the search for an expansion of inner awareness with effective social action, and how to feel one's true identity in both.” – Ursula K. LeGuin
From the C train to a classy burger joint, and business talk
After having spent the morning hours working on Other Sheep at our respective laptops, I met up with Rev. John Makokha, Other Sheep Coordinator for Kenya, and took him to the Museum of Natural History.
First we got a bite to eat at Shake Shack on Columbus Avenue. We had what I would call backyard-grilled hamburgers -- the way we would do it in the suburbs when I was a boy. The place was crowded (I have a feeling it always is, because the hamburgers are the best you'll ever have), so we ordered "take-out" and with the metal tray they provided to carry the food, we made our way across Columbus Avenue and sat on a sidewalk bench along the museum grounds.
And we talked. About Other Sheep Kenya. About family. About raising funds. About the United Methodist Church. About Other Sheep in Asia and Latin America. About grants and the financial history of Other Sheep in the USA. About the staff that was in the making in Nairobi for Other Sheep Kenya. And more.
The vital intersecting of the needs of all the marginalized and LGBT concerns
Together, as John and I talked, we found that there was wonderful agreement between us on what Other Sheep should look like, especially in developing countries like those of Africa. Following our visit to the museum, and as we returned together on the subway and discussed this item further, it was evident that my four years of travel in East Africa and Asia had prepared me and seasoned me to understand how the general social needs of a populace often vitally intersect with LGBT concerns. (Part of my lack of insight is due to the complete sheltered life l had lived in evangelical academia in the 70s and especially in the 80s during the whole AIDS crisis, when evangelicalism was generally adverse to positive social action.)
A gay Christian’s activism is radically inclusive of all the marginalized
I remember our very first summer in Kenya, 2007. The poverty I witnessed in parts of Nairobi was impossible to describe, and the horrified feelings it left me with were insurmountable. One had to block the memory of what he or she saw in order to espcate the terror of the vivid images. Some of the LGBT community of Nairobi discussed then that whatever pro-LGBT actions gay Christians may take, that gay Christians must be actively engaged in the work of social justice for all marginalized people, not just for the gay community, but for the poor, the orphaned, those infected and affected by HIV-AIDS, the rights of women, and others.
What legitimizes an LGBT organization in the United States? And, is it the same in other regions of the world?
In the United States, an LGBT organization can have legitimacy just by acting on the single issue of same-sex marriage, for example. Or, on the single issue of repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell. In other certain regions of the world, however, it appears to me that a pro-LGBT Christian organization like Other Sheep would address other human rights and needs while keeping in balance its organizational LGBT objectives in order to have the impact it would desire. I would not want to make this a hard fast rule for every region of the world in that my experience is limited; and I would want to appeal foremost to LGBT leaders within their respective countries to vouch for, or to redirect, my thinking. However, in talking with the Rev. John Makokha and others, and in seeing first hand in my own travels the devastation caused by poverty and HIV-AIDS for example, I see more and more that wherever human dignity is reduced in any one person or people groups, it is the voice of the activist that must speak up for one and for all, whatever that activist’s special interest may be in activism.
What I am suggesting about Other Sheep is not really new to Other Sheep. I have only to read the earlier newsletters of Other Sheep before I became the executive director in 2005 to learn how the Other Sheep board in St. Louis has, in its past, at times, seriously addressed HIV-AIDS. And, in coming to know Rev. Dr. Thomas Hanks, the founder and theologian and mission director of Other Sheep, I have had, through him, some of my first glimpses of HIV-AIDS activism and women’s rights awareness.
The call to activism that comes from seeing and knowing first hand
It is perhaps more often the hands-on experiences of life, and the maturity that the passing of time brings, rather than the lectures of the classroom, or the call from the pulpit or the editorial page, that grip the heart and call us to be one with humanity. Some do hear the cry of the suffering human spirit from afar; theirs’ is the heart that all human beings were meant to have: to love thy neighbor as thyself. Others, like me, may fail to recognize as fully as they should the hurting segment of humanity, whether afar or close at hand, until they’ve stepped onto another continent or into another realm of living. In this realm, life does not exist on the plane that is sane, human, and dignified, where all should live, including even the very least of these of the marginalized.
And so it was today that . . .
In visiting with Rev. Makokha today (October 25, 2010), we discussed this item and, through his eyes and experience, we envisioned Other Sheep Kenya as the activism it is for LGBT concerns, but also to see the LGBT religious community actively engaged in the Christian endeavor of working on behalf of all the marginalized, to be one with those whom are lost, because the world - though hardly all - has left them where they are to struggle hopelessly alone.
“The greatest religious problem today is how to be both a mystic and a militant; in other words how to combine the search for an expansion of inner awareness with effective social action, and how to feel one's true identity in both.” – Ursula K. LeGuin
From the C train to a classy burger joint, and business talk
 |
| Rev. John Makokha at the Museume of Natural History, New York City, 2010 see photos |
First we got a bite to eat at Shake Shack on Columbus Avenue. We had what I would call backyard-grilled hamburgers -- the way we would do it in the suburbs when I was a boy. The place was crowded (I have a feeling it always is, because the hamburgers are the best you'll ever have), so we ordered "take-out" and with the metal tray they provided to carry the food, we made our way across Columbus Avenue and sat on a sidewalk bench along the museum grounds.
And we talked. About Other Sheep Kenya. About family. About raising funds. About the United Methodist Church. About Other Sheep in Asia and Latin America. About grants and the financial history of Other Sheep in the USA. About the staff that was in the making in Nairobi for Other Sheep Kenya. And more.
The vital intersecting of the needs of all the marginalized and LGBT concerns
 |
| A school for children in Uganda, 2008, visited by Steve Parelli and Jose Ortiz |
A gay Christian’s activism is radically inclusive of all the marginalized
 |
| The Obunga slums, Kisumu, Kenya, 2008. |
What legitimizes an LGBT organization in the United States? And, is it the same in other regions of the world?
 |
| Children in the Obunga slums, Kisumu, Kenya, 2008 |
 |
| Steve Parelli with Rev. Dr. Thomas Hanks, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2006 |
The call to activism that comes from seeing and knowing first hand
 |
| Jose Ortiz t0 religious leaders in Kisumu, Kenya bringing awareness about what psychology says about same-sex attractions, 2008 |
 |
| Jose Ortiz (left), acquiring awareness about the Obunga slums, Kisumu, Kenya, 2008 |
 |
| Rev. John Makokah at the Mueseum of Natural History, New York City, 2010 see photos |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)