Standing With Dalits: Bangkok, Thailand is the venue for the Global Ecumenical Conference on Justice for Dalits to be held March 21-24. The conference is convened by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in conjunction with the Christian Conference of Asia.
The term Dalit means "broken people" and it is the word used by victims of caste discrimination (those who are segregated within the caste system by reason of descent or occupation, denied basic human rights, and regarded as "untouchable") to identify themselves. There are approximately 260 million Dalits in South Asia.
The ecumenical conference aims to articulate a common theological and ethical response to the struggles of Dalits for survival and identity and to define the role of the global church family in relation to these struggles. In addition the conference hopes to focus attention on the issue of justice for Dalits in time for the United Nations Durban Review Conference, April 20-24 in Geneva from 20 to 24 April 2009. The Durban Review Conference will assess the implementation of the action plan adopted by the 2001 World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in Durban, South Africa. The problem of caste discrimination was not considered at the Durban Conference.
The United Evangelical Lutheran Church in India (UELCI), the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), the National Council of Church in India (NCCI), and the World Council of Churches are partners in the movement to create justice for Dalits. For more infomation visit the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN).

As Goes New England: According to the Burlington Free Press an estimated 1000 people turned out for a March 18 public hearing on Vermont's same-sex marriage bill S. 115: An Act to Protect Religious Freedom and Promote Equality in Civil Marriage. To the best of our knowledge, no jumbotrons were used to broadcast the hearing.
The bill reads in part:
Marriage is the legally recognized union of one man and one woman two people. Gender-specific terms relating to the marital relationship or familial relationships, including without limitation 'spouse,' 'family,' 'marriage,' 'immediate family,' 'dependent,' 'next of kin,' 'bride,' 'groom,' 'husband,' 'wife,' 'widow,' and 'widower,' shall be construed to be gender-neutral for all purposes throughout the law, whether in the context of statute, administrative or court rule, policy, common law, or any other source of civil law.
If adopted, the bill will go into effect September 1, 2009.
In January of this year a similar bill was introduced in the Maine state legislature: L.D. 1020: An Act To End Discrimination in Civil Marriage and Affirm Religious Freedom.
Both measures protect clergy (or other persons authorized to perform marriages) from being compelled to do so. The Maine bill also makes explicit the independence of civil marriage and religious views of marriage:
[T]he authorization of marriage between 2 people of the same sex does not compel any religious institution to alter its doctrine, policy or teaching regarding marriage or to solemnize any marriage in conflict with that doctrine, policy or teaching.

Better Late than Never: On March 18 Robert Wood (pictured), the Acting Department Spokesman for the Office of the Spokesman in the Bureau of Public Affairs of the the U.S. Department of State (Diplomacy in Action) issued this statement:
The United States supports the UN Statement on "Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity," and is pleased to join the other 66 UN member states who have declared their support of this Statement that condemns human rights violations based on sexual orientation and gender identity wherever they occur.

The United States is an outspoken defender of human rights and critic of human rights abuses around the world. As such, we join with the other supporters of this Statement and we will continue to remind countries of the importance of respecting the human rights of all people in all appropriate international fora.
When the UN statement was signed by 66 member nations on December 18, 2008, the United States withheld approval.

Not an Abomination: Shrimp and Cap'n Bill over at the Shellfish Blog continue to do fine job of hunting down and posting articles, press releases, and analysis related to Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust (HSGT), the ELCA's proposed social statement on human sexuality.
Legislative activity won't kick into high gear until the Synod Assembly Season begins in April, but there continues to be no shortage of commentary on HSGT and on the ELCA's decison making process. If you have a high tolerance for that sort of thing, we heartily recommend Shellfish (alternate perspective, but probably not an abomination).
Of particular interest is the March 5 article in the Lutheran Forum by Pr. Sarah Wilson, editor of the Lutheran Forum: Task Force Proposes Second-Class Ordination for Gay Candidates. Pr. Wilson's article contains the immortal line:
What appears to be a compromise is either a massive insult to homosexuals or a dirty trick on those opposing their ordination.
Oh, dear.
We learned about this article from Shellfish, but we recommend reading the original on the Lutheran Forum where you'll also find followup comments.

Fire Insurance: Like a smoke alarm or a fire extinguisher, the LCMS dispute-resolution process is a tool the church prefers not to use, but proves valuable when the need arises.
The March 13 issue of LCMSNews included an article by Roland Lovstad about the dispute resolution process in the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS).
The LCMS resolution process relies on "reconcilers" who are trained to resolve conflicts between congregations and between congregations and their staff. The reconcilers are also equipped to answer questions of procedure in excommunication cases and to deal with issues related to removal of workers by a congregation or district. Training for reconcilers is currently done by Ambassadors of Reconciliation, an independent non-profit organization. Each LCMS district has four reconcilers.
The resolution-by-reconciliation process was first adopted by the LCMS in 1992 in order to move away from the courtroom-style procedure (often requiring legal counsel) that had evolved earlier. The reconciliation process aims to ground conflict resolution in a common faith shared by parties in the dispute. Dr. Raymond Hartwig, Secretary of the Synod is quoted:
Our reconcilers are trained to approach the issue spiritually, which enables us to bring people together under the cross.
In addition to being faith-based, the reconciliation approach to dispute resolution costs less. Lovstad notes that dispute resolution currently costs about $16,000 (excluding the cost of training reconcilers); the cost of adjudicating a dispute in 1992 under the old process was $57,500.

Blarney: We have long maintained that our friends at St. Francis Lutheran (SF) are the Bay Area's most festive Lutherans. They are delightfully unfettered by the congregation's Danish/Finnish heritage (though we are certain their Danish forebears must have been Happy Danes).
It should come as no surprise then that the people of St. Francis observe St. Patrick's Day with particular glee. Pr. Megan Rohrer sends this report:
Every year the members of St. Francis paint their hair green for St. Patrick's Day - something they didn't tell me when they invited me to preach. Imagine my surprise as a pastor to be greeted at the front door with a can of green hair dye.
Luckily since I was preaching about righteous anger (and fulfilling my dream of preaching an angry, fist-pounding sermon from an air pulpit with a light), the green hair really kept me in check. It was also a good fit with the Corinthians texts about the foolishness of God being more than the wisdom of us human folks.

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