The Flag of Equal Marriage

 

http://makeitequal.org/

Via LGBT* Bahá'is:

Gender and sexual minorities battle the stigma of being labelled sinful.  In order to deconstruct that stigma, we must understand a few things.  Firstly, what the nature of sin is, how to classify and recognize it; and secondly, we must determine whether or not homosexuality, transexuality and other gender and sexual minorities fall under the category of “sinful”. Currently, based on very little and controversial evidence, being lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans* or otherwise gender non-conforming is seen as inherently evil and sinful.

Baha'is believe religious laws, not to be mere laws and regulations to be followed, but rather “that the precepts laid down by God constitute the highest means for the maintenance of order in the world and the security of its peoples ”  To me this means that these laws are written into the very nature of existence, and if not adhered to, there are consequences to one’s soul and to one’s life. Sometimes these consequences are spiritual in nature, sometimes mental and sometimes physical.  And usually this can lead to the break down of one’s life and society in general.

For instance, all religions generally prohibit murder, arson, theft and mendacity.  These are universally seen as sinful and inherently wrong.  They are clearly explained in almost every Religion of God.  Murder, for example, is wrong because God has willed to raise something up, and you are making yourself an equal to God, and believe that you have more of a say to who has life and who doesn’t than He does.  This is only one reason that murder is wrong. 

Another good example is the use of drugs and alcohol.  Almost every religion prohibits the consumption of substances that impair or impede a person’s natural senses and sensibilities.  This impairment is itself a reason for banning the use of alcohol and other drugs. The consequences of alcoholism and drug addiction are easily seen. Science has proven that these substances have a negative effect on the lives and health of human beings.

So we can see that these things (arson, murder, alcoholism et cetera) are harmful to human beings.  Science has shown this, and it is in agreement with religions that say these actions have harmful spiritual effects.

In the Baha'i Faith, and most other religions, however, being gender or sexually non-conforming (homosexual, trans* et cet) is lumped into the same category as these sins.  It is seen as inherently evil and sinful and is treated as such.  In what way is this the case though?  I have never seen a single shred of evidence to suggest that this is the case.  In the Baha'i Writings other issues such as drug addiction and alcoholism are explained and deconstructed. This is not the case with LGBT* issues.  Despite the Baha'i view that homosexuality is a disease, not one shred of evidence as to its pathology, its treatment or its prognosis is given.  This is not the case with other “diseases” such as alcoholism.  In terms of murder being viewed as a “spiritual disease,” this is not the case.  The pathology is explained and has been in the human consciousness for a very long time (I gave an example of its “pathology” above). This alone is all that is necessary to prove its sinfulness.  In the Baha'i Faith, a huge onus is put on the individual to independently investigate reality.  It is important to “see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others.”  So we are not exactly taking it for granted that murder and other sins are against the Laws of Nature, but rather we see with our own eyes that they are wrong.  Through the mercy and grace of God, it has been written in the Books of almost every religion, and our own limited scientific accomplishments have proven, that these sins are inherently destructive to human-kind. However, in almost every one of the Central Books of the main world religions, rules and regulations regarding gender-variant and sexual minorities have been vague and non-conclusive.  It seems the Prophets have chosen to remain silent about this subject.

Until the time that being homosexual, trans* or otherwise a sexual or gender-variant minority is proven to be inherently wrong and against the Laws of Nature in a conclusive and non-biased setting, it should be viewed as against Baha'i law to in any way discriminate against them (including their right to be joined in a Baha'i marriage). Why? 

Bahá'u'lláh has declared that religion must be in accord with science and reason. If it does not correspond with scientific principles and the processes of reason, it is superstition. For God has endowed us with faculties by which we may comprehend the realities of things, contemplate reality itself. If religion is opposed to reason and science, faith is impossible; and when faith and confidence in the divine religion are not manifest in the heart, there can be no spiritual attainment.¹ 
-‘Abdu'l-Baha

At this point, science has proven homosexuality as non-pathological. It is not a disease, it is not inherently wrong, and it has no known consequences.  Science has shown that discrimination based on gender and sexual identity is damaging to individuals and society at large. Until this ceases to be the case, it is impossible to hold someone accountable for using their judgement on these things. To discriminate, and removing a person’s voting rights and effectively expelling them from the community for being “flagrantly homosexual” is discrimination, against an LGBT* person for aligning themselves with current scientific thought and medical practice, is immoral.  To do the same for a homosexual couple who decides to marry, when it is not done to heterosexual couples who procreate outside of marriage or otherwise break current Baha'i sexual laws, is discrimination, and it is not in keeping with the Baha'i principles of independent investigation, personal conscience, unconditional love or justice.

I will post soon about the Baha'i laws and Writings that currently effect LGBT* people, how they have been interpreted and other possible ways of interpreting them.

Make the jump here to join in the tmblr discussion

Via WGB: REPORT: Half of LGB Americans Identify As Christian

More LGB Americans consider themselves Christian than ever before. In a new Pew Research Center report, 48 percent of LGB Americans identify as Christian, up from 42 percent in 2013. The statistic contrasts the study’s finding of overall decline of Christianity, from 78.4 percent of Americans identifying as Christian, down to 70.6 percent.

“The 'Christians vs. LGBT people' narrative that we hear so often is part of the story, but as the Pew poll shows, it's not all of it. In fact, it's the 48 percent of LGBT Americans who are Christians who are best positioned to change both religious attitudes about same-sex marriage and secular attitudes about religion. As LGBT Christians continue to find their voice, they'll be changing both their churches and the LGBT community for the better.” Full story here!

Also via Daily Dharma

BLOG: TURNING INTENTION INTO MOTIVATION How do we motivate ourselves to live up to our best aspirations? Thupten Jinpa, the Dalai Lama's principal translator and a scholar in his own right, offers two exercises that align our strongest motivations with our highest intentions.  Read More →

Via Daily Dharma

Beyond Meditation | May 13, 2015 The superhighway of meditation practice alone can’t be a pretext for bypassing essential ego work; we also must traverse the local roads of personal and interpersonal transformation. - Lewis Richmond, "The Authentic Life" Read More →

NSFW: YOGA PARODY - JANELLE MONAE, JIDENNA

SCORE!!! Olympics Officials Make HUGE Pro-Gay Move

SCORE!!! Olympics Officials Make HUGE Pro-Gay Move

In what's already being hailed as "a great step forward," the International Olympic Committee has taken a significant move against future intolerance toward the lesbian, gay and bisexual community in the Olympic Games.

The Chicago Tribune reports that IOC members unanimously voted to approve a recommendation which adds non-discrimination language regarding sexual orientation to the Olympic Charter.

"The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Olympic Charter shall be secured without discrimination of any kind, such as race, color, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status," the Charter now reads, according to the publication.

The decision to update the wording, which will also be included in all future Olympic Games host city contracts, follows a flurry of controversy surrounding the 2014 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sochi, Russia. A number of high-profile LGBT rights advocates called for the U.S. to boycott the Sochi games in response to Russia's controversial "gay propaganda" legislation.

Cher, Madonna and Lady Gaga were among the high-profile celebrities to decry the law, which imposes fines and sentences on anyone deemed to be distributing "pro-gay" information to minors. Full story here!

  Read the orginal on WGB here

Via WGB: International Study Finds Widespread Anti-Gay Discrimination in Sports

One in four gay men said they had received verbal threats of harm or had been bullied while participating in sports, and around 80 percent of people said they had witnessed such discrimination, according to a survey of 9,500 respondents.

The findings were contained in "Out on the Fields," released Sunday, which officials said was the first international study and the largest conducted on discrimination against gay, lesbian and bisexual participants in sports.

The study, which also canvassed heterosexual respondents, surveyed nearly 3,000 people in Australia, 2,025 in the United States and 1,780 in Britain. The study was also conducted in Canada, New Zealand and Ireland. Full story here via Edge!

Make the jump here to read the full article at WGB

Project ~ Equality

I Don't Know -Yes Equality

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 12/05/2015

“À medida que a sua consciência vai se expandindo, que a sua percepção vai se ampliando, e você começa a enxergar as partes da sua personalidade que estavam trancadas em negação, simultaneamente, seu canal espiritual vai se alargando. Ao mesmo tempo em que trabalha para transformar os aspectos negativos da sua personalidade, aos poucos você vai se tornando uma usina de transformação do sofrimento planetário. Então você passa a captar os karmas dos grupos mais próximos, e conforme o seu canal vai se abrindo, o diâmetro de captação vai aumentando.”

“A medida que tu consciencia se va expandiendo, que tu percepción se va ampliando, y comienzas a ver las partes de tu personalidad que estaban trabadas en negación, simultáneamente, tu canal espiritual se va ensanchando. Al mismo tiempo en que trabajas para transformar los aspectos negativos de tu personalidad, de a poco te vas volviendo una usina de transformación del sufrimiento planetario. Entonces pasas a captar los karmas de los grupos más próximos, y conforme tu canal se va abriendo, el diámetro de captación va aumentando.”

"As our consciousness expands, our perception widens and we get to see parts of our personality that were locked up in denial. As that happens, our spiritual channel continues to broaden. Even while we work to transform the negative aspects of our personality, we become 'power plants' for transforming global suffering. We start taking on the karma of those closest to us, and as our inner channel continues to open, we reach circles with an ever-expanding radius."

Via Daily Dharma

How to Fail | May 12, 2015 If you want to be a complete human being, if you want to be genuine and hold the fullness of life in your heart, then failure is an opportunity to get curious about what is going on and listen to the storylines. Don't buy the ones that blame it on everybody else, and don’t buy the storylines that blame it on yourself, either. - Pema Chödrön, "How to Fail" Read More →

Anon FB Post of the Day: Dream on fundamentalists.

"I love this explanation: 

So this whole universe is infinite as far as human perception goes and one galaxy is a spec of dust in that universe and the earth is a spec of dust in the galaxy and God really cares if one is gay or straight? God is that small and petty?
 
Dream on fundamentalists."

Via FB:

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 11/05/2015

“A mente condicionada normalmente nos leva a seguir na direção oposta àquela que determina o coração. Isso gera tensão e angústia. Esse conflito de direções dentro de nós é o que conhecemos como sofrimento. A mente condicionada quer agradar; ela quer ser respeitada, considerada e amada. Portanto todas as ações que nascem dela são estratégias para receber esse amor. Mas amor forçado não é amor. Esse “amor” não preenche, somente aumenta a angústia. A ação capaz de preencher o vazio existencial do ser humano com alegria é aquela que nasce do coração. É preciso saber ouvir a voz do coração, mesmo quando somos julgados e criticados por isso.”

“La mente condicionada normalmente nos lleva a seguir en la dirección opuesta de aquella que determina el corazón. Esto genera tensión y angustia. Este conflicto de direcciones dentro nuestro es lo que conocemos como sufrimiento. La mente condicionada quiere agradar, quiere ser respetada, considerada y amada. Por lo tanto, todas las acciones que nacen de ella son estrategias para recibir ese amor. Pero amor forzado no es amor. Ese “amor” no llena, solamente aumente la angustia. La acción capaz de llenar el vacío existencial del ser humano con alegría es aquella que nace del corazón. Es necesario saber oír la voz del corazón, hasta cuando somos juzgados y criticados por ello.”

"The conditioned mind usually leads us to the opposite direction from where our heart guides us towards. This causes tension and anguish. We feel this clash in directions simply as suffering. The conditioned mind wants to please, so as to make us feel respected, considered and loved. All actions born from this place are strategies to receive this love – a forced love that really isn't love at all, for it doesn't fulfill us and only increases our anguish. Only actions that spring from the heart can fill up with joy that existential emptiness human beings feel. We need to learn to listen to the voice of the heart, even if we are judged and criticized for it."

Via Daily Dharma

It's Up to You | May 11, 2015 Nobody is going to save you from your own mind. Nobody can get into the heart of your experience and fix anything for you. If you want to make your own internal experience more hospitable, only you can do that work. Others can always support and guide you and spark insights, but ultimately you are your own boss and the agent of understanding your mind and opening your heart. - Ethan Nichtern, "Awake with Others" Read More →

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 09/05/2015

“Qual a diferença entre a dependência e a entrega num relacionamento? É a mesma diferença que existe entre medo e confiança, são extremos opostos. A dependência é um desdobramento do medo, a entrega é um desdobramento da confiança.”

“¿Cuál es la diferencia entre la dependencia y la entrega en una relación? Es la misma diferencia que existe entre miedo y confianza, son extremos opuestos. La dependencia es un desdoblamiento del miedo, la entrega es un desdoblamiento de la confianza.”

"What is the difference between dependence and surrender within a relationship? It's the same as the difference between fear and trust – they are extreme opposites. Dependence is an offshoot of fear, while surrender is an unfolding of trust.”

Via Daily Dharma!

The Limits of Language | May 9, 2015 Our hearts and minds change from moment to moment, just as the clouds shift in the evening sky as the sun goes down. Who are we to think we have grasped the true nature of our souls? The Buddha-mind within us will not be constrained by the limits of language. - Abbess Fushimi, "Shedding Light" Read More →

Via FB: