RevCyn

The groups of people and individual people who persist in perpetuating the absolute myth that President Barack Obama is not a U.S.-born citizen is troubling. What is even more troubling than the people who fervently believe this, to me, is the group of people whom I believe to NOT believe it, yet are doing everything they can to keep the rumor mill going, or to avoid stating outright that Barack Obama is, indeed, a U.S.-born citizen, in order to pander to these people for votes or other support. NPR did an excellent article on the subject, which you can listen to here . One of those people who I believe knows better but is peddling in hate is Lou Dobbs of CNN. CNN is one of the many reputable news sources that has proven satisfactorily that Barack Obama is, indeed, a citizen of the U.S. born in the U.S. in Hawaii. The Southern Poverty Law Center has called for Dobbs' dismissal. Rush Limbaugh is another one peddling this story who I think really does know better: Other hate peddle...

For years, I have been carrying bottled water into the pulpit. I drink and like tap water at home, but I don't like the taste of the church's well water, so I've been porting my own water in, yes, those horrible plastic bottles that fill up our landfills. Now seems like the time to stop. So this summer I've been in search of the perfect bottle to take to church every week (and every other day I'm there, as well). I started by mentioning this to my husband. He had previously purchased some Rubbermaid ones we've been using at home: These won't work for toting water to church, because (as, yes, I have found) the cap isn't very secure and will leak water all over your bag and onto your sermon. So when I mentioned to my husband that I was looking for one that would work for taking to church, unbeknownst to me, he went and purchased a bottle from "ecousable." This has the advantage of having the round top where I could clip it to the outside of my ba...

I'm on vacation and study leave for July, so posts to this blog may be brief, sporadic, or even non-existent for the next few weeks. Meanwhile, you're welcome to follow me on Twitter, as that shorter format is more likely to get used by me during this time, since I can post easily from most locations via phone. I've had a couple of requests for information on when and why I screen comments, so I thought it would be helpful to create a blog post on the subject. Here 's my earlier post with guidelines, but it seems a bit insufficiently explained there, because I was new and exploring what things would be like on this blog at the time. Yes, posts are moderated on this blog. I post most comments, but screen some. Comments that are critical of my posts or of our faith are allowed. I do not want to cut off meaningful dialogue, if possible. Comments will be screened if they are name-calling, if they are discussing personal accusations outside of the content of my blog po...

The UUA has announced a new campaign against hate crimes, "Standing on the Side of Love." Hate crimes are definitely something we've had enough of in the last year: July 27, 2008: Jim David Adkisson enters the Tennessee Valley UU Church and kills two people and wounds more. He says in his manifesto , "This was a hate crime: I hate the damn left-wing liberals." May 31, 2009: Scott Roeder enters a Lutheran Church and kills Dr. George Tiller. He is quoted as saying on a blog, "Bleass [sic] everyone for attending and praying in May to bring justice to Tiller and the closing of his death camp." June 10, 2009: James Wenneker von Brunn enters the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and kills a guard. Von Brunn ran an anti-Semitic website and had connections to hate groups. What is striking about these three, in comparison to all the other horrible hate crimes that happen, is that they all took place in places that should be places of peace, where we hono...

Unitarian Universalists from all over the country have headed off to Salt Lake City this week for our annual General Assembly , which starts tomorrow. The twitter reports, blog posts, and facebook status updates are already pouring in, and I'm enjoying reading them, for I will not be at General Assembly this year. General Assembly is where we vote on the business of the association, and it's an important year this year, for two major reasons. The first is that it's our first contested presidential election in eight years. (In case I forget this fact, there are about eight e-mails from the two candidates that pour into my inbox daily, despite the fact that I've already mailed in my absentee ballot.) During all this time I did not endorse a candidate. I believe that both candidates are good and worthy people. The lists of endorsements are so long that an endorsement of a small-town minister like myself wouldn't even merit an e-mail anyway! I haven't seen in any of...

I finally found video of the HRC Clergy Call 2009 press conference: And here's the link, so you can jump to whichever person you want to watch: HRC Clergy Call 2009 Press Conference UU minister Rev. Manish Mishra does a very fine job, so if you only watch part, I recommend him. Most of the speakers were excellent and inspiring, though, so the whole thing is worth a watch.

For several years, the Jackson Human Rights Commission has been putting up a proposal for a Civil Rights Ordinance to the Jackson City Council . It has been repeatedly referred back to the committee for further work. Here's the first paragraph of the latest draft: It is the intent of the City of Jackson that no person be denied the equal protection of the laws; nor shall any person be denied the enjoyment of his or her civil or political rights or be discriminated against because of actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, height, weight, condition of pregnancy, marital status, educational association, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or HIV status. As used herein, "perceived" refers to the perception of the person who acts, and not to the perception of the person for or against whom the action is taken. (Source: PFLAG ) Last night, the City Council tabled it until the July 14 meeting, and referred it to the city attor...