Smart people saying smart things (5.30)

Last updated on: May 30, 2014 at 8:46 am by Fred Clark

Smart people saying smart things (5.30) 2014-05-30T08:46:42-04:00 Fred Clark

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Julian of Norwich (1342-1416), in Revelations of Divine Love

For it is the property in God which doeth good against evil. Thus Jesus Christ that doeth good against evil is our Very Mother: we have our Being of Him, — where the Ground of Motherhood beginneth, — with all the sweet Keeping of Love that endlessly followeth. As verily as God is our Father, so verily God is our Mother; and that shewed He in all, and especially in these sweet words where He saith: I it am. That is to say, I it am, the Might and the Goodness of the Fatherhood; I it am, the Wisdom of the Motherhood; I it am, the Light and the Grace that is all blessed Love: I it am, the Trinity, I it am, the Unity: I am the sovereign Goodness of all manner of things. I am that maketh thee to love: I am that maketh thee to long: I it am, the endless fulfilling of all true desires.

Vixen Strangely, “Men Who Hate Women”

When feminists talk about “rape culture,” this is pretty much the worst-case scenario guy. He believes he is so entitled to women’s bodies that they should die if they don’t submit. When the truth of the matter is, this is the very last person any thinking woman would want in her bed, because he specifically does not see her as a person to respect and work with and more germane to all of our concerns — not harm. Men are often stronger than we are physically. We very much do try to shield ourselves from harm. Not all men harm women — this so true that not one of us who has a lover, husband, brother, or father who has been by our side in a crisis needs to be told, but there is also not one of us who does not know a woman who was harmed by a man. We all do. We have all heard stories of friends or sisters or mothers who were brutalized. And many of us have been victims or nearly victims ourselves.We have all the evidence we could ever want of this image of men who just seem to hate women.

The Rt. Revs. Wendell Gibbs Jr., Todd Ousley, Rayford J. Ray and Whayne M. Hougland Jr., “Episcopal bishops on gay marriage: Discrimination is not the Lord’s way”

When asked what is the greatest commandment, Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-38 NRSV). Condemning love and condemning those seeking to make a faithful, committed, and covenantal relationship to one another under God is not a message built on the teachings of Christ, but is rather a fear-laden response to one’s neighbor.

Our faith is in a loving and compassionate God who does not condemn love, and in our experience, there is holy goodness in the love of gay and lesbian couples and their families.

Ed Kilgore, “If Liberals Really Were Hostile to Religion …”

If you put aside those who (a) profess to be mortally offended by the removal of officially sanctioned religious expressions like municipal creches or school prayers, or (b) consider it an act of persecution to be denied taxpayer support for the religious education of their children, or (c) regard themselves as martyred by the obligation to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s by obeying equal employment or health insurance laws, it’s really, really hard to find even semi-plausible examples of threats to “religious liberty” in this country. And as I observe often to my fellow Christians, if you are so weak in your faith that it cannot survive an absence of state support, then the actual martyrs undoubtedly weep for you.

Joyce Arthur, “The Only Moral Abortion Is My Abortion”

“In 1973, after Roe v. Wade, abortion became legal but had to be performed in a hospital. That of course was changed later. For the first ‘legal abortion day’ I had scheduled five procedures. While scrubbing between cases, I was accosted by the Chief of the OB/Gyn service. He asked me, ‘How many children are you going to kill today?’ My response, out of anger, was a familiar vulgar retort. About three months later, this born-again Christian called me to explain that he was against abortion but his daughter was only a junior in high school and was too young to have a baby and he was also afraid that if she did have a baby she would not want to put it up for adoption. I told him he did not need to explain the situation to me. ‘All I need to know’, I said, ‘is that SHE wants an abortion.’ Two years later I performed a second abortion on her during her college break. She thanked me and pleaded, ‘Please don’t tell my dad, he is still anti-abortion.'” (Physician, Washington State)

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