When I picked "horizon" as my word of the year, I made a list of a variety of different horizons I wanted to explore this year, and one of them was my religion/faith. I've enjoyed using art journaling to help me in this exploration, and I realize that I am a faith-filled person who believes deeply in many aspects of my Catholic faith, but I have a lot of trouble with many of the actions of the Church as an institution. I haven't resolved what, if anything to do about that, but it is an important insight for me.
This week, a federal court in California found that California's Proposition 8 which banned same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. It was a wondrous and surprising opinion, especially because it was written by a conservative judge who had brought several prominent law suits against gay rights groups before he was appointed to the bench. When faced with the evidence, he just had to conclude that such a ban discriminated against gay men and lesbian women in a way that violated the U.S. Constitution because there was no justification for it other than prejudice and hate. I was shocked and really pleased with the decision. I've run this photograph on my blog before but I just couldn't resist running it again - in celebration of the decision. On the other hand, I was saddened and not surprised that my Church, a big proponent of Proposition 8, will be fighting the decision. Sigh. I just don't get it.
Okay, off my soapbox now. Tomorrow, back to pretty pictures! And, there will even be the start of a week-long contest with a fun prize or two!
I celebrated with my gay friends when the news came through her - such an unexpected breakthrough
ReplyDeleteso hard when an organisation behaves in ways that you feel do not fit with the basic ideas which made you join and which you still believe. I have simmilar issues in relation to some political organisations that I used to identify with closely.
Thank you for sharing this part of who you are.
I just heard that decision last night on the news and was thrilled. Our church is fighting for the inclusion of gays and lesbians as ordained members of the church. It passed our General Assembly again this summer, but now has to get approval from the local areas. It gets closer every time, but we still have a ways to go.
ReplyDeleteI don't get it either. I feel like a bit more tolerance & allowing female ordination would go a long way to rejuvenating the Church
ReplyDeleteHello Rinda I love the fact that you are willing to talk about the
ReplyDeletetwo things that people tend to avoid religon and politics!
Also I wanted to let you know I gave you the Versatile Blogger Award on my main blog. Enjoy and have a good day!
It's OK..politics and religion go together like eggs and ham round here..and of course you can add in art too if you think about the murals we have dotted around the city.
ReplyDeleteI like that you aren't afraid to tackle tricky subjects both in your art and on your blog.
it is interesting how many paradoxes there are in life. i too am so glad prop 8 was overturned and hope that all states will soon follow in making marriage legal for any two people who choose to make that commitment. down here in arizona we are dealing with SB 1080, which is also discriminatory in the way it is written. hopefully, it will also be resolved soon but there is no way to make everyone happy (unfortunately.)
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