Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Via United Nations For a Free Tibet (India)'s FB:


Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:


Daily Buddhist Wisdom






There are, bhikkhus, two successive Dhamma-teachings of the Tathagata, the Arahant, the Fully Enlightened One. What are the two? 'See evil as evil'--this is the first Dhamma-teaching. 'Having seen evil as evil, be rid of it, be detached from it, be freed from it'--this is the second Dhamma-teaching.
- Itivuttaka

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma December 12, 2012

Accepting the Pain of Relationships

Mindfulness can transform all our personal relationships—but only if we are willing to feel the inevitable pain that relationships entail. When we turn away from our distress, we inevitably abandon our loved ones as well as ourselves. But when we mindfully and compassionately incline toward whatever is arising within us, we can be truly present and alive for ourselves and others.
- Christopher K. Germer, "Getting Along"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through December 14th, 2012
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Via JMG: Your Mother Made You Gay


Researchers at the University of California believe they've found another clue to the origins of homosexuality.
A group of scientists suggested Tuesday that homosexuals get that trait from their opposite-sex parents: A lesbian will almost always get the trait from her father, while a gay man will get the trait from his mother. The hereditary link of homosexuality has long been established, but scientists knew it was not a strictly genetic link, because there are many pairs of identical twins who have differing sexualities. Scientists from the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis say homosexuality seems to have an epigenetic, not a genetic link.
Long thought to have some sort of hereditary link, a group of scientists suggested Tuesday that homosexuality is linked to epi-marks — extra layers of information that control how certain genes are expressed. These epi-marks are usually, but not always, "erased" between generations. In homosexuals, these epi-marks aren't erased — they're passed from father-to-daughter or mother-to-son, explains William Rice, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California Santa Barbara and lead author of the study.
Hit the link for much more and enjoy the uproar from God's Gentle People who are pouring into the comments.
UPDATE: Wasn't Fischer just saying it's a choice? 


Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Scott Lively Endorses Uganda's "Revised" Plan To Imprison Homosexuals For Life


Hate group leader Scott Lively, whom many believe to be the person most responsible for Uganda's "Kill The Gays" bill, announced today that he is endorsing the allegedly revised version of the bill which only calls for gay people and their allies to be imprisoned for life.
Lively writes on his blog:
Just because Secular Humanist America began to decriminalize sexual sins in civilian law starting in the early 1960s doesn’t mean criminal sanctions against homosexuality are “un-Christian.” Indeed, given the enormous damage to our culture from the so-called sexual revolution, it was obviously a big mistake for us to have done this. Knowing what we know now it is arguably more “un-Christian” to support the status quo than to support a return to the legal framework of the 1940s and 50s regarding sexual misbehavior.[snip]  There is one easy, guaranteed method of protecting oneself from ever being subject to the Anti-Homosexuality law in Uganda: Don’t Commit Sodomy! We all seem to forget, in the dense propaganda haze of American popular opinion, that homosexuality is defined by voluntary sexual acts. Homosexuals are no more compelled to commit sodomy with each other than a married man is compelled to cheat on his wife.
He concludes: "Since the alternative to passing this bill is to allow the continuing, rapid, foreigner-driven homosexualization of Ugandan culture, I am giving the revised Anti Homosexuality Bill my support."
It's important to note that Scott Lively enjoys the full-throated endorsement of other anti-gay hate groups, including the Family Research Council, Mission America, and Americans For Truth About Homosexuality.  Will any of these groups object to Lively's support for life imprisonment for LGBT people? Don't hold your fucking breath.


Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Uruguay House Overwhelmingly Approves Same-Sex Marriage By 81-6 Vote


Rex Wockner and Andres Duque have the good news:
Eighty-one of the 99 members of Uruguay's House of Representatives voted to legalize same-sex marriage this evening. Twelve members of the chamber were not present for the vote. The bill now advances to the Senate, where support is equally strong, according to LGBT activists. President José Mujica plans to sign the measure into law in early 2013. "Very happy here!" said Álvaro Queiruga of the LGBT lobby group Colectivo Ovejas Negras (Black Sheep Collective). Uruguay will be the 12th nation to offer same-sex marriage nationwide. Same-sex marriage is legal in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and Mexico (where same-sex marriage is legal in the Federal District, i.e. Mexico City, and in the state of Oaxaca, and those marriages are recognized nationwide).
Yet another victory in our best year ever. So far!


Reposted from Joe