"Which version of 'traditional marriage' would you like to use Mr. Balling? Should we go back to ancient Israel and practice polygamy, with a woman’s only right that to own her own tent? Or should we use the ancient Greek definition of marriage, one more concerned with inheritance than love or procreation, one that would force a woman to divorce her current husband and marry a sibling if that was required to continue the family? Should we force a brother to marry his dead sibling’s wife? Or perhaps we should make arranged marriages with child brides, that’s certainly traditional enough. Wait, I know, let’s go with the one where you have to pay three goats and a cow in order to ensure the woman is yours to keep forever, and you can stone her to death if she cheats on you. That one sounds terrific!" - Minnesota Viking kicker Chris Kluwe, writing in response to an op-ed column published by the Star-Tribune.
A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Monday, October 1, 2012
JMG Quote Of The Day - Chris Kluwe
"Which version of 'traditional marriage' would you like to use Mr. Balling? Should we go back to ancient Israel and practice polygamy, with a woman’s only right that to own her own tent? Or should we use the ancient Greek definition of marriage, one more concerned with inheritance than love or procreation, one that would force a woman to divorce her current husband and marry a sibling if that was required to continue the family? Should we force a brother to marry his dead sibling’s wife? Or perhaps we should make arranged marriages with child brides, that’s certainly traditional enough. Wait, I know, let’s go with the one where you have to pay three goats and a cow in order to ensure the woman is yours to keep forever, and you can stone her to death if she cheats on you. That one sounds terrific!" - Minnesota Viking kicker Chris Kluwe, writing in response to an op-ed column published by the Star-Tribune.
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma October 1, 2012
Nothing Else
If
we have ambitions—even if our aim is enlightenment—then there is no
meditation, because we are thinking about it, craving it, fantasizing,
imagining things. That is not meditation. This is why an important
characteristic of shamatha meditation is to let go of any goal and
simply sit for the sake of sitting. We breathe in and out, and we just
watch that. Nothing else.
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- Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, "Do Nothing"
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma September 29, 2012
The Source Within Us
When
we use our attention to touch and open the deeper truth in a person, we
not only catalyze the experience of love, we become love. The source of
love is revealed to be within us; we no longer have to go looking for
it somewhere outside.
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- Nicole Daedone, "Love Becomes Her"
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma September 30, 2012
The Fabric of the Self
When
we turn our attention to our bodies, feelings, perceptions, impulses,
and consciousness, we find that we are woven of the quixotic threads of
ongoing stories. For only such a self can create and be created. A
fixed, intractable one is as good as dead.
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- Stephen Batchelor, "A Democracy of the Imagination"
Friday, September 28, 2012
Via JMG: Central Park Gay Marriage Proposal
She rowed her girlfriend out from under the bridge as friends secretly
gathered overhead for "Operation Rainbow Umbrella." The girlfriend said
"Yes" as Central Park visitors applauded and took photos from from the
shore. Many more photos here. (Tipped by JMG reader Acacius.)
Reposted from Joe
Via JMG: Homeland Security Issues Written Guidelines On Delaying LGBT Deportations
Immigration Equality is thrilled:
Immigration Equality today praised the Obama Administration, and specifically the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for new, written guidance that will extend discretionary relief to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) immigrants with U.S. citizen spouses and partners. The new written directive, which was announced in response to a Congressional letter spearheaded by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), marks one of the very first times LGBT families have been recognized within federal immigration policies. The guidelines, which are expected to be distributed soon to field offices across the country, will instruct officers and field agents to recognize LGBT families for purposes of relief as defined by a June 2011 memo from Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton.Rep. Jerry Nadler reacts via press release:
“I am thrilled that the Obama Administration has taken to heart my concern about the need to explicitly protect LGBT immigrant families from being torn apart by needless and unwarranted immigration enforcement actions. I thank Secretary Napolitano for listening and supporting a policy that protects all American families, both straight and LGBT. With the written guidelines that I requested and which will be issued by ICE, federal immigration officials will finally have the clear direction they need to make responsible and compassionate decisions on family ties in immigration cases.”UPDATE: The Washington Blade has posted Secretary Napolitano's letter to Nadler.
Labels: DOMA, Homeland Security, Immigration Equality, Jerry Nadler, LGBT rights, Nancy Pelosi, Obama administration
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma September 28, 2012
We’re in This Together
People
need to see that if you hurt another person, you hurt yourself, and if
you hurt yourself, you're hurting another person. And then to begin to
see that we are not in this alone. We are in this together. For me,
that's where the true morality comes from.
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- Pema Chödrön, "No Right, No Wrong"
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Via JMG: French President Calls On UN To Support Decriminalizing Homosexuality
"France will continue to engage in all these struggles: for the
abolition of the death penalty, for women's rights to equality and
dignity, for the universal decriminalization of homosexuality, which
should not be recognised as a crime but, on the contrary, recognized as a
[sexual] orientation. All members countries have the obligation to
guarantee the security of their citizens, and if one nation adheres to
this obligation, it is then imperative that we, the United Nations,
facilitate the necessary means to make that guarantee. These are the
issues that France will lead and defend in the United Nations. I say
this with seriousness. When there is paralysis... and inaction, then
injustice and intolerance can find their place." - French President Francois Hollande, speaking yesterday at the United Nations General Assembly. (Text via Towleroad)
Labels: France, Francois Hollande, gay death penalty, heroes, LGBT rights, Socialist Party, United Nations
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma September 26, 2012
The World as Self
The
way we define and delimit the self is arbitrary. We can place it
between our ears and have it looking out from our eyes, or we can widen
it to include the air we breathe, or at other moments we can cast its
boundaries farther to include the oxygen-giving trees and plankton, our
external lungs, and beyond them the web of life in which they are
sustained.
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- Joanna Macy, "Positive Disintegration"
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||||
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Today in buddhism | ||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma September 25, 2012
Genuine Discernment
The
fundamental aim of Buddhist practice is not belief; it’s enlightenment,
the awakening that takes place when illusion has been overcome. It may
sound simple, but it’s probably the most difficult thing of all to
achieve. It isn’t some kind of magical reward that someone can give you
or that a strong belief will enable you to acquire. The true path to
awakening is genuine discernment; it’s the very opposite of belief.
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- Trinlay Tulku Rinpoche, “The Seeds of Life”
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