There is a lot of this stuff going around these days. Mean, uncharitable stuff. People suggesting that any liberal Christian is in league with Fundamentalists, for instance. Because--as far as I can tell--the very act of being Christian enables haters. What tremendous bullcocky.
Today is Independence Day. You know what is also independent? The Episcopal Church.
I won't bore you with church history here, but suffice it to say that Anglicans in what is now the United States managed to sever their ties with Britain and preserve their faith. A Scottish Bishop was involved and well, I said I wouldn't bore you....
A little more over the squiggly-doodad.....
I have yet to see any progressive Christian of any stripe here on the Daily Kos troll around in the diaries of atheists to antagonize. Have I accused some of hyperbole and misplaced rancour? Of course. Have I, or others who belong the the Anglican Kossacks group trolled around looking for this? NO.
I have a great deal of understanding about why some people are angry with religion in general, and Christianity in specific. It's not like we have a stellar record when it comes to human rights and other things most progressives hold dear.
However, in this day and age, some of us--Roman Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, Lutheran and others--are standing up for human rights, including LGBTQ rights, standing up for the end of war, for a human, fair solution to issues in Palestine/Gaza, for a lot of things. We're working hard on social issues. We're committed to them. Jesus demands it.
We may not be "you", but we stand with you. We stand for peace, justice, love, equality, representative democracy, you name it. We--at least here on Anglican Kossacks--ARE you. We are us.
I sometimes think that some of our liberal/progressive allies don't want us on the team. "Monkey in the clouds", "Flying Spaghetti Monster", those kinds of terms are regretful and all too common. How do you think the Jews and the Muslims react to that kind of language? After all, we're real Socialists, we monotheists: we all share a God. We live, so to speak, in a Communal Apartment.
As a gay man, I learned long ago that I have got to be intentional about my rage against those I see as oppressing me. Rage and insults are easy. Forgiveness and understanding, on the other hand, are difficult. I like the difficult path on that. I may not be perfect, but I really know how to forgive. You don't have to believe in God to be a forgiving person. You don't have to believe in God to be a jerk, either. We're all one, let's not forget that.
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Collect for the Sunday Closest to July 6 from the BCP
O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you wth our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.