Thursday, August 9, 2012

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 9, 2012

Meditation Needs Morality

If you are not leading a morally upright life, you cannot expect to sit down on a little pillow and find yourself secluded from sense desires, secluded from unwholesome states of mind. If there is not sufficient morality, there is too much to desire, too much hate or fear, too much to worry about.
- Leigh Brasington, "A Mind Pure, Concentrated, and Bright"
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Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Via JMG: HomoQuotable - Rob Halford


"Everybody in this country has the right to say what they think and feel and what best represents them. The people at Chick-fil-A have the absolute right to say and do what they want. It doesn’t matter that all of these people disagree with their opinion. The question was how would the people that agree with what that man said do to support the company and how would the ones against his anti-gay remarks protest. What you’re seeing here are the elements of the American Constitution in all of their glory. It’s a wonderful thing to see happening and talk about and the fact that everyone is discussing the gay rights issue is great. I don’t think that man thought too much about the business consequences of what he said, but I think he was standing for what he believes in. I don’t agree with him at all, but God bless the man. It’s as simple as that." - Openly gay heavy metal star Rob Halford, speaking to Ultimate Classic Rock. (Tipped by JMG reader Greg)
Reposted from Joe

Via jMG: HGTV's House Hunters To Feature Gay Couple Forced Abroad By DOMA



On next Monday's episode of House Hunters International, HGTV's flagship series will feature a gay couple forced to leave the country due to DOMA. From the show's episode guide:
Ivan and Devin, built a life together in DC: they worked jobs they loved, shared their home with their beloved dog and exchanged wedding vows. But when Ivan's work visa expired, he had no other choice but to head back to his native Bogota, Colombia with his American husband, Devin, and their dog, Danger. Ivan's mother is delighted her son is back home and has extended her indefinite hospitality, but the couple agrees it's time to find their own digs. With few dog-friendly buildings, and an extensive wish-list, real estate agent, Sam Miller has his work cut out for him. But will he deliver the goods? Find out, when House Hunters International sets its sights on Bogota, Colombia.
The show was filmed prior to last week's announcement that Homeland Security will now deprioritize the deportations of LGBT partners.


Reposted from Joe  

Via JMG: Bryan Fischer: Christians Should Kidnap The Children Of Gay And Lesbian Parents


For years here on JMG we've been following the case of Lisa Miller, the "ex-gay" woman who kidnapped her daughter to Central America after losing several court cases that awarded custody to her former partner. The preacher accused of facilitating that crime is about to go on trial, prompting American Family Association radio host Bryan Fischer to issue calls for an anti-gay "Underground Railroad" to help shield the kidnappers of the children of gay parents.

As you may recall, that "Underground Railroad" already exists in the form of the virulently anti-gay Liberty Counsel, as the kidnapped child was found living in the Nicaraguan home of the father of a Liberty Counsel employee. Over at Dead Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, students were taught that it's sometimes best to obey "God's laws" rather than "man's laws" and that "righteous kidnapping" in cases such as Lisa Miller's were justified. Those classes were taught by Liberty Counsel president Mat Staver and Lina Lindevaldsen, both of whom represented Miller in her failed custody attempts. The students were then tested on whether they'd break the law for God.
That semester’s midterm exam, obtained by Religion Dispatches, included a question based on Miller’s case asking students to describe what advice they would give her “as a friend who is a Christian lawyer.” After laying out a slanted history of the protracted legal battle, the exam asked, “Lisa needs your counsel on how to think through her legal situation and how to respond as a Christian to this difficult problem. Relying only on what we have learned thus far in class, how would you counsel Lisa?”

Students who wrote that Miller should comply with court orders received bad grades while those who wrote she should engage in civil disobedience received an A, the three students said. “People were appalled,” said one of the students, adding, “especially as lawyers-to-be, who are trained and licensed to practice the law—to disobey that law, that seemed completely counterintuitive to all of us.” Still, some knew what they needed to “regurgitate,” in order to get a good grade. “It was obvious by the substance of the class during the semester the answer that they wanted,” said one of the students. “The majority of people that I am acquainted with who did get As wrote that because it was expected of them.”
As word broke late last year that the federal government was about to find Lisa Miller, Fischer and other anti-gay sites declared that the FBI had been infiltrated by the "gaystapo."
Lisa and Isabella are not free. The FBI is after them. At any time, they may be captured. At any time, Isabella may be kidnapped by the FBI and her mother arrested. America is resurrecting Sodom with a vengeance, supported by the formidable power of the State. While Christian social services in the US are losing their traditional right to help children because they refuse state orders to adopt children to homosexual couples.
Fischer's tweets from yesterday (at the top of this post) have generated widespread condemnation, which is an everyday occurrence when he bloviates on any topic. But this time even some anti-gay and Christian sites are backing away from him, resulting in today's flurry of "clarifications."I recommend reading last week's exhaustive New York Times cover story on the kidnapping. We can only hope that after the preacher's trial will come multiple conspiracy counts for Mat Staver and his Liberty Counsel accomplices.


Reposted from Joe

Via GayFamilyValues / FB:


Via Beliefnet:

Daily Buddhist Wisdom






At the time for initiative he takes no initiative. Young, strong, but lethargic, the resolves of his heart exhausted, the lazy, lethargic one loses the path to discernment.
- Dhammapada 280, translated by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 8, 2012

Welcoming Everything that Arises

Thoughts come and go. Feelings come and go. Allow yourself to experience the transient nature of thoughts and feelings, welcoming everything that arises as Just this, not me, not mine.
- Sandra Weinberg, "Eating and the Wheel of Life"
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Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Via The Pragmatic Progressive Page


Via JMG: Illinois Hate Group Tells Parents To Pull Kids Out Of Classes With Gay Teachers


The Illinois Family Institute, the former home of Peter LaBarbera, has issued a call for parents to pull their kids out of the classes of liberal or gay teachers.
1-Parents can go to their middle school and/or high school websites and find out which teachers sponsor gay and straight alliances and liberal political activist groups (e.g. AWARE).

2- Parents can also ask what texts will be taught or used (e.g. The Chocolate War, Fat Kid Rules the World, Angels in America, The Laramie Project, or The People’s History of the United States) by a particular teacher. Parents should ask for the reading list for the entire year. Teachers who have a reasonable degree of respect for the values and beliefs of all parents will not have highly controversial texts on either required or recommended reading lists.

3- If parents have children who have already gone through the school or have already completed a year or more, they should ask those children and/or their friends or friends’ parents which teachers are known for bringing their politics into the classroom or who displays a “Safe Space” sticker, the inverted pink triangle, the rainbow flag, or the lower case Greek letter “lambda” on their desk, classroom door, or wall. Students usually know who the liberal, activist teachers are. Liberal teachers develop reputations, often as the “cool” teachers.
Friendly Atheist blogger Hemant Mehta, who IS a teacher, has posted a great response.
They want to rail against liberal teachers — even ones like me, who keep our religious beliefs out of the classroom — but they’re silent when it comes to Christian teachers who proselytize instead of teaching. And you can bet that happens far more often. They’re hypocrites who refuse to acknowledge it and school districts know better than to take them seriously. That’s why IFI has to make up fake enemies. That’s why they go after atheist teachers and English departments and pink triangles and lambda symbols.

Because the teachers who preach atheism or Islam or Hinduism in the classroom don’t exist. Preaching instead of teaching is something certain Christians do, not the rest of us. And if you’re a Christian and you agree with me, then say something about it to them. Stop being silent. It’s not like they care what atheists have to say. On the brighter note, IFI staffers won’t be teaching in any public schools this fall. But I will be. Me and my evil, liberal, hippie, godless, proof-loving, triangle-drawing, “cool” ways.

Reposted from Joe

Via Gay Politics Report:

  • Will Republicans spotlight Democrats' marriage plank?
    Republicans' muted reaction to news that the Democratic party platform will likely include a marriage equality plank doesn't necessarily mean the GOP is going to ignore the issue in the coming months, according to this article. Some party activists have urged Mitt Romney to highlight the marriage debate, although so far Romney has been reluctant to discuss hot-button social issues. “It would be rather unwise politically for the GOP to ignore the Chick-fil-A vote,” said one strategist for the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage. Politico (Washington, D.C.) (8/6) LinkedInFacebookTwitterEmail this Story
  • Religious right plans multi-million dollar campaign: Social conservatives opposed to President Barack Obama's embrace of marriage equality are planning to spend millions to register voters in Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania and other key states, according to this article. The efforts are reportedly backed by the billionaire Koch brothers, Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus and others. One group, the Georgia-based Faith and Freedom Coalition, said it will spend $10 million to encourage socially conservative voters to go to the polls this November. The Huffington Post (8/7) LinkedInFacebookTwitterEmail this Story

JMG Petition Of The Day




The petition is here. Video explanation below.




Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Four Times Married Drug Addict Rush Limbaugh Defends Sanctity Of Marriage


"Now Christianity has to be banned, and that’s where this is all headed. All this stuff at Chick-fil-A, the target is Christianity, not Chick-fil-A. The target is freedom of religion. [With] Obama and Obamacare, the target is always freedom. When we’re talking about liberals, the target is always freedom. Dan Cathy, the head honcho of Chick-fil-A, he’s not making a political statement when he talks about the values the company believes in. It gets interpreted that way because the left has politicized gay marriage." - Rush Limbaugh.

RELATED: We're still waiting for Limbaugh to fulfill his 2010 promise to move to Costa Rica should the Affordable Healthcare Act pass. Not incidentally, Costa Rica provides universal health care. While Costa is ranked 50th in per capita health care expenditures, its medical system rates higher than the United States, which spends the most per person.


Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Gay And Proud In Uganda


It boggles the mind, but a small gay pride event was held in Uganda this weekend. Alexis Okeowo reports at New Yorker:
“Can you imagine that the worst place in the world to be gay is having Gay Pride?” Kasha Jacqueline Nabagesera asked a crowd of cheering gay men, lesbians, transgendered men and women, and queers somewhere in between. It was Saturday afternoon, and we were on the shores of the giant, cloudy Lake Victoria in the Ugandan city of Entebbe, where L.G.B.T. activists had decided to stage the country’s first Pride Parade. Nabagesera, a lesbian activist covered, for the occasion, in glitter and neon spray paint, with homemade angel wings, was being half-sarcastic. A barrage of media coverage has painted the country as a hell for gays—a place where they are suffering and being attacked constantly—and, despite the need to combat such threats, L.G.B.T. Ugandans were tired of hearing a story that ignored their nuanced experiences of both joy and hardship.
Hit the link for a slideshow and the rest of Okeowo's fascinating article. (Tipped by JMG reader Joe)


Reposted from Joe

Via AmericaBlog Gay:

GOP silent on Dem gay marriage platform

Fascinating. NJ.com: When Democrats announced that their 2012 platform would include a historic first -- gay marriage written in as a plank -- the reaction from mainstream Republicans was near silence. There were no statements blasted out from Mitt Romney's campaign. The same was true for the Republican National Committee. Romney has yet to address the fact.Most Republican Party leaders seem...

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 7, 2012

Facing Difficulties

Do not become annoyed when faced with difficulties. To do so merely adds difficulty to difficulty and further disturbs your mind. By maintaining a mind of peace and nonopposition, difficulties will naturally fall away.
- Master Sheng-yen, "Nonopposition"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through August 9th, 2012
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 7, 2012

Facing Difficulties

Do not become annoyed when faced with difficulties. To do so merely adds difficulty to difficulty and further disturbs your mind. By maintaining a mind of peace and nonopposition, difficulties will naturally fall away.
- Master Sheng-yen, "Nonopposition"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through August 9th, 2012
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Monday, August 6, 2012

Via Feminist Apostasy / FB:


Via BeliefNet:


Daily Buddhist Wisdom






All the delightful things of the world--sweet sounds, lovely forms, all the pleasant tastes and touches and thoughts--these are all agreed to bring happiness if they are not grasped and possessed. But if you regard them merely as pleasures for your own use and satisfaction and do not see them as passing wonders, they will bring suffering.
- Sutta Nipata

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 6, 2012

All-encompassing Mindfulness

If ‘mindfulness’ is to create genuine change in our society, it must involve being mindful of more than just our own need for comfort, good health, or serenity. It must entail being mindful of the social and economic forces that allow some to prosper while others struggle, forces that promote and perpetuate certain behaviors and thought patterns while discouraging or suppressing others.
- Richard Eskow, “Buying Wisdom"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through August 8th, 2012
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