November 15, 2005

The Liberty Line is a monthly e-mail update from the Liberty Education Forum. 

LEF NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!

Reaching the Heartland

Ole Miss Student Makes Case for Equality
A student at Ole Miss recently wrote a compelling op-ed encouraging all gay and lesbian people to come out of the closet.  Landon Huey writes about his painful struggle coming to terms with his sexual orientation.  "When I was a boy I was very pious. I loved Jesus as much as a boy can love Him.  My family and I read Southern Baptist devotionals everyday after breakfast before we departed to face the world.  We read God's Word and prayed.  Every Wednesday I was at choir practice.  Every Saturday evening I studied my Sunday school lesson in preparation for the next day. On Sundays I attended class.  After class I volunteered with the Children's Church. Every spring I went to church camp.

Ruling by Methodist Church Creates Controversy
The Washington Blade reports, "The Council of Bishops abruptly reaffirmed its welcome for gay men and lesbians after the United Methodist Church's Judicial Council, the equivalent of its Supreme Court, reinstated a Virginia pastor who had barred a gay man from membership because of his sexual orientation. 'While pastors have the responsibility to discern readiness for membership, homosexuality is not a barrier,' the bishops wrote. 'We implore families and churches not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay members and friends. We commit ourselves to be in ministry for and with all persons.'

"Last year, Rev. Edward Johnson of Virginia's South Hill United Methodist Church refused church membership to a man active in the church choir because he is gay and refused to neither 'repent nor seek to live a different lifestyle,' according to the Judicial Council's decision.  The district superintendent told Johnson he was required to admit the man into membership. When Johnson refused, the superintendent filed a complaint. In June 2005 Johnson was placed on involuntary leave.  Last month, the Judicial Council reinstated Johnson, ruling that pastors have the authority to decide who should be admitted as members. 

"Delegates to the next United Methodist general conference in 2008 are expected to submit petitions on the issue. 'This ruling was extreme even for the most conservative bishops," said Carole Vaughn, director of communications for the Virginia Conference. "This is just out of the mainstream for who we are.'  Read more.

Out of the Closet, Out of the Pulpit
The United Methodist Church recently defrocked Beth Stroud, a lesbian who served as associate pastor at a Methodist Church in Philadelphia.  She told her story in a recent The Los Angeles Times op-ed.  "When I came out, I met with my bishop and said, 'I am a lesbian, and I am in a committed relationship with my partner.'  He looked worried. I said the same thing to my congregation. They applauded. For them it was a no-brainer. Acceptance is a part of our faith as well as a part of our day-to-day neighborhood life.

"A church legal process ensued, which led to a trial (I was defrocked), then an appeal (I was reinstated) and then a request for a ruling from the church's highest judicial body, the Judicial Council. The end result: As of last Monday morning, I am no longer a United Methodist minister.

"I'm sad.  I've been crying off and on.  I'm remembering how much I love standing at the communion table or baptizing a person who has just become a Christian. I grieve the ministry that I may never have again: simply being a pastor to a few hundred people who are hungry for love and truth and guidance, and helping them seek God through their worship services, their Sunday school classes, their ministries to the homeless and their pumpkin sales.

"But even more, I grieve the dividedness in our church and in our country. I value being a United Methodist in part because I want to be in a relationship with people who are not all alike and do not think alike.  But it is so hard for the people in my congregation to even understand the perspective behind the ruling against me. They just can't believe it and think it's outrageous. Meanwhile, many United Methodists and others who truly believe that all homosexual relationships are sinful have never visited my world, where strong and healthy families of all kinds raise happy children, work together in a peaceful neighborhood and love and serve God together. How will we ever bridge all that divides us?"  Read Stroud's column.  Read article about the vote.

Division Continues in Episcopal Church
The New York Times reports, "Conservative leaders of the Episcopal Church U.S.A. and their Anglican counterparts from overseas intensified their warnings Friday about the possibility of a schism in the Anglican Communion if the Episcopal Church did not renounce the consecration of gay bishops and the blessing of same-sex unions. About 2,400 Episcopal Church and Anglican bishops, clergy members and lay leaders from around the world gathered Thursday for a three-day show of solidarity in preparation for a general convention of the Episcopal Church next June in Columbus, Ohio. While Episcopal and Anglican conservatives have warned before of the possibility of a split in the 77 million-member Anglican Communion over these issues, powerful primates of national and regional Anglican churches from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean said Friday that a break was all but inevitable if the Episcopal Church did not vote to change course at the Columbus meeting."  Read more.

Openly Gay Bishop Focuses on His Job
Amidst the controversy surrounding his election as bishop, Gene Robinson is focused on serving the people of his diocese.  Bishop Robinson will be keynote speaker at the 2006 Liberty Education Forum National Symposium. The Boston Globe highlighted his work in a recent profile. "His responsibilities include diocesan finances, church meetings and priests with personal and spiritual problems. His desire is to be known as a good bishop, not the gay bishop.' Decisions often require delicate judgment calls. 'What's the best thing for this congregation, for this priest? Those kind of decisions take a lot out of you,' he said.

"Last month, Robinson drove north to Plymouth to talk about finances with parish leaders from around the state. Parishes reported losing some long-term members over the issue of Robinson's homosexuality. But many also reported growth as young families have joined the church. Diocesan officials estimate they're at least even on membership if not slightly ahead. 'The spirit of the people is healthy. Our participation is good. Our attendance has slowly been building back up,' said the Rev. Chip Robinson (no relation), rector of the Church of Our Savior in Milford.

"In conversations afterward, few seemed to resent their bishop's role on the international stage.  'He's doing his job and he's doing it well,' said Joe Fluet, senior warden at St. John's in Wakefield. 'I'd never dream of telling another diocese how to pick their bishop, and I'm not much interested in what they think about how we chose our bishop.'"  Read more.

Gay Catholics Find Welcome at Baltimore Archdiocese's Special Mass
The Baltimore Sun reported on a recent Mass, hosted by the Bishop, for gay and lesbian Catholics, "With a message of humility, faith in times of suffering and God's unconditional love, a bishop with the Archdiocese of Baltimore celebrated Mass at a service devoted to gay and lesbian Catholics.  'As bishop, being here this afternoon in this community, I do so with genuine affection and gentleness to you,'  Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski, the eastern vicar, told those gathered at St. Bernadette Roman Catholic Church in Severn, a parish that has had a thriving gay and lesbian ministry since 1997.  Read more.

Bishops Get Option to Deny Communion to Politicians
The Planet Out Network reports, "Roman Catholic bishops can make their own decisions about whether to deny communion to politicians whose opinions differ from official church doctrine, according to a recent vote by the synod of Roman Catholic bishops.  The synod voted that local bishops should decide sacrament issues when it comes to politicians who showed 'no coherence when they support laws that run counter to the human good, to justice and to natural law.'

"Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry, an outreach to LGBT Catholics, described the decision as 'a step in the right direction for the Catholic Church. This time local bishops can decide as opposed to some edict from the Vatican.'   Read more.

Demonstration Highlights Problems with Don't Ask, Don't Tell The Washington Post reported on a recent protest at the Naval Academy against the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.  "About 50 gay rights activists strolled the soggy grounds of the U.S. Naval Academy to protest the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Academy officials initially threatened to arrest them if they tried to promote their cause on campus. But after organizers agreed not to talk about gay issues to midshipmen, officials let them roam freely. 'It's so much more than what I thought we'd get, so I'm thrilled,' rally organizer Jacob Reitan said.

"The protesters wore bright pastel T-shirts printed with the words, 'Equality Ride,' which organizers have dubbed the roving protest. The Naval Academy was the second stop in what organizers hope will be a nationwide bus tour to visit college campuses where homosexuality is either prohibited or discouraged. The rally began with a few tense moments. The protesters, mostly students from the Washington area, held hands forming a line along the brick wall outside the academy's main gate. After a brief news conference, they walked single file through the gate. Reitan was first and, met by two Marine guards, he gave his name and showed his driver's license." Read news article.  Read news article.  Visit Soulforce's web-site.

Healthwatch

Government Considers Merits of At-Home HIV Test
The New York Times reports, "Federal drug regulators have agreed to consider allowing a Pennsylvania company to sell the first rapid, at-home HIV test that would make testing for the virus about as easy and accessible as a pregnancy screen. The move could put to rest 18 years of controversy.  Officials at the Food and Drug Administration and AIDS advocates long worried that people who got an HIV diagnosis would panic and even consider suicide. So for years, the federal drug officials have insisted that counseling and professional support accompany HIV tests. This requirement has complicated proposals for at-home tests.

"But improved medicines now mean that AIDS is a chronic disease that can often be managed for years, so the fear that a diagnosis might lead to thoughts of suicide have subsided. Just as important, 40,000 people each year continue to be infected by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. This rate has remained stubbornly high for years. Having tried many other strategies, federal health officials are now increasingly open to the idea that an at-home AIDS test could finally lead thousands to change their behaviors and stop infecting others. Read more.

Study says Gel May Prevent HIV
WebMD reports, "A vaginal gel protects monkeys from catching an AIDS-like virus, researchers report.  If it works in humans -- and if it's inexpensive -- it could save millions of lives. Women in many AIDS-devastated nations have limited means of protecting themselves against the AIDS virus. That's why a vaginal microbicide -- an agent that kills HIV without harming the vagina -- is one of the Holy Grails of AIDS research.  So far, the gel's only been tested in monkeys. But the results are very encouraging. The gel protects monkeys against a much higher concentration of viruses than would be found in HIV-infected human semen. Human clinical trials are expected to start in 2007. Until then, it's too soon to say whether the gel will work.  Read more.

Breakthrough Drug Effective Against Early-Stage Breast Cancer
The Advocate reports, "A drug that targets only diseased cells has proved astonishingly effective against an aggressive form of early breast cancer—a long-sought breakthrough that has doctors talking about curing thousands of women each year in this country alone. The drug, Herceptin, is already used for advanced cancer. But in three studies involving thousands of women with early-stage disease, it cut the risk of a relapse in half.

"Several experts used words like 'revolutionary,' 'stunning,' and 'jaw-dropping' to describe the findings. 'In 1991, I didn't know that we would cure breast cancer, and in 2005, I'm convinced we have,' exulted Jo Anne Zujewski, head of breast cancer therapeutics at the government's National Cancer Institute."  Read more.