Reason 12 Why I left Christianity...

Via JMG: NEBRASKA: Christian Groups Work To Repeal LGBT Protections In Omaha

God's Gentle People are working to make it legal again to discriminate against LGBT people in Omaha, which only narrowly approved its workplace protection ordinance in March of this year.

Some churches involved in the effort put the call to sign the petition more directly than others; approaches range from reminders to sign petitions after Sunday services to one pastor's 39-minute sermon urging congregants to demonstrate their faith by signing their names. But the step into city politics reflects a similar perspective from some churches: that the ordinance limits their right to express their Christian views. “I think from time to time the people of God are called to resist their government at key crossroads, and I'm convinced that we stand at one of those crossroads right now in our city,” the Rev. Mark Ashton, lead pastor of Christ Community Church, said in a sermon last Sunday. “Every signature makes a difference in the future of our city,” he said later. “I'd encourage every registered voter who lives within the City of Omaha and follows Jesus to sign your name.”

Leading the repeal charge is the Nebraska Heritage Coalition, which has this message on their website:

Homosexual activity (not temptation or preference) is explicitly prohibited as sin in multiple passages in the Old and New Testament. We do not have the right to change God's moral law to fit our sexual preferences. We believe that when we admit our sin, the Lord is faithful to forgive. Whether it is gossip, greed, violence, hatred, homosexual activity or heterosexual adultery, every last one of us is guilty. Fortunately, our welcome before God is not based on our 'religion resume,’ or our ability to live up to a moral code. It is based on what Jesus did on the cross to pay for our wrongdoing. He forgives us and begins to change us from the inside out to become more like him. This is the Good News for men and women, young and old, rich and poor, clergy and laity, gay people and straight people alike. Therefore, everyone is welcome to attend our churches. Together, we can discover God’s forgiveness and the strength to live a life in obedience to his moral law.

There are 242 churches listed as backers of the repeal. (Tipped by JMG reader Sam)

RELATED: Last month Omaha Archbishop George Lucas issued a letter demanding that Nebraska's Catholics support the repeal petition.

Labels: assholery, bigotry, Christian Love, disgusting, employment, evil, LGBT rights, Nebraska, religion

Reposted from Joe

JMG HomoQuotable - Andrew Sullivan

"As an Obama supporter, I remain committed, if deeply demoralized. The reason for that new ambivalence is not that the reasons for re-electing him have changed - we desperately need to raise revenues to tackle the debt, we cannot launch a new Judeo-Christian war against Islam in the Middle East without igniting an even more ferocious global religious conflict; it's just wrong to cut off healthcare access for tens of millions, while ending homecare for countless seniors, while not even making a dent in the actual budget - because of give-aways to the extremely rich. And the way the Obama campaign had made those arguments clearly and consistently and built a brilliant campaign all the way to the first debate was quite something to behold.

"To be given a gift like the Romney 47 percent video is a rare event in national politics. To get it in the fall of an election should have made an Obama victory all but assured. But Obama threw it all back in his supporters' faces, reacting to their enthusiasm and record donations with a performance so execrable, so lazy, so feckless, and so vain it was almost a dare not to vote for him. What he has to do now is so nail these next two debates, so obliterate Romney in both, that he can claw his way back to victory. But if he manages just evenly-matched debates, let alone another Romney win, he's a goner." - Andrew Sullivan.

Labels: 2012 elections, Andrew Sullivan, HomoQuotable

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Dozens Of Business Leaders Publish Full-Page Ad Supporting WA Marriage

 

Embiggen the images to see all the high-rollers or go here for a PDF of the full ad.

Labels: advertising, marriage equality, Washington state

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: I Have Two Fathers

Published on Oct 13, 2012 by depfox

Gay Family Values and Sean Chapin Productions team up to perform a wonderful song from the Netherlands about a kid who has two fathers, in response to the four states voting on marriage equality this upcoming election (Washington, Minnesota, Maine, Maryland).

See the original song and video from the Netherlands in 2006 here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qf0puHJ-KM

Help marriage equality in the four affected states in the upcoming 2012 election by going to a great website called TheFour2012:
http://www.thefour2012.com

Check out Sean Chapin Productions on his YouTube channel here:
http://www.youtube.com/SeanChapin1

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Via JMG: Quote Of The Day - Uncle Poodle

"Things are changing. My husband and I live in Milledgeville because we want to be out in the country. I’m gay, but I’m as redneck as I can get, and we want to be somewhere we can fish and jump on a four-wheeler, go hog wallowing. There’s probably 40 or 50 of us gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered people. Around here, they’re all open about it, everybody knows it. It’s not like there’s a gay bar here. We go to the same bars as everybody else, we’re all part of the same community. If there’s people who have a problem with it, they keep it to themselves, just like if I have a problem with them, I keep it to myself. But if you want people to accept you, you have to show you don’t have a problem with yourself and just be up front about who you are. If you do, you earn people’s respect. If everybody would just go on and do that, ignorant people couldn’t cause so many problems." - Here Comes Honey Boo Boo cast member Uncle Poodle, speaking to the Georgia Voice.

Labels: coming out, Georgia, reality shows, rednecks

Reposted from Joe

Via FB:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 14, 2012

Taking Care of Things

Realization needs to be actualized. And having realized the fact that there’s no separation, an imperative arises to reach out to take care of things. That’s compassion. We take care of things because everything is this very body and mind itself.

- John Daido Loori, "Straight Ahead"

Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through October 16th, 2012
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Via JMG: The Census Wants Advice About Gays

Chris Geidner reports on an unprecedented move by the U.S. Census.

The U.S. Census Bureau announced Friday that it is seeking advice on how to address lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender populations in implementing the once-a-decade census. The census, which has never counted LGBT people directly, has indirectly referenced gay people through its count of same-sex married couples and "unmarried partner" households in the past. With the formation of the National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic and Other Populations, however, the Census Bureau today stated that it will be seeking advice from the 31-member committee "on topics such as housing, children, youth, poverty, privacy, race and ethnicity, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other populations." Specifically, the Bureau noted, the committee will provide advice on "a wide range of variables that affect the cost, accuracy and implementation of the Census Bureau's programs and surveys, including the once-a-decade census."

Geidner speculates that the Census Bureau may be seeking a method to more accurately count (or at least estimate) the number of LGBT Americans.

Labels: census, Chris Geidner, U.S. Census Bureau

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Only A Fruitcake Doesn't Like Hate Chikin

(Via Towleroad)

Labels: advertising, assholery, fast food

reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 13, 2012

Dethroning the Ego

The ego must be dethroned, its arrogance must be dismantled, and we must begin, before it is too late, to listen to the ensuing silence. All of this is about becoming who we are in the deepest sense and about surrendering to what creation is asking of us and needing from us just now.

- Reginald Ray, "Looking Inward, Seeing Outward"

Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through October 15th, 2012
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Via JMG: HomoQuotable - George Takei

"Matthew [Shepard's] death brought about calls for stricter hate crime legislation. Under Wyoming and Federal law at the time, LGBT persons were not included within existing hate crime definitions. The battle to bring about this change was not easy. It took nearly 20 years of lobbying, votes, threats of vetoes, and partisan bickering before a Federal law included LGBT persons within the definition. On October 28, 2009, President Obama finally signed the Matthew Shepard Act into law.

"I came out publicly in 2005, though I had been out privately for many decades with friends and family. My decision stemmed from a desire to stand up and be counted, so that I could help people see the human side of how bigotry, hatred and intolerance affects others. Coming out is never easy, and often never ending. If you have gay, lesbian or bisexual friends who have come out to you, take the time to thank them today for their courage, and for helping to make a difference in the lives of others, especially of young people like Matthew Shepard who bear so much of the burden of homophobia, bullying and violence against LGBT people. Thank you. And Matthew, I promise you, we will remember." - George Takei, writing in observance of today's 14th anniversary of the murder of Matthew Shepard.

Labels: coming out, George Takei, hate crimes act, HomoQuotable, LGBT History, Matthew Shepard

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Nate Silver's Electoral Update

Source.

Labels: 2012 elections, electoral college, Nate Silver

Reposted from Joe 

Via JMG: Big Bird Was Created By Gay Lovers

As Mitt Romney's Big Bird comment continues to draw shots from both sides, the Daily Beast's Michael Daly observes the gay history behind one of television's most beloved characters.

[Christopher] Lyall and [Kermit] Love were partners in work and life for half a century and in the 1980s traveled with Big Bird to the White House for the annual Easter egg roll. The most momentous results of that presidential nexus were the grass stains on Big Bird’s outsize feet. Nobody could have imagined that this puppet might someday play even the smallest role in deciding who would occupy the Oval Office. “We’ll see,” Lyall says. The possible political impact of this 8-foot-2 yellow plumed character takes a turn from the ridiculous to the delightfully apt when you consider this: Big Bird was the product of a profound partnership between two men that was in every way a marriage save for in the strictly legal sense that the law until very recently forbade.

I encourage you to read Daly's full story.

Labels: LGBT History, Sesame Street, television

Reposted from Joe

Via AmericaBlog Gay:

Religious right attacks astronaut Sally Ride for being a lesbian

Dr. Sally Ride, the US’ first woman astronaut.
Alan C. Heison / Shutterstock.com

A lead religious right “research” group has concluded that Dr. Sally Ride’s pancreatic cancer may be due to her being a lesbian.  They deduced this from looking at the obituaries of...

Read the whole entry »

Via JMG: 20% Of Americans Claim "No Religion"

According to Pew Research, the number of Americans who say they have "no religion" in their lives is soaring.

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released an analytic study today titled, Nones on the Rise, now that one in five Americans (19.6%) claim no religious identity. This group, called "Nones," is now the nation's second-largest category only to Catholics, and outnumbers the top Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptists. The shift is a significant cultural, religious and even political change. Count former Southern Baptist Chris Dees, 26, in this culture shift. He grew up Baptist in the most religious state in the USA: Mississippi. By the time he went off to college for mechanical engineering, "I just couldn't make sense of it any more," Dees says. Now, he's a leader of the Secular Student Alliance chapter at Mississippi State and calls himself an atheist.

The report also notes that for the first time the number of Protestants is under 50%. (Tipped by JMG reader Mark)

UPDATE: The Center For Inquiry reacts via press release.

“Though the ‘unaffiliated’ are not entirely made up of nonbelievers, the fact that one in five Americans have rejected traditional religion means that the enormous influence religion has had over policy and culture will continue to wane,” said Ronald A. Lindsay, President and CEO of the Center for Inquiry. “Furthermore, thanks to the high percentage of ‘nones’ among the younger generations, these numbers tell us that we are closer than ever to realizing a society in which religious dogma has no significant influence on public policy—that is, a society based on reason and science rather than myth and superstition.”

Labels: atheism, Pew Project, religion, surveys

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: MINNESOTA: Viking Punter Chris Kluwe Fires Back At Archbishop Nienstadt

"Tell me, Archbishop, Pope, what purpose does the Church serve attempting to influence the affairs of a secular state? The federal benefits under law currently denied gay couples certainly fall under the realm of Caesar, don’t they? No one is forcing the Catholic Church to marry gay couples if that is not the Church’s wish. You can keep the sanctity of Catholic marriage solely between heterosexual couples if you feel that is what’s required (again though, I caution you on the dangers of presumed infallibility). All we are asking is for you to extend the open hand of tolerance instead of the closed fist of fear and hate.

"As American citizens, we respect the right for everyone to practice whichever religion they so choose, including the right to not practice one at all. Haven’t we learned enough from the Crusades, the Inquisitions, the Talibans of the world? What does it benefit the Church to attempt to influence secular policy in this country, especially when that influence is to deny basic human rights to others? Will you now assume Caesar’s throne, grasping the transitory ephemera of worldly power and control, while forsaking the eternal kingdom of Heaven?" - Vikings punter Chris Kluwe, firing back at Minnesota Archbishop John Nienstadt's advice to reject gay children.

Read Kluwe's full response.

Labels: bigotry, Catholic Church, football, FTW, heroes, Minnesota, religion, sports, straight allies

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 9, 2012

Embracing Groundlessness

It’s not impermanence per se, or even knowing we’re going to die, that is the cause of our suffering, the Buddha taught. Rather, it’s our resistance to the fundamental uncertainty of our situation. Our discomfort arises from all of our effort to put ground under our feet, to realize our dream of constant okayness.

- Pema Chödrön, "The Fundamental Ambiguity of Being Human"

Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through October 11th, 2012
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma October 8, 2012

Ending Your Problems Forever

When you are preoccupied with external, material objects, you blame them and other people for your problems. Projecting that deluded view onto external phenomena makes you miserable. When you begin to realize your wrong-conception view, you begin to realize the nature of your own mind and to put an end to your problems forever.

- Lama Yeshe, "Your Mind is Your Religion"

Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection through October 10th, 2012
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member

Via JMG: UK Psychology Group Tells Members That "Ex-Gay" Therapy Is Forbidden

Britain's largest psychotherapy group has told its members that "ex-gay" or "reparative therapy" is now officially forbidden. Via James Watkins at Law On The Web:

The British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) wrote to its near 30,000 members to inform them that so-called gay conversion therapy was now officially off-limits to them, after discovering that some members were still offering the controversial ‘treatments’. Lesley Pilkington was one such member. Last year, the BACP found her guilty of malpractice after being exposed by an undercover journalist to be offering “gay cure” therapies. Mrs Pilkington told the journalist that homosexuality is a mental illness akin to depression, with addictive qualities akin to alcoholism. Mrs Pilkington was struck off, and her appeal was rejected in May of this year.  The letter from the BACP states that “BACP opposes any psychological treatment such as ‘reparative’ or ‘conversion’ therapy which is based upon the assumption that homosexuality is a mental disorder, or based on the premise that the client/patient should change his/her sexuality.” In the letter, the BACP adds that they recognise that “the diversity of human sexualities is compatible with normal mental health and social adjustment”.

Note that the British group makes no distinction regarding children or adults.

Labels: Britain, psychology, UK

Reposted from Joe