Shuck and Jive


Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Presbyterian Business: Equality, Bullies, and Pensions

The homophobians are foaming at the mouth regarding teh gay. The LayMAN has its groupies writing letters to the Board of Pensions on behalf of those essential Jesus qualities, namely, greed and prejudice.



"Don't want any queer folk gettin' any benefits. That's our money."





I am sure that is what Jesus would say.

Folks at the Covenant Network say we should write letters too and tell the BOP that they should grant the benefits that the General Assembly approved this summer. You can send a letter to corporate secretary Andy Brown or to any of the people on the list that the LayMAN has provided.

But you know, I have to think that the good folks at the BOP are not idiots. The General Assembly already voted. If the BOP is so compromised that letters from unhinged homophobic nutcases would keep them from doing the right thing, then is there is any hope at all for us? I mean, really.

So BOP, consider this my letter. Do the right thing.

Now for the rest of you, ahem, LayMEN, who think that people should be denied health care coverage because they don't fit your warped sense of morality, all I have to say is



if he were here...





In related news, the voting has begun on equality. So far, the good people are behind two presbyteries to none.

The Presbytery of the James tied, which means lose. I'll wager that someone at that presbytery is feeling sheepish for skipping the meeting.

The Presbytery of Alaska also voted no.

Anti-equality presbyteries like to get out the vote early in an attempt to make a trend. For instance, my presbytery (which usually votes 3 to 1 against equality) votes in early December. But I and other equality-minded folks will get out there anyway and give folks a chance to do the right thing.

Make sure you bookmark the Yes on Amendment 10-A blog.

Finally, More Light Presbyterians invites you to go purple on Wednesday, October 20th

"to honor the memory of the LGBT youth hurt and pushed by bullying to suicide."
Good idea.

Bullies are a problem.
I preached about them on Easter. Childhood bullies do grow up. Some actually reform.

Others end up writing for the LayMAN.

4 comments:

  1. Let the BFTSs write themselves silly. The GA decided.

    Once again we see the abject hypocrisy of the "other side." While they whine about people not showing the proper slavish devotion to the Book of Order, they're happily trying to get the BOP to ignore the very clear decision of the GA. (The people whose benefits we're talking about are just employees, they're not even ordained!)

    The BFTS have once again shown their true colors. This isn't about marriage. It never was. Ever.

    Hopefully the "moderate middle" is starting to get that now. Let's repeat it just to be clear. This isn't and never has been about marriage. The busybodies, fusspots, tattletales and scolds don't want some damned fag to get a filling in his tooth if it's paid for by his partner's insurance, while the rest of us go on paying for every scrape and scratch for them.

    This is about meanness. Plain and simple.

    We've seen this in our state, where an anti-gay marriage amendment was used to steal health care benefits from employees. Never let yourselves be goaded into arguments about marriage again, because it isn't about marriage. It's about hate.

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  2. Exactly. The religious word is sin. Their hearts are hard and cold.

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  3. When the Presbytery of Detroit votes, I will be there.

    Re pensions, it is all about money, the more marriages that are recognized, the more money that has to be paid to surviving spouses.

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  4. "Re pensions, it is all about money, the more marriages that are recognized, the more money that has to be paid to surviving spouses."

    Yet no one had a problem with funding pensions until LGBT folks thought it might be a rather unique idea if the Christian Church started treating all people equally.

    Money is, in my opinion, a ruse. No one is demanding that all pensions be de-funded, which would be the logical course if this were really about money. Instead they just don't want some folks to have benefits. Period. Because the work a straight person does is worth more than the identical job done by an LGBT person.

    (And the increased amount of money we're talking about is a pittance anyway.)

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