It's about time ....

Some would say it's way past time and there is a small minority who are hoping that the past will stay burried in the past. This week Senators Christopher Dodd (Dem. Conn.) and Jim Talent (Rep. Mo.) are introducing a bill that would set up a new unit withing the Justice Dept. to investigate and hopefully solve old civil rights crimes, lynchings and murders that occured before 1970. However I must say that in most cases it is going to be 'too little .. too late' ,memories are getting dim and a good deal of the witnesses and the perpetrators themselves are long since dead. I'm sure that the distant family of Emmett Till will get some sense of satisfaction from the Gov't. finally stating publically that Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam are guilty of murder. Less than a month after being aquitted Bryant and Milam bragged to reporter William Bradford Huie from 'Look Magazine' (Jan.24, 1956) about how they kiddnapped, beat and shot 14 year old Emmitt then tied his body to a cotton gin fan and threw him into the Tallahatchie river . The federal Government didn't see the need to step in back then, after all, he was only a black child and he did do the unspeakable act of which he was accused ..whistling at a white woman in public. This new unit in the justice Dept. will also be tasked with helping states that are doing their own investigating, such as Mississippi, which has just convicted Ray Edgar Killen of manslaughter in the 1964 slayings of three civil rights workers in Philidelphia , Mississipppi. Senator Dodd stated, " The people who perpetrated these crimes should never have a day of peace" . This has to be one of the few times that I will admitt to agreeing with a politician. however, it would be even better if the people who perpetrated these crimes had spent the last fifty years living a miserable existance on a chain gang in Mississippi rather than enjoying the smug satisfaction of knowing that they got away with murder .

Exercises in Futility ...

Anyone out there want a quick lesson in extreme frustration ? I have the perfect solution ... go and try to adopt a child from the Pennsylvania Foster Care System !!! We began this journey about one year ago, we didn't realize what we were getting into. As far as the children them selves go we know what we are in for and are not strangers to children with severe emotional problems. What we were totally unprepared for was the workings of the system itself. It took us almost two months just to get the paperwork done, then there were the mandatory parenting classes (we have two kids already, so this was a bit unnecessary) there were interviews and book lists and training documentation statements. And MORE PAPERWORK. Not to mention the home inspections and interviews with our biological children. In the midst of this we had to move which delayed us somewhat, we had another child in our temporary care which delayed us again as the agency could not proceed until this child was safely settled in her new home, then there were weeks of holidays and a months vacation by our caseworker. There were a few delays getting the needed certified documents from Alabama to prove that we were indeed born and were married. So now that we have everything in place we have been told that our file has been open too long (almost a year) and will have to be denied because of it. We decided that we are going to adopt a sibling group and are moving into a bigger house so that we will have room to put them and have been told that this makes us look unstable. Well, the state says I can't make them sleep in the closet , what else were we supposed to do ? So after we get moved into our larger , holds more siblings home we get to start the process over again !! I wonder if they have ever explained this to the 3000 children in foster care in PA. ??

I'm back

But not together enough to write about anything of value. As soon as my brain congeals I'll come up with something.

Vacation !!!

The Militant family is on vacation enjoying the sun and heat of South Alabama . Wish y'all were enjoying it with us. So much sun ... so little vacation !!!! We're off to the beaches of North Florida this weekend. Jealous yet??

Female Chauvinist

This is probably going to get me more hate mail than anything I have said or written in a long while. I have , after much consideration, come to the conclusion that women should not be ordained as clergy. At least not without some serious checking into their plan of action regarding what they intend to do with their families. Older women …fine as long as they have the support of their significant other (same goes for men) and women with no children … fine , women whose children are older, teenagers perhaps, would be ok as long as the woman in question could prove that her pursuit of ordination is not going to affect her children and family in a negative way. This would be largely irrelevant for women who were ordained before they had children , because they would be in a normal state of affairs for a working woman. ( I don’t agree with that either tho’) Unless you are a single mother and MUST work to support your children, you need to be at home with those children teaching them right from wrong. Why bother having children if you are simply going to farm them off on some daycare provider , who in the end is really the one raising your children. I am beyond disgusted with my church at this point because they applaud and praise these women at every turn for what really boils down to abandoning their children. Do these women really think that their children will be any happier with their mothers choices a few years from now than they are now ? Do they think their kids are going to simply forget that feeling of abandonment ? Chances are they are going to be holding a grudge against the church and possibly God himself for giving their mother a “calling” that she see as more important than her kids. Even the kids pick up on this, we were having one of those family conversations on our way home from church not long ago . We were discussing what each of had decided to give up or what discipline to adopt for the season of Lent . The conversation covered ourselves and those we knew from our church as well as some of our Catholic friends who practice Lenten devotions as well. After deciding that BigDaddy was giving up all forms of sodas , I, instead of giving up something took on the task of keeping a prayer journal, SpazBoy gave up chocolate and GirlyChild like her dad , gave up sodas . We covered the fact that the priest was giving up buying books during Lent (a MUCH bigger challenge than you would think ) as the good father is a major bibliophile, and I had one friend who was determined to overcome her major gossip habit during lent. As we continued down along the list of friends and acquaintances GirlyChild brings up the case of our friend PostulantWoman . GirlyChild sounds off from the depths of the depths of the minivan with “ I know what Mrs.xxxx (PostulantWoman) is giving up for Lent” . We were somewhat confused as PostulantWoman had stoped going to church with her own children in order to do an internship with another group of churches for her ordination process, so none of us had seen her in quite a while and had no idea when GirlyChild may have spoken to her. But never the less we said “ well , what would that be ?” GirlyChild simply answers back “HER FAMILY” . What exactly do you say to a statement like that ? We were at a loss, neither one of us really agree with what PostulantWoman is doing , (BigDaddy is more supportive than I am ) but didn’t want to say anything really negative to GirlyChild about her friends mom. ( I personally lost any respect for her long ago) If our kids are noticing these things from the outside what must her own kids kids be going through. The longer I watch these things affect families the less inclined I am to agree with ordination for women with children who are young enough to be hurt by it. The church will be around when your kids are older , please realize that your children are your FIRST and MOST IMPORTANT “calling” from God !!
Let the hate mail begin !!!

To the people of South Wrenzori ...

We have not forgotten you , nor will we hindered by the actions of a man so absorbed in his own self righteousness that he is willing to sacrifice the well being and in some cases the lives of the people in his Diocese in order to make a political point . For a “man of God “ Bishop Tembo seems to be all to willing to throw out the Baby with the bathwater, “ Asserting that the South Rwenzori Diocese "upholds the Holy Scriptures as the true word of God," and implying that the Pennsylvanian diocese -- by supporting a gay bishop -- does not, Bishop Tembo proclaimed the two dioceses to be in "theological conflict," thus leading him to reject all ties to his brothers and sisters in Christ living in and around Harrisburg.” You do not have to agree with or even tolerate homosexuality to see that what Bishop Tembo has done is terribly wrong, however Bishop Tembo is not such an obstacle that he cannot be circumvented , although he rejected the money, medical personel and supplies being offered by the Diocese of Central PA. in favor of towing the party line his people will not suffer for it for our Diocese has partnered with the Bishop Masereka Foundation, an independent charity that operates in southwest Uganda to assist victims of HIV/AIDS and their families. There is an old expression that when God closes one door , he opens another , I feel that there is no truer case than this. Even though Africa only houses 10 percent of the worlds total population it is home to 90 percent of the worlds HIV/AIDS orphans , it is estimated that by the year 2010 that there will be 40 MILLION AIDS orphans in Africa , most of them being in the sub-Saharan region that Bishop Tembo calls home. Perhaps the good Bishop can be so cavalier because his own five children have never been touched by the Aids epidemic, nor have they ever had to beg for food or watched their parents and extended family die and wonder what will happen to them now. A very sad and alarming side note to this is that many conservative “Christians” in this country have applauded Bishop Tembo and support his decision to reject our money, help and prayers that are being offered to his people. While I agree that holding to one’s religious convictions is a good thing , I personally belive that perhaps they have chosen the wrong conviction to latch on to . When asked point blank which commandment is the greatest one of all Christ replied “ To love the Lord your God with all your heart , mind and soul and to love your brother as your self .” If you love your brother as yourself how do you let him suffer and die in the name of “Theological Conflict” ? ‘Tis a good thing that in the end Bishop Tembo will be answering to God and not me , for I’m fairly sure that God is more forgiving . To the families of South Wrenzori , our prayers have always been with you , and thanks to the Bishop Masereka Foundation , our medical supplies and financial help will be with you too. “ 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 with whole heart, and united with 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” Book of Common Prayer