Among My Civic Duties...

Pastor Zip sneaking into a polling place?

Yes, I voted.

I have yet to miss an election since I was eligible to vote. The includes one primary election years ago when I lived in Van Nuys where the only matter on the ballot was a seat on the LA Community College Board of Trustees, a non-partisan office where the candidates were actor Jack Albertson's wife (the incumbent and a leader in the very liberal California Democratic Council) and an otherwise forgotten person who was a member of California's left-wing Peace and Freedom Party. Since then I've quipped that I once voted for a communist -- because she was more conservative than the Democratic candidate. Mrs. Albertson handily won her third term without my help. But I digress...

I arrived at the Neighborhood House, where the voters of my precinct (and two others) cast their ballots, about a quarter after four in the afternoon. Walking into the voting room, I was quite pleased to see people in nearly all the voting booths and a short line ahead of me. I was voter #247. That's a pretty good turnout for these precincts, which are reliably Democratic while having a low voter turnout. That suggests it could be a good election night for Illinois Democrats -- even better than the pundits have been expecting.

Electing a Bishop, Again

Elections are stranger than I once thought.

[The first formal acknowledgement of a significant anniversary.]
The Central/Southern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the local church body ("judicatory") in which I serve, gathered in Assembly at 2 pm Thursday, June 1. After about an hour of the usual opening activities, the time came for the election of a Bishop. ELCA Bishops are elected for 6-year terms and, in our Synod, are eligible for re-election. Our current Bishop, John Roth, was first elected in June 2011, a time the ELCA was still in considerable angst. Some of that angst is reflected in posts to this blog.

Bishops are elected by what is called an ecclesiastical ballot. In our Synod there are no candidates or campaigning (at least formally) ahead of time. Sometimes there will be conversations here and there of possible pastors who might serve well, though even that tends to happen only when we know we are electing a new Bishop to replace one who has resigned office or has announced his intention to retire. Rather we gather in the midst of prayer and discussion, and speak of the Holy Spirit doing his work through the election process. Bishop Roth had earlier indicated he was willing to be elected to a second term.

On the first ballot, the eligible voters — the pastors and deacons of the Synod, along with lay voting members sent by the congregations (usually a male and female from each — may write the name of any pastor on the ELCA clergy roster, those in congregations, those serving in other settings, those temporarily not serving somewhere, even those who have retired. If one name appears on 75% of the ballots, that pastor is elected. If there is no election, that ballot serves as a nominating ballot. For the second ballot, voters write the name of one of the nominated pastors, and there is an election if one receives 75% of the votes. If not, the top 7 vote getters appear on the third ballot. (Note that 6 years ago I was the 8th top vote getters.) If one of these receives 2/3rds of the third ballot votes, we have an election. If not, the 4th ballot lists the top three of the third, and 60% are needed for an election. If there is no election, the top two stand on the fifth ballot, the pastor with the majority of votes being elected.

And so we cast the first ballot, and learned the results first thing Friday morning. Bishop Roth received 157 of 291 votes, or 54%. No election, with the next highest number of votes being 26, 22, and 12. All in all, 45 pastors received votes. (I was not among them.) A half-hour was given for those nominated to officially withdraw their names, and shortly after 10 am after doing other business, we were presented a list of 15 pastors remaining; in addition to the Bishop, one who received 4 votes, two who received 2 each, and the rest who'd been named on one ballot. We voted again, took care of other business, and then heard the second ballot results.

No election. Bishop Roth with 193 votes, but that was only 64.5% of the ballots cast, not the 75% necessary. The next highest received 22 votes, the 7th place pastor received 8. The top seven (which, interestingly, included 3 retired pastors) were given time (about 2 1/2 hours over lunch and a time for smaller forums on various subjects, and the approval of the Synod's budget) to fill a form with biographical information and a response to a couple of questions, and for each to prepare a 5 minute address to the assembly before the third ballot. And we voted again, this time using the electronic voting devices.

So we knew after a couple of moments that Bishop Roth had received 174 votes, but that was 61% of the votes cast, short of the 2/3rds needed for an election. Next came Pr. Ryan Anderson, who serves near Peoria (he's part of the weekly pericope study group of pastors who meet weekly at Zion) and who last month was elected Dean of the Northern Conference, with 41 votes, and Pr. Tony Metz of Quincy with 33. (The remaining four received 10-14 votes each.)

And so we listened to the top three respond to a few question that Assembly voting members had submitted, and then we voted for a fourth time. Bishop Roth received 154 votes, about 52%, followed by Pr. Metz with 75, and Pr. Anderson with 68. No election yet, as 60% is needed for a fourth ballot.

And we recessed for the banquet — that's where retirements and significant anniversaries are commemorated, thus my certificate above — and conversation (where many pondered the meaning of these votes) and sleep. And, of course, lots of prayers. The fifth ballot is scheduled for 8:35 inthe morning, after which the Bishop-elect will address the Assembly.

And if you're wondering, I've been voting to re-elect Bishop Roth. He has served the Church faithfully and well.

The Election

I posted the following earlier today at ALPB Forum Online in response to comments on the topic "Election followup." Pastor Zip

I picked up reading long before starting Kindergarten in 1964.

One of my books (which I probably read a couple of hundred times) was a child's biography of President Kennedy, which in addition to lots of pictures told of his ancestry and childhood, schooling, service on PT 109, Congressional and Senate campaigns as a Democrat (running against the Republican Henry Cabot Lodge), marriage to Jackie and their children (who were about my age), and his election as our first Catholic President. I don't recall whether it included his assassination, but I certainly read his story many, many times remembering that and his funeral on TV. Whether it was part of the book or not, I knew at age 4 that his story ended in tragedy.

Even then I knew my parents were not Democrats. They had not supported JFK in '60 and would not have supported him in '64. And these were not unusual perspectives in the West San Fernando Valley of the 1960s. But they taught their young boy to respect the President of the United States and admire his accomplishments and good qualities. Even if you didn't agree with him. Even if you worked to oppose something he wanted to do.

And as I've seen and heard reactions these last few days to the election here, and on the news, and on my Facebook feed, I've thought about that book a lot. Thankfully.

Of Course I Voted

I walked into the polling room at Neighborhood House about quarter to four. The three booths were occupied and, after I checked in, I was told to have seat with a few others folks already there before they called my name. Not a long line by any means, but I had to wait a few minutes before I voted -- and I don't recall waiting that long in this precinct before. I was about the 160th voter, which pretty much fits with recent national elections.

I didn't turn on the TV until 11 pm and quickly noticed (even before I saw any numbers) how 4 of the 5 networks were quite subdued. The next few hours are going to be interesting.

The End of a Long Day

It was quarter-to-five Thursday morning when I walked into a largely empty, but awakening, Stockholm-Arlanda Airport to begin the return journey home to Peoria from 2 weeks in Sweden.

Some 22 hours later I exited my third jetliner of the day into a largely empty, going-to-sleep, Peoria International Airport as the voice of Hilary Clinton giving her historic acceptance speech eminated from the monitors still tuned to CNN. My mind immediately went back in time...

Primary Election Day 2016

It was about 3:30 in the afternoon when I showed up at my polling place and, lo and behold, there was a line of people! That's not very common in this precinct. Then it turned out two of the seven were at the wrong precinct. On the other hand, one was a first-time voter. A couple more people came in while I was voting.

As is my custom, I asked how many voters had showed up so far. "Fifty-seven," replied the election judge doing the count. Not bad for a primary election in this precinct, I thought. Then again, this is the first time I have voted in a presidential primary where the nomination in both parites was still up for grabs. As Mr. Franklin said, "A republic, if you can keep it."

 
57? Hmm, that number's gonna pop up again this week!

Campaigning for Bishop (or Pastor)

The office of the bishop is political in the best sense of that term. Many of Basil [of Caesarea]'s letters reflect situations of high political intrigue where Basil extended the power and authority of his specific see to shore up and support the struggling churches in outlying areas or areas where orthodoxy had only a fragile hold on the clergy and people. Frequently he intervened in episcopal elections urging the clergy and people to elect a man who would be faithful to the traditions oreceived fromt he apostles and the fathers.... What we gain from Basil's handing of a crisis such as this is a good conception of the historic continuity in shaping the character of the pastoral office. As bishop one is not only placed into a congregation which extends back several years or even several generations, but as bishop one has a responsibility to be faithful to the totality of the Christian experience as it has unfolded over the course of centuries. There is a corporate identity to the church which cannot be reduced to the sum total of the present situation, for in defining what it means to be Christian the totality of the Christian past must be taken into consideration. Basil's point is that the office of the pastor is one of the chief means by which the Church is able to maintain and articulate the meaning of Christian faith from generation to generation.

In Basil's own situation such awareness gave him freedom, for it allowed him to look beyond the immediate squabble with Arianism and the allinace of Arianism with the emperor. Perhaps Basil's comments have a conservative ring to our [modern] ears, for those who today frequently call for loyalty to the past are really hindering our dealing with the present and restricting our freedom to cope with the future. But I doubt wheter this is really the case, for the past about which they speak is frequently the immediate past.... Seldom is it a appeal to the fullness of the tradition, a genuine catholic attempt to see the Church in larger terms than our immediate denominational tradition.... They usually mean the tradition of the last fifty of seventy-five years.

— Robert L. Wilken, "The Practice of Piety: Basil of Caesarea and the Pastor Office," Una Sancta (24:4, Christmass, 1967), 79-80, as it appears in the March 2015 issue of Forum Letter which arrived in today's mail.

Pondering...

Another General Election

I arrived at my precinct's polling place just after 3:30 in the afternoon. I was the 66th voter to show up, with one person ahead of me and three or four more showing up while I was in the voting booth. Not a lot of folks usually vote around here, even in a general election.

Four years ago, the last mid-term election, there were a total of 166 votes cast in the entire precinct. Two years ago (a Presidential election year), arriving a wee bit later in the afternoon, I was #200 of 346. It would be interesting to learn how many registered voters there are in this precinct.

Another Election Day

Today is Primary Election Day in Illinois. I voted just before three o'clock this afternoon, which seems to be my usual time of day. There were five people in the comunity room at Neighborhood House when I walked in, and another person followed me in. The six were all election judges.

This year there is a new form for the voter to sign, and there is a space on it for the one giving the voter his electornic voting code to indicate which voter, in numerical order, this is. So I didn't need to ask, as has been my custom, how many had showed up so far. I was No. 8.

"It's picked up since lunch time," replied one of the judges responded to my comment on it being a slow day. Turns out between the opening of the polls at 6:00 am and Noon two voters had showed up. And one of them was one of the judges.

Well, it's a primary election, the chief offices up for election are Governor and U.S. Senator where any apparent competition for the party nominations (for some, but not all, offices) is on the Republican side, and this precinct is usually quite Democratic when people bother to vote in the general election. Nevertheless, with less than one voter per hour, the contrasts between today's election and the recent one in North Korea are not entirely complimentary to us.

I thanked the judges for their service.

ELCA News Service: Elizabeth Eaton elected ELCA presiding bishop

ELCA NEWS SERVICE
August 14, 2013

Elizabeth Eaton elected ELCA presiding bishop

13-56-MRC

     PITTSBURGH (ELCA) - The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Northeastern Ohio Synod, was elected Aug. 14 presiding bishop of the ELCA at the 2013 ELCA Churchwide Assembly. She was elected on the fifth ballot. There were 889 votes cast, and 445 votes were needed for an election. Eaton received 600 votes and the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, received 287. Eaton is the ELCA's first woman presiding bishop-elect.

      The churchwide assembly, the chief legislative authority of the ELCA, is meeting here Aug. 12-17 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The theme for the triennial assembly is “Always being made new.” This year marks the 25th anniversary of this church.

     “We are a church that is overwhelmingly European in a culture that is increasingly pluralistic. We need to welcome the gifts of those who come from different places, that is a conversation we need to have as a church,” Eaton told the assembly shortly after the election.

     Prior to becoming synod bishop, Eaton served as pastor for ELCA congregations in Ohio. She earned a Master’s of divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., and a Bachelor’s degree in music education from the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio.

     An assembly schedule is available at www.ELCA.org/assembly and up-to-the minute news entries at http://blogs.ELCA.org/assemblynews.

- - -
About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with more than 4 million members in nearly 10,000 congregations across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of “God's work. Our hands,” the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer, Martin Luther.

For information contact:
Melissa Ramirez Cooper, Manager of Public Relations
773-380-2956 or Melissa.RamirezCooper@ELCA.org
http://www.ELCA.org/news
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Lutherans
Living Lutheran: http://www.livinglutheran.com

ELCA Elects New Presiding Bishop

From the @ELCA twitter feed:

On the fifth ballot for the office of presiding bishop 889 votes were cast. Eaton 600 and Hanson 287. Rev. Eaton is elected.

Fourth Ballot

Total Votes: 907
Needed to Elect: 545 (60%)

Elizabeth Eaton 523
Mark Hanson 300
Jessica Crist 84

The fifth ballot will be later in the current plenary session.

I Am Stunned!

The third ballot results from this morning, after the top nominees offered brief, 5-minute statements to the Assembly:

Total ballots: 919
Necessary for election (2/3): 613

* Eaton 345
* Hanson 271
* Crist 171

* Svennungsen 130
* Marty 1
* Lundblad 0
* Lose 0

The Bishops Hanson and Crist both declined about 100 votes each. Bishop Eaton increased by 258. It seems Bishop Eaton, in her 5 minute address, spoke of the costs of the decisions this church has made in the past. She supports them, but acknowledged the grief of those of us who do not.

This afternoon's plenary, going on right now, is a Q&A with the top three, and then a fourth ballot. 60% is needed to elect. Well,

Electing a Presiding Bishop

The first/nominating ballot was Monday, with the results (officially announced at the beginning of the Tuesday morning session) getting out that evening:

* Mark Hanson 440 (ELCA Presiding Bishop)
* Jessica Crist 53 (Bishop, Montana)
* Michael Rinehart 36 (Bishop, Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast)
* Jon Anderson 26 (Bishop, Southwestern Minn.)
* Elizabeth Eaton 23 (Bishop, Northeastern Ohio)

* Rafael Malpica-Padilla 20 (Exec. Dir, ELCA Global Mission; former Bishop, Caribbean)
* Stephen Bouman 19 (Exec. Dir, ELCA Congreagation and Synodical Mission; former Bishop, Metro New York)
* Peter Marty 16 (Pastor, St. Paul, Davenport, Iowa; last host of the ELCA's Lutheran Vespers radio program)
* David Zellmer 15 (Bishop, South Dakota)
* Kurt Kusserow 12 (Bishop, Southwestern Penn.)

* April Larson 12 (Pastor, First, Duluth, Minn.; former Bishop, La Crosse Area, and the first woman bishop in the ELCA)
* Wayne Miller 11 (Bishop, Metro. Chicago))
* Ann Svennungsen 10 (Bishop, Minneapolis Area)
* Michael Burk 9 (Bishop, Southeastern Iowa)
* Peter Rogness 7 (Bishop, Saint Paul Area)

and 107 other pastors with fewer votes. Other than the number of ballots cast being 877, making the required 75% for an election add up to 666 votes, there was nothing remarkable. The main observations seemed to be, Bishop Hanson will be elected on the next ballot, Bishop Crist (who is also Chair of the Conference of Bishops) and Bishop Rinehart (who overnight posted a blog entry explaining why he would withdraw his name from further consideration) seemed to be highly regard as possible successors when Hanson retires. But, no, the important election news would come later this week as a new Secretary (a very powerful office in the ELCA) is elected.

So the second ballot results that came before the Tuesday afternoon session were a bit of a surprise. Of the 943 votes cast (75% to elect being 708), the top 7 vote getters:

* Mark Hanson 369
* Jessica Crist 272
* Elizabeth Eaton 87
* Peter Marty 45
* Ann Svennengsen 36
* David Lose 33 (Homilectics Prof at Luther Seminary)
* Barbara Lundblad 15 (Professor at Union Theological Seminary, New York).

42 other pastors also received votes. But note that Presiding Bishop Hanson's votes went down by 71. And Bishop Crist's went up by 219.

And apparently the Holy Spirit (and others) had been busy Monday night. They would be busy Tuesday night, too, as these top 7 prepare brief bios and statements for the Wednesday morning plenary -- well, four of them, as Pastor Marty and Profs. Lose and Lundblad are not at the CWA and sent word that they would not be there come Wednesday morning.

The ELCA Churchwide Assembly

The ELCA's Churchwide Assembly (CWA) is in session this week in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One can follow the proceedings live as they happen from the ELCA's website. That particular link will likely expire shortly after the the CWA's adjournment, but www.elca.org/assembly will get you not only to the current assembly, but to the whatever is kept on the ELCA's permanent web archive of past CWAs, too.

There are other ways to keep up with what is happening, too. Pr. Dick Johnson, editor of the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau's monthly Forum Letter, is doing up-to-date reports on ALPB Forum Online; just click the "ELCA Churchwide Assembly 2013" section. As at earlier CWAs, he also offers some commentary and behind the scenes reporting; and other members of the pan-Lutheran online forum comments, too.

In addition, this is the first CWA in which, rather than printing everything on paper, most everything is being done electronically, with Voting Members being provided iPads (or using their own tablet device) for just about everything. Most of the material is available to anyone through the apps at the 2013 Assembly Guidebook web page, or this page for any web browser, which include the ELCA's own news blog.

An ELCA Churchwide Assembly receives reports of what is happening within the church, elects people to various offices, sets the budgets for the upcoming years, and acts on various subjects and matters that are part of this church's life. Among the "significant" matters for this one is a proposed Social Statement on Criminal Justice, "The Church and Criminal Justice: Hearing the Cries," the ELCA's 25th Anniversary, and the elections of a Presiding Bishop and Secretary.

At the moment, it is the Presiding Bishop's election that most observers are focussing on, and it is initially a bit more interesting than most anticipated. The Rt. Rev. Mark S. Hanson was first elected in 2001 (ELCA Bishops have 6-year terms), has led during a time of great controversy, and had announced earlier that he was available for election to a third term. At the Churchwide level, there is no "campaigning" ahead of time at least officially ;). Rather, for the first ballot serves as a nominating ballot, with every ELCA pastor eligible for election.

An election can happen on that first ballot if a pastor receives 75% of the votes, which is what happened in 2007, when Bishop Hanson was re-elected. Every pastor's name written on that first ballot appears on the second ballot, unless the pastor deliberately withdraws, again with 75% needed to elect. A third ballot would be limited to the top 7 vote getters, election happening with 2/3rds of the votes. Fourth ballot has 3 pastors, 60% required for election; fifth ballot is the top 2, majority vote elects.

To be continued...

Election Day 2012: I'm #200

I'm tempted to quote the first words spoken by President Gerald Ford to the nation: "Our long national nightmare is over." Well, the polls here closed in a little over an our and the TV is still playing political commercials, so we aren't there quite yet.

It was 4 pm when I walked into my polling place.  I signed in and, as I usually do, asked how many had voted.

"About 200," replied one election judge, who then looked at the form the other judge had completed for me. "No," she continued, "you are the 200th!. Ring the bells!"

For my precinct, that's pretty good. Four years ago, I was about the 160th voter around 3 pm. By the end of that day 336 votes (including early and absentee) ballot were cast for my precinct, though that is still less thatn half of the registered voters. In the 2010 election, without a President, it was 166. In the 2011 city election, it was 25.

Now to sit back and watch the results.

Catch My Smile!

I know, you've seen this smiling airliner before. But in my mind PSA stands first for Pacific Southwest Airlines, and then Public Service Announcement, and only thirdly for prostate-specific antigen.

Regarding the last on that list, Thursday is the third anniversary of my prostatectomy, which is how we treated my prostate cancer. Our PSA L-1011 is still smiling because this morning I learned the results of my latest blood test: my PSA is less that 0.1. That is, still immeasurable. Praise the Lord!

Today was also local Election Day in Illinois, and in my part of Peoria the ballot included members of the City Council and the community college board. I voted shortly after 3 o'clock in the afternoon and was the 11th person to vote in my precinct. No smiles there.

April Seventh, Twenty Oh Nine

One year ago today my prostate gland was removed surgically and, since then, there have been no further signs of the cancer that was contained in it. Thanks be to God.

This afternoon shortly after four o'clock, I went to vote in the Peoria city election. I was the 31st person to cast a vote in my precinct. The 32nd came in while I was voting. The poll watchers and election workers were having a very slow, boring day.

Proposition 8: The Wrong Battle?

Okay. Central Illinois is in many respects a different world than was the San Fernando Valley in which I came of age. But the debate over California's Proposition 8, where voters used the initiative process to reverse the state's Supreme Court's legal creation ex nihilo of same-sex marriage, has projected the perspective that gay men and lesbians would be content if only they could get married.

Now, setting aside for the moment that homosexuals have been marrying and raising families for as long as there has been homosexuality and marriage -- it's just that they did it the old-fashioned man-woman "thee I shall wed" way, and either setting aside their homosexual desires and performing spousal/parental duties or finding, uh, quiet ways of satisfying such desires, even with the full knowledge of the spouse -- so the debate isn't about the right to marriage at all, but the redefinition of marriage (on which I've posted earlier)...

...the "gay community" with which I was acquainted, whether it be the more "mainstream" perspective that one could catch reading The Advocate or various community/school lesbigay advocacy groups or "faith based" groups such as Lutherans Concerned was generally hostile to the institution of marriage. Sure, every once in a while someone would propose same-sex "marriage," but that was guaranteed to get a huge negative reaction from within the GLBTQ community. Now the passage of Proposition 8 (reversing a "right" created only 6 months ago) was turning into the new Stonewall or Christopher Street. Has the lesbigay mind on marriage completely and suddenly changed?

That's when Google News came to the rescue and the headline "Prop 8 – Did We Fight The Wrong Battle?" appeared on my screen. It's an op-ed published Monday by the poet Marc Olmsted in the cyber newspaper WeHoNews.com, "West Hollywood's ONLY newspaper - ONLY ONLINE!" And by the sixth sentence, traditional lesbigay thought had made its re-appearance.

Prop 8 – Did We Fight The Wrong Battle?
Monday, November 10, 2008 – Op-Ed By Marc Olmsted, West Hollywood

First of all, let me make it clear that I was against Prop 8.

I contributed money toward its defeat, volunteered in campaign offices in Silverlake, and attended a pre-election rally in West Hollywood Park where I watched two close friends tie the knot.

I believe that it is wrong and unfair that we are not granted marriage equality. I wanted us to win.

So it may seem utterly bizarre that I’m questioning the cause entirely. (To be fair, I’ve had these doubts all along but decided to put them aside for the sake of unity.)

I don’t think we’re looking for the protection of the law.

We have most of what we need with domestic partnership or civil unions, and with a fraction of the money spent on No on 8, we could certainly have pushed for any changes required to make sure we were according the same de facto rights under those agreements as under marriage, at least on the state level.

What we’re looking for, in my opinion, is validation.

We want the state to affirm that our relationships are equal to heterosexual unions, but we reject the state’s response as inadequate, because it is lacks the societal imprimatur of marriage.

In fact, what is lacking is the psychosocial approval inherent with the association of the religious bodies that have traditional overseen this realm.

I could have sworn that my coming out as a gay man, my inner self-affirmation, came about precisely as a result of the rejection of the principle whereby what I thought of myself was a function of what society or the church said was right and good.

Aren’t we barking up that same tree now? If we claim to know our relationships are equal to theirs and as sacred, why are we insisting on their benediction?

Other questions: Does any of us truly believe that of the 18,000 gay couples who have been married in California so far, the same proportion of them won’t be seeking divorce in 5 or 10 years as the straight couples wed at the same time?

Have you spent some time with someone going through a divorce lately? Is this what we want?

And what of our capacity, as the most gifted of tribes, to be on the cutting edge of developing entirely new paradigms for modern relationships?

Why are we seeking to imitate them instead of setting an example that they can imitate?

What I propose we pioneer is the contractual and renewable civil union, which would work like this. A couple would choose a time period with which they were comfortable—3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20 years, or life, for the absolutely certain.

For that period, they would have all of the benefits of marriage. At the end of the term, they would be required to renew their contract at City Hall—hardly a burden for any couple who wants to remain together, in fact, a great way to reaffirm and strengthen their bond.

If either or both chose not to continue in the relationship, the union would lapse. Any parental obligations would remain whatever the spousal status, but sparing the children and the partners from the burden and stigma of divorce.

Of course parents that break up will always be difficult emotionally for children, but parents lapsing into unpartnered status would certainly be more likely to encourage a transition into friendship than the present adversarial atmosphere of divorce, in which the rupture must be sought out.

I contend that there is a significant proportion of the heterosexual population that would find a renewable contract a highly preferable alternative to the one-size-fits-all option they are faced with now if they want the legal and social benefits of marriage.

Anyone who has lived through divorce, whether as a child or as a spouse, wants nothing more than to avoid it again.

I can easily see a state of affairs where the civil union alternative eventually becomes the norm, as society finally recognizes legally that two human beings well suited to a partnership for life are far more the exception than the rule.

The passage of Prop 8 is a disappointment, but for us, it is also an opportunity. Marriage as it is presently constituted is a pre-21 century institution that lacks the flexibility and realism required of the modern age.

I say we stop approaching the powers that be demanding a place at the table. It’s time to build our own table and let them come to us.

No, Marc, it's not bizarre at all -- to anyone who is familiar with the discussion of marriage in GLBTQ circles from more than 3-4 years ago. Alas, as in so much that passes for debate on all sorts of issues in our culture, (political, religious, etc.) key, relevant history is forgotten or suppressed.

Or ignored. To be continued in a later post.

State and Church

Pastor Zip and his Congressman-elect, Aaron Schock, shortly after his victory speech last night. Age 27, Aaron will be the youngest member of the 111th Congress of the United States.

He replaces Ray Lahood, who chose to retire at the end of this his sixth term. His predecessor was Bob Michel, who was first elected in 1956, serving 19 terms and as Minority Leader of the House from 1981 until his retirement after the 1994 election. An earlier Member of Congress from this area was Everett Dirksen, first elected in 1932 and serving through the 1946 election. In 1846, this area's MC was a young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln.

Pastor Zip voted shortly before 3 pm, asking (has he usually does) how many people had voted so far that day. "Almost 160," replied one of the poll watchers. That's a good number in my precinct, where 161 (of 731 registered; 26 cast early or absentee ballots) showed up the entire day in 2006 general election. Voting is low in this precinct; running at a little over half the rate of voters as the rest of this city.