Marriage Protection Act

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Word has reached us here in the Village of an amendment to the United States Constitution called the Marriage Protection Amendment of 2008 (H.J. Res. 89).

Now without getting into the debate of the sanctity of marriage I will get into the debate of States Rights. Marriage is a state issue and not a federal one. The federal government has no business trying to regulate marriage or anything else that is a state and local responsibility. I believe, if my history is correct, we fought a war over this issue.

Perhaps we should amend this make divorce illegal! It seems to me that divorce is more destructive to families then two committed, loving, people marrying each other. Just my two cents.

If you wish to define marriage as between one man and one woman the place to do it is in the state in which you reside not in the Congress of the United States.

Only weeks after visit home, Taunton man killed in Iraq

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Please pray for this family in their time of need!

A Taunton soldier has died in Iraq only weeks after being honored during a stay in Massachusetts, Mayor Charles Crowley said last night.

Shane Duffy, a US Army sergeant in his early 20s, was killed after returning to a tour of duty in Iraq, Crowley confirmed. Duffy was serving a 10-month deployment.

“Shane Duffy has passed away, and we are all saddened by the loss of a young hero,” said Crowley, who received word of Duffy’s death yesterday. “Our prayers are with the Duffy family in this time of grief.”

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Church and State

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Much has been written and spoken about during this campaign season about the role of religion in politics. There is a great line from the West Wing where Martin Sheen is speaking with Alan Alda about Church and State. Martin says that the Constitution says there should be a separation of church and state but it does not say anything about a separation of church and politics. Candidates use church and yes my friends church uses politics as well.
The Establishment Clause of the US Constitution only guarantees that there will be no state religion it does not say that religion and American life should not be intertwined. The framers of the Constitution were very religious and many, if not all, were avid church goers.

I was listening to NPR this morning and the coverage of the Obama win. They interviewed a woman about why she switched from Obama to McCain and she said it was because of the comments made by Obama’s minister in Chicago. Well first off that is a stupid reason for not voting for someone. I cannot imagine that anything I would say would influence any candidate, if I had one in my church. Yes if you don’t like what I say you can leave the church, but then you don’t understand the nature of church! The Church exists not because of the preacher, and the members of the church do not always agree with everything that the preacher says. I have said things that my parishioners do not agree with so should they leave the church because of it?

Now on to the role of religion in politics. Should religion influence politics? I believe the answer is yes. Should preachers preach politics? I believe that answer is no. The preachers job is to teach what the church teaches on same sex marriage, abortion, war, peace, homelessness etc. The church should not preach a certain party affiliation. I was listening to a podcast from EWTN with host Fr. Mitch Paquawa. He said he is not the priest of the Republican Party of the Democrat Party he is a Roman Catholic Priest! Good for you Fr. Mitch! We clergy have an obligation to teach our flock. We are not called to be politically correct, we are called to preach the truth as our denominations see it, if we don’t want to do that, then resign from the pulpit and run for office. Clergy should not run for office either. I serve my town in an appointed capacity on the Historical Commission in the town. We deal with keeping the down town area nice and historic and that is it. I did not run, I was appointed. Okay maybe splitting hairs but that’s how I see it. I also feel that churches should not host candidates and allow them to speak to the congregations nor should church halls be used for debates and other rallies.

So there you have my thoughts on politics. I will continue to preach the truth because I can do nothing else! I have an obligation to do that, that’s my calling in life. Preach politics, no, vote for who you want but it should be someone who shares your values and your views. One last thought, I am not a single issue voter either. If I was there would be no one to vote for!

SCOBA – Time for a Reassessment

Posted on by Fr. Peter
The Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) was founded under the leadership of Archbishop Iakovos, of blessed memory, anticipating the process of re-unifying the Orthodox Church in America later ignited by the establishment of the autocephalous Orthodox Church in America in 1970. Its most notable programs, however, such as the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) and the Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF), have not been established through initiatives of SCOBA but rather have been the products of either strong lay leadership from several jurisdictions or the indefatigable efforts of individual priests and lay persons focusing on specific areas of concern. American Orthodox faithful of many jurisdictions cried out for unified action. SCOBA followed, while others have led. SCOBA’S greatest failure has been in carrying out its “prime directive”, i.e. to Unify the Church. In fact, in some respects, it has become an instrument for stifling the move toward Unity.

SCOBA is plagued with structural, theological, and political defects. Here are a few of the more obvious ones.

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BREAKING NEWS: Clinton to suspend campaign tonight

Posted on by Fr. Peter
After a day full of conflicting signals, Hillary Clinton’s campaign seems to be sending clearer ones today — that she will gracefully exit the stage and won’t take her fight to the convention.

The Associated Press is reporting that she plans to acknowledge in her speech tonight that Barack Obama has the delegates for the nomination. The AP is also saying advisers have said that Clinton has made a strategic decision to suspend her campaign and not formally end it, giving her leverage to negotiate with Obama on various matters including a possible vice presidential nomination for her. She also wants to press him on issues he should focus on in the fall, such as health care.

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Russian Orthodox in threat to quit Anglican talks

Posted on by Fr. Peter
By: George Conger

The Russian Orthodox Church has threatened to pull out of Anglican-Orthodox talks, if representatives of the breakaway Estonian Orthodox Church are seated at the dialogue table.

At a meeting last week of the Steering Committee of the International Commission for Anglican Orthodox Theological Dialogue in Istanbul, Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and all Austria of the Russian Orthodox Church warned that his church would not participate in any ecumenical dialogue where representatives of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church were present.

In 2007 talks between the Vatican and the Orthodox churches collapsed after Russia walked out of a meeting in Ravenna, Italy due to the Estonian presence. The dispute however was not with Rome, but between Moscow and the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I — who extended the invitation to the Estonian church to attend the Vatican talks.

Prior to the Russian invasion of 1940, the Estonian Orthodox Church was an independent church. However, when Estonia was incorporated into the Soviet Union, its church was absorbed by the Russian Orthodox Church.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Estonian speaking members of the Orthodox community in 1993 petitioned the Ecumenical Patriarch for a restoration of their Church, which Bartholomew granted three years later. Moscow has refused to recognize the reconstituted Estonian Church and briefly broke relations with Bartholomew over what it sees as an invasion of its ecclesial territory.

During last week’s Istanbul meeting, Bishop Hillarion told Bartholomew’s representative to the talks, Bishop Kallistos (Ware) of Diokletia, and the representatives of the Anglican Communion: the Rev Canon Gregory Cameron of the Anglican Consultative Council, the Rt Rev Mark Dyer of Virginia Theological Seminary, and the Rev Canon Jonathan Goodall, the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Ecumenical Affairs officer, that Russian would withdraw if Estonia were seated.

Canon Cameron told The Church of England Newspaper that the Anglican Communion respects “our dialogue with the Orthodox Churches as a whole and with the Moscow Patriarchate as dialogue partners in particular,” but the question of who represents the Orthodox is “not one which Anglicans can make. It must be between the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Moscow Patriarchate, the Estonian Church and the other Orthodox Churches to settle the matter.”

However, Canon Cameron noted the meeting was “a very positive one in every other respect. There has been a good reception for the Cyprus Statement (The Church of the Triune God), which will be discussed at Lambeth Conference, and the Anglican representatives were warmly
received by the Ecumenical Patriarch and Orthodox delegates.”

http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=2092

Work at the Church

Posted on by Fr. Peter
This week we began two projects at the church. The roof needed to be repaired and we have begun to replace the old windows. I took some snaps of the guys doing the roof work and I thought I would post them here. I am glad that, with all my other jobs here, I am not required to do the roof work as well.

Obama resigns from controversial church

Posted on by Fr. Peter
ABERDEEN, South Dakota (Reuters) – Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama has resigned from Trinity United Church of Christ, his spokesman said on Saturday, further distancing himself from a source of controversy as he gears up for the general election.

Controversial sermons at Obama’s longtime church in Chicago have plagued the Illinois senator, who is close to clinching the Democratic nomination to run against Republican John McCain in the November election.

Obama’s spokesman, Robert Gibbs, gave no details, but said Obama had sent a letter resigning from the church he has attended for 16 years. Obama, who would be the first black U.S. president, was expected to make some comments on his decision later in the day, Gibbs said.
Last month, Obama cut ties with his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, who angered many with anti-American and racially charged sermons.

Just as controversy over Wright had died down, a Roman Catholic priest mocked Obama’s rival Hillary Clinton during a guest appearance at Trinity United.

In his sermon the priest, Michael Pfleger, screamed and imitated Clinton and accused her of espousing “white entitlement.” Pfleger later apologized for his comments and was condemned by Obama and the archbishop of Chicago.

The decision to quit the church appeared to be a sign that Obama wants to put the issue behind him ahead of the November general election.

Obama has attended Trinity United since 1992 and Wright presided over Obama’s marriage and baptized his two daughters.

In an effort to quell the controversy over Wright, Obama gave a widely praised speech in March calling for racial healing and offering a nuanced view of Wright, denouncing the pastor’s remarks but declining to disown him.

But then Wright made a series of public appearances and stood by his inflammatory comments. He has blamed the U.S. government for the spread of the AIDS virus, declared “God damn America” and blasted the country’s history of racism.

Obama was reportedly furious and finally cut ties with Wright last month. He condemned the minister’s comments as “outrageous” and “appalling.”

Wright’s comments posed problems for Obama because they contradicted one of his campaign’s central messages — that he can transcend past divisions such as those involving race.

Obama, the son of a white woman from Kansas and a black man from Kenya, has attracted strong support in some heavily white states such including Wyoming, Iowa and Wisconsin.
Political analysts questioned whether Obama’s links to Wright might hurt him in the general election.

Soldier suicide rate hits record high

Posted on by Fr. Peter
WASHINGTON – Army soldiers committed suicide in 2007 at the highest rate on record, and the toll is climbing ever higher this year as long war deployments stretch on.

At least 115 soldiers killed themselves last year, up from 102 the previous year, the Army said yesterday.

Nearly a third of them died at the battlefront, 32 in Iraq and four in Afghanistan. But 26 percent had never been deployed to either conflict.

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