Mormons, Catholic Bishops and evangelicals - Argh!

Thanks to the Mormon and evangelical churches for sinking millions into the Prop 8 effort.

Now the Catholic bishops take on Obama and his views on abortion (click HERE).

I am a Christian, have been a Christian all of my life, but I have never been in one of these camps.

They don't speak for me, they don't speak for millions, nor do they have the last word on the Bible, or anything else for that matter.

The simple reality: the Bible says everything, so, in effect, it says nothing, until we put our hand to it. Jim Jones of Jonestown put his hand to it, and so did Mother Teresa. Take your pick, if you will, but the point is this: there's no automatic pathway to the truth. Neither the president of the Mormon church or the pope in Rome can claim some special revelation or right of interpretation.

I am a person of generous spirit and have tried throughout the years of my ministry to be a builder of bridges - to any and all groups of faith, but at what point does one recognize the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of trying to befriend a viper.

As I reach out, they pray for the salvation of my lost soul.

As I try to build a bridge, they dig a deeper ditch?

As I articulate a gospel that welcomes and includes an array of thought, they articulate a gospel that excludes me and likely sees me destined for hell.

At what point does one say: too much is at stake to let this one go?

Is it time for folks all around the world to stand up and put a stop to the power-plays of the very groups who would take away our freedoms in a heartbeat, who would undo American democracy for a theocratic dictatorship? They are not, and have never been, the friends of American democracy - only using it to protect their own interests. That Democracy should defend the rights of those who would destroy it is the particular genius and burden of Democracy - a marvel these groups cannot, and will not, understand.

I have no clear answers, but I'm distressed.