Y’all, We Just Have to Do Better

I don’t say this to be unkind, to be condescending, or to be disrespectful of cherished values...I say this because our survival may depend on our waking up. If someone tells you the earth is 6k years old, that person is either a moron, a crazy person, a jokester, or a very sheltered and naive person who has been woefully misinformed. In any case, s/he is WRONG. Who cares? We all should, because if we ignore reliable science on matters like the earth’s age, then we’ll ignore science about climate change, gender identity, sexual orientation, childhood/adolescent/adult development, dementia, immune suppressing diseases...stuff that really matters. You get to have your god, your religion, your rituals, your myths, your values, and your dreams (I am very thankful for my own), but you must also be open to learning, to reason, to peer reviewed information, and to ideas that offer solutions other than “hate/fear those brown people or those queers or those non-Americans over there.”

Children are in cages. Families are torn apart. Refugees fleeing for their lives are being turned away (or turned back to the hells they escaped). The environment is under attack. Same gender loving people and gender non-conforming/non-binary/transgender/two spirit people are having their families, their lives, their very identities threatened. It’s time to wake up. It’s time to be smarter than we’ve been. And it is certainly time to participate fully in our democracy. Apathy is hurting us even more than the dedication of the unenlightened.

The earth isn’t flat and it isn’t young. Living, breathing, named, thinking, socially interactive children matter at least as much as fetuses. The earth isn’t invulnerable. And ignoring these facts has put our collective butts in a sling. Please, let’s do better.

Independence Day Prayer

INDEPENDENCE DAY PRAYER
By Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins

God of hope and liberation,
As we celebrate our independence and our liberties this holiday, may we also be mindful of liberties that have been denied over the years to people because of their race, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, age, or life-circumstances.
May we rejoice over the moments in our nation's history where we have attempted to atone for the sins of exclusion, bigotry, and injustice.
May we be glad and grateful for the 19th Amendment, Civil Rights legislation, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Marriage Equality; and may we not be satisfied with the progress that has been made, but let us continue to seek to guarantee "liberty and justice for ALL."
Let us work to keep LBGT teens safe.
Let us value peace over war, and prosperity for all rather than privilege for a few.
Let us remember that valuing the right to worship freely and to practice one's faith openly is not a license to discriminate against others or to marginalize those we fear or dislike.
Let us remember that our ancestors came to this country from other places, and let us in their names welcome and respect those who come here still seeking a better life.
God bless our nation and the community of nations.
Let peace prevail in our hearts.
May wisdom guide our leaders.
And may we acknowledge the sacred value of all people within our borders and beyond. Amen.