This photo shows a close up detail of a Boy Scout uniform worn by Brad Hankins, a campaign director for Scouts for Equality, as he responds questions during a news conference in front of the Boy Scouts of America headquarters in Irving, Texas.(Photo: Tony Gutierrez, AP)

The organization’s executive committee made the proposal, which is expected to be presented to the Boy Scouts’ voting members at today’s meeting in Dallas. If the policy is approved, it will take effect January 1.

“If approved, the resolution would mean that ‘no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone.’ The BSA will maintain the current membership policy for all adults,” Boy Scouts public relations director Deron Smith told CNN.

I blogged a couple weeks ago my opinion of the compromise. Let me hear from you. Vote below on what action you support from the Boy Scouts.

I’m talking about the inevitable “God is disappointed by (the homosexuals, Hollywood liberals, imperialistic America, Obama, etc.).” It’s become pro forma policy for certain evangelists to seize on any tragic weather, war, shooting or accident to claim it’s God exacting revenge for heretical policies.

An aerial view shows an entire neighborhood destroyed by Monday’s tornado, Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Moore, Okla. At least 24 people, including nine children, were killed in the massive tornado that flattened homes and a school in Moore, on Monday afternoon.
(The Associated Press)

First up, of course, was the Westboro Baptist Church. The famous gay-hiting church linked the Oklahoma tornado’s devastation and a local team’s support for openly gay NBA star Jason Collins.

No surprise there. Westboro has always been on the lunatic fringe. But there were others.

And Pat Robertson weighed in as well. He has a history of blaming victims, so it wasn’t so surprising either to hear him claiming the tornado victims could have spared themselves had they “prayed more.”

And on it went. But this time, theologians on the other side were prepared with pre-emptive strikes.

Rachel Held Evans blogged about the practice of blaming victims.

Many in the fundamentalist neo-Reformed movement are working off of a perversion of the doctrine of total depravity that not only teaches that human beings are depraved—that is, that our humanity is marred by sin—but that this depravity renders the world’s men, women, and children into valueless objects of god’s wrath, worthy of nothing more than eternal torture, pain, violence, and abuse.

At CNN, the Rev. Ian Punnett is on the same track, and at the Christian Century blog, MaryAnn McKibben Dana has more reflections in “When bad theology happens to good people.”

It’s unfortunate that some faith figures feel capitalizing on tragic victims is a way to get a few headlines, but it is a trend that doesn’t seem to be abating.

Kudos to those counter responses aimed at defending the faith in a compassionite and just God.

The court agreed to review an appeals court ruling that held that the upstate New York town of Greece, a Rochester suburb, violated the Constitution by opening nearly every meeting over an 11-year span with prayers that stressed Christianity.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the town should have made a greater effort to invite people from other faiths to open its monthly board meetings.

As reported by the Huffington Post, the town says the high court already has upheld prayers at the start of legislative meetings and that private citizens offered invocations of their own choosing. The town said in court papers that the opening prayers should be found to be constitutional, “so long as the government does not act with improper motive in selecting prayer-givers.”

Two residents who are not Christian challenged the practice, saying it made them feel uncomfortable. They are represented by Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The town is represented by Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based group that presses faith-based cases in courts nationwide. ADF senior counsel David Cortman said the framers of the Constitution prayed while drafting the Bill of Rights.

“Americans today should be as free as the Founders were to pray,” Cortman said.

From 1999 through 2007, and again from January 2009 through June 2010, every meeting was opened with a Christian-oriented invocation. In 2008, after residents Susan Galloway and Linda Stephens complained, four of 12 meetings were opened by non-Christians, including a Jewish layman, a Wiccan priestess and the chairman of the local Baha’i congregation.

Once again, it seems in the best interests of society as a whole to abide by the separation of church and state in government facilities. If we have committed to being a secular nation, and we have, I don’t see how we can condone official government practices that favor any religion.

What are you thoughts on opening municipal meetings with a prayer? How do you think the court will rule in this case?

Seems a tad presumptuous, I think. Frankly, I wouldn’t want to put that kind of pressure on the boy. Life is tough enough as it is.

Apparently, I am in the minority on that one as the U.S. Social Security Administration is reporting that “Messiah” is a strong trending baby name for boys.

It was the fourth fastest-growing name for boys, rising to 387th in 2012 from the 633th spot in 2011, according to the federal agency.

That’s not all. “King” became the seventh fastest-growing boy’s name, reaching the 256th most popular spot in 2012, compared with 389th the year before.

“Bold names for boys are very hot right now,” said Laura Wattenberg, creator of the website BabyNameWizard.com, told Reuters.

When I was a teenager, King Rice was one of the best point guards in the country for Binghamton High School (about 15 minutes away from where I grew up).

I thought it was the coolest name ever. And it didn’t hurt that Rice was truly the King of the court. Then Rice went to North Carolina and pretty much flamed out there.

Still, it was unique for the 1980s. Just as “Jesus” must have been many years before. And “Messiah” is now.

I suppose we’ll get used to meeting and knowing a few “Messiahs,” but it will take some getting used to.

It does pretty much go with anything, I’ll say that. What do you think? Would you name your son “Messiah?” If not, why wouldn’t you consider it?

I am not entirely sure. For the record, I did not know who this person was until yesterday, when I read her interview about giving up a top modeling career to live a “Christian life.”

My first thought was that this is admirable. After more research, I am not so sure.

Kylie Bisutti (The Associated Press)

Along the way, she attended a Christian youth group meeting. That led to Ludlow surrendering her life to Christ.

So far, so good. Ludlow continued to aggressively pursue modeling fame — again, her own description. She also posed for topless photos at age 16. She married Mike Bisutti at 19.

In 2009, she finally received her big break: she was among 10,000 women to try out for the 2009 Victoria’s Secret Angel Search competition, and she won.

For the next two-plus years, she was a model for Victoria’s Secret. How much modeling she did is in question.

I don’t know what Bisutti was paid, but one would think a smart investor could earn enough to live a lifetime of luxury in just two years as an Angel. Or could they?

In February 2012, Bisutti announced she was leaving Victoria’s Secret.

“I just became so convicted of honoring the Lord and my body and wanting to be a role model for other women out there who look up to me,” Bisutti said today on “Good Morning America.”

Bisutti was at it again yesterday, rehashing her decision and how it was all for her husband and God.

Meanwhile, Victoria’s Secret fired back, claiming the Bisutti was never an Angel and did just one shoot for them. The company claims she actually begged to do more modelling.

Their statement:

In 2009, Ms. Bisutti won an online amateur modeling competition and hasn’t worked for us since that year. The prize for the winning contestant was the unique opportunity to a one-time walk in the 2009 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Ms. Bisutti also participated in a swim photo shoot in 2009. That was the extent of Ms. Bisutti’s involvement with Victoria’s Secret. She was never a Victoria’s Secret “Angel” as defined by the terms of our Angel model contract. And contrary to Ms. Bisutti’s claims, she was never offered any subsequent modeling contracts or opportunities with Victoria’s Secret despite her multiple appeals for further work. She has repeatedly fabricated her work experience with Victoria’s Secret–including a relationship that simply did not exist.

Oh, and Bisutti has a book to sell. Titled “I’m No Angel: From Victoria’s Secret Model to Role Model,” she discusses how she felt exploited by the lingerie giant.

I think it’s great, really I do. But I’d be more impressed if she announced she was giving a significant sum of money for God to use. That would seem to be appropriate since God doesn’t agree with the modelling life. Why would you want to still enjoy those seemingly ill-gotten gains?

What do you think? Is Kylie Bisutti a genuine role model for young girls? Or are there some holes in her story?

The modern concept of a wholly secular government is sometimes credited to the writings of English philosopher John Locke, but the phrase “separation of church and state” in this context is generally traced to a January 1, 1802 letter by Thomas Jefferson, addressed to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut, and published in a Massachusetts newspaper.

(By AP graphics)

A letter from the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation (FRFF) was sent to school officials after an anonymous student contacted the organization about the postings of the Ten Commandments at his high school, according to multiple reports.

Ever since the letter arrived, the community has been up in arms, the Huffington Post reported.

Multiple petitions have been signed by hundreds of people, pray-ins have been held at the school, pro-Christian messages lit up Twitter with the hashtag #FightForFaith, and church officials and politicians have railed against the request to remove the religious postings.

The school gave in yesterday, taking down the plaques, a local television station reported.

“When it’s clearly decided, there’s no point in continuing to fight a losing battle,” Muldrow Schools Attorney Jerry Richardson told the local channel.

The controversy generated the usual cries of Christianity being “under attack.” The story comments, Twitter reaction and Facebook memes all parrot the idea that more religion in schools (among other places) is better for society.

But is it?

I tend to agree with Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, an ordained minister and practicing Christian, who agreed with the decision to take down the Ten Commandments:.

Every religious person should object to having the Ten Commandments in schools because you are allowing other people — people over whom you have no control — the responsibility of interpreting said commandments.

If you take the Ten Commandments seriously, you certainly don’t want someone who doesn’t share your beliefs explaining to the classroom what they mean. That is a privilege reserved for religious leaders who we chose to follow and it is best done in religious establishments — not by some teacher randomly asked about them in a classroom.

I think it’s a fair point. The attitudes toward religion in this country is the same as it’s ever been: if you seek a religious adherence, it’s your choice to seek it out and practice your beliefs.

At no place in a public setting should a particular set of religious beliefs be forced on anyone with the reasonable expectation that the setting should be religiously neutral.

If you’re a Catholic, or a Methodist, or a Lutheran, I would think you’d want willing adherents who come to your church ready to learn the Ten Commandments in an appropriate setting, led by an appropriate representative of your church.

That doesn’t seem like a difficult concept, nor does our secular society seem overly restrictive. And it’s worked well for over 200 years.

I don’t see any significant sway one way or the other.

Do you agree? If not, why would you want the Ten Commandments in place at, say, York Suburban High School?

Of course, the same goes for pastor husbands, as York County is home to a large number of female pastors. Being the supportive spouse when your husband or wife is needed at all hours of the day and night, is often preoccupied with supporting others emotionally, and works nearly every Sunday can be difficult.

Ann Seitz-Brown, right, helps her husband, the Rev. Timothy Seitz-Brown say goodbye to worshippers following a Sunday service last year. (YDR file photo)

This is a story I have planned for early to mid-June. I home to explore several themes. Mainly, how pastor spouses deal with sharing their partner with the congregation? What special things do you do to keep your marriage healthy? Where do you draw the line? Do you assist your spouse pastor with his church duties? What do you see the spouse role as? What has been the hardest thing to deal with?

Do you have a story to share with me on this topic? Email me at jhilton@ydr.com, or call me at 771-2024.

Meanwhile, here “Seven Things Pastors’ Wives Wish They Had Been Told Before They Became Pastors’ Wives,” courtesy of The Christian Post

1. I wish someone had told me just to be myself. “I am a people-pleaser by nature, so for me, not being prepared to handle being a pastor’s wife with my personality was a heavy burden to carry early in our ministry.”

2. I wish someone had prepared me to deal with criticism of my husband and me. “It was hard to deal with negative experiences, conflicts, or criticisms, especially in relation to my husband and our area of ministry. So I would harbor feelings of resentment when it came to ministry and my man.”

3. I wish someone had reminded me that my husband is human. “I wish someone had told me that my husband could not be God for me. I was disillusioned at first to find out that he indeed is just a man.”

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4. I wish someone had told me that others were watching us (the glass house syndrome). “Even though they are watching us, we don’t need to be controlled by what they expect of us.”

5. I wish someone had told me there are some really mean people in the church. “I was really surprised. I had to learn not to pay too much attention to them or they would get me down.”

6. I wish someone had told me how much my husband needs me to build him up. “I need to be his cheerleader. Dealing with critics in the church is difficult. He needs to hear that I respect him now more than ever.”

7. I wish someone had told me that my schedule will never be normal again. “Your husband will be very busy. Expect that. But come alongside him in the areas of time management and organization.”

This time, it’s a new Washington Post-ABC News poll revealing surprising support for gay inclusion in the Boy Scouts of America.

This photo taken Monday shows a close up detail of a Boy Scout uniform worn by Brad Hankins, a campaign director for Scouts for Equality, as he responds questions during a news conference in front of the Boy Scouts of America headquarters in Irving, Texas.(Photo: Tony Gutierrez, AP)

The BS National Council will gather later this month to vote on a plan, unveiled a few weeks ago, which would allow gay scouts but maintain a ban on gay scout masters. In splitting the decision, the group may be trying to modernize while continuing to appeal to a diversity of views on homosexuality — seven in 10 scout groups are chartered by religious institutions.

Not surprisingly, the poll reveals partisanship in the results. A full 68 percent of Democrats and 61 percent of independents oppose the Boy Scouts’ ban on gay leaders, while 61 percent of Republicans support the plan.

I blogged recently about my disdain for the Boy Scouts’ half-hearted compromise. Do you think the Council should go all the way and permit gay people to participate in all aspects of scouting?

Just because he’s an interesting guy who had a choice to make. That choice pitted his family against his faith. And he choose his family.

Thomas Ogletree

Back to Ogletree. A United Methodist Church pastor, Ogletree is a Frederick Marquand Professor Emeritus of Theological and Social Ethics at Yale University Divinity School.

He previously served as dean of Yale Divinity School (1990–96) and the Theological School at Drew University (1981–90). He was director of graduate studies in religion at Vanderbilt University (1978–81).

He is the author of five books: “The World Calling: The Church’s Witness in Politics and Society,” “Christian Faith and History: A Critical Comparison of Ernst Troeltsch and Karl Barth,” “The Death of God Controversy; The Use of the Bible in Christian Ethics,” and “Hospitality to the Stranger: Dimensions of Moral Understanding.”

In October 2012, Ogletree presided over his son’s gay wedding in New York City, where it is legal. The younger Thomas Ogletree married Nicholas Haddad.

A complaint has been filed against him by the United Methodist Church, which may lead to a church trial. The UMC does not allow its clergy to perform same-sex weddings.

While he is not the first UMC clergyman to defy the church on gay marriage, Ogletree, 79, is the highest-profile pastor to date. The result has left him in the middle of a church tug of war, which the New York Times addressed in an article this week.

As the Times notes, the United Methodist Church is the third-largest Christian denomination in the country. Its clergy members pledge to follow the church’s laws as contained in its rule book, the Book of Discipline. The rules can only be amended via votes by clergy and laity that take place every four years.

Ogletree has become a symbol of sorts for UMC clergy who seek to change the church rules on gay marriage. He has aligned with Methodists in New Directions, a New York group that is part of a growing movement to change the church’s rules.

The Times reports that more than 1,100 United Methodist clergy members — of about 45,000 in the nation — have expressed a willingness to perform same-sex ceremonies, even if it means they may face suspension or censure.

I found Ogletree’s quote to the Times very telling: “I actually wasn’t thinking of this as an act of civil disobedience or church disobedience. I was thinking of it as a response to my son.”

Ogletree, who also has a gay daughter, wrote his own opinion column in the Washinton Post explaining his decision to disobey the church.

I am always fascinated when a staunch social conservative amends their tolerance level when confronted by homosexuality in their own family. Or their own children. Dick Cheney favors gay marriage. He probably would not favor gay marriage if he didn’t have a gay child. Sen. Rob Portman recently came out in favor of gay marriage, revealing that his son is gay.

While that is nice, to me, it isn’t right. I don’t believe you can represent people, as a politician or a clergyman, and be opposed to something as long as it doesn’t touch you. The values and love you carry for your own family must be the values and love you want for everyone.

What would you do if you were in Rev. Ogletree’s shoes?

I reflected a little about my interaction with him in this post Thursday, the day McFadden died suddenly in Philadelphia from a heart attack.

The Most Rev. Kevin C. Rhoades, Bishop of Harrisburg, presided at a 2005 Mass at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in New Freedom and a dedication of the church’s new parish center and outreach building. Here, Rhoades blesses the new parish center. (YDR file photo)

I liked Rhoades when he was here, and always considered him a potential cardinal. I may be wrong about his career arc, since Rhoades’ current post, the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, is actually smaller than Harrisburg.

Nevertheless, Rhoades is still breaking new ground. In 2011, he became the first bishop to give the OK for an iPhone app.

The program, “Confession: A Roman Catholic App,” was developed as an aid “for those who frequent the sacrament and those who wish to return,” a press release explained.

Rhoades was 46 when he was made bishop of the Harrisburg diocese. His relatively youthful exuberance was felt throughout his six years in the position. By contrast, McFadden was 63 when he became bishop.

The process is expected to be long, likely a year, before a new bishop is named. The Harrisburg post is the first bishop position that new Pope Francis will oversee from start to finish.

Pennlive had a nice summation of the entire process Sunday.

The Rev. Robert M. Gillelan Jr., a former priest at Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in York, was named interim leader of the Diocese on Monday.

I have never met “Father Bob,” but he seems to be in the mold of McFadden — that is, highly competant, soft spoken and committed to getting things done and keeping the diocese running smoothly.

The hope here is the diocese takes its time to find a promising future leader, someone with the vision and energy to guide local Catholics through the next decade.

Someone like Rhoades.

Do you have a thought on what the profile of the next leader of the diocese should be?