Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 23, 2012

The Greater Joy

The scriptures say that when the mind indulges in sensual objects, it becomes agitated. This is the usual state of affairs in the world, as we can observe. In their quest for happiness, people mistake excitement of the mind for real happiness. They never have the chance to experience greater joy that comes with peace and tranquility.

- Sayadaw U Pandita, "A Perfect Balance"

Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through August 25th, 2012
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Primavera, verao, outono, inverno e... primavera - filme completo legendado

Dan Savage vs. Brian Brown: The Dinner Table Debate

Via Informed Comment:

http://www.juancole.com/2012/08/on-real-gender-and-racial-equality-gloria-steinem-poster.html

Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	This is the work of those who are skilled and peaceful, who seek the good: May they be able and upright, straightforward, of gentle speech and not proud. May they be content and easily supported, unburdened, with their senses calmed. May they be wise, not arrogant and without desire for the possessions of others. May they do nothing mean or that the wise would reprove. May all things be happy. May they live in safety and joy. - Metta Suta More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 22, 2012

Compassion Despite Dislike

Remember that you don’t have to like or admire someone to feel compassion for that person. All you have to do is wish for that person to be happy.

- Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "Head & Heart Together"

Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through August 24th, 2012
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Via Nalanda LGBT Buddhist Cultural and Resource Center

"In the present circumstances, no one can afford to assume that someone else will solve their problems. Every individual has a responsibility to help guide our global family in the right direction. Good wishes are not sufficient; we must become actively engaged." 

 

- His Holiness, the Dalai Lama

Via Courage Campaign:

Today the Republican National Committee finalized its platform concerning marriage equality. Which platform do you want to see your elected official stand behind?

Via JMG: NOM Launches "Brown Vs Savage" Site

NOM has launched a new website dedicated to coverage and reactions of Brian Brown's dinner with last week. The debate itself has not yet been released. From the site:

Dan Savage is one of the most influential activists bent on redefining marriage. Millions of Americans have seen his TV show on MTV or read his syndicated column. President Obama and his wife Michelle, along with hundreds of celebrities and sports stars have participated in Savage’s “It Gets Better” anti-bullying project. But there’s another side to Dan Savage that most haven’t seen: the bully. This April, when speaking to a group of high school students in Seattle, Savage launched into a tirade against Christians and what he termed the “bull****” in the bible.” He went on to call students who attempted to leave his presentation “pansy-a**es”. Savage has a long history of obscene anti-Christian comments, and yet he continues to be celebrated as the face of the gay marriage movement.

At least NOM didn't (yet) repeat the lie about that "spontaneous" staged walkout by "sobbing and horrified" students, who were put up to it by Focus On The Family.

Labels: bigotry, Brian Brown, Catholic Church, Dan Savage, evil, hate groups, NOM, religion, Vatican

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Tweeted Out By Matt Barber

 

Good As You points us to today's Twitter message from Matt Barber, whose employer is being sued for kidnapping. I'll add a message of my own.

 

Labels: bigotry, evil, hate groups, hypocrisy, kidnapping, Liberty Counsel, Matt Barber, theocracy

Reposted from Joe

Two from Gay Politics Report:

• Republicans poised to reaffirm opposition to marriage equality
  Republican Party subcommittees have reportedly approved party platform language that criticizes the Obama administration's decision not to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, and supports a "constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman." The language still must be approved by the full GOP committee today, and by delegates at the GOP convention in Tampa next week. BuzzFeed (8/20)     

• GOP platform addresses LGBT community, group says: Certain language included in the Republican Party's national platform is meant to signal the party's support for LGBT Americans, according to R. Clarke Cooper, the director of Log Cabin Republicans. A GOP delegate who supports marriage equality proposed the language "We embrace the principle that all Americans have the right to be treated with dignity and respect," Cooper said. Metro Weekly (Washington, D.C.)/Poliglot (8/20)     

"My Brother" Official Music Video by Nhojj

Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	Suffering chastens us and makes us remember. We are like the child who tries to pick up fire and is unlikely to do it again, once she has seen the consequences. With material things, seeing is easy; but when it comes to picking up the fires of greed, aversion, and delusion, most of us arent even aware were holding fires at all. On the contrary, we misguidedly believe them to be lovable and desirable, and so we are never chastened. We never learn our lesson. - Buddhadhasa Bhikku, "Heartwood of the Bodhi Tree" More Buddhism Quotes >>

Wrong Direction's "Disclosure" - A Full Frontal Freedom production

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma August 21, 2012

Refraining from Harm

To realize truly that there is only this nature, with no 'other' outside us, is to naturally want to refrain from causing harm, just as we refrain from doing harm to one of our own limbs or eyes.

- Bodhin Kjolhede, "Pain, Passion, and the Precepts"

Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through August 23rd, 2012
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RIP Scott McKenzie - San Francisco

Via Enough Is Enough: the blog page:

Via JMG: T-Mobile Endorses Marriage

Washington state based mobile phone giant T-Mobile today endorsed marriage equality. HRC has the good news:

The Bellevue-based wireless carrier joins REI, Microsoft, Starbucks and a growing list of other employers in supporting the efforts of Washington United for Marriage. “Our support of this issue is a reflection of our culture, how we do business, and our belief in the fair and equitable treatment of all employees,” said Jim Alling, interim chief executive officer and chief operating officer. HRC applauds T-Mobile for this positive step on its journey toward LGBT inclusion. More than 4,800 T-Mobile employees live and work in Washington state, according to the company.

RELATED: T-Mobile is the U.S. subsidiary of Germany's Deutsche Telekom. Last year a sale of the company to AT&T was thwarted after fierce resistance from the U.S. federal government.

Labels: cell phones, marriage equality, Washington state

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Michelangelo Signore To FRC President Tony Perkins: Let's Talk About Hate

Michelangelo Signorile has penned an open letter to Family Research Council president Tony Perkins and invited him to a debate on his SiriuxXM show. An excerpt:

Perhaps you recall that in July 2008, a man armed with a shotgun went on a shooting rampage inside a church in Knoxville. The Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, like many Christian churches and denominations across the country, is welcoming of LGBT people. The gunman killed two people and severely wounded several others. Police said that the killer's motive was to target gays and liberals. "This isn't a church, it's a cult," the killer wrote in a four-page letter he had left behind. "They embrace every pervert that comes down the pike.... [T]he only way we can rid ourselves of this evil is kill them in the streets, kill them where they gather."

I wouldn't claim, as you did with regard to the SPLC, that the FRC gave that killer a "license to shoot." No one knows what's inside the mind of a premeditated killer. But I would ask: Where do people like this killer get the distortions and ugly mischaracterizations that convince them that gay people are evil? More so, where do others who wouldn't engage in gun violence but who do harm to LGBT people in other ways -- firing them from their jobs, throwing them out of their homes, bullying them in schools -- get their misinformation about gay people? They get it from a wide array of sources that contribute to a culture that demonizes LGBT people. And you and the Family Research Council are among those who feed into that culture.

Read the full letter.

Labels: FRC, hate groups, Michelangelo Signorile, Tony Perkins

Reposted from Joe