Valdosta Mayor Refuses to Endorse LGBT Pride Festival
7-27-12
A local organization supporting rights for gay, lesbian and transgender citizens is speaking out against Valdosta City Hall.
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Is it possible to comment and not provide a dozen web links get your point. Why quote bible verses also. Wouldnt everyone like to hear opinions not web links on this subject Right madisonvoice.
New Bible translation has screenplay format By TRAVIS LOLLER | Associated Press – http://news.yahoo.com/bible-translation-screenplay-format-085746946.html
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A new Bible translation tackles the challenge of turning ancient Greek and Hebrew texts into modern American English and then adds a twist: It’s written like a screenplay.
Take the passage from Genesis in which God gets angry at Adam for eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil:
“Adam (pointing at the woman): It was she! The woman You gave me as a companion put the fruit in my hands, and I ate it.
“God (to the woman): What have you done?
“Eve: It was the serpent! He tricked me, and I ate.”
Later, Eve bears her first son, Cain.
“Eve (excited): Look, I have created a new human, a male child, with the help of the Eternal.”
Even people who have never read the Bible could probably guess that other translations don’t say Adam pointed his finger at Eve when he blamed her for his disobedience. Neither do other Bibles describe Eve as “excited” about her newborn son.
That’s pure Hollywood, but the team behind “The Voice” says it isn’t a gimmick. They hope this new version will help readers understand the meaning behind the sometimes archaic language of the Bible and enjoy the story enough to stick with it.
The idea was a longtime dream of Chris Seay, pastor of Houston’s Ecclesia Church. Seay had had success in helping church members relate to the Bible by dividing out the parts of the various speakers and assigning roles to church members who read them aloud.
The idea struck a nerve with Frank Couch, the vice president of translation development for Nashville-based religious publisher Thomas Nelson, who had performed Bible-inspired sketches on the streets of Berkeley, Calif., in his youth.
The result of their efforts, as well as a team of translators who worked alongside poets, writers and musicians, is “The Voice,” released in its full version earlier this year.
“The biggest thing, the unexpected plus, is that people will read an entire book of the Bible because it reads like a novel,” Couch said.
“It engages your imagination in a different way,” Seay said, expressing his hope that “The Voice” helps people to “fall in love with the story of the Bible.”
“The Voice” not only reformats the Bible but also inserts words and phrases into the text to clarify the action or smooth transitions. These words are generally in italics so the reader can tell what the additions are. At other points, the order of verses is changed to make the story read better.
Some earlier attempts to make the Bible accessible to a modern audience met with heavy criticism from people who thought the translators were taking too many liberties with the word of God, Wake Forest University Religion Professor Bill Leonard said. But those translators were attempting to deal with a real problem — increasing Bible illiteracy, even among those who attended church regularly, he said.
Eugene Peterson, translator of the popular “The Message” Bible, published in 1993, said he was braced for the negative reaction faced by some of his predecessors, but they didn’t materialize.
“I was surprised that the reception was so immediate and so positive,” he said. “…I think the one thing I hear most often is, ‘This is the first time in my life I understood the Bible.’”
Leonard said modern translations seem to have become less controversial as the total number of Bible translations has expanded, although the 2011 New International Version managed to cause a stir by employing some gender-neutral and gender-inclusive language, something “The Voice” doesn’t do.
It does, however, take out the word “Christ,” which many people have come to think of as Jesus’ last name, rather than a title bestowed upon him by the Gospel writers to show that they believed he was God’s “Anointed One” — the chosen translation in “The Voice.”
All Bible translators have to confront the problem of words that don’t convey the same meaning to a modern audience as they did to an ancient one, said linguist Joel M. Hoffman, author of “And God Said — How Translations Conceal the Bible’s Original Meaning.”
“For example, ‘John the Baptist’ was really like ‘John the Dunker,’” Hoffman said.
John was doing something new by submerging people in water to cleanse them of their sins, but that is lost on people 2,000 years later, Hoffman said. Today, people hearing John’s title might think it refers to a Baptist denomination rather than his then-strange behavior.
In the Old Testament, translators of “The Voice” have rendered YHWH (commonly written as Yahweh), the Hebrew name for God, as “the Eternal” or “the Eternal One.” One of the Bible’s most famous passages, Psalm 23, reads, “The Eternal is my shepherd …”
Most other translations render YHWH as “Lord,” a word that was rich with meaning in a time when people lived in subjection to absolute monarchs but not so much for contemporary Americans living in a democracy, Couch said.
Hoffman said he would buy the argument against using “Lord” if the translators didn’t go on to sometimes to call Jesus “the Liberating King,” another reference to royalty that has lost its grip on the modern American imagination.
“When I think of a king, I think of a powerless figurehead,” Hoffman said.
But Hoffman said the goal of making the Bible accessible to a contemporary audience is laudable, even if he doesn’t always agree with the translations in “The Voice.”
And for the average reader, unaware of the sometimes contentious debates over translation, “The Voice” seems to have struck a chord.
Steve Taylor, who directed the recent Christian movie “Blue Like Jazz” and also was one of the screenwriters, said the screenplay format makes the Bible stories feel more immediate to him.
“It was like it was happening now, as opposed to reading something that happened 2,000 years ago,” he said. “When Jesus turns the water into wine in John 2, I felt more like I was at the wedding. I felt the awkwardness of the situation.”
Getting readers to feel engaged in the story is exactly what the creators of “The Voice” had in mind, Couch said. “We had an 82-year-old woman who told us that she had never understood the Bible before.”
‘The American Bible Challenge’ New Game Show Coming to GSN By Myles Collier , Christian Post Contributor Read more
at http://www.christianpost.com/news/the-american-bible-challenge-new-game-show-coming-to-gsn-77885/#p0oQeXG0Ur1jutsI.99
The new game show, The American Bible Challenge, is a new 1-hour game show that will test contestant’s knowledge of the Bible that is relevant to current pop culture.
The American Bible Challenge was created by executive producer Michael Davies of Embassy Row who wanted to see Americas passion for knowledge of the Bible portrayed on television.
The show is slated to be hosted by comedian and television personality Jeff Foxworthy and is scheduled to debut on August 23, at 8 p.m. Network officials stated that the new show will air in front of a new hour-long cooking competition show, Beat The Chefs, at 9 p.m. which will be hosted by Matt Rogers and is described as “everyday people who love to cook set out to prove that their family recipes are worth prize money and bragging rights.”
Both of the new shows will air on the Game Show Network, which is trying to maintain television game show relevancy during an age where more and more people or going online for their entertainment needs.
The Mayor was not obligated to issue a Proclamation just because someone requested that he do so. Jj’s post was on the mark.
When I served as mayor / commissioner, I used the following guidelines:
Proclamations will be issued for civic celebrations, non-profit organizations, and significant events with historical and/or unique importance to the citizens of Madison, or individuals who have made a significant contribution to the community.
In order to expedite the proclamation in a timely manner the following information is required:
Requestor must provide a draft text of the proclamation electorically (using Microsoft Word format is preferred).
The purpose of the proclamation:
The date when the proclamation is needed.
Name of organiztion or brief biography of the plerson.
All requests will be reviewed. Approval is not automatic. All requests need to be received at least two weeks prior to the date the proclamation is needed.
Proclamations were included under the Consent Agenda at meetings. The city commission has had one regular meeting each month which has meant that proclamations would be considered once a month.
Just saying isnt individual perverance a form of judging. Kind of beening narrow minded. Most of the time we take religious documents to support are on opinion. Then nobody knows what will happen when we have absolute tolerance. Would we keep are moral and perverances. Back to the drawing board Bible readers.
Folks Fear What They Don’t Understand…Just ask Paul of Biblical Times. So much cruelty certainly can’t be God Condoned…the God I was raised to believe in was/IS a God of Love!
I didn’t even know what a Mayor Declaration was and had to look it up on Google. America is SO LUCKY that the Ones In Charge has so much Power and is looking out for OUR protection! GIVE ME A BREAK! I guess the mayor would be first in line to declare things such as the SANDUSKY AFFAIRS!
JUDGE NOT THAT YE BE NOT JUDGED!
” The masses have never thirsted after truth. They turn aside from evidence that is not to their taste, preferring to deify error if error seduce them. Whoever can supply them with illusions is easily their master; whoever attempts to destroy their illusions is always their victim”
“The Crowd” A study of the popular Mind
Guatave le Bon 1896
Great move Mayor Gayle.
I will judge the gays. Wow i just looked up not struck down by the lord almighty.give us all a break. Wait they have the same civil rights as me. So what more could i want… o know pander to them? Hmmmm
@tired of narrow minded i will jugde you when you infringe on my morals. reality hits close to home when you yurn off that tv that someone gave you.
no i dont support gays john
Pride is something I feel too, as I sit here in my BVDs’ thankfull I don’t have STDs’ like HIV and HPV, from back when I used to do LSD and PCP.
No….I am using the Bible to address humans feeling the need to judge each other when God said He is the only one qualified to do so.
Of course the mayor can have his own beliefs and voice them….as an individual…Politics is supposed to be about the people not the individual.
@tired of the narrow minded…he is speaking for the majority because the majority of the country is not gay, i could care less what a persons sexual orientation is, but isn’t it the right of the mayor to have his own beliefs? He’s not saying they can’t have the festival why should they care about his endorsement? Also are you using the bible to defend homosexuality…that seems odd.
Whatever his personal beliefs, a mayor should look out for the needs/interests of all citizens. Obviously he is ignoring a large portion of his constituients. Otherwise there wouldn’t be such a debate.
@ JJ: Where is the data that shows he is speaking for the majority? Do you actually believe the LGBT community is trying to “force” their lifestyle on others by having a festival? Doesn’t your town have a festival every spring? Are you trying to force your small town values on others? Following your logic, every festival or community gathering is about forcing that groups belief on the public at large. One of the most prevalent messages in the Bible is that humans are not to judge others. So don’t support/participate in anything you find offensive and let the Lord judge that which he created.
Hip Hip Hooray for the mayor.
I fully endorse acronym usage.
I support LGBTs’,…..I also support BLTs’, BFFs’ and M&Ms’. But sometimes I ask myself WTF.
Just because someone doesnt support lgbt. Does not mean they are hate mongering. Lgbt just trying to force there life style on normal people. The mayor is just standing up for majority beliefs. He is not out forcing his life style on everone.
There sure is some hate mongering going on. Before long the mayor is going to start arresting people with buggery.
I am so proud of someone that has guts to stand up for their believes
Three cheers for Valdosta Mayor John Gayle.