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Tricycle Daily Dharma February 17, 2014

The Skill of Intention

It’s through our intentions that we shape the world we experience, along with the amount of pleasure or pain we take out of that experience. To formulate intentions that really do lead to happiness is a skill. And because it’s a skill, nobody else can master the skill for you; you can’t master the skill for anyone else.

- Thanissaro Bhikkhu, “Less is More”

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Via JMG:

President Obama today denounced Uganda's anti-homosexuality bill. "I am deeply disappointed that Uganda will shortly enact legislation that would criminalize homosexuality. The Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda, once law, will be more than an affront and a danger to the gay community in Uganda. It will be a step backward for all Ugandans and reflect poorly on Uganda’s commitment to protecting the human rights of its people."

Full statement at JMG: http://bit.ly/1kM9tqs

 

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma February 16, 2014

Meditation and Poetry

Traditions of deliberate attention to consciousness, and of making poems, are as old as humankind. Meditation looks inward, poetry holds forth. One is private, the other is out in the world. One enters the moment, the other shares it. But in practice it is never entirely clear which is doing which. In any case, we do know that in spite of the contemporary public perception of meditation and poetry as special, exotic, and difficult, they are both as old and as common as grass. The one goes back to essential moments of stillness and deep inwardness, and the other to the fundamental impulse of expression and presentation.

- Gary Snyder, “Just One Breath”

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Via Daily Kos / FB:

Via SBMG Newsletter:

I said to my soul, be still and wait without hope
For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love
For love would be love of the wrong thing;
There is yet Faith but the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.
Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought.
So the darkness shall be the light and the stillness the dancing...
T.S. Elliot

Via JMG: Post-Windsor Court Record: 100%

Slate recaps the last eight months of marriage cases:

Twelve decisions have addressed a substantive aspect of marriage equality since Windsor, and equality has won in all 12—with the Virginia decision now joining decisions from Kentucky, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and West Virginia, and two decisions each in Illinois, New Jersey, and Ohio. But six other cases since Windsor have addressed different aspects of discrimination based on sexual orientation, such as discrimination on juries and employment benefits, and the side of equality has won in all six of those cases as well. The tally is even starker when you look at the number of judges who have considered the issue. Since Windsor, in these 18 decisions, 32 different judges have considered whether Windsor is merely about the relationship between the state and federal governments or whether it is about equality. And all 32 of them have found for equality. In other words, 32 accomplished, intelligent lawyers, appointed by Democrats and Republicans, whose job it is to read precedent, have ruled for equality. Not a single one has disagreed.

Labels: DOMA, Edith Windsor, marriage equality

Reposted from Joe Jervis

The New Us: Traverse -- #TheNew | Chevrolet

Thank you Chevy for being inclusive!

Via JMG: Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma February 15, 2014

The Desire for Certainty

Scientific fundamentalism mirrors religious fundamentalism in distressingly many ways. But there is no need for science to be fundamentalist any more than there is a need for religions to be fundamentalist. Fundamentalism springs from a desire for certainty, but many religious people and many scientists know that this cannot be achieved by beings with limited minds and experience such as ourselves.

- Rupert Sheldrake, "A Question of Faith"

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Via JMG: KANSAS: Senate Leaders Vow To Narrow Bill That Legalizes Anti-Gay Dicrimination

Two days ago the Kansas House approved a sweeping bill that legalizes discrimination against LGBT people in virtually every aspect of life. Today GOP state Senate president Susan Wagle promised to narrow the bill, presumably to businesses in the wedding industry.

For starters, a provision that would allow government employees to refuse service to same-sex couples on religious grounds is completely out. Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita, was emphatically clear on that point. “Absolutely. I believe that when you hire police officers or a fireman that they have no choice in who they serve. They serve anyone who’s vulnerable, any age, any race, any sexual orientation,” Wagle said. When asked if this was also true for a government employee who issues dog licenses, Wagle responded simply. “Public service needs to remain public service for the entire public.” Wagle, who was joined by Senate Vice President Jeff King, R-Independence, and Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce, R-Hutchinson, also cited concerns from the business community as part of their hesitation to move forward with House Bill 2453 in its current form. She said the bill, as written, would hurt large and small businesses alike.

A spokesman for Equality Kansas reacted to Wagle's statement: "The religious community needs to have their religious freedoms respected, but the gay community needs have our rights as citizens of the state of Kansas respected. We’re not going to support any bill that singles out gay or lesbian couples either directly or indirectly through legalese."  Republicans outnumber Democrats in the Kansas Senate by 31-9.
RELATED: Today Andrew Sullivan posted a blistering reaction to the bill. An excerpt:

If you were devising a strategy to make the Republicans look like the Bull Connors of our time, you just stumbled across a winner. If you wanted a strategy to define gay couples as victims and fundamentalist Christians as oppressors, you’ve hit the jackpot. In a period when public opinion has shifted decisively in favor of gay equality and dignity, Kansas and the GOP have decided to go in precisely the opposite direction. The week that the first openly gay potential NFL player came out, the GOP approved a bill that would prevent him from eating in restaurants in the state, if he ever mentioned his intention to marry or just shack up with his boyfriend. Really, Republicans? That’s the party you want? As for the allegedly Christian nature of this legislation, let’s not mince words. This is the inversion of Christianity.

Labels: bigotry, GOP, Kansas, LGBT rights

posted by Joe Jervis

Via JMG: UGANDA: President To Sign Bill That Sentences Gays To Life In Prison

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni says that he will sign the bill that calls for up to a life sentence for those convicted of homosexuality. Via Buzzfeed:

This is a reversal for Museveni, who had written to members of parliament after the legislation passed in December that he had come to believe that homosexuality was a biological “abnormality” and not something that should be criminalized. He had also told Western human rights activists that he would reject the bill during a meeting last month. Museveni made his announcement during a retreat with members of his party, the National Resistance Movement, which has primarily focused on the party’s leadership as it prepares for elections in 2016. Museveni had been facing stiff pressure from his colleagues to accept the bill.

According to Museveni, he only decided to sign the bill after scientists convinced him that homosexuality "is not genetic." For several years, Uganda's so-called "Kill The Gays" bill has been pending. Today's action presumably means the death penalty is finally off the table.

 

RELATED:  Museveni has been in office for 28 years and the vote results of his 2011 reelection were contested by the European Union.

Labels: Africa, homosexuality, LGBT rights, religion, Uganda

posted by Joe Jervis