Universal Life Church

In defiance of church doctrine…

The Salt Lake Tribune

via Sullivan

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A staggering $20 million has been donated by Mormons to Proposition 8, the California initiative that, if passed, will overturn the court decision legalizing same-sex marriage in California.

No On Prop 8 revealed that $1 million came from a single donor, a software magnate and son of a former president of the LDS. He seems to be the black sheep of his ilk as dozens of business leaders of the tech industry have come out against the initiative.

“The Mormon Church deserves the same respect as all religions,” said NO on Prop 8 Executive Committee Member Geoff Kors. “But it is wrong for the Mormons to push their view of marriage on every Californian through the ballot box.”

examiner.com

ULC on Flickr!

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As regular readers of this blog know, California’s Proposition 8 will be on the ballot Tuesday, and couples are rushing out to tie the knot before election day. If it passes, Proposition 8 will ban same-sex marriage throughout the state of California, however pre-existing marriages will be honored. In San Francisco there are so many couples rushing to city hall that the staff does not have time to handle any more marriages.

Note to same-sex couples wanting to marry by election day in case Proposition 8 passes: City Hall is completely booked for marriage licenses and ceremonies Friday, Monday and Tuesday.

(CI)

With the city hall at capacity, couples in the are looking for other wedding options; couples are turning to the Universal Life Church.

there are plenty of places to wed under the deadline. Just ask Victor Andersen, a 27-year-old Redwood City resident and ordained minister in the Universal Life Church.

(CI)

Couples are getting married in record numbers throughout California and the wedding industry is feeling the boom across the board. The demand for wedding related services is high.

Traci des Jardin, is a close friend who will be catering at least 14 gay weddings in October. Des Jardin assured Frankeny and Harris that what they jokingly call their “shotgun wedding” would be perfect.

(LAT)

There is no doubt that the proliferation of these “shotgun” marriages has been an unintended consequence of the Proposition 8 campaign.

- City Insider
- Los Angeles Times
- Universal Life Church

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Churches in Brooklyn, New York teamed up with the New York Police Department to offer a gun exchange program in the city.

Five Harlem churches collected hundreds of weapons — in exchange for cash. Rifles, handguns and shotguns were handed over on Saturday — no questions asked. Each person who brought a firearm was handed a $200 bank card. By late Saturday, more than 500 were collected.

(AP)

The program was inacted as an effort to reduce violent crime and get unnecessary firearms off the city streets. To drive the message home, citizens participating in the program were led, “through a graveyard to turn in their guns – a journey that authorities hope will save lives” (NY Daily News).

- Associated Press
- New York Daily News

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In addition to performing marriages , ULC Ministers invoke their spiritual practices to help their communities. Amie Moore is a dog trainer in Chicago, Illinois that uses her dog whispering talent to communicate with the animals.

Moore has been training dogs for 15 years. She left a career as a teacher and occupational therapist to move into the field full-time. An ordained minister in the Universal Life Church and a Native American medicine woman, Moore tries to bring all her skills together to help troubled dogs.

(CJ)

Using her spiritual techniques she is able to do all this without treats or food rewards.

- Chicago Journal

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As November 4th rapidly approaches, everyone is beginning to consider their vote. Few decisions on state ballots are generating as much emotion as California’s Proposition 8.

While California voters remain closely divided on the question of gay marriage, a majority oppose a measure to ban it, according to a poll released Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California.

(LAT)

The blogosphere is abuzz over California State Proposition 8. Many ULC ministers embrace the idea of universal freedom.

“See, if I win, if Prop. 8 loses, you get to have your opinion and live your life. But if you win, see, my friends don’t get married…” said William Swaim of The District Weekly. “There’s only one person who threatens [my] marriage, and he’s not gay. He’s me.”

Derrick Jefferson, of the blog Random Screaming, took matters into his own hands, “when said student came to me and asked if I’d not just participate in his impending nuptials before the threat of them being ripped away and pummeled to the ground, but to officiate over them, I was honored… I encourage you to vote NO on Prop 8.”

“The truth is, as far as I see it, that’s all there is. It’s a moral issue, plain and simple,” said Tor Johnson in the blog, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, “… and prop 8, well the polls say it will win. This sickens me.”

- Los Angeles Times
- The District Weekly
- Random Screaming
- Why Do Fools Fall in Love

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A British Humanist group began their “Atheist Bus Campaign” yesterday, and within 10 hours reached their funding goal through online contributions. With donations being collected by The British Humanism Association, the group plans to run bus side advertisements in London, identical to the one pictured above.

** We reached the total at 1006 BST (GMT+1) on 21st October, just over 10 hours after launch – thank you so much to everyone who contributed! If you haven’t donated yet and would like to then please do – we can then get adverts inside the same buses to strengthen the campaign’s impact! **

(ABC)

With the rapid success of the campaign, the Atheist Bus Campaign hopes to raise enough money to include in-bus advertising as well. By promoting the concept of atheism and encouraging atheists to go public with their beliefs, it is not surprisingly this advertising campaign has its critics.

Stephen Green of pressure group Christian Voice said: “Bendy-buses, like atheism, are a danger to the public at large.”…

…”People don’t like being preached at. Sometimes it does them good, but they still don’t like it.”

(BBC)

In spite of the campaign’s opposition, it is being welcomed by an unexpected source.

the Methodist Church said it thanked Professor Dawkins for encouraging a “continued interest in God”.

Spirituality and discipleship officer Rev Jenny Ellis said: “This campaign will be a good thing if it gets people to engage with the deepest questions of life.”

She added: “Christianity is for people who aren’t afraid to think about life and meaning.”
(BBC)

Atheism is hotly contested as a spiritual choice, however we embrace it, along with all other religious theology here at the ULC Monastery – we are all children of the same universe.

- Atheist Bus Campaign
- British Broadcasting Company

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Ninety Seven years after his death, Civil War Union Soldier, Lorenzo Reynolds has finally received his proper respects from the Department of Veteran Affairs.

[Lorenzo Reynolds] the former Asbury Park resident and Union veteran of the Civil War finally has received his gravestone from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, about 97 years after he died…

… it wasn’t until Reynolds’ great-grandniece Mary Ellen McNamara, 66, of Allenhurst, who is considered a blood relative, got involved that the VA approved their headstone request.

(APP)

Local minister, Thomas Sheil gave a final set of words for Reynolds, one of the many community services performed by ULC ministers.

“Let this stone be blessed in remembrance of one who served,” said the Rev. Thomas Sheil of the Universal Life Church, who offered the eulogy.

(APP)

Rest in peace Lorenzo Reynolds, your service is remembered.

- Ashbury Park Press

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A church in Jacksonville Florida has uncovered a wealth of 1970′s and 80′s pornography, and held a ceremony to destroy it on Sunday.

Members of a Jacksonville church gathered to burn at least 100 reels of X-rated movies from the ’70s- and ’80s that were discovered recently when the church bought on old drive-in theater…

…the church plans to show family movies to the public after some repairs are done.

(FOX)

Burn it or enjoy it, as a citizen of the United States, you have that freedom. As it harms none, do as thou wilt.

- Fox News

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In recent years, many young people have felt a calling to return to a more simple form of life, a life of devout faith in monasteries around the world.

Though the number of young people entering monasteries, convents, and the priesthood has drastically dropped from the mid-20^th century, some new approaches to religious vocations have inspired some young people in America to embrace this idea, replenishing several of the older religious orders and filling new ones. 

(Slate)

It seems that individuals are, in a sense, drifting from family to the monastery in opposition to the trends of the mid 20th century.

Far from being pressured into pursuing religious vocations, they find their families often protest, feeling they are losing their children to a life that’s too isolated… 

Father Anderson [of the Clear Creek Monastery] says, “We were only a bunch of bums, but by becoming nothing, you can be a part of something great.”

(Slate)

- Slate.com
- Clear Creek Monastery

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