New York Times Editorial
Mr. Obama Moves Against Bias
Published: February 23, 2011
In a heartening reversal, President Obama has instructed the Justice Department to stop defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. That deplorable 1996 law sanctioned blatant discrimination against the spousal rights of married gays and lesbians.
The announcement by Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. struck at the core of the matter, concluding that Congress had violated constitutional due process in a debate rife with “moral disapproval” of gay men and lesbians — “precisely the kind of stereotype-based thinking and animus” banned by the equal protection clause.
The decision reversed the administration’s untenable position of defending the law’s affront to equal rights even as Mr. Obama made clear his personal opposition. Instead, Mr. Holder said it was no longer possible to advance “hypothetical rationales” in court independent of the bias-steeped record of Congressional enactment.
The act, passed in an election year and signed by President Bill Clinton, arbitrarily denied federal benefits for married couples to married same-sex couples, including Social Security survivor payments and the option to file joint tax returns. It allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages that are legally recognized in other states.
The president’s decision is a major advancement for protecting the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans. It firmly skewers what has been bad law and complements the recent Congressional repeal of the government’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” prejudice suffered by gay men and lesbians serving the nation in the military.
The administration said its revised position was in part because of the fact that current court challenges require a rigorous enforcement standard — “heightened scrutiny” — in the case of protecting minority groups who have suffered a clear history of official discrimination. The courts will still be the ultimate arbiter of the law, but it is vital that the administration dropped its commitment to press wrongheaded defenses. Congress may still pursue its own brief in the courts.
The reversal seems likely to redound into the next election cycle — a fight very much worth having. As a candidate three years ago, Mr. Obama opposed the defense of marriage law but would not endorse same-sex marriage, instead supporting civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. In December, Mr. Obama said his feelings on the subject were “constantly evolving.” Wednesday’s decision raises the hope that they are evolving in the right direction — equal rights for all Americans.
Meanwhile, it is stirring that the president has done the right thing on the marriage law. He has scored Congress’s shabby violation of constitutional rights that supposedly protect all Americans, not just a selected majority in an election year.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Gulen - On Education
Excerpts from F. Gulen's Answers to Questions on Education and Turkish Educational Activities Abroad
Website of Fethullah Gulenh - ttp://www.fethullahgulen.org/
Turkish entrepreneurs from almost all walks of life pioneered in schools, colleges, and universities. Fethullah Gulen only gave advice to these charitable businessmen. To those who said: "We're going to build a mosque in our country," he replied: "I'd like to see a school beside it." In fact, in most places he recommended building a school instead of a mosque.
Fethullah Hodja explains his views of Turkish entrepreneurs' opening schools within Turkey and abroad:
"Due to recent developments in communication, the world resembles a globalized village. Our continued existence, and especially our becoming a country with some say in the existing balance of power, is only possible through alliances with our neighbors and the countries with whom we have much in common.
"Establishing natural alliances and being surrounded by a circle of friends rather than enemies would benefit Turkey. In such a framework, I would support opening schools even in Armenia and Israel, if so permitted.
"As for my relationship with the schools that have been opened, there is a lion in everyone's heart a purpose hidden in one's nature since birth. This purpose can be different for everyone. When I was 12 or 13 years old and studying in Erzurum, I had a book in one hand and a map in the other. I would ask: "My God, how can we become a country whose problems have been considerably solved?"
"I have never even thought of having a house, children, or a car. You can't oppose natural laws: water flows, condenses at 100 degrees, and freezes at zero degrees. If there is such a characteristic in my nature, and if it's not harmful, what could be more natural than for this seed to flourish?
"As one who grew up with the desire and objective to serve my country, and if now this service can be realized through education, my interest in education is as natural as the flow of water, the rising and setting of the sun, and the activity of the world. However, I have no power, capital, or army only an unstoppable love and enthusiasm for service. All I can do is explain this, tell those who will listen, and suggest. Such service to others resembles a 'bazaar of those seeking God's approval.'" [Hulusi Turgut, Yeni Yuzyil, 1/27/98]
Schools
That's just the point I wanted to come to. It is said that every day, schools belonging to you are being opened and that this is a kind of organization. This, too, is making a lot of people think.
Wherever I go I make some suggestions. Without being at all discriminatory, I tell our citizens: "Open university preparatory courses and raise the level of our people." (In a foreign country) I told some people who had come to listen to a teacher from Turkey: "Stay here. Prepare your children for attending a university. Let them study sciences. If the level of general culture and education isn't high enough, open university preparatory courses. Put your means together. A world that is becoming globalized will bring certain things with it. For example, small trades and small business are going to disappear. Build big business enterprises."
But what do you think about the fact that those who open schools are all people close to your views?
I talk with everyone. I am sorry to say that the government doesn't have a special policy on this issue. I met with some fellow citizens regarding this matter. Thus an opportunity was born to end this nightmare. It was understood that private schools are very beneficial. As a result of encouragement, some people who came to perceive the importance of quality began opening private schools. But some thought that they were my followers or sharing my opinions on all subjects. [Ertugrul Ozkok, Hurriyet daily, 1/23-30-95]
Relationships with Education and Media Organizations
You say you are poor. But we know that everywhere in Turkey you have special courses, schools, universities, a daily newspaper, and a television channel.
I have no organic or material connection with any of them. My only worldly possessions are the clothes I wear and my bed sheets. I donated all of my books to a foundation.
OK. How is it that you can do what the government cannot? And for what objective? On top of this, for example, children attending your school in Tiflis aren't even Turkish or Muslim. What's your aim?
The schools are not mine. I'm a poor man with nothing more than the clothes on my back. Behind the institutions you mention are many people and companies from almost all walks of life regardless their worldview, beliefs, and lifestyles. If they wish, they sometimes ask for my advice. [Oral Calislar, Cumhuriyet daily, 8/20-26/95]
Educational Rush to Asia
We hope that our understanding of Islam and Turkish culture will provide for the conditions for a mutual, vital dialogue in the world. I think we're at a fateful point of history. Actually, the expected friendship has developed to a large extent among the students. The indigenous peoples and governments must be pleased with the schools the Turkish entrepreneurs have opened; they must have left a good impression. For example, the Yakutian principal expelled the Turkish teachers from the technical school because of jealousy but later sent a message: "Come back, and you can open any kind of technical school you want under your own management."
However, I don't know whether they opened such a school. Yakutia is far away...
There are different factors. In fact, our people have a spirit of enterprise. But in order to display this, they have to believe. If someone like me even whispers something like a bee's buzzing, the collective conscience can become active immediately.
What I have done is only to encourage people. I believe that the cooperation between Turkey and Central Asia will be beneficial to both parties and also will contribute to regional and global peace. People from diverse walks of life have responded to my call. They really believed. I believed once more in the precious quality of a nation's spirit.
Turkey is a well-established state. Democracy is, at least, in the process of settling down. Instead of dreaming about unity that currently seems impossible with people and countries who look down on us and see themselves as better Muslims than us, I found it more beneficial to turn toward people who have been looked down upon and oppressed for years, even centuries, and who are closer to us in many respects.
Everything takes place in accordance with Destiny. When there's a conjuncture where the apparently necessary means and causes, human free will and decision and Divine Destiny are agreed and united on a thing, surprising and only dreamed-of things can take place.
I have been looking forward to a better world resembling Paradise, where humanity can live in peace and tranquility. Our world is tired of war and clashes. It direly needs mercy, affection, spiritual well-being, and peace more than air and water. I believe that people in every country are ready for such a world. For example, we made an offer to the Greek government: "Don't be afraid of us. Come and open a school in Turkey, send your children here, we'll take care of them and give them scholarship. In return, we'll send you students and open a school in any city you wish."
Our efforts and enterprises are completely for humanity's sake. In a world becoming more and more globalized, we are trying to get to know those who will be our future neighbors a little earlier. Telecommunication and transportation systems are going to make us all like people in the same room.
Social Sciences
When Turkey was knocked out by its adversaries technologically, it was decided to turn all superior minds in this direction so that they would study physics and chemistry and transfer high technology to Turkey as soon as possible. But it seems that some who gave priority to the social sciences also will be among those who will manage the future.
Raising a leader is tied, in part, to respect for free thought. A seed has the strength to sprout in the soil's bosom and grow. If the air is beneficial to growth and if it reaches water, the sapling will grow taller. People are like that. There shouldn't be any pressure. People should be able to express themselves. People, even geniuses, are not directed to their essential capabilities. This system must change. Students should choose what they want to study. Both high school and the university need this flexibility. An untalented, incapable team is controlling this nation's destiny. [Nevval Sevindi, Yeni Yuzyil daily, August, 1997]
Any political aims?
We are all human. Today everyone and every organization is working for some specific goal. I serve other people in a way appropriate to myself within the framework of my beliefs. As stated above, human beings are the most honorable of creatures. Those who want to increase their honor should serve this honorable creature. As regards international relations and humanity, one of the most important factors here is to eliminate factors that separate people, such as egoism, self-interest, and discrimination based on color, race, belief, and ethnicity. When idealized, these can cause conflict and be exploited by big powers. We can uproot these evils with education.
Also, education is the most effective and common tongue for relations with others. We are trying our best to do this; we have no other intention. I would prefer a million times over to gain permanency in this transient life with faith and service to others and to gain eternal happiness, rather than ruling this world, even if it united with others and became a single state.
Excerpts from Charles Nelson’sFethullah Gülen: A Vision of Transcendent Education
True teachers sow the pure seed and preserve it. They occupy themselves with what is good and wholesome, and lead and guide the children through life and whatever events they may encounter. (Gülen, 2004, p. 208)
Thus, teaching is a "sacred" activity, and helping students to develop the capacity to bring about positive change is a teacher's "foremost duty" (Gülen, 1998, 2004). Teachers are responsible for providing knowledge with the wisdom to use it and for providing moral guidance-not by preaching values, but by embodying spirituality and love.
The end of Gülen's educational vision is to raise a "Golden Generation," a generation of ideal universal individuals, individuals who love truth, who integrate spirituality and knowledge, who work to benefit society (Gülen, 1998). Such a person is zul-cenaheyn "one who possesses two wings," exhibiting a "marriage of mind and heart" (Gülen, 1996b), a merging of universal ethical values with science and modern knowledge (Gülen, 2004) that produces "genuinely enlightened people" (Michel, 2003; Gülen, 1996a) who, motivated by love, take action to serve others (Gülen, 2000; Yildirim & Kirmizialtin, 2004).
Gülen-inspired Schools
That vision has led Gülen and his followers in the early 1980's to begin a zealous educational project of building educational institutions all over the world. In Turkey and in other countries, hundreds of schools, along with seven universities, have been founded.
These institutions resemble other schools in terms of curriculum and materials. Laboratory and computer equipment for science and language classes is up-to-date, the quality of education is excellent (Agai, 2003; Balci, 2003; Özdalga, 2000; Yavuz, 2003). Thomas Michel (2003), Secretary for Interreligious Dialogue of the Society of Jesuits and ecumenical secretary of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, reports that the students have outstanding performance in academic competitions in the natural sciences, information sciences, and languages, and he considers them "to be among the most dynamic and worthwhile educational enterprises ... in the world" (p. 70).
These schools also excel in the moral character of their staff and teachers. For instance, the Philippine-Turkish School of Tolerance is in a city where half of the population is Christian and the other half is Muslim. According to Michel (2003), the school provides more than a thousand students more positive ways to interact than the violent example set by military and paramilitary forces. He states that the school lives up to its name, providing a bastion of tolerance in an otherwise religiously polarized area of the Philippines, and that it has excellent relations with Christian institutions in the region.
Another example is the Gülen schools in Albania. Agai (2003) notes that because Albania "formed its national identity in opposition to the Ottoman Empire" (p. 44), it does not want Turkish nationalism or Islam promoted in its schools.
Nevertheless, the schools have gained the approval of the public and the government due to their quality education, focus on science, and universal values.
Interviewing women teachers at several of these schools, Özdalga (2003b) found that they shared certain values: "love (universal love, encompassing the whole of humanity), pietism, humility, self-criticism, societal (not political) activism, and professionalism (teaching)" (p. 63). Another value held by these teachers was that of avoiding conflict and "maintaining peaceful relationships" (p. 69). These values naturally lead to the movement's tolerance and understanding for other traditions and religions, so that rather than lecturing on their values or teaching specifically about Islam, they communicate their values by "being a good example through one's deeds" (Özdalga, 2003a, p. 86).
Transforming character
In both academic and spiritual matters, Gülen (2004) asserts, a "school must be as perfect as possible" (pp. 206-207). Gülen schools excel in academics because the instructors strive for perfection not only in having a command of their subject matter but also in (1) loving and caring for their students and (2) developing their own character as much as, if not more than, their students' character. To transform others' character, one must first transform one's own, and "being a good example" is a crucial component in the transformation process.
Yet, a school should not depend solely upon setting "a good example" for developing character in students. Character development does not differ from other learning. Whether from a cognitivist, sociocultural, or a social constructivist perspective, learning is considered to be a process of actively constructing knowledge and enacting practices (e.g, DeVries & Zan, 2005; Engeström, 1987; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Piaget, 1985; Vygotsky, 1978; von Glasersfeld, 1995). Although much learning, probably most, begins with observation (cf. Bandura, 1977), generally speaking, observation must be followed by action to construct learning (cf. Gülen, 1998, p. 99).
Looking at the activity of the Gülen community, we see that Gülen adherents are not limited to observing the moral example of Fethullah Gülen. Rather, they read, study, discuss, and reflect on his writings, along with Said Nursi's and the Qur'an. Moreover, they act upon what they know, internalizing their knowledge in their deeds, as evidenced by businessmen who found and support the schools and by teachers leaving Turkey for other countries at considerable sacrifice.
The Gülen community's activity embodies the teachings of Fethullah Gülen on learning and transforming character, teachings that stress the need for action governed by reflection and intention.
Action, according to Gülen (1996b), "should be the most indispensable element or feature of our lives" (p. 85). For Gülen, taking action means to be constantly striving to realize one's goals for the service of others, and it is essential for keeping one's identity free from the influence of others.
Action needs to be guided by reflection. Fethullah Gülen (1998) asserts that people need "to review and re-evaluate the established views of man, life and the universe" (Gülen, 1998, p. 8, italics in original). Through reflection, people can establish clear objectives; in fact, they need to do so if they "do not want to become lost in the flood of thoughts" (Gülen, 2000, p. 64). If even "founders and directors of institutions should frequently remind themselves of why the institutions were established, so that their work does not stray from its objective, but remains fruitful" (p. 65), how much more so for students in transforming their character!
The link between intention and action is an important one. Juarrero (1999) posits that actions are "behavioral trajectories constrained top-down by an intention" (p. 151). Behavior-the enactment of meaning, moral values, and beliefs-results from a self-organizing process of a person's history of reciprocal interactions with his/her environment, a process in which interdependencies between intentions and actions, individual and society, are entrained. If intentions are not regulated and are not followed by action, people will follow the thoughts, intentions and actions of others (Gülen, 1998, p. 85). In other words, people conform to their social environment unless they intentionally will to do otherwise.
In the U.S., students' environment includes, along with their school and family, competing examples of corporate greed, political scandals, and wide-spread (often successful) cheating. Economic, social, and peer pressures can easily undermine the effect of moral exemplars. In addition, just as students' prior experience can distort their understanding of moral texts (Narvaez, 2001), so, too, can environmental influences shape their interpretation of moral models. Consequently, students need an education in not only subject knowledge but also moral reflection and intentional action. Along these lines, Fethullah Gülen (2004) writes, "Although knowledge is a value in itself, the purpose of learning is to make knowledge a guide in life and to illuminate the road to human perfection" (p. 206).
To make "knowledge a guide," students must develop their ability to reason morally. In fact, one finding in research is that in an environment of open dialogue, students can develop their ability to reason through moral dilemmas that expose children to contradictions between their moral structures and more developed ones (Kohlberg, 1999).
Stories work well at developing moral reasoning because "they recreate the open, nonlinear dynamics of the real processes they purport to explain" (Juarrero, 2002, p. 241), thus having the potential to challenge readers to reconsider familiar ideas from new perspectives. Not all stories, of course. Stories need to be open ended and invite thoughtful discussion rather than indoctrination.
For now, looking at Gülen adherents again, we see that they engage in self-determined, intentional action guided by a love for humanity. Similarly, we should expect that in the development of character, students, too, must initiate action to integrate into their own identity moral reasoning and the love embodied in their teachers. Moral action embedded in a community of moral people who love humanity is a crucial ingredient in producing a Golden Generation. More consideration needs to be given to methods for incorporating moral reasoning, intentional action, and self-determination into schools, keeping in mind the following:
1. Moral reasoning, reflection, and judgment are necessary to guide intention appropriately, and conversely, action is crucial to entraining intentions.
2. Integrating moral principles into one's character requires intentional actions that are self-determined in an environment of love.
Conclusion
Many have been inspired by Fethullah Gülen to spend their time and wealth to establish schools of excellence. Why? It is not that he teaches something new or different. Rather, in part, I imagine that it is due to a unique confluence of time, place, and context. In part, it is due to Fethullah Gülen himself. His stories, his moral example, and his teachings inspire others to take action, to sacrifice, and to serve humanity rather than themselves. From Gülen (2000), we read:
Preferring the sacred cause over all worldly and animal desires; being steadfast in truth, once it has been discovered, to the degree that you sacrifice all mundane attachments for its sake; enduring all hardships so that future generations will be happy; seeking happiness, not in material or even spiritual pleasures, but in the happiness and well-being of others; never seeking to obtain any posts or positions; and preferring oneself to others in taking on work but preferring others to oneself in receiving wages-these are the essentials of this sacred way of serving the truth. (p. 84)
Such a call to sacrifice inspires educators to strive to perfect their own character and to love their students, a combination that can transform students into living lives worth living.
Even so, findings in educational research and Fethullah Gülen's teachings on intention and action suggest that while Gülen educators practice the most important role of being exemplars of love and knowledge, they can further the reach of their modeling by engaging students in moral reasoning and action that is self-determined. It is through the interaction of a school's environment of sacrificial love and the students' autonomous practice of moral reasoning and intentional action that Gülen's transcendent vision of raising a Golden Generation may come to pass in the U.S.
Website of Fethullah Gulenh - ttp://www.fethullahgulen.org/
Turkish entrepreneurs from almost all walks of life pioneered in schools, colleges, and universities. Fethullah Gulen only gave advice to these charitable businessmen. To those who said: "We're going to build a mosque in our country," he replied: "I'd like to see a school beside it." In fact, in most places he recommended building a school instead of a mosque.
Fethullah Hodja explains his views of Turkish entrepreneurs' opening schools within Turkey and abroad:
"Due to recent developments in communication, the world resembles a globalized village. Our continued existence, and especially our becoming a country with some say in the existing balance of power, is only possible through alliances with our neighbors and the countries with whom we have much in common.
"Establishing natural alliances and being surrounded by a circle of friends rather than enemies would benefit Turkey. In such a framework, I would support opening schools even in Armenia and Israel, if so permitted.
"As for my relationship with the schools that have been opened, there is a lion in everyone's heart a purpose hidden in one's nature since birth. This purpose can be different for everyone. When I was 12 or 13 years old and studying in Erzurum, I had a book in one hand and a map in the other. I would ask: "My God, how can we become a country whose problems have been considerably solved?"
"I have never even thought of having a house, children, or a car. You can't oppose natural laws: water flows, condenses at 100 degrees, and freezes at zero degrees. If there is such a characteristic in my nature, and if it's not harmful, what could be more natural than for this seed to flourish?
"As one who grew up with the desire and objective to serve my country, and if now this service can be realized through education, my interest in education is as natural as the flow of water, the rising and setting of the sun, and the activity of the world. However, I have no power, capital, or army only an unstoppable love and enthusiasm for service. All I can do is explain this, tell those who will listen, and suggest. Such service to others resembles a 'bazaar of those seeking God's approval.'" [Hulusi Turgut, Yeni Yuzyil, 1/27/98]
Schools
That's just the point I wanted to come to. It is said that every day, schools belonging to you are being opened and that this is a kind of organization. This, too, is making a lot of people think.
Wherever I go I make some suggestions. Without being at all discriminatory, I tell our citizens: "Open university preparatory courses and raise the level of our people." (In a foreign country) I told some people who had come to listen to a teacher from Turkey: "Stay here. Prepare your children for attending a university. Let them study sciences. If the level of general culture and education isn't high enough, open university preparatory courses. Put your means together. A world that is becoming globalized will bring certain things with it. For example, small trades and small business are going to disappear. Build big business enterprises."
But what do you think about the fact that those who open schools are all people close to your views?
I talk with everyone. I am sorry to say that the government doesn't have a special policy on this issue. I met with some fellow citizens regarding this matter. Thus an opportunity was born to end this nightmare. It was understood that private schools are very beneficial. As a result of encouragement, some people who came to perceive the importance of quality began opening private schools. But some thought that they were my followers or sharing my opinions on all subjects. [Ertugrul Ozkok, Hurriyet daily, 1/23-30-95]
Relationships with Education and Media Organizations
You say you are poor. But we know that everywhere in Turkey you have special courses, schools, universities, a daily newspaper, and a television channel.
I have no organic or material connection with any of them. My only worldly possessions are the clothes I wear and my bed sheets. I donated all of my books to a foundation.
OK. How is it that you can do what the government cannot? And for what objective? On top of this, for example, children attending your school in Tiflis aren't even Turkish or Muslim. What's your aim?
The schools are not mine. I'm a poor man with nothing more than the clothes on my back. Behind the institutions you mention are many people and companies from almost all walks of life regardless their worldview, beliefs, and lifestyles. If they wish, they sometimes ask for my advice. [Oral Calislar, Cumhuriyet daily, 8/20-26/95]
Educational Rush to Asia
We hope that our understanding of Islam and Turkish culture will provide for the conditions for a mutual, vital dialogue in the world. I think we're at a fateful point of history. Actually, the expected friendship has developed to a large extent among the students. The indigenous peoples and governments must be pleased with the schools the Turkish entrepreneurs have opened; they must have left a good impression. For example, the Yakutian principal expelled the Turkish teachers from the technical school because of jealousy but later sent a message: "Come back, and you can open any kind of technical school you want under your own management."
However, I don't know whether they opened such a school. Yakutia is far away...
There are different factors. In fact, our people have a spirit of enterprise. But in order to display this, they have to believe. If someone like me even whispers something like a bee's buzzing, the collective conscience can become active immediately.
What I have done is only to encourage people. I believe that the cooperation between Turkey and Central Asia will be beneficial to both parties and also will contribute to regional and global peace. People from diverse walks of life have responded to my call. They really believed. I believed once more in the precious quality of a nation's spirit.
Turkey is a well-established state. Democracy is, at least, in the process of settling down. Instead of dreaming about unity that currently seems impossible with people and countries who look down on us and see themselves as better Muslims than us, I found it more beneficial to turn toward people who have been looked down upon and oppressed for years, even centuries, and who are closer to us in many respects.
Everything takes place in accordance with Destiny. When there's a conjuncture where the apparently necessary means and causes, human free will and decision and Divine Destiny are agreed and united on a thing, surprising and only dreamed-of things can take place.
I have been looking forward to a better world resembling Paradise, where humanity can live in peace and tranquility. Our world is tired of war and clashes. It direly needs mercy, affection, spiritual well-being, and peace more than air and water. I believe that people in every country are ready for such a world. For example, we made an offer to the Greek government: "Don't be afraid of us. Come and open a school in Turkey, send your children here, we'll take care of them and give them scholarship. In return, we'll send you students and open a school in any city you wish."
Our efforts and enterprises are completely for humanity's sake. In a world becoming more and more globalized, we are trying to get to know those who will be our future neighbors a little earlier. Telecommunication and transportation systems are going to make us all like people in the same room.
Social Sciences
When Turkey was knocked out by its adversaries technologically, it was decided to turn all superior minds in this direction so that they would study physics and chemistry and transfer high technology to Turkey as soon as possible. But it seems that some who gave priority to the social sciences also will be among those who will manage the future.
Raising a leader is tied, in part, to respect for free thought. A seed has the strength to sprout in the soil's bosom and grow. If the air is beneficial to growth and if it reaches water, the sapling will grow taller. People are like that. There shouldn't be any pressure. People should be able to express themselves. People, even geniuses, are not directed to their essential capabilities. This system must change. Students should choose what they want to study. Both high school and the university need this flexibility. An untalented, incapable team is controlling this nation's destiny. [Nevval Sevindi, Yeni Yuzyil daily, August, 1997]
Any political aims?
We are all human. Today everyone and every organization is working for some specific goal. I serve other people in a way appropriate to myself within the framework of my beliefs. As stated above, human beings are the most honorable of creatures. Those who want to increase their honor should serve this honorable creature. As regards international relations and humanity, one of the most important factors here is to eliminate factors that separate people, such as egoism, self-interest, and discrimination based on color, race, belief, and ethnicity. When idealized, these can cause conflict and be exploited by big powers. We can uproot these evils with education.
Also, education is the most effective and common tongue for relations with others. We are trying our best to do this; we have no other intention. I would prefer a million times over to gain permanency in this transient life with faith and service to others and to gain eternal happiness, rather than ruling this world, even if it united with others and became a single state.
Excerpts from Charles Nelson’sFethullah Gülen: A Vision of Transcendent Education
True teachers sow the pure seed and preserve it. They occupy themselves with what is good and wholesome, and lead and guide the children through life and whatever events they may encounter. (Gülen, 2004, p. 208)
Thus, teaching is a "sacred" activity, and helping students to develop the capacity to bring about positive change is a teacher's "foremost duty" (Gülen, 1998, 2004). Teachers are responsible for providing knowledge with the wisdom to use it and for providing moral guidance-not by preaching values, but by embodying spirituality and love.
The end of Gülen's educational vision is to raise a "Golden Generation," a generation of ideal universal individuals, individuals who love truth, who integrate spirituality and knowledge, who work to benefit society (Gülen, 1998). Such a person is zul-cenaheyn "one who possesses two wings," exhibiting a "marriage of mind and heart" (Gülen, 1996b), a merging of universal ethical values with science and modern knowledge (Gülen, 2004) that produces "genuinely enlightened people" (Michel, 2003; Gülen, 1996a) who, motivated by love, take action to serve others (Gülen, 2000; Yildirim & Kirmizialtin, 2004).
Gülen-inspired Schools
That vision has led Gülen and his followers in the early 1980's to begin a zealous educational project of building educational institutions all over the world. In Turkey and in other countries, hundreds of schools, along with seven universities, have been founded.
These institutions resemble other schools in terms of curriculum and materials. Laboratory and computer equipment for science and language classes is up-to-date, the quality of education is excellent (Agai, 2003; Balci, 2003; Özdalga, 2000; Yavuz, 2003). Thomas Michel (2003), Secretary for Interreligious Dialogue of the Society of Jesuits and ecumenical secretary of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences, reports that the students have outstanding performance in academic competitions in the natural sciences, information sciences, and languages, and he considers them "to be among the most dynamic and worthwhile educational enterprises ... in the world" (p. 70).
These schools also excel in the moral character of their staff and teachers. For instance, the Philippine-Turkish School of Tolerance is in a city where half of the population is Christian and the other half is Muslim. According to Michel (2003), the school provides more than a thousand students more positive ways to interact than the violent example set by military and paramilitary forces. He states that the school lives up to its name, providing a bastion of tolerance in an otherwise religiously polarized area of the Philippines, and that it has excellent relations with Christian institutions in the region.
Another example is the Gülen schools in Albania. Agai (2003) notes that because Albania "formed its national identity in opposition to the Ottoman Empire" (p. 44), it does not want Turkish nationalism or Islam promoted in its schools.
Nevertheless, the schools have gained the approval of the public and the government due to their quality education, focus on science, and universal values.
Interviewing women teachers at several of these schools, Özdalga (2003b) found that they shared certain values: "love (universal love, encompassing the whole of humanity), pietism, humility, self-criticism, societal (not political) activism, and professionalism (teaching)" (p. 63). Another value held by these teachers was that of avoiding conflict and "maintaining peaceful relationships" (p. 69). These values naturally lead to the movement's tolerance and understanding for other traditions and religions, so that rather than lecturing on their values or teaching specifically about Islam, they communicate their values by "being a good example through one's deeds" (Özdalga, 2003a, p. 86).
Transforming character
In both academic and spiritual matters, Gülen (2004) asserts, a "school must be as perfect as possible" (pp. 206-207). Gülen schools excel in academics because the instructors strive for perfection not only in having a command of their subject matter but also in (1) loving and caring for their students and (2) developing their own character as much as, if not more than, their students' character. To transform others' character, one must first transform one's own, and "being a good example" is a crucial component in the transformation process.
Yet, a school should not depend solely upon setting "a good example" for developing character in students. Character development does not differ from other learning. Whether from a cognitivist, sociocultural, or a social constructivist perspective, learning is considered to be a process of actively constructing knowledge and enacting practices (e.g, DeVries & Zan, 2005; Engeström, 1987; Lave & Wenger, 1991; Piaget, 1985; Vygotsky, 1978; von Glasersfeld, 1995). Although much learning, probably most, begins with observation (cf. Bandura, 1977), generally speaking, observation must be followed by action to construct learning (cf. Gülen, 1998, p. 99).
Looking at the activity of the Gülen community, we see that Gülen adherents are not limited to observing the moral example of Fethullah Gülen. Rather, they read, study, discuss, and reflect on his writings, along with Said Nursi's and the Qur'an. Moreover, they act upon what they know, internalizing their knowledge in their deeds, as evidenced by businessmen who found and support the schools and by teachers leaving Turkey for other countries at considerable sacrifice.
The Gülen community's activity embodies the teachings of Fethullah Gülen on learning and transforming character, teachings that stress the need for action governed by reflection and intention.
Action, according to Gülen (1996b), "should be the most indispensable element or feature of our lives" (p. 85). For Gülen, taking action means to be constantly striving to realize one's goals for the service of others, and it is essential for keeping one's identity free from the influence of others.
Action needs to be guided by reflection. Fethullah Gülen (1998) asserts that people need "to review and re-evaluate the established views of man, life and the universe" (Gülen, 1998, p. 8, italics in original). Through reflection, people can establish clear objectives; in fact, they need to do so if they "do not want to become lost in the flood of thoughts" (Gülen, 2000, p. 64). If even "founders and directors of institutions should frequently remind themselves of why the institutions were established, so that their work does not stray from its objective, but remains fruitful" (p. 65), how much more so for students in transforming their character!
The link between intention and action is an important one. Juarrero (1999) posits that actions are "behavioral trajectories constrained top-down by an intention" (p. 151). Behavior-the enactment of meaning, moral values, and beliefs-results from a self-organizing process of a person's history of reciprocal interactions with his/her environment, a process in which interdependencies between intentions and actions, individual and society, are entrained. If intentions are not regulated and are not followed by action, people will follow the thoughts, intentions and actions of others (Gülen, 1998, p. 85). In other words, people conform to their social environment unless they intentionally will to do otherwise.
In the U.S., students' environment includes, along with their school and family, competing examples of corporate greed, political scandals, and wide-spread (often successful) cheating. Economic, social, and peer pressures can easily undermine the effect of moral exemplars. In addition, just as students' prior experience can distort their understanding of moral texts (Narvaez, 2001), so, too, can environmental influences shape their interpretation of moral models. Consequently, students need an education in not only subject knowledge but also moral reflection and intentional action. Along these lines, Fethullah Gülen (2004) writes, "Although knowledge is a value in itself, the purpose of learning is to make knowledge a guide in life and to illuminate the road to human perfection" (p. 206).
To make "knowledge a guide," students must develop their ability to reason morally. In fact, one finding in research is that in an environment of open dialogue, students can develop their ability to reason through moral dilemmas that expose children to contradictions between their moral structures and more developed ones (Kohlberg, 1999).
Stories work well at developing moral reasoning because "they recreate the open, nonlinear dynamics of the real processes they purport to explain" (Juarrero, 2002, p. 241), thus having the potential to challenge readers to reconsider familiar ideas from new perspectives. Not all stories, of course. Stories need to be open ended and invite thoughtful discussion rather than indoctrination.
For now, looking at Gülen adherents again, we see that they engage in self-determined, intentional action guided by a love for humanity. Similarly, we should expect that in the development of character, students, too, must initiate action to integrate into their own identity moral reasoning and the love embodied in their teachers. Moral action embedded in a community of moral people who love humanity is a crucial ingredient in producing a Golden Generation. More consideration needs to be given to methods for incorporating moral reasoning, intentional action, and self-determination into schools, keeping in mind the following:
1. Moral reasoning, reflection, and judgment are necessary to guide intention appropriately, and conversely, action is crucial to entraining intentions.
2. Integrating moral principles into one's character requires intentional actions that are self-determined in an environment of love.
Conclusion
Many have been inspired by Fethullah Gülen to spend their time and wealth to establish schools of excellence. Why? It is not that he teaches something new or different. Rather, in part, I imagine that it is due to a unique confluence of time, place, and context. In part, it is due to Fethullah Gülen himself. His stories, his moral example, and his teachings inspire others to take action, to sacrifice, and to serve humanity rather than themselves. From Gülen (2000), we read:
Preferring the sacred cause over all worldly and animal desires; being steadfast in truth, once it has been discovered, to the degree that you sacrifice all mundane attachments for its sake; enduring all hardships so that future generations will be happy; seeking happiness, not in material or even spiritual pleasures, but in the happiness and well-being of others; never seeking to obtain any posts or positions; and preferring oneself to others in taking on work but preferring others to oneself in receiving wages-these are the essentials of this sacred way of serving the truth. (p. 84)
Such a call to sacrifice inspires educators to strive to perfect their own character and to love their students, a combination that can transform students into living lives worth living.
Even so, findings in educational research and Fethullah Gülen's teachings on intention and action suggest that while Gülen educators practice the most important role of being exemplars of love and knowledge, they can further the reach of their modeling by engaging students in moral reasoning and action that is self-determined. It is through the interaction of a school's environment of sacrificial love and the students' autonomous practice of moral reasoning and intentional action that Gülen's transcendent vision of raising a Golden Generation may come to pass in the U.S.
Zaman University
Zaman University was officially opened in Phnom Penh on February 21. 2011 by the Deputy Prime Ministers of Cambodia and Turkey signalling the significance of this event. This educational development was encouraged by the government of Cambodia and responded by the Turkish Muslim community who are inspired and guided by the Gulen movement. They have established educational institutions in Eastern Europe, Asia and even in the United States. These schools promote high standards of education in science and technology, inter-faith relations and moral and spiritual value regardless of race & religion, sex & gender preference as their contribution to the 21st century in this pluralistic world.
Business people in Turkey voluntary contributed to support this noble endeavour. For this occasion 60 businessmen flew in from Turkey to participate in the Opening Ceremony.
I was part of the delegation of friends of the Turkish Cultural Centre in Singapore. Dr Erkan Polatdemir who had earned his doctorate degree from National University of Singapore resigned from this teaching position at Republic Polytechnic to serve as the first President of the university.
Zaman International High School began in 1997 and moved to their city location in 2005. It prepares students for the Cambridge O and A levels. It seeks to instil internationalism and open inquiry and foster social interaction with mutual respect and cooperation. The enrolment today is 650.
Zaman International Primary School was established in 2007 and offers education in English and Khmer and Khmer culture. It has an enrolment of 550 students.
The Gala Dinner was held on the eve of the Opening Ceremony where 700 guests were present in the Grand Ballroom. This was well attended by the local civic and political leaders in the country. The function was held in Nagaworld, the finest integrated resort hotel in the country, which also houses the Casino where people walked freely in throughout the day and night to gamble on the rows of slot machines and numerous gaming tables.
Here is demonstrated for me the titanic battle between the forces of evil and good. Zaman University is committed to the formation of leaders of the country in inculcating the principles of honesty, integrity, goodness, love, and service. They are to teach care & compassion, peace & harmony. This great effort is contradicted glaringly by the evils that gambling encouraged. Will good prevail over evil in this struggle? What kind of human community are we structuring?
Recent history has shown the starkest evil in the genocide regime of Pol Pot about thirty years ago. This is a sad commentary of the country brought down literally to ground zero. I was personally involved in the relief and rehabilitation efforts by the world-wide Christian community. Our Christian humanitarian team was allowed to enter the city even before the citizens were allowed to return after they were evacuated and sent to the countryside. They found five girls in the entire population then who speak English to serve as our interpreters and one of them later became the wife of the Ambassador to Singapore. We were among the earliest visitors to the killing fields and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.
Cambodia history of the 12th century showed the fall of the Hindu Kingdom and the takeover by the Buddhist rulers. What can Angkor Wat the eighth ancient wonder of the world say to us today? The temple and capital city was erected by King Suryavarman II and dedicated to Vishnu in early 12th century. In the 14th century the temple was converted to Theravada Buddhism. It is the largest religious structure in the world. Now these ancient ruins of their religious leaders lie silent. Some could never be restored fully again. They become monuments of the past and museums of the active faith which they represented. What is the nature of their faith in the uncertain future that lies ahead? Will brute force prevail economically and politically once again.
Hope springs eternal and Zaman University will light a candle in the darkness. The children of the leadership of the county are already enrolled in this obviously prestigious university of 100 students. They will enter into this place of learning with the best that is available for them in the form of the dedication of the teachers and sponsors. Zaman University caters to the demand for quality higher education and to train graduates to develop in the right direction in the development of their country. The motto is “Leading Your Way.”
This event was a rather sobering one for me. I saw how they fought in overcoming the colonial influence and how they sacrificed against the Pol Pot genocide regime. What does the modernization process mean for their country in the wide disparity prevailing between the new rich and the continuing poor. I bought in the Night Market an original acrylic painting of a house on stilt on the Mekong River. The painter was painting at his stall. It costs me five US dollars and that was what I paid for a cup of coffee at the Coffee Shop in the five star Nagaworld Hotel!
I congratulate the Turkish people of the Gulen movement for their commitment to bring to a poor Asian country quality education and wish them success in pointing abd leading the way to a brighter future for Cambodia and her people.
Business people in Turkey voluntary contributed to support this noble endeavour. For this occasion 60 businessmen flew in from Turkey to participate in the Opening Ceremony.
I was part of the delegation of friends of the Turkish Cultural Centre in Singapore. Dr Erkan Polatdemir who had earned his doctorate degree from National University of Singapore resigned from this teaching position at Republic Polytechnic to serve as the first President of the university.
Zaman International High School began in 1997 and moved to their city location in 2005. It prepares students for the Cambridge O and A levels. It seeks to instil internationalism and open inquiry and foster social interaction with mutual respect and cooperation. The enrolment today is 650.
Zaman International Primary School was established in 2007 and offers education in English and Khmer and Khmer culture. It has an enrolment of 550 students.
The Gala Dinner was held on the eve of the Opening Ceremony where 700 guests were present in the Grand Ballroom. This was well attended by the local civic and political leaders in the country. The function was held in Nagaworld, the finest integrated resort hotel in the country, which also houses the Casino where people walked freely in throughout the day and night to gamble on the rows of slot machines and numerous gaming tables.
Here is demonstrated for me the titanic battle between the forces of evil and good. Zaman University is committed to the formation of leaders of the country in inculcating the principles of honesty, integrity, goodness, love, and service. They are to teach care & compassion, peace & harmony. This great effort is contradicted glaringly by the evils that gambling encouraged. Will good prevail over evil in this struggle? What kind of human community are we structuring?
Recent history has shown the starkest evil in the genocide regime of Pol Pot about thirty years ago. This is a sad commentary of the country brought down literally to ground zero. I was personally involved in the relief and rehabilitation efforts by the world-wide Christian community. Our Christian humanitarian team was allowed to enter the city even before the citizens were allowed to return after they were evacuated and sent to the countryside. They found five girls in the entire population then who speak English to serve as our interpreters and one of them later became the wife of the Ambassador to Singapore. We were among the earliest visitors to the killing fields and Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.
Cambodia history of the 12th century showed the fall of the Hindu Kingdom and the takeover by the Buddhist rulers. What can Angkor Wat the eighth ancient wonder of the world say to us today? The temple and capital city was erected by King Suryavarman II and dedicated to Vishnu in early 12th century. In the 14th century the temple was converted to Theravada Buddhism. It is the largest religious structure in the world. Now these ancient ruins of their religious leaders lie silent. Some could never be restored fully again. They become monuments of the past and museums of the active faith which they represented. What is the nature of their faith in the uncertain future that lies ahead? Will brute force prevail economically and politically once again.
Hope springs eternal and Zaman University will light a candle in the darkness. The children of the leadership of the county are already enrolled in this obviously prestigious university of 100 students. They will enter into this place of learning with the best that is available for them in the form of the dedication of the teachers and sponsors. Zaman University caters to the demand for quality higher education and to train graduates to develop in the right direction in the development of their country. The motto is “Leading Your Way.”
This event was a rather sobering one for me. I saw how they fought in overcoming the colonial influence and how they sacrificed against the Pol Pot genocide regime. What does the modernization process mean for their country in the wide disparity prevailing between the new rich and the continuing poor. I bought in the Night Market an original acrylic painting of a house on stilt on the Mekong River. The painter was painting at his stall. It costs me five US dollars and that was what I paid for a cup of coffee at the Coffee Shop in the five star Nagaworld Hotel!
I congratulate the Turkish people of the Gulen movement for their commitment to bring to a poor Asian country quality education and wish them success in pointing abd leading the way to a brighter future for Cambodia and her people.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Living Out My Faith
Living Out My Faith -
Jo and Gabriel were interested in the way people of faith live out their faith. They hosted a pleasant dinner meeting in their home to explore this concern with around twenty friends who accepted their invitation. As a starter, I was commissioned to narrate for half an hour my personal observations.
This provided the challenge to relate my faith to my life. What were the seminal influences that I could identify in the development of my faith and the ways to live it out?
I was not born into a Christian home for my parents were followers of the traditional Chinese religions with the emphasis on religious rituals without too much understanding of doctrines. In my formative years I saw primarily the living out of their faith.
I experienced the protection and security in my childhood. This came through the love of my mother in nurturing me and responding to my needs. I recall that my father was the disciplinarian and I was reminded of the rules that govern my behaviour. It was necessary to know the rules and to follow them. There was nothing strictly religious in content but guidelines and examples to help me to become a well-behaved and well-mannered person in a Confucian culture.
My father learnt the language of the British colonial government. He became an Interpreter in the law courts and served the government in different towns. The family was living with people of other races as neighbours, Malays and Indians. I was exposed to other cultures. I grew up in Kampar and received some Christian influence in the local Methodist school. The rented terrace house which is still standing had the town mosque and a Chinese temple at the end of Jalan Ampang, a side road off the main trunk road that runs through the town going north and south.
During World War II and the Japanese Occupution of Malaya, tragedy struck which led to my being crippled and coupled with the untimely death of my father when I was fifteen. I was forced to reflect upon my difficult uncertain future. My widowed homemaker mother was abruptly loaded with the responsibility for my welfare as well as that of my younger brother and two sisters. Two older sisters were married at that time. It was not an easy burden and I knew it was my responsibility to lift that heavy burden as soon as possible.
I received love and kindness from family and friends in my early formative years and in the time of personal crisis I received care and concern from Christian friends. Sensing my indebtedness of kind people around me I was aware that I need to repay the kindness shown. They reflected their religious faith. The inter-relationships between faith and life were demonstrated to me in a personal way. In my deepest need I experienced the greatest compassion.
This process guided me throughout my life. Faith made visible in life. Life brought clarity to faith. It is a continuous interaction between action and reflection, faith and works. In the process of living and reflecting I drew my inspiration from Christian friends and pastors.
The one sermon that stands out in my mind in my youth is the one from the Rev Ralph Kesselring who was my missionary pastor and Principal in Ipoh. Strangely enough his daughter Ann a few years ago discovered the text of the sermon with written notations and sent it to me. It was strange but it was to me a serendipitous moment. It was the message of Amos on social justice. Away from the religious festivals, silence the noisy solemn assemblies and let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
I was drawn to the other prophet Micah who posed the question as to what the Lord requires from me – but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.
My spiritual journey with God must necessarily be through deeds of kindness and works of justice.
When I finally decided to choose my career as a Pastor, I was privileged to secure my preparation in Boston University School of Theology in the United States. It was that seminary and its social ethicist Walter Muelder and systematic theologian Harold DeWolf who taught Martin Luther King in his doctoral programme and mentored him in his Civil Rights struggle and supported him to live out his faith. I was privileged to sit under the feet of these scholars who set the direction in my own spiritual journey in my Christian ministry
It was a call not to just ensure me that I am on the road to enter heaven but on a mission to love God through loving my neighbour in this world. It was a call not just to settle my doctrinal faith but to live out my faith at each moment in my life. My faith is always action-oriented. It is a continuing process of expressing my faith in life and enriching my faith through my involvement.
What then are some of the contours of my religious faith that I confess? God is always a mystery to mortal human beings who are limited and we cannot fully define the nature of God. Suffice to acknowledge God as the Creative One who brought all things into existence and has breathed life in us and around us. What then is the meaning and purpose of this one life of mine? It is to participate in the same creative task of God in the creation groaning in travail and in the process of fulfillment.
Faith is not just worshiping and praying and praising God. It is not petitioning to God to intervene directly to heal broken lives and restore this fractured world. Faith is not appealing to God to bless us with prosperity, health and success. Faith is to believe in God who has created and continues in the creative work and loves us. It is to express our God-given freedom to decide to live a life of discipleship – following Christ who taught us to love God with all our heart and mind and strength and to love our neighbour as ourselves.
Living out my Christian faith is to engage pragmatically in service to those who are in need and especially to the marginalized, oppressed, rejected and despised around us. This is why I had to live out my faith and my life in participating in programmes of service and justice to the poor materially and spiritually, gays and lesbians, and the Other – those who are of a different sex, religion or social status.
Some of the specific missions and ministries that I was engaged in was in the human rights and peace-making efforts through the Christian Conference of Asia in the martial law period in the Philippines, Korea, Indonesia. It was also in the task of relief and rehabilitation in the Indochina countries and developing relationships with the Christian churches as they surfaced from the days of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. It is in the pastoral ministry to the gays and lesbians as they come out from their closets. It is in the fellowship of the Inter Religious Organization promoting peace and harmony. It is in the work of reconciliation between the Sinhalese and Tamils at the conclusion of their civil war. It is in the support of humanitarian assistance to the poor and the needy. These are the ways that I continue to try to live out my faith.
In principle it is involvement in the work of transformation of life. It is to effect changes and paradigmn shifts and bring about the reign of God in personal lives and systemic structures.
In principle I am compelled to acknowledge differences and affirm diversity in life. It is to move from toleration of differences to respect differences and to celebrate differences. It is to interact with the Other and to be open to learn from one another. It is to install justice in my relationships and establish righteousness in my live. This is my attempt in living out my faith in my daily walk with God. By so doing, I strive to play my part to restore the rainbow of hope in God’s Creation.
- Yap Kim Hao
Jo and Gabriel were interested in the way people of faith live out their faith. They hosted a pleasant dinner meeting in their home to explore this concern with around twenty friends who accepted their invitation. As a starter, I was commissioned to narrate for half an hour my personal observations.
This provided the challenge to relate my faith to my life. What were the seminal influences that I could identify in the development of my faith and the ways to live it out?
I was not born into a Christian home for my parents were followers of the traditional Chinese religions with the emphasis on religious rituals without too much understanding of doctrines. In my formative years I saw primarily the living out of their faith.
I experienced the protection and security in my childhood. This came through the love of my mother in nurturing me and responding to my needs. I recall that my father was the disciplinarian and I was reminded of the rules that govern my behaviour. It was necessary to know the rules and to follow them. There was nothing strictly religious in content but guidelines and examples to help me to become a well-behaved and well-mannered person in a Confucian culture.
My father learnt the language of the British colonial government. He became an Interpreter in the law courts and served the government in different towns. The family was living with people of other races as neighbours, Malays and Indians. I was exposed to other cultures. I grew up in Kampar and received some Christian influence in the local Methodist school. The rented terrace house which is still standing had the town mosque and a Chinese temple at the end of Jalan Ampang, a side road off the main trunk road that runs through the town going north and south.
During World War II and the Japanese Occupution of Malaya, tragedy struck which led to my being crippled and coupled with the untimely death of my father when I was fifteen. I was forced to reflect upon my difficult uncertain future. My widowed homemaker mother was abruptly loaded with the responsibility for my welfare as well as that of my younger brother and two sisters. Two older sisters were married at that time. It was not an easy burden and I knew it was my responsibility to lift that heavy burden as soon as possible.
I received love and kindness from family and friends in my early formative years and in the time of personal crisis I received care and concern from Christian friends. Sensing my indebtedness of kind people around me I was aware that I need to repay the kindness shown. They reflected their religious faith. The inter-relationships between faith and life were demonstrated to me in a personal way. In my deepest need I experienced the greatest compassion.
This process guided me throughout my life. Faith made visible in life. Life brought clarity to faith. It is a continuous interaction between action and reflection, faith and works. In the process of living and reflecting I drew my inspiration from Christian friends and pastors.
The one sermon that stands out in my mind in my youth is the one from the Rev Ralph Kesselring who was my missionary pastor and Principal in Ipoh. Strangely enough his daughter Ann a few years ago discovered the text of the sermon with written notations and sent it to me. It was strange but it was to me a serendipitous moment. It was the message of Amos on social justice. Away from the religious festivals, silence the noisy solemn assemblies and let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
I was drawn to the other prophet Micah who posed the question as to what the Lord requires from me – but to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.
My spiritual journey with God must necessarily be through deeds of kindness and works of justice.
When I finally decided to choose my career as a Pastor, I was privileged to secure my preparation in Boston University School of Theology in the United States. It was that seminary and its social ethicist Walter Muelder and systematic theologian Harold DeWolf who taught Martin Luther King in his doctoral programme and mentored him in his Civil Rights struggle and supported him to live out his faith. I was privileged to sit under the feet of these scholars who set the direction in my own spiritual journey in my Christian ministry
It was a call not to just ensure me that I am on the road to enter heaven but on a mission to love God through loving my neighbour in this world. It was a call not just to settle my doctrinal faith but to live out my faith at each moment in my life. My faith is always action-oriented. It is a continuing process of expressing my faith in life and enriching my faith through my involvement.
What then are some of the contours of my religious faith that I confess? God is always a mystery to mortal human beings who are limited and we cannot fully define the nature of God. Suffice to acknowledge God as the Creative One who brought all things into existence and has breathed life in us and around us. What then is the meaning and purpose of this one life of mine? It is to participate in the same creative task of God in the creation groaning in travail and in the process of fulfillment.
Faith is not just worshiping and praying and praising God. It is not petitioning to God to intervene directly to heal broken lives and restore this fractured world. Faith is not appealing to God to bless us with prosperity, health and success. Faith is to believe in God who has created and continues in the creative work and loves us. It is to express our God-given freedom to decide to live a life of discipleship – following Christ who taught us to love God with all our heart and mind and strength and to love our neighbour as ourselves.
Living out my Christian faith is to engage pragmatically in service to those who are in need and especially to the marginalized, oppressed, rejected and despised around us. This is why I had to live out my faith and my life in participating in programmes of service and justice to the poor materially and spiritually, gays and lesbians, and the Other – those who are of a different sex, religion or social status.
Some of the specific missions and ministries that I was engaged in was in the human rights and peace-making efforts through the Christian Conference of Asia in the martial law period in the Philippines, Korea, Indonesia. It was also in the task of relief and rehabilitation in the Indochina countries and developing relationships with the Christian churches as they surfaced from the days of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. It is in the pastoral ministry to the gays and lesbians as they come out from their closets. It is in the fellowship of the Inter Religious Organization promoting peace and harmony. It is in the work of reconciliation between the Sinhalese and Tamils at the conclusion of their civil war. It is in the support of humanitarian assistance to the poor and the needy. These are the ways that I continue to try to live out my faith.
In principle it is involvement in the work of transformation of life. It is to effect changes and paradigmn shifts and bring about the reign of God in personal lives and systemic structures.
In principle I am compelled to acknowledge differences and affirm diversity in life. It is to move from toleration of differences to respect differences and to celebrate differences. It is to interact with the Other and to be open to learn from one another. It is to install justice in my relationships and establish righteousness in my live. This is my attempt in living out my faith in my daily walk with God. By so doing, I strive to play my part to restore the rainbow of hope in God’s Creation.
- Yap Kim Hao
Monday, December 27, 2010
Sex & Gay Christian
From Gay Christian Online
Gay Christian Online - Living The Gay Christian Life - Sexual Ethics HOME
hough you, as a Gay Christian, are not bound by the Law of the Old Covenant, in searching the Scriptures of the New Covenant, I am amazed at the number of references on the topic of sexual ethics, exhortations to flee from sexual impurity, and the elevation of the purity of sexual maturity and its proper expression.
Gay Christian Life - Body Shame
Your body is not something to be ashamed of, it is and can be a thing of beauty, the earthly vessel in which you live in this world. You need to take care of it, keep it balanced and healthy. Learn how to live a healthy body life in my article on Gay Christian Athletics. The human body is beautiful, and so is sex. But, both have to be in submission to your spirit, and walk in harmony with each other. If you have a positive and healthy spirit, you will see your body in this way, and walk healthy in your body and body choices. There is nothing wrong with admiring the beauty of the human body, but rather our motivations determine the health of such admiration and our desires.
Gay Christian Life - Know The Difference Between Love And Sex
Love is not sex and sex is not Love. Sex is biological, physical, emotional and spiritual. You, as a gay person, should especially know sex is not given just for biological reasons, procreation, for not all gay people are blessed with the opportunities to parent a child. No, sex is far more. Sex is a binding thing, it joins and binds two bodies together, and it also has the potential to join and bind two hearts together. You can have sex and bond only physically, but you cannot be bound and joined together in relationship to another person without the desire to be somehow connected physically to each other. There is nothing basically evil, dirty, or sinful in sex, it is how it is expressed, and the motivation behind that expression, which can give rise to error. Therefore, it is important to learn what role and purpose God has for sex and how it is to be a part of your life as a Gay Christian.
Frosting is sweet, wonderful, inviting, hard to resist; but, eat too much and it will make you sick, throw your blood sugar off balance, or make you addicted to it, ever needing to increase the appetite to get the same "high." Cake, in and of itself, is adequate, but just barely; nutritious, yes, but by itself dull, boring, incomplete. Together, however, cake and frosting makes a wonderful dessert, the frosting elevates the cake and the cake supports the frosting.
Gay Christian Life - Sex Verses Relationship
Frosting is sex and cake is relationship. Too much sex will leave you empty, shallow, even addicted. Relationship without affection is incomplete. A relationship can exist without sex, as in the cases of couples facing illness, emotional or physical challenges, but they must be reinforced by other means of sweetness, affection. Nothing can compare with the depth of sexual pleasure achieved with someone with whom you deeply care, love and abide with in the bonds of life long relationship; what goes on in the bedroom is dependent on what goes on outside the bedroom, between the hearts of the two people bound together in commitment.
Though Scripture has often been misinterpreted regarding sexual orientation, it says a lot about its expression. Sexual expression is bound by the Law of Christ, the Law of Love, as all other aspects of being; you are to express your sexuality in Christian Love. Though there is, today, all manner of sexual expression within the straight community, there ever remains the shadow of procreation. But, for the Gay Christian, the possibility of procreation is generally removed. There are no sexual guidelines for gays and another for straights, for you are under Christ and under His Law of Love, and it applies equally to both gays and straights.
I've had people try to justify to me their sexual activities by saying they were "showing caring love to the person they were 'humping' last night." I've even heard churches compromise the Law of Love by teaching it's "ok to have sex, just do it in a loving way." Well, I boldly and without regret say to you, and believe without question, the Scriptures teach:
Gay Christian Life - Proper Sexual Expression
Any sexual expression which uses and/or abuses the other person or is motivated selfishly is Scripturally questioned and is not Christian Love."
Do I need to go further into any more detail or do you get the general picture? Any such activity, whether you're gay or straight, is not an expression of God's Love. Sex within God's Love plan is given to elevate your life. Scriptures continually admonish you to flee from sexual expressions done outside of the Law of Love. We are told not to resist sexual temptations but to flee from them, run and run fast.
Christians, whether gay or straight, are not compelled to reproduce nor be joined to another in relationship; in fact, you are encouraged to set aside all feelings of being somehow incomplete for not having a mate and to concentrate on your place in the Body of Christ. But, if you are blessed or cursed, however you look at it, with a high sexual drive, Scriptures encourage you to channel it in a Godly manner, Love.
Gay Christian Life - The Blessing Of Relationship
If God leads you to a mate, what a blessing, and God shall give you the ability to live as a good and rewarding couple; if not, what a blessing still, and God shall give you the ability to live a good and rewarding single life.
Your sexuality is to be rooted and grounded in Love just like all other aspects of your being; it is your heart which shall be revealed in your attitudes, and your attitudes revealed in your actions. Your sexuality is to be surrendered to God just as all other aspects of your being. Let me ask you this: Can you look upon another person's naked body in your neighborhood gym shower, admire it from a heart of purity and respect for the human form the same as if you viewed the same person fully clothed? Your heart knows you best.
Gay Christian Life - Admire And Respect, But Do Not Stare
Personally and truthfully, I was blessed (or cursed) with very high sex drive, I love it a lot, have difficulty controlling myself, but I write these things not because I have a hang-up about sex, but rather to share the blessings I have learned from it. I have known and experienced much pleasure and pain sexually and I know first hand the joys of its proper place and expression and the pains of failure, setting aside priorities and commitments. I have learned from God the joys of sexuality when expressed within the framework and guidelines of God's Love. If you follow the Law of Love I promise you you will not miss out on something sexually, but instead learn the wisdom of its purpose and the talent of its proper place and expression.
If you have failed to abide by God's Love in your sexuality confess it and receive forgiveness, healing and cleansing.
If you have failed to walk in Love sexually, I invite you to pray this prayer:
Dear God,
I confess I have not walked in Love regarding my sexuality. Forgive me, cleanse me. I receive Your forgiveness, I forgive myself, too, and see myself once again as new before You. Give me your Spirit to guide me and teach me how to walk in Your Love through my sexuality. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
EMAIL ME ABOUT SEXUAL ETHICS. chat about sexual ethics.
God will not permit you to be tempted beyond what you can handle and you must seek the power and Love of God's Spirit within you. If you need to, seek out professional help to assist you learn how to walk in Love in your sexuality. If, at this reading, you have never been sexual with another person, you are not less than others and should be applauded, difficult thought it may be for you; continue to seek God's will and strength to use your sexuality wisely. Do not deny your sexuality, for that would be denying a part of yourself, rather accept it and channel it properly through God's Love. God has a plan for your sexuality just as with other areas of your life; trust God and be at peace.
Gay Christian Life - Using The Gift Of Sex Properly
Sex is a special gift from God, and used properly it can be a blessing to you.
John 8:1-11; Rom. 13:9-10; I Cor. 5:1-13; 6:15-20; 7:1-40; 10:8, 13-14; II Cor. 10:3-5; Gal. 5:16-19, 24; Eph. 5:3-4, 11-12; Heb. 13:4; James 4:2-10; I Peter 2:11-12; 4:1-4.
See Also: Sexual Compulsions, Sex Outside of a Relationship, Pornography, Masturbation, Reproduction, Is Gay Sex Wrong?, Body Care.
ow get out there and enjoy life as a Gay Christian... have fun, be responsible, be Love in all you are and do, and maintain good and healthy relationships with yourself, with God, the Church, and with other people.
Gay Christian Online - Living The Gay Christian Life - Sexual Ethics HOME
hough you, as a Gay Christian, are not bound by the Law of the Old Covenant, in searching the Scriptures of the New Covenant, I am amazed at the number of references on the topic of sexual ethics, exhortations to flee from sexual impurity, and the elevation of the purity of sexual maturity and its proper expression.
Gay Christian Life - Body Shame
Your body is not something to be ashamed of, it is and can be a thing of beauty, the earthly vessel in which you live in this world. You need to take care of it, keep it balanced and healthy. Learn how to live a healthy body life in my article on Gay Christian Athletics. The human body is beautiful, and so is sex. But, both have to be in submission to your spirit, and walk in harmony with each other. If you have a positive and healthy spirit, you will see your body in this way, and walk healthy in your body and body choices. There is nothing wrong with admiring the beauty of the human body, but rather our motivations determine the health of such admiration and our desires.
Gay Christian Life - Know The Difference Between Love And Sex
Love is not sex and sex is not Love. Sex is biological, physical, emotional and spiritual. You, as a gay person, should especially know sex is not given just for biological reasons, procreation, for not all gay people are blessed with the opportunities to parent a child. No, sex is far more. Sex is a binding thing, it joins and binds two bodies together, and it also has the potential to join and bind two hearts together. You can have sex and bond only physically, but you cannot be bound and joined together in relationship to another person without the desire to be somehow connected physically to each other. There is nothing basically evil, dirty, or sinful in sex, it is how it is expressed, and the motivation behind that expression, which can give rise to error. Therefore, it is important to learn what role and purpose God has for sex and how it is to be a part of your life as a Gay Christian.
Frosting is sweet, wonderful, inviting, hard to resist; but, eat too much and it will make you sick, throw your blood sugar off balance, or make you addicted to it, ever needing to increase the appetite to get the same "high." Cake, in and of itself, is adequate, but just barely; nutritious, yes, but by itself dull, boring, incomplete. Together, however, cake and frosting makes a wonderful dessert, the frosting elevates the cake and the cake supports the frosting.
Gay Christian Life - Sex Verses Relationship
Frosting is sex and cake is relationship. Too much sex will leave you empty, shallow, even addicted. Relationship without affection is incomplete. A relationship can exist without sex, as in the cases of couples facing illness, emotional or physical challenges, but they must be reinforced by other means of sweetness, affection. Nothing can compare with the depth of sexual pleasure achieved with someone with whom you deeply care, love and abide with in the bonds of life long relationship; what goes on in the bedroom is dependent on what goes on outside the bedroom, between the hearts of the two people bound together in commitment.
Though Scripture has often been misinterpreted regarding sexual orientation, it says a lot about its expression. Sexual expression is bound by the Law of Christ, the Law of Love, as all other aspects of being; you are to express your sexuality in Christian Love. Though there is, today, all manner of sexual expression within the straight community, there ever remains the shadow of procreation. But, for the Gay Christian, the possibility of procreation is generally removed. There are no sexual guidelines for gays and another for straights, for you are under Christ and under His Law of Love, and it applies equally to both gays and straights.
I've had people try to justify to me their sexual activities by saying they were "showing caring love to the person they were 'humping' last night." I've even heard churches compromise the Law of Love by teaching it's "ok to have sex, just do it in a loving way." Well, I boldly and without regret say to you, and believe without question, the Scriptures teach:
Gay Christian Life - Proper Sexual Expression
Any sexual expression which uses and/or abuses the other person or is motivated selfishly is Scripturally questioned and is not Christian Love."
Do I need to go further into any more detail or do you get the general picture? Any such activity, whether you're gay or straight, is not an expression of God's Love. Sex within God's Love plan is given to elevate your life. Scriptures continually admonish you to flee from sexual expressions done outside of the Law of Love. We are told not to resist sexual temptations but to flee from them, run and run fast.
Christians, whether gay or straight, are not compelled to reproduce nor be joined to another in relationship; in fact, you are encouraged to set aside all feelings of being somehow incomplete for not having a mate and to concentrate on your place in the Body of Christ. But, if you are blessed or cursed, however you look at it, with a high sexual drive, Scriptures encourage you to channel it in a Godly manner, Love.
Gay Christian Life - The Blessing Of Relationship
If God leads you to a mate, what a blessing, and God shall give you the ability to live as a good and rewarding couple; if not, what a blessing still, and God shall give you the ability to live a good and rewarding single life.
Your sexuality is to be rooted and grounded in Love just like all other aspects of your being; it is your heart which shall be revealed in your attitudes, and your attitudes revealed in your actions. Your sexuality is to be surrendered to God just as all other aspects of your being. Let me ask you this: Can you look upon another person's naked body in your neighborhood gym shower, admire it from a heart of purity and respect for the human form the same as if you viewed the same person fully clothed? Your heart knows you best.
Gay Christian Life - Admire And Respect, But Do Not Stare
Personally and truthfully, I was blessed (or cursed) with very high sex drive, I love it a lot, have difficulty controlling myself, but I write these things not because I have a hang-up about sex, but rather to share the blessings I have learned from it. I have known and experienced much pleasure and pain sexually and I know first hand the joys of its proper place and expression and the pains of failure, setting aside priorities and commitments. I have learned from God the joys of sexuality when expressed within the framework and guidelines of God's Love. If you follow the Law of Love I promise you you will not miss out on something sexually, but instead learn the wisdom of its purpose and the talent of its proper place and expression.
If you have failed to abide by God's Love in your sexuality confess it and receive forgiveness, healing and cleansing.
If you have failed to walk in Love sexually, I invite you to pray this prayer:
Dear God,
I confess I have not walked in Love regarding my sexuality. Forgive me, cleanse me. I receive Your forgiveness, I forgive myself, too, and see myself once again as new before You. Give me your Spirit to guide me and teach me how to walk in Your Love through my sexuality. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
EMAIL ME ABOUT SEXUAL ETHICS. chat about sexual ethics.
God will not permit you to be tempted beyond what you can handle and you must seek the power and Love of God's Spirit within you. If you need to, seek out professional help to assist you learn how to walk in Love in your sexuality. If, at this reading, you have never been sexual with another person, you are not less than others and should be applauded, difficult thought it may be for you; continue to seek God's will and strength to use your sexuality wisely. Do not deny your sexuality, for that would be denying a part of yourself, rather accept it and channel it properly through God's Love. God has a plan for your sexuality just as with other areas of your life; trust God and be at peace.
Gay Christian Life - Using The Gift Of Sex Properly
Sex is a special gift from God, and used properly it can be a blessing to you.
John 8:1-11; Rom. 13:9-10; I Cor. 5:1-13; 6:15-20; 7:1-40; 10:8, 13-14; II Cor. 10:3-5; Gal. 5:16-19, 24; Eph. 5:3-4, 11-12; Heb. 13:4; James 4:2-10; I Peter 2:11-12; 4:1-4.
See Also: Sexual Compulsions, Sex Outside of a Relationship, Pornography, Masturbation, Reproduction, Is Gay Sex Wrong?, Body Care.
ow get out there and enjoy life as a Gay Christian... have fun, be responsible, be Love in all you are and do, and maintain good and healthy relationships with yourself, with God, the Church, and with other people.
Christian Sexual Ethics
>
> Reflections on Sexual Ethics
>
> Yap Kim Hao
>
>
>
> Lately, I have been challenged to reflect on sexual ethics. In terms of sex
> there is the tendency for us to "just do it" (it is just sex!) instead of
> first thinking over its consequences. It is to our advantage to be proactive
> and develop some guidelines concerning things sexual.
>
>
>
> The breaking up of relationships resulted in emotional upheavals around us.
> The fallout of pain and agony should not surprise us. These happenings led
> me to informal discussions with people who are prepared to be engaged on the
> issue of sexual ethics and there are only a few. It is good and timely that
> these situations presented opportunities for us to reflect. The pressure of
> events has forced us to look more critically on sexual ethics in our
> community. It is all about sex in FCC in the direction of discovering
> meaning and purpose of sex in our lives. .
>
>
>
> When I was requested to express my views on the article on "Sexual Ethics" I
> realise that I could not just simple state my views and rehearse them again.
> I need to probe also into recent publications on the subject to find my
> bearings and see whether I am on the right track in the current discourse on
> sexual ethics. I went to the library of Trinity Theological College and
> searched the catalogue under the search words "Christian sexual ethics." I
> explored the following books which I found useful and I interacted with the
> writings in seeking clarity for my positions.
>
>
>
> I want to share the titles of these books which I found stimulating:
>
> 1. Farley Margaret A, "Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual
> Ethics" (New York: Continum, 2006).
>
> Ms Farley is Professor of Christian Ethics at Yale Divinity School since
> 1971. She is a feminist theologian and in her scholarly work she has
> researched the important writings on this subject with a vast bibliography.
>
>
>
> 2. Jordan, Mark D, "The Ethics of Sex" (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing,
> 2002). Mr Jordan is avante-garde on Postmodern theology and writes from a
> non-heterosexual and marginal perspective. In the penultimate page of his
> book, he wrote: "Who could have imagined two decades ago (since 1970) that
> an introduction to the Christian ethics of sex could be written by an
> `unrepentant homosexual'"?
>
>
>
> 3. Cahill, Lisa Snowle, (Sex, Gender & Christian Ethics"
> (Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 1996). Ms Snowle is a Professor of
> Christian Ethics at Boston College. She wrote from the perspective of a
> Catholic feminist theologian.
>
>
>
> 4. Dominian, Jack & Montefiore, Hugh, "God Sex & Love" (London: SCM
> Press, 1989). Anglican Bishop Montefiore is a marital counselor and Senior
> Consultant at Central Middlesex Hospital. Roman Catholic Dr Dominian is a
> Senior Consultant Psychiatrist in the same hospital. Both speak as committed
> members of their churches and dare to differ from their official teaching.
>
>
>
> 5. Countryman, L. William, "Dirt Greed & Sex: Sexual Ethics in the New
> Testament and their implications for Today" (Philadelphia: Fortress Press,
> 1988). Dr Countryman is Professor of New Testament at the Church Divinity
> School of the Pacific in Berkeley.
>
>
>
> In reading through this random selection of books I found all the authors
> are gay-affirming and they seem to agree on some common principles of sexual
> ethics. Some will emphasize more on certain aspects like the Catholic bishop
> who shared also the concept of natural law. Others are more progressive.
> Farley was able to draw all the issues together and provides a basic
> framework for our reflection. A comprehensive view of sexuality was
> discussed in order to bring clarity to specific problems of sex.
>
>
>
> They all seem to speak about one Christian sexual ethics along the lines
> that they understand, interpret and communicate. There is one sexual ethic
> applicable for the gays and the straights. They make reference to the LGBT
> community but they do not privilege them. One ethics fits them all – gay or
> straight. This is important and we no longer say that any group needs
> special consideration. The difference is in sexual partners – same-sex or
> opposite sex. The same ethic applies to both.
>
>
>
> The peculiar situation of the LGBTG is that they have to accept their sexual
> orientation and then along with the straights deal with sexual ethics.
> Indulging in sex does not necessarily lead to affirmation of gay identity.
> It may create greater confusion both in acceptance of sexual orientation and
> in sexual ethics. Gays are not naturally more promiscuous than the
> straights. Gay and straight identities are not socially constructed but
> naturally endowed. This is what is meant when we claim we do not choose to
> become a homosexual. It is not a choice but a recognition and acceptance of
> what is given.
>
>
>
> The question that we have to ask is the source and authority for our
> Christian ethic. Traditionally, we have been told to accept the authority of
> the Bible. For we all too familiar with the refrain "The Bible tells me so."
> Then we are confronted with the teaching of the official Church that has
> declared what is right and what is wrong by the majority of its leaders. But
> when we examine more closely we have to raise the questions about the way
> the Bible was formed or the manner in which the pronouncements of the Church
> were formulated. . The literal acceptance of these important documents is
> not adequate. They are in reality not revealed but interpretations of the
> revelations by the different human authors inspired by God. Sola Scripture
> is not sufficient.
>
> In my seminary training since 1952 I have been exposed to critical study of
> the sources of authority. A scholar of Wesleyan or Methdist theology,
> Albert Outler in 1964 coined the term Wesleyan Quadrilateral for the sources
> in our study of theology and search for truth. The four distinctive sources
> in arriving at theological conclusions are:
>
> - Scripture - *the Holy Bible (Old and New Testaments)*
> - Tradition - *the two millennia history of the Christian Church*
> - Reason - *rational thinking and sensible interpretation*
> - Experience - *a Christian's personal and communal journey in Christ*
>
> This quadrilateral has been widely accepted by recognized scholars and has
> filtered down to popular usage. Farley readily admits that her version
> parallels the Wesleyan Quadrilateral which she regards as fairly "standard"
> for most scholars for the study of Christian sexual ethics. She uses the
> terms Scripture, tradition, secular disciplines and contemporary experience.
>
>
>
>
> These four sources are distinct but inter-related. We can no longer believe
> that the words of the Bible were dictated by God and the metaphorical story
> of the Ten Commandments were carved in stone tablets and brought down from
> Mount Sinai by Moses who met Yahweh at the top. People of faith have
> received what they in faith believed as God's revelation of truth. They must
> have undergone the process of reasoning to come to their conclusions. The
> teaching of the Church was formulated by scholars and leaders through their
> critical study and reflection not only of the Bible passages. What they
> believe to be true has to be experienced in the life of the faithful
> individually and corporately in community. No one source can stand alone. It
> must interact with one another in trying to reach truth and understanding.
>
>
>
> When we interpret the Bible and Tradition we must recognize that it is
> historically based and culturally bound. They cannot be absolute and
> universal truth for all people and all time. We have the obligation and
> responsibility to investigate how they can become relevant to our
> contemporary situations. We have already rejected the purity laws, slavery,
> racial discrimination, patriarchy and it is just a matter time before the
> teaching that homosexuality is a sin and abomination is cast into the
> shredder.
>
>
>
> With sexual ethics in mind we must note that the Bible is primarily
> concerned with sex solely for procreation and the patriarchal model of
> sexual relationships. Women were generally under the control by men
> and regarded
> to be a piece of property to be used and transacted. The Jewish tribes were
> concerned with the perpetuation of their people as Chosen people and the
> continued dominance of the male members in society. Monogamous relationship
> for life was valued and promoted. Adultery was punishable by death of both
> partners.
>
>
>
> The Jewish faith was concerned with the issue of holiness and purity and
> regard the material including the body as of less worth than the spiritual.
> There are those who even say that sexuality violates purity laws and there
> is much argument about what is clean and what is unclean. It also leads to
> feel that erotic pleasure is disgusting and that sex is dirty.
>
>
>
> Sex is due to the fall.. Too easily is the acceptance even within the gay
> community that sex is original sin and fallen nature. It is then associated
> not only to the weakness of the temptress Eve but with the demonic and the
> idolatrous.
>
>
>
> The New Testament is clear that there is the overarching command to love God
> and neighbour which includes the sexual lives of the people. Seeking justice
> and loving mercy is more important that pursuing sex. It was concerned with
> the reign of God in all human activity.
>
>
>
> The community of faith in their critical reflection and interpretation of
> the words and events written down in the pages of the holy text which
> originally circulated as oral tradition form the official teaching of the
> Church.
>
> As the Bible was influenced by the pagan religions around them, the teaching
> of the Church was impacted by Graeco-Roman culture and the other religious
> and cultural conditions prevailing then. Tradition is continuing and is not
> frozen to the past. Through our experiences and new thinking we correct old
> traditions, updating them and forming new ones. This process is a continuous
> one. New occasions teach new duties.
>
>
>
> The Graeco-Roman culture accepted sex as a natural part of life. It was
> against incest, bigamy and adultery because they covet another person's
> property. Both the Greeks and the Romans know about same-sex relations for
> they assumed that the male sex is bi-sexual. Concubinage, male and female
> prostitution, sexual use of slaves were accepted. Both men and women sought
> sex with partners other than their spouses. Only the brides were expected to
> be virgins. Male homosexuality was accepted but male passivity is
> questioned. Lesbian relationships did not receive positive support and seen
> as adultery because a woman is a property of her husband.
>
>
>
> The Christian tradition inevitably changed in succeeding generations. The
> ancient philosophers were against bodily passion. But the use of reason in
> dealing with questions of morality was encouraged. Sex was good but gone bad
> due to the Fall. Virginity became a virtue and extolled.
>
>
>
> The Early Church Fathers viewed sexual passion as an evil passion that must
> be brought under control. Even sexual intercourse outside marriage and
> without the purpose of procreation was regarded as sinful. Marriage is seen
> as a remedy for lust. Canon law was instituted on the principle that "all
> sexual activity is evil unless it is between husband and wife and for the
> sake of procreation. Generally then they took a negative and pessimistic
> view of sex.
>
>
>
> In the Middle Ages the tradition of spiritual love and sexual pleasure came
> together and celibacy was challenged. Later Luther advanced the idea that
> marriage is not a hospital for incurables but a school for character and the
> importance of family life. Luther along with Calvin opposed divorce,
> premarital and extramarital sex and homosexual relations.
>
>
>
> Sexual ethics must necessarily be affected by new information and new
> technologies. The secular disciplines of philosophy, psychology, sociology,
> science and arts are what we can regard as the rational source. We use
> reason and we experiment to gain knowledge.
>
>
>
> Karen Armstrong recently commented: "Homo sapiens is also Homo religiosus.
> As soon as we became recognizably human, men and women started to create
> religions. We are meaning-seeking creatures. While dogs, as far as we know,
> do not worry about the canine condition or agonize about their mortality,
> humans fall very easily into despair if we don't find some significance in
> our lives."
>
>
> Is it reasonable for us to believe that when human beings came out of the
> waters on the shores of life they were gifted with reason to comprehend and
> cope with their surroundings. In this condition filled with awe and wonder
> they constructed their religious systems. They looked at one another and
> found the differentiation of male and female gender. In the new and strange
> environment they sought companionship and driven my inner urges they found
> intimacy with their partners. Through the process of observation they
> discovered though in a primitive sense how new life emerged. The powerful
> with sheer strength and plain possessions began to dominate the weaker ones
> to satisfy their natural desires including sexual urges. In organizing the
> tribes they discovered the value of family and community in child-rearing
> and protecting the group. God has also gifted humankind with a moral sense
> of what is good and right and the freedom to choose. We find the authority
> embedded in religion as well. We entered into a whole range of experiences
> and reflected upon them. This process is continuing.
>
>
>
> When we look at experience as a source of authority we recognize that the
> Bible is a record of the experience of the people of faith and the teaching
> of the Church is a record of the experience of the community of faith who at
> a specific time of history come to agreement, in this case, on sexual
> issues. All claim divine revelations but even then the revelations have to
> be processed by the use of reason and experience.
>
>
>
> Farley offers further the concept of "just love." She warns us about
> casually saying that love is the sufficient answer to all our sexual issues.
> We must be able to see the right kind of the expression of love. It must be
> true, good and just love. She places the emphasis on the principle of
> justice in our loving relationships. Her definition of love that is true and
> just, right and good as "true response to the reality of the beloved, a
> genuine union between the one who loves and the one loved, and an accurate
> and adequate affective affirmation of the beloved."
>
>
>
> She then listed specific norms for a "just sex." Our sexual relationships
> need to serve the cause of justice. These are the principles or guidelines:
> 1. Do no unjust harm. 2. Free consent of partners. 3. Mutuality. 4.
> Equality. 5. Commitment. 6. Fruitfulness. 7. Social justice. All these come
> to play when we reasoned out our own version of sexual ethics to guide our
> actions.
>
>
>
> With this interpretation of authority and framework for sexual ethics we now
> examine some of the problematic areas. .
>
>
>
> What is sex? Much has been said that the sexual act between male and female
> is for the purpose of procreation. The created human body - male and female
> - come together to give birth to new life. This is the natural form of
> ensuring life to continue on earth knowing that death is inevitable to all.
> This is the case with animal life. We detect the strong drive for sex which
> is innate that leads to intense desire and performance of the sexual act for
> the purpose of creating new life.
>
>
>
> Beyond reproduction, sex also provides intimacy and pleasure. According to
> Cahil, "Sexual pleasure as a bodily reality involves sexual drives and
> attractions, and their resolution through orgasm or to less genitally
> focused experiences of sexual satisfaction." St Paul acknowledges the
> satisfaction of desire for intimacy as a valid reason for marriage. Sex in
> our time in contrast with the past is focused more directly on intimacy and
> pleasure than in reproduction. This is a positive value of sex being an
> integral part of the human person with freedom and responsibility to relate
> and enter into relationships with others. Sex is to be regarded as a good
> gift from God in creating us as sexual beings.
>
>
>
> What do we have to say about open relationships? While it is true that we
> cannot be easily satisfied with a monogamous relationship and even managing
> one, how are we to cope with multiple relationships and managing more than
> one. The eruptions caused by breaking relationships of a couple without
> open relationships will just increase exponentially for those who work on
> open relationships. Strong emotions swirl around in relationships and they
> need to be controlled and regulated.
>
>
>
> There are levels of relationships for intimacy and pleasure. It is different
> between friends and partners in committed and consensual relationships. What
> form of sexual acts come into play between friends and between partners?
>
>
>
> Much has been said about marriage and family values. If open relationships
> is acceptable what does it mean for the sanctity of marriage of gays and
> straights, the stability of family life and the sustaining of community.
>
>
>
> Is sex is just not a recreational activity that we indulge in as couples or
> in groups as casual sex? Sexuality is not just physical activity. Sexuality
> has physical, emotional, spiritual, personal and social dimensions. It is
> not a private activity in the secrecy of our bedrooms. It has social
> implications as to how we view sex and the kind of human community we form
> when sex is only physical and recreational. We can see the chaos in the more
> open and competitive community in the animal kingdom where physical prowess
> rules. We see it when the powerful and the rich are able to control and buy
> sex. Sex cannot be just individualistic and bodily. Sex which is good has
> turned bad. Good sex has to take into account the dimensions of the body,
> individual and the social. Sex seeks to gratify the person and interpersonal
> fulfillment. That will happen when sexual norms that we listed earlier are
> being applied
>
>
>
> The key to an individual, gay or straight, is not sex but true love. We do
> not engage in sex and destroy life of the individual and community. Sexual
> love must also serve the cause of justice. It is not just sex or simply sex.
> It is sex that is just. Have good and just sex when you are ready and enjoy
> it.
> Reflections on Sexual Ethics
>
> Yap Kim Hao
>
>
>
> Lately, I have been challenged to reflect on sexual ethics. In terms of sex
> there is the tendency for us to "just do it" (it is just sex!) instead of
> first thinking over its consequences. It is to our advantage to be proactive
> and develop some guidelines concerning things sexual.
>
>
>
> The breaking up of relationships resulted in emotional upheavals around us.
> The fallout of pain and agony should not surprise us. These happenings led
> me to informal discussions with people who are prepared to be engaged on the
> issue of sexual ethics and there are only a few. It is good and timely that
> these situations presented opportunities for us to reflect. The pressure of
> events has forced us to look more critically on sexual ethics in our
> community. It is all about sex in FCC in the direction of discovering
> meaning and purpose of sex in our lives. .
>
>
>
> When I was requested to express my views on the article on "Sexual Ethics" I
> realise that I could not just simple state my views and rehearse them again.
> I need to probe also into recent publications on the subject to find my
> bearings and see whether I am on the right track in the current discourse on
> sexual ethics. I went to the library of Trinity Theological College and
> searched the catalogue under the search words "Christian sexual ethics." I
> explored the following books which I found useful and I interacted with the
> writings in seeking clarity for my positions.
>
>
>
> I want to share the titles of these books which I found stimulating:
>
> 1. Farley Margaret A, "Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual
> Ethics" (New York: Continum, 2006).
>
> Ms Farley is Professor of Christian Ethics at Yale Divinity School since
> 1971. She is a feminist theologian and in her scholarly work she has
> researched the important writings on this subject with a vast bibliography.
>
>
>
> 2. Jordan, Mark D, "The Ethics of Sex" (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing,
> 2002). Mr Jordan is avante-garde on Postmodern theology and writes from a
> non-heterosexual and marginal perspective. In the penultimate page of his
> book, he wrote: "Who could have imagined two decades ago (since 1970) that
> an introduction to the Christian ethics of sex could be written by an
> `unrepentant homosexual'"?
>
>
>
> 3. Cahill, Lisa Snowle, (Sex, Gender & Christian Ethics"
> (Cambridge:Cambridge University Press, 1996). Ms Snowle is a Professor of
> Christian Ethics at Boston College. She wrote from the perspective of a
> Catholic feminist theologian.
>
>
>
> 4. Dominian, Jack & Montefiore, Hugh, "God Sex & Love" (London: SCM
> Press, 1989). Anglican Bishop Montefiore is a marital counselor and Senior
> Consultant at Central Middlesex Hospital. Roman Catholic Dr Dominian is a
> Senior Consultant Psychiatrist in the same hospital. Both speak as committed
> members of their churches and dare to differ from their official teaching.
>
>
>
> 5. Countryman, L. William, "Dirt Greed & Sex: Sexual Ethics in the New
> Testament and their implications for Today" (Philadelphia: Fortress Press,
> 1988). Dr Countryman is Professor of New Testament at the Church Divinity
> School of the Pacific in Berkeley.
>
>
>
> In reading through this random selection of books I found all the authors
> are gay-affirming and they seem to agree on some common principles of sexual
> ethics. Some will emphasize more on certain aspects like the Catholic bishop
> who shared also the concept of natural law. Others are more progressive.
> Farley was able to draw all the issues together and provides a basic
> framework for our reflection. A comprehensive view of sexuality was
> discussed in order to bring clarity to specific problems of sex.
>
>
>
> They all seem to speak about one Christian sexual ethics along the lines
> that they understand, interpret and communicate. There is one sexual ethic
> applicable for the gays and the straights. They make reference to the LGBT
> community but they do not privilege them. One ethics fits them all – gay or
> straight. This is important and we no longer say that any group needs
> special consideration. The difference is in sexual partners – same-sex or
> opposite sex. The same ethic applies to both.
>
>
>
> The peculiar situation of the LGBTG is that they have to accept their sexual
> orientation and then along with the straights deal with sexual ethics.
> Indulging in sex does not necessarily lead to affirmation of gay identity.
> It may create greater confusion both in acceptance of sexual orientation and
> in sexual ethics. Gays are not naturally more promiscuous than the
> straights. Gay and straight identities are not socially constructed but
> naturally endowed. This is what is meant when we claim we do not choose to
> become a homosexual. It is not a choice but a recognition and acceptance of
> what is given.
>
>
>
> The question that we have to ask is the source and authority for our
> Christian ethic. Traditionally, we have been told to accept the authority of
> the Bible. For we all too familiar with the refrain "The Bible tells me so."
> Then we are confronted with the teaching of the official Church that has
> declared what is right and what is wrong by the majority of its leaders. But
> when we examine more closely we have to raise the questions about the way
> the Bible was formed or the manner in which the pronouncements of the Church
> were formulated. . The literal acceptance of these important documents is
> not adequate. They are in reality not revealed but interpretations of the
> revelations by the different human authors inspired by God. Sola Scripture
> is not sufficient.
>
> In my seminary training since 1952 I have been exposed to critical study of
> the sources of authority. A scholar of Wesleyan or Methdist theology,
> Albert Outler in 1964 coined the term Wesleyan Quadrilateral for the sources
> in our study of theology and search for truth. The four distinctive sources
> in arriving at theological conclusions are:
>
> - Scripture - *the Holy Bible (Old and New Testaments)*
> - Tradition - *the two millennia history of the Christian Church*
> - Reason - *rational thinking and sensible interpretation*
> - Experience - *a Christian's personal and communal journey in Christ*
>
> This quadrilateral has been widely accepted by recognized scholars and has
> filtered down to popular usage. Farley readily admits that her version
> parallels the Wesleyan Quadrilateral which she regards as fairly "standard"
> for most scholars for the study of Christian sexual ethics. She uses the
> terms Scripture, tradition, secular disciplines and contemporary experience.
>
>
>
>
> These four sources are distinct but inter-related. We can no longer believe
> that the words of the Bible were dictated by God and the metaphorical story
> of the Ten Commandments were carved in stone tablets and brought down from
> Mount Sinai by Moses who met Yahweh at the top. People of faith have
> received what they in faith believed as God's revelation of truth. They must
> have undergone the process of reasoning to come to their conclusions. The
> teaching of the Church was formulated by scholars and leaders through their
> critical study and reflection not only of the Bible passages. What they
> believe to be true has to be experienced in the life of the faithful
> individually and corporately in community. No one source can stand alone. It
> must interact with one another in trying to reach truth and understanding.
>
>
>
> When we interpret the Bible and Tradition we must recognize that it is
> historically based and culturally bound. They cannot be absolute and
> universal truth for all people and all time. We have the obligation and
> responsibility to investigate how they can become relevant to our
> contemporary situations. We have already rejected the purity laws, slavery,
> racial discrimination, patriarchy and it is just a matter time before the
> teaching that homosexuality is a sin and abomination is cast into the
> shredder.
>
>
>
> With sexual ethics in mind we must note that the Bible is primarily
> concerned with sex solely for procreation and the patriarchal model of
> sexual relationships. Women were generally under the control by men
> and regarded
> to be a piece of property to be used and transacted. The Jewish tribes were
> concerned with the perpetuation of their people as Chosen people and the
> continued dominance of the male members in society. Monogamous relationship
> for life was valued and promoted. Adultery was punishable by death of both
> partners.
>
>
>
> The Jewish faith was concerned with the issue of holiness and purity and
> regard the material including the body as of less worth than the spiritual.
> There are those who even say that sexuality violates purity laws and there
> is much argument about what is clean and what is unclean. It also leads to
> feel that erotic pleasure is disgusting and that sex is dirty.
>
>
>
> Sex is due to the fall.. Too easily is the acceptance even within the gay
> community that sex is original sin and fallen nature. It is then associated
> not only to the weakness of the temptress Eve but with the demonic and the
> idolatrous.
>
>
>
> The New Testament is clear that there is the overarching command to love God
> and neighbour which includes the sexual lives of the people. Seeking justice
> and loving mercy is more important that pursuing sex. It was concerned with
> the reign of God in all human activity.
>
>
>
> The community of faith in their critical reflection and interpretation of
> the words and events written down in the pages of the holy text which
> originally circulated as oral tradition form the official teaching of the
> Church.
>
> As the Bible was influenced by the pagan religions around them, the teaching
> of the Church was impacted by Graeco-Roman culture and the other religious
> and cultural conditions prevailing then. Tradition is continuing and is not
> frozen to the past. Through our experiences and new thinking we correct old
> traditions, updating them and forming new ones. This process is a continuous
> one. New occasions teach new duties.
>
>
>
> The Graeco-Roman culture accepted sex as a natural part of life. It was
> against incest, bigamy and adultery because they covet another person's
> property. Both the Greeks and the Romans know about same-sex relations for
> they assumed that the male sex is bi-sexual. Concubinage, male and female
> prostitution, sexual use of slaves were accepted. Both men and women sought
> sex with partners other than their spouses. Only the brides were expected to
> be virgins. Male homosexuality was accepted but male passivity is
> questioned. Lesbian relationships did not receive positive support and seen
> as adultery because a woman is a property of her husband.
>
>
>
> The Christian tradition inevitably changed in succeeding generations. The
> ancient philosophers were against bodily passion. But the use of reason in
> dealing with questions of morality was encouraged. Sex was good but gone bad
> due to the Fall. Virginity became a virtue and extolled.
>
>
>
> The Early Church Fathers viewed sexual passion as an evil passion that must
> be brought under control. Even sexual intercourse outside marriage and
> without the purpose of procreation was regarded as sinful. Marriage is seen
> as a remedy for lust. Canon law was instituted on the principle that "all
> sexual activity is evil unless it is between husband and wife and for the
> sake of procreation. Generally then they took a negative and pessimistic
> view of sex.
>
>
>
> In the Middle Ages the tradition of spiritual love and sexual pleasure came
> together and celibacy was challenged. Later Luther advanced the idea that
> marriage is not a hospital for incurables but a school for character and the
> importance of family life. Luther along with Calvin opposed divorce,
> premarital and extramarital sex and homosexual relations.
>
>
>
> Sexual ethics must necessarily be affected by new information and new
> technologies. The secular disciplines of philosophy, psychology, sociology,
> science and arts are what we can regard as the rational source. We use
> reason and we experiment to gain knowledge.
>
>
>
> Karen Armstrong recently commented: "Homo sapiens is also Homo religiosus.
> As soon as we became recognizably human, men and women started to create
> religions. We are meaning-seeking creatures. While dogs, as far as we know,
> do not worry about the canine condition or agonize about their mortality,
> humans fall very easily into despair if we don't find some significance in
> our lives."
>
>
> Is it reasonable for us to believe that when human beings came out of the
> waters on the shores of life they were gifted with reason to comprehend and
> cope with their surroundings. In this condition filled with awe and wonder
> they constructed their religious systems. They looked at one another and
> found the differentiation of male and female gender. In the new and strange
> environment they sought companionship and driven my inner urges they found
> intimacy with their partners. Through the process of observation they
> discovered though in a primitive sense how new life emerged. The powerful
> with sheer strength and plain possessions began to dominate the weaker ones
> to satisfy their natural desires including sexual urges. In organizing the
> tribes they discovered the value of family and community in child-rearing
> and protecting the group. God has also gifted humankind with a moral sense
> of what is good and right and the freedom to choose. We find the authority
> embedded in religion as well. We entered into a whole range of experiences
> and reflected upon them. This process is continuing.
>
>
>
> When we look at experience as a source of authority we recognize that the
> Bible is a record of the experience of the people of faith and the teaching
> of the Church is a record of the experience of the community of faith who at
> a specific time of history come to agreement, in this case, on sexual
> issues. All claim divine revelations but even then the revelations have to
> be processed by the use of reason and experience.
>
>
>
> Farley offers further the concept of "just love." She warns us about
> casually saying that love is the sufficient answer to all our sexual issues.
> We must be able to see the right kind of the expression of love. It must be
> true, good and just love. She places the emphasis on the principle of
> justice in our loving relationships. Her definition of love that is true and
> just, right and good as "true response to the reality of the beloved, a
> genuine union between the one who loves and the one loved, and an accurate
> and adequate affective affirmation of the beloved."
>
>
>
> She then listed specific norms for a "just sex." Our sexual relationships
> need to serve the cause of justice. These are the principles or guidelines:
> 1. Do no unjust harm. 2. Free consent of partners. 3. Mutuality. 4.
> Equality. 5. Commitment. 6. Fruitfulness. 7. Social justice. All these come
> to play when we reasoned out our own version of sexual ethics to guide our
> actions.
>
>
>
> With this interpretation of authority and framework for sexual ethics we now
> examine some of the problematic areas. .
>
>
>
> What is sex? Much has been said that the sexual act between male and female
> is for the purpose of procreation. The created human body - male and female
> - come together to give birth to new life. This is the natural form of
> ensuring life to continue on earth knowing that death is inevitable to all.
> This is the case with animal life. We detect the strong drive for sex which
> is innate that leads to intense desire and performance of the sexual act for
> the purpose of creating new life.
>
>
>
> Beyond reproduction, sex also provides intimacy and pleasure. According to
> Cahil, "Sexual pleasure as a bodily reality involves sexual drives and
> attractions, and their resolution through orgasm or to less genitally
> focused experiences of sexual satisfaction." St Paul acknowledges the
> satisfaction of desire for intimacy as a valid reason for marriage. Sex in
> our time in contrast with the past is focused more directly on intimacy and
> pleasure than in reproduction. This is a positive value of sex being an
> integral part of the human person with freedom and responsibility to relate
> and enter into relationships with others. Sex is to be regarded as a good
> gift from God in creating us as sexual beings.
>
>
>
> What do we have to say about open relationships? While it is true that we
> cannot be easily satisfied with a monogamous relationship and even managing
> one, how are we to cope with multiple relationships and managing more than
> one. The eruptions caused by breaking relationships of a couple without
> open relationships will just increase exponentially for those who work on
> open relationships. Strong emotions swirl around in relationships and they
> need to be controlled and regulated.
>
>
>
> There are levels of relationships for intimacy and pleasure. It is different
> between friends and partners in committed and consensual relationships. What
> form of sexual acts come into play between friends and between partners?
>
>
>
> Much has been said about marriage and family values. If open relationships
> is acceptable what does it mean for the sanctity of marriage of gays and
> straights, the stability of family life and the sustaining of community.
>
>
>
> Is sex is just not a recreational activity that we indulge in as couples or
> in groups as casual sex? Sexuality is not just physical activity. Sexuality
> has physical, emotional, spiritual, personal and social dimensions. It is
> not a private activity in the secrecy of our bedrooms. It has social
> implications as to how we view sex and the kind of human community we form
> when sex is only physical and recreational. We can see the chaos in the more
> open and competitive community in the animal kingdom where physical prowess
> rules. We see it when the powerful and the rich are able to control and buy
> sex. Sex cannot be just individualistic and bodily. Sex which is good has
> turned bad. Good sex has to take into account the dimensions of the body,
> individual and the social. Sex seeks to gratify the person and interpersonal
> fulfillment. That will happen when sexual norms that we listed earlier are
> being applied
>
>
>
> The key to an individual, gay or straight, is not sex but true love. We do
> not engage in sex and destroy life of the individual and community. Sexual
> love must also serve the cause of justice. It is not just sex or simply sex.
> It is sex that is just. Have good and just sex when you are ready and enjoy
> it.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Resolution leading to UN Victory
Resolution of the UN Faith Coalition for LGBT Human Rights
Posted in United Nations Human Rights Advocacy by Rev. Dr. Cindi Love on December 20th, 2010
Resolution of the UN Faith Coalition for LGBT Human Rights
December 2010
Whereas, the international Yogyakarta Principles of 2006 state, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral to every person’s dignity and humanity and must not be the basis for discrimination or abuse.”
Whereas, many faith traditions support human rights, including freedom from imprisonment and execution for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
Whereas, more than 70 countries criminalize sexual orientation and seven allow the death penalty based on sexual orientation;
Whereas, countries in Eastern Africa are increasingly treating gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people as criminals;
Whereas, fundamentalist Christians and Muslims are promoting discrimination and persecution of LGBT people;
Whereas, basic human rights such as the right to marry and maintain custody of children and inheritances upon death are just a few of the civil liberties denied to LGBT people in many areas of the United States of America;
Whereas, all of these realities create a climate of lies and fear that promotes hatred and violence against gender non-conforming people and against those who love someone of the same gender;
Therefore, Be It Resolved, this 18th Day of December, 2010, that the UN Faith Coalition for LGBT Human Rights fully affirms and supports the proposed action by Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador of the United States to the United Nations to amend the Resolution by the Third Committee on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions which excludes protection of people who are vulnerable due to sexual orientation.
Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador of the United States to the United Nations has publicly stated her intention to propose an amendment to the Resolution by the Third Committee on or before December 20 to the General Assembly to restore the prohibition of the violent targeting and extrajudicial killing of people who are vulnerable because of their sexual orientation.
While we understand and respect that there will always be differences in understanding of human sexuality within society, we unequivocally assert that laws that criminalize people for sexual orientation and gender identity do not just violate human rights, they hinder social cohesion, economic development and public health. These laws diminish the trust and cooperation among nations, among communities, among families and co-workers that is fundamental to progress in all human endeavors.
Be It Further Resolved, that the UN Faith supports the member nations of the United Nation who determine to vote affirmatively to include sexual orientation and respectfully call for those members who cannot vote affirmatively to abstain.
Be It Further Resolved, that we call upon the United Nations to adopt and affirm the Yogyakarta Principles to bind international legal standards with which all States must comply. We call upon faith leaders and institutions to support these principles and internationally agreed standards of human rights.
Be It Further Resolved, that we call for the United States of America to work with its fellow Core Group Members of the United Nations to urge Countries which still have laws criminalizing sexual orientation or gender identity to repeal them and to develop a sustained and serious plan of action to decriminalize LGBT people around the world.
Be It Further Resolved, that we call for a model similar to that of the Responsibility to Protect to apply to the lives of LGBT people.
The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) represents an important step forward in the long historical struggle to save lives and guard the wellbeing of people endangered by conflict. It holds that states have the responsibilities as well as interests and duty to shield their own populations from murder. This approach is bold and important.
Repeatedly, our consciences have been seared by the horrors of genocide and today we are challenged again by that possibility when protections are publicly and officially removed from a class of people
We are reminded of our shared responsibility for the international community’s failure to act in the face of genocide in the 20th century. Our new century can and must be better than the last—more deeply rooted in humane values, more committed to universal rights.
The Responsibility to Protect was adopted by all 192 UN member states at the world summit in 2005; the Security Council reaffirmed the commitment and the related principle of protection in Resolution 1674.
Be It Further Resolved, that we call for preventative diplomacy and internal mediation which prevents anti-LGBT violence. We call for strengthening of the United States and the United Nations to engagement in the internal human rights architecture and specific intervention in any country where fines, imprisonment and the death penalty are in place or being considered for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies.
We must not wait for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity or ethnic cleansing before we act. The decision to implicitly and explicitly give a license to States to tolerate or implement atrocities against gay and lesbian people is a craven decision which disregards the dignity and worth of all persons.
Humanitarian policy concerns must build up the institutions that make a society resilient in the hour of crisis; including communities, churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, schools, independent media, civil society organizations and governments. These institutions must not sponsor discrimination, persecution and genocide.
Posted in United Nations Human Rights Advocacy by Rev. Dr. Cindi Love on December 20th, 2010
Resolution of the UN Faith Coalition for LGBT Human Rights
December 2010
Whereas, the international Yogyakarta Principles of 2006 state, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral to every person’s dignity and humanity and must not be the basis for discrimination or abuse.”
Whereas, many faith traditions support human rights, including freedom from imprisonment and execution for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
Whereas, more than 70 countries criminalize sexual orientation and seven allow the death penalty based on sexual orientation;
Whereas, countries in Eastern Africa are increasingly treating gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people as criminals;
Whereas, fundamentalist Christians and Muslims are promoting discrimination and persecution of LGBT people;
Whereas, basic human rights such as the right to marry and maintain custody of children and inheritances upon death are just a few of the civil liberties denied to LGBT people in many areas of the United States of America;
Whereas, all of these realities create a climate of lies and fear that promotes hatred and violence against gender non-conforming people and against those who love someone of the same gender;
Therefore, Be It Resolved, this 18th Day of December, 2010, that the UN Faith Coalition for LGBT Human Rights fully affirms and supports the proposed action by Susan Rice, U.S. Ambassador of the United States to the United Nations to amend the Resolution by the Third Committee on Extrajudicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions which excludes protection of people who are vulnerable due to sexual orientation.
Susan Rice, the U.S. Ambassador of the United States to the United Nations has publicly stated her intention to propose an amendment to the Resolution by the Third Committee on or before December 20 to the General Assembly to restore the prohibition of the violent targeting and extrajudicial killing of people who are vulnerable because of their sexual orientation.
While we understand and respect that there will always be differences in understanding of human sexuality within society, we unequivocally assert that laws that criminalize people for sexual orientation and gender identity do not just violate human rights, they hinder social cohesion, economic development and public health. These laws diminish the trust and cooperation among nations, among communities, among families and co-workers that is fundamental to progress in all human endeavors.
Be It Further Resolved, that the UN Faith supports the member nations of the United Nation who determine to vote affirmatively to include sexual orientation and respectfully call for those members who cannot vote affirmatively to abstain.
Be It Further Resolved, that we call upon the United Nations to adopt and affirm the Yogyakarta Principles to bind international legal standards with which all States must comply. We call upon faith leaders and institutions to support these principles and internationally agreed standards of human rights.
Be It Further Resolved, that we call for the United States of America to work with its fellow Core Group Members of the United Nations to urge Countries which still have laws criminalizing sexual orientation or gender identity to repeal them and to develop a sustained and serious plan of action to decriminalize LGBT people around the world.
Be It Further Resolved, that we call for a model similar to that of the Responsibility to Protect to apply to the lives of LGBT people.
The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) represents an important step forward in the long historical struggle to save lives and guard the wellbeing of people endangered by conflict. It holds that states have the responsibilities as well as interests and duty to shield their own populations from murder. This approach is bold and important.
Repeatedly, our consciences have been seared by the horrors of genocide and today we are challenged again by that possibility when protections are publicly and officially removed from a class of people
We are reminded of our shared responsibility for the international community’s failure to act in the face of genocide in the 20th century. Our new century can and must be better than the last—more deeply rooted in humane values, more committed to universal rights.
The Responsibility to Protect was adopted by all 192 UN member states at the world summit in 2005; the Security Council reaffirmed the commitment and the related principle of protection in Resolution 1674.
Be It Further Resolved, that we call for preventative diplomacy and internal mediation which prevents anti-LGBT violence. We call for strengthening of the United States and the United Nations to engagement in the internal human rights architecture and specific intervention in any country where fines, imprisonment and the death penalty are in place or being considered for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies.
We must not wait for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity or ethnic cleansing before we act. The decision to implicitly and explicitly give a license to States to tolerate or implement atrocities against gay and lesbian people is a craven decision which disregards the dignity and worth of all persons.
Humanitarian policy concerns must build up the institutions that make a society resilient in the hour of crisis; including communities, churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, schools, independent media, civil society organizations and governments. These institutions must not sponsor discrimination, persecution and genocide.
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