New Zealand Conservative

As millions celebrate today the Supreme Court's striking down of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), many will be giving thanks to Edie Windsor, the 83-year-old plaintiff in the case, and her lawyer, Roberta Kaplan. What most people will not know, however, is the instrumental role that a few members of the New York City chapter of DignityUSA played in this historic moment. DignityUSA is an organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics that was formally expelled by the Roman Catholic church in 1986 by then- Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger . Among the NYC chapter's many members is Brendan Fay, an Irish-born activist and filmmaker who lives in Queens with his husband, Tom Moulton. After DOMA was signed into law in 1996, Fay and his friend and fellow activist Jesus Lebron began working for marriage equality, organizing a rally on the steps of Manhattan's City Hall in February 1998. They continued to organize and participate in rallies, discussio...

I certainly try to be good, and I try to be nice and when I can't be I try to do and say nothing, but I don't always succeed. Anyone who thinks that I'm going to be reasonable and nice and easy to talk to in all circumstances is going to be disappointed. I think differences between the Catholic and Protestant theologies changes our expectations of people, depending on which faith tradition is more a part of how we believe. As I understand it, from the Protestant perspective, one's acts proves how "Christian" one is. If you don't act the part, you aren't a Christian. I think this relates also to the idea of once saved, always saved. If you fall, it just means that you were never saved in the first place, so calling into question a person's Christianity is essentially saying that they not saved. The Catholic perspective is different, however.  Salvation can be lost by what we do and how we think. We believe any person can be tempted to d...

I will no longer read or respond to private messages or emails that seek to convince me that I'm on the wrong side in this whole issue, or that I am aiding in the harassment, or that I being disrespectful, or the implication being made that I am a bit simple and didn't know what I was doing. Say what you will in public where everyone can see, or don't say it at all. I am really pissed now, and I'm certainly seeing how this whole thing spiraled out of control in the first place.

I drove into Wellington from the Coast on Thursday night, leaving home just after 6pm. It was pretty wild, what with the really deep puddles on the motorway that couldn't be seen until you were right in them making it sound as if the car was scraping against something, and the massive tree that fell onto the entire south-bound left lane on Ngauranga Gorge, and the intense wind that just took my breath away from the south, so intense I had to walk backwards into it so that I could breathe. With all of that, we got to our destination of the Cathedral for the yearly special Mass that always happens on the third Thursday of June. Coming back it wasn't quite so bad, and my husband was driving so I could look around as we drove rather than maintain a death grip on the steering wheel. I managed to warn him of a massive puddle that I did see, but the only thing he could do was take his foot off the accelerator to hit it at a slightly lower speed. Thankfully were were going only 7...

Peter Aranyi has written a though t provoking post on a recent court case between two bloggers. Is this what we want? Internet ‘take down’ and indefinite gagging orders? Well worth reading , to think about the principles of the issue, not the specifics . UPDATE: Added the "t" to thought above, and the second part of the last sentence, ie the bolded content.