The mind and the world are opposites, and vision arises where they meet. When your mind doesn't stir inside, the world doesn't arise outside. When the world and the mind are both transparent, this is true vision. And such understanding is true understanding. |
"[Hillary Clinton's] speech, which was hailed by gay activists worldwide, was an exercise in hypocrisy, not to mention an insult to several billion people worldwide. Mrs. Clinton had the audacity to compare religious or cultural objections to homosexual practice to 'the justification offered for violent practices towards women like honor killings, widow burning, or female genital mutilation,' as if the religious and moral objection to men having sex with men is somehow equivalent to the Muslim practice of honor killings or the Hindu practice of burning widows. [snip]During the 12 months after the 2003 legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, there was a significant decrease in medical care visits, mental health visits and mental health-care costs among gay and bisexual men, compared to the 12 months before the law changed. This led to a 13 percent reduction in health-care visits and a 14 percent reduction in health-care costs. The health benefits were similar for single gay men and those with partners. No reduction was seen in HIV-related health visits by HIV-positive men, which suggests that those in need of HIV/AIDS care continued to use needed health-care services, the researchers said.
Right Wing Watch reports that the online travel site Kayak has joined Lowe's in caving to the Florida Family Association.Yesterday the company, citing concerns about “specific content” (which it didn’t identify) admitted that it had joined Lowe's in pulling ads from the show. Kayak later posted an explanation of its actions, but instead of simply apologizing and reinstating the ads, Chief Marketing Officer Robert Birge decided to keep digging, claiming that the blame should go to TLC, which “wasn’t upfront about the nature of the show.” Since the complaints from the Florida Family Association are that the show portrays Muslims as ordinary, peaceful Americans, it’s hard to take Birge’s explanation seriously. The name of the show is, after all, “All American Muslim.” What exactly did Birge expect? Did he want more stereotypical anti-Muslim caricatures, like the FFA did? Birge goes on to say that he’d never actually watched the show before, but now that he’s seen it, he insists that, “The show sucks.”
A 22-year-old man was arrested for an alleged hate crime against a lesbian couple early Sunday, Dec. 11, after he yelled slurs at them and smashed in the window of a victim's car, but was then pinned to the ground by one of the victims, police said. William Adam Lane confronted the couple outside a bar early Sunday in the 200 block of Chestnut Avenue when he saw them embracing, said Bellingham police spokesman Mark Young. Lane made profane, derogatory comments about the couple's sexuality, but the women "expressed no interest in having a conversation," Young said. Lane then smashed in the rear window of the Toyota they'd arrived in, causing about $600 damage, Young said. One of the women tackled the suspect and pinned him to the ground while she waited for help from a bouncer at the nearby bar.Lane was charged with malicious harassment. Our hero was uninjured.
We generally do not repost such fundraising efforts because they are not within our organization's control. We typically do not have any way of knowing how those funds will be distributed. With regard to Dan Savage, Joe My God and Towleroad we could not in good conscience condone their efforts out of respect for Jacob and his family. That may seem counter-intuitive on the surface. So allow me to explain.Dan Savage responds: "How many schools in Tennessee has GLSEN worked with? How many calls from Tennessee has Trevor taken? How many cases has the ACLU queer youth project taken on in Tennessee? And how many kids in Tennessee have been reached by the It Gets Better Project?"
Each of these bloggers pledged to donate part of the contributions received for the funeral to other organizations. Had they pledged to only raise money for the family, we might have considered re-posting their efforts. Dan reports that the goal was to raise $5000 for Jacob's funeral. They raised $9000. That means that $4000 will be divided between GLSEN, the Trevor Project, and the ACLU's LGBT Youth Project. Will these organizations spend that received money to confront anti-LGBT bullying and harassment and advance policy and legislation to support that effort in Tennessee? We simply don't know. We do know the past practice of many national groups and celebrities outside of Tennessee. Without mentioning names, many national organizations in 2011 used the passage of the Don't Say Gay bill in the Senate and the workplace discrimination law we call the "Special Access to Discriminate" Act (HB600/SB632) to raise funds for their organizations. We know of several examples where these organizations and individuals received such funds and did not reinvest in efforts to promote safe schools or workplace equality in Tennessee.
TEP has been very careful about providing a positive way to respond to this tragedy without making an "ask" of contributions to TEP or other organizations. TEP's email alert about our petition to the Cheatham County School Board did not include any of our standard links to donate to our organization. We believe that it is unethical and morally wrong to raise funds for TEP or other organizations following the news of a tragedy. I do believe that Mr. Savage, Mr. Towle, and Joe.My.God have good intentions, but we could not condone their approach in this situation.
In several prior instances when decisions have been issued relating to the marriage rights of same-sex couples, there have been large gatherings, including protesters, at the courthouses and in the Civic Center area of San Francisco. . . . In any instance where crowds of protesters gather, and particularly where the issue is as emotional and contested as this one, it is helpful for the San Francisco Police Department to be aware of the gathering in advance to plan for and deploy an adequate number of officers to the areas where protests are likely to occur. We would therefore be grateful if the Court could provide advance notice of its intention to issue its decision in this case.View the letter.
"Satan’s strategy is leading humans astray, whether the arena is doctrinal or moral, is to deceive an individual into thinking that what God has forbidden is not really wrong or destructive, but is, in fact, life enhancing. So it was I the garden when Satan tempted Eve; so it may well be with your loved one. The sin of homosexuality is human nature, but the belief that sin is not really sin comes not from human nature alone but from an ancient and evil messenger. [snip]
After suffering national embarrassment at the hands of a gay-married Vietnam veteran, Mitt Romney has issued his new plan for marriage in which gays aren't just second class, some of us are third. The Boston Herald notes: [Romney] expressed support for a constitutional amendment that could create a complex three-tier system of marriage — maintaining marriage rights for straight couples, allowing gays who have already married to remain married, but barring future same-sex marriages. "I think it would keep intact those marriages which had occurred under the law but maintain future plans based on marriage being between a man and a woman,” Romney said.He's talking out of his ass, of course, as this sort of federal plan would never be instituted. Maybe he thinks this makes him look like less of a meanie after that takedown by Bob Garon.
Gingrich joins Romney, Santorum, Perry, and Bachmann in vowing to thwart the civil rights guaranteed to LGBT Americans by the U.S. Constitution. The only remaining holdout is Ron Paul.Bowing is just bowing. You do it mindfully, in a particular way, aware of the body and mind in the doing of it. The so-called meaning of it is extra. It’s not a symbolic or conceptual act. It’s just another form of sitting practice. You sit, you walk, the bell rings, you get up and bow. To just do what you do with full attention and without much worry is an important part of the method in Zen. |
The movement from ordinary states of self-concern to selfless giving always involves a gradual transformation of character, not a sudden leap. Like any form of strength, generosity needs to be intentionally cultivated over time, and everyone must begin in whatever state of mind they already happen to be. Understanding and accepting who you really are right now is as important as the commitment to become someone more open and generous. Whatever the quality of motivation, when we intentionally reach out to others in giving, some degree of transformation occurs. We become what we practice and do in daily life. |
Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum has posted their list of demands on Congressional candidates. I've gone thru the lengthy list and compiled a Top Ten. Unsurprisingly, much of their list is drenched in anti-gay hate, racism, and xenophobia.
