Brilliant Career Choice! Married Lesbian Teacher Fired from Catholic High School

This is one of those stories that the LGBT blogosphere loves to jump all over and cry discrimination and get all whiny about how the Catholic Church is hating on the gays again. Again?

Where have you been for the last 2,010 years?

The folks at Change.Org are all worked up in a dither of mock outrage because the Catholic Church discriminates against the gays in it's hiring practices. They picked up the story from MassLive.com about a Massachusetts woman who is admired by faculty, staff and students alike, has tons of accolades and does a wonderful job, who was terminated from her job at Springfield Cathedral High School because she married her long-time partner in August.

Christine Judd, served as Athletic Director and Dean of Students at Cathedral and worked for the Catholic school for twelve years. When word got out that she had legally married her partner last month, the Catholics did what Catholics always do in situations like this. They called a meeting on Wednesday and gave Todd the option of resigning or being terminated.

Yes, it's wrong. Yes the Church is despicable for the way it treats its LGBT members. But this is not news. It's not even new. And it certainly isn't reason to stop the presses.

Change.org's Mike Jones writes: "What a tragedy. Yes, church policy gives them the right to do this. But that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. A valued teacher, prized on the staff and commended for her outstanding leadership, told that she can no longer teach because she's a lesbian."

Judd told MassLive, “I married my partner this summer. I was hoping that my loyalty, my professionalism the last 12 years would supersede the current hypocrisy that has already been shown with the Diocese of Springfield.”

Hello, I don't think you two have met. LGBT Community, this is the Catholic Church. Although they don't really know you, they don't like you. They don't want you in their church and they certainly don't want you around their children. They don't want you being all happy and stuff, because Catholics are all about the guilt and want everybody to feel bad about themselves, all the time. It's nothing personal, but you're an abomination before God and because they are a church, the Catholics can do whatever the hell they want. This is who the Catholic Church is. This is what they do.

Now that we've got the introductions out of the way, let's stop getting our panties in a knot every time the Catholic Church does or says something that is totally in character. Enough with the Mock Outrage, already!

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Dear GLAAD, Enough with the mock outrage, already!

GLAAD is up in arms with mock outrage over a lesbian couple in Texas whose daughter was booted out of her church school. Jill and Tracy Harrison are kicking up a fuss because they enrolled their child in an Episcopal Church school only to have that child thrown out once the church realized on Parents' Night that the mom named Tracy was in fact a mom, not a dad.

St. Vincent's Church of Bedford, Tx. is one of those that split from the Episcopal mother ship in 2008 over the ordination of openly gay Bishop Eugene Robinson. Even the slightest bit of research would have turned this up. Now these women are subjecting their daughter to a media shit-storm over this case of highly predictable bigotry. Honestly folks, even Helen Keller would have seen this coming. This is so irresponsible that I just don't have the words to express my disgust with these two.

Tag this one "GLAAD FAIL!"

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Watch: Neighbors drive away anti-gay Christians from their street (video)

This video comes to us from Canada, where you'd expect a little more respect for diversity than here in the states. Members of Highfield Road Gospel Hall have been harassing gays and lesbians on this street for seven years, staging protests in front of their homes and shouting biblical verses and prayers at their houses. According to a post on Slog the Stranger, these people have even driven out a lesbian couple who couldn't stand the weekly harassment. Although the church is on this street, none of these members live there.

In a show of support and solidarity, these non-gay residents stand up to and drive away the sanctimonious street preachers, who claim to have the right to make life miserable for tax-paying, law-abiding citizens. I'm no expert on Canadian law, but that can't be right.

Here's what the videographer posted on his YouTube page:

"This is a group from a church at the end of my street. Apparently they have been grouping in front of a couple's house and reading their bible loudly for the past 7 years. They may have also driven another couple from the area as well by doing the same thing. Tonight most of our neighbours came out and were successful in getting them to leave. The people who go to that church don't even live in our area! Police came by shortly thereafter."

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How do you know if your husband is gay? Ask a homophobe.

This one takes the cake, the ice cream and all the party gifts. Christwire.com has posted a list of 14 ways a wife can tell if her husband is gay. I am not making this up. In an article called "Is My Husband Gay?", Stephenson Billingsly, who, despite his faggy name is allegedly hetero, or at least ex-gay, says that if your hubby knows too much about pop culture, spends a lot of time at the gym, despite having no interest in sports or focuses too much on the guys in the porn you watch in the sanctity of your Christian bedroom, he might just be a 'mo.

If Jeff Foxworthy was queer (and I'm not convinced he isn't) this would be his stand-up routine. These are some of the better tips on Christwire's list of helpful hints for fag-hag Christian wives:

Secretive use of cell phones and computers. Because straight men never do that to contact their girlfriends.

Looks at other men in a flirtatious way. This happens to me at Home Depot all the time and we all know the gays don't shop at Home Depot, except for maybe the lady gays. 

Feigning attention in church and prayer groups. Because only a homo would find all the gay bashing in church to be offensive, or at the very least uninteresting. 

Gym membership, but no interest in sports. This one is my favorite. If your husband allows himself to get fat and lazy and dies of a heart attack, that's all the proof you'll ever need that he's not a down low dick sucker. 

Sassy, sarcastic and ironic around his friends. I guess they've been paying attention to our protest signs at all the NOM rallies. We don't just act that way around our friends. We do that to people we hate too. So if your hubby is sassy, sarcastic and ironic toward you, either he's gay or he suddenly realized what a bitch he married. 

Extroverted about his bare chest in public. This one I don't even have to embellish. This is what Billingsly actually wrote: "Does he go shirtless in the back yard or at picnics when other men are around? Does he wear a speedo  at the beach? Does it seem like he’s purposely standing right in the middle of a crowd to show off his chest and arm muscles, peppering people with questions about how strong he looks? He may be craving physical affirmation from other men and desperately looking for hints of shared desires in those around him." 

Strange sexual demands. If your missionary hubby is getting board with the missionary position, break out the poppers and the disco ball.

You can visit the site here for more of the hilarity. Be sure to leave comments.

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Author Anne Rice Leaving Christianity

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Gothic horror novelist Anne Rice, who brought you "Interview with the Vampire" (and all its tedious sequels), stunned her fans a few years ago by announcing that she had returned to her Catholic roots and was steering clear of the dark side that brought her so much fame and fortune.

Now it appears that Rice has discovered something I realized long ago: there is a difference between faith and religion.

The sixty nine year-old author, who has become obsessed with posting biblical passages to her FaceBook status, posted the following on Wednesday:

"My faith in Christ is central to my life. My conversion from a pessimistic atheist lost in a world I didn't understand, to an optimistic believer in a universe created and sustained by a loving God is crucial to me. But following Christ does not mean following His followers. Christ is infinitely more important than Christianity and always will be, no matter what Christianity is, has been, or might become."

Rice followed up that statement by explaining,  "In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of ...Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen."

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Ted Haggard says He's "Over-Repented" for his Gay Sexcapades (video)

This is a first for me. All the holy rollers I've ever met believe that you can never be too repentant. In fact, according to my Catholic upbringing (which I repent for every day) not only can you never repent enough for your sins here on Earth, but there is a special place in the after-life where you can repent for most of eternity, called Purgatory. It's a place somewhere between Heaven and Hell where God sends you for a time out, so you  can "sit and think about what you did, Mister!" for a few millenia.

This underscores what I've always believed to be the basic difference between Catholics and Protestants (non-Catholic Christians). Protestants go to church because they actually believe all the wackiness they've been taught. Catholics go to church because they're afraid not to.

Then there's Ted Haggard. As you may recall, three years ago Teddy, an evangelical mega-church leader, was caught up in a gay sex and drug scandal involving a male prostitute and the outing cost him his church, his reputation (such as it was) and nearly his marriage. At what may have been the lowest point in his life, the defrocked super-freak was reduced to the worst form of Purgatory this side of the pearly gates, selling insurance.

Over the last few years, the now fully healed No-Homo Haggard has been trying to rebuild his life and his career. Back in June, Haggard announced that he was opening an all-inclusive, gay-friendly church and that he was no longer fighting his gay side. Now, if he would just shut up about it. Countdown, with Keith Olberman reports that Haggard just can't stop repenting to anyone who will listen. Apparently, you can be ex-gay and still be a submissive bottom.

Haggard now says in a Wall Street Journal interview that he's repented enough and would like to take some of his repenting back. This appears to be "Teddy the Former Tweaker's" latest attempt at extending his 15 minutes by repenting for his over-repenting. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of this down-low hypocrite in the coming months. He has compared himself to Tiger Woods, Michael Vick and other celebrity douchebags, but he's left out one critical difference. Those guys really are straight!

There is a an old Yiddish saying that I remember from my New Jersey childhood that springs to mind in situations like this: Genug shoyn! Translation: Enough, already!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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Happy First Day of Summer!

Yes, boys and girls, the Summer Solstice arrived at 7:28 a.m.at Morning Wood Acres this morning as I started the coffee, let the ducks out and fetched the morning paper from the road. What a gorgeous morning it is.

Some interesting tidbits about the first day of Summer:

Today is Nude Hiking Day, the annual event that calls on naturists from all over the world to take to the woods to commune with Mother Nature au naturale. Around these parts most enthusiasts will be heading out to the Appalachian Trail wearing nothing but hiking boots and a fanny pack. Watch out for Poison Ivy and be sure to bring a buddy along to check you for ticks. Enjoy!

"Solstice" derives from the Latin words "sol", meaning "sun" and "stice", meaning "stand still". The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year and the shortest night. After six months of the days getting longer, they begin to shorten. The midpoint is when the sun stands still.

Pagans called the Midsummer moon the "Honey Moon" for the mead made from fermented honey that was part of wedding ceremonies performed at the Summer Solstice.

Ancient Pagans celebrated Midsummer with bonfires, when couples would leap through the flames, believing their crops would grow as high as the couples were able to jump.

Midsummer was thought to be a time of magic, when evil spirits were said to appear. To thwart them, Pagans often wore protective garlands of herbs and flowers. One of the most powerful of them was a plant called 'chase-devil', which is known today as St. John's Wort and still used by modern herbalists as a mood stabilizer.

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Out Christian Singer, Ray Boltz to Perform at MCC of the Blue Ridge

You may remember a story from last year that made the rounds on the net about a Christian singer coming out of the closet and leaving his Christian Contemporary music career behind. That was Ray Bolts. The singer has come to represent the ongoing struggle, faced by many in our community, between expressing their faith and accepting our sexual orientation.

The Washington Blade reported in September, '08:

"Boltz said he came out to his family and some close friends in December 2004, but only now decided to go public with the news. "I'd denied it ever since I was a kid. I became a Christian, I thought that was the way to deal with this and I prayed hard and tried for 30-some years and then at the end, I was just going, 'I'm still gay. I know I am.' And I just got to the place where I couldn't take it anymore — when I was going through all this darkness, I thought, 'Just end this.'" 

Rev. Joe Cobb of Metropolitan Community Church of the Blue Ridge sent word this week that Boltz will be performing songs from his latest CD here in Roanoke at MCC on Saturday, December 5th at 7pm and again on Sunday the 6th at 11 am. 

Ray Boltz, well known for songs "Thank You" and "Watch the Lamb", will be singing from his new cd, "True", which includes songs reflecting his journey in coming out. The concert is free and open to the public.  A love offering will be received. 

Visit Ray's blog here, where you can read up on his latest ventures and download his music. 

Metropolitan Community Church of the Blue Ridge is located at 806 Jamison Ave SE in  Roanoke. Visit their site at www.mccblueridge.com or call 540-344-4444 for more information.