July 26, 2011 - I have delayed a bit in writing. Houseguests and summer in Alaska are not very conducive to the creative spirit and often lead one down a path of quiet contemplation. Years ago as a kid I read Dunsany's "Idle Days on the Yan", one of his many short fantasy pieces about a traveler drifting down a river and seeing the improbable sites on his voyage. The story has a touch of lethargy and delay to it, a touch of the "perhaps I'll do that tomorrow..." refrain that can infect an Alaskan summer... But the houseguests are gone and the page beckons. New music is bubbling below the surface and, yes, there is work to do... So I begin again.
All of these thoughts are in the shadow of the budget debate and the slow train wreck of the government's ability to either be civil or function. Was it ever worse? We think our times are always more dire, then read about members of Congress beating each other with canes in the 1850's - back when even firearms were allowed in the chambers. But it is true that these are different times. Now more people are subject to our whims, and our actions can mark the dividing line of poverty for so many. And still Congress dithers... more interested in re-election than right action.
Most recently gay marriage was expanded to New York, and I was surprised at how quickly this US House seized on the coming Armageddon that loving marriage presented while ignoring their fiscal responsibility and the much more real crisis of the economy. Here, in Anchorage, this battle was fought nearly twenty years ago. Our Anchorage Assembly struggled over the language of protection of basic rights for all citizens, including the addition of the words "sexual preference" to the City code as a prohibited reason to discriminate. Let me be clear (as the President is wont to say), not special rights, but the same rights a person of color or differing religion would have. Simply put, their argument was should you have the right to discriminate against gay people.
Needless to say a number of our high profile mega churches came out, Pastor Prevo's flock, misled and non-Christian in attitude, but only Christian in name, were driven like sheep to the Assembly chambers where they bleated their view of the imminent destruction of Anchorage, and they won that battle. Ruined political lives, ended careers, drove a wedge through our community and then tried to hammer home their gains by explicitly identifying gay persons as an issue to be confronted and opposed.
Finally, in the midst of all that, a number of churches rose up from their drift, their observation without comment, their "Idle Days...", and spoke out. They hired me (for a pair of shoes) to help them facilitate a declaration of Christian love and rights. Though I was not a practicing follower of a religion, they trusted me to help them develop their thoughts. So week after week, leading up to the big vote, they worked on this statement. Line by line, word by word. Catholics, Methodists, fundamentalist Baptists, Lutherans, Jews, and many, many others. Brown bag lunches and discussions of conscience. In the end they wrote a manifesto and raised enough money to put it in the local paper - just in time for them to watch as those who fostered hate backed down and removed their proposed anti-gay language and the fight ended. No ground seemingly gained, none lost, but leaving a community that had honed their skill to hate just a little bit more - courtesy of our mega church.
Their ad never ran, but I kept the final print-ready copy and, while dining with my house guests last week and discussing how far society has moved, was reminded of it again. I went up and found that print-ready copy in my closet (ok, ok, yes, I kept it in the closet...) and read it to them. It occurred to me that this brave moment of these brave people had never been published. So here it is in full below, paid for at the time by those signing below and their friends.
And so I too drift along the river and discover great things in decent people:
On Human and Civil Rights
Biblical faith requires from us a responsibility to all people. We are each others' teachers. We lead by example. We are bound by common values. We, as religious leaders, affirm these values:
To honor the dignity and equality of all persons in the sight of God;
To stand together against acts of hatred, violence, and the threat of violence in our community and in our schools;
To stand in solidarity with those who are threatened and injured;
To demonstrate respect for those who may think and act differently from ourselves
To initiate healing in our community through compassion and mutual respect so that we may all act on God's command that we be reconciled with those with whom we disagree.
Through these shared values, we work, defend, and advocate for human and civil rights for all people, regardless of religion, race, or sexual orientation.
Rev. Ronald R. P. Meyers, Rev. Ron Martinson, Carol Ann Seckel, Rev. Fritz Youra, R. Kevin Seckel, Dennis B. Holway, Rev. Donald D. Parsons - Bishop, Steven Charleston, Rev. E. Wesley Veatch, Rev. Dr. John C. Bury, Rev. Steven D. Humburg, Rev. Bruce A. Engebretson, Rev. Frederick (Fritz) P. Laupe, Rev. Daniel M. Bollerud, Gaetana Cincotta - S. S. A., Rev. Allen P. Price, Danielle Griffen - OP, Karen Yesh - SMAH, Chaplain Dianne O'Connell, Sister Marilee Murphy - CSJP, Rev. James R. Fellers, J. Rose McLean, John R. Tindell, Rev. Robert W. Nelson, Rev. Jay P. OlsonKetchum, Rev. Glenn Groth, Rev. Rick Cavens, Fr. Steve Moore, Rev. Charles H. Eddy, Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld