Fr Knox+

I would never have suspected you of being "anti".

It will be interesting to see if the Church of England
Fathers show as good judgment as Mr. Brown has done. 
Left to their own devices what kind of leader will
they choose?

On another subject, I received a note from a
parishoner who forwarded an alarming letter from the
American Family Association.  http://www.afa.net/

The gist of the letter is a request to write to your
congressman opposing House bill H.R. 1592 and Senate
bill S. 1105.

The leading line in the letter is  this:
"A bill in Congress makes it a crime for pastors and
churches to speak against homosexuality."

I read the two bills from the govt website and also
read the house debate on the bill.  The two bills make
it possible for the federal govt to extend assistance
to local governments to investigate violent crimes
when the local authorities suspect a "hate crime" has
been committed.  

AFA asserts that if the bills pass, preachers will be
in trouble if they preach against homosexual
practices.

While I generally believe that the government that
governs best, governs least, I saw nothing in the
bills that indicate an attempt to take away first
amendment rights.  In fact, it appears to me this is
legislation that should have been in place long ago
when the Klan was committing crimes and intimidating
public officials into silence.

It appears to me the AFA is attempting to frighten
people into sending in offerings so they can fight the
fight to the government.

Charles+

"------------------------------------------

http://www.afa.net/ and --- KnoxDuncan
<KnoxDuncan@...> wrote:

> As a dedicated "disestablishmentarianist" I applaud
> Gordon Brown's move.