Month: February 2008

James Dobson to endorse Huckabee, AP says

What goes around comes around. Quite awhile ago, there was a report floating around that James Dobson would endorse Mike Huckabee. That was flatly denied. Apparently, the second time will be the real thing according to the Associated Press.

Now, this puts a dent in my McCain – Huckabee ’08 prediction. Would Dr. Dobson endorse Huck without a promise not to be a VP on the McCain ticket?

UPDATE: Gary Schneeberger at FOTF just confirmed the report and I saw a couple of minutes ago that Citizenlink, FOTF’s public policy alert, confirmed the endorsement as well.

My question for the Huckabee camp will be what does this mean for his future as a Veep possibility? Any Huckabee supporters hearing anything about that?

Shooting in my hometown

There is a lot to write about of late, but I have been following a story out of my home town of Portsmouth, Ohio. Earlier today a man entered a Catholic elementary school and attacked his estranged wife in front of the class. He then holed himself up in his house and eventually shot himself.

It is eerie to read about people and places I know. While I did not know the people well, I know all of the locations in the article and spent some of my growing up years living on Argonne Road, where the attacker died. My prayers go out to all involved…

Romney to suspend campaign, CNN reports

CNN is reporting that Mitt Romney will suspend his campaign in response to lackluster performance on Super Duper Tuesday. It is pure speculation on my part but I wonder if he is in the market for the VP job. Either he or Huckabee on the ticket would address vocal conservative opponents of front runner, John McCain.

Suspending a campaign means he keeps his delegates but will not actively campaign. Read: He keeps his options open.

Later today, I hope to post some additional observations about the Tueday comments of James Dobson on the McCain surge. For now, let me say that I signed a petition on Tuesday to get John McCain on the PA primary ballot and I plan to vote in November. 

New Direction for Exodus?

The title is a bit of a word play in that I call attention to a keynote address (caution: large mp3 file) by Wendy Gritter at the 2008 Exodus Leadership Conference. Introduced by Exodus President, Alan Chambers, Mrs. Gritter is leader of the New Direction ministries in Canada. The mission of New Direction is “creating a safe place for same-gender-attracted people to journey towards wholeness in Christ.” The focus of New Direction appears to be much more focused on Christian ministry to same-sex attracted people as opposed to mediating change of sexual orientation.

The address is about an hour long and should be heard completely to get the message but I pulled out a couple of quotes to portray the tone:

What would it mean to stop seeing the gay affirming church as our enemy?

…when we look at those who now have their stories on the Beyond Ex-gay website…we also ought not to be patronizing?   There can be this subtle sense that ‘you just didn’t try hard enough….but see we did.’ How can we engage relationally with those who have come to different theological understanding than we have?

I think we need to relinquish a defensive posture that would focus on what we are against instead of what we are for.

What the culture sees is that you guys are about reorientation.

We shoot ourselves in the foot when we put second things first.

There is much more and you can get a sense of the direction from the Power Point as well. The general tone is that Exodus would be wise to avoid political entanglements that prevent optimal Christian ministry. Ministry should be the main (sole?) focus. In addition, she takes on the messaging of Exodus that change is possible and causation is not inherent. She believes those issues should be secondary to actual Christian formation and living. With reorientation as the focus, Christian ministry can take a backseat. In other words, Exodus should not be a “poster child for straightness” as the main message.

There is much to unpack here so let’s talk…

Call for research participants: The experience of heterosexuality

I issued this call several days ago, and will probably do so again. I am looking for men and women who are same-sex attracted and in committed heterosexual relationships. I intend to extend the research to ex-ex-gay and straight people as well but for right now, I am collecting data via survey from those who are SSA and in straight relationships. Email [email protected] with “research study” in the subject line.