The Jewish festival of Chanukah began this evening, a holiday lasting 8 days that commemorates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after it had been ritually violated by the troops of King Antiochus of Syria. I see it as a celebration of religious freedom & the refusal to be forced to worship a way not of one's own choosing -- WHATEVER THAT WAY of WORSHIP MAY BE, EVEN IF IT IS NO WAY AT ALL. In other words, I view freedom of religion as absolute. My choice to be a Roman Catholic Christian, which was for me, answering a call I heard as a young teenager from the Holy One, is inviolable, just as is my sister's choice to name no religious tradition for her life. Likewise, our mother's choice to be proudly & happily Jewish, too, is inviolable. If I extend that out, as I must do as a US North American & someone born Jewish who became Catholic, I believe that to be true for everyone. No one should ever be forced to adopt a religion that she / he would not freely choose -- ever. That hasn't always been the case; witness the long history of "forced conversions" of Jews by the Roman Catholic Church prior & during the Inquisition. As a Catholic Christian, I welcome sisters & brothers who feel called to explore the Catholic faith; I rejoice with them if / when they choose it as their own. At the same time, I also rejoice when anyone finds, on her / his spiritual / religious journey, that she / he feels called to stay exactly where she / he has been, or, after prayer & discernment, freely chooses a tradition I would never dream of choosing for myself (& I won't name any here -- my friends will be able to figure out which ones I mean). Mostly, I do not believe, as do some right-wing Christians, that everyone -- meaning especially Jews & Muslims -- must become Christians to be "saved." Nor do I feel comfortable with some of what I read from highly extremist Muslims that we all must become Muslims.
I'm thinking of this today, especially, because it is also the Feast Day in the Catholic Church of Jesuit priest & martyr St. Edmund Campion. He, along with so many others, died during the horrific years of the religious conflict in England when, depending upon the identity of the monarch, Catholics killed Anglicans or Anglicans killed Catholics. It was more than bloody awful. I won't go into detail; those can be found on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Campion) & on the Jesuit site, Jesuit Saints and Blesseds (http://www.sjweb.info/Jesuits/saints.cfm). St. Edmund Campion was martyred at age 41 in 1581. Hundreds died on both sides, all because Henry VIII took over being head of the Church from the Pope who refused to allow him to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. They all forgot the warning found in Psalm 146:3: "Put not your trust in princes, Nor in mortals, in whom there is no help." But then again, St. Edmund Campion & his companions believed, as did all of the other martyrs on each side during these times, that their side was the side which the Holy One favored, & that thus they were following the Holy One, not a prince (Edward), a king (Henry VIII), or a queen or two (Mary & then Elizabeth I).
It's not that I do not honor St. Edmund Campion, S.J.; I do honor his sacrifice & martyrdom. I just find it inestimably sad that the Christian Church(es) was / were so split and remain so to this day. And, with the current Bishop of Rome (Pope Benedict XVI), I don't see any chance for church unity or, even more radical, church re-unification any time soon. Benedict is taking the Catholic Church in an increasingly conservative direction, encouraging Anglicans who oppose women as priests, women becoming bishops, & true equality (ordination &, at least, blessings of relationships, if not yet church-blessed marriages) for gay, lesbian, bisexual, & transgender persons, to "come on down" to the Catholic Church. These former-yet-still Anglican Catholics will further heighten the conservative ideology & direction of the Catholic Church; I'm not sure what else they bring or do, & I don't see any of it very helpful. It simply seems like one big jump into the increasingly large intolerance pool.
Today also marks World AIDS Day. I've been around long enough to remember the first time I heard anyone mention "some strange new illness" that seemed to be striking young gay men in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, in particular. I was in a car on the San Francisco Bay Bridge, driving from the East Bay to San Francisco for an event, most likely an event with Dignity San Francisco (see just below). In those early days -- this was 1982 into 1983 -- we didn't even have a name for this emerging disease. During those years, I was living in Berkeley, CA, working on my doctorate in theology at the Graduate Theological Union, & frequently worshipping (& partying with) the wonderful congregation of Dignity San Francisco. (Dignity is an organization of Catholic gay men, lesbian women, bisexual & transgender person, our families, friends, & allies -- that's the rap I like the best.) Suddenly, it seemed & felt like our world was on fire. As a student and lover of poetry, I thought of the first lines of William Butler Yeats' "The Second Coming."
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned...
So tonight, I remember & honor a number of people, most of whom I knew, some of whom I didn't know. I remember & honor Richard Cotton, a young seminarian & former Dominican brother from the Southern Province Dominicans; Rick & I, along with several other folks in Spirit Affinity Group, did Civil Disobedience together in late January 1983 in opposition to US intervention in El Salvador. Rick left the Dominicans & went to work for the San Francisco Archdiocese in its HIV/AIDS service & support network. He returned to his native home of San Antonio, TX, & died in the late 1980's, after I moved from Berkeley to Boston. I remember & honor Kevin Caligari, President of Dignity USA & close friend of mine in Dignity SF. After the homophobic & infamous "Ratzinger letter" was published in the mid-1980's, basically condoning violence against GLBT people, Kevin, who was in Europe, got a copy of it, got some nails & a hammer, & nailed it to one of the doors of the Vatican in Rome. This news was broadcast on the BBC World Service broadcasts, & I had friends in Africa who heard about it that way! Kevin died of complications from HIV / AIDS in the early 1990's. I remember & honor the many, many men I knew in Dignity SF, with such energy, wonderful talent, wonderful gifts, wonderful minds, who were killed by this disease. I also remember & honor John Burns, my friend Roberta's brother; I never got to know John, although he lived in San Francisco. In a movement & moment of tremendous grace, my friend Rick was able to help Roberta's brother John when John was quite sick; it was the only way I could help Roberta & her brother in a time of such pain for her. She had traveled with her husband from CT to CA because of her love for John, & by helping John, Rick knew he was helping me. (He had stayed with me when he had become ill, before we knew he was HIV+. Isn't this what is meant by "Pay It Forward"?) John, too, died from HIV / AIDS.
Finally, I want to remember & honor three men I did not know--three men whose fight against HIV / AIDS inspired me profoundly. First, Arthur Ashe, who I loved to watch when he played tennis. The dignity & grace he brought to the tennis court was the same dignity & grace he brought to his battle against HIV / AIDS. Second, Randy Shilts, San Francisco journalist & one of the first to report on the disease from within the gay community. His book, And the Band Played On, is the best piece of writing I've ever read on the epidemic. Finally, Dr. Jonathan Mann, an HIV / AIDS researcher & Public Health & Human Rights pioneer. Jonathan Mann worked & taught at Harvard School of Public Health for several years when I, too, worked there. Then he moved on. Shortly after he left Harvard, he died in the crash of SwissAir flight 111 in September 1998 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Mann ).
We have all been so privileged & gifted to have known people who have lived with & died from HIV / AIDS. The fight isn't over; the epidemic continues. More young gay men are having unprotected sex these days because of the availability of antiretroviral drugs which have made HIV / AIDS the chronic disease it has become, rather than the rapid-fire killer it was 25 years ago. That unsafe behavior frightens me. What happens if the virus mutates yet again? What happens if it becomes resistant to the ARVs now available? And, with the current state of the US economy, what will happen as more & more HIV+ women & men lose their jobs, lose their Unemployment Compensation, & lose their health care coverage, thus losing their ability to pay for their drugs? The Republicans have now vowed to hold the Congress hostage until they (the Republicans) get what they want -- continued tax cuts for the richest of the richest of the rich. (Am I the only one who is becoming disgusted & nauseated over their behavior?)
What to do when faced with such frustration? We each have our own response. Tonight, my response is to think of & remember Rick Cotton & other members of our affinity group as we prepared to engage in non-violent direct action (Civil Disobedience) at the Concord Naval Weapons Station / Port Chicago in Concord, CA. While we knew we wouldn't stop the flow of weapons from the US to El Salvador, perhaps we could delay them by a few hours, or even a few minutes. Perhaps we could raise the consciousness of folks who hadn't thought much about what the naval base was doing & the destination of the weapons it was sending out. We didn't know what we would accomplish. We felt, however, called to respond, called to say no to death & yes to life. We felt called to respond to G-D's preferential option for the poor, & that was one way in which we felt called to make that response.
So tonight, I remember & honor a number of people, most of whom I knew, some of whom I didn't know. I remember & honor Richard Cotton, a young seminarian & former Dominican brother from the Southern Province Dominicans; Rick & I, along with several other folks in Spirit Affinity Group, did Civil Disobedience together in late January 1983 in opposition to US intervention in El Salvador. Rick left the Dominicans & went to work for the San Francisco Archdiocese in its HIV/AIDS service & support network. He returned to his native home of San Antonio, TX, & died in the late 1980's, after I moved from Berkeley to Boston. I remember & honor Kevin Caligari, President of Dignity USA & close friend of mine in Dignity SF. After the homophobic & infamous "Ratzinger letter" was published in the mid-1980's, basically condoning violence against GLBT people, Kevin, who was in Europe, got a copy of it, got some nails & a hammer, & nailed it to one of the doors of the Vatican in Rome. This news was broadcast on the BBC World Service broadcasts, & I had friends in Africa who heard about it that way! Kevin died of complications from HIV / AIDS in the early 1990's. I remember & honor the many, many men I knew in Dignity SF, with such energy, wonderful talent, wonderful gifts, wonderful minds, who were killed by this disease. I also remember & honor John Burns, my friend Roberta's brother; I never got to know John, although he lived in San Francisco. In a movement & moment of tremendous grace, my friend Rick was able to help Roberta's brother John when John was quite sick; it was the only way I could help Roberta & her brother in a time of such pain for her. She had traveled with her husband from CT to CA because of her love for John, & by helping John, Rick knew he was helping me. (He had stayed with me when he had become ill, before we knew he was HIV+. Isn't this what is meant by "Pay It Forward"?) John, too, died from HIV / AIDS.
Finally, I want to remember & honor three men I did not know--three men whose fight against HIV / AIDS inspired me profoundly. First, Arthur Ashe, who I loved to watch when he played tennis. The dignity & grace he brought to the tennis court was the same dignity & grace he brought to his battle against HIV / AIDS. Second, Randy Shilts, San Francisco journalist & one of the first to report on the disease from within the gay community. His book, And the Band Played On, is the best piece of writing I've ever read on the epidemic. Finally, Dr. Jonathan Mann, an HIV / AIDS researcher & Public Health & Human Rights pioneer. Jonathan Mann worked & taught at Harvard School of Public Health for several years when I, too, worked there. Then he moved on. Shortly after he left Harvard, he died in the crash of SwissAir flight 111 in September 1998 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Mann ).
We have all been so privileged & gifted to have known people who have lived with & died from HIV / AIDS. The fight isn't over; the epidemic continues. More young gay men are having unprotected sex these days because of the availability of antiretroviral drugs which have made HIV / AIDS the chronic disease it has become, rather than the rapid-fire killer it was 25 years ago. That unsafe behavior frightens me. What happens if the virus mutates yet again? What happens if it becomes resistant to the ARVs now available? And, with the current state of the US economy, what will happen as more & more HIV+ women & men lose their jobs, lose their Unemployment Compensation, & lose their health care coverage, thus losing their ability to pay for their drugs? The Republicans have now vowed to hold the Congress hostage until they (the Republicans) get what they want -- continued tax cuts for the richest of the richest of the rich. (Am I the only one who is becoming disgusted & nauseated over their behavior?)
What to do when faced with such frustration? We each have our own response. Tonight, my response is to think of & remember Rick Cotton & other members of our affinity group as we prepared to engage in non-violent direct action (Civil Disobedience) at the Concord Naval Weapons Station / Port Chicago in Concord, CA. While we knew we wouldn't stop the flow of weapons from the US to El Salvador, perhaps we could delay them by a few hours, or even a few minutes. Perhaps we could raise the consciousness of folks who hadn't thought much about what the naval base was doing & the destination of the weapons it was sending out. We didn't know what we would accomplish. We felt, however, called to respond, called to say no to death & yes to life. We felt called to respond to G-D's preferential option for the poor, & that was one way in which we felt called to make that response.
I feel that same call now & know that I / we need to respond -- to the continuing HIV / AIDS epidemic & to the broken-down politics afoot in Washington, DC, right now. What does that mean? I don't know, in part because it's too late for me to think too terribly creatively.
And tomorrow marks the 30th Anniversary of the murders of Jean Donovan, Ita Ford, Dorothy Kazel, & Maura Clark in El Salvador. That will be the subject of my blog post tomorrow. I do, indeed, believe in the Communion of Saints.
Good night, everyone, & thank you. Blessings of much Shalom & Love.
Good night, everyone, & thank you. Blessings of much Shalom & Love.
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