Brother Fire

Last week Roman Catholic Bishops from New York released a statement condemning the New York State recognition of same-sex marriage. The NY Bishops' Conference statement was in response to Governor David Paterson's directive that all state agencies must revise their policies and regulations to legally recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states (Massachusetts and California), as well as Canada. The Governor's memo warns that failure to do so could result in sanctions for violations of the state human rights law (You can see an Empire State Pride Agenda video of Governor Paterson announcing the directive, as well as the text of the memo here , on the New York Observer's website). What I find most troubling about the Bishops' statement is not that it condemns same-sex marriage. Such a condemnation is not news coming from Roman Catholic Church leaders. The Church has condemned most things homosexual for centuries. And I wish not to debate the Bishops...

Last week the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith released a pronouncement that those who were baptized with the celebrant using a phrase other than the words: "in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit" must be re-baptized. This pronouncement was in response to questions about the use of other phraseology by protestant & feminist ministers such as "Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier." According to the pronouncement, those who have been baptized by a minister or priest who used such phraseology should be considered unbaptized in the Christian faith. According to the statement that was approved by Pope Benedict XVI (another example of what my friend Ginger calls "creeping infallibility"), Jesus ordered his apostles to baptize Christians "in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit," that any other language does not adequately express the Trinitarian nature of God. I find it disappointing that the Vatica...