Frank Schaeffer calls Fundamentalist Christians Village Idiots

Via JMG: Cynthia Nixon Clarifies

"My recent comments in The New York Times were about me and my personal story of being gay. I believe we all have different ways we came to the gay community and we can't and shouldn't be pigeon-holed into one cultural narrative which can be uninclusive and disempowering. However, to the extent that anyone wishes to interpret my words in a strictly legal context I would like to clarify: While I don't often use the word, the technically precise term for my orientation is bisexual. I believe bisexuality is not a choice, it is a fact. What I have 'chosen' is to be in a gay relationship." - Cynthia Nixon, speaking to the Advocate.

 

Read Nixon's full statement.

Labels: bisexuality, Cynthia Nixon, sexuality

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: The 2 Bears - Work

One of these guys is Joe Goddard from Hot Chip, one of the few bands I've really liked in the last couple of years. The 2 Bears album was released today on iTunes UK. The physical CD comes out next week, apparently also in the UK only.




(Tipped by JMG reader Aaron)

Labels: bears, Britain, dance music, pop music

Reposted from Joe

Via Follower of the Buddha:

Nalanda LGBT Buddhist Cultural and Resource Center

Rely on the Teachings, not just the Teacher.
Rely on the Meaning, not just the words.
Rely on the Real Meaning, not just the interpretation.
Rely on the Experience, not just the idea.
The Buddha

Follower of the Buddha

Rely on the Teachings, not just the Teacher.
Rely on the Meaning, not just the w...ords.
Rely on the Real Meaning, not just the interpretation.
Rely on the Experience, not just the idea.
 

Namo Buddhaya Namo Dharmaya Namo Sanghaya སངས་རྒྱས་ཆོས་དང་ཚོགས་ཀྱི་མཆོག་རྣམས་ལ། Sang-gye cho-dang tsog-kyi cho-nam-la
I take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha 諸佛正法眾中尊 བྱང་ཆུབ་བར་དུ་བདག་ནི་སྐྱབས་སུ་མཆི། Jang-chub bar-du dag-ni kyab-su-chi
Until I attain enlightenment. 直至菩提我歸依དག་གིས་སྦྱིན་སོགས་བགྱིས་པའི་བསོད་ན...མས་ཀྱིས། Dag-gi jin-sog gyi-pe so-nam-kyi 
By the merit I have accumulated from practising generosity and the other perfections 我以所行施等善འགྲོ་ལ་ཕན་ཕྱིར་སངས་རྒྱས་འགྲྲུབ་པར་ཤོག །། Dro-la pan-chir sang-gye drub-par-shog 
May I attain enlightenment, for the benefit of all migrators. 為利眾生願成佛  

By: Follower of the Buddha

Enough Said:

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma January 30, 2012

Winds of Emotion

Awareness is the basis, or what you might call the “support,” of the mind. It is steady and unchanging, like the pole to which the flag of ordinary consciousness is attached. When we recognize and become grounded in awareness of awareness, the “wind” of emotion may still blow. But instead of being carried away by the wind, we turn our attention inward, watching the shifts and changes with the intention of becoming familiar with that aspect of consciousness that recognizes "Oh, this is what I’m feeling, this is what I’m thinking." As we do so, a bit of space opens up within us.

- Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, "The Aim of Attention"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

JMG Quote Of The Day - Frank Bruni

"[T]he born-this-way approach carries an unintended implication that the behavior of gays and lesbians needs biological grounding to evade condemnation. Why should it? Our laws safeguard religious freedom, and that’s not because there’s a Presbyterian, Buddhist or Mormon gene. There’s only a tradition and theology that you elect or decline to follow. But this country has deemed worshiping in a way that feels consonant with who you are to be essential to a person’s humanity. So it’s protected. Our laws also safeguard the right to bear arms: not exactly a biological imperative. Among adults, the right to love whom you’re moved to love — and to express it through sex and maybe, yes, marriage — is surely as vital to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as a Glock. And it’s a lot less likely to cause injury, if that’s a deciding factor: how a person’s actions affect the community around him or her." - New York Times columnist Frank Bruni, on Cynthia Nixon's controversial comments.

Labels: Cynthia Nixon, LGBT rights, Quote Of The Day

reposted from Joe

Via Christians Tired of Being Misrepresented // The Christian Left:

Paula - A teacher in New York was teaching her class about bullying and gave them the following exercise to perform. She had the children take a piece of paper and told them to crumple it up, stamp on it and really mess it up but do not rip it. Then she had them unfold the paper, smooth it out and look at how scarred and dirty it was. She then told them to tell it they’re sorry. ....Now even though they said they were sorry and tried to fix the paper, she pointed out all the scars they left behind. And that those scars will never go away no matter how hard they tried to fix it. That is what happens when a child bully’s another child, they may say they’re sorry but the scars are there forever. The looks on the faces of the children in the classroom told her the message hit home.

 

By: Christians Tired of Being Misrepresented

The Dalai Lama Interview- Capitalism. Socialism.

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma January 29, 2012

Skillful Attitudes

Skillful attitudes of mind are the key to facing potentially explosive situations and the ongoing highs and lows of life and practice. In fact, recognizing these attitudes and cultivating their antidotes is the foundation for all spiritual growth. By cultivating skillful attitudes of mind, we will respond to more and more of life with awareness and wisdom. With steady awareness of the way things are, the perseverance to stay with that awareness, and the willingness to learn from it, we maximize our sense of well-being.

- Steve Armstrong, "Got Attitude?"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via JMG: Romney Foundation Gave To "Ex-Gays"

Last night Rachel Maddow and Wayne Besen of Truth Wins Out delved into the donations made by a Romney foundation. I recently mentioned the anti-gay groups that get Romney money, but as Besen explains, at least one of those groups also advocates for "ex-gay" therapy.

 go to link here on JMG

Via JMG: GOP Intro's Bill Banning Same-Sex "Ceremonies" On Military Bases

GOP Rep. Tim Huelskamp has introduced a bill which allows military chaplains to refuse to conduct same-sex marriages. Which they already can. But the bill also bans the use of military facilities for such events.

Servicemembers Legal Defense Network

"Here they go again with another round of resistance tactics that have already been rejected by Congress and the American people. There is no need for the so-called 'protections' in this bill or the proposed regulations. No chaplain today is being required or pressured to marry anyone, straight or gay. Period. The bill's ban on use of military facilities and chaplains officiating at ceremonies for gay and lesbian service members is nothing more than plain, old-fashion discrimination. There is no place for that prejudice in our armed forces or in our country," said Sarvis.

Human Rights Campaign

Rep. Huelskamp and other right wing Republican Members of Congress appear to have missed the memo from military leaders who say that open service is working just fine. Instead, in their compulsive need to use our brave men and women in uniform as political pawns, these Members of Congress have invented issues that don’t exist in order to score some points. These antics coming from Rep. Huelskamp shouldn’t be a surprise as he was the one forced to admit on the floor of the U.S. House last summer that he wanted to strip funding for training materials that he hadn’t even read.

Labels: bigotry, DADT, GOP, military

reposted from Joe

Via AmericaBlogGay:

Dan Savage on gay marriage: Religious right on last ropes:

"Dan makes an interesting point: The gay-bashing wing of the GOP has pretty much lost the GOP presidential primary. Bachmann, Perry, Cain are all out, and Santorum is on his way out.  They were the true far-right evangelical candidates, and they couldn't even win the GOP nomination, let alone the general election"

"'On a side note, I've written before about how good Dan is on TV representing our community and our issues.  I cannot think of anyone who is better.  Watch this 3 minute segment (Current isn't able, legally, to post more than 3 minutes of any one show).  You'll see what I'm talking about".

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma January 27, 2012

Forgive and Forget

To forgive does not necessarily mean to forget. Sometimes to forget is not wise, but to forgive is wise. And it is at times not easy. It can, in fact, be quite challenging. It will come as no surprise that one of the most difficult people to forgive can be yourself. Yet with patience and gentle determination, it can be done.

- Allan Lokos, "Lighten Your Load"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma January 22, 2012

What Kind of Mind?

When you check your mind, do not rationalize or push. Relax. Do not be upset when problems arise. Just be aware of them and where they come from; know their root. Introduce the problem to yourself: “Here is this kind of problem. How has it become a problem? What kind of mind feels that it's a problem?” When you check thoroughly, the problem will automatically disappear. That's so simple, isn't it?

- Lama Yeshe, "Your Mind is Your Religion"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection

Via JMG: MILESTONE: Every Company On Fortune's Best 100 List Protects Gay Employees

Google is the nation's best company to work for according to the 2012 edition of Fortune Magazine's annual rankings. And for the first time, every company in the list's top 100 offers sexual orientation non-discrimination protections.

"It's been gathering strength over the 15 years that we've done the survey," said Milton Moskowitz, a co-author of the list. Similar progress has been made in benefits for same-sex domestic partners, which are now offered by 89 of the 100 companies listed, up from 70 five years ago. "It's not surprising to me that the places that are ranked the best to work are also the ones that are going to respect and value their employees," said Michael Cole-Schwartz, communications manager at the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that advocates on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans.

RELATED: About 60% of Fortune 500 companies currently offer domestic partner benefits. That's almost double the number from ten years ago.

 
Reposted from Joe

via jmg: Freedom To Marry Issues Impressive List: American Mayors For Marriage Equality

A Freedom To Marry press conference including Mayor Bloomberg and many others is underway at this writing. Video to follow, hopefully. If your mayor does not appear on the list, send him/her this statement to join.

Labels: activism, Annise Parker, Freedom To Marry, LGBT rights, marriage equality, Michael Bloomberg, NYC

reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Sex-Act Morality Flow Chart

(Via - The Friendly Atheist)

Labels: atheism, religion, sexuality

reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

The Nature of Anger

Because we imagine anger is never a good thing, it is easy to think we should practice simply not being angry. But that approach is too general and abstract. It’s important for each of us to be precise, to be real, to be personal and honest, to find out exactly what my anger is. To do that we need to ask ourselves lots of questions about its actual nature.

- Nancy Baker, "Precious Energy"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection