My 82nd Birthday; some thoughts, some photos

82nd Birthday Blog 2010 – Memories Again
So, what about my 82nd birthday?

In the following paragraphs I will share some thoughts from my past as I look back over 82 years – too much for one sitting, but a few things which pop into my mind. I will quote Cardinal Rosales and Clint Eastwood. And remember Dolphy is 82, too, and he ain’t quittin.

I have ten years to go to catch up with my own devout Catholic housewife mother of ten (who worked in a factory to make bomber parts to help win the war over the Nazi’s and Imperialist Japan).

Before she passed to eternal happiness at almost 92, I last talked with her when she was 91, just the two of us, “Richard,” she said, “I understand. Maybe the others don’t understand, but you are doing what you know God wants you to do.”

Those words will ring in my ears forever. She never heard of sex-positive theology, but she welcomed me and my partner to her home. She cooked for us and prepared the spare bedroom for us. She understood my life and my love and my ministry (as an MCC pastor). My father had died long before, but I always felt he understood, too.

May I solicit, maybe for the first time in my life, a birthday present? As you read the following paragraphs, will you select one event or one idea and send me the gift of a bit of feedback, your thoughts on that item? Much appreciated.


The Greatest Joy of my Life


It is a tremendous blessing for a pastor to officiate at a Baptism, especially at an adult Baptism of one whom I have prepared for this sacrament. It is an unequalled and humbling privilege to stand as an Alter Christus (another Christ) in the celebration of the ancient apostolic sacrament of the Eucharist, and yes, too, the laying on of hands in the passing on of the priesthood in apostolic succession. Blessings and privileges, indeed.


But the greatest joy of my life can be expressed in the simplest of terms. The joy of sitting at table with the nine people I love most in this world is not exceeded by any other spiritual, physical, intellectual, or emotional joy. Nothing equals the joy of romping at the zoo or at the beach or at the side yard with them. Packing them into the family station wagon or camper van (beds for all ten) and off we went… Preparing their breakfast and seeing them off to school… Of an evening helping with homework… It was my fate to somehow deprive myself of the perpetuation of that joy, but it can never be denied nor taken away.

Each year for nine years I experienced seeing the “Gift of God” presented right before my eyes, following the labor pains, joyfully suffered by a good and loving mother. My heart leapt for joy and beat with love as I stopped each time on the way home from the hospital to place the newborn treasure on the altar of the Blessed Mother at our parish church, imploring her lifelong watching over, “Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection was left unaided…”


The joy continued on the day of Baptism for each, and on and on till each grew into the outstanding person he or she became with such a wonderful mother. Even the joy of watching son, Rick (now a football coach) catch three passes in a college football game on Father’s Day. Yes, I feel more pride than I deserve to feel in what she and they have become.


Even today at 82, I remember with glee being asked by a bishop (who hired me to work for him as a religious educator) if I felt an inferiority complex having such a beautiful, talented, intelligent, and wonderful wife (obviously superior to me in so many ways). I replied that I was thankful to God for such a great gift to our children and me.


I was always grateful that Fr. Jim Froelich, my seminary classmate, came to our wedding, and along with Fr. Jim McKay and other Brunnerdale Seminary priests who stayed close to our family over the years. And they were there for the funeral of my brother, Louie, killed in a freak accident at 33 on the golf course he had just purchased


Inspired by Fr. Paul and Bishop Jim, but falling short of following their example

My friend, Fr. Paul Breton of California, is very consistent and self-disciplined about regular and punctual newsletters – a personal one every month and sometimes several a week with developing LGBT news. Even as I write he is suffering excruciatingly with shingles, yet he went to his computer, hardly able to see, and wrote a letter to all his friends advising them what to do it ever they had a suspicion of shingles. That’s self sacrifice. And that’s just one of the virtues I could extol about Fr. Paul.

And, of course, there is no shortage of virtues or extolling of virtues for my bishop in Virginia, Jim Burch. Of wisdom, there is no limit, and compassion, and zeal for the ministry, and… Oh yes, he just wrote an article for our seminary alumni newsletter, revealing how makulit (actually downright mischievous) he was as a seminarian. And now, facetiously, I am worrying that he might have a relapse as he approaches old age (second childhood.)



Other Memories


I don’t have time to write an autobiography (and who would want to read it anyway?)


But I do hope I will have time to do some biographical work on our national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, just because he deserves to be our national hero as well as one of my idols. As of now there are a couple hundred pages in first draft form – time, time to finish.

Then I have plans for another historical novel, about St. Aelred to bring him out of the shadows of history into real life – since he was so very very real in his life and advocacy of friendship. “If God is Love,” he wrote in his book on same-sex friendship, “then God is Friendship.”


More about “before I die stuff” later.


The cow – 5,740 times


Today at 82 I take it a little easier that I did when I was in grade school. Today I pray the EWTN Mass every day (sometimes twice). It’s partly in Latin (to my delight) and comes from America at 6:00 AM here.


I often flash back, as I have told elsewhere, about learning by heart the Latin prayers of the Mass when I was nine or ten.


By the time I was 12 in Louisville, Ohio, every morning before school I walked with my empty pail down the street to the last remaining farm in the city. (It actually became a city later as a result of an initiative I led when I was President of the Louisville Jaycees.)

In the barn, I milked the family milk cow. Then it was back up the hill with my pail filled with warm fresh milk. I gave the milk to Mom and quickly changed to school clothes and hurried back down the street, over the bridge, across the rail road tracks, and up the hill to the majestic St. Louis Church (after all, St. Louis was a king), near the top of the hill on the border of the business district (just before the Town Tavern later owned by my brother, Gary when he got back with his Bronze Star from the war in Vietnam).


I dashed into the sacristy, donned my black cassock, white surplice, and altar slippers (a custom there), and served the morning Mass. (And never ever was there a scandal among the holy priests and altar boys of that church.)


Then quickly to the classroom where I was allowed to sit in the back of the room and eat the breakfast Mom had prepared and put in a brown paper bag for me (since in those days we could not have even a drop of water from midnight before Holy Communion).


Just for fun I calculated how many dates I had with Ole Bessie, every day before school, every evening after school from Grade 1 through Grade 8 before entering Brunnerdale Seminary high school at age 13. Well, it was 5,740 times – plus a couple of leap years (+4).


I thank my very special parents for that wonderful opportunity to become a workaholic – something that for the most part has served me well most of my life – except it was a terrible waterloo for me as a father of the family. More time for work, less time for those who meant the most to me.


So now, what is retirement for a workaholic. I loved my work as an MCC pastor. In their wisdom, their by laws call for retirement at 65. I slipped by till they caught up with me at 66. So now for the last decade and a half I am down to 18 hours a day in retirement.


Wedding Bells are Ringing


As of now, I still have the fulfilment of bringing joy to numerous committed couples who come to me to bless and celebrate with them their wedding vows.

I brought same-sex weddings to the Philippines almost 20 years ago in 1991. Now, praise God there are three other MCC pastors who also bring this sacrament and blessing to people who find it meaningful.

I just got a call today to fly off to a far away island on a three-day notice – “so we can have our wedding on our first anniversary.” (My caring partner has some rules they must follow if they whisk me off to a far away island, “Do they  know how old you are?”)


Speaking of my caring partner, compañero of 12 years, without compromising his privacy, I can only wholeheartedly sing the praises of this man who has faithfully been by my side, caring, supporting, helping, loving,and being loved. I am extremely proud of him professionally. After teaching in the top public and private high schools in the country, he is now teaching in the premier state university.


And he is following his passion in yoga (Bikram) all the way to being a finalist in the national championship competition after three months of practice. His silver medal said 1st place, but the other one said champion, and our friends called to say they saw him on TV.


Tears were rolling down my cheeks. Imagine after only three months to score so well in the national competition, and he even lost two weeks in bed with a flu virus the week before the competition. (First runner-up to a man who is already an internationally trained Bikram yoga instructor.) Expert in swimming, expert in computer, expert teacher, now award-winning yoga asana champion eligible to compete in the International Championship in LA in February 2011. [I celebrated my 82nd birthday participating (sweating) in a 90-minute Bikram yoga class with him. Well, I couldn’t do things like stand on one leg and wrap the other one around my neck, but I was kinda proud of what I could do...]


Recurring thoughts from the past


In seminary I was not known for pranks, like my bishop (see where it got him – up, up the ecclesiastical ladder). I did like to play cards when we had “free day,” go for walks around the lake, and take care of the grotto of the Blessed Mother. I loved my job as sacristan (setting up everything behind the scenes) in the chapel of the major seminary, especially the intricate requirements of the semi-annual ordinations. I wrote for the Society’s publications, and I treasured those years of monastic life in the seminary.


After serving in the United States Army with service in the Korean War (at the same time as Fidel Ramos whom I met as future president of the Philippines), I found it fulfiling and served in the reserves for several years.


Later I experienced spiritual joys and spiritual ups and downs.


For example, my own Cursillo in Christian Community Living and the dozens (was it hundreds) of Cursillos as team member, speaker, rector, or spiritual director (in the Cursillo type Excel movement I founded in MCC).

Cursillo is where I first began to work with Ralph Martin and Steve Clark, traversing the country with them flying from city to city  putting on seminars for Cursillo leaders aimed at preserving the integrity and spirituality of the movement. I, of course, get a thrill today when I see Ralph Martin “preaching” to thousands and and tens of thousands more on EWTN. The spirituality of these two amazing men had a tremendous impact on me. I later worked with them as they developed the Life in the Spirit Seminar and the Catholic Pentecostal Movement (as it was known then). Modeled after their Ann Arbor Prayer Meetings, I set up a Prayer meeting at Hillsdale College in Michigan which became an inspiration to the whole college and city under the leadership of Bob Langbauer. (I wonder where he is now? I understand he went to seminary at Berkely.)


In the Cursillo and Pentecostal Prayer meetings we were too occupied with prayer and spirituality to get sidetracked by sexuality issues. In another setting, I had my encounter with “exorcism.” I had read Fr. Morton Kelsey’s book on the Holy Spirit and jumped at the opportunity to attend his seminar on the Holy Spirit in Michigan. I had never spoken the word aloud in my life, but there I was, in a hotel room with the renowned author and some of his assistants. I was crying my heart out, kneeling on the floor before him as he prayed over me for my purging from all traces of homosexuality. The Holy Spirit did not pick up on that prayer, but I sure was confused. I did not know myself any better after than before that emotional experience.

That incident was balanced many years later in another hotel, this time in Denver, Colorado with another world famous author. It was no less than Fr. Norman Pittenger, author of some 100 theology and spiritual books. Not only an influential theologian but an inspiring and spiritual priest. For four hours I was in a kind of ecstasy as we worked on my editing of his 69th book, Gay Lifestyles, later published by MCC’s Fellowship Press, of which I was the Director at the time. For me it was so uplifting to be in the close presence of this impressive man, but humbling for me as a neophyte publisher/editor to be working with an author of his stature. Two years before, we had met at MCC’s General Conference, I think it was in Dallas, where he was the Conference Speaker. When we talked he urged me to write a book, which eventually became my second book, Christian Sexuality.

In addition to being an MCC pastor in several parishes in several states (plus New Zealand and the Philippines), working in the office of Rev. Troy Perry, the founder of the world-wide Metropolitan Community Church, was an awesome experience, praying with him in our daily prayer time in the headquarters office, celebrating Communion for him, weak and feeble, as he fasted on the steps of the Federal Building in Los Angeles to raise funds (successfully) defeat (successfully) the diabolical Proposition 6 which would have banned homosexuals from teaching in California. With the money he raised they were able to show the voters that every teacher (of every gender and orientation) would have his or her bedroom invaded to see if he or she should be banned from the classroom, and they voted smart. And then some 30 years later Proposition 8 came along and the wisdom of the voters turned sour. This time they turned down gay and lesbian (same-sex) marriage in California. That whole thing is still going through the legal hoops…


The Experience in the Mountains of Upstate New York


It can be called the Eastridge Experience. I had the seminary and religious life experience for years and still value my membership in the “alumni association,” the Amici, all of us who once belonged to the Society of the Precious Blood. Incomparable. I value all the years in Cursillo work, and the work with Ralph Martin and Steve Clark in both the Cursillo and the Catholic Pentecostal (Charismatic) Movement.


But I should have stuck to milk. I did not know I was an alcoholic until “chance” brought me to the experience of the gay bar in my adult home town of Canton, Ohio. Beer did me in. I had, by the grace of God, a prayer companion in those days by the name of Bob Zagray. Our weekly prayer together is another beautiful memory in my life. When Bob saw what I was doing to my life (and my business as a restaurateur), he persuaded me to check into a Christian rehab at Eastridge Recovery Community in upstate New York. It was only a few months but it had a tremendous impact on my life. I was back in “religious” life again. Every morning we had meditation and sang psalms. I was introduced to the Jesus Prayer, and it has been my constant companion ever since. I cannot recount the whole effective routine. I learned the 12 Steps of AA under Tom Powers, one of these who helped develop the 12 Steps in the early days of AA. I tried to live them the rest of my life and taught them to others whenever I had the chance to do so. But I have never had a beer or drink of alcohol (except Mass wine in Mass) since the day I entered Eastridge in 1971 escorted by my two brothers, Bud and Lon.

BUT Eastridge failed in another of their objectives – absolute purity, they called it, no sex ever, alone or with anybody except when legally married. I was legally married, but I had discovered the gay bar and somewhat mystified began to discover who I was. That’s another story. A few months later I was divorced and I got involved with MCC Detroit (of which I had been a part of the exploratory group some months earlier). Many mistakes and many moves later I ended up with a gay therapist, Dr. Charles Kuell, (he was not religious, but he was a life-saving therapist) in Los Angles (after serving on the pastoral staff of MCC Detroit, MCC Chicago and MCC Phoenix) while I worked in Rev. Perry’s office and began to understand myself and something about sexuality.


At my therapist’s insistence, I pursued a Master’s and Doctorate in Psychology with specialization in LGBT sexuality – to better understand myself and to eventually be able to help others. From my personal struggle to maintain mental health, know myself, learn how to handle sexuality responsibly, and be OK as a gay Christian, I gained the background that has been so helpful in helping others.


Since I had lost my family in the struggle, I dedicated my life to being not only a life-saving Chuck Kuell, but a spiritual adviser, too. I have summarized my 100 or more books and pamphlets on Sex-Positive Theology into three courses available for free on the Internet just by writing and asking me. (saintaelred@gmail.com). I am called to share this research and experience.


I cannot condense 82 years into a few pages, so I am not going to try any more.


Clint Eastwood

I am trying to find some way to compare my self with Clint Eastwood. Maybe you can see something. Hehe. Or maybe you would compare me with Dolpy. Hehe [But please I would not be flattered if you compare with another old man named Benedict.] I am feeling mischievous, but not as bad as my bishop when he was in seminary.


Only in Hollywood
Eastwood at 80: Getting ready to direct DiCaprio
By Ruben V. Nepales
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:14:00 11/05/2010


LOS ANGELES—At 80, Clint Eastwood shows no signs of slowing down. He most recently directed and actively promoted “Hereafter,” a drama about three people searching for answers about the afterlife. Now, he’s getting ready to direct Leonardo DiCaprio.


Strength
Clint is looking good in his octogenarian years. He exudes a quiet, confident strength. Later in the evening, at a party following the premiere of “Hereafter,” he worked the room, disarming guests as he smiled and traded banter. He shook the hands of guests, …


Higher power
“Everybody would unanimously agree that it is a hope,” he said of the belief in the afterlife. “It would be a higher power than all of us. You’re given one opportunity to live in this world. Whether you believe in God, nature or whatever, you have to take advantage of that and do the best you can in the life you have. That’s the hand that you’re dealt with. You play it out. If you’re worrying about the end of it all, you can’t really live the present of it all.”…


Asked to share reflections on his life, Hollywood’s statesman teased about the question’s seeming time-to-retire hint. With a laugh, his famous squinting eyes focusing on the interviewer, Clint said, “Are you trying to tell me something?”


What do you want to accomplish before you die?


There was a lengthy article on this – interviews with a large number of celebrities – in the Philippine Daily Inquirer last week. I am 82 and I expect to die in the next 20 years, so I tried to answer the question not in the newspaper, but here.


I have already and always said I want to finish my autobiographical novel on Jose Rizal and write one on St. Aelred.


I want to learn Filipino, which I am so ashamed of my ignorance. I have paid professional teachers to teach me and then I go out and speak English with everybody and don’t learn.


After I read the newspaper interviews, I realized, deep down, there was more.


I don’t usually agree with what I read in the newspaper about Archbishop Cruz, but I found myself identifying with his “before I die” list for the most part.


Abp. Oscar V. Cruz, retired Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan, former president, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)
1. To be reconciled with God through a very fervent and penitent confession.
2. To receive forgiveness from people I have hurt.
3. To have lived a life worth living, in the sense that it is a fitting gift back to God.
Every life is a gift from God — but how that life is lived is our gift to God at the end of our life.
4. To have somehow contributed to the amelioration or betterment of some individuals, certain families, and other communities.
5. That what I have written, especially that which outlives me, will be of use to the others I am leaving behind.


Others who awakened similar aspirations in me are:
Yvette Tan, fictionist and author of “Waking the Dead and Other Horror Stories”
4. Write a really good novel or ten: I’m not as prolific as I should be. I have a million ideas that need permanent homes, hopefully on the bookshelves of other people.
5. Pare down all my worldly belongings to what will fit into two carry-ons: I’ve always been in love with the idea of owning just the essentials. It’s very easy to travel the world nowadays and I love the idea of always being ready. The minimalist lifestyle also makes for less headaches, because presumably, you own your things instead of them owning you.


Sr. Dolores Daquilanea, AR, registrar, Colegio de Sta. Rosa Makati.
1. To be reconciled with my God, my Lord, my Spouse—Jesus Christ—for all my shortcomings in my entire Christian and religious life
2. To be able to reconcile with everybody—those I must have offended or been uncharitable to, especially my relatives, friends and those I have worked with
3. To gather my immediate family, whom I have not seen for the longest time, that we may catch up with one another and make up for the time we’ve missed together
4. Since my clan is composed people with different religions/beliefs, long before I was even born, I know I cannot bring them back to the Catholic Faith, but I hope to meet and share with them the Love that only Jesus Christ can give.
5. In my life as a Religious, there’s nothing great I want or hope to do — only to be able to serve God through His people in the apostolate I am assigned to — of course with God’s grace and Mother Mary’s protection.

Now these are the things I should have written the whole blog on. They hit the spot.


-------------------------
“God is Friendship.” (St. Aelred, 1110-1167)


Rev. Richard R. Mickley, CDOS, OSAe, Ph.D.
Bishop, Catholic Diocese of One Spirit, Philippines
Abbot, The Order of St. Aelred
St. Aelred Friendship Society
Current Mailing Address: 33-A Sta. Maria Street, Barrio Kapitolyo, 1603 Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Mobile Phone: +639209034909
E-mail: saintaelred@gmail.com
Website: http://webspace.webring.com/people/ms/saintaelred/index.html
Profile, LGBT Religious Archive: http://www.lgbtran.org/Profile.aspx?ID=247
E-group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/saeffriends
Fr. Richard’s personal blog: http://richardrmickley.blogspot.com/
Catholic Diocese of One Spirit (CDOS) website: http://www.onespiritcatholic.org/

Even as I write -- the Milieu Prevails

Even as I write,
The Milieu prevails

I read

Aquino faces threat
of excommunication
By Philip C. Tubeza, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Raising the ante in their conflict over birth control, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Thursday said President Benigno Aquino III could be “excommunicated” if he actively promoted the distribution of artificial contraceptives to Filipino couples.

A photo caption of President Aquino today reads: “It has come to this.”

  
Holding up a placard with the word Damaso on it, tourist guide Carlos Celdran screams at the clergy to get out of politics during Mass at Manila Cathedral. Damaso, an abusive Spanish friar, is immortalized in Rizal’s “Noli me Tangere.” EDWIN BACASMAS


Aquino stands pat
on ‘informed choice’ policy
on birth control
 By Christine O. Avendaño
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 20:26:00 09/30/2010
Filed Under: Benigno Aquino III, Health, Family
Most Read
   
MANILA, Philippines -- President Benigno Aquino III vowed on Thursday to cotinue advocating informed choice on the issue of artificial birth control by couples in planning the sizes of their families.
“We are all guided by our consciences. My position has not changed. The state's duty is to educate our families as to their responsibilities and to respect their decisions if they are in conformity to our laws,'' the President said in a statement released by Malacañang.
The President was responding to a bishop's reminder of possible excommunication over Aquino’s birth control stand.
Palace officials said the President had always espoused for responsible parenthood.
President Aquino has expressed openness to the idea of using government resources to educate couples on a range of birth control methods, from natural (rhythm) to the artificial (contraceptive pills, condoms, IUD, ligation, among others).
A bishop of the Catholic Church, which has taken a hard line stance against artificial birth control methods, has threatened the President with excommunication if he continues to promote informed choice on birth control.


Another page 1 Inquirer story begins:

  Read Full Story
Holding up a placard with the word Damaso on it, tourist guide Carlos Celdran screams at the clergy to get out of politics during Mass at Manila Cathedral. Damaso, an abusive Spanish friar, is immortalized in Rizal’s “Noli me Tangere.” EDWIN BACASMAS


Here I am on the threshold of 82, an ardent admirer of Jose Rizal, Ninoy Aquino, and Cory Aquino. These are the staunch Catholic parents of Nonoy now threatened with excommunication because he upholds the universal basic human right of freedom of conscience.

And it is not only in the Philippines.
For example, from
John Greenleaf is back...
John W. Greenleaf | September 24, 2010 at 8:29 am | Categories: Roman Catholic Church | URL: http://wp.me/pSvU4-5k


The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement from its Committee on Doctrine, headed by Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington, regarding the book, "The Sexual Person: Toward a Renewed Catholic Anthropology."

The statement noted that the book "does not offer minor revisions to a few points of Catholic sexual ethics," but rather, "the authors insist that the moral theology of the Catholic tradition dealing with sexual matters is now as a whole obsolete and inadequate and that it must be re-founded on a different basis." Consequently, it continued, the authors, Creighton University professors Todd Salzman and Michael Lawler, "argue that the teaching of the magisterium is based on this flawed 'traditional theology' and must likewise be substantially changed."

3) During summer travels in Eastern Europe, I discoverd that the Catholic Church in Croatia is strong, and wealthy, powerful and arrogant -- and well ensconced in a nineteenth century Catholic ethos. When people complained that one local bishop was out of touch with the contemporary world, he shouted out in his cathedral: "If they don't like what I am doing, they can leave right now!"

And, the debate will go on;
Some of the country’s senators jumped into the “back and forth”:

Excommunication’ threats
can boomerang on Church
– senators
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 19:38:00 10/03/2010
Filed Under: Family planning, Politics, Churches (organisations), Benigno Aquino III
MANILA, Philippines – Senators said on Sunday that taking a hard-line stance on the controversial issue of birth control could ``boomerang’’ on the leaders of the Catholic Church in the country.
``The opposition against the RH (reproductive health bill) is too premature. A hearing has yet to be held and they are already against it. The Church and President Aquino are already fighting over it when we don’t even know the final form of the bill being pushed. It’s not even in first base,’’ said Senator Joker Arroyo in an interview with dzBB radio.
Arroyo said this would be the third time that Church and state have squared off on a major issue – the first was during the Commonwealth era when the President Manuel L. Quezon thumbed down a proposal to make religious instruction compulsory; and the second was in the post-war Congress when Congress proposed (and succeeded) to have Jose Rizal’s novels Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo required reading in school.
Senator Edgardo Angara said the threat of excommunication was an ``argument by those without an argument, if you can’t say anything, just make threats.’’
Angara said excommunication would be against the will of God .
``A religious group wanting to end the debate is a sign of intolerance and anti-God,’’ said Angara who has initiated an information drive on family planning in his home province Aurora even without a law. ``The right of an individual to determine the size of his family is as basic as his right to choose his faith."
Arroyo felt the Church was being ``too aggressive’’ on Aquino who was just voicing out his opinion on the issue. He said it was unfair for the Church to attack lawmakers, who have been open to the RH bill.
He said threatening excommunication could boomerang on the Church especially if Congress enacted the RH bill. ``Will the Church have the guts to excommunicate the majority of congressmen and senators who voted for it?’’
 

 More from Mon Tulfo
  
On Target
Excommunication as a weapon By Ramon Tulfo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:36:00 10/02/2010
Filed Under: Benigno Aquino III, Churches (organisations), Family planning
IT’S VERY unfair of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to threaten President Aquino with excommunication for standing up to the Church on family planning.
The President angered the bishops after he said the government would leave it to couples to choose their own method of bearing or spacing their children.
Because of the threat, the bishops have not only pushed the country’s Chief Executive against a wall, they have also painted themselves into a corner as well.
What if the President stood pat on the government policy on family planning and the faithful sided with P-Noy instead of the bishops?
The Church’s power over its followers is being tested to the limit because of the family planning controversy.
* * *
There are more Catholics who favor the government policy over the Church’s stand on birth control than those who do not. These Catholics are thinking people.
They hold responsible positions in government and society and are, therefore, in a position to influence fellow Catholics to their way of thinking.
To many Catholics, religion is out of the question when it comes to solving poverty caused by overpopulation.
* * *
What is excommunication?
It’s similar to an employer dismissing an employee for a perceived wrongdoing. The employer is the Catholic Church and the employee the faithful.
The follower can change his religion after he’s excommunicated in the same way a dismissed employee can work for another company.
* * *
All faiths—Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism—are the same: They all lead to the Source.
Just because a particular religion has the biggest membership doesn’t mean it’s the right or true religion.
A religion that preaches it is the only way to salvation is fooling its members.
There is no such thing as the “true religion” or the “chosen people of God.”
* * *
I doff my hat to Carlos Celdran, a tour guide who dared to call Catholic bishops “Padre Damaso.”
Padre Damaso is a character in Jose Rizal novel, “Noli Me Tangere,” a hypocritical priest who could have fathered the book’s heroine, Maria Clara.
Celdran is so unlike many Catholics who go out of their way to please priests and bishops for fear of being sent to hell.
These same Catholics maltreat their domestic help or employees and steal people’s money if they are politicians, and then go to confession for their sins.
To Celdran: Idol!
* * *


And more
 On Target
P-Noy needs support
for family
 planning
By Ramon Tulfo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:55:00 09/29/2010
Filed Under: Benigno Aquino III, Population, Family planning, Churches (organisations)
NOY BUCKS Church, backs birth control—banner headline of the Inquirer Tuesday.
It’s time the government puts its foot down in dealing with the Catholic Church.
The Church has been interfering too much in the affairs of government, reminiscent of the Spanish era when the religious ran the government.
President Noy’s standing up to the powerful and officious institution is praiseworthy.
The Church has been put in its proper place.
Let’s all make our collective voice of support be heard by the President.
* * *
The report that P-Noy has sought a dialogue with Catholic Church leaders does not mean he has changed his mind on family planning.
The President has a mind of his own.
If he can’t be swayed by public pressure to fire his friend, Interior Undersecretary Rico E. Puno, do you expect P-Noy to easily succumb to the call of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to change his mind?
* * *
P-Noy must have taken a long time to arrive at the decision to go against the teaching of the Catholic Church.
He belongs to a very Catholic family.
His mother, the late President Cory, was a devout Catholic, and so are most of his sisters.
He studied at the Ateneo de Manila University, a Catholic school.
Although there is no such thing as a “Catholic vote” in this country, nevertheless the Church supported his candidacy on account of his alma mater.
It must have been very difficult for the President to issue a government policy that runs counter to the edict of the Catholic Church “to go out into the world and multiply.”
* * *
Unlike his predecessor, the convent-bred Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was scared of the Church, P-Noy has dared to challenge the Church’s edict against family planning.
The President has probably realized that one’s salvation does not depend on one’s Church but on his conscience.
If one follows his conscience—his greatest guide to what’s right or wrong—he will always be right
However, nothing in this Universe is right or wrong.
Everything just is.
To say that one thing is right and another is wrong is being judgmental.

And another popular columnist adds her opinion:
 At Large
Friars and bishops
By Rina Jimenez-David
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:52:00 10/05/2010
…Still, the arrest and incarceration of Celdran speaks of the lingering vestiges of Church power and influence in this country. But by threatening (the possibility of) excommunication and even the launching of a civil disobedience campaign against P-Noy for his support of the Reproductive Health Bill, the bishops will soon find out that this time around they are on the wrong side of history.
* * *
SURE, they may be able to mobilize crowds (usually taken from Catholic schools and lay organizations) to protest against the Aquino administration’s policy, but the bishops should know by now that they have effectively lost ground in the arena of public opinion.
For decades now public opinion surveys have proven that Filipino couples and even youth strongly support family planning and believe a reproductive health law should be passed.
Reacting to these findings, the bishops have pooh-poohed the surveys, attributing it all to “propaganda.” Well, this is one “sign of the times” they have failed abysmally to read.
Bishops have also accused P-Noy of supporting reproductive health in exchange for aid from the United States. But this bogey will no longer work. Filipinos know by now that while a family planning program is supported by foreign governments, it is also good for Filipinos and for our future."


HOW DO WE TIE ALL THIS TOGETHER WITH LITTLE OLE ME?

I came to the Philippines almost 20 years ago when the devout Catholic housewife, Cory Aquino, was still president and I had the great privilege of going to the palace (more than once) with my prayer group and praying with and over a humble President Cory Aquino.

The father, Ninoy, was shot dead as a martyr for freedom during the Marcos conjugal dictatorship and from his blood a free nation arose. (And now his son is threatened with excommunication!).

Jose Rizal spoke out boldly against the abuses of the friars, their control of the lives of the people and the country. And he was shot dead, and from his blood a nation arose.

Now the bishops are indeed taking on the role of the friars of old, exposed by Rizal, and pointed out graphically in the photo above by a man dressed as Rizal doing what Rizal did, this time in front of the Cardinal and church dignitaries at the high altar of the Manila cathedral. (And that was denounced from the pulpit and elsewhere as a very naughty (makulit) thing to do.!!)

And what’s the problem? For one thing, the people of the Philippines are the only people in the world, except those on the island of Malta, who do not have freedom to divorce, thanks to the power of the catholic bishops over congress. And on and on, the stiff opposition to condoms and the Reproductive Health bill, and and and. The only country in the world which allows the catholic bishops to control the congress. Will they also control President Aquino with the threat (blackmail) of excommunication? I guess it is wait and see.

The next day  President Aquino affirmed his stand to be unchanged. The bishops seemed to take a half step backward and say they never officially threatened excommunication. Mon Tulfo in his column in plain language spelled out the woes of the country caused by the stands of the catholic bishops. Sermons at Sunday Mass defended the bishops and condemned the sinful action of the Rizal lookalike, calling him no hero but a sinner who desecrated the temple of God.
 

 

 
On Target
Excommunication as a weapon
By Ramon Tulfo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:36:00 10/02/2010
Filed Under: Benigno Aquino III, Churches (organisations), Family planning
IT’S VERY unfair of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to threaten President Aquino with excommunication for standing up to the Church on family planning.
The President angered the bishops after he said the government would leave it to couples to choose their own method of bearing or spacing their children.
Because of the threat, the bishops have not only pushed the country’s Chief Executive against a wall, they have also painted themselves into a corner as well.
What if the President stood pat on the government policy on family planning and the faithful sided with P-Noy instead of the bishops?
The Church’s power over its followers is being tested to the limit because of the family planning controversy.
* * *
There are more Catholics who favor the government policy over the Church’s stand on birth control than those who do not. These Catholics are thinking people.
They hold responsible positions in government and society and are, therefore, in a position to influence fellow Catholics to their way of thinking.
To many Catholics, religion is out of the question when it comes to solving poverty caused by overpopulation.
* * *
What is excommunication?
It’s similar to an employer dismissing an employee for a perceived wrongdoing. The employer is the Catholic Church and the employee the faithful.
The follower can change his religion after he’s excommunicated in the same way a dismissed employee can work for another company.
* * *
All faiths—Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism—are the same: They all lead to the Source.
Just because a particular religion has the biggest membership doesn’t mean it’s the right or true religion.
A religion that preaches it is the only way to salvation is fooling its members.
There is no such thing as the “true religion” or the “chosen people of God.”
* * *
I doff my hat to Carlos Celdran, a tour guide who dared to call Catholic bishops “Padre Damaso.”
Padre Damaso is a character in Jose Rizal novel, “Noli Me Tangere,” a hypocritical priest who could have fathered the book’s heroine, Maria Clara.
Celdran is so unlike many Catholics who go out of their way to please priests and bishops for fear of being sent to hell.
These same Catholics maltreat their domestic help or employees and steal people’s money if they are politicians, and then go to confession for their sins.
To Celdran: Idol!
* * *


And more

On Target
P-Noy needs support for family planning
By Ramon Tulfo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:55:00 09/29/2010
Filed Under: Benigno Aquino III, Population, Family planning, Churches (organisations)
NOY BUCKS Church, backs birth control—banner headline of the Inquirer Tuesday.
It’s time the government puts its foot down in dealing with the Catholic Church.
The Church has been interfering too much in the affairs of government, reminiscent of the Spanish era when the religious ran the government.
President Noy’s standing up to the powerful and officious institution is praiseworthy.
The Church has been put in its proper place.
Let’s all make our collective voice of support be heard by the President.
* * *
The report that P-Noy has sought a dialogue with Catholic Church leaders does not mean he has changed his mind on family planning.
The President has a mind of his own.
If he can’t be swayed by public pressure to fire his friend, Interior Undersecretary Rico E. Puno, do you expect P-Noy to easily succumb to the call of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to change his mind?
* * *
P-Noy must have taken a long time to arrive at the decision to go against the teaching of the Catholic Church.
He belongs to a very Catholic family.
His mother, the late President Cory, was a devout Catholic, and so are most of his sisters.
He studied at the Ateneo de Manila University, a Catholic school.
Although there is no such thing as a “Catholic vote” in this country, nevertheless the Church supported his candidacy on account of his alma mater.
It must have been very difficult for the President to issue a government policy that runs counter to the edict of the Catholic Church “to go out into the world and multiply.”
* * *
Unlike his predecessor, the convent-bred Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who was scared of the Church, P-Noy has dared to challenge the Church’s edict against family planning.
The President has probably realized that one’s salvation does not depend on one’s Church but on his conscience.
If one follows his conscience—his greatest guide to what’s right or wrong—he will always be right
However, nothing in this Universe is right or wrong.
Everything just is.
To say that one thing is right and another is wrong is being judgmental.
·         * *
·         
·         And,
Once, again, lest it be thought that I  (rrm) claim to be the inventor of sex positive theology…
“Pure Nonsense: U.S. Bishops Condemn Book by Creighton Theologians
John W. Greenleaf | October 4, 2010 at 10:15 am | Categories: Roman Catholic Church | URL: http://wp.me/pSvU4-5N

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a statement denouncing as "harmful to one's moral and spiritual life" a 2008 book by two theologians at Creighton University, a Roman Catholic institution. The book, The Sexual Person: Toward a Renewed Catholic Anthropology, by Todd A. Salzman and Michael G. Lawler, was published by Georgetown University Press, and the press website features much praise for the work.
"Todd Salzman and Michael Lawler's new book...is among the most important works in Catholic sexual ethics to emerge in the last two decades...Their book will be noticed because of its controversial positions on contraception, same-sex relationships, cohabitation and artificial means of reproduction. However, its contribution is its clear articulation of a person-centered natural-law ethic that offers Catholics an authentic way to think about sex in relation to their faith."—National Catholic Reporter



And little ole me.

That’s the  milieu in which I am about to celebrate my 82nd.

I have been staunchly upholding the catholic teachings of Jesus here for 20 years, and advocating freedom of conscience to depart from unchristian sex negative theology and embrace sex positive theology in line with the life and teachings of Jesus. Perhaps as the first pastor to do so publicly in this country, I have done so in lectures, speeches, panels, seminars. at universities and  organizations, and even a little on television, for 20 years. (To say nothing of the annual Pride Marches we started with Oscar Atadero in 1994.)

 Now I have condensed it all into three “Sex positive Theology” courses available for the asking by internet, free of charge. (saintaelred@gmail.com)

I realize the debate about sex negative theology will go on and on. I call it sex negative theology becauwe it is indeed related to God -- in a sadly negative way. The amazing thing is that sex negative theology seems to have its strongest-in-the-world stranglehold on the lives of citizens of all religions right here in our country.

And that’s the milieu which continues as I prepare to observe my 82nd birthday next month.


 

A Little Catching Up; a Forum at MCC Quezon City

So much has been going on in my little world that I have been pulled away from one of the things I like to do best – writing. On August 1 we moved (lipat bahay) from Quezon City to Pasig, to a much smaller dwelling, beginning the process of getting unneeded “things” out of my house and life, as I face the prospect of not living on this earth forever. Since then one “distraction” has been trying to adjust to living in much reduced space.




On September 5, I joined MCC Philippines (Manila, Makati) in the festive celebration of their 19th anniversary since our first service on September 7, 1991, when I arrived authorized to bring MCC Philippines into God-praising existence. In the anniversary celebration I observed 50-some Spirit-filled LGBT Christians worshipping wholeheartedly as MCC has done through many pastoral leaders every Sunday since that first service 19 years ago. I understand joyful photos have been posted on Facebook.



On August 28, I had an interesting experience at a Forum at MCC Quezon City, hosted by Rev. Ceejay Agbayani. (MCC Quezon City celebrated its 4th anniversary in early September. MCC Baguio is bringing the worship and message of MCC to people of the North under the spiritual guidance of seminarian Myke Sotero).



The Forum was more exciting because the 50 some people in attendance kept it going for several hours with comments after the presentations by me, Attorney Germaine Leonin, Oscar Atadero, and Prof Eric Manlastas.



It’s been more than 15 years now since Oscar worked with us at MCC Manila and Pro Gay Philippines to mobilize the first Gay and Lesbian Pride March in the Philippines on June 26, 1994 (the 25th anniversary of Stonewall). That turned out to be the first such LGBT march in Asia. Our focus that year, 1994, was to join the family of LGBT-alert nations around the world who celebrated the goodness and joy of being LGBT and beginning the quest for our LGBT rights. I attended a discussion hosted by Pro Gay at that time and the discussion was mostly about the pertinent topic: it’s time for the Philippines to stand up (march) and be counted.



This year, on August 28, I was overwhelmed by the savvy, shall I call it LGBT sophistication, in the forum discussion. Now it was a specific focused LGBT right that was being discussed in depth, the right to equal marriage.



Here I will share the presentation which the organizers asked me to make. I wish I had the ability and authorization to share the other brilliant presentations.



+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++



”The Metropolitan Community Church of Quezon City would like to invite you to be our resource speaker on the topic



PP1 {PP is an abbreviation for Power Point]

“What does the Bible say about same-sex marriage?”

________________________

for our forum entitled, “When Two Men/Two Women Unite: Prospects of Same-Sex Marriage in the Philippines” on August 28 Saturday 7pm at the MCCQC-LGBT Center 3/F 56 Mindanao Avenue, Project 6, Quezon City.



PP1

Speaker: Bishop Richard R. Mickley,

Catholic Diocese of One Spirit, Philippines,

Founder MCC in the Philippines



Good evening beautiful people. I read in the Inquirer, “Where else can you find a land as beautiful as her people and a people as warm as her climate?” And I added where else will you find three of the 10 largest malls in the world in one city?

___________________________________________________

“The forum aims to provide participants with a basic understanding of the religious, historical and legal aspects and perspectives for same-sex marriage in the Philippines, as well as gather experiences and testimonies on the struggle for same-sex marriage.”

____________________________________________________-

PP2 Assigned Objectives



1.Establish and clarify

Religious/spiritual issues re

Same-sex marriage.



2.Clarify if RC opposition

has basis or not.



The speaker’s mandate is summarized, “We hope your presentation can help establish and clarify the religious/spiritual issues over same-sex marriage. “The objective of the first speaker is to clarify whether mainstream religious view against same-sex union has basis or not –since opposition comes mainly from the Roman Catholic Church.”



_______________________________

“What does the Bible say about same sex marriage?



“When Two Men/Two Women Unite”



“Clarify religious/spiritual issues in same sex marriage”

______________________________________________





At first I thought the topic was a dead end. Since there is nothing in the Bible about same sex marriage, I thought the topic would lead nowhere. But if you look at all the subjects mentioned in the Title and Objectives, you realize there is a lot of explaining to do.



Let’s go back in history and attack the challenge of the title. “What does the Bible say about same sex marriage?”



PP3

What is “Marriage”?



In order to discuss “marriage” in the Bible, we have to have a definition of just what marriage is. When you think of marriage, do you think of Aga and Charlene in the “Wedding of the year,” in a romantic story book, beautiful love story.



But that is not what marriage always is. Through the ages of history, it has often been more of a legal contract with little or no love and romance, with arranged marriages and marriages of convenience quite common.



In the Philippines we have church weddings (in church), and we have civil weddings in a judge or mayor’s office.



I went with a heterosexual couple to a judge’s chamber for their civil marriage. It can best be described in these few words: The Judge asks, “Do you want to be married?” They each say. “I do.” The judge says, “Sign here; pay over there.”



My friend, Father Paul, in California, recently penned some insights on marriage which will be helpful for us. He went to the local government office where “people apply for marriage licenses and obtain marriage certificates.” He writes, “I did not see any reference whatsoever to marriage being a sacrament or for time and eternity (as the Mormons say). I saw no requirement for adherence to the Torah, the Bible, the Quran, …

“Everything was about civil law and exclusively civil law. And civil law is not concerned about romance, about tear-jerking movies, about love poems and love music, …

“Civil law is not concerned about covenants, promises, rings, exchanges, or how big the wedding party is. Civil law is not concerned about sexual behaviors, proclivities, openness or closedness.



“Civil law exists to protect the economic interests of a designated family. The fundamental issue is the human right of all people to call on the resources of civil law to protect their homes and families.” End of quote.



So what is the difference? Is there one definition of marriage? The answer is no.



In the churches, including MCC, marriage does involve love. In MCC, as in the Catholic church of the first few centuries (and in the 11th century), you find same sex union, which are called Holy Union in both MCC and the early Catholic Church.



In short, in the early church, John Boswell, the noted historian, tells us, if a boy and girl wanted to get married, they went to city hall. If a priest or a male-male or female-female couple wanted to be united, they had their ceremony in the church.



There was no Bible prohibition of same-sex unions. Priests routinely “took a wife.” And boys and girls who wanted to be married went to city hall.





PP4

The Catechism of the Catholic Church

says that marriage is

for the good of the spouses

and the procreation of children.



So the definition of marriage is not the same everywhere. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines marriage as a sacrament

__________________________________________________

ARTICLE 7

THE SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY

1601 "The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament."84

________________________________________________________________

. But that definition does not apply to anybody but Catholics.

So you can see, without even talking about the arranged marriages throughout history, this whole thing about marriage and unions is not a simple exploration.



So let’s look at our own country. In MCC we have Holy Union. In City hall and in the churches we have marriage. But the marriage in church and the marriage in the judges’ chambers are different. Let’s take a look at this representation of the difference in general in the Philippines, not counting the allowance of polygamy in Mindanao.



PP5

MARRIAGE HOLY UNION

!!! !!!

ARE THE SAME IN:



Love,



VOWS,



COMMITMENT,



WEDDING





MARRIAGE HOLY Union

!!! !!!

ARE DIFFERENT IN:



--GENDER TEST --NO M-F TEST

MALE-FEMALE.

--MUST OBEY --FAM CODE

FAMILY CODE NOT APPL.

--MARRIAGE --BETWEEN

LICENSE Two & GOD

--REGISTERED --NOT Reg

WITH GOV. with Gov

--LEGALLY --MORALLY

BINDING BINDING

--NO DIVORCE





Last year I was invited to a nationally televised talk show on marriage and divorce, hosted by a lawyer.



He opened by saying, “Now tell me, Reverend, about these same sex marriages you have.”



I replied, “Sir we do not have any same sex marriages in the Philippines. You are a lawyer, Sir, and you know that the law. The Family Code defines marriage in the Philippines as between a male and a female.

____________________________________________-

How does the Family Code define marriage?



Marriage is a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal and family life. It is the foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution whose nature, consequences, and incidents are governed by law and not subject to stipulation, except that marriage settlements may fix the property relations during the marriage within the limits provided by this Code.



Then the qualiications include:



What are the essential requisites of marriage?



No marriage shall be valid, unless these essential requisites are present:



(1) Legal capacity of the contracting parties who must be a male and a female; and

(2) Consent freely given in the presence of the solemnizing officer.

___________________________________________________________



Then the lawyer-host backed down a little and asked, “Then what do you have?”



I replied, “Sir, we have Holy Union.” And I explained what that is. And he exclaimed, “Oh, I see, you change the name.”



That was my cue to remark, “Sir, I see that you are discussing Divorce also in your show today. You and I and everybody knows that the Catholic Church hates divorce and forbids its members to separate by divorce, in fact it does not even allow anybody, Catholic or not, in the Philippines to have divorce.” He agreed. I continued, “But, sir, is it not also true, that if you pay enough money in fees, you can obtain a separation under a different name – which we all know as annulment, which is quite all right with the church? We change the name to unite people. They change the name to separate people.” He calmly remarked, “You have a point there.”



Nobody has suggested that “changing the name” is in any way illegal.



That custom seems to have started in the early church. So where did the opposition to same sex unions come from?



Before we look at that, I want to say that I join the majority of LGBT leaders in our country who do not advocate activism for same sex marriage in the Philippines.



We deserve it; we have a right to it. Judges are saying that in supreme courts throughout the world. So why do we not advocate activism for it?



Let me illustrate by an example. Shortly after Stonewall, when I was national Director of Prison Ministry for MCC in the United States, I wrote a book which contained the advice that prisoners should not break the rules of the prison about having sex and same sex activism. Many prisoners wrote to me, “Why not? You have marches and parades and rallies outside; why can’t we here in prison.” My answer then and now, was that they should not make life worse for themselves by breaking the rules, getting put in solitary confinement, etc.



The issue was not whether they had the “human right” to demand sex and LGBT rights. The issue was that it was harmful to make life worse for themselves. They were prisoners and subject to the laws of the prison.



PP6

In the Republic of the Philippines,

we are prisoners of homophobic

and heterosexist laws

– and, yes, they are all inspired

– and driven by the churches



– (not just the Roman Catholic Church). We indeed have to examine where prudence is the better part of wisdom. And that’s why the majority of the leaders in the LGBT community do not feel it is for our benefit – but rather for our harm – to fight for same sex marriage. Yes, we need to be informed, to strategize, but not to harm our movement by counter productive activism.



Here is an example to illustrate what is meant by counter productive. When Congresswoman Angara Castillo introduced a bill into congress a few years ago, we all agreed it was a fabulous proposed law, a courageous approach to LGBT rights in the country. It was unimaginably wonderful, an omnibus of idealistic legislation. But I had to tell her honestly that the LGBT leaders could not support it. It was too good. Almost immediately the Catholic church bishops and priests collected hundreds of thousands of signatures at Mass against the bill. And politically minded congress members saw those signatures as votes against them. That’s the power of the Catholic bishops.

There has to be a strategy, not just unplanned action. I am an activist and willing to die for our justice and rights. But there has to be a strategy.



PP7

Now back to the definition of marriage. We saw the definition of marriage in the law of the Philippines. But that is not the law of all countries. It is a matter of observation that



the people of the Philippines,

Muslims, Protestants, atheists,

as well as Catholic people

are in bondage, in chains, in slavery,

to the power of the Catholic bishops

who hold the whole country

hostage to their sex negative views.



But In Spain, another country described as a Catholic country, the legislators, unlike here, are not afraid of the Catholic bishops. In Spain the legislators granted LGBT people equal marriage rights, no gender test. I discreetly pointed that out to members of congress here in a hearing in the House.



In our country the members of congress bow and quiver in fear – that a word or campaign of the bishop will end their time in congress at the next election.



It’s a unique phenomenon here. Why is the Republic of the Philippines the only country in the world, besides the island of Malta, which does not allow its people the freedom of choice to separate by divorce? Why do we have trouble passing a Reproductive Health bill? Why will we not have an equal marriage law? The bishops won’t let us have divorce or condoms, do you think they will let us have equal marriage?.



So we have illustrated that the premise in the assignment is correct. The culprit is the church and churches. Fr. Paul made some interesting observations recently, when he wrote, “It is interesting to note that the Royal Kingdom of Spain is by culture and heritage Roman Catholic, yet it has a Socialist parliament which legalized same-sex marriage and the bishops there have not been able to overthrow it.



“The Republic of Argentina is by culture and heritage Roman Catholic, yet the parliament legalized same-sex marriage in that country in spite of the protestations of the bishops.



“Other countries in Central America are pursuing the same course. The legislative body of Mexico City has legalized same-sex marriages in the city. The supreme court of the Republic of Mexico has declared that these marriages must be recognized in each of the states of Mexico. And same-sex marriages were legalized in the Roman Catholic province of Quebec in Canada a few years ago.” End of quote.



We are familiar with the on again, off again equal marriage in California. And we continue to watch what happens there. “Courage Campaign and its\Chairman, Rick Jacobs, released a press release on the ruling that same-sex marriages may resume in California on August 18th.

“Today’s ruling means that in less than one week, equality under the law will be restored for millions of loving families across California. Lifting the stay is ultimately consistent with both legal precedent and the findings in this case.



“Specifically, that every American has a civil right to marriage, and that by depriving millions of families this right, Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. Judge Walker’s ruling affirms that the purpose of our judicial system is to protect our constitutional rights, not to take away those rights.” End of quote Fr. Paul adds: “it gives us all hope that the full protection of the U.S. Constitution guarantees of equal protection and due process will soon extend to all gay and lesbian Americans.



We now await the decision of the Ninth Circuit (and potentially the U.S. Supreme Court) on whether to stay the Judgment or to allow same-sex marriages to resume in California during the appeal.” End of quote



PP8

Now if you look at the definition of marriage in the



Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Sweden,

Spain, South Africa, Canada, Argentina,

and all the countries which allow LGBT

to have legal marriage on an equal basis,

of course their definition of marriage

does not include a gender test,

a male-female requirement.

So it’s obvious such laws are made by humans,

and laws forbidding same sex love and marriage

are made by human beings too..



PP9

This is happening in our own day. Now look at the Bible. You will immediately see that The Bible is not a very good place to look for encouragement of Catholic conservative practice of marriage. One web site summarizes some Bible facts thus: “The question of polygamy is an interesting one in that most people today view polygamy as immoral while the Bible nowhere explicitly condemns it. The first instance of polygamy/bigamy in the Bible was that of Lamech in Genesis 4:19: “Lamech married two women.” Several prominent men in the Old Testament were polygamists. Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon, and others all had multiple wives. In 2 Samuel 12:8, God, speaking through the prophet Nathan, said that if David’s wives and concubines were not enough, He would have given David even more.



Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines



(essentially wives of a lower status), according to 1 Kings 11:3. What are we to do with these instances of polygamy in the Old Testament? My question is: what does one do with 1000 wives. 3 a day for a year would barely see each once a year.



PP10

Those are good questions for some other day. Today our question is,



Is there Biblical basis

for denying same-sex marriage

to same sex couples who desire it?

And the answer is NO!





So where did the church and churches get this astoundingly abhorrent sex negative attitude? The church definition virtually makes childbearing the purpose of marriage.



But in the Bible, Not one verse, not one story, not one word in the entire Bible condemns same sex love, same sex companionship, or same sex marriage. There are 5 or 6 verses (some are duplicates) that are called “clobber” verses which are said to be condemnatory and are used to try to show that the Bible condemns same sex love. These verses do not condemn our love. I present a 12 hour seminar on these verses to show the absurdity of using them to condemn our love.



PP11 I Cor 6:9 Malakoi, Arsenokoitai



Just let me give you a small sample. I Cor 6:9 gives a list of the sinners who can’t enter heaven. Most English translations say that murderers, robbers, homosexuals, etc can’t enter heaven. I have 17 English translations and most of them use some form of the word homosexual in this verse. BUT St. Paul wrote in Greek. His Greek words were malakoi and arsenokoitai.

These words do not mean homosexual.

Malakoi means soft

Nobody knows what arsenokoitai means

because St. Paul made it up

and does not define it.



SO, every translator guesses what St. Paul might have meant by using these words.



One thing we know for sure: St. Paul did not mean “the homosexuals” because that idea was not invented yet. For him to speak of “the homosexuals” would be just as impossible as for him to speak of flying in an airplane. Neither the idea of airplanes nor the idea of homosexuals was invented yet. Almost 2000 years later, In Rizal’s time, psychiatrists decided, “Ah, yes, there are some people who are constitutionally attracted to the same sex. Let’s call them ‘homosexuals.’” The only logical conclusion is that



St. Paul could not have meant,

“the murderers, robbers

and homosexuals cannot enter heaven

” It is a very wrong, unscholarly translation.



The use of the other clobber verses is also very unscholarly. Good scholars nowadays realize that. But we will save that for another seminar.



PP12

The important thing to remember

is there is no Biblical basis

for condemning LGBT love.

There is no condemnation,

no mention of same sex marriage in the Bible.



BUT, we shall see that the Bible is an embarrassing place to go for clarity about marital ethics in general.

_____________________________________

One website observes:

There are no passages in the Bible that deal directly with same-sex marriage (SSM). Like abortion access, followers of the Bible have had to develop a position on SSM by using biblical passages dealing with other, related topics:

Generally speaking:



Religious conservatives use their interpretation of the six "clobber passages" and of passages discussing opposite-sex marriage to condemn SSM.





Religious liberals use the Bible's general themes on same-sex relationships, love, and justice to argue that SSM is a human right.





PP13

I find it is better to look at the



general themes of the Bible

on same-sex relationships,

love and justice.



So, in conclusion, I like to look at the Book of Ruth and the charming love vows of Ruth and Naomi and delight in that whole book of the Bible focused on the beautiful love of two women for each other. And, regardless of how many wives King David had later, I like to read the romantic account of David’s exciting love story with Jonathan, after David defeated the giant Goliath.



I like to look at Jesus himself. First of all, the Gospel tells us eight times that Jesus had a “beloved.” And that beloved was a same-sex beloved, the one whom Jesus loved, the one who was allowed to lie with his head of Jesus’ heart, to cuddle with Jesus. Of course there is no intention to imply that the love or cuddling had any orgasmic physical sexual content. No evidence at all. But there can be no denying there was a same sex relationship with a special love. No doubt Jesus loved all 12 of his closest followers, but no doubt also that this one special one had a special place. For example, when Jesus was dying on the cross, who did he ask to take care of his Mother after he died? Yes, of course, it was his beloved, and from that moment the beloved took Jesus’ Mother into his home…



But I like to look beyond even the personal same sex love of Jesus -- to the whole ambiance of his life. Just for example, He showed his acceptance of all people, sinful or not, when he allowed a sinful woman to give him a very romantic foot massage, even drying his feet with her own hair.



Then Jesus shows this same attitude of acceptance when a Roman military officer asked Jesus to heal his gravely ill lover. (We know from the Greek word Pais that the servant was his lover, a common experience for military officers from Alexander the Great onwards.) Jesus healed the bakla with no hesitation. Surely there is enough evidence in the Gospel to show us that Jesus knew what was going on around him, and he knew he was healing a gay man.



And finally briefly to keep this narration short, Jesus saved a woman from stoning who was caught in adultery according to Leviticus 22. If Jesus saved that woman in adultery, would he not also save a man who lies with a man who also is to be stoned according to the same Leviticus 22?













PP14

In short



the whole ambiance

of Jesus’ life, love, and ministry

is acceptance, justice, common sense.



When the “rules rules rules guys,” the Pharisees, questioned Jesus about allowing his disciples to pick some grain to appease their hunger while walking through a wheat field on the Sabbath day when it was forbidden to do any work like picking grain, he told them that people were more important than rules.



Well the early church got off to a good start following what Jesus was really like, even having wedding ceremonies for same sex couples.



There were a lot of debates in the early church, about if Jesus was God and many more things that were settled in the various meetings of bishops, called Councils, notably the Council of Nicea in the year 325.



But the debate heated up in regard to sexual issues by the year 400 with the teachings, writing of many books, and influence of St. Augustine, the great doctor of the church who is revered as a foremost teacher of Christian philosophy and theology. He himself was a very sexual person in his younger years, with more than one concubine, fathering a child, etc. But after his conversion and becoming bishop of Hippo in his native North Africa, he developed a very sex negative approach to sexuality.



PP15

Augustine’s unfortunate

sex negative theology

can be summarized thus:

All sex is bad,

except for a married man and women

once a year to make a baby;

under the covers, with the clothes on;

get in there fast, make the baby fast,

get out of there fast, and don’t enjoy it.



He was a great theologian of the church and his influence had a great impact on sexual attitudes – to this day. We firmly believe, along with many theologians of today, that his sex negative theology is wrong. He is also criticized for his theology of predestination, so we know he can be wrong.



PP16

That, ladies and gentlemen, was the beginning of the massive sex negative theology in the church which has persisted through the years.



MCC and countless great thinkers and writers like Fr. McNeil and Fr Pittenger, who both have spoken to MCC General Conferences, have begun to point out to the world that





Condemning same sex love;

sex negative theology

does not come from Jesus or the Bible.

And that is the Good News

MCC continues to share with all.



In addition, I myself conduct full length seminars on sex positive theology to aid this battle which fights the forces that corrupt the true spirit of Jesus’ teachings.



PP17

Assigned objective clarified

Neiher Bible nor Jesus

Condemn same-sex love’

But the church – St. Augustine.

Popes, and Cardinal Sin

Condemn us

And influence society

To deny us human rights.



Thus, in conclusion, we have accomplished our objective, we have clarified in this short time that neither the Bible, nor Jesus condemn same sex love or unions. But the church, composed of human beings like St. Augustine, popes, and Cardinal Sin, condemns us. And because of the power of the church and the influence of the church, much of society condemns our love and love unions and denies us our human rights.



Marriage has so many definitions. Marriage might even have many wives., even in the Philippines. It can even be a commercial contract. It is subject to the whims and laws of government. So we cannot look forward to equal marriage in the Philippines.



PP18

Holy Union is always about love,

not about laws.

It is about commitment

nd making each other happy.

holy, blessed by God.



PP19

What is needed

is a radical commitment

to the real Jesus,

the Way, the Truth, the Life –

In his way,

people are more important