Might Hillary Clinton Become A Guest Pastor In The Methodist Church? What A Brilliant Idea!

Hillary Clinton speaks at Union Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina, in October 2016.

Hillary Clinton just might become a preacher. The Atlantic writes that's what she told Bill Shillady, Hillary's longtime pastor, at a photo shoot for his new book focused on the daily devotionals he sent Hillary during the 2016 campaign. The story has legs, according to former Newsweek editor Kenneth Woodward who said that Clinton told him in 1994 that the idea of becoming an ordained Methodist minister was on her mind "all the time". She requested his confidentiality, however, saying "It will make me seem much too pious."

Religion is on Hillary's mind, however, and I doubt it's only because she seeks to rehabilitate her public image, as suggested by Hillary's critics. Hillary clearly sees the way right-wing Christians are demanding that theirs is the only valid American faith, when America worships at least four visions of God, according to an ongoing 2010 project at Baylor University by Paul Froese and Christopher Bader, one that has really caught our eye at AOC. The original research surveyed in-depth 1,648 US adults. But the online research -- which I took -- covered over 100,000 people.

We must broaden the definition of God in America, because the right-wingers who have cloaked themselves in religion and its most rigid beliefs are not the only religious people in America.

Two books are slated to come out of Clinton world early this fall: 'What Happened',Clinton’s personal account of the election, and 'Strong for a Moment' Like This, Shillady’s book of devotionals. Shillady, who runs the United Methodist City Society in New York, wrote the book at Clinton’s suggestion; he said his is the only book for which Clinton has agreed to write a foreword. Clinton and her staffers read and approved the copy ahead of time, writes The Atlantic.

My pleasure of discovering this article came in validating Shillady's devotional to Hillary the day after she lost the election. He wrote:

Jesus completed the excruciating task of giving up his life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. It was his faith and belief in his heavenly Father, that gave him the grace and peace to submit to Friday. While death had seemingly won, Jesus knew better. When he said, "It is finished," it wasn't meant to be a statement of concession. It was a declaration that a new day was on the way.

Friday is finished. Sunday is coming. Death will be shattered. Hope will be restored. But first, we must live through the darkness and seeming hopelessness of Friday.

As for Hillary attending the seminary, that's doubtful, according to Shillady. 

 “I think it would be more of … her guest preaching at some point,” he said. “We have a long history of lay preachers in the United Methodist Church.”

Since the election, “I think her faith is stronger,” Shillady explained. “I haven’t noticed anything different, except that I think she is more relaxed than I’ve ever seen her.” I will pursue this discovery of Hillary's current thinking to see if there is any way that Anne of Carversville can contribute to a new project, one that acknowledges the importance of religion in American lives, while working to educate and communicate that the vision of God in America is not singular. ~ Anne

Handmaids News: Digesting Cardinal George Pell Sex Abuse Charges, Vatican Reels Over Msgr. Luigi Capozzi's Gay Sex Orgy

It's been a rough couple of weeks at the Vatican, and Pope Francis is not amused. The Daily Beast reveals the latest scandal, one in which the Vatican's Swiss Guards were called to "break up a drug-fueled gay orgy in Pope Francis' backyard'.  Last week's blockbuster found Australian Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican's de facto finance chief, according to the New York Times, charged with sexual assault. Pell is due in court in Melbourne, Australia on July 18. He has testified previously before Australia's Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse about charges that he "had sexually abused minors himself beginning early in his priesthood and continuing until he became archbishop of Melbourne." Cardinal Pell insists that he's innocent of all charges and will return to Australia, as soon as possible, to clear his name following advice and approval by his doctors who will also advise on his travel arrangements,” according to a statement issued by the Archdiocese of Sydney. 

With Rome reeling from the Pell charges, the Vatican's Swiss Guards were called to a ruckus in the so-called Ex Sant'Uffizio Palace, owned by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, charged with investigating charges of clerical sex abuse within the church, and formerly occupied by Joseph Ratzinger, aka Pope Benedict XVI. Countless high-ranking cardinals live in the palatial building, whose 'Ratzinger' quarters had been given to Monsignor Luigi Capozzi, the secretary for Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, who heads the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, charged with deciphering and clarifying various points of canon law. 

When the Swiss Guards showed up, an orgy was in progress, with numerous naked men allegedly writhing around the floor with Capozzi and his guests, apparently under the influence of hard drugs according to the Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano which broke the story.

Catholic Culture confirms that indeed the event did occur, noting as well that it's not clear how Msgr. Capozzi landed an apartment there, a plum not normally accorded to his rank. 

Msgr. Capozzi had access to a car with Vatican license plates: again a sign that he had influential friends. Those license plates made him virtually exempt from searches by the Italian police, and could have facilitated the transportation of illegal drugs. The location of his residence—in a building with one door leading onto Vatican territory, the other onto the streets of Rome—was also ideal for someone avoiding police oversight.

Renee Rabinowitz Wins Case Over Ultra-Orthodox Demand That She Be Moved On El Al

Renee Rabinowitz was asked to switch seats on an El Al flight from Newark to Tel Aviv in 2015 because a strictly Orthodox male passenger did not want to sit next to her. CreditUriel Sinai for The New York Times

Women's rights in Israel have seen a steady erosion in recent decades, although there is no high-pitched debate around a liberal abortion policy in the country. In fact, about 97% of women who seek state financing for abortion are approved. Israel approves abortions as late as 40 weeks of pregnancy.

The most obvious erosion of women's rights in Israel centers around issues of religion and gender in public spaces. Now 83-year-old Renee Rabinowitz has won a critical court ruling, suing the strictly Orthodox male passenger who demanded that she be moved from her El Al aisle business-class seat when he boarded Flight 028 bound for Tel Aviv from Newark in December 2015. Strictly Orthodox Jewish men believe they are contaminated and tempted in the close proximity of women who are not their wives. 

Ms. Rabinowitz, who lived through traumatic days of the Nazis in Europe, moved reluctantly. But she landed in Israel determined to take action. This week a Jerusalem court ruled that gender segregation and the movement of passengers to accommodate gender discrimination was illegal on El Al. 

“This is a common story; it happens to many,” Anat Hoffman, the director of Israel Religious Action Center who represented Ms. Rabinowitz, said of the pressure on women to change seats. Ms. Hoffman called the verdict “a breath of fresh air” and compared Ms. Rabinowitz to the Israeli actress who starred in the movie “Wonder Woman.” “Like Gal Gadot, Renee has superpowers,” she said.