Click here to read newsletter telling about our intial meeting of Donna & Robin.  Click here to read the following week's newsletter after we met them to learn how they surprised us, as well as some of their comments.  Robin has been on quite a journey since we met in May, reading about 15 books about the Jehovah's Witness religion and its roots.  She realized that in her "leaving" the religion, she had tossed the baby out with the bath water.  Robin is on a journey to rediscover what she feels and believes about God.  Isn't that a journey many of us take as we evolve in our spiritual journey?

Rev. Dr. Lisa Davison, professor of First Testament at Lexington Theological Seminary, was one of two ministers who officiated at our wedding.  She just wrote to let us know that the Religious Coalition for Washington will again bring her to Washington during October to do colloquies for Marriage Equality/WA.  She flies to Yakima on Oct 25th, doing programs in the Tri-Cities (26th) and Spokane (27th-28th).  She will then fly in for programs in Seattle on the 29th, and in Everett 30th.  Click on this link for more information.  Lisa is author of Preaching the Women of the Bible (Chalice Press 1-800-366-3383)

Lisa's prophetic words to us at our wedding have often sustained us:

Relationship has been compared to a journey by sea, and this is an appropriate description.  Together you chart a course and set sail for the future you choose for yourselves.  There is nothing quite like the feeling when the sails catch the wind and the seas are calm.  It will seem as if there is nothing that can stop you from reaching your destinations.  However, in sailing, as in life, there are those times when the wind seems to have disappeared.  The sails hang limp and your progress comes to a standstill.  During those times when it seems as if everything is working against you and you will never move forward again, it is the commitment to your relationship that will help your weather setbacks.  Together you will ride out the storms and together you will find the winds again, and your journey will continue.  Just because you have to change your course, does not mean that the journey must end.  In marriage you are not promising to lose yourselves, but rather you are pledging to bring out the best in each other, to be authentic to who you are.  Each of you brings unique gifts to enhance your relationship.

 

Dotti and Roby, cherish and respect the memories of your individual past, as you create a new life together. I offer to you a few lines of the lyrics from a song at the end of the musical “Les Miserable.” These words express an understanding of human love that reminds us of our being made in God’s image. 

“Take my love, for love is everlasting.  And remember the truth that once was spoken, ‘To love another person is to see the face of God.’ "

May it be so for the two of you.

With one another, we do see the face of God.  We recognize that relationship happens easily and naturally when we let go of fear, and trust this process of which Lisa spoke.  Through our evolution as a couple, we are constantly reminded that it is our commitment that allows our journey together to continue through any setbacks.  In light of this yearlong experience, that we did not know we would be taking when we married on July 31, 2004, it is ironic that Lisa reminded us that we were "pledging to bring out the best in each other, to be authentic to who you are."  Being authentic is a personal journey, as well as the core essence of our yearlong journey with others.  Again, Lisa expresses a prophetic voice.

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A Special Message from Mel White

Great News! After 12 years of writing and research I have finally finished Religion Gone Bad: Hidden Dangers from the Christian Right. On September 5, 2006, I begin a month long, nationwide tour introducing Religion Gone Bad to the general public. I hope and pray that this sequel to Stranger at the Gate will sound a clear warning (just before the November elections) that the rise of fundamentalist Christianity is a threat not just to LGBT people but to all Americans.

Click here for my book tour schedule on the web. I'm hoping that you will seriously consider joining me at an event near you and/or invite your friends and family who do live near by to spend that evening with me. I'm also hoping you will buy a copy of Religion Gone Bad for your own use or buy extras to donate to friends and family or to use as gifts. Here's why.

The media only notice a book when a crowd gathers at the book signing events or when a book makes a bestseller list. Word of mouth is everything. When you get a copy and talk about it, word spreads.

I've spent the last fifteen years monitoring the Christian fundamentalist's rise to power in church and state alike. I wrote Religion Gone Bad with the growing realization that LGBT people our friends and families could lose this "culture war" they are waging against us and lose it in a big way.

If, however, we realize the danger in time there is a real possibility that we will stop fundamentalist efforts to turn the US into a de facto theocracy ruled entirely "by righteous men." Truth and justice can triumph over untruth and oppression but only if we take our stand. I am convinced that Religion Gone Bad could be a real help in mobilizing our community to that task.

Dobson, Robertson, Falwell, Kennedy, LaHaye, Schlafly, Hagee, Bauer, Perkins...you name your favorite fundamentalist and I can guarantee you that he or she is using his or her powerful media empire to recruit millions of American voters and to raise tens of millions of donor dollars to see us demeaned, dehumanized, deprived of our civil rights, driven back into our closets or worse. We must sound the alert!

Julie Wilson's Open Letter to her church about Faith and Homsexuality relative to her gay son, Jarod. 

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"What's next?" people keep asking us.

Well, click here for a sneak preview of how our home page will change after our last "official" speaking engagement on September 20.  This is still in process, but we want you, the people who subscribe to our newsletter, to be the first to understand about our plans for the future.

We are currently working with a coach in Canada, doing a class called "On Air Publicity" to put together a media campaign to take our message to corporations through radio interviews, as well as to distribute our "roadcasts" which will continue.  We have lots of ideas along those lines.

As we left Glendora, CA and headed north, we took the scenic route up Highway 101.  Carmel, CA had an off-leash dog beach and we stopped and let Rylee Joy romp and play. 

We met a lady, Vervene, who was sitting on a rock.  We had a nice conversation with her, and shared about our journey. 

When we speak, Roby shares that we often get gestures from people along our journey.  Roby is giving the "thumbs up" gesture we receive, as they honk and then often email us.

We are headed to Medford, Oregon, where we will spend two days with friends Kathi and Pam Buss Sherrill, who we met in Colorado Springs with Soulforce in July.  Great ladies! We will celebrate Dotti's 53rd birthday with them, before heading on to Portland on Saturday and celebrating her birthday again with her former player, Jody Runge, who played basketball for her at the University of Kentucky.  We will also celebrate with several transgender friends, Marci, Nicole, and Renee, all who attended our wedding.

Then, it is onto PFLAG chapters in Cathlamet and Longview, WA on September 10 and September 11 to speak.  Click here for details! Email and tell friends in the area so they can join us!

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‘Talk About It’ on the 18th Annual National Coming Out Day The theme for National Coming Out Day, Oct. 11th, 2006, will be "Talk About It." The theme is to encourage gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans, as well as straight allies, to talk openly and honestly about their lives and the issues that GLBT Americans face under law. When you ‘Talk About It’ with the people in your life, you begin to change minds one at a time, and that’s the most lasting kind of change.     For the past 18 years, the Human Rights Campaign Coming Out Project has encouraged the GLBT community and straight supportive people to talk openly and honestly about their lives at home, at work and in their communities. HRC is now offering free Coming Out Action Kits, that include resources on coming out and living openly – including: HRC’s newly released Coming Out Guide HRC’s newly released Guide to Living Openly in Your Place of Worship Coming Out Day posters, balloons and stickers Click here to order your Coming Out Action Kit! (kits will begin to ship during the middle of September, and will arrive in advance of NCOD – October 11th) On Oct. 11, thousands of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and allies celebrate National Coming Out Day by holding workshops, speak-outs, rallies and other kinds of events all aimed at showing the public that GLBT people are everywhere.

Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this.  Tell-a-friend!

HAVE A SPEAK-OUT IN YOUR HOMETOWN TO SHOW THAT GLBT ARE EVERYWHERE!
Click below to find out "how."

Host a
Stand UP
Speak OUT
event

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Father, Son & Holy Rift

For Pastor Chuck Smith, the big issues are undebatable. For Chuck Smith Jr., also a pastor, it's not so crystal clear. Something had to give.

By Christopher Goffard, Times Staff Writer
September 2, 2006

From his pulpit in Santa Ana, Chuck Smith's voice thunders with certainty. He denounces homosexuality as a "perverted lifestyle," finds divine wrath in earthquakes and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and promises imminent Armageddon in a deep, sure voice.

If his message is grim, the founder of the Jesus People and the Calvary Chapel movement bears the ruddy good cheer of a 79-year-old believer who insists he has never known a day's doubt or despair.

From the pulpit of Capo Beach Calvary, 25 miles south of his father's church, Chuck Smith Jr.'s voice trembles with vulnerability and grapples with ambiguity. Without a trace of fire and brimstone, he speaks of Christianity as a "conversation" rather than a dogma, plumbs such TV shows as "The Simpsons" for messages, and aims to reach "generations of the post-modern age" that distrust blind faith and ironclad authority.

Click here to read the rest of the story.

Richard Giles: International Authority in Technology, the Internet, New Media, and Marketing, reminds us that "Blogging is all about authentic conversations. Those two words almost completely encapsulate the idea."  That is why blogging is an important part of our journey.  Richard continues:

The public is so used to corporate speak and messages washed by PR or marketing that it’s so refreshing to hear someone speak like they are human. It’s not to say that blogs are correct, but at least the voice of person who writes has the opportunity to shine, and they can be as opinionated as they want. That provides authenticity. 

The words of Judith Hoch Wray are music to our ears: “Hear a new proverb, especially for those in the LGBT community: ‘Personal integrity is to be chosen rather than a good name, and more to be valued than great riches. The rich and the poor, the gay and the non-gay, have this in common: God is the maker of us all.’"

"Same-sex marriage is surely a civil right," says Sheryl McCarthy, a freelance writer and columnist for Newsday on Long Island, NY, a member of USA TODAY'S board contributors, and an African-American. In this synopsis, she acknowledges, 

"Many blacks oppose such unions for religious reasons, but bigotry is bigotry, even if it's cloaked in faith.  Blacks should know this better than most."  A synopsis...African-Americans are overwhelmingly Christians, and many of us believe that the Bible condemns homosexuality. Beyond that, even suggesting that the struggle of gays and lesbians for the right to marry is similar to our own civil rights struggle is often perceived as an insult.

Nonetheless, the main argument used against same-sex marriage is that the Bible says it's wrong. We point to the Scriptures, to the story of Adam and Eve (and the absence of Adam and Steve), to the retribution inflicted on the sinners of Sodom and Gomorrah, and to depictions of male-on-male sex in Leviticus and Romans as being so perverse that it warranted death.

I asked the Rev. James Forbes, pastor of The Riverside Church in New York. Forbes is black, and his diverse congregation has gone on record as supporting same-sex marriages -- and all other families that are based on the principles of love and justice. Forbes says acceptance might increase as African-Americans become more aware of scientific evidence that suggests sexual orientation is innate -- and not a choice.