The Episcopal Cafe

Damn....

I'm going to print this out and give it to everyone who starts talking to me about Christmas shopping...

Amazing and as Paige said, this must be seen before considering shopping.

The response form the Executive Council is good news. I'll be listening in if a phone number is given.

Why is it that so many evangicals have recieved a gift.... Healing, speaking in tongues, etc. Yet they ast as though the think Gods love is something to be earned... Back to the dark ages but we must never forget that Priests are never, and have never, been required to bless any union.

"AIDS has run rampant in Africa!" Whoa. Homosexuality hasn't caused Africa's tragic suffering from HIV/AIDS. Massive international studies of sexual behavior including cross-cultural comparisons of patterns of the epidemic tell us - Africans are no more promiscuous than Americans, and the African version of this epidemic is killing people (particularly women and girls) through heterosexual contact.

In sub-Saharan Africa, women who are faithful to their husbands are statistically the group most at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS. Epidemiological evidence in Africa is that men's open networks of multiple heterosexual partners outside their marriage produces the greatest risk for infection from a specific strain of the virus.

Obviously a faithful couple (man and woman both) isn't at risk, and what makes the distinctive risk pattern in Africa isn't that African men stray more than, for example, American men. ... See More

Culturally researchers have find that the average of sexual partners is approximately the same for African men and American men (and again, a statistical average includes people who are celibate, people faithful to one partner, and a whole range of other behaviors - from serial partners to a lifetime of one-night stands). But the same average number across the population doesn't come with the same patterns of behavior. If the average American man has four partners in his lifetime, they're likelier to be sequential relationships. African men are much more likely to sustain multiple simultaneous relationships over a long period of time (so, for this average that likely means a wife and three or four other women). Meanwhile (and again this is a statistical distillation of a lot of different behaviors), the women that man is having sex with are statistically likely to be in simultaneous ongoing relationship with a short list of other men. People studying this call it an 'open network,' and it's a pattern that's a perfect invitation to HIV infection.

The other epidemioloigcal consideration is that multiple exposure to the same strain of the virus significantly increases the risk of infection. The immune system isn't instantly disabled, and overwhelm comes with a significant exposure to the identical strain of HIV. This means that literally, a sexually active single woman with constantly changing partners is LESS LIKELY to be infected than a married woman whose husband is having sex with three or four women outside the marriage.

@Donald -- very interesting! Thanks

Now there's a church I could attend. (Oh, wait, I already do!!!)

I am indeed a student of the Bible, first year theology. The Book of Revelation was written during a time of intense persecution of the early Church by Roman civil authorities, written in pictorial and symbolic language much like other apocalyptic literature from the earlier Old Testament period. Many of its images and metaphors do not carry the ... See Moresame meaning as we would interpret them. You cannot look at a first century document through twenty-first century lenses and expect to understand the message it delivered to a specific group, in this case the early Church, in the context of its own time. The Left Behind books are fiction, not theology, scholarship, or exegesis...

Revelation, like all apocalyptic literature served a specific purpose. It was not to forecast the end of the world. It was meant to provide hope and courage to a people under persecution. It was crisis literature. However, the message of Revelation that is just as applicable today as it was then is that Jesus Christ will be victorious over the forces of evil and that His kingdom will last forever. To echo the closing words of Revelation:

Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!

I most definitely did not say that the second coming of Christ was fantasy! A pre-trib rapture is a 19th century dispensationalist idea and not one from Scripture. Christ will surely come again, but it will happen once, and will not be preceded by some secret "rapture" with seven years of bad luck in between. When Christ comes, everyone will know and every knee will bow. No one will ever be "left behind."

A homosexual, in my opinion, and based on the scriptures, is not entitled to or qualified to give "God's" blessing on anything. How can someone even want to become a priest when they choose to not obey God's Will? God be with you. pctpfm

What bible are you reading?

King James version

Thank God for the Jewish influence that elevated woman . No longer are we counted as the chattle. Gee, we can vote and most of our husbands only have one wife, or atleast one wife at a time. I am glad that I was priveledged to serve at the Holy Table and Carry the cross. But gosh darn it, I miss the chapel caps. I wonder if God cares that we dont cover our heads any more??? :)

God only cares that we obey His laws and turn from sin. Kyle, your non-issue is trying to force its acceptance by the moral conservatives. Because we don't agree with you, we are considered hostile, non-loving and judgmental. God only cares what is in our hearts. He doesn't care about all the hullabaloo that goes on. We are to respect the ... See Morechurch and its traditions not show off our own atributes! We are to do good without expecting adulation and give God ALL the "Glory"! The Bible tells us that where our hearts are, that is where our treasure is, in Heaven! God be with you. pctpfm

I don't judge anyone. I try to convey my thoughts in a caring way. I have had the same beliefs since I was baptized at the age of 9. I have lost my way on many occasions but ask forgiveness and try not to repeat my mistakes. Thank God for HIS mercy. No matter how you try to excuse sin, sin as stated in the Holy Bible is still sin. I must have missed Nicole's comment! God be with you. pctpfm