Call for a Shift

A quick trip over to the Episcopal Majority blog turned into a much longer time spent reading four excerpts from Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson's forthcoming book "In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God"
Here's one sample:

It’s time that progressive Christians rescue the Bible from the Religious Right, which has held it hostage and claimed it as its own private territory for far too long. It’s time that Christians and Jews actually read the holy scripture they claim as the basis of their beliefs, instead of simply believing what others tell them it says. It’s time we use reputable scholarship, sound reason, and thoughtful exploration to understand what the words of scripture meant to the person who authored them and what they meant to the people for whom they were written, before deciding whether or not those words are binding on people outside that ancient cultural context. It’s time that progressive religious people stop being ashamed of their faith and afraid to be identified with the Religious Right, and start preaching the Good News of the liberating Christ to all God’s children.

Can I hear you scream, "Amen!"??

Reading these cuttings from his book reminds me again of how fortunate I am to have known this man before he became "the gay Bishop". He speaks truth. Period. And, as one of the many New Hampshire children who passed through Sign of the Dove Retreat Center on our way to confirmation, I saw him as an honest and good man when he was simply Rev. Gene Robinson.

The book is coming out in April 2008. And, as you will read, now that New Hampshire has civil unions, the Bishop and his partner, Mark Andrew, will have their relationship duly-recognized by the state in a ceremony on the steps of the Capitol in June. Blessings!