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.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Via Gay Politics Report: Over a million petition-signers ask Boy Scouts to drop gay ban
Over a million petition-signers ask Boy Scouts to drop gay ban
Gay scouts and their supporters delivered 1.4 million petition signatures to Boy Scouts of America headquarters this week in a bid to pressure the organization to allow local branches to admit openly gay scouts and leaders. The effort also got the backing of President Barack Obama, who in a pre-Super Bowl interview this weekend said the BSA should change its longstanding policy. Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the group should hold firm and keep the ban in place, and the anti-gay Family Research Council ran a full page-ad in USA Today urging the same. The Dallas Morning News (free content)/The Scoop blog (2/4), CBS News/Political Eye (2/3), Dallas Voice (2/4), Towleroad (2/4)
Gay scouts and their supporters delivered 1.4 million petition signatures to Boy Scouts of America headquarters this week in a bid to pressure the organization to allow local branches to admit openly gay scouts and leaders. The effort also got the backing of President Barack Obama, who in a pre-Super Bowl interview this weekend said the BSA should change its longstanding policy. Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the group should hold firm and keep the ban in place, and the anti-gay Family Research Council ran a full page-ad in USA Today urging the same. The Dallas Morning News (free content)/The Scoop blog (2/4), CBS News/Political Eye (2/3), Dallas Voice (2/4), Towleroad (2/4)
Why Homophobia Is Not An Acceptable Life Choice
Macklemore, the first unsigned artist to make it to #1 in over
a decade, perfectly frames the world homophobia creates. Give his hit
track "Same Love" a listen and see if that doesn't melt your heart in a
jiffy.
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 5, 2013
Investing in Practice
It
is essential at the beginning of practice to acknowledge that the path
is personal and intimate. It is no good to examine it from a distance as
if it were someone else’s. You must walk it for yourself. In this
spirit, you invest yourself in your practice, confident of your
heritage, and train earnestly side by side with your sisters and
brothers. It is this engagement that brings peace and realization.
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- Robert Aitken Roshi, “The Teacher in Everything”
Monday, February 4, 2013
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 4, 2013
What Meditation Tells Us
Meditation
practice helps us relinquish old, painful habits; it challenges our
assumptions about whether or not we deserve happiness. (We do, it tells
us emphatically.) It also ignites a very potent energy in us. With a
strong foundation in how to practice meditation, we can begin to live in
a way that enables us to respect ourselves, to be calm rather than
anxious, and to offer caring attention to others instead of being held
back by notions of separation.
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- Sharon Salzberg, “Sticking with It”
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 3, 2013
Developing Determination
When
you admit to yourself, 'I must make this change to be more happy'—not
because the Buddha said so, but because your heart recognized a deep
truth—you must devote all your energy to making the change. You need
strong determination to overcome harmful habits. But the payoff is
happiness—not just for today but for always.
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- Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, “Getting Started”
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Via JMG: Today In NOM Chutzpah
Jeremy Hooper writes: "Important reminder: March 26 is not only the first day of SCOTUS hearings and the day that NOM plans to march against us—it's also the one year anniversary of us all learning their stated intent to 'drive a wedge between gays and blacks' in order to 'provoke the gay base.' The coincidence sure makes those March on Washington parallels all the more ignoble, huh?"
RELATED: Join the Facebook March 4 Marriage page to keep up with all the developments coming next month.
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 2, 2013
Illuminating Your Path
For
the dharma to become firsthand knowledge—to feel the ‘ouch’ of it—you
have to live intimately with it, hold it up to scrutiny, and let it hold
you up to scrutiny. In the end, the ball is always thrown back to you:
‘Be a lamp unto yourself,’ says the Buddha. In other words, you must
ultimately find the way on your own, by putting your ideas of the truth
to the test. Your questions light the way.
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- Larry Rosenberg, “The Right to Ask Questions”
Friday, February 1, 2013
Via JMG: NEW MEXICO: Marriage Bill Advances
By a 5-4 vote, yesterday the New Mexico House Public Affairs Committee narrowly approved a bill to place marriage equality to a public vote.
The bill would let voters decide the issue of same-sex marriage, but it also states churches would not be required to recognize the same-sex marriage bill. After hearing very different opinions and personal experiences, lawmakers decided along party lines to pass the bill, which moves it to the next committee. "We should not discriminate. The state should be doing everything possible to encourage people to enter into committed, long-term relationships, especially when there's children involved," Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, said. "What happens to those kids? Those kids were not created in that relationship," same-sex marriage opponent Jose Vasquez said. Egolf said he's been contacted by hundreds of people who thanked him for sponsoring the bill.The bill must pass out of another committee before moving to the full House. If approved by both state chambers and signed by the governor, marriage equality would appear on the November 2014 ballot. (Tipped by JMG reader Elise)
Labels: 2014 elections, marriage equality, New Mexico
Via JMG: Quote Of The Day: MP Helen Grant
"I am a God-fearing woman. My faith is very fundamental to everything I do and think. I am a member of the Church of England, a Christian, and my faith is very, very important to me. I think [same-sex marriage] is absolutely consistent with my beliefs. For me, as a Christian, I see it as about justice, equality, fairness, ending discrimination and opening up marriage to more people on the basis that marriage is a very special institution." - Conservative MP Helen Grant, speaking in advance of Tuesday's second reading of Britain's marriage equality bill.
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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