CM Pope

A tricky thing about modern society is that no one has any idea when they don’t die.

Like, the number of lives saved by controlling air pollution in America is probably over 200,000 per year, but the number of people who think their life was saved by controlling air pollution is zero.

As a nation, we are week by week less prosperous, less secure, less humane, less democratic, less prepared for a health crisis or a natural disaster. The responses—widen circle of allies, pressure political leaders, use your voice, vote, be curious, describe the human cost of dismantling the U.S.

I don’t know if the text books I had in school were always the best, but at least the propaganda wasn’t that on the nose

This is a fruit of American Evangelicalism.

We’ve seen this gimmick before

9. If nothing else, I'll at least get a good cold brew out of the conversation

8. I asked for clarity, and hopefully, I'll be getting it. If you have questions about where a church stands, you should be able to ask, and you should be able to get an answer, especially when a statement goes one way, but policy decisions go another.

7. So I made a little video and stitched the sermon with a couple of screen shots with the statement when it was on their site and their denominational stance, and now I've got a coffee shop meeting scheduled with one of their pastors.

6. But to say that everyone is welcome in a sermon, while removing your policy from your website, and being in a denomination with a clear policy that does not include LGBTQ folks in weddings, ordination, and, I assume but don't know for sure, leadership, isn't welcoming.

5. That said, there are LGBTQ folks that are members at Hope, so their welcome doesn't exclude people from joining or attending, which is something that other churches can't say.

4. To me, the change in their website language seems like an attempt to avoid sounding like a church that won't welcome LGBTQ folks into the full life of the church while being a church that won't welcome LGTBQ folks into the full life of the church.

3. at one point, the Hope website had a statement that said, "God's intent for marriage is clear. As a result, we are unable to host same-sex weddings at Hope." That statement is no longer on their website, but all the language on that page only references what the bride and groom should plan for.

2. the denomination they are a part of, LCMC, does not ordain LGBTQ clergy and does not endorse weddings for LGBTQ couples saying, "human sexual expression and fulfillment take place only within the boundaries of marriage between one man and one woman" www.lcmc.net/pastoral-adm...

1. Last weekend, the lead pastor at Lutheran Church of Hope, the largest church in the DSM metro, said the church policy was to welcome everyone, gay and straight, trans and cisgendered, but that statement raised some questions for me, because they don't officiate weddings for LGBTQ couples

It is a hard day to be an Iowan. And yet, there is still solidarity, there will be justice, and we won’t give up on finding it.

By accepting Trump’s anti-Black premise and regurgitating the narrative that equates anything Black as DEI, the NY Times has become part of the propaganda machine

Very true

When they say the quiet part out loud, believe them

Brenna Bird hid the ball on major disability case. Now she's lying about it Laura Belin: Iowa's attorney general and her staff have lied repeatedly about a federal lawsuit that could blow up Section 504 protections.

New post: This week, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird & her staff lied repeatedly about a federal lawsuit Iowa joined, which could blow up Section 504 protections for people with disabilities.
My report (with audio from my short Q&A with the AG on Monday): www.bleedingheartland.com/2025/02/16/b...

Our Trans Family and History WILL NOT BE ERASED 🏳️‍⚧️

Rally at the Stonewall National Monument in New York City in response to the current administration’s efforts to erase transgender people.

The word 'transgender' erased from National Park Service-run website commemorating Stonewall riot References to transgender people have been removed from a National Park Service website for the Stonewall National Monument

Hey look, fascism.
www.wbaltv.com/article/nati...

🤷🏻

COLLINS: “AP says you banned them because they won’t call it ‘Gulf of America’ — does this mean Trump will retaliate against reporters who don’t use language you want them to, and how does this align with your first amendment commitment?”

Beyond parody. Also, chilling.