Dear ESPN and BSkyB,

I pay your £9 a month fee for two reasons and two reasons only:

1. To watch Boston Red Sox baseball
2. To watch New England Patriots football

To wit, I request that you make it possible to search your listings by team name.  Or hell, ESPN, maybe when you launch a new channel, you might want to have TV listings on your website.

Oh, and when you list a game as being Red Sox v. Tampa Bay on your tv listings, you can imagine my disappointment why my Sky+ box records Kansas City vs Florida.

Regards,

Word of Mike

Dear readers (if anyone is still left!),

I was thinking about setting up a new blog for my thoughts on life, and I realized I had the perfect place already!  Word of Mike.  You’ll see I’ve got a new theme, and I’ve moved around the deck chairs a bit.  I’ve also moved some categories into a “Pre-reboot” section because I don’t feel they are relevant to what I want to put on my blog anymore.

We’ll see where this takes us over the next couple weeks.

I am home at my parents’ house right now, and decided to visit the local Episcopal Church, St. Peters, for Mass this past Sunday.  It was an interesting experience, not the least of which was the drum set and electric guitar used for music.  Not my taste for worship, but I don’t begrudge people’s taste in joyful noise.

During the announcements, Fr. Tom White, the rector, made an offhand comment about the recent Newsweek article, “Gay Marriage: Our Mutual Joy,” saying it was “poorly researched.”  That could have meant anything from him feeling it wasn’t strong enough, to being anti-gay, to some more moderate criticism.  I did not want to stay, nor did I feel up for a potential confrontation, so I did not query him after Mass.  But I did send him an email.  I wasn’t really interested in going to that church again anyway, but I wanted to find out where he stood as a matter of principle.

The response I got floored me.  I got a lengthy email along with three documents he has written in the past.  Fr. White’s sermon on Sunday was a bit disjointed (which is one of the reasons I won’t be back), and so is his writing.  But I feel compelled to bear witness to the very poorly constructed arguments of the Evangelicals.  Remember, this is in Connecticut, which is one of two states that allow gay marriage.

In his letter to me, he references several bible passages: Mark 10, Ephesians 5, I Corinthians 13, I Timothy 3, Romans 1.  Usefully, compared to many fundamentalists, he doesn’t throw out a bunch of Old Testament references.  But he misses two fundamental points of Lisa Miller’s argument.

The first is that the Bible is comparatively silent on homosexuality.  All of the above passages (with the exception of Romans) specifically reference heterosexuality with no reference to homosexuality – regardless of whether one reads the NRSV or the NIV.  Omission does not a prohibition make.

The second is that the Bible is written and translated by men, not the unedited, uninterpreted “Word of God.”  Here, Romans bears that out.   Fr. White opines that the statement is a prohibiton against homosexuality.  But that is a deductive argument.  Miller makes the point that the Bible’s authors and translators had no concept of monogamous, loving gay relationships.  Paul is not responding to what we would consider gay marriage, he is responding to pedarasty and other things we would all agree are bad for society.  Gay relationships as they exist today did not exist in the ancient world.  How can we possibly believe that Paul is speaking out against a twentieth century innovation in the first century?

Biblical arguments aside, it is Fr. White’s “research” into homosexuality that makes me bonkers.  He says that genetic research into homosexuality is biased because the researchers themselves are gay.  He also argues that gay rights activists are arguing that gays should receive equal treatment on a genetic basis.  That is fundamentally misinformed.  We are demanding equal treatment on a human basis.

In his writing to me, Fr. White alleges that he has gay friends.  He has obviously never really talked to them.  I do not care what you feel about nature versus nurture, as it’s not important.  What is important is that by the time we are adolescents, we are gay, through no choice of our own.  What right does Fr. White, an austensibly heterosexual man, have to dictate to me who I love and who I spend my life with?  My favorite is his concluding paragraph:

Finally, what does love demand?  Seldom broached in our discussions about homosexuality is health.  In 1983 my gay friend Richard died of rectal cancer.  In addition to AIDS, there are numerous STD’s associated with male homosexuality.  No matter how natural one may feel, there are certain things one should not do with one’s body.  The health impact of particularly male homosexual behavior is not at all positive.  Without going into details, I do not believe it is loving for the Church to bless relationships where unhealthy, life-threatening behavior is common.

There is not a single sexually transmitted infection unique to homosexuality in general, let alone male homosexuality specifically.  What Fr. White is condemning in this passage is promiscuity.  I can accept the argument that gay men are more promiscuous than their heterosexual counterparts because I have no information to the contrary.  But by condemning gay marriage, Fr. White is pushing people toward the risky behaviors he has identified.  If he feels that promiscuity is dangerous, should he not be encouraging loving, monogomous relationships of any type?

When I had the opportunity to visit Grace this past September, everyone asked me if I had found a new church in Manchester.  I admitted I had not put much effort into finding one.  This encounter with Fr. White is exactly why I find it so difficult to seek out new churches.  In a church where gays are generally accepted, in a diocese where the Bishop is very gay friendly, in a state where gay marriage is legal, I run up against an evangelical bigot solely because of proximity.

So, my sister has put herself up in the 29th largest television market in the country for their Largest Loser competition.  She’s losing weight and working out 2x a day, which means with time zones, we don’t get to chat much.

Today, I noticed, however, that they have a blog! So here’s a shameless plug.  I’ll leave it to you to figure out which one she is – the only hint I’ll give is she’s on the red team.

In the style of BSG in 8 minutes, here’s the Democratic Primary in 8 Minutes. If you haven’t seen the original vid, it is after the jump.

I recently sent the following email to Senator Clinton.  I urge any readers of this blog who are Democratic Party members to do the same.

Dear Sen. Clinton,

I appreciate the effort and sacrifice you have put into your campaign. Your candidacy is a historic one, and nobody can take that away from you. However, for the good of the party, please concede the nomination to Senator Obama without delay. By holding out, you risk not only party unity, but our ability to change the country’s direction in November.

It is time to rally behind our nominee.

Sincerely,

Word of Mike 
Member, Democrats Abroad UK

The last thing we need is another Democraticide.

I have decided I really do not like the system we have here for evaluating performance.  Essentially, it comes down to a 3-hour exam which is supposed to determine my comprehension of a particular subject.  Never mind that the exam, a choice of 3 out of 8 essay questions, is testing 20 lectures, 2 2.5-inch thick binders, and two textbooks.  Never mind that both textbooks were written by the academic teaching the course…

There is no way that 3-hour exam is relevant to anything.  It will not reflect my comprehension of the subject.  It will have no impact on my future career.  It is completely irrelevant.

Which is, of course, why I am blogging instead of studying.

I am beyond the point in my life where I have patience for doing things “just because.”  So what does that mean for tomorrow?  Who knows.  I just hope I get through it with enough points to pass the course.

Ok, so I haven’t been blogging much.  I have been way to wrapped up in my own life to blog in any sort of reasonable fashion, which is really unfortunate, and for which I apologize.

I also have not been attending church at all.  See, being gay in the CofE reminds me too much of being gay in the RCC.  Too much depends on the pastor, the person you’re talking with, it’s all very hush hush and under wraps.  I left that behind when I was received into TEC, so why should I go back to it now.

I did, however, feel compelled to God’s grace today and so I ended up at the Metropolitan Community Church of Manchester for worship.  It was a very nice service and the people were very friendly, so I will probably be going back again once and a while to worship with them.  This particular congregation doesn’t have the fabulously-gayer-than-gay-gay attitude of some of the MCCs I have been in in the States, so that was also very nice.

What has inspired me to write today, however, was the story relayed to us about Prossy Kakooza, a member of the congregation.  Prossy is a Ugandan lesbian who is seeking asylum in the UK.  You can read about her story on the MCC website as well as watch this video:

It makes me crazy that the Western world has not wizened up to the problems that LGBT people in developing countries face.  Once and a while, we hear about the Alvaro Orozcos and Mehdi Kazemis of the world, but how many Prossy Kakoozas and others who do not get the media attention find themselves right back in the horror from which they came or worse.

Therefore, I’m asking those of you whose bully pulpits are larger than mine (i.e. Fr. Jake, Mad Priest, Ellen and Pisco) to get the word out.

Thanks.

I picked up on this letter from a high school student to Oklahoma State Rep. Sally Kern.

Rep Kern:

On April 19, 1995, in Oklahoma City a terrorist detonated a bomb that killed my mother and 167 others. 19 children died that day. Had I not had the chicken pox that day, the body count would’ve likely have included one more. Over 800 other Oklahomans were injured that day and many of those still suffer through their permanent wounds.

That terrorist was neither a homosexual or was he involved in Islam. He was an extremist Christian forcing his views through a body count. He held his beliefs and made those who didn’t live up to them pay with their lives.

As you were not a resident of Oklahoma on that day, it could be explained why you so carelessly chose words saying that the homosexual agenda is worst than terrorism. I can most certainly tell you through my own experience that is not true. I am sure there are many people in your voting district that laid a loved one to death after the terrorist attack on Oklahoma City. I kind of doubt you’ll find one of them that will agree with you.

I was five years old when my mother died. I remember what a beautiful, wise, and remarkable woman she was. I miss her. Your harsh words and misguided beliefs brought me to tears, because you told me that my mother’s killer was a better person than a group of people that are seeking safety and tolerance for themselves.

As someone left motherless and victimized by terrorists, I say to you very clearly you are absolutely wrong.

You represent a district in Oklahoma City and you very coldly express a lack of love, sympathy or understanding for what they’ve been through. Can I ask if you might have chosen wiser words were you a real Oklahoman that was here to share the suffering with Oklahoma City? Might your heart be a bit less cold had you been around to see the small bodies of children being pulled out of rubble and carried away by weeping firemen?

I’ve spent 12 years in Oklahoma public schools and never once have I had anyone try to force a gay agenda on me. I have seen, however, many gay students beat up and there’s never a day in school that has went by when I haven’t heard the word **** slung at someone. I’ve been called gay slurs many times and they hurt and I am not even gay so I can just imagine how a real gay person feels. You were a school teacher and you have seen those things too. How could you care so little about the suffering of some of your students?

Let me tell you the result of your words in my school. Every openly gay and suspected gay in the school were having to walk together Monday for protection. They looked scared. They’ve already experienced enough hate and now your words gave other students even more motivation to sneer at them and call them names. Afterall, you are a teacher and a lawmaker, many young people have taken your words to heart. That happens when you assume a role of responsibility in your community. I seriously think before this week ends that some kids here will be going home bruised and bloody because of what you said.

I wish you could’ve met my mom. Maybe she could’ve guided you in how a real Christian should be acting and speaking.

I have not had a mother for nearly 13 years now and wonder if there were fewer people like you around, people with more love and tolerance in their hearts instead of strife, if my mom would be here to watch me graduate from high school this spring. Now she won’t be there. So I’ll be packing my things and leaving Oklahoma to go to college elsewhere and one day be a writer and I have no intentions to ever return here. I have no doubt that people like you will incite crazy people to build more bombs and kill more people again. I don’t want to be here for that. I just can’t go through that again.

You may just see me as a kid, but let me try to teach you something. The old saying is sticks and stones will break your bones, but words will never hurt you. Well, your words hurt me. Your words disrespected the memory of my mom. Your words can cause others to pick up sticks and stones and hurt others.

Sincerely

Tucker

I’m stunned. That was remarkable.

In case you’re living under a rock and don’t know who Sally Kern is, here’s the video.

I was thinking about rugby tonight and I realised that my readers would never come across this song if they didn’t watch rugby. So, here is World in Union.