Saturday, November 21, 2009

Shall A Little Child Lead Them?

On Friday, a gathering of Christian Clergy held a press conference to present the "Manhattan Declaration," a conservative platform of what they will, and will not accept. It is timely in relation to the upcoming Senate vote on Health Care Reform on Saturday (the vote is to move it out of committee, thus allow for discussion, and not one that would pass the bill).

In that light, here is a brief description of the purpose of the "Manhattan Declaration" (major h/t to Logistics Monster for sending this to me):



Wow, right? You know I am pro-choice - always have been. But I can understand people who are adamantly opposed to abortion do not want to pay for one with their tax dollars in the Health Care reform bill. It is not unlike many of us not wanting to fund ACORN with our tax dollars, though that is more political in nature. Yes, it is legal, and should be, IMHO (as Hillary says, it should be safe, legal, and rare). As I said, I can understand people who do not want their tax dollars funding them.

From a purely sociological perspective, it is interesting to see the ecumenical nature of this group, and the issues that galvanized it. From a theological and personal perspective, I think they are absolutely wrong in their depiction of same-sex marriages. It never ceases to amaze me how the message of Love preached by Jesus can be so distorted by those who call themselves his servants.

It seems that the clergy from the "Manhattan Declaration" should take a little look see at the following video sent to me by my NQ buddy, Linda. It is an interesting juxtaposition between the clergy, another man in the video, and Will Phillips, the fifth grader who refuses to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance until ALL American citizens have liberty. Take a look:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Gaywatch - Peter Vadala & William Phillips
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show
Full Episodes
Political HumorHealth Care Crisis


Oh, yeah, bringing a world of hurt to the ones who hurl insulting monikers - excellent!

Ahem. What I MEANT to say was, isn't there a line in the Bible, "a little child shall lead them" (Isa. 11:1-10)? Yeah, I'm pretty sure there was. Maybe the clergy members oughta take a look at it...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can understand that people don't want their tax dollars to be spent in ways that don't agree with their beliefs. Hell, I don't want my tax dollars to pay the salary of the Loser In Chief, the Assistant Loser In Chief, or any of the Congresslosers. But unfortunately, we don't get to choose the ways in which our tax dollars are spent. But abortion is still legal, so perhaps this Christian Clergy group might do better to spend their time, money, and energy offering care and assistance to the millions of unwanted children who ARE on earth, currently living in abusive home situations or stuck in the foster care system or trying to survive out in the streets.

I truly don't understand those who, in the name of God/Goddess/Allah/Jesus/Mohammad/Whoever, can deny anyone the basic human right, the NEED, to love and be loved.

Will Phillips truly is a special kid. Hats off to his parents for supporting and encouraging his dedication to justice and liberty for all.

On another note, one of the commenters (Wonk the Vote) of a post today by bostonboomer over at The Confluence included this link in her comment - Hillary speaking to the troops in Kabul:

http://tinyurl.com/yfesth4

Notice there was no "you guys make a great photo op" by this amazing lady!

And happy Thanksgiving, Rev, to you and your partner!

Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy said...

Hey, SFIndie -

I guess you know now that I had the Clinton video, too! :-D (I set these three up before I left for the weekend.) Isn't she awesome? Definitely no "y'all make one freakin' awsome photo op for the poseur in chief!"

Btw, the report abt that visit in S. Korea by McClatchy Newspapers made NO mention of that. I wrote the woman who covered it for them and asked her if it was, um, an "oversight."

I hear you, SF, abt the taxes. You make a great point. And you DEFINITELY make a great point abt how the clergy could better be spending their time. Like when Falwell was going on abt freakin' Teletubbies seriously???

But you know, it is so much safer to attack groups like mine than deal with the batterers, or incest perp...

Happy Thanksgiving, SF - I am most definitely thankful for you! :-)