The
frustrating thing about our life is that there is no control over our
emotions. That’s why there’s no fun. The whole purpose of Buddhism is to
have fun, isn’t it? And in order to have fun you have to have control.
If someone else has control over you, that’s it: there’s no fun.
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The opponents [of same-sex marriage] are resorting to spurious arguments to convince voters that the law will somehow be unfair to those with objections to gay marriages because they don't want to face the real question of fairness at stake. Should the law treat people differently because of their sexual orientation? Or should everyone be treated equally? Maryland's gay marriage ordinance doesn't require anyone to violate their religious beliefs or personal conscience. As much as we hope the debate over this issue will persuade everyone in the state of the value of acceptance and tolerance, the law doesn't force anyone to change the way they think. All it does is to remove a major vestige of discrimination from state law, and that is something all Marylanders should be able to support.
Equality Matters reporter Carlos Maza went undercover
at a NOM conference to pose as a straight college student interested in
"defending traditional marriage." Today he has posted a lengthy
accounting of the events, seminars, and outright lies told to NOM's
young attendees.At noon, I sat in on a talk titled "The Truth About Same Sex Parenting Studies," led by economist Douglas Allen. I had read Allen's work through the Ruth Institute blog before - including a piece in which he wrote that same-sex relationships were more unstable, unhealthy, and promiscuous than heterosexual relationships.Read the full Equality Matters report.
Allen began his talk by attempting to debunk the enormous body of research indicating that same-sex parents can effectively raise children. He listed a number of familiar but inaccurate criticisms of modern same-sex parenting studies: sample sizes are too small, sample sizes aren't random, the studies' authors are biased, and so on.
Allen went on to claim that lesbian relationships were more likely to experience instability and dissolution because women's menstrual cycles become synchronized when they live together for a long period of time. I could barely choke back my laughter when I heard Allen's explanation. I'd been exposed a lot of terrible arguments against allowing same-sex couples to raise children, but "lesbians will menstruate at the same time" was the kind of claim I'd expect to hear from someone parodying the anti-gay position.
A few moments later, though, I wasn't laughing...
Good
for them! Now let's see if they endorse the man who has pledged to
inflict an anti-gay marriage amendment upon the U.S. Constitution.
Every
meditator has challenges. Rather then taking the obstacles as problems
or as unfortunate distractions, a more useful attitude is to patiently
and contentedly learn the skills and insights that can transform them
into stepping stones along the path of practice.
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The effectiveness of our foreign aid has been limited by the cultural agenda of the current Administration, attempting to impose on foreign countries, especially the peoples of Africa, legalized abortion and the homosexual rights agenda. At the same time, faith-based groups — the sector that has had the best track record in promoting lasting development — have been excluded from grants because they will not conform to the administration’s social agenda. We will reverse this tragic course, encourage more involvement by the most effective aid organizations, and trust developing peoples to build their future from the ground up.Lest we forget, Perkins denounced Obama for expressing opposition to Uganda's plan to start executing homosexuals. That's the real "homosexual agenda" of the Republican party.
After Elton has launched a tournament
to pick the hottest of the 32 male-male TV couples that dominate the
world of fantasy "slash" erotica. The elders of the genre, William
Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, are pitted against their modern day
counterparts from the latest edition of Star Trek.
Interesting turn of events reported by Chris Geidner:The trial court judge in California who has taken over hearing the federal court case challenging Proposition 8, the state's amendment limiting marriages to one man and one woman, ordered the case closed today — which would allow same-sex couples to marry in California. The order comes despite the fact that proponents of Proposition 8 have requested the Supreme Court to review the case because, Judge James Ware wrote today, all requests to stay the judgment in the case have been denied. The proponents made no request of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court to stay the case pending resolution by the Supreme Court.What happens next is unclear. Could same-sex marriages resume in California before the Supreme Court even decides whether to hear the appeal of its overturn?
The
brand new Archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone, has been
arrested for drunk driving. Cordileone is widely considered the "father
of Proposition 8." Police in San Diego say Bishop Salvatore Cordileone was arrested over the weekend for driving under the influence. Police say it happened in San Diego's College District just before 12:30 Saturday morning. Bishop Cordileone is currently bishop of Oakland -- a post he's held since 2009. Last month Pope Benedict chose Bishop Cordileone to become archbishop of San Francisco -- replacing retiring Archbishop George Niederaur. He's scheduled to assume the new post in October.I'll have the delicious mug shot ASAP. (Tipped by JMG reader Mark)
Fortunately,
getting a sense of humor doesn’t come with a price tag. It simply
requires understanding that everything we experience is universal; all
the humiliations and hijinks are a part of life; each and every one of
us gets to slip on the banana peel. So pick yourself up, brush yourself
off, and laugh about it, for crying out loud.
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From
the intrinsic standpoint—one of body, of Buddha-nature—non-killing
means that there is nothing being born and nothing dying. The very
notions of 'birth' and 'death' are extra. Life does not divide up into
things to be killed or not killed; it is just this one body, constantly
changing.
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AFA was recently contacted by a Home Depot employee who says the boycott of Home Depot is being effective. "We have customers who come into our store and confront our store managers over the HD's support of Gay pride. The AFA is having an effect on HD." She also shared that many employees disagree with the company's pro-gay-marriage stand. In June, a "Gay Pride Month" poster (photo right) was put up in her breakroom. "HD is as committed as ever to the changing of laws in favor of same sex marriage. They had absolutely no empathy for those employees who voiced offense with the display. This was mandated by corporate directive. Therefore the display was torn down at least 2 times."Freepers are thrilled.
“I think some people think that sexual orientation can be changed or prayed over,” she said now, in her kitchen. “But I know sexual orientation is not up for negotiation. I don’t think my children need to be changed. I think that what needed changing is attitudes, or myself, or maybe some other people I know.” She decided she could no longer attend her church, because doing so would suggest she supported its teachings against homosexuality.Read the full sad article.
And she took strength from reading the Bible as she reconsidered her views. “At this point I think Jesus is more about reconciliation and love,” she said. “He spoke more about divorce than homosexuality, but you can be divorced and join a church more than you can be gay and join churches.” What has troubled her most is the thought that Tyler believed she had rejected him.
People
are often careless about the thoughts they give rise to, assuming that
once they forget about a thought, that thought is finished. This is not
true. Once you give rise to a thought, it keeps functioning, and
eventually its consequences return to you.
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