The Wild Reed: March 2015

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Something to Think About . . .

Recommended Off-site Links:
The Clash of “Religious Freedom” and Civil Rights in Indiana – Dale Carpenter (The Washington Post, March 30, 2015).
What Makes Indiana's Religious-Freedom Law Different? – Garrett Epps (The Atlantic, March 30, 2015).
Where Did Indiana Law Come From? A Brief History of Religious Freedom – Jay Michaelson (Religion Dispatches, March 31, 2015).
In Indiana, Using Religion as a Cover for Bigotry – Editorial Board (The New York Times, March 31, 2015).
Indiana Lawmakers Admit "No Gays" Signs Will Be Allowed – Adalia Woodbury (Politicus USA, March 30, 2015).
The Right's Indiana Debacle: How Their Ignorance About Discrimination Backfired – Elias Isquith (Salon, March 31, 2015).
The Big Lie the Media Tells About Indiana’s New ‘Religious Freedom’ Law – Judd Legum (Think Progress, March 30, 2015).
Indiana Governor Mike Pence is Either Lying or Deluded About Indiana’s "Religious Freedom" Law – Mark Joseph Stern (Slate, March 31, 2015).
Obama White House Blasts Mike Pence for Lying About Indiana Religious Freedom Law – Jason Easley (Politicus USA, March 31, 2015).
'Religious Discrimination' Laws Have Nothing to Do With Religion – Julian Bond (The Advocate, March 30, 2015).
How Conservatives Hijacked "Religious Freedom" – Amanda Marcotte (Talking Points Memo, March 31, 2015).
Revulsion and Revolt: Backlash Against Indiana's Pro-Discrimination Law Grows – Jon Queally (Common Dreams, March 31, 2015).
Here Are All the Athletes, Celebrities, and CEOs Joining the Indiana Backlash – Samantha Michaels (Mother Jones, March 31, 2015).
Good Things Are Happening in the Wake of Indiana's "Religious Freedom" Law – Lila Shapiro (The Huffington Post, March 31, 2015).
On Religious Liberty and LGBT Rights, Catholics Must Pursue Third Way – Bob Shine (Bondings 2.0, March 30, 2015).

UPDATES: Arkansas and Indiana Pass Revised Version of Religion Law – Andrew DeMillo and Tom Davies (Associated Press via The Boston Globe, April 2, 2015).
Indiana Governor Signs Amended 'Religious Freedom' Law – Tony Cook and Tom LoBianco (The Indianapolis Star) and Doug Stanglin (USA Today, April 2, 2015).
Indianapolis in Crisis Mode After Tourism Hit by Religious Bill – Fiona Ortiz (Reuters via Religion News Dispatches, April 3, 2015).
Should Mom-and-Pops That Forgo Gay Weddings Be Destroyed? – Conor Friedersdorf (The Atlantic, April 3, 2015).
The Internet Has Given $500,000 to the Indiana Pizzeria Owners Who Said They'd Never Cater a Gay Wedding – Colin Campbell (Business Insider via Yahoo! News, April 3, 2015).
The Indiana Memories Pizza Fundraiser is a Conservative Media Scam – Manny Schewitz (Forward Progressives, April 3, 2015).
Indiana's Governor Pence Only Partially Resolves Discrimination Fight – Steven Benen (MSNBC, April 3, 2015).
Longstanding Religious Freedom Fight Over Gay Marriage Likely to Go On After Indiana and Arkansas Flaps – Rachel Zoll (Associated Press via U.S. News and World Report, April 3, 2015).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Quote of the Day – February 2, 2015
• Marianne Duddy-Burke on Religious Liberty vs. Same-Sex Marriage
• Doug Mataconis on the Bishops, Religious Freedom, and Living in a Civil Society
• Quote of the Day – June 23, 2011

Image: Mike Ritter (2010).

Friday, March 27, 2015

In the Garden of Spirituality – Richard Rohr (Part II)

“We are not on earth to guard a museum,
but to cultivate a flowering garden of life.”

– Pope John XXIII

The Wild Reed’s series of reflections on religion and spirituality continues with Richard Rohr's thoughts on the mystical element of Christianity and thus the evolutionary nature of authentic religion.

There were clear statements in the New Testament giving a cosmic meaning to Christ (Colossians 1, Ephesians 1, John 1, 1 John 1, and Hebrews 1:1-4), and the schools of Paul and John were initially overwhelmed by the hope contained in this message. In the early Christian era, a few Eastern Fathers (such as Origen of Alexandria, Gregory of Nyssa, and Maximus the Confessor) noticed that the Christ was clearly something older, larger, and different than Jesus himself. They mystically saw that Jesus is the union of human and divine in one person, and the Christ is the eternal union of matter and Spirit from the beginning of time. But the later centuries tended to lose this mystical element in favor of a more dualistic Christianity. We were all the losers. What we could not unite in Jesus, we could not unite in ourselves!

Christianity became another moralistic religion (which loved to be on top). It was overwhelmingly aligned with a very limited period of history (empire building through war) and a small piece of the planet (Europe), not the whole earth or any glorious destiny (Romans 8:18ff) for us all. Not surprisingly, many Christians ended up tragically fighting evolution--along with most early human rights struggles (such as women's suffrage, rights for those on the margins, racism, classism, homophobia, earth care, and slavery) – because we had no evolutionary notion of Christ who was forever "groaning in one great act of giving birth" (Romans 8:22). Until the reforms of the 1960's and the Second Vatican Council, Roman Catholic Christianity was overwhelmingly a tribal religion and hardly "catholic" at all.

We should have been at the forefront of all of these love and justice issues. The Christian religion was made-to-order – to grease the wheels of human consciousness toward love, nonviolence, justice, inclusivity, love of creation, and the universality of such a message. Mature religion serves as a conveyor belt for the evolution of human consciousness. Immature religion actually stalls people at very early stages of . . . tribal consciousness, while they are convinced they [have all the answers] or "saved." This is more a part of the problem than any kind of solution. Only the non-dual and mystical mind gets you all the way through.

– Richard Rohr
Adapted from Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi
pp. 218, 222-223, 226;
and Hell, No! (CD, MP3 download)

Australian Sojourn – March 2015

Part 8: A Wedding in Melbourne

NOTE: To start at the beginning of this series, click here.

On Sunday, March 15, 2015, my family celebrated the wedding of my nephew Ryan and his partner Farah in Melbourne's beautiful Fitzroy Gardens. A reception followed at an establishment in nearby Richmond.

Right: My parents Gordon and Margaret Bayly on the morning of the happy event.

Left: Standing at right with my brothers Chris and Tim. Chris is Ryan's dad.

Above: Ryan's three brothers – Liam, Mitchell and Brendan.

Above: The happy couple with the groom's parents, my brother Chris and sister-in-law Cathie.

Above: Farah's beautiful bridesmaids.

Above: Ryan's maternal grandmother, Merle, and his paternal grandparents, my parents Gordon and Margaret Bayly.

Above: My brother Tim (center) with his youngest daughter Sami and Dad.

Above: A delightfully subversive shot of my groomsmen nephews and best man Tom (left).

Above and below: Photos from the reception.

Above: Best man Tom makes his speech.

Above: The night's entertainment.

Above: Sami, Charmaine and Kieran.

Above: A lovely shot of Mum and Dad.

Twenty-seven years ago, at Chris and Cathie's wedding in 1988 (below), I was the groomsman partnered with bridesmaid Sue, pictured with me at right at Ryan and Farah's wedding.

Above: Chris and Cathie's wedding in 1988. Sue and I are at right, while my younger brother Tim is at left.

Above: My brother Chris and his wife Cathie today.

Above: Chris and Ryan, father and son.

Above: Chris and Ryan in 1991.

Above: My nephew Mitchell and niece Sami.

Above: Sending off the happy couple!

NEXT: A Reunion in Goulburn

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Australian Sojourn – March 2015

Part 7: The Great Ocean Road

While recently in Melbourne with family members for my nephew's wedding, I spent much of Friday, March 13 driving along part of the Great Ocean Road with Mum and my good friend Joan. As you can see from the following photos, it is a very beautiful part of Australia.

Above: Bells Beach, Victoria.

Right: With Mum.

Notes Wikipedia:

The Great Ocean Road is an Australian National Heritage listed 243 kilometres (151 miles) stretch of road along the south-eastern coast of Australia between the Victorian cities of Torquay and Allansford. Built by returned soldiers between 1919 and 1932 and dedicated to soldiers killed during World War I, the road is the world's largest war memorial. Winding through varying terrain along the coast and providing access to several prominent landmarks, including the Twelve Apostles limestone stack formations, the road is an important tourist attraction in the region.

NEXT: A Wedding in Melbourne

In Australia's Leading Catholic Newspaper, a Helpful Introduction to the Sacred Presence in an Evolving Universe

Given my interest in evolutionary spirituality and my creation back in Minnesota of the workshop "Companions on a Sacred Journey," I was happy to see an op-ed on evolutionary spirituality in the most recent edition of the Australian publication The Catholic Leader.

Written by Br. John Venard, FMS for his regular column "Sacred Space," this op-ed doesn't actually use the term evolutionary spirituality. Venard does talk a lot, however, about "cosmology," which he describes as "the branch of astronomy concerned with the evolution and structure of the universe."

Venard notes that creation is an on-going process set in motion by God and that humans have a specific role to play in this process. That combination of cosmology and theology is, of course, a key component of evolutionary spirituality.

I have some issues with Venard's op-ed; the apparent contradiction that many struggle with of an all-powerful God versus an all-loving God is, for example, unacknowledged and unexplored. Ditto for the "specific role" that we as humans have to play in God's ongoing creation. That's all unfortunate. Still, other aspects of Venard's piece serve as a helpful introduction to evolutionary spirituality, even if the term itself is never uttered. Hopefully, such an articulation will be the focus of Venard's next "Sacred Space" column. Indeed, the title of his column lends itself beautifully to an ongoing exploration of evolutionary spirituality!

Following is an excerpt from Venard's op-ed from the March 15, 2015 issue of The Catholic Leader.

Cosmology is the branch of astronomy concerned with the evolution and structure of the universe.

Powerful telescopes and orbiting satellites have given scientists much more information for discovering the mystery of creation.

The universe consists mainly of galaxies and enormous systems of stars. There are millions of these and in them are found solar systems with assemblages of planets, satellites, milky ways, comets and meteorites.

[At a recent lecture on cosmology] we were shown a picture of one Milky Way and amongst the multitude of white specs was an arrow -- this is you. It was the tiniest of little specs and by reflecting on the size of our earth we could get a faint idea of the immensity of the universe. But more mind-boggling facts emerged as we got into the distances involved and measurements of light years (the distance light will travel in one year) had to be used.

When and how did creation originate?

Is the hypothesis of the "Big Bang" of 12 billion years ago the answer? It is only a theory but remembering Galileo, I am keeping an open mind on the matter.

Does this do away with God? Just the opposite.

It increases my faith because a God of complete goodness, wisdom and love, all-powerful and all-knowing, caused the "Big Bang." This set [God's] on-going creation in motion and now we are part of it with a specific role to play. Isn't this great news?

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Australian Sojourn – March 2015

Part 6: Family Time in Melbourne

On Wednesday, March 11 I traveled with my parents by train from Sydney to Melbourne. (You may recall that I was in Melbourne around this time last year.)

We journeyed to Melbourne for the wedding of my nephew Ryan and his partner Farah. Ryan is the eldest son of my brother Chris and his wife Cathie. His younger brothers are Liam, Mitchell and Brendan.

My younger brother Tim and his wife Ros and their youngest daughter Sami also joined us in Melbourne for the happy occasion. All in all it was a wonderful time.

Above: With my parents, Gordon and Margaret Bayly, at Melbourne's Jells Park – March 16, 2015.

Above: With my two brothers, Chris (center) and Tim (left).

And here we are above in 1990 and at right circa 1970 (from left: me, Tim, and Chris).

Above: Tim, me, Chris and Sami – March 14, 2015.

Above: Mitch, Ryan, Farah, Ryan's good friend (and best man) Tom, and Brendan.

Left: With my youngest nephew Brendan. I'm holding Poppy!

Right: Sami, Mum, Cathie and Farah.

Above: My nephew Liam with Grandpa Bayly (my Dad).

Above: Dad and Liam in 1992.

Above: Cathie, Liam, and Mum.

Above: With my good friend from Minnesota, Joan. You may recall that Joan and I both arrived in Australia on March 1. We spent time together in the Hunter Valley and in Port Macquarie, but while I was roving Sydney's eastern beaches and attending the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras with my friend Raph, Joan was experiencing an outback adventure. We reunited in Melbourne on March 12 – her birthday!