it's happening right here in minnesota...

that's the one thing i tend to forget as my church debates its biggest leap forward in decades. reading about them in the new york times or the washington post, i remember with a start, every few minutes, that the evil people saying the hateful things are mostly here in the twin cities. it occurs to me about twice a day that i should just drive over and give them a talking-to. everything would be OK then, right?

i fear not. even those who actually support this change have been prone in the last couple of days to making more of the issue than there is. how is it that, like many christian denominations, we could silence dissenters for years -- then suddenly, when the dissent is from the right, we need to heed every word. even the normally very intelligent archbishop of canterbury has publicly worried about the "significant impact" gene robinson's election will have on the anglican communion.

the conservatives in my church (MY church!) need a get-your-ass-in-line lecture from the archbishop, not a crowd of people ratifying their fearmongering instead of celebrating the fact that we've finally done the right thing.