This was the dramatic scene as the world's largest statue of Jesus was hit by lightning.
The bolt parted the thunderclouds over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to strike the statue of Jesus.
The statue is 130ft tall, is made of 700 tons of reinforced concrete and stands atop the 2,296ft Corcovado mountain overlooking the city.
Crazy!
Labels: religion
A pamphlet released by the Mormon Church seems to ease its stance on sexual orientation, saying it is not a result of faulty parenting and that it's not a choice. The church still requires celibacy.
From the Alameda Times-Star:
New teachings say lifelong celibacy to be rewarded with heterosexuality in heaven
The Mormon church has quietly moved further from defining homosexuality as evil and the result of faulty parenting.
An unheralded new church publication, "God Loveth His Children," says gay feelings are neither learned nor chosen, and it counsels against rejecting a gay child.
Seemingly aimed at young people, the statement gently counsels individuals who feel attraction to and love for same-gender people to trust in God's plan and not act upon the transitory desires of mortal life - a period of "probation during which we face a variety of temptations and challenges."
It repeatedly warns against feelings of guilt: "Attractions alone do not make you unworthy. If you avoid immoral thoughts and actions, you have not transgressed even if you feel such an attraction."
It also says: "The Lord's command to 'forgive all men' includes the requirement to forgive yourself."
Spokesmen for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would not say what led the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the First Presidency - the two highest governing bodies of the Church - to publish the pamphlet at the end of July.
"I don't know either," said Jan Shipps, a scholar and historian specializing in Mormons. But its placement on the church's Web site makes clear "that it would have to have been approved by the general authorities of the LDS Church."
Those close to the Mormon Church say the publication is neither the result of a religious revelation nor a policy change.
"This represents a continuation of a direction they began going in several years ago," said Terry Givens, the author of four books on Mormonism and a religion professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia.
A 1974 church pamphlet excoriated homosexuality as evil and castigated parents of gays for having raised their children poorly. By 1992, a new teaching suggested that biological factors could be at work.
The new document's admonitions include quotes from 1995 statements made by church President Gordon Hinckley.
"'The Book of Mormon' prophet Nephi voiced feelings we all have when he acknowledged that he did not 'know the meaning of all things,'" it says. "But he testified, 'I know that (God) loveth his children.'" (1 Nephi 11:17).
The church still expects gays to remain celibate. If they do, they will find themselves imbued with heterosexual feelings in the hereafter, which is peopled with families including a mother, a father and children, the document says.
"That is demeaning," said Gary Watts, a Provo, Utah, nuclear medicine physician and the departing president of Family Fellowship, an organization for the families of gays.
"It says you are defective - but if you hang in, God will fix it.
"Ultimately they need to get to a place where they can place value on committed, same-sex unions," said Watts, whose six children include a gay son and a lesbian daughter.
Labels: religion
A seemingly innocuous email went out last Friday to the 1,000 families of Portland's Jewish Congregation Neveh Shalom.
But the contents of that communiqué from the rabbi for the synagogue affiliated with the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism could be seen as a startling change of direction on one of Oregon's hottest hot-button issues: same-sex unions.
Starting immediately, Neveh Shalom will sanctify the ceremonies of same-sex couples.
For a traditionally more conservative sect of Judaism, Portland's Congregation Neveh Shalom in Southwest Portland has long welcomed openly gay families into its congregation, according to its leader, Rabbi Daniel Isaak, 58.
Yet it took a seminal series of decisions in the past year at the national level by the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement to clear the way for Isaak's announcement.
"Homosexuality is certainly not a new issue for Neveh Shalom," Rabbi Isaak wrote in his email message last week. "The practical impact of [this] decision is that we will sanctify the relations of Jewish same sex couples who ask that such ceremonies take place in our congregation."
Isaak says no same-sex couples have yet stepped up to accept his offer but that his decision was right in line with other landmark civil rights decisions.
"A generation ago we went through the same process in terms of egalitarian treatment of women in our congregation," Isaak says. "It was not long ago that interracial marriage was the hot-button topic.
"Now," he says, "it's just something we don't even consider."
Isaak says response has been "exceedingly positive," with one lone congregant angered more by how Isaak chose to disseminate his message than by the message.
via Willamette Week. Read the rest and comment over there.
So over at World 'Nut' Daily they're reporting about a gay pride organizer from Wisconsin who is now facing a felony charge after police say he sought to meet a 14-year-old boy via the internet for a sexual encounter. Is this ok? Of course not. The folks here at Gay Rights Watch couldn't be more against this type of thing. BUT...
First, why is this a big news story to them? If our blog reported on every single straight man who did this, we wouldn't have time to do anything else but type-type-type. I mean come on now, don't you watch To Catch a Predator? Straight man after straight man who get caught in stings trying to have sex with 12, 13 and 14 year-old girls.
Second, just look at the following list of recent youth pastors (World Net Daily's peeps) who got busted...
[UPDATE HERE] Tammy Faye Messner has passed away.
Last night on Larry King Tammy Faye was interviewed. I watched it and honestly it was heartbreaking. Stricken with lung cancer, weighing only 65 pounds--she is not in good shape and obviously does not have a lot of time left on this earth. In the clip below she talks about gays and her son Jay Bakker joins the conversation.
Labels: religion
Soulforce's Equality Ride is making it's way to Oregon on April 5th!
From Soulforce:
We are working cooperatively with George Fox University to structure a mutually enriching day on campus. On-campus events - including meals shared with students and administrators, classroom presentations, a discussion with health care center staff members, and social time with campus organizations - are open exclusively to George Fox University students and faculty and to the Equality Riders.
Community members who wish to be involved with this stop are welcome to join us for off-campus events in the Portland area, including, but not limited to, a nonviolence seminar with Love Makes a Family and the Black Student Union at Portland Community College, Cascade Campus, on Friday, April 6th, from 1 - 4 p.m., and a hike and picnic lunch at Tryon Creek State Park on Saturday, April 7th, at 10 a.m.
Homophobia is globally pervasive, and no community or school escapes its reach. In 2006, during the inaugural Equality Ride, participants traveled to nineteen schools and engaged students, faculty, and administrators in conversation about the damaging effects of homophobic doctrine, the false notion that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender identities are sick and sinful. This year, the journey continues with fifty young adults going to thirty-two Christian colleges and universities. Two buses are taking the group on two distinct routes around the country in creative pursuit of social justice. In doing so, they are empowered to change countless lives. Love liberates the oppressed, redeems the lost, and resurrects the spirit.
Labels: college, gay rights, religion, soulforce
"If you're looking for the straight scoop on gay rights, this is the site for you. With grace and compassion, this relentlessly up-to-date blog examines the gay rights news of the day and looks at how it impacts the real lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Americans--with minimal fluff, minimal frills, and no apologies." - About.com
"With determined young men and women like the ones of Gay Rights Watch working hard to inform themselves and others, the future of our community looks bright, particularly in their home state of Oregon."
-The Human Rights Campaign
