Responsible Religion

August 25, 2010 • Column, Religion • by
2 Comments
Column Logo
*Beginning in 2010, I started writing a bi-weekly column, “From Richard’s Oft Cluttered Desk” which appears every other Wednesday.

What a crazy two weeks it has been. I shouldn’t find it any surprise that religion has caused the crazy. Religion does that – about any issue. But what I find most ironic is that in a country that was founded for a number of reasons, one of which was religious freedom, that we have even come to this debate.

So first, I must state some facts.

A group wishes to build a community center and Mosque three blocks from Ground Zero. Fact.

Within that same three-block radius of Ground Zero sits a McDonalds, a betting parlor and a strip club. Fact.

There are no laws or legal grounds to challenge this building in that zone. Fact.

Those three facts alone give us something to go with. I watched Meet the Press and a few other commentary shows this past Sunday while they discussed this issue. It was interesting watching the arguments.

So now, let’s tackle this “sensitivity” issue. One side said the group supporting the building is being insensitive to the people who died in the 9/11 attacks. Okay, I’ll call that a so-so argument. But I believe it falls flat when looking at what else has been built in the same area. You haven’t tried to stop other businesses from building there. ‘But it was Muslims who perpetrated 9/11.’ Oh no, it isn’t. It was a small faction of radical extremists who committed those acts, not peaceful members of a historic faith. Let me be clear, I am a Christian, but more than that, I am a man of faith and that requires a sensitivity to other faiths, so long as they respect mine. I have never once had a Muslim, a Jew or a Buddhist come and question my faith. I shouldn’t question theirs, but that is what Christianity professes (from my personal experience anyway.) But alas, I am getting off track.

But what about being sensitive to the Muslim faith? We do realize that it wasn’t your neighborhood Mosque that caused 9/11 right? It wasn’t your neighbor or my friends. It was a radical group of Islam that many factions of people within the Muslim faith continually condemn.

And another thing for those who wish to not allow this community center to be built, you do realize that it wasn’t just white Christan Americans that were killed in the World Trade Centers, right? There were Jews. There were blacks. There were Hispanics. There were Muslims and Buddhists and Atheists and gay and lesbians and Canadians and Russians. It wasn’t just you.

Building this peaceful place for the community to gather and for some to practice their peaceful faith isn’t a slap in the face to those that died. It is a symbol for those that did die and a building to those who lived to remember that in this country, we have freedoms and we have choices and one of those is freedom of religion. The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; [...]” There it is. The government has no legal right to stop the construction in this case. There are things they can do, but I hope they don’t.

Ground Zero is a special place to us all here in America, but this isn’t Ground Zero. It is a neighborhood. It is three blocks away. If not three blocks, where is it okay? And isn’t this the true measurement of a freedom-loving people. Lets build this community center and Mosque just blocks away of a site of a terrorist attack perpetrated by those who molested the Muslim faith. That to me would be the true victory in this mess.

And when it is built, it will be a shrine to peaceful religions around the globe and a monument of an understanding and free people.

Love Always Wins

April 7, 2010 • Column, LGBT, Love, Politics, Religion • by
0 Comments
Column Logo
*Beginning in 2010, I started writing a bi-weekly column, “From Richard’s Oft Cluttered Desk” which appears every other Wednesday.

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. – 1 Peter 4:8

Over the last year, over 1,800 committed couples took the ultimate step and declaration of love. They got married.

“But wait a second, Richard! How in the world did only 1,8-000 people get married in the last year?” you might be asking. Well, it’s because those 1,800 were gay and lesbian couples in my adopted state of Iowa. Last April 3, the state supreme court ruled, 7-0 I might add, that discrimination of marriage to men and women only was unconstitutional.

It was a beautiful day.

In November 2008, the same night (then Senator) Obama was elected, California approved Proposition 8, reversing the law allowing gay marriage in that state. I was angry. I was hurt. I was stunned that night.

A mere six months later, as I watched Twitter and Facebook to the news on the court decision, I was nervous. I was scared. I didn’t want to keep seeing love lose. On that day, it didn’t. Love and common sense law won out. Through all the losses before that day and those that have come since (see Maine), I have not cried. But I did on that day. Years of frustration and hurt and segregation came to an end.

It was an honor to say I was an Iowan again.

I know a few people who have either gotten married or are engaged and I couldn’t be more proud and excited for them. Love always wins.

As I wrote last year, “Today, the hope now exists in Des Moines, Iowa. In Cedar Falls, in Dennison, in Decorah, in Estherville, in Mason City, in Keokuk, and everywhere in between. In Iowa, under the law, all love is now equal.”

There are still legal battles to be fought and rights to maintain. But as the saying goes, “Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain.”

There is a Christmas poem that I love. I look forward to it every year. It’s long so I won’t bore you with it here. But it ends, “[...] of all the gifts, love is the best.” It is. And love always wins.

Is This Heaven? No, it’s Iowa!

April 3, 2009 • Column, LGBT, Love, Politics, Religion • by
2 Comments

I’ve never made it a secret that I’m from Iowa. I know we get a bad rap at times, but we are a proud people. Today, on Facebook and Twitter, I was more than happy to say how proud I am to be an Iowan. I will always consider the state my adoptive home (I was actually born and lived in Colorado until I was five).

Today, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional, and effective April 24, 2009, any legal adult in the state can marry. It is a day I never thought would happen and moved me to tears and quiet reflection.

Good people can disagree on this issue. Surely we can agree every person, regardless of color or creed deserves fundamental rights. The Declaration of Independence spells them out, “…the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Simple, yet powerful words written by wise and tolerant men in a time when equality was in its infancy.

If you can agree to that last statement, then surely we have come to a place where religion or tradition can’t stand in the way of equal protection. This has gone on far too long.

When Dustin Lance Black won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (Milk, 2009), he said, “But most of all, if Harvey (Milk) had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he’d want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value…” Today, Iowa took a step in that direction. They are now a land where children know that no matter who they grow up to love, that love will be recognized.

After his election to the San Fransisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, Harvey Milk said, “We’ve given them hope.”

Today, the hope now exists in Des Moines, Iowa. In Cedar Falls, in Denison, in Decorah, in Estherville, in Mason City, in Keokuk, and everywhere in between. In Iowa, under the law, all love is now equal.

Laws can change the course of history — for better or worse. Sports rules change the way games are played and technology changes the way we live our lives. Books are now read on Kindles and we carry computers in our pockets. But the one thing that has never changed and has stood the test of time is love.

I’m proud of my state again today. It’s not perfect, but today, and for all time, it is heaven full of love. It has won out. Let it ring from every hillside. Let it ring from every classroom and office. Let it ring from all 99 courthouses that love is love and in Iowa, love is all that matters and all that we’ve ever needed.

Kevin Costner was asked, “Is this Heaven?” He looked out over his cornfield in eastern Iowa and smiled, “No, it’s Iowa!” It’s the land of opportunity and now, a place complete with love.

Maybe they are one and the same. Maybe Iowa is Heaven and Heaven is Iowa. One thing is for certain tonight: Love exists. Love matters. And in Iowa, Love was affirmed.

A Silence Broken

April 27, 2008 • Column, Education, LGBT, Love, News, Politics, Religion • by
0 Comments

For those students who participated in the National Day of Silence last Friday, you have my most heartfelt thanks. The Day of Silence began in 1996 and has grown in numbers each year. The event asks students and teachers to take a day-long vow of silence to symbolically represent the silencing of LGBT students and their supporters.

Well, I was first informed of a problem with this year’s event from a contact in Iowa. After searching the news across the country, this event deserved my attention this evening.

Many organizations including the American Family Association and Americans for Truth have publicly called for protests to the event.

At what point are these ‘adults’ going to begin to understand what being tolerant means? Surely they don’t really believe that honoring a person for who they are is wrong. It still amazes me that 40 years after Stonewall we are still here – fighting. This isn’t even about marriage or legal rights.

The Day of Silence is to promote a safe school and build understanding. What parents and organizations like the American Family Association are promoting is hate and intolerance.

Groups like GLSEN and the HRC promote events like these to not advance the gay lifestlye, but to give information, to try to build safe schools were all students, gay or straight, tall or short, black or white can learn – safely.

Countless studies show that when students don’t feel safe, they don’t learn as well. It’s also why depression and suicide rates are higher among gay teenagers than their straight classmates.

“Social activism does not belong in the classroom,” added Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth, as reported on WorldNetDaily.

I have one comment for Mr. LaBarbera. If that is the case then we need to reverse desegregation. That’s what Brown v. Board of Education was all about. It was social activism by lawyers and judges. Certainly, if there is anyplace that is built for social activism and is a perfect place for honest discussion and understanding, it is our schools. Even more important, this cry for understanding and acceptance is coming from those in school, those students who cry in silence for this most fundamental of rights.

The classroom is a place that must be protected and must be a place of high values and respect. It is time school boards, politicians, but most of all, students, gay and straight stand up to these organizations to stop their hate. With one voice we must stop hate in the schools. With one voice we must show the world that the students of today know how best to make the world a better place.

Maybe, just maybe the silence has been broken.

Page 1 of 212