- European court rules faith doesn't trump LGBT laws
- The
European Court of Human Rights, ruling in several cases testing the
rights of people of faith, said religious objections are not sufficient
to absolve certain individuals from complying with LGBT
non-discrimination laws. "The court showed conclusively that the
principle of equality and equal treatment cannot be circumvented with a
simple reference to religion," said Sophie in ‘t Veld, vice-president of
the European Parliament’s LGBT Intergroup. GlobalPost.com
(1/15), Washington Blade (Washington, D.C.)
(1/16)
Friday, January 18, 2013
Via Gay Politics Report:
Via JMG: Dear Abby Dies At 94
Phillips’ column competed for decades with the advice column of Ann Landers, written by her twin sister, Esther Friedman Lederer. Their relationship was stormy in their early adult years, but later they regained the close relationship they had growing up in Sioux City, Iowa. The two columns differed in style. Ann Landers responded to questioners with homey, detailed advice. Abby’s replies were often flippant one-liners. She willingly expressed views that she realized would bring protests. In a 1998 interview she remarked: “Whenever I say a kind word about gays, I hear from people, and some of them are damn mad. People throw Leviticus, Deuteronomy and other parts of the Bible to me. It doesn’t bother me. I’ve always been compassionate toward gay people.”Ann Landers died in 2002. Dear Abby is written today Phillips' daughter, Jeanne.
Labels: newspapers, obituary, writers
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 18, 2013
Body in Practice
In
a sense, all of Buddhist practice takes place here, in this most
intimate realm: here, in the family, shoulder to shoulder with fellow
workers, beside each other on the cushion. Even alone in a cave, there
is no way out of the sense object we call the body. We meet each other
face to face, and so have all our teachers and ancestors met each other.
In this way have all the Buddhas taught. Hand to sweating hand.
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- Sallie Tisdale, "Washing Out Emptiness"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 19th, 2013
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For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Via 2012 Healing the Planet 2012 / FB:
2012 Healing the Planet 2012 shared a photo:
"To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself." ~ Thich Nhat Hanh ~
With Bows of Gratefulness to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States:
Once again
on Facebook and other venues, there have been a number of interesting
discussions about GLBT people and their incorporation in the Bahá’í Faith.
Unfortunately nothing is new – the conservatives continue to point out to those of us who already know that the writings say this or that, and appear to have free reign to spew their nonsense (essentially reminding us that we are not welcome). Though they will never really say so, because hiding their disgraceful homophobia behind a wall of the Sacred Writings, appears to give them power and weight. Instead they increasingly engage readers in the same tired discourse related to why the Faith cannot change (which I interpret why they do not want it to change). Meanwhile most of us GLBT folks, friends and family try to engage in other possibilities, trying to show that many other religious communities have found a way to ignore the very same teachings, and are welcoming GLBT people. But alas…
Unfortunately nothing is new – the conservatives continue to point out to those of us who already know that the writings say this or that, and appear to have free reign to spew their nonsense (essentially reminding us that we are not welcome). Though they will never really say so, because hiding their disgraceful homophobia behind a wall of the Sacred Writings, appears to give them power and weight. Instead they increasingly engage readers in the same tired discourse related to why the Faith cannot change (which I interpret why they do not want it to change). Meanwhile most of us GLBT folks, friends and family try to engage in other possibilities, trying to show that many other religious communities have found a way to ignore the very same teachings, and are welcoming GLBT people. But alas…
All of this
has allowed me to recognize the “wisdom” of the National Spiritual Assembly of
the United States in removing
my rights as a Bahá’í. In some unintended way, they have given me the opportunity
to speak out fearlessly (what do I have to loose now?); investigate alternative
truths and embrace Buddhism; to really come to question the need for organized religion
at all; and even for the first time in my life question the actual existence of
god him/herself…
This officially
sanctioned homophobia by the Bahá’í leadership and majority of the Bahá’ís
themselves, was for me, the final nail in the coffin --no women on the UHJ was a major one, birth control,
length of your hair, and some other weird and funky rules the Aqdas appears to
be ready to implement -- that until then I was willing to forgo, and I like
others accepted the official answer for etc… but now seeing that the shunning of
science, reason and any sense of compassion for GLBT people is official, my concerns
for all sorts of other oddities in the Faith opened up. And the Faith looks like a cult or at best, silly,
irrelevant and terribly sad…
To be honest,
before having been defrocked, I was probably headed this way anyway… I had pretty much
had it with the Bahá’ís in my community. I had made a couple of visits to the
Shrines in Israel to pray and reflect
and was treated coldly. Their officially sanctioned homophobia accelerated
a process that I rather think was underway within anyway. So ian a funny way, their disgraceful
act of showing me the door only allowed me to escape their cage. A Fulbright research trip to Nepal and encounter with the
Sacramento Buddhist Mediation Group confirmed what I was looking for -- a home,
a refuge a sangha, that no Bahá’í Community has ever offered me.
Removing my
status as a member of the Bahá’í community unless I undergo some sort of treatment
and divorce my husband, I think was intended to be a form of punishment for being
a happy, open, and honest gay man. But I
rather think it has had the opposite effect, it has liberated me, made hundreds
of people I know and love turn away from a religion that once held such promise,
that once was held up to be progressive, loving and tolerant, and has shown the
world that the Faith actually is no better than many of the other homophobic religions
or cults it seeks to compete with.
So it is I
offer bows of gratefulness to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of
the United States;
may they liberate more and more people as time goes on!
Namaste!
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 17, 2013
Our Highest Intentions
No
matter what situation we find ourselves in, we can always set our
compass to our highest intentions in the present moment. Perhaps it is
nothing more than being in a heated conversation with another person and
stopping to take a breath and ask yourself, 'What is my highest
intention in this moment?' If you can have enough awareness to take this
small step, your heart will give you an answer that will take the
conversation in a different, more positive direction.
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- Jack Kornfield, "Set the Compass of Your Heart"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 18th, 2013
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Via JMG: Quote Of The Day - Chuck Hagel
"I fully support the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 and value
the service of all those who fight for our country. I know firsthand the
profound sacrifice our service members and their families make, and if
confirmed as Secretary of Defense, I will do everything possible to the
extent permissible under current law to provide equal benefits to the
families of all our service members." - Chuck Hagel, in a letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer.
Huffington Post has a reaction from Log Cabin Republicans head Gregory Angelo.
Reposted from Joe
Huffington Post has a reaction from Log Cabin Republicans head Gregory Angelo.
"For years the Pentagon has been dragging its feet with regard to extending benefits to the families of gay service members. To ensure that action is taken on this front, we need to be sure that there is a champion for our cause at the helm of the defense department. There is nothing in Hagel's record to suggest he will be that champion. "While Senator Hagel's recent professed support for gay military families is encouraging, it stands at odds with his record of opposition to the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and his broader record of opposition to equality for gay and lesbian Americans. We look forward to the confirmation hearings when the Senator will be able to explain his apparent epiphany in greater detail. We continue to remain cautious about his nomination until that time."
Labels: Chuck Hagel, DOD, LCR, Obama cabinet
Via JMG: Today In Christian Love™
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 16, 2013
Revealing What is Hidden
Meditation,
simply defined, is a way of being aware. It is the happy marriage of
doing and being. It lifts the fog of our ordinary lives to reveal what
is hidden; it loosens the knot of self-centeredness and opens the heart;
it moves us beyond mere concepts to allow for a direct experience of
reality. Meditation embodies the way of awakening: both the path and its
fruition. From one point of view, it is the means to awakening; from
another, it is awakening itself.
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- Lama Surya Das, "The Heart-Essence of Buddhist Meditation"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through January 17th, 2013
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member
For full access at any time, become a Tricycle Community Supporting or Sustaining Member
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Via JMG: Rep. John Boehner Secretly Ups The House DOMA Defense Budget To $3 Million
Late Monday, House Democrats learned that the Republican leadership had once again secretly renegotiated its contract with attorney Paul Clement to defend the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act at the Supreme Court. This is the third time the contract has been adjusted, raising total costs to $3 million from the original $500,000 cap. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) both sit on the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG), the House body intervening to defend DOMA in court in lieu of the Department of Justice’s decision not to. However, they did not find out about BLAG’s new agreement with Clement until after it had already been finalized.Hit the link for Pelosi's pissed off letter to Boehner.
Labels: DOMA, GOP, John Boehner, U.S. House
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