Friday, November 13, 2015

Via JMG: Anti-Gay Activist: Candidates Wouldn’t Have Attended “Death To Gays” Event If They’d Known In Advance



Anti-gay activist Michael Brown, who makes a living writing a series of vile anti-LGBT books, says that GOP candidates would never have attended Kevin Swanson’s “death to gays” convention if they’d been warned in advance of Swanson’s views. Of course we know that they WERE warned, over and over, especially Ted Cruz, who was asked about his attendance by CNN’s Jake Tapper on the day before the event began.

Brown’s claims come, rather laughably, via a column on BarbWire, a site best known here for also publishing columns by several advocates of executing homosexuals. His column comes in the form of an open letter to Rachel Maddow:
In light of the extreme rhetoric of that rally, I felt it was important to you remind you of what’s happening in the world that most of us live in. That rhetoric does not represent us in the least. It’s also important that you recognize that the presidential candidates who attended this rally (Bobby Jindal, Mike Huckabee, and Ted Cruz) were there to identify with the cause of religious liberty, and they too would categorically reject some of the words spoken at the conference (as well as reject some of the positions advocated by at least one of the speakers outside of the conference).
I also feel confident that, had they known in advance what Kevin Swanson, the conference’s chief organizer, planned to say, they would not have attended the rally. Rachel, as a conservative moral leader, I’ve sat at behind the scenes meetings of groups like Focus on the Family or the Family Research Council, and I never heard one hostile word spoken about gays or lesbians, let alone a word calling for violence or execution. Perish the thought! That’s because those things violate the very spirit of our faith, and, as I stated earlier, it is that faith that informs us and guides us, a faith that clings tightly to the words and example of Jesus.

NOTE: I don’t link to BarbWire because that site sets off my malware alarms. Feel free to seek out the full column if you are confident that your virus protections are up to date.

PREVIOUSLY ON JMG: Michael Brown claims gay activists want Christians thrown into prison. Michael Brown claims that Hillary Clinton is controlled by Satanic homosexuals. Michael Brown claims that the Bible is 100% true except for the parts he doesn’t like. Michael Brown leads a hate march of hundreds of Christians to disrupt Charlotte’s gay pride parade. Michael Brown debuts his book with a video using small children to ridicule gay families.

Via JMG: Michelangelo Signorile Calls Out Media For Ignoring GOP Candidates’ Embrace Of “Death To Gays” Pastor

MichelangeloSignorileLS


 
As I noted again in the post below this one, so far only Rachel Maddow has reported on last weekend’s “death to gays” convention, where three GOP presidential candidates were interviewed by Pastor Kevin Swanson in between his calls for the genocide of LGBT Americans. Today Michelangelo Signorile calls out the rest of the mainstream media. He writes:
Where is The New York Times? The Washington Post covered the conference and the candidates’ comments, but didn’t mention the “kill the gays” speech. Not news to them apparently. Several online sources that did focus on the conference placed more attention on Cruz telling Swanson that an atheist shouldn’t be president, or on the unhinged Swanson’s advice to parents that they should drown their children rather than let them read Harry Potter, than on Swanson calling for the extermination of an entire group of people at an event at which presidential candidates spoke.
It’s 2015 and much of the media seem to accept, still, that LGBT people can be talked about this way at an event attended by presidential candidates and that it’s not news. They view it as par for the course, religious conservatives doing what they do. It’s as if they have blinders on. Indeed, if Ted Cruz — or Huckabee or Jindal — attended an event at which the host hinted at mass murder of Jews, African-Americans or any other group it would be a massive media story. He’d be forced to answer questions about it, at debates (and it didn’t come up at the last debate), in press conferences and in interviews non-stop. He’d be pressured to condemn both the comments and the pastor — as when John McCain had to dump Pastor John Hagee in 2008 because of his ugly comments about Catholics — or he’d face the consequences.
Signorile goes on to note that the mainstream media is “running for cover” lately after the ridiculous “gotcha” questions whining made by GOP candidates after a recent debate. Hit the link and read his full piece.

Via Religion Poisons Everything / FB:


Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day 13/11/2015

“Quando a relação amorosa se torna eminentemente destrutiva e não há mais espaço para crescimento, perdão liberdade, é preciso ter coragem de parar e tirar umas férias. É preciso ter coragem para olhar de frente para a situação e assumir que, desse jeito, você está cavando a sua própria cova. Só você pode fazer algo por você. Tenha coragem de ir além do medo da solidão. Você tem pavor de ficar consigo mesmo. Você não se suporta, mas acha que o outro tem obrigação de suportar você. Você não se ama de forma alguma, mas acha que o outro tem obrigação de te amar. Isso não é amor, é carência.”

“Cuando la relación amorosa se torna eminentemente destructiva y no hay más espacio para el crecimiento, perdón y libertad, es necesario tener coraje para parar y tomarse unas vacaciones. Es preciso tener coraje para mirar de frente a la situación y asumir que, de ese modo, estás cavando tu propia fosa. Sólo tú puedes hacer algo por ti. Ten coraje de ir más allá del miedo a la soledad. Tienes pavor de quedarte contigo mismo. No te soportas, pero crees que el otro tiene la obligación de soportarte. No te amas de ningún modo, pero crees que el otro tiene la obligación de amarte. Eso no es amor, es carencia.”

“When loving relationships become highly destructive and there is no more space for growth, forgiveness, and freedom, it is time to have the courage to take a break. We must be brave enough to look at the situation we are in straight on and accept that we are just digging our own graves. We are the only ones who can do something for our own well being. We must find the courage to go beyond the fear of loneliness, as we dread being on our own. On the one hand, we can’t stand ourselves, yet we believe that the other is obliged to withstand us. We do not love ourselves at all, yet we believe the other must love us. This is not love;it’s sheer neediness.”

Today's Daily Dharma: Time with Your Own Mind

Time with Your Own Mind
Spending time with your own mind is humbling and broadening. One finds that there's no one in charge, and is reminded that no thought lasts for long.
—Gary Snyder, "Just One Breath"
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