Sunday, March 29, 2009

Chaplains "Excomminicated" for Mentioning God

In the "this is just plain nuts" file, read this (from Urban Christian News):


US Chaplains in Florida Hospices Banned From Mentioning God

By UCN on March 23, 2009 10:41 AM

Chaplains working at a hospice home in the U.S. state of Florida are no longer allowed to say "God" in inspirational messages to staff members, as part of a wider trend in the United States, BosNewsLife learned Saturday, March 21.

Chaplains can still use the words "Almighty God" in private sessions with patients or families at Hospice by the Sea, said the institute's Chief Executive Officer Paula Alderson.

The move came after several police chaplains lost their jobs for praying "in Jesus name", in the U.S. state of Virginia.

Last month, the Virginia Senate Courts of Justice Committee voted along party lines to kill a pro-faith bill which would have restored the rights of Virginia State Police Chaplains to pray publicly "in Jesus name."

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine has his administration's decision support for the dismissal of Virginia State Police Chaplains because they prayed publicly "in Jesus' name."

STRICT POLICY

Police Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty enforced a strict "non-sectarian" prayer policy at all public gatherings, censoring and excluding Christian prayers. He also accepted the resignation of five chaplains who refused watering down their prayers, saying that would violate their their conscience.

Former Navy Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt, who lost his job in 2006 for praying in "Jesus name" had delivered nearly 7,000 paper petitions and organized a rally of 1,000 citizens "to honor Jesus and the six chaplains" outside the Governor's mansion last fall.

In Florida, which now seems to copy the Virginia policy, hospice CEO Alderson denied she pressured staff members. She said the ban on religious reference applies only to inspirational messages delivered by chaplains in staff meetings.

"The hospice remains fully comfortable with ministers, priests and rabbis offering religious counsel to the dying and grieving. I was sensitive to the fact that we don't impose religion on our staff, and that it is not appropriate in the context of a staff meeting to use certain phrases or 'God' or 'Holy Father,' because some of our staff don't believe at all," Alderson said.
Reverend Mirta Signorelli, of Royal Palm Beach, said the policy has a chilling effect that goes beyond the monthly staff meetings. She added she had to watch her language "when leading prayer in the chapel, meeting patients in the public setting of a nursing home, and in weekly patient conferences with medical as well as social workers."

NO MENTIONING GOD

Signorelli stressed that that she and other chaplains were told to "cease and desist from using God in prayers."

"If you take God away from me," she said, "it's like taking a medical tool away from a nurse."

Signorelli is a devout Christian who acquired a master's degree in theology after a career as a psychologist, running a program for abused and neglected children. She said her supervisor recently singled her out for delivering a spiritual reflection in the chapel that included the word "Lord" and had "a Christian connotation."

"But that was the 23rd Psalm," Signorelli said -- not, strictly speaking, Christian, as it appears in the Old Testament.

"And I am well aware that there were people from the Jewish tradition in attendance. I didn't say Jesus or Allah or Jehovah. I used 'Lord' and 'God,' which I think are politically correct. I think that's as generic as you can get."

Reverend Mirta Signorelli has subsequently resigned.

"MINOR ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTIVE"

Alderson said she was surprised by Signorelli's reaction to what she called "a minor administrative directive" aimed solely at improving the decorum of monthly staff meetings, where the desired tone from a chaplain should be motivational, not religious.

She said it started after she asked a chaplain -- not Signorelli -- to say something "inspirational" and "thought-provoking" at a staff meeting. The remarks did not strike the secular tone she wanted, Alderson said. So, "I issued some guidelines."

Hospice by the Sea has been serving the community of Palm Beach and Broward counties since 1979, providing services to about 500 patients every day on an annual budget of $35 million, which it receives from public and private groups.

HealthCare Chaplaincy which is a multi-faith organization has guidelines that say chaplains should "reach across faith group boundaries and not proselytize". But they don't tell chaplains to refrain from speaking about God.

"I hope this is some sort of misunderstanding," said Rita Kaufman, spokeswoman for the Association of Professional Chaplains, based in Schaumburg, Ill.

Hospice of Palm Beach County has not barred "God," marketing director Karen Stearns said. It does direct chaplains to be sensitive to patients' religious sensibilities.

"BIZARRE" POLICY ANNOUNCED

A ban on the word "God" was new to Mathew Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, a religious-freedom organization based in Orlando."That seems quite bizarre, and a significant restriction on her freedom of speech," Staver said.

Yet the developments are music to the ears of Greg Epstein, a humanist chaplain at Harvard University in Cambridge, MA, who building "a God-free model of community" that he hopes helps humanists increase in numbers and influence.

Epstein says an increasing number of people have no religion, an apparent reference to the latest American Religious Identification Survey, released last month, which claims 15 percent of respondents in 2008 said they had no religion, nearly twice the number of 1990.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

"There is a broader acceptance of those with no faith, as indicated by President Barack Obama's mention of non-believers in his inaugural address," Epstein told reporters.

Epstein wants to plant local humanist centers nationwide that perform many of the community-building functions of a church."There are so many millions of people out there who basically share our views, that we've got room for everybody," Epstein said. "What we're doing here has got to grow even more."

His movement says it combines reason, human experience, Jewish culture and ethical insights from Jewish tradition. While many humanists reject anything that hints at organized religion, Epstein is freely borrowing from it -- from the "small group" format familiar in evangelical churches to calling his group a "congregation".

Epstein said, "There are so many millions of people out there who basically share our views, that we've got room for everybody. What we're doing here [at Harvard University] has got to grow even more."

By the way, it's even crazier when you consider the definition of a "chaplain":

1. A member of the clergy attached to a chapel.
2. a. A member of the clergy who conducts religious services for an institution, such as a prison or hospital.
b. A member of the clergy who is connected with a royal court or an aristocratic household.
3. A member of the clergy attached to a branch of the armed forces.


It seems that that word "clergy" keeps popping up. That's uh, kind of a religious thing, right?

Welcome to Wacko World, folks.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Prepare for the Journey

PRESS RELEASE
March 12, 2009
First Baptist Church, Temple City, CA

JOURNEY TO THE CROSS TO MARK GOOD FRIDAY

Good Friday will be observed in an unusual way at the First Baptist Church of Temple City. The church’s gym is being transformed into a journey through time, from the Garden of Eden to the Cross of Jesus.

Doors will open at 6:30 on Friday, April 10 and will remain open until 8:30 PM. The prophet Isaiah (played by Don Buchanan) will greet worshippers to this interactive worship experience.
“It’s a come and stay as long as you wish experience,” commented Pastor Glenn Layne. “They’ll be places to pray, to read Old Testament prophecies, and most importantly, to worshipfully consider the cross of Jesus. We’ll have our own Garden of Gethsemane as the focus of pray before people go on to the cross of Jesus and the Lord’s Supper.”

As part of the Journey to the Cross, the men’s group of the church is constructing a “Mt. Sinai” that is over ten feet high and will come complete with light and sound effects. Special lighting and sound will be used in several different sections of the experience.

The community is invited to come and be part of “The Journey to the Cross.” First Baptist is located at 6019 Baldwin Avenue, Temple City. For directions and more information, check the website, www.templecitybaptist.org.

"Same-sex marriage is history in California"

That's the headline at the National Law Journel.

Also, you have have heard a misleading poll yesterday in the news that suggests that we're losing the battle of public opinion. Not so fast. Frank Schubert from Yes on 8 writes in an email:

“I was encouraged by the Field Poll. Since May of 2008 our opponents have made no progress in the percent of people (45%) who want to give gays marriage (as compared to civil unions or no legal recognition of their relationships). This is despite the Court ruling last May, the 18,000 marriages being performed, over $40 million spent in support of gay marriage, and then weeks of protests and demonstrations in the streets afterwards. I think it totally undercuts the idea that there is a rapid movement toward approval of gay marriage. There just isn’t. If anything, the Field data suggests they have lost steam. Looking at the question as to whether people would vote for gay marriage or have marriage only between a man and a woman, the numbers have moved in OUR direction, not theirs, since May 2008. People wanting to extend marriage to gays has dropped, and the percent wanting to reserve marriage only for heterosexual couples has increased. And, recall my oft-stated view that support for traditional marriage is always under reported in these polls because it is not a PC position. My conclusion is that we are in better position now than we were during the campaign. And we won by 600,000 votes then!”

Good news for traditional (Biblical) marriage!