Blog entry for:

to carrying the message. really, seriously, when have i ever practiced selfless devotion to anything. back in the day i practiced SELFISH devotion to getting and finding the means, but selflessness is not something that comes naturally to me. of course i am cynical enough to think that is true for nearly 99% of my fellow humans as well. conservative Christian members may wail, and gnash their teeth at the ruling that finally allows gay partners to enjoy the full rights and responsibilities a civil marriage entails, but their cries are similar to the racist cry heard when that same right was finally extended to mixed race couples. no one is saying that their pastors, ministers or church have to perform the religious marriage ceremony and this is all about the erosion of their power and influence on the hearts and minds of their fellow citizens, and not about any strongly held beliefs in right or wrong. the fact that some of the more vocal members would advocate violence, self-immolation or “turning the bums out,” shows how desperate they are to cling to a point of view that really has nothing to do with them. i have yet to see the headline of anyone who threatened to set themselves on fire, much less the 12000 or more claimed by a commentator of Fox News. i mean what is the next “BIG DEAL” removing the word GOD from the Pledge of Allegiance and the motto that is printed on our currency? they are losing the battle with history, just as the extremist Islamist, bigots of all shapes and sizes and hate mongers that fill popular culture with the garbage that drives the 24 hour news cycle.
<RANT OFF>
as you can see, i am passionate about this issue, and i display a similar passion when it comes to the fellowship that has been my home these past 6500 days in a row. i am very vocal, and can be persuasive when i want to be, bullying and demeaning as well, but in the long run,. when the dust settles, i have learned that the conscience of the group, is my conscience and can go forward, in lock-step with the group and promote their decision. i am far from being always right, correct or even not too wrong, and can admit that today. once upon a time, when i did group service, i was like those Christian Conservatives, who believed that not was i right, i would do whatever i could to scuttle the outcome of that conscience, even when it really was the next right thing to do, just because it did not jibe with my beliefs. if the resistance to providing a BASIC CIVIL right, to a group of people is true to the beliefs that the espouse, they will move on. me i am grateful that the SCOTUS sees marriage in the civil sense, as basic right and not a privilege to be doled out to a few based on the narrowly defined criteria of who you sleep with. this is not judicial activism at its worst in is an extension of a process that started with Loving v. Virginia, issued on June 12, 1967.
i do however, digress, as i vent more than a little bit about the howls of protest over something that will NOT affect churches and members of the Christian FAITH at all, except in the battle for the hearts and minds of the coming generations. for a philosophy that preaches tolerance and love, i hear very little of that coming out in the news these past few days, all i hear is damnation, whining and “what a travesty of justice this is.”
when i participate in group service, my voice is now one of the many. i say my piece, i make any objection is may have and i allow the process to form a course of action on its own. i live with the surety that i was heard and considered and even when i may not agree with the final outcome 100%, and quite truthfully, most of then time, there is something about it is do not like, i still do my best to implement that decision, side by side with my peers, instead of complain about how this or that it is or is not.
anyhow, it is time to wrap this up and move forward into my day, yes i can hear the screams now about how once upon a time i was not. that is true, and i will not diminish that statement with a “but.” these days, through my growth, spiritually and emotionally, i have relinquished ownership of my fellowship and the service structure to the fellowship as a whole. i am part of and not the owner of, today and that is a good thing.

∞ DT ∞