Hi Kids!

Hi kids!
So I have not posted in a week. Been reading, and then reading a second time, the marvelous "Conquering Venus" from award-winning poet and playwright, Collin Kelley. I'll be posting a full review very soon.
Other stuff:
Had a wonderful visit with my Dad--John, only a few weeks ago(but miss him so much already, it feels like he's not been here, in years).

We visited "Big Canoe", a resort-like community in the North Georgia mountains. Tiny cottages, mid-sized houses, and sprawling estate homes, all co-exist in a densely wooded(think "Pan's Labyrinth", without the scary)forest. The amenities include paddleboating, canoeing, kayaking, on your choice of three lakes (one of which is huge, and completely God-created), fishing, swimming in three pools, hiking, etc. We just visited for a couple of hours, but it felt like a relaxing vaction.

We wanted to go see a film, too, but I had to be convinced to go see a film about war. In my trek to become more Peace-filled, war, or films that champion war,are not a thing(s) I support.
And my Dad disagrees on whether peace is ever possible.
My Dad: "Well, Lisa, do you REALLY BELIEVE World Peace is possible someday?"
"I absolutely do. In fact, I believe it's MORE LIKELY, than not, Dad."
"Really?!" he asked, incredulously.
"I do!"
The conversation could've become heated, and my Dad has "pushed it" before, but since I'm all-about-the-peace, I decided to simply smile sweetly.
What I Didn't Say(but what I truly believe):
"One day, everyone will figure out it's too costly--in terms of dollars, AND PEOPLE--to keep fighting one another. It's a ridiculous, outdated method of dealing with each other. It makes no sense."

So......in the in-town-Atlanta-things-we-did-category, we saw a great little film called "Hurt Locker", and it feels like a film about war, for people who never go to what my ol' Grandpa Reed Allender would call a "war picture".
It centers around explosive-device experts, and the ever-impending loom of death these brave soldiers face, every day in the "new wars" of Iraq and Afghanistan. (IED's being the preferred weapon instituted by those fighters.) The film explores the tenacity, the mistrust, and the unlikely brotherhood that is formed because of the interactions our soldiers and even those they must fight, create. I seldom recommend a "war" film, but this one is a requirement, in order to better understand the incredible sacrifice made every day, by these brave young men and women.
The film was directed by a woman, Kathryn Bigelow, best-known for her 1991 surfer/bank-robber-film, "Point Break". While researching her, I discovered she's a very talented painter, and it is easy to believe, since her filmed images of desert cities at dusk, sandstorms and explosions, achieve icon-status.
When you go to see it, be like a soldier with heightened awareness: if you do, you'll spot an extremely well-known, Academy-Award-winning actor, in a pivotal, but un-credited, cameo role.
Peace, kids.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING. MORE ON THAT, LATER.
FOR NOW, NEWS ABOUT A TRULY BRAVE PRIEST!
I am quite familiar with the work of Fr. Roy Bourgeois, and believe he is the herald of a "new" Catholic Church. I think eventually, the Church must support fully the policies of Peace & Social Justice, or it will lose us as faithful members. Peace & Social Justice means that prejudice, and the old, negative policy of non-inclusion of women as priests, and I'll say it:
LGBT persons, and also priests who may wish to marry, must end.
We will soon have an RC Church much like the divided Episcopal Church, and I for one, think that may be a very very good thing!
Let's it hear it for Fr. Bourgeois!
And for the first rule of The Catechism:
Your conscience, first, the Church, second.
See story, below:
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Published on National Catholic Reporter (http://ncronline3.org/drupal)
Roy Bourgeois threatened with excommunication

By NCR Staff
Published:
November 11, 2008
Maryknoll Fr. Roy Bourgeois, founder of SOA Watch, outside a congressional office building in Washington in 2007 (CNS photo/Paul Haring)Maryknoll Fr. Roy Bourgeois has been threatened with excommunication by the Vatican's Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith for his support of women’s ordination, according to a letter made public today.

The letter was written by Bourgeois and addressed to the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. It was distributed via e-mail by Bill Quigley, a New Orleans lawyer who represents Bourgeois.

According to Bourgeois’ letter, which is dated Nov. 7, the congregation has given him 30 days to recant his “belief and public statements that support the ordination of women in our Church, or (he) will be excommunicated.”

The letter indicates that Bourgeois received notification from the congregation Oct. 21.

Bourgeois, a priest for 36 years, attended the ordination of Janice Sevre-Duszynska [1] in Lexingon, Ky., Aug. 9 and preached a homily [2].

If Bourgeois is excommunicated at the end of 30 days, it would come just before the mass rally and protest against the U.S. Army’s School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Ga., that Bourgeois has organized for 19 years. In recent years, more than 15,000 people, many of them Catholic university students, have joined the three daylong rally and demonstration.

Bourgeois was not immediately available for comment. The text of Bourgeois’ letter follows.

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Rev. Roy Bourgeois, M.M.
PO Box 3330, Columbus, GA 31903
November 7, 2008

TO THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH, THE VATICAN

I was very saddened by your letter dated October 21, 2008, giving me 30 days to recant my belief and public statements that support the ordination of women in our Church, or I will be excommunicated.

I have been a Catholic priest for 36 years and have a deep love for my Church and ministry.

When I was a young man in the military, I felt God was calling me to the priesthood. I entered Maryknoll and was ordained in 1972.

Over the years I have met a number of women in our Church who, like me, feel called by God to the priesthood. You, our Church leaders at the Vatican, tell us that women cannot be ordained.

With all due respect, I believe our Catholic Church’s teaching on this issue is wrong and does not stand up to scrutiny. A 1976 report by the Pontifical Biblical Commission supports the research of Scripture scholars, canon lawyers and many faithful Catholics who have studied and pondered the Scriptures and have concluded that there is no justification in the Bible for excluding women from the priesthood.

As people of faith, we profess that the invitation to the ministry of priesthood comes from God. We profess that God is the Source of life and created men and women of equal stature and dignity. The current Catholic Church doctrine on the ordination of women implies our loving and all-powerful God, Creator of heaven and earth, somehow cannot empower a woman to be a priest.

Women in our Church are telling us that God is calling them to the priesthood. Who are we, as men, to say to women, “Our call is valid, but yours is not.” Who are we to tamper with God’s call?

Sexism, like racism, is a sin. And no matter how hard or how long we may try to justify discrimination, in the end, it is always immoral.

Hundreds of Catholic churches in the U.S. are closing because of a shortage of priests. Yet there are hundreds of committed and prophetic women telling us that God is calling them to serve our Church as priests.

If we are to have a vibrant, healthy Church rooted in the teachings of our Savior, we need the faith, wisdom, experience, compassion and courage of women in the priesthood.

Conscience is very sacred. Conscience gives us a sense of right and wrong and urges us to do the right thing. Conscience is what compelled Franz Jagerstatter, a humble Austrian farmer, husband and father of four young children, to refuse to join Hitler’s army, which led to his execution. Conscience is what compelled Rosa Parks to say she could no longer sit in the back of the bus. Conscience is what compels women in our Church to say they cannot be silent and deny their call from God to the priesthood. Conscience is what compelled my dear mother and father, now 95, to always strive to do the right things as faithful Catholics raising four children. And after much prayer, reflection and discernment, it is my conscience that compels me to do the right thing. I cannot recant my belief and public statements that support the ordination of women in our Church.

Working and struggling for peace and justice are an integral part of our faith. For this reason, I speak out against the war in Iraq. And for the last eighteen years, I have been speaking out against the atrocities and suffering caused by the School of the Americas (SOA). Eight years ago, while in Rome for a conference on peace and justice, I was invited to speak about the SOA on Vatican Radio. During the interview, I stated that I could not address the injustice of the SOA and remain silent about injustice in my Church. I ended the interview by saying, “There will never be justice in the Catholic Church until women can be ordained.” I remain committed to this belief today.

Having an all male clergy implies that men are worthy to be Catholic priests, but women are not.

According to USA TODAY (Feb. 28, 2008) in the United States alone, nearly 5,000 Catholic priests have sexually abused more than 12,000 children. Many bishops, aware of the abuse, remained silent. These priests and bishops were not excommunicated. Yet the women in our Church who are called by God and are ordained to serve God’s people, and the priests and bishops who support them, are excommunicated.

Silence is the voice of complicity. Therefore, I call on all Catholics, fellow priests, bishops, Pope Benedict XVI and all Church leaders at the Vatican, to speak loudly on this grave injustice of excluding women from the priesthood.

Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador was assassinated because of his defense of the oppressed. He said, “Let those who have a voice, speak out for the voiceless.”

Our loving God has given us a voice. Let us speak clearly and boldly and walk in solidarity as Jesus would, with the women in our Church who are being called by God to the priesthood.

In Peace and Justice,
Rev. Roy Bourgeois, M.M.
PO Box 3330, Columbus, GA 31903
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There you have it. I think I'll address one issue at a time, but as I posted nearly a year ago, the Church needs to address its' issue of not allowing "out" LGBT persons to serve in the priesthood(Everyone knows there are already many members of the clergy who are LGBT, but they cannot come out, as the Church would turn them away. That's ridiculous. And sad.). I suspect the Church will embrace LGBT persons as priests and members of the clergy, once women serve as priests. And they WILL. Yes, they will!
Peace, kids.

HOPE IS ALIVE AND WELL.
Last night, I dreamt about a President Obama. Again. At the risk of appearing silly, I want to share the dream. He was not surrounded by chipmunks(Hi Selma!) and squirrels and deer, and riding a unicorn(the humorous depiction of him in some YouTube renderings). This Obama was sitting quietly, hands folded. The room was actually rather subdued, and I was asking him how he felt, and he said "I feel like we just took one step--one step towards a future that sees hope trumping fear. One step towards solving some of the problems laid at our feet, these past eight years. But more than that, I feel humbled and am honored to serve you. I promise to do my best so that you can feel redeemed in that hope.... That's where we are, America, and that's where we are going."
The reason I can remember so much, is that when I wake up from a dream, I jot down the phrases I remember, immediately.
I used to keep a diary, and I wrote in it, nearly every day. I stopped keeping one
a couple of years ago, though I do journal "important" events--often in this outlet, Lisa Allender Writes.
Recently, I went back to my old diaries of 1985-1995, and
what I found was a woman whose interest in politics had waned. Not because we--the United States--didn't need addressing, or weren't doing well, but because I was a fragile, rather lost soul.The Lisa in some of those years (particularly 1988-1995)
had become interested mainly in money, and I only realized recently, how much that emphasis hurt who I was. How it shaped friendships I should never have encouraged. I lost faith in my country(I did not even vote in 1992)because I lost faith in myself. It's a shame that it took intense crisis here in the USA for me to try to regain
that faith in myself.(The wonderful administration of Bill Clinton being hampered--nearly toppled--not by his marital indiscretions, but by a vengeful, grasping investigation which caused even more dissatisfaction in this country).
So I became my authentic, political self again, several years ago(I voted for Clinton in 1996, and I felt very betrayed when light fell on his private life(when testifying to that Grand Jury, and to that camera, when facing us). My father advised me then:"Lisa, things are good. People will look back on this, and see these continued attacks on him, his private life, for what this is--just partisan politics driving this impeachment process.It's ridiculous.").
My Dad has been proven correct, of course. The man who promised in his first speeches
to this country, "I'm a uniter, not a divider..." and "I'm going to restore honor and dignity to the office of the President of the United States..." has succeeded
in doing the exact opposite of that. That's right--George W. Bush said those words.
In 2000,I became my authentic, political self(that young girl who volunteered in the very first Presidential year she could vote--1976)by volunteering once again. At that time, I was more "moderate" (I tended to vote Libertarian in local political contests, but I certainly hoped Al Gore could win.)
By 2004, I was galvanized, and actively campaigned for John Kerry. The severe illness I suffered, less than 24 hours after George W. Bush was "re-elected" certainly was brought on by stress, and it was then I realized just how invested I'd become.
Why? Why get so invested in something that often feels impossible? Because impossible things--things that seeem out of reach--can be accomplished.
In reading these diaries--in reading about bad things that happened to me, poor choices I myself made, that led to more pain, and scary, ugly things that could have made me bitter, or harsh--I read words that made me cry, not with sadness, but with pure joy. In a paragraph detailing one ugly incident, I remarked how my faith in people had not changed--how I still saw most folks as good,and I saw the person who attempted to victimize me, as a person who was ill, someone who had more hurt, more pain in his heart, than I could ever understand. What's interesting, is that I was certainly not in a place of faith back then. Back then, I called myself a "cheerful
Atheist, or Non-Theist", but I was still was able to make sense out of something senseless.
I think that's what we're going to do with this election, with our future.
We're going to make sense out of what's been senseless the past eight years:
the senseless killing in Iraq, the senseless shredding of our Constitution, the
senseless destruction of our good name-of the USA-in our interactions with other nations, the senseless neglect of the poorest, most helpless of our citizens(re:Katrina, the scandals surrounding foreclosures on the less fortunate, etc.),the senseless destruction of our beautiful natural forests and rivers, the senseless desruction of our earth, the death of our support for the teachers in our country, and the children they teach.
We will make sense of it after all, because we will achieve the impossible. How do I know this? Because the impossible HAS ALREADY HAPPENED.
Senator Barack Obama, a man whose name most people did not know, and could not pronounce, only 20 months ago, through his diligence and as a result of his strong faith, intellectual prowess, and unique skill sets, has won his party's nomination.
We can choose to remain in the past, afraid our dreams won't come true. Or we can--even after feeling abused, hurt, a bit broken--we can choose that hope that Senator Obama has asked us to keep alive.
Peace, kids.

"Please don't be diverted by the ground noise and the static".
Apparently, that's what Republican Pesidential nominee John McCain calls the voices that have been crying out(and I am just one of them) for YEARS for the occupation--and this war--in Iraq to end. At the Republican National Convention tonight, when one protester held up a sign stating, You Can't Win An Occupation, and another protester held a sign with McCain Votes Against Vets on it(McCain's recent record includes voting AGAINST increased medical benefits for returning Iraq & Afghanistan troops, even as the suicide rate due to PTSD is the highest of ANY U.S. war)and that veteran holding the sign is wearing a t-shirt which reads: Iraq Vets Against McCain, McCain manges to ignore them, even when some of the audience notices, and begins to shout in a hypnotic, no-think chant, "USA", "USA", "USA". But when several women manage to state simply, "No More War", and hold their fingers up--not in a sign of hatred-- but in a simple,two-finger PEACE sign, he refers to the movement as--let's see, what was that again?--ground noise and static? How DARE he!
Does he understand that over 78% of the USA says going into Iraq was a mistake, that the war should be over by now, that the Iraqi people should be assisted only in establishing order, schools, humanitarian aid. Even Iraq wants us to set a timetable for withdrawal, which the Bush Administration is finally(reluctantly) agreeing to do. Though they don't call it that, of course. They're calling it a "horizon" for the timing. Democratic nominee Barack Obama said over 2 years ago a timetable should be set, and even as this Administration finally "gets" that, John McCain still. does. not. get. it.
He has the audacity to call legitimate, peaceful protest about a war that has murdered not only our sons and daughters, but thousands--tens of thousands of others' sons and daughters--and made many Iraqis homeless, and created more hatred of us--indeed, has assassinated our once-esteemed reputation around the world and fueled more distrust of the US than ever before in this nation's history, ground noise and static.
To John McCain, I'll say this:
That ground noise and static? On November 4th, it will deafen you.

One more thing. And the Tonys, too.
Early today, I posted about what's on my mind. But I wanted to mention Arianna Huffinton, and her posting of Politico's neat new story on the biographer of George W. and his faith, who has just now finished a book on Barack Obama--and his faith. Once again, kids--I'm telling ya--it's gonna happen-- this evangelical, Stephen Mansfield, speaks of how Barack Obama will win over many evangelicals with his heart! Read on, below...
But before you do that, did you see The Tonys? I thought it was one of the very best they've ever done.
Although it may have been an overdose of Whoopi(who appeared to be having the time of her life in send-ups of everything from "Phantom of the Opera" to "Mary Poppins")Patti Lupone's performance(as Mama Rose in "Gypsy"--later in the evening, she won the Tony for Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical) alone would've been worth waiting for!
How about the older actress--Deanna Dunagan--with 34 years in regional theatre(primarily Chicago) who had her BROADWAY DEBUT just months ago in "August: Osage County", and WON the Tony for Best Actress?(The play also won for Best Play)
And the cuuute guy who accepted for "The Heights". Wow. What a terrific spoken-word piece from Lin-Manuel Miranda...
A truly odd, odd acceptance "speech" came from Mark Rylance, who won for his work in the 1960's revival, Boeing-Boeing.Apparently, it's a segment from another play...perhaps he was "auditioning" for his next role...
Now, here's that article I mentioned from Politico, which I nabbed from Arianna Huffington's site...
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Bush backer pens pro-Obama book
By: Ben Smith June 16, 2008 10:17 AM EST
The conservative Evangelical biographer of George W. Bush and Tom DeLay has moved on to a new subject: Barack Obama. And his new book, due out this summer, may lend credibility to Senator Obama's bid to win Evangelical Christian voters away from the Republican Party. The forthcoming volume from Stephen Mansfield, whose sympathetic "The Faith of George W. Bush" spent 15 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list in 2004, is titled "The Faith of Barack Obama." Its tone ranges from gently critical to gushing, and the author defends Obama-and even his controversial former minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright-from conservative critics, and portrays him as a compelling figure for Christian voters. "Young Evangelicals are saying, 'Look, I'm pro-life but I'm looking at a guy who's first of all black-and they love that; two, who's a Christian; and three who believes faith should bear on public policy," Mansfield, who described himself as a conservative Republican, said in a telephone interview. "They disagree with him on abortion, but they agree with him on poverty, on the war." His book, provided exclusively to Politico by the publisher, focuses more on Obama's religious journey than his electoral prospects. "For Obama, faith is not simply political garb, something a focus group told him he ought to try. Instead, religion to him is transforming, lifelong, and real," Mansfield writes, going on to compare Obama favorably to Christian Democratic presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, who he says erected a "wall of separation" between their religion and their governance. By contrast, "Obama's faith infuses his public policy, so that his faith is not just limited to the personal realms of his life, it also informs his leadership," Mansfield writes. The book is published by Thomas Nelson, the world's largest Christian publisher. It's due out August 5. "The Faith of Barack Obama" is expected to retail in Christian outlets and the Wal-Mart chain of stores, as well as secular bookstores. A motivational speaker and former pastor, Mansfield is the author of several books on faith as well as the co-author of former House Republican powerhouse Tom DeLay's 2007 book "No Retreat, No Surrender," a defense of his tarnished legacy sprinkled with fierce attacks on his opponents and on liberal causes. Mansfield writes that Obama "is unapologetically Christian and unapologetically liberal." But he writes that in substance and in style, Obama holds an appeal to Evangelicals that Senator John McCain may lack. He contrasted Obama's relative "fluency" with the language of religion-his campaign has outlined a pitch to the "Joshua Generation," a common term in Christian circles for younger Evangelicals-with the approach of his Republican rival.
"The McCain campaign is pretty clumsy when it comes to religion," he said, noting McCain's courtship, then renunciation, of two prominent Evangelical pastors, John Hagee and Rod Parsley. In his Fathers Day speech at a Chicago church Sunday, Obama again spoke explicitly of his personal Christianity: "We do what we can to build our house upon the sturdiest rock, and for me that means building that house on the foundation of Jesus Christ." Mansfield's book validates Obama's attempt-which began in earnest in his 2004 speech to the Democratic National Convention-to provide a compelling public face to the nascent "Religious Left." In that speech, he proclaimed that "we worship an awesome God in the blue states," and Mansfield tracks his continuing attempts to contest the Republican hold on white Evangelical voters.
One notable moment came in 2006 when Obama appeared at Reverend Rick Warren's megachurch beside GOP Senator Sam Brownback. "Welcome to my house," Brownback told Obama on stage. "This is my house too," Obama responded. "This is God's house." Obama, Mansfield writes, "made it clear to all that he [will] not be moved from his rightful place in the Christian fold." Obama's Christianity, however, has been under attack on two fronts this campaign season. The first is from a false, but widely held, belief that he is a Muslim. Mansfield dismisses that charge, then dwells at length on Obama's controversial church, Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. Mansfield said in the interview that he entered Trinity having heard "that Obama's church was a cult, something un-Christian, that Reverend Wright was a nut," but emerged with the view that it is "a pretty solid Christian church." His warm description of the church reflects that view. Though Mansfield writes of some jarringly radical features of the black liberation theology from which Trinity is descended, he concludes that what it offers is the "'born-again, new birth, blood-washed, Spirit-empowered Chrstianity' that Evangelicals know." "Few sermons this good will be preached anywhere in America on this Sunday morning," he says of the sermon he heard from Trinity's current pastor, Rev. Otis Moss. Mansfield's book is addressed to Evangelical readers, and it raises some questions about Obama's own faith, including his willingness to see contradictions in the bible, his belief that religions other than Protestant Christianity provide other "paths" to a "higher power," and his doubts about the afterlife. There are also passages in Mansfield's book that may give Obama's secular supporters pause. In particular, a theme from his book on Bush—the suggestion that the president's rise was itself an act of God-reappears in his coverage of Obama. He approvingly quotes Obama's old rival Rep. Bobby Rush saying that Obama's Senate win was "divinely ordained." "Increasingly, words such as called, chosen, and anointed are being used of Obama," he writes. Despite Mansfield's praise of the candidate, however, and his view that Obama may win over large numbers of younger Evangelical voters, the author also demonstrates the limits to the Democrats' appeal. Mansfield said he will vote against Obama in November for a single reason: "Because I'm pro-life."
© 2008 Capitol News Company, LLC
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I love that Mr. Mansfield can write eloquently about Senator Obama, and admit (however grudgingly) that "the Right" does NOT own God. And I find it amusing that he says he's "Pro-Life", when most right-wing fellas supported/still support the wars we started, the invasion of Iraq, its occupation by us, etc. The very definition of irony--"Pro-Life", indeed.
Peace, kids.