28 February 2010
Cross referencing
Go here for photos in and around Trinity from the past week or so and then drop below that posting for this morning's sermon.
A Miscarriage of Justice
If this news article really is true, women in Utah are screwed in more ways than one. I just can't get over the paradox of those on the right who claim they want 'smaller government' and then turn around and pass invasive laws such as this. [It should be noted that this sort of tough legislation already exists in El Salvador; if a woman miscarries, the doctor must report it.]
I groan because Executive Council will be meeting several times in Utah in this triennium. We already struggled with whether or not to go because of their stance on LGBT matters; this news just makes it all the harder to justify going there. But the contracts have been signed so I don't really think there is all that much we can do other than make noise.
Utah Women May Face Murder Charges After Miscarriages
Outrage at bill that could jail women who 'recklessly' endanger unborn children
by David Usborne in New York
A proposed Utah law that would open women who suffer a miscarriage to possible criminal prosecution and life imprisonment has enraged feminists and civil rights activists across the United States.
Adopted overwhelmingly by both sides of the state legislature in Salt Lake City earlier this month, the draft bill is now awaiting the signature of the state's Republican Governor, Gary Herbert. It is not clear if the growing national controversy surrounding the proposed law will slow or even stay his pen.
While the main thrust of the law is to enable prosecutors in the majority-Mormon state to pursue women who seek illegal, unsupervised forms of abortion, it includes a provision that could trigger murder charges against women found guilty of an "intentional, knowing or reckless act" that leads to a miscarriage. Some say this could include drinking one glass of wine too many, walking on an icy pavement or skiing.
Lawmakers were responding to the case of a 17-year-old pregnant Utah woman who paid a man $150 to assault her physically in the hope that the beating would cause her to miscarry. The child was born anyway and put up for adoption. And while the man involved is currently behind bars, prosecutors found they had no basis in state law to prosecute the young woman. She was in her seventh month when she tried to terminate her pregnancy.
Last-minute efforts to remove reference in the bill to "reckless" acts failed, feeding the uproar about a law that some people say would be impossible to implement and threatens basic freedoms of women. Statistics suggest that 15 to 20 per cent of recognized pregnancies end in miscarriage. "This creates a law that makes any pregnant woman who has a miscarriage potentially criminally liable for murder," said Missy Bird, director of Planned Parenthood Action Fund of Utah, part of the national organization that champions abortion rights.
Critics also note that the bill has no exemptions for women who suffer domestic abuse or who have addiction problems. They wonder, for example, about the putative case of a woman remaining with an abusive partner and suffering a miscarriage after an episode of violence. Would remaining in that relationship constitute "reckless" behavior, they ask?
Abortion remains deeply contentious in the United States, where, with some restrictions, it has been legal under the terms of the landmark Roe v Wade ruling by the Supreme Court of 1973. The issue returned to the front pages last month when Scott Roeder was tried and convicted for the murder in Kansas last August of one of the few doctors legally providing late-term abortions in the country.
The reaction to Utah's new initiative has verged in most quarters on disbelief, however. "For all these years the anti-choice movement has said 'we want to outlaw abortion, not put women in jail', but what this law says is 'no, we really want to put women in jail'," Lynn Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, wrote in a blog.
Similarly astonished is the syndicated columnist Dan Savage. "Where will this insanity end?" he wrote. "If every miscarriage is a potential homicide, how does Utah avoid launching a criminal investigation every time a woman has a miscarriage? And how is Utah supposed to know when a pregnant woman has had a miscarriage? You're going to have to create some sort of pregnancy registry to keep track of all those fetuses. Perhaps you could start issuing 'conception certificates' to women who get pregnant. And then, if there isn't a baby within nine months of the issuance of a conception certificate, the woman could be hauled in for questioning."
Utah is used to criticism from some of its more liberal neighbors for its socially conservative ways that range from allowing concealed guns on its state university campus to strict limits on alcohol sales. It has not gone unnoticed that consideration of the bill, with the potentially high costs it would entail, has coincided with a debate on canceling the last year of school for Utah children to help to save the state money.
From Common Dreams (originally in the UK Independent).
I groan because Executive Council will be meeting several times in Utah in this triennium. We already struggled with whether or not to go because of their stance on LGBT matters; this news just makes it all the harder to justify going there. But the contracts have been signed so I don't really think there is all that much we can do other than make noise.
Utah Women May Face Murder Charges After Miscarriages
Outrage at bill that could jail women who 'recklessly' endanger unborn children
by David Usborne in New York
A proposed Utah law that would open women who suffer a miscarriage to possible criminal prosecution and life imprisonment has enraged feminists and civil rights activists across the United States.
Adopted overwhelmingly by both sides of the state legislature in Salt Lake City earlier this month, the draft bill is now awaiting the signature of the state's Republican Governor, Gary Herbert. It is not clear if the growing national controversy surrounding the proposed law will slow or even stay his pen.
While the main thrust of the law is to enable prosecutors in the majority-Mormon state to pursue women who seek illegal, unsupervised forms of abortion, it includes a provision that could trigger murder charges against women found guilty of an "intentional, knowing or reckless act" that leads to a miscarriage. Some say this could include drinking one glass of wine too many, walking on an icy pavement or skiing.
Lawmakers were responding to the case of a 17-year-old pregnant Utah woman who paid a man $150 to assault her physically in the hope that the beating would cause her to miscarry. The child was born anyway and put up for adoption. And while the man involved is currently behind bars, prosecutors found they had no basis in state law to prosecute the young woman. She was in her seventh month when she tried to terminate her pregnancy.
Last-minute efforts to remove reference in the bill to "reckless" acts failed, feeding the uproar about a law that some people say would be impossible to implement and threatens basic freedoms of women. Statistics suggest that 15 to 20 per cent of recognized pregnancies end in miscarriage. "This creates a law that makes any pregnant woman who has a miscarriage potentially criminally liable for murder," said Missy Bird, director of Planned Parenthood Action Fund of Utah, part of the national organization that champions abortion rights.
Critics also note that the bill has no exemptions for women who suffer domestic abuse or who have addiction problems. They wonder, for example, about the putative case of a woman remaining with an abusive partner and suffering a miscarriage after an episode of violence. Would remaining in that relationship constitute "reckless" behavior, they ask?
Abortion remains deeply contentious in the United States, where, with some restrictions, it has been legal under the terms of the landmark Roe v Wade ruling by the Supreme Court of 1973. The issue returned to the front pages last month when Scott Roeder was tried and convicted for the murder in Kansas last August of one of the few doctors legally providing late-term abortions in the country.
The reaction to Utah's new initiative has verged in most quarters on disbelief, however. "For all these years the anti-choice movement has said 'we want to outlaw abortion, not put women in jail', but what this law says is 'no, we really want to put women in jail'," Lynn Paltrow, executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, wrote in a blog.
Similarly astonished is the syndicated columnist Dan Savage. "Where will this insanity end?" he wrote. "If every miscarriage is a potential homicide, how does Utah avoid launching a criminal investigation every time a woman has a miscarriage? And how is Utah supposed to know when a pregnant woman has had a miscarriage? You're going to have to create some sort of pregnancy registry to keep track of all those fetuses. Perhaps you could start issuing 'conception certificates' to women who get pregnant. And then, if there isn't a baby within nine months of the issuance of a conception certificate, the woman could be hauled in for questioning."
Utah is used to criticism from some of its more liberal neighbors for its socially conservative ways that range from allowing concealed guns on its state university campus to strict limits on alcohol sales. It has not gone unnoticed that consideration of the bill, with the potentially high costs it would entail, has coincided with a debate on canceling the last year of school for Utah children to help to save the state money.
From Common Dreams (originally in the UK Independent).
The earth is groaning
Not just Haiti, Japan, Chile, Argentina, but also Europe that had a storm last night, Xynthia, that claimed 50 persons' lives and flooded coastal villages in Brittany and Normandy, France. The earth is not terribly happy right now.
27 February 2010
And more prayers
Prayers for those who perished in the earthquake in Chile, those affected by the earthquakes in Chile and Japan and now all those in the path of a potential tsunami.
The earth has been talking a lot thus far this decade, not necessarily a good thing.
So, stand by our brothers and sisters far away.
How things can change
El Presidente de la República Federativa de Brasil Luiz Inácio “Lula” Da Silva, acompañado por el Presidente de El Salvador, Mauricio Funes, y el Obispo Auxiliar de San Salvador, Monseñor Gregorio Rosa Chávez, captados ayer, en la cripta de Catedral Metropolitana, frente a la tumba de Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero, donde los mandatarios colocaron una ofrenda floral. Foto Diario Co Latino/Melvin Rivas.
Prior to last year, the President of the Republic of El Salvador would neither have been meeting with the PResident of Brazil, nor take him to the tomb of Msr Óscar Arnulfo Romero to pay homage. What a change.
Stand by Me
Bonnie Anderson, President of the House of Deputies, played this video at Executive Council, dedicating it to Episcopal Relief and Development. It's a small world sometimes.
26 February 2010
When it rains, it pours
It seems to be snowing everywhere but in Rutland. Here all it knows to do is rain. Dismal, dismal. I am sick of the rain. It's depressing. However, I can't get to where it is snowing because my car probably would not clear the roads.
In addition to my computer dying, finding out that my credit cards were hacked into (apparently I was in Sao Paulo yesterday), I drove into work this morning to see that in last night's storm the church roof lost a bunch of slate tiles. It has been raining this afternoon which makes me rather anxious about what avenue the water is going to take and start dripping inside the nave. Insurance has already been notified and tomorrow early, the roofers will be over with a cherry picker to put up a tarp. It will take some time to get matching scalloped purple slate tiles.
I did end up with some chopped wood: two big branches fell from the trees in front of the church and a parishioner came over and cut them into stove-sized pieces. That was kind of him.
24 February 2010
Not again
On 18 June 2009, I unpacked the Macbook Pro and started working with it, enjoying its speed over both my iBook and G4. On 18 February 2010, evidently its hard drive cratered. Its timing was impeccable: the night before a five-day Executive Council meeting at which I am secretary of one of the standing committees, world mission. There are plenty of Mac users so I borrowed someone's computer but that inconvenienced the person who loaned it to me.
As you know, I have used exclusively Macs since 1988. So I am totally annoyed that this expensive laptop should die so quickly, especially since it replaces a laptop whose motherboard died twice. Beyond my annoyance, is the frustration because my life (photos, music and work files) are on it. The music and photos are mostly backed up but I had not backtracked with the work stuff.
So, now I am looking at a major outlay of money. The computer is still under warranty but to rent a comparable computer is a starting fee of $99, plus $10/day. It will cost a minimum of $50 to restore data (that takes you up to the first 60G and then it is $10 per 10G, if I remember correctly). Finally, given the unreliability of these laptops, I guess I need to buy Apple's extended care for $290.
Am I mad? Ayup.
Steve Jobs, what has happened to Apple? Quit futzing around with iPads and such and go back to making computers that do not behave like PCs, that is, breaking down in a short amount of time.
[Due to the loss of the laptop, I cannot upload photos because my remaining computer is a G4 and still on Tiger and iTunes 8 something.]
16 February 2010
Shrove Tuesday pancake supper
Go here to see some photos of tonight's modest Shrove Tuesday pancake supper.
15 February 2010
C'est vachement fatiguant
From Bishop Pierre Whalon:
Some have said that the moratoria will end when we act to end them. Such an action, undefended, would only perpetuate the present anomie, and raise a real question about a “General-Convention fundamentalism”—“the majority voted it, therefore God said it, and that settles it.” Rather, we need to continue to keep "gracious restraint" until we have done the necessary work in order to end it. We do not have to wait for the rest of the Communion to approve our arguments, of course. But it is terrible that we as a church have continued to avoid that work, and all therefore continue to pay a heavy price, both within and without The Episcopal Church. If we go on blessing same-sex unions and consecrating people in those partnered relationships, and yet continue to refuse to do that work, will that mean that we cannot justify our actions? And if we cannot, then what — in God's name — do we think we're doing?
Go over to the Lead and read the discussion.
It is so incredibly wearying (the name of this post) to be told we haven't done the theology. We have done it ad nauseum. It's just that the bishops don't think so. Their theology committee which lacks a LGBT person, AFAIK, has not produced whatever paper it will. I think Katie Sherrod hits it on the nail: they are still arguing over women's ordination.
And for those who think that the 2009 GC did not move beyond 2006-B033, I remind them of these words from 2009-D025, a resolution of which I have intimate knowledge, having been on the subcommittee that perfected the original words that Deputy Becky Snow of Alaska et. al. authored:
Resolved, That this 76th General Convention recognize that gay and lesbian persons who are part of these relationships have responded to God’s call and have exercised various ministries in and on behalf of God’s One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and are currently doing so in our midst, often without the Church’s recognition of their lifelong committed relationships and the blessings bestowed by these relationships; and be it further resolved
Resolved, That this 76th General Convention affirm that God has called and may call such individuals to any ordained ministry in The Episcopal Church, which call is tested through our discernment processes acting in accordance with the Constitutions and Canons of The Episcopal Church; and be it further resolved
Resolved, That this 76th General Convention acknowledge that while the members of The Episcopal Church, as of the Anglican Communion, are not of one mind, and Christians of good conscience, based on careful study of the Holy Scriptures, disagree about these matters.
[I will post the final adopted version later when I have time to dredge it up; this is what our legislative committee passed on.]
Some have said that the moratoria will end when we act to end them. Such an action, undefended, would only perpetuate the present anomie, and raise a real question about a “General-Convention fundamentalism”—“the majority voted it, therefore God said it, and that settles it.” Rather, we need to continue to keep "gracious restraint" until we have done the necessary work in order to end it. We do not have to wait for the rest of the Communion to approve our arguments, of course. But it is terrible that we as a church have continued to avoid that work, and all therefore continue to pay a heavy price, both within and without The Episcopal Church. If we go on blessing same-sex unions and consecrating people in those partnered relationships, and yet continue to refuse to do that work, will that mean that we cannot justify our actions? And if we cannot, then what — in God's name — do we think we're doing?
Go over to the Lead and read the discussion.
It is so incredibly wearying (the name of this post) to be told we haven't done the theology. We have done it ad nauseum. It's just that the bishops don't think so. Their theology committee which lacks a LGBT person, AFAIK, has not produced whatever paper it will. I think Katie Sherrod hits it on the nail: they are still arguing over women's ordination.
And for those who think that the 2009 GC did not move beyond 2006-B033, I remind them of these words from 2009-D025, a resolution of which I have intimate knowledge, having been on the subcommittee that perfected the original words that Deputy Becky Snow of Alaska et. al. authored:
Resolved, That this 76th General Convention recognize that gay and lesbian persons who are part of these relationships have responded to God’s call and have exercised various ministries in and on behalf of God’s One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church and are currently doing so in our midst, often without the Church’s recognition of their lifelong committed relationships and the blessings bestowed by these relationships; and be it further resolved
Resolved, That this 76th General Convention affirm that God has called and may call such individuals to any ordained ministry in The Episcopal Church, which call is tested through our discernment processes acting in accordance with the Constitutions and Canons of The Episcopal Church; and be it further resolved
Resolved, That this 76th General Convention acknowledge that while the members of The Episcopal Church, as of the Anglican Communion, are not of one mind, and Christians of good conscience, based on careful study of the Holy Scriptures, disagree about these matters.
[I will post the final adopted version later when I have time to dredge it up; this is what our legislative committee passed on.]
14 February 2010
Mystery Valentine sower strikes again
The mystery Valentine person struck Montpelier Vermont today as s/he has since 2003 (in 2007, they covered the state house lawn with 'tines despite the blizzard).
I drove our friend up to Montpelier, up Rte 100 (one of the most scenic routes in the US according to AAA), and found snow flurries up in Central Vermont. Nada down here. Bleh.
12 February 2010
Scammer
Twice since the earthquake that struck Haiti on Jan. 12, someone has attempted to take advantage of the situation for personal gain. Just this evening I received another email purporting to be from Bishop Duracin, asking for financial aid. This email is not from the Bishop of Haiti.
Tell-tale marks: The email address is incorrect. The writing is not Bishop Duracin’s. The mailing address is incorrect. The secondary email is incorrect.
If anyone has any questions as to the veracity of emails purporting to come from the Diocese of Haiti and/or from Bishop Duracin, please do not hesitate to contact me at MereLaurenS@gmail.com.
And please, do not be taken in by messages allegedly from Bishop Duracin asking for financial aid. Bishop Duracin has made it clear, repeatedly, that donations should be made to Episcopal Relief & Development (www.er-d.org), which is the official relief agency of The Episcopal Church.
While the people of Haiti are suffering, someone out there is trying to make a quick buck. This is unacceptable behavior, and it will take all of us working together to stop it.
Blessings and peace,
The Rev. Lauren R. Stanley
Assistant to the Bishop of Haiti
TEC Appointed Missionary
Tell-tale marks: The email address is incorrect. The writing is not Bishop Duracin’s. The mailing address is incorrect. The secondary email is incorrect.
If anyone has any questions as to the veracity of emails purporting to come from the Diocese of Haiti and/or from Bishop Duracin, please do not hesitate to contact me at MereLaurenS@gmail.com.
And please, do not be taken in by messages allegedly from Bishop Duracin asking for financial aid. Bishop Duracin has made it clear, repeatedly, that donations should be made to Episcopal Relief & Development (www.er-d.org), which is the official relief agency of The Episcopal Church.
While the people of Haiti are suffering, someone out there is trying to make a quick buck. This is unacceptable behavior, and it will take all of us working together to stop it.
Blessings and peace,
The Rev. Lauren R. Stanley
Assistant to the Bishop of Haiti
TEC Appointed Missionary
07 February 2010
Epiphany 5C
This morning's sermon is up over at the church blog.
Wonderful orange, pink purple sunset.
Snow up north but not down here. Some day, some day....
Wonderful orange, pink purple sunset.
Snow up north but not down here. Some day, some day....
06 February 2010
Still alive
This time of year is always nuts. I get through my ordination anniversary (16 years last Friday), then it's Candlemas, one year since our celebration of a new season of ministry so that means there are two more years before ostensibly I am made rector of this congregation rather than priest in partnership (even the bishop slipped recently and called me rector of the place), but most important, it's off to read the General Ordination Examinations next week. After that, it's off to Executive Council. Then I can return and settle down until, oh joy, I can hardly wait, I finally go back to El Salvador for the 30th anniversary of the martyrdom of San Romero de las Américas.
Sermons will eventually be posted, even if weeks late. And so will there be feline fotos. Suffice to say they all are fine.
The one thing lacking here is snow. Virginia and Washington DC are hogging it all.
Back to work.
[my sibs at my ordination 16 years ago; we are all wearing our tartan.]
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