Out and About – Summer 2012

As I write this post I can't help but think of Dusty Springfield's haunting rendition of the song "The Windmills of Your Mind," and in particular the line . . . Why did summer go so quickly / Was it something that you said?

As you'll see, it's been a very busy summer – which no doubt accounts for my experience of it going by so quickly. For many of us here in Minnesota, it's been a summer dominated by our efforts to defeat the "marriage amendment." My contribution to these efforts has been, and continues to be, as executive coordinator with Catholics for Marriage Equality MN.

It has been difficult, I must admit. Indeed, at times the work feels totally overwhelming. But thankfully I'm part of a number of communities and groups, the members of which mutually support and inspire one another. That's absolutely key, I've discovered, in any type of social justice work. Plus I have the most wonderful friends anyone could hope to find. And, as you'll see, many of them feature in the following photographs.

Above: Happy and honored to be the recipient of Dignity Twin Cities' 2012 Pride Award – June 15, 2012.

Above: Members of Catholics for Marriage Equality MN, Dignity Twin Cities, and a number of local parishes participate in the 40th annual Twin Cities Pride Parade – Sunday, June 24, 2012.

Left: With friends Darlene and Tom White, who feature in the C4ME-MN produced DVD Catholics for Marriage Equality.

Right: With my friend Rick.


For more images and commentary on this year's Pride, see the previous Wild Reed post A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride – 2012.

For The Wild Reed's 2012 Gay Pride/Queer Appreciation series, click here.

Above: The Strange Capers performing Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors in Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis.

Above: About to go kayaking with my friend and housemate Tim.

Above: In July, I introduced Tim to my favorite spot on the Mississippi River. Too bad he has a thing about heights!



Right: Two of the coolest people I know, my friends Tim and Kathleen! You may recall that I spent time in Kansas City in early June with Kathleen and her son Joey.

Left: My friend Phil, holding his cat Julianna.

Right: Friends John and Noelle.

Above: A lovely photo of my friends Liana and Curtis – July 2012.

Left: With my friend Walter at Minnehaha Falls – July 2012.

Above: In early August I traveled to Chicago with my friends Phil, Noelle, John, Liana and Curtis. We stayed with our friend Nathaniel and while in the Windy City I spent an afternoon with my friend Eduard (right).

For more images and commentary about our visit to Chicago, see here, here, here and here.

Above and left: Catholics for Marriage Equality MN's "I Do! Believe in the Freedom to Marry" event in Loring Park, Minneapolis – August 15, 2012.

For more photos and commentary, click here.

Above and right: The 'Vote No on the Voter ID Amendment' Rally – Minneapolis, August 26, 2012.

For some helpful resources on this issue, see Ricardo Levins Morales' article, "The Marriage Amendment as Decoy and How to Fight the Real Danger," and visit Our Vote, Our Future and the League of Women Voters MN.

Also, Catholics for Marriage Equality MN is hosting an event on September 29 entitled "A Matter of Social Justice: Catholics Voting 'No' on Both Amendments." For more information, click here.

Above: Enjoying summer in Minnesota! From left: Noelle, Carmen, Phil, Mark Curtis, Kim, Mike, Liana, John and Jacob.





Left: Phil with the always noble-looking Quinn.

Above: The always welcoming kitchen of the Jacquet-Morrison family! That's Eddie relaxing on the floor; Curtis holding Charlie; and Noelle and Liana posing for the camera!




Right: Curtis holding a so-not-impressed-looking Charlie. This photo always makes me smile!

Above: Standing second from right with friends (from left) John, Brian, Bob and Tim.


Left: Bob and Brian.

Above: Out to lunch at Victor's 1959 Cafe in Minneapolis with my dear friends Ken and Carol – September 13, 2012.

Above: My friend Raul by Minnehaha Creek, not far from my Minneapolis home.



Right: A snap of me taken by Raul. I bought the hat I'm wearing at this year's Minnesota State Fair!

Above and left: The dried-up bed of Minnehaha Creek – Saturday, September 15, 2012. It's been a rather brutal summer this year in Minnesota and across the U.S.

Right: With my dear friend Joan – September 2012.

Above and below: Duluth, MN – Sunday, September 16, 2012.

I traveled to Duluth from the Twin Cities with my friend Brian (left) as I had been invited to be part of a gathering of Catholics dedicated to defeating the 'marriage amendment.' I'll share more about this gathering in a later post.

Returning to the Twin Cities, it felt as though I brought back with me the cooler weather of northern Minnesota. And even though there is already colorful fall foliage to be seen – especially up around Duluth – they say the colors this year in Minnesota will be subdued due to the drought conditions we're experiencing. Still, what we have is quite beautiful, as can be seen in the picture at right.


Images: Michael J. Bayly.

The Naked Truth

. . . in dance and in life

The Wild Reed series on dance continues with excerpts from an insightful article published last month in the New York Times. In "The Dancer (Fully) Exposed" Alastair Macaulay explores reactions to "the look of the naked body onstage."

Now, to be sure, the sight of the naked human form on stage is confrontational and uncomfortable for many. Yet Macaulay believes that such nakedness has the potential to "change our perceptions of muscle and flesh; to plant new meanings and ideas" and to "extend the frontiers of liberation." He then gives an example of this by highlighting choreographer John Jasperse's work Fort Blossom Revisited (above right).

Dance writer Lisa Kraus has this to say about Jasperse's revisited work.

[It] is a study in human difference and complementarity. Its four dancers butt against, play off, ignore, and explore each other and ultimately settle into an easy co-existence, richer for each other’s presence. As a model of behavior, it’s hopeful. And the craft that went into shaping its often-changing and mysteriously moving atmosphere is prodigious.

Macaulay's words in particular got me thinking about the reality of gay relationships in our world today. They too are a source of discomfort for some; they too often confront people's certainties and beliefs. Yet they also have the potential to "change our perceptions" and "plant new meanings and ideas" about, for example, sexuality and marriage. I believe that at this moment in human history we're witnessing – and, in many cases, actively facilitating – such change, such expansion in awareness and acceptance. And that's a good and hopeful thing.

On that note I share now, with added images and links, excerpts from Macaulay's August 19, 2012 New York Times piece, "The Dancer (Fully) Exposed."

. . . In experimental modern dance, [the naked body on stage] is now a widespread condition. . . Thirty-four years ago, many must have felt that the big battles about naked bodies on stage had already been fought and won. In 1965 the dancer-choreographer Anna Halprin made Parades and Changes, in which a group of people, standing equidistant from one another, slowly removed their clothes. "Indecent exposure!" cried the old guard. "The liberation of the body!" cried others. Further liberation followed. Nudity was a famous component of the late-1960s musicals Hair and Oh! Calcutta! Recently, though, several instances of nakedness have extended the frontiers of liberation; the majority of the more advanced examples have featured men.

. . . When I tell friends of these viewings, they inevitable ask: Where is the line between art and pornography? But there's always been a huge overlap between the two; you can see scenes of copulation on Greek vases and Indian temples. What's more, many works of art have seemed pornographic without nakedness. Many of us are tempted to talk as if art = good, pornography = bad. Yet that's wrong too. Much art is poor, while the novels of the Marquis de Sade are pornography taken to a brilliant, horrifying and extraordinary peak.

The overlap between art, sex and nakedness was illustrated — superbly, I believe — in an enthralling, but thoroughly strange show in May in New York Live Arts, when choreographer John Jasperse presented his Fort Blossom Revisted, a 70-minute reworking of his short 2000 work Fort Blossom (whose title referred to a friend's tree house. Two female dancers wore short dresses throughout; the men, Benjamin Asriel and Burr Johnson, stayed naked. In one episode, Mr. Asriel and Mr. Johnson lay on each other, in profile to us, sandwiching a vinyl inflatable pillow between them, like an air mattress. The men began to move their pelvises in rhythm.

We were watching a deconstruction of anal sex. The peculiar coolness and objectivity of the scene made in compelling, even poetic – and singularly unsensational. After it ended, and they had lain still a long wile, they let the air out of the inflatable, as if it had been a condom.

In a slow duet that followed, now with no object between them, the two men together with extreme intimacy – yet only once, briefly, brought their naked groins to meet and only once, at a late stage, held in other's gaze. Clothed, the choreography would have made no great impact, Unclothed, however, the intimacy was often astonishing. One moment of tender cheek-to-cheek contact involved a cheek of one man's face and a cheek of the other's buttock.

Yet everything in this work was ambiguous. The men were remarkably relaxed, dispassionate; and the slowness acquired its own cool rhythms. While Mr. Johnson and Mr. Asriel parted their legs, shifted their pelvises, rippled their spines, new contours and alignments of their musculature would emerge. The interest was heightened by their physical disparity. One had more muscular firmness and definition, the other more softness and linear flow. New connections of shapes and lines in abdomen, back, pelvis, thigh, different in each case, emerged continually.

My point is not to single out Mr. Jasperse as a great artist amid a field of awkward experimentation; I have liked other pieces by him much less. I mean simply to show that works of serious art can occur in situations where moral and aesthetic considerations are complex: the effect of good art is to make them only more complex. Among other things, Fort Blossom Revisited showed how the erotic and the unerotic can coincide bewilderingly. Those movements and positions for the two men: were they sexually hot or cold? Scientifically objective or personally revealing? The answers kept changing. . . .

To read Alastair Macaulay's "The Dancer (Fully) Exposed" in its entirety, click here.


Related Off-site Links:
Intimacy’s Many Facets: John Jasperse’s Fort Blossom at New York Live Arts – Alastair Macauley (New York Times, May 10, 2012).
Fort Blossom's Peaceable Kingdom – Lisa Kraus (Writing My Dancing Life, March 2, 2012).
Consider the Body – Deborah Jowitt (DanceBeat, May 16, 2012).
Homosexual Relationships: Another Look – Bill Hunt (The Progressive Catholic Voice, September 8, 2012.

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Dr. Erik Steele and the "Naked Truth on Same-Sex Marriage"
Thoughts on Mallorca's "Naked Easter" Calendar
The Inherent Sensuality of Roman Catholicism
The Soul of a Dancer
The Trouble with the Male Dancer (Part 1)
The Trouble with the Male Dancer (Part 2)
The Trouble with the Male Dancer (Part 3)
The Premise of All Forms of Dance
The Dancer and the Dance
The Church and Dance
Recovering the Queer Artistic Heritage
Dark Matters

Image 1: Subject and photographer unknown.
Image 2: Andrea Mohin.
Image 3: Jérôme Delatour.
Image 4: Lindsey Browning.
Image 5: Maria Anguera de Sojo.

Something to Think About . . .

Image: Chris Davis and Theodore Bolha.

Quote of the Day

As an academic theologian and a practicing Catholic I try to maintain a difficult but important balancing act – deeply rooted in the Catholic tradition – between upholding the revealed doctrinal truths which are part of the timeless and unchanging mystery of our faith, and entering into reasoned and informed debates about issues of morality, society and values which are contingent and capable of being adapted to different cultures and contexts. I do not believe that an informed theological contribution to issues of public interest is detrimental to the interests of the Church. On the contrary, I believe such debate bears witness to the theological vigor and social dynamism of Catholic Christianity, and allows us to draw on a long and rich intellectual tradition to play an active role in society today.

– Tina Beattie

Quoted in Frank DeBernardo's article,
"British Theologian’s Lecture Is Cancelled
Because of Marriage Equality Stand"
Bondings 2.0
September 13, 2012

See also the previous Wild Reed post:
Quote of the Day – January 14, 2012

Nicolas Chinardet Asks: "What Exactly is a Bigot?"

It's a word I don't use much at all, and within the 'official' campaign to defeat the so-called 'marriage amendment' its utterance is definitely a no-no in the "crucially important conversations" being promoted around the state. A certain Minnesotan sportsman, however, has no such qualms in using it. I'm talking, of course, about the word 'bigot.'

It's a tough one, isn't it? I mean, I can see how throwing the term around can serve simply to polarize folks and thus shut down any hope of constructive dialogue. Yet sometimes one longs to be able to simply "say it like it is," especially when faced with an individual or group that has no intention of engaging in dialogue and no desire to seek to broaden their perspective.

I'm not the only one to ponder the word 'bigot' and its use. Writing for PinkNews.co.uk Nicolas Chinardet (left) assesses "the ‘bigot’ row" that hit UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg earlier this week. Apparently, Clegg used the word "bigots" in a draft speech to describe opponents of marriage equality. The word was later replaced by "some people."

Interestingly, in a comment left in response to Chinardet's piece, "Dermot" notes that "from what I understand, 'bigot' is a compounding of 'by God,' and implies a sanctimonious invocation of theology or other dogma to justify the prejudice towards and mistreatment of others."

Following is an excerpt from Chinardet's Pink News op-ed, "What Exactly is a "'Bigot'?"

According to Merriam-Webster, [a bigot] is “a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially: one who regards or treats the members of a group with hatred and intolerance.”

Since the government [of the United Kingdom] announced its intention to open civil marriage to same-sex couples, the usual phalanx of religious leaders, mostly, have been highly vocal in airing their opposition to the move. They cite their deeply held beliefs on the subject as reason enough.

The Catholic [hierarchy] has been at the forefront of the attacks, sometimes using some rather questionable rhetoric in the process.

For example, Cardinal O’Brien, the leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, has described marriage equality as a “grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right.” The Pope has said that it is a threat to “the future of humanity itself”.

There are many more examples of such outbursts and never are the slightest rational arguments ever produced to support those farcical claims.

If this is not hateful prejudice stemming from obstinate devotion to an opinion, then I don’t know what is. Carey and Co may not like the word and could probably find others they prefer but the cap clearly fits.

The only reason why parts of the hierarchy of some religious groups are so vociferous, can, I think, be found in the consistent erosion of religious influence in the social and political life of the country.

A survey of young people published only today shows that only 4% of 16 to 24-year-olds said that having religious faith or beliefs is the most important moral issue for them.

Could therefore attacks on LGBT people be a last-ditch attempt at regrouping and unifying a dwindling and disparate flock by targeting an easily recognisable, perceived threat?

LGBT people are, sadly, one of the last identifiable groups that it is still remotely socially acceptable to attack. Thankfully mentalities are evolving fast and [such attacks on LGBT people] will hopefully not be the case for much longer. . . .

To read Chinardet's op-ed in its entirety, click here.


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Naming and Confronting Bigotry
The Giant Pink Elephant of Religion-Based Bigotry
Quote of the Day – October 20, 2011
Soft Bigotry
More on the “Soft Bigotry” of Fr. James Livingston’s Recent Op-Ed
Quote of the Day – June 4, 2011
Marriage Equality: Simple Answers to NOM's Complicated Lies
Quote of the Day – April 20, 2011

Quote of the Day

Love is revolutionary. And there is nothing easy about it. We practice it in our most intimate spaces, and we make more mistakes than we can remember. We use our belief that the whole world can change into someplace magical and compassionate, that social justice and whole communities are possible, when we figure out how to find our way back to loving and respecting the other. From the other who lives right here, in the same house with me, to all those I have never met. Everything is about relationship and I'm not just talking about me and Rocki, my partner. I am talking about life. About community. Whether we have sex or live on opposite sides of the planet - everything in some way springs from the question – do I feel compassion for who you are and how you struggle or do I feel distant from it? If I feel distant from it, then how do I shift this? How do I find my way to love?

– Susan Raffo
"Radical Acts of Queer Love: Some Lessons from September 11th"
The Bilerico Project
September 11, 2012

Kittredge Cherry on Mychal Judge, the "Gay Saint of 9/11"

Following is an excerpt from Kittredge Cherry's 9/11 post honoring Father Mychal Judge.

Father Mychal Judge, chaplain to New York firefighters and unofficial “gay saint,” died helping others in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Father Mychal (1933-2001) was killed by flying debris while praying and administering sacraments at the World Trade Center. He was the first recorded victim of 9/11. Many people consider him a saint.

He responded quickly when extremists flew hijacked planes into the twin towers. He rushed with firefighters into the north tower right after the first plane hit. Refusing to be evacuated, he prayed and gave sacraments as debris crashed outside. He saw dozens of bodies hit the plaza outside as people jumped to their deaths. His final prayer, repeated over and over, was “Jesus, please end this right now! God, please end this!”

While he was praying, Father Mychal was struck and killed in a storm of flying steel and concrete that exploded when the south tower collapsed. Father Mychal was designated as Victim 0001 because his was the first body recovered at the scene. More than 2,500 people from many nationalities and walks of life were killed. Thousands more escaped the buildings safely.

After Father Mychal’s death, some of his friends revealed that he considered himself a gay man. He had a homosexual orientation, but by all accounts he remained faithful to his vow of celibacy as a Roman Catholic priest of the Franciscan order.

The charismatic, elderly priest was a long-term member of Dignity, the oldest and largest national lay movement of LGBT Catholics and their allies. Father Mychal voiced disagreement with the Vatican’s condemnation of homosexuality, and found ways to welcome Dignity’s AIDS ministry despite a ban by church leaders. He defied a church boycott of the first gay-inclusive St. Patrick’s Day parade in Queens, showing up in his habit and granting news media interviews. . . .

To continue reading Kitt's tribute to Mychal Judge, click here.


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
In Mychal Judge’s Heart “There Was Room for Everyone”
Before (and After) the Poison
Karen Armstrong on the 9/11 Attacks: A “Flagrant and Wicked Abuse of Religion”
Rebecca Solnit on How 9/11 Should Be Remembered
9/11: Seven Years On
Remembering September 11 and Its Aftermath
Let’s Also Honor the ‘Expendables’

Recommended off-site Links:
The One 9/11 Memorial Photo I Think Everyone Should See – Rollie Williams (Upworthy.com, September 11, 2012).
11 Years On – Thom Curnutte (Faith in the 21st Century, September 11, 2012).

Photo of the Day

Image: Michael J. Bayly.

Quote of the Day

Clearly, [the Washington state Catholic bishops' argument that passage of Referendum 74 would make them the objects of discrimination] is fear-mongering. Marriage equality laws will have no effect on religious liberty, other than to strengthen religious liberty by protecting religious institutions’ freedom to decide who they will and will not marry.

The bishops’ hypothetical instances have no relation at all to the marriage law. The marriage law has nothing to do with what will be taught in school or the legalities of how businesses conduct themselves. The recent case of a New York lesbian couple suing a Vermont resort that refused to host their wedding is a case in point. Marriage equality is the law of the land in both New York and Vermont, yet the marriage equality law had no role in the legal proceedings of the suit. The couple’s case was based on a non-discrimination law, not a marriage equality law. It is illegal in Vermont for businesses to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.

– Francis DeBernardo

"Washington State Bishops Issue Pastoral Letter
Against Marriage Equality"
Bonding 2.0
September 6, 2012

Recommended Off-site Links:
Addressing the Arguments Against Same-Sex Marriage Offered by the Catholic Bishops of Washington State – The Progressive Catholic Voice (September 6, 2012).
How to Determine If Your Religious Liberty is Being Threatened in Just 10 Quick Questions – Rev. Emily C. Heath (HuffPost Religion, September 5, 2012).
Catholic Q&A on the Minnesota 'Marriage Amendment' – Michael Bayly and Florence Steichen (Sensus Fidelium, August 7, 2012).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
What Part of Jesus' Invitation to "Be Not Afraid" Don't the Bishops Get?
Doug Mataconis on the Bishops, Religious Freedom, and Living in a Civil Society
Responding to Whiny Catholic Bishops Who Cry Victim

Photo of the Day

Related Off-site Links:
History is Made: Marriage Equality is Now the Official Position of the Democratic Party – Daily Kos (September 4, 2012).
Democrats Embrace Gay Marriage Plank – Kevin Diaz and Rachel E. Stassen-Berger (Star Tribune, September 4, 2012).
Democratic National Convention Begins with Fair Pay Advocate Lilly Ledbetter, Mayor Julián Castro and First Lady Michelle Obama – Democracy Now! (September 5, 2012).
The Democrats' Big Challenge – Ruth Conniff (The Progressive, September 4, 2012).
No Papers, No Fear at the Democratic Convention – Amy Goodman (TruthDig.com, September 5, 2012).
First Night of the DNC: Phony Populism from a Party of Corporate America – Patrick Martin (World Socialist Web Site, September 5, 2012).

Image: Michael J. Bayly.

A Day at the Fair

This past Saturday, September 1, my friend Kathleen and I attended the Minnesota State Fair – also known as the "Great Minnesota Get-Together"!

We had a very enjoyable time – the weather was pleasant, we got to give away a number of those "Another Catholic Voting No" buttons we're pictured wearing at left, and, as always, there were lots of interesting and colorful things to see and photograph!


Following are some images of our day at the fair. Enjoy!

Above: At the booth of Our Vote, Our Future – the coalition working to defeat the proposed 'voter photo ID amendment.' A yes or no vote on the issue of voter ID is one of two ballot initiatives on the upcoming November 6 ballot. Either initiative, if passed, would amend the Minnesota constitution and restrict and/or deny people important basic rights.

For seven reasons to vote 'no' on the voter photo ID amendment, click here.

Above: The booth of Minnesotans United for All Families.

The second ballot initiative concerns a proposed constitutional ban on civil marriage rights for same-sex couples. For an excellent article by Ricardo Levins Morales on both this amendment and the voter photo ID amendment, click here.

As regular readers of The Wild Reed would know, the organization for which I serve as executive coordinator, Catholics for Marriage Equality MN, is a member organization of the Minnesotans United for All Families coalition.

Above and right: Hey, did you know that many people attend the annual Minnesota State Fair primarily or even solely for its food?! For me, the food is the least appealing aspect of the fair. So, no, I wasn't in line for a pronto pup (or pluto pup, as we call it in Australia!).

Above: Now these, on the other hand, are definitely tempting!
It's probably just as well they were only to look at and admire!

Above and left: The legendary Wanda Jackson, Queen of Rockabilly, First Lady of Rock 'n' Roll, and country music icon, performing at the Minnesota State Fair.

For an insightful article about Wanda, click here.

To hear (and see) Wanda's rollicking performance of "Thunder on the Mountain" (featuring Jack White), click here.

Other big name performers at the fair this year included Bonnie Raitt, Anita Baker, Alan Jackson, Journey (with guests Pat Benatar and Loverboy), Kiss, Mötley Crüe, and Bettye LaVette.

Above: All the pretty (but rather tortured-looking) horses.

The fair's Fine Arts Pavilion always makes for a worthwhile visit. Pictured above is Karen R. Brown's work "Wings of Desire," which was awarded First Place in Class 6: Ceramics/Glass.

Above: Douglas N. Bieniek's impressive marble sculpture of Oglala Lakota leader Red Cloud (1822-1909).

Above and right: Attila Ray Dabasi's colorful sculpture, "Bless the Beasts and Children." It reminds me of the garish Dickeyville Grotto on the grounds of Holy Ghost Roman Catholic Church in Dickeyville, Wisconsin. (See the previous Wild Reed post Wisconsin Adventure: Part 3.)

Above: Vintage seed bags.

Above: Pro-equality crop art!

Related Off-site Links:
Equality at Issue as MN Amendment Foes Trade Jabs at State Fair – Allison Herrera (TheUptake.org, September 2, 2012).
Marriage Amendment Battle Heats Up At the Fair – Jana Shortal (KARE 11 News, September 3, 2012).
State Fair Packed with Crowds, Drama – Jackie Crosby (Star Tribune, September 3, 2012).

See also the previous Wild Reed post:
• State Fair (2009)

Images: Michael J. Bayly.

Something to Think About . . .

Recommended Off-site Links:
Labor Day and the Election of 2012: It’s Inequality, Stupid – Robert Reich (TruthDig.com, August 31, 2012).
Thank Goodness Labor Is Its Own Reward – Robert Shetterly (CommonDreams.org, September 1, 2012).
Remembering LGBT Workers on Labor Day – Francis DeBernardo (Bondings 2.0, September 3, 2012).
Worker Rights are LGBT Rights – National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (August 31, 2012).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
A Labor Day Prayer
At the Minnesota Capitol, a Show of Solidarity for Workers' Rights in Wisconsin and Beyond
Something to Think About – May 19, 2012

Image: Ricardo Levins Morales.

Quote of the Day

. . . Archbishop Nienstedt, you are not only holding positions that are on the wrong side of history, you are promoting division, misunderstandings, misconceptions and causing unnecessary heartache and family divisions that are contrary to the history of your own Church’s actions and teachings, as well as to the very nature of the country in which you live.

Archbishop Nienstedt: if you can’t stand for love, then it’s time to stand down as the leader of the organization that claims to represent love.

– David Pacheco
Archbishop Nienstedt: Time to Stand Down
Like a Blog, But for Humans
September 2, 2012

Recommended Off-site Links:
Minneapolis Archbishop Urges Catholics to Ban Marriage Equality – Sunnivie Brydum (The Advocate, September 2, 2012).
Archbishop Nienstedt's Latest Marriage Amendment Letter Adds to Catholic Turmoil – Beth Hawkins (MinnPost, August 31, 2012).
Catholic Q&A on the Minnesota 'Marriage Amendment' – Michael Bayly and Florence Steichen (Sensus Fidelium, August 7, 2012).
Why Catholics Can Vote 'No' – Bob Pierson, OSB (Sensus Fidelium, June 11, 2012).
Gay Marriage, Bishops and the Crisis of Leadership – National Catholic Reporter (July 5, 2011).
A Catholic Case for Same-Sex Marriage – Jeannine Gramick and Francis DeBernardo (Washington Post, February 14, 2012).
Amendment Campaign Contrary to Church Moral Teaching – Paula Ruddy (The Progressive Catholic Voice, March 3, 2011).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Thanking You, Archbishop
A Catholic Rationale for Opposing the 'Marriage Amendment'
"A Thoughtful, Entertaining, and Inspiring Program"
A Catholic Statement of Support for Marriage Equality

Photo of the Day

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Weekend in Chicago (Part I)
Weekend in Chicago (Part II)
Weekend in Chicago (Part III)
Weekend in Chicago (Part IV)

Image: Michael J. Bayly.