Gunfighter: A Modern Warrior's Life

Something Is On My Mind

...and I'll tell you what it is: What has me bothered is the continuing unrest in the American branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which we refer to, in the United States, as the Episcopal Church. A Church body that is in full communion with my own. You see, the American branch of the Anglican communion has taken a courageous, and wholly Christian stance (in my view) by not only ordaining women, but electing openly gay people to serve as priests. This has caused a great deal of unrest in American church, as you might imagine.

It was reported, three days ago, in the Washington Post, that Colorado's largest Episcopal Church, Grace Church & St. Stephen's academy (est. 1872), in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has elected to leave the American Episcopal church, and enter into association with an ultra-conservative Anglican church body from Nigeria.

Why? Because various congregations in the United States want to use the word of God to codify their bigotry.

This isn't a new thing, unfortunately. In recent years, the Episcopal church has done some things that don't sit well with it's more conservative members. First, in the 1970's the U.S. church started ordaining women as Priests, Next, in 2003, an openly gay Priest, The Reverend Gene Robinson...



...was elected and consecrated as the Bishop for New Hampshire. In 2006, a woman, Bishop Kathrine Jefferts Schiori, of Nevada, was elected as Presiding Bishop for the entire American church.


Jefferts-Schori

That did it! The conservative elements had had all they were going to take. Many Parishes left after the consecration of the gay Bishop, and over the past year, dozens parishes had elected to leave the church with Jefferts Schori's ascension and the determination of the national church body to continue to bless same-sex unions and refusal to exclude gay members.

I, for one, applaud the action of the Episcopal church. At a time when many churches are taking the stand of exclusivity, as if the church is some sort of country club that needs to keep out the rabble, and in some cases deciding to not decide, the Episcopal church has taken a stand, that I consider to be in line with the theology of Jesus Christ: That all are welcome.

I mean, I could get deeply scriptural here, but I won't... there are plenty of places you can find that if you want. Here it is: Why is it that churches will split over homosexuality, but not over adultery? over homosexuality, but not over lying; sexual infidelity or "sexually inappropriate" behavior by the Pastor; theft; spousal abuse; and on and on? I'll tell you why... because people like having another group to hate... and it is particularly helpful to hate a group that you can get the clergy to agree with you on. You see, we Christians like to feel holy when we sin.

I'll say that again: We Christians like to feel holy when we sin.

It isn't fashionable to be openly racist in America anymore, especially in the church, but thankfully we still have one group that we can openly attack, and we can even try to use scripture against them You guessed it, gay people. Isn't that great? black people, white people, Latino people... we can all hold hands, sing Kumbaya, and exclude gay people from the body of Christ! AMEN!

I'm ill about it.

My oldest sister is gay. She is an ordained minister. She is leaving her church. She has to, before the congregation that loves the way she preaches the gospel, finds out about her love life. I have friends, some of whom read this blog, that no longer are active in their churches, because of the stances of their churches. I have a friend that is seeking ordination in the very same denomination that is struggling on this issue, and I am very proud of the courage that she has shown in the face of all of this furor.

People the world over have tried to cover their hatred of gays by quoting a few passages from the Bible while conveniently forgetting the most important parts of the Gospels: "For you are saved by grace through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." **Please note that this passage from the second chapter of Ephesians doesn't add the caveat "unless you are a homosexual"**

If nothing that I have said makes any sense to you, let me close with this: Excluding someone from your church or it's sacraments because of their sexual orientation is not only a sin, but it's un-American.

That's what I said, un-American. You see, we claim to cling to the notion that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

You see, the pursuit of happiness, which includes matrimony, is an American right. A right. A right that the church shouldn't be able to ignore because of the bigotry of some adherents.

American slavery began to be abolished in 1863, and it took until 2000 for the last prohibitions against interracial marriage to end in this country. It may take a long time, but I say to those who are waiting... be of good cheer, history is on your side.

Peace,

GF

Something Is On My mind...

...and I'll tell you what it is: What has me bothered is the continuing unrest in the American branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which we refer to, in the United States, as the Episcopal Church. A Church body that is in full communion with my own. You see, the American branch of the Anglican communion has taken a courageous, and wholly Christian stance (in my view) by not only ordaining women, but electing openly gay people to serve as priests. This has caused a great deal of unrest in American church, as you might imagine.

It was reported, three days ago, in the Washington Post, that Colorado's largest Episcopal Church, Grace Church & St. Stephen's academy (est. 1872), in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has elected to leave the American Episcopal church, and enter into association with an ultra-conservative Anglican church body from Nigeria.

Why? Because various congregations in the United States want to use the word of God to codify their bigotry.

This isn't a new thing, unfortunately. In recent years, the Episcopal church has done some things that don't sit well with it's more conservative members. First, in the 1970's the U.S. church started ordaining women as Priests, Next, in 2003, an openly gay Priest, The Reverend Gene Robinson...



...was elected and consecrated as the Bishop for New Hampshire. In 2006, a woman, Bishop Kathrine Jefferts Schiori, of Nevada, was elected as Presiding Bishop for the entire American church.


Jefferts-Schori

That did it! The conservative elements had had all they were going to take. Many Parishes left after the consecration of the gay Bishop, and over the past year, dozens parishes had elected to leave the church with Jefferts Schori's ascension and the determination of the national church body to continue to bless same-sex unions and refusal to exclude gay members.

I, for one, applaud the action of the Episcopal church. At a time when many churches are taking the stand of exclusivity, as if the church is some sort of country club that needs to keep out the rabble, and in some cases deciding to not decide, the Episcopal church has taken a stand, that I consider to be in line with the theology of Jesus Christ: That all are welcome.

I mean, I could get deeply scriptural here, but I won't... there are plenty of places you can find that if you want. Here it is: Why is it that churches will split over homosexuality, but not over adultery? over homosexuality, but not over lying; sexual infidelity or "sexually inappropriate" behavior by the Pastor; theft; spousal abuse; and on and on? I'll tell you why... because people like having another group to hate... and it is particularly helpful to hate a group that you can get the clergy to agree with you on. You see, we Christians like to feel holy when we sin.

I'll say that again: We Christians like to feel holy when we sin.

It isn't fashionable to be openly racist in America anymore, especially in the church, but thankfully we still have one group that we can openly attack, and we can even try to use scripture against them You guessed it, gay people. Isn't that great? black people, white people, Latino people... we can all hold hands, sing Kumbaya, and exclude gay people from the body of Christ! AMEN!

I'm ill about it.

My oldest sister is gay. She is an ordained minister. She is leaving her church. She has to, before the congregation that loves the way she preaches the gospel, finds out about her love life. I have friends, some of whom read this blog, that no longer are active in their churches, because of the stances of their churches. I have a friend that is seeking ordination in the very same denomination that is struggling on this issue, and I am very proud of the courage that she has shown in the face of all of this furor.

People the world over have tried to cover their hatred of gays by quoting a few passages from the Bible while conveniently forgetting the most important parts of the Gospels: "For you are saved by grace through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." **Please note that this passage from the second chapter of Ephesians doesn't add the caveat "unless you are a homosexual"**

If nothing that I have said makes any sense to you, let me close with this: Excluding someone from your church or it's sacraments because of their sexual orientation is not only a sin, but it's un-American.

That's what I said, un-American. You see, we claim to cling to the notion that "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

You see, the pursuit of happiness, which includes matrimony, is an American right. A right. A right that the church shouldn't be able to ignore because of the bigotry of some adherents.

American slavery began to be abolished in 1863, and it took until 2000 for the last prohibitions against interracial marriage to end in this country. It may take a long time, but I say to those who are waiting... be of good cheer, history is on your side.

Peace,

GF

News and Comment

The Wheels have come completely off of the current band of thugs running this country (charitably known by some as the Bush Administration).

In Recent News:

First, all of the President's men swear up and down that they had nothing to do with exposing CIA officer Valerie Plame... then Lewis "Scooter" Libby is indicted and convicted for having lied to the FBI in it's investigation.



Next, The Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, swears up and down that the Justice Department didn't base it's termination of a U.S. Attorneys on political grounds... then internal email shows that this is exactly what happened. This really shouldn't be surprising though... if you remember, Mr. Gonzales is the same guy that trashed the U.S. Constitution in this country with The so-called "Patriot" Act, and the same guy that gave Bush the green light to torture prisoners of war "Hey, if we call them "detainees", instead of POWs the Geneva Conventions don't count!" Many Republican lawmakers are now quietly calling for Gonzales to resign.



Now, Lurita Doan, The Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) is accused of steering "no-bid" contracts to a local crony, and is being investigated for using GSA facilities, time, and employees to make campaign plans for Republican candidates.



In war news, the administration is now coming under fire from within it's own party. Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, has actually used the word impeachment. Mr Hagel recently commented on ABC's "This Week", that "Any President who says... "I will not respond to what the people of this country are saying about Iraq or anything else" or "I don't care what the Congress does, I am going to proceed".... there are ways to deal with that"



Bush's Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice (an accomplished Soviet Specialist... um... what Soviets?) continues to make a mess of our middle-east policies, particularly concerning the increasingly alarming situation in Egypt.



Even Robert Novak, a more than slightly partisan editorialist, has declared that in his fifty years of experience, he has never seen a President so "alone" and isolated.


The 2008 elections are nearly two years away, The President's own party (except for those who REALLY like purple Kool-Aid) wants nothing to do with him.

What a mess.

Gunfighter Dreams (III)

Well, I had another interesting dream last night... or should I say, this morning?

In today's episode, my dream begins on an elevator where the doors are opening... and in rushes a torrent of water.

The elevator fills with water and I am, along with the other occupants, pushed through the roof of the elevator... and out onto a residential street, which is also flooding. The water is deep and moving fast... unlike most flood water, this water is clean and clear.

I swim along with the current, and passed another swimmer, a woman, who is wearing a purple clergy shirt with collar. As I passed her, I said "hiya Pastor!" she replied: "That's REVEREND!"

I kept swimming.

Then I woke up... 15 minutes before the clock was supposed to go off.

Damn.

Analysis, anyone?

You Know You're From DC, when...

Here are a few things about living in the Washington, DC area that make me laugh. People from other places may wonder about some of them, so, if you need clarification, just ask.

I especially love #27.

You Know You're From DC When...

1. You say you're from DC, but you actually live in Va or Md.

2. Ice on the roads just means that you pay more attention to other cars, but still go 75 mph on the highways (I don't do this, which is how I stay out of ditches).

3. You can tell when the roads change from DC to Maryland (they get better), and Maryland to Vriginia (they get better still).

4. You know where the Pentagon really is.



5. You can see the National Cathedral from almost anywhere.



6. You actually know at what times the streets change directions and which they direction they change to.

7. You know that Georgetown is NOT only a school

8. You know that Northern VA. is in no way similar to the rest of VA.

9. When you say you're going to the mall you don’t necessarily mean you're going shopping.

10. The Old Post Office doesn't sell stamps.

11. You can take the Metro to another state.

12. You know that we call it Targét, not Target... and are well aware that the one in Alexandria is just a "tad different".

13. You can live next door to a senator/vice president, ousted foreign leader, or any political figure and it is no big deal.

14. The term "inside the beltway" has more significance than national politics.

15. Washington National Airport is and will always be "WASHINGTON NATIONAL" not "Reagan National”

16. You claim that there’s nothing to do on a weekend night even when you have the entire Nation's Capitol to explore.

17. You actually know that Captiol Hill really is a hill.

18. You say "NOVA" to refer to the community college and not to Nothern Virginia itself.

19. You turn on the "local news" to hear about the latest national scandals/events.

20. A Virginian doesn't even have to look at a cars license plate to know that it is a Maryland driver.

21. It's not "the subway" it's The Metro.



22. When you are driving at night, in PG County, and you see 5 police cars pulling someone over you know its just for a rountine stop.

23. You know what PG County means.

24. You've ever had to explain to someone that there's more to Arlington than a big cemetery.

25. You have a few friends who don't know, or can't tell you what their spouse does for a living...It's Top Secret government work... Just like yours.

26. You describe traffic moving 1 mile in 5 minutes as "not that bad"

27. You know what "motorcade gridlock" is, and have been late because of it.



28. You're aware that National Airport is in Arlington, Virginia, not D.C.



29. you know that Pentagon City is the name of a mall.

30. You know how to get to the "REAL" exorcist stairs!

31. When you know that Chevy Chase is a place, not an actor.

32. You know that if you hit one red light on Constitution Ave. you will hit every red light until you get to 66

33. You can parallel park like it’s your job.

34. You know you're from DC area when your life revolves around finding a parking space.

35. When you realize you utter the phrase "damn tourists" entirely too often.

36. You get an inch of snow and your kids miss 3 days of school.

Shoot 'em Up Friday (VIII)

Sorry about last week... I was a trifle busy.

Today's excercise is another discussion about bullet penetration, and the use of effective cover. On television and in the movie, we have seen cops and cowboys take cover behind all manner of things during gunfights. One of the things we see them take cover behind are wooden structures... outhouses, sheds, etc... Well, not to disillusion anyone, but wood is a bad thing to hide behind unless it is fairly thick.

Let's have a look that. We'll be using a half inch thick sheet of plywood as our target today. Our ammunition, picured below, will be the 5.56mm round, fired from an M-4 carbine, the 5.7x28mm round, fired from the P-90 submachine gun, and the .357 (Sig) round, fired from a SigSauer P-229 pistol.



We will also be using a Remington 870, 12 gauge shotgun, through which we will shoot the target with a rifled slug and with a round of double-ought buckshot.

Here are what the bullet holes look like from the first three weapons/calibers:



This is what the shot spread for one round of double-O buckshot looks like at seven yards.



This is what the rifled slug did.



As you can see, all of the various types of ammunition easily perforated the wood, and would have done the same for anyone trying to use said wood for protection.

The lesson here? Try to use something more substantive to protect yourself from incoming rounds.

Next Friday: Body Armor!

Snow Daze

Since winter appears to have finally left us, I thought I would post the pictures that Olivia and I took on the (hopefully) final snow day (March 8th) for this winter.

Having any accumulation of snow in March is very rare for this area, so it was with real excitement that Olivia received the news that school had been cancelled for the day.

There wasn't much snow, and I wanted to make sure that she had a chance to play in the snow before it all melted, which most of it had by noon, so away we went.



As you can see, the grass is already peeking through the the snow, but there IS enough to make a snowball...



...which was promptly thrown at Mrs. Gunfighter's car.

Although the snow wasn't very deep, there was enough for vigorous Snow Angel effort...



...which paid of handsomely:



Olivia decided to make more snow angels...



...and proudly said: "Look, Daddy, it's our family! The big one is you."


Everybody say it with me: "Awwwwwwwwwwww!"

You Know You Are In The South...

...when the white people say: "y'all"

Movie Review: "Casino Royale"

Bond is back! and he is back in a big way! There is a new Bond in town, and his name is Daniel Craig!

I watched "Casino Royale" last week and enjoyed it immensely. Being a big James Bond fan since I was a kid, I have always felt that the best James Bond was Sean… er, Sir Sean Connery.

After being forced to endure the boring Roger Moore doing an only adequate job playing Bond, and then having to put up with the totally inadequate Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan over the last six films, I have to report that there is finally an actor worthy of Connery's Double-O mantle.

“Casino Royale”, like all of the Bond movies, was lavishly produced with high production values and beautiful locations. The script was well-done, I thought, as was the story, but the true story here, in my humble opinion, was Daniel Craig. Many people in Bond-dom were hoping that Craig would fail, and be poorly reviewed, but it was not to be. Craig, unlike his two post-Moore predecessors, played a more manly Bond. While Craig may not have been as smooth, urbane, and suave as some of his celluloid forebears, his was a strong character that upheld the tradition of Bond being sophisticated, but rebellious and tough at the same time.

I can’t help but think that Craig will be portraying James Bond for a long time to come… if he wants to.

The second Bond film starring Daniel Craig is scheduled to open in mid or late 2008. Craig is contracted for that one, and one more after that.

Who Are We?

Joy, at Gingajoy recently posted a series of questions aimed at her community of bloggers that I found quite interesting.

Joy's questions were directed at the so-called "mommyblogging community" to which I don't belong, even though I think I can claim associate membership since many of you that read my blog (and I read yours) ARE members of that community. By the way, if you are of a mind, go by her blog and give it a read.

Whether or not I belong to that community isn't all that important here, though. This is about this particular community in general and how it formed.

For me, this whole blogging lark was just a way to put my thoughts in a printed form... but like so many bloggers, I guess, once you start writing, you also start visiting the blogs of others. Comments left at blogs lead to others reading your blog. The next thing you know, things start to snowball and there you are.

These questions are about my blog and the people who read it... those that form this sort of random community.

Here are the questions, and my answers to them.

1. Who are we?

In the case of my blog, I'd have to say that we are a VERY eclectic loosely-knit group of people. We are ethnically and culturally diverse. We are from New York city, L.A., Lawrence, Kansas, Washington D.C. and it's suburbs, Washington state, rural Virginia, Ohio, Nevada, Texas, and many, many other places.

We are Black, white, multi-ethnic, and probably lots of other things.

We are straight, we are gay, we are married, we are not, we have children, we are childless, we are college educated (some with advanced degrees), and some of us were lucky to make it out of high-school... hell, some of you may even have voted for George W. Bush (please don't tell me, if you did!)

I don't think I could possibly pigeonhole this group of people by trying to define it... so I won't. Definitions impose limits. I don't like limits.

2. Who am I writing to? Who is my audience?

I suppose this is THE most important question that a writer can and should ask of him/herself. In my case, I'm writing to any and everyone that will listen, particularly when I ask questions or make statements on politics, culture and/or race.

I suppose saying that I am writing to everyone is a bit self-indulgent... but it is true. I write for anyone who will listen/read. I reckon that a therapist would probably tell you that I am just some oddball, kilt-wearing, narcissist. Maybe I am. I just like to communicate with people. I'm chatty. I thrive at small talk.

3. Why are we writing? What is our purpose?

Probably because I want to be heard. Don't we all want to be heard? Isn't that the best thing about blogging? I'm not trying to change the world, here. This is my way to make a Seuss-ian "Yopp" (look it up, you parents of small kids should know from whence I speak).

4. What is the context for my writing? What am I saying? What is my message?

My main message is: I am Gunfighter, hear me roar... (oh, and I hate George Bush, passionately).

5. How does the medium of blogging affect all this?

Simply this: I get to socialize without consuming an unreasonable amount of my limited free time. I get to shout about GWB's disastrous policies to a wider audience. On a daily basis, I get to share myself with more people than I can in the corporeal world. I learn things from other like-minded souls. I can expand my solidarity with people who have similar social and political outlooks. I can fellowship and share the gospel with fellow believers and share my faith with others in a non-scary, non-pushy, non-intrusive way.

I asked Joy if she minded if I re-posted her questions here, and she graciously assented. She said that she was interested in seeing the answers. I have to say that I am every bit as interested in seeing YOUR answers.

So, if you feel like it, answer away... or not.

Cheers,

GF