Via JMG: Born That Way

Allegedly from a college survey form. Some of the comments on Reddit are quite amusing. "I've been Chinese all my life, Mom! You can't change who I am!"

Labels: Buzzfeed, college, silliness

Reposted from Joe

JMG Church Sign Of The Day

This sign has gone viral in the past couple of days and has even appeared on Glenn Beck's "news" site The Blaze:

While the message may be a tough pill to swallow for some Christians who believe that non-belief is a tragic societal occurrence — even more tragic than Christians behaving badly — Kay Pettygrove, an administrator at the church, says that positivity has been the predominate sentiment. Pettygrove claims that there has been 30 positive comments for each negative one and says that the church is “flabbergasted” over the response. “I got an email from a young Mormon man saying, ‘Thank you so much. It made me rethink how I treat people,’” she explains. “Many atheists have said, ‘If there were more churches like yours, we would probably reconsider.’”

(Tipped by JMG reader David)

Labels: advertising, atheism, Oregon, religion

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 6, 2012

There's Always a Tradeoff

The Buddha said, if you see a greater pleasure that comes from forsaking a lesser pleasure, be willing to forsake that lesser pleasure for the greater one. Sounds like a no-brainer, but if you look at the way most people live, they don’t think in those terms. They want everything that comes their way. They want to have their cake and enlightenment, too; to win at chess without sacrificing a single pawn. Even when they meditate, their purpose in developing mindfulness is to gain an even more intense appreciation of the experience of every moment in life. That’s something you never see in the Buddha’s teachings. His theme is always that you have to let go of this in order to gain that, give this up in order to arrive at that. There’s always a trade-off.

- Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "The Dignity of Restraint”
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 5, 2012

Water the Flowers, Not the Weeds

If you’re out watering your flower garden by hand, you naturally concentrate the flow of water to benefit your beautiful flowers. If there’s an area of weeds, you don’t waste water there. As best you can, you avoid watering the weeds. It’s the same with your consciousness. You can learn to selectively water the positive seeds and flowers in you by attending to them. There are enough weeds. You don’t have to encourage them.

- Thomas Bien, “Water the Flowers, Not the Weeds”
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via JMG: Anti-Gay Liberian Christians Publish Hit List: "We Will Get Them One By One"

As a bill that worsens the penalty for homosexuality wends its way through Liberia's legislature, an anti-gay Christian group has published a hit list in which they vow to track down every gay person for brutal punishment.

The fliers include this threat: "Let these individuals be aware that we are coming after them soon. We urge them to also begin saying the Lord’s Prayer.”

The fliers distributed over the weekend in parts of Liberia’s capital were signed by the Movement Against Gay’s in Liberia, or MOGAL. The group said those involved in promoting gay rights “should not be given space to get a gulp of air.” “Having conducted a comprehensive investigation, we are convinced that the below listed individuals are gays or supporters of the club who don’t mean well for our country,” the fliers read. “Therefore, we have agreed to go after them using all means in life.” No individual members of MOGAL signed the flier. But Moses Tapleh, a 28-year-old resident of the main community where the flier was distributed, said he was affiliated with the group and stressed that its threats should be taken seriously. “We will get to them one by one,” Tapleh said. “They want to spoil our country.” Asked what specific action might be taken against those on the list, he said they could be subjected to “dangerous punishments” including “flogging and death.”

One of the persons named on the list said he has already received death threats by phone. Last month Liberian President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, a 2011 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, refused to consider decriminalizing homosexuality, but said she would not sign the new bill to worsen the penalty to ten years in prison.

Labels: Christianists, gay death penalty, hate groups, LGBT rights, Liberia, religion

Reposted from Joe

Via Gay Politcs Report:

• Group sues U.S. over treatment of binational couples
   
• The U.S. government’s treatment of binational same-sex couples is unconstitutional, according to a new federal lawsuit brought by five married couples and filed by the LGBT group Immigration Equality. Rachel Tiven, the group’s executive director, said negotiations with federal officials aimed at stopping the deportations of foreign nationals who have same- sex partners in the U.S. have not been successful. Unlike straight married individuals, gay and lesbian Americans are not allowed to sponsor their foreign partners or spouses for U.S. citizenship because the Defense of Marriage Act forbids the federal government from recognizing their relationships. Advocate.com (4/2)     

Via Gay Politcs Report:

• Romney funded Prop 8 through anti-gay group, documents reveal
   
• Mitt Romney's political action committee contributed $10,000 to help pass California's Proposition 8, but did so through a hard-to-detect PAC donation to the National Organization for Marriage, according to documents provided to the Human Rights Campaign by a whistle-blower at NOM. "It’s clear now that Romney was a major financial donor to Prop 8, but it’s also clear that his campaign very cleverly hid this contribution," said Fred Sainz, HRC's vice president for communications. NOM was a key player in the passage of Proposition 8, which ended legal marriage for same-sex couples in California. The Huffington Post (3/30)     

Via JMG: EU Launches LGBT Survey

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights has commissioned Gallup Europe for a survey of the LGBT residents of the EU.

Besides occasional news reports about discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) people, there is very little comparable data collected across the EU about the everyday experiences of LGBT people with respect to discrimination. Based on the survey results, national and European policy makers as well as non-governmental or civil society organisations will be able to better target their advocacy strategies and activities to support the LGBT community to live and express themselves freely without discrimination. In order to give weight to the results, the European LGBT Survey counts on the participation of a large and diverse group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people from each country. This is the first EU-wide effort to collect LGBT experiences in the framework of the ever largest survey made in this field – make yours count as well!

The results should prove fascinating. The survey is open to LGBT residents of all 27 EU member states. Plus Croatia. Respondents must be 18 or over. Take the survey.

Labels: European Union, Gallup, LGBT rights, surveys

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Editorial Of The Day

From the New Jersey Star-Ledger:

The NOM agenda reveals the dark corners of a movement that will do anything to impose its will. To stop state courts or legislators from enacting marriage equality laws and to roll back the laws where they do exist, the organization established a plan that seeks to divide and conquer. And kick up a lot of distractions to damage the other side.

Among their goals: to “drive a wedge between gays and blacks,” make support of traditional marriage “a key badge of Latino identity” and develop “side issues,” such as pornography, to destabilize any consensus around gay marriage. As part of its “behind enemy lines” strategy, officials want to enlist children of same-sex couples to air “their concerns” on video.

It is sick beyond words that a group to “save” marriage would exploit racial and ethnic divisions, stir intolerance and fear, and even rip families apart by pitting children against parents. In their self-described “battle,” they come across as the biggest losers of all.

Read the full editorial.

Labels: hate groups, New Jersey, newspapers, NOM

Reposted from Joe

Tricycle Daily Dharma April 2, 2012

Bad Meditation? No Such Thing!

The mind can do wonderful and unexpected things. Meditators who are having a difficult time achieving a peaceful state of mind sometimes start thinking, 'Here we go again, another hour of frustration.' But often something strange happens; although they are anticipating failure, they reach a very peaceful meditative state. My first meditation teacher told me that there is no such thing as a bad meditation. He was right. During the difficult meditations you build up your strength, which creates meditation for peace.

- Ajahn Brahm, "Stepping Towards Enlightenment"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection