Sunday, February 22, 2004

LIKE A PHOENIX ARISING FROM THE ASHES VIRTUAL OCCUQUAN 51 7:56:57 PM    comment []

Pilgrims and seekers, Dr. Omed has a brand spanking new meme ready for propagation: I propose that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. If you don't know who I'm talking about, hang up now.  Not everyone is entitled to nominate a candidate; below are the rules for those who can.  Dr. Omed does not qualify to do so, but I have already persuaded a Law Professor at a local university to nominate Mr. Newsom. If you meet the criteria, you can too! The prize awarding ceremony on December 10 is the final result of a long selection process. The rules permit a division of the prize among no more than three laureates. The Norwegian Nobel Committee bases its assessment on nominations that must be postmarked no later than 1 February each year. Later nominations are included in the following year's discussions. In recent years, the Committee has received well over 140 different nominations for the Peace Prize. (The numbers of nominating letters are much higher, since many are for the same candidates.) Nominators New nomination rules, effective from 2003. Compared to the old rules the list of nominators has been slightly expanded. Any one of the following persons is entitled to submit proposals: members of national assemblies and governments; members of international courts of law; university chancellors; university professors of social science, history, philosophy, law and theology; leaders of peace research institutes and institutes of foreign affairs; former Nobel Peace Prize laureates; board members of organisations that have received the Nobel Peace Prize; present and past members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee; (committee members must present their nomination at the latest at the first committee meeting after February 1); former advisers at the Norwegian Nobel Institute. Observing the rules given in the statutes of the Nobel Foundation, the Committee does not publish the names of candidates. The Nobel Peace Prize may also be accorded to institutions or associations. The nominators are strongly requested not to publish their proposals. Proposals should be sent to:      The Norwegian Nobel Committee      Drammensveien 19      NO-0255 OSLO      Norway. I'm Dr. Omed and I approve this meme.  Nihil Obstat Ego Pater Omed Take the Nobel Nominator Poll at Daily Kos. 12:11:53 PM    comment []

St. Sergius and St. Bacchus, martyrs and patron saints of gay unions. DR. OMED’S EARLY SUNDAY SERMON:  OUTLAW LOVE   Those who oppose gay marriage say that legal and sacerdotal recognition of the abiding love between a man and a man or a woman and a woman somehow degrades marriage between a man and a woman, and even threatens the social order.    I think love is outside and above the social order.  If there is a higher law, love is that law.   I think denying gay people the sacrament of marriage degrades heterosexual marriage.  I think that the refusal and the legal legitimization of the refusal to recognize the union between two people of the same sex degrades any claim we have to being a free society, and threatens the institutions that protect all our freedoms. There’s nothing civil about it.    Banning gay marriage makes a mock of God’s love, and a mockery of the idea that we are all God’s children.  It is an attempt to outlaw love.  It is an attack on families that protect and nuture love in a dangerous world.  To echo something Lincoln said, those who deny family to others do not deserve it for themselves.  Denying marriage and family rights to some is no defense of the freedoms we so proudly, and loudly,  proclaim.  People who propose such a ban should be ashamed.     You cannot outlaw love.  As St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, love never fails.  Love is greater than faith and outlasts hope.  Love abides, as Paul says, when tongues and prophesies fail.  Love will prevail.   Note: I would like to thank Chris Key for inspiring this sermon.   6:59:12 AM    comment []