When Jimmy Carter left the Baptist Church in 2009, his announcement made the news. (See: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/losing-my-religion-for-equality-2009071...). He had joined Nelson Mandela’s group of “Elders” and he took this assignment seriously. So when he severed ties to his fundamentalist heritage, it was an act of truth-seeking at the deepest level imaginable.

Dear Friends:

With the loss of our dear friend, Garda Ghista, the world has lost one of its great revolutionaries and saints. Garda struggled, against the tremendous odds of an evil world system, on behalf of a decent future for us all. She did it with all the passion that flowed through her as a child of God and servant of humanity. My life will feel much lonelier and more diminished in the future knowing that Garda, such an inspiring and amazing person and friend, is no longer with us. Yet her memory for me is also a source of pride and honor: to have known and loved her.

As a female and a former attorney, I have been watching with intense interest the latest assaults on women’s privacy and reproductive rights. For weeks now, I have been signing petitions and endorsing libertarian articles crafted by the ACLU, MomsRising.org, Planned Parenthood, TrueMajority.org, Emily’s List, MoveOn.org, and our patron legal foundation, The Rutherford Institute – all geared toward protecting civil rights that we women won in the 20th Century.

On Tuesday, December 13, 2011, the Grayson County Board of Supervisors conducted a third and final public hearing on the zoning permit for the Peace Pentagon, The Oracle Institute’s proposed interfaith and social justice center in Independence, Virginia. The hearing was part of a multi-staged settlement that had been worked out in advance between Oracle’s attorneys and the County.

Earlier today, I drove down to the New River to meditate on what message I would like to convey tonight to the Planning Commission, the Board of Supervisors, my immediate neighbors, and those in attendance, as we collectively participate in this final stage of a settlement worked out between the County’s legal counsel and Oracle’s lawyers. As I turned off my car, the song “Little Pink Houses” by John Cougar Mellencamp was playing.

In June 2010, the Grayson County Board of Supervisors denied Oracle’s permit to build an interfaith and social justice center – the Peace Pentagon – along the New River in Independence, Virginia. A dozen or so Evangelical churches strenuously opposed the project, and I was called a heretic, witch, communist, Satan worshipper, and cult leader.

I read with great interest and respect the letter written by Kathy Isom in response to an editorial in The Roanoke Times and reprinted in The Gazette on August 29, 2011. In her letter, Ms. Isom recites part of the heading to that editorial: “Religion has no place ….” Yet, she chose to delete the last few words “… in zoning dispute.” Unfortunately, these omitted words are the very crux of the Roanoke editorial. Without them, we lose the point of both the original editorial and, I believe, Ms. Isom’s response:

Roanoke Times Editorial: http://www.roanoke.com/editorials/wb/292725

Today, the Washington Post carried the story of the Grayson County government denying our permit to build the Peace Pentagon. The interview took place months ago, so I have had plenty of time to ponder the pros and cons of making this story more public. The article is well-written and balanced … but you can make up your own mind on that score: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/proposed-interfaith-retreat-center-i...

The other day, my friend Jim sent me a link to a TED video which so perfectly aligns with the mission of The Oracle Institute, I feel compelled to discuss it and pass it along. This 22 minute video is the work of Dr. David Eagleman, who is a professor of neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. In a nutshell, Dr.

There’s a lot of “fun” in this blog title, but digging a little deeper I have discovered that Evangelical fundraising is serious business … especially in my home state of Virginia. It seems that Virginia leads the pack in raising dollars for Evangelical causes and uses the money to further erode the separation between church and state.