Grab a mop, suckas.

Being a committed participant in society sometimes means that it's okay to get dirty-- it's a good thing to stand by your opinions and beliefs, and that is harder said than done.

You want something to be done? Pull up your bootstraps and get involved-- make change happen if you want to see it in your lifetime. It's not enough to sit and point fingers and be such a whiney nimrod.

Obama spoke in New York on October 20th of 2009. The following quote is just too good to not pass on. I don't care if you're a Republican or Democrat, or one of those fancy Republican tea-bag break-off folks who rambles on about civil liberties, our founding fathers and an ambiguous understanding of the Constitution... this is true of any situation in which we are confronted with a messy situation.

"We understand exactly who and what got us into this mess. Now, we don't mind cleaning it up. I'm grabbing my mop and my broom, and we're scrubbing the floors and trying to neaten things up. But don't just stand there and say "you're not holding the mop right". Don't just stand there and say "you're not mopping fast enough". Don't accuse me of having a "socialist mop". Instead of standing on the sidelines, why don't you grab a mop? Help us clean up this mess and get America back on track!"

Wipe your whiney tears and do something that matters.

Response from Pastor Walter Kallestad

At the end of September, I emailed Pastor Walter Kallestad of Community Church of Joy in Glendale, AZ to inquire about the theological and potentially political reasoning behind his church leaving the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The ELCA recently made the decision to recognize and support the ordination of homosexual clergy into the ministry of the church. Some churches, such as CCOJ have decided that this is unacceptable and that the decision was made outside the fundamental beliefs of Christianity.

Read my original question to Walt here.

His brief (and ambiguously relevant) response came yesterday, the 8th of October.

Dear Ian - I encourage you to re read Genesis 1,2,3. God's created order has a perfect plan for marriage and family. For anyone to redesign God's desires and designs is just plain wrong. Since the fall God has sacrificed everything to reconcile and redeem ALL creation.

Blessings,

Walt

This just stinks of ambiguity and misconception.

I believe what he meant by "Genesis 1,2,3" is actually Genesis 2: 24... again, what I would call "sound byte" scripture: a single sentence taken out of context found in a book full of diverse and conflicting ideas.

Furthermore, I asked for an explanation based on the teachings of Jesus, the very guy we Christians claim to follow, and all I got was a suggestion to read the first three chapters of the old testament? Really?? Jesus was merely a twinkle in God's eye at that point!

So, dear readers and committed participants, here's my question to you:

• What do you think about this issue and decision from a personal belief perspective (regardless of your faith background)?
• What would your response to this perfunctory message be? What questions would you ask at this point?
• As a participant in culture-- theological, popular, political-- what does his response actually say in regard to my initial set of questions? Does this give us any insight into how or why we should justify turning our backs to people who are simply biologically different than me?

I look forward to responding, and will post my return as soon as it is composed. Chime in with your questions if you'd like them addressed in my retort.