Box Turtle Bulletin

Hutcherson’s Plan For Microsoft: A Hostile “Christian” Takeover

So we already told you about Pastor Ken Hutcherson’s bluster before Microsoft shareholders last Tuesday, where he threatened the company with a “firestorm” if they don’t change their nondiscrimination policies. Hutcherson was later reminded hat Microsoft’s policies were affirmed by 97 percent of the shareholders last year. So what’s a Watchman to do?

Well it looks like Hutcherson wants to take over Microsoft by packing it with new shareholders who will vote Hutcherson’s way. So let’s see… There are about 9.35 billion shares of Microsoft stock outstanding. And since stock is hovering around $34 per share, that represents a market capitalization of some $318 billion. For a man who can’t even collect enough signatures in two attempts to get an innitiative placed on the Washington state ballot to overturn that state’s anti-discrimination laws, that looks like a pretty tall order.

Hutcherson Threatens Microsoft; Microsoft Not Impressed

Rev. Ken Hutcherson, pastor of Antioch Bible Church and one of the founders of Watchmen On the Walls, decided to drag his bullying pulpit to Mircosoft’s annual shareholder meeting. You may recall that in Hutcherson persuaded Microsoft to withdraw its an employment anti-discrimination bill that was before the Washington state legislature which would have made it illegal to fire an employee due to their sexual orientation.  Without Microsoft’s support, the bill was narrowly defeated.

A few weeks later, after furious protests from LGBT people from around the world and by Microsoft’s own LGBT employee group, the company reversed itself and promised to support anti-discrimination legislation in the future. In January 2006, the bill came up again in the Washington legislature. This time it passed both houses of the legislature and was signed into law on January 31, 2006.

Hutcherson has been taking this defeat very personally since then. He twice tried to place a referrendum on the ballot to overturn the anti-discrimination law. Both time he failed to gather the required number of signatures. He has also threatened to launch a boycott of Microsoft, but so far talk of boycotts have been just that: talk.

And so to keep the bluster going, Hutcherson went to Tuesday’s Microsoft shareholder’s meeting where he issued another empty threat:

QUESTION: Good morning. My name is Ken Hutcherson. I want to ask a couple of brief questions, no answers necessary. This is really letting you know, that do you know the greatest firestorm as stockholders is coming towards the corporations for the cost of taking up the fight that Christians, Evangelicals, Catholics, Jews, and Muslims have stood against for years, and the second thing is the reason why this firestorm is coming is because I came to Brad Smith and Stafford Mays, who works in Diversity. We had worked out a plan to work together to improve our community. Thank you, Brad, for that opportunity. Thank you, Stafford, for that opportunity. And Mr. Steve Ballmer, CEO, stood and called me a liar. Thus, we are putting together one of the largest, one of the most powerful groups to come to deal with Microsoft on issues that we believe is hurting our society. And the reason why we are excited about this is because we know that we have the power behind us.

And as I close, I would like to let you know that sometimes our love to work with you as a partner to improve our community, that fails; thus, we have to come another way, and I am probably one of the worst nightmares that this corporation can have. I’m a black man with a righteous cause, with a great deal and a whole host of powerful white people behind me. I hope to hear from you so we can work together. If not, you will be hearing from me again. Thank you.

CHRIS LIDDELL: Thank you, Mr. Hutchison. I’ll ask if there are any other questions from the floor. I believe there’s one over there. Someone can you take a microphone there. Number three, thank you.

In the official company video at about the 51:42 mark (unfortunately the YouTube video above cuts off well before then), another shareholder rose to speak:

QUESTION: I own over 1,000 shares, and I also represent an investment club with many more shares. My question is for any particular person, it doesn’t matter. What can shareholders do to support the corporation in opposition against hurtful, and hateful constituent actions, particularly and specifically Reverend Hutcherson? (Applause.)

BRAD SMITH: As a company we’ve had a clear policy with respect to the way we treat our people. And we believe in that policy. It’s a policy that’s founded on non-discrimination. It’s a policy that we believe has served our employees well, it’s served our shareholders well, and I think that reflected last year when all of our shareholders were asked to vote on that policy, and over 97 percent of you, and all of our other shareholders, stood up and agreed with us. I think that it is precisely in that form that shareholders had the opportunity to continue to make their views known, and we very much appreciate that support.

Hutcherson’s bluster seems to have fallen with a hard thud. What do you think his next move will be? Switch his support to Apple?

Update: No, his next move is even more outlandish. He actually thinks he can take over Microsoft.

Hungary to Recognize Same-Sex Couples

At present, Hungary has only limited recognition of inheritance rights based on Unregistered Cohabitation, a sort of common law coupling. However, the AP is reporting that the government will be presenting a bill next week to allow for official recognition of gay couples, and other unmarried couples, and to grant many of the rights of married couples.

The bill would give them many of the same benefits currently granted only to married couples, including rights of inheritance or to take the other’s name, government spokesman David Daroczi said Friday. It would not, however, give unmarried couples the right to adopt children together. Daroczi said the new law could take effect from Jan. 1, 2009.

Some aspects of the bill will require support from the opposition party. They are reserving comment until they see what is presented.

More Baptist Controversy

Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, TX, is a moderately welcoming church. Although they have had gay members for many years, they seek to neither “endorse or condemn homosexuality.” This neutrality has served them well, allowing gay people to feel welcome but also allowing those Texas Baptists who’s religious convictions persuaded them of homosexuality’s sinfulness to join in worship without direct confrontation.

But sometimes confrontation comes unexpectedly, as it did for Broadway Baptist. The church decided to celebrate its 125th anniversary with a book describing its missions and displaying pictures of its members.

But when a gay couple showed up to have their picture taken for the directory, Betty Price, the directory coordinator, was having none of it. She raised a stink and spread her discontent – even calling the General Baptist Convention of Texas – before resigning from the position.

So now the church is having to face the decision of how to treat their gay brothers and sisters. Would they include the couple as a family, would they include individual photos, or would they decide that gay members are not worthy of inclusion in a directory.

The pastor, Brett Younger, discussed the problem at a Wednesday night church service (Star-Telegram):

Younger said that the church has had gay members for decades but that no couple had ever been pictured in the directory. He said to change directions would understandably be “troubling to many.”

On the other hand, Younger wrote that other church members think that the congregation’s gays, who “worship, serve and give just like everyone else,” should not be treated like “second-class members.”

The response has been varied. The church staff recommended to exclude them from the directory. The deacons considered letting families decide for themselves who was in their family, but voted that down and could come to no further decision. Those attending a monthly business meeting voted to present the idea to the congregation (for their vote) to list the couple together in the telephone directory but to show two separate photographs. The vote will be on December 2.

One of the more interesting aspects of this story, to me, is the attitude of the couple in question. They refused to allow their names to be published and they willingly took separate photographs because they did not want to be “poster child[ren] for a division in the church”.

“We are at the church to learn and to serve,” one of the men said. “There are people out there who are destined to be activists. I don’t feel like one of them.”

Often it is those who are quietly living their lives with integrity that most impact the world around them.

As a side note, perhaps it is not surprising that the pastor at Broadway Baptist from 1992 to 1999 was Rev. Stephen Shoemaker, currently the pastor at Myers Park Baptist.

See also:
Broadway’s Pastor Calls It Quits
Broadway’s Anti-Gays Vote
Broadway Baptist Finds a Happy Compromise
Broadway Baptist Punts on Gay Members’ Photos
More Baptist Controversy

Gay Lutheran Pastors in Norway

International Herald Tribune reports:

Norway’s state Lutheran church on Friday lifted an outright ban on allowing those living in homosexual partnerships to serve in the clergy, but will leave it up to each bishop to make individual decisions on whether to employ them.

Nicaragua Drops Sodomy Laws

In a surprise move, Nicaragua dropped anti-sodomy laws from their books. Blabbeando reports:

In adopting a new national civil code on Monday, the Nicaraguan National Assembly sidestepped the longstanding law that penalized sodomy between members of the same-sex with up to five years in prison by overwhelmingly voting to approve a new civil code that simply did not mention it.

In a trend that seems to be growing in Latin American countries, this move was not the result of legislation or even focused lobbying but in a growing recognition by elected representatives that all persons are deserving of freedom. Sadly, in the US there would still be sodomy laws in a dozen states if the Supreme Court had not invalidated such laws. I wonder if it embarrasses some of the more conservative patriots in the US that developing nations in the Americas seem intent on usurping the title of Land of the Free.

(hat tip Queerty)

AIDS: One, Two, Three (and Four)

ONE: Four Chicago Transplant Recipients Test Positive for HIV
In a development that is likely to set back efforts to life the ban on gay men donating blood, four Chicago area transplant patients have recently tested positive for the HIV virus after receiving their transplants last January. Hospital and organ donation officials believe the virus escaped a rarely encountered flaw in the test procedures, a flaw that more sensitive tests could help fix. This is the first known case of transplant-related HIV transmission since 1985.

TWO: Failed AIDS Vaccine May Leave Recipients More Susceptible to AIDS
In a development that is likely to set back efforts to bring potential AIDS vaccines to trial, top investigators in the failed Merck HIV vaccine study said they are still trying to understand why who received the vaccine had higher rates of HIV infection than those who received the placebo. \

The vaccine is made from a common cold virus with three synthetic HIV genes tucked inside. The vaccine is designed to stimulate the immune system to kill any HIV-infected cells encountered in the future. But the preliminary investigation suggests that this stimulation didn’t take place where patients had a pre-existing immunity to that particular cold virus.

THREE: Cheer Up, And Have A Happy AIDS Day!
The deliciously offensive comedienne Sarah Silverman may or may not have penned this ditty for World AIDS day:

I’m not black
I’m not gay
And Africa is so far away
But what’s one more December holiday?
Happy AIDS Day anyway

I have no idea whether this is genuine or not. But it certainly captures the apathy surrounding AIDS in a very sardonic, ironic, Silvermanesque way. And it reminds me of this episode from the first season where Sarah decides to cheer herself up by getting an AIDS test.

(UPDATE) AND FOUR: Not Everyone’s So Apathetic After All
Someone in Dallas worked up the motivation to shoot out the AIDS Interfaith Network with a high powered rifle. The rifle was powerful enough to go through the wall of the building, tearing up furniture, a printer, a file cabinet and other office supplies. One person was in the building at the time of the overnight shooting, but no one was hurt. Two of the minivans used to take patients to their appointments were put out of service by the overnight shooting. According to the Dallas Morning News, “With much of the rest of the drab, one-story office complex vacant, the cluster of bullet holes doesn’t seem like the mark of random gunfire.”

No. Carolina Baptists Expell Gay-Friendly Church

The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina has does not have many requirements for association. As the Charlotte News-Record rather concisely put it

Churches must provide financial support and not affirm homosexuality.

During their meeting last year, the Convention voted to kick out of fellowship any church that did “affirm, approve, endorse, promote, support or bless homosexual behavior”. This definition includes accepting a single gay person as a member in a church.

As a consequence, several churches dropped their affiliation with the Convention.

Myers Park Baptist Church, a Charlotte church with membership of about 2,000, decided that their 65 year association should not be let go without comment. Their pastor, Rev. Dr. H. Stephen Shoemaker, wrote the following eloquent appeal, which I am including in full:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I appeal to you by the mercies of God to refrain from removing churches like ours from your fellowship. Christian fellowship is too divided as it is and is a scandal to Christ who prayed that we might be one.

I appeal to you as Baptists who treasure soul freedom, soul competency and the autonomy of the local church. These great Baptist principles argue on behalf of including those of minority witness and minority interpretation of scripture in its fellowship.

Our church studied the Bible, sought the Spirit of God and talked earnestly with each other for over 20 years to get to the place where we said we were “open to all and closed to none,” and fully welcomed gay and lesbian persons who wished to follow Jesus with us. We do not claim to have the whole mind of God, and we respect those whose interpretations of scripture differ. It is the spiritual freedom we offer one another.

I appeal to you as Biblical people led by the Living Spirit of God whose life is centered in Christ.

Jesus welcomed those considered outcasts and sinners by His culture and religion into the Kingdom of God drawing near. We seek — we hope — to live in His Spirit.

And we, like Peter in the Book of Acts, have overcome our original resistance to the inclusion of gay and lesbian persons as Peter overcame his resistance to accepting Gentiles into the people of God. He saw the Holy Spirit fall upon the Gentiles, he saw God working in their lives and said:

“If then God gave them the same gift that He gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?”

We could base the unity of our fellowship on any number of issues of Biblical interpretation: speaking in tongues, war, abortion, death penalty, divorce, homosexuality, and on and on. Let us base our unity on Jesus Christ as Lord and his call to discipleship and on the competence and freedom of the individual to open scripture and interpret it for his or her life guided by the Spirit of God.

In Christ,

H. Stephen Shoemaker

In response, the Executive Committee found his church is not “in friendly cooperation with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina” and today the membership as a whole gave Myer Park Baptist the boot.

Gays Should Be Hanged

Mohsen Yahyavi, Iranian member of Parliament, said that gays in Iran deserve to be executed or tortured, and possibly both. I assume he was speaking hypothetically.

Video of 2007 Ex-Gay Survivor’s Conference

Filmmaker Brian Murphy has just posted a wonderfully produced video of last summer’s Ex-gay Survivor’s Conference held in Irvine, Califormia. The thing that struck me while watching this video is the balanced representation of views at the conference. Alan Chambers dismissed the conference as a “protest” against the ex-gay movement, but in reality the conference wasn’t that at all. Pay attention to the “chalk talk” portion of the video. You’ll find positive expressions of experiences in the ex-gay movement mixed in with the negatives and harms.

This video reminds me that there are stories to be told on both sides of the issue. I had the privilege of speaking to strugglers at the 2007 Exodus Conference as well as speaking to ex-ex-gays at the Survivor’s conference. There are very poignant stories on both sides. The zero-sum game played by culture warriors has little to do with the people on the ground, and yet it ends up touching everyone all around anyway. Unfortunately, its the ordinary stories of ordinary people which gets lost in the shouting.

Hat tip: The lovely and talented Peterson Toscano.

The NGLTF Gets It

According to The Hill, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has written Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and John Cornyn (R-TX), saying their investigation of Sen. Larry Craig shows evidence of a double standard:

The group argues the Ethics Committee has singled out Craig because he allegedly solicited gay sex but has ignored allegations of impropriety involving Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) because Vitter’s alleged behavior was heterosexual.

…There are only two ways to resolve this: drop the investigation into Sen. Craig or investigate the allegations surrounding Sen. Vitter.

It’s like I was saying…

James Holsinger Preparing for Recess Appointment?

Dr. James Holsinger, President Bush’s nominee for Surgeon General, may be preparing for a recess appointment according to Frank Lockwood at Bible Belt Blogger. Frank reports that Dr. Holsinger has resigned from the board of trustees of Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, Ky:

Holsinger’s nomination, opposed by several leading Democrats, has stalled in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. But Holsinger is telling people the president plans to appoint him to the post anyway once the Congress goes into its holiday recess, a well-connected Wilmore source says.

Frank has posted the entire resignation email.

Dr. Holsinger’s appearance last July before the Senate Committee didn’t go well. Committee Chairman Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) grilled Dr. Holsinger on many of the same points I raised in my evaluation of his 1991 paper, “Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality.”

Since then, his nomination has stalled in the Senate, with the committee’s refusal to bring it to a vote. If these latest reports hold true, it looks like Bush will go around the Senate and appoint Dr. Holsinger to the post after Congress goes on recess. The appointment would be good through the end of 2008.

Good Stuff On TV And Radio Tonight (Tuesday)

Ex-gay survivors Peterson Toscano and Christine Bakke will be on a gay radio show called Strictly Confidential tonight starting at 9:00PM (eastern time). The program can be streamed online right here. Also, I’m told it’s a call-in show.

If I don’t call to harass Peterson during his interview then I’ll be watching NOVA which is doing a program tonight on the Dover school board’s promotion of intelligent design and the ensuing trial and election.

Watch a preview here.

Video: Inside “Love Won Out”

Attention Towleroad Visitors: The video you’re looking for is the second one on this post.

Healthy Expectations For The Prospect Of Change
The whole point of the Love Won Out conferences, put on by Exodus International and Focus On the Family, is to convince parents, loved ones, pastors, teachers, gays, and anyone else that “change is possible.” They often do this without defining what change means, and they often sugarcoat the likelihood of change for everyone. But if you’re lucky enough to attend the right breakout session given by just the right speaker, you just might catch the most honest assessment for the possibility of change you will ever hear.

Who Seems To Be The Most Genuine?
That’s a tough one. Does being genuine require that one be consistently honest?

See also:

The “Love Won Out” Series:
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word “Change” Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For “Change”

Soulforce “Focus On The Facts” Action Over The Weekend

Since moving to Denver I’ve been involved with the very active chapter of Soulforce here. Over the weekend as part of their ongoing “Focus On The Facts” campaign a group of LGBT individuals, led by music-artist and hottie James Roy, paid a visit to Focus’s HQ. This video of the action I created addresses everything else you might want to know about the event.