A step forward, a step back

Every two years I've been attending a Convocation put on by Reconciling Ministries Network, an organization that is working to make the United Methodist Church more gay-friendly. The next Convo is Labor Day weekend this year to be held in Maryland outside Washington, DC. This is the first time Convo will be held in a state that has marriage equality (though it didn't when the site was chosen). Event organizers will take advantage of that. They will offer wedding ceremonies, complete with presiding pastors, for attending couples who, according to their home pastor, are ready for marriage. This includes having taken a marriage preparation course (which UMC pastors may do, they just can't perform the ceremony). Organizers say this is not a part of the regular program, so the entire assembly may not witness their happy moment (but wouldn't you want 700 people cheering wildly that your wedding is even possible?).



Back in 1999 oil company Exxon bought out Mobil and became ExxonMobil. As part of the deal the domestic partner benefits that Mobil employees enjoyed were canceled. That gave the new company a negative score on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index (most other oil companies have scores around 85 out of 100). As has happened every year since then proposals for gay equality have been presented at the annual shareholder meeting and rejected. This year the vote was 81% against us, our worst showing yet. Whoever owns ExxonMobil stock really doesn't like us and wants their corporation to remain stuck in the middle of the last century.



At the start of the week I wrote about the presentation that Jim Harrington gave about just war and peace as justice. I remembered one more detail that is important. As a part of describing peace as justice I wrote:

People have a fundamental right to life, food, shelter, health care, education, and employment.

Harrington says the wars being fought today are about those issues, not about religion. Deal with those issues and the need for war subsides.



This is the end of the legislative session in Illinois and -- alas -- the marriage equality bill did not come up for a vote in the House. It had already passed the Senate. The bill's sponsor said he would only call for a vote if he had the 60 needed to pass, and he doesn't. Not yet. A few members said they will be holding conversations in their districts and expect to be able to vote yes when the legislature reconvenes in November. Maybe you can enjoy Chicago at Christmas.