Seems like a reasonable thing to do and an unreasonable boss. To say what the guy is doing is confusing is pretty insulting to the customers.

I am a pastor, as well, evangelical no less, who spent thirteen years in the Middle East. I tried to follow this very difficult fast whenever Lent fell during Ramadan for the same reason – to help me gain a better understanding of what this discipline meant for our Muslim neighbors. Most people who knew about it thought it was a great idea.
How incredibly narrow minded to think otherwise as, in point of fact, the Muslim understanding of fasting is built on Judeo-Christian practices. This would certainly cause me to wonder if making the move from Catholicism to Episcopalianism was worth it.

I see no problem with his idea. What better way to understand the faith but to practice it for a short time? A language is best practiced by living in the country that speaks it. What is his Bishop so scared of? Ridiculous.

What did Lawler discover? His chosen religion has rigidity in it, and he must think, and act in only the way his Bishop says is permissible. It’s left over from being Catholic.

how ridiculous Lent then has no meaning. Where do they get these guys from?

Where do they come from? The school of trying to understand another faith. It’s called—education. How does learning a different form of worship of THE ALMIGHTY (no matter what she/he is called) as a Lenten project not be a “sacrifice”?

Hello, just thought I would add in on the side of cknuck. I think there are huge flaws in what you are saying here woodswalker3. Your worst point was when you said that people are born homosexual then compared that to being a jew or black. The later to are both physical heritable traits and the former is a choice. Your way of proving your point was simply to say that we never made the choice to be hetersexual. Well, there is evidence both ways. People are born, naturally, wanting females. This involves a slew of hormones and visual stimuli that we are born with. These are the obvious biological facts. That is not to say that people can’t be born with scewed biological presets. I say scewed because if God made man to be joined with women, then a man with a man or women with women must be a mess up of the origional created people.
Basically, God made it one way and we see that people are doing it another. Either way, one way is sinful and one way is not. Plain and simple. That doesnt mean I go and commit sinfull acts (like violence). Unlike the koran and other religious materials, the bible prevents this violence you believe will occur. If a christian does violence to a homosexual, the christian community can rest assured that he is not backed by holy scripture.
A homosexual must admit his sin to God and fight with his unatural urges as best he can. That sounds terrible to someone who isn’t a christian or maybe simmply isnt following Gods law, but to a Christian who is saved and has, at times, experienced what it is like to live like God created us to, will know that the joy of prevailing in these battles can be amazing.
A drunk has to battle not to drink every night but in the end, the joy, standard of living, and spiritual revival he or she experiences will be amazing. Although, the Christian Road is not allways an easy road. It is often very difficult to live a true christian life. This issue is just another battle. The act of homosexuality is a sin. Accepting it in your life as an honest value is a sin. Having urges for the same sex is not a sin if you fight them and do not pursue them. Satan allways tries to temp us. Praise the Lord for his grace in our lives to not fall into the pits of life.

GHUD, same post on 2 sites, supporting cknuck?

I think the bishop is over-reacting and probably knows nothing about Islam except what he fears. Christians have engaged other religions and shared in their worship without fearing this would be a rejection of their own heritage. My former seminary professor, Harvey Cox, did this all the time and is pictured on one of his books robed in Hindu or Buddhist garb (“Many Mansions”). He loved to dabble in other religions. There is always something to learn from other faith traditions. That’s what Harvey Cox believed and we were encouraged to be open-minded and ecumenical in our attitudes.