Via JMG: Religion Recovery Hotline Project

 

The Friendly Atheist reports that a national hotline will be launched to support people who may be considering leaving their religion.  The hotline's site notes that callers will not be encouraged to become atheists.

Responders will absolutely NOT urge any form of belief or disbelief. In fact, our volunteers will be specifically trained to never debate callers under any circumstances. Recovering From Religion is passionate about meeting people where THEY are at on the spectrum of disbelief. It’s not our place to do anything but encourage exploration and discovery, and to provide a solid support structure as people reconsider the role of religion in their lives. For many, this is a long process and we will be with them every step of the way. For some, they might be taking a smaller step by exploring a more liberal church, or by finding the confidence to assert their financial independence from tithing..

Hit the link for much more. The group is taking donations.

Labels: atheism, Recovering From Religion, religion

Reposted from Joe

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma June 1, 2013

A Practical Perspective on Karma

The whole point of karma is to recognize how our actions determine our future, so that we can begin to act properly. It’s not just a cosmological or philosophical matter. It’s entirely practical. The main point is not to get in trouble again.

- Matthieu Ricard, "Karma Crossroads"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through June 2, 2013
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JMG Quote Of The Day - Dan Savage

"I tell this story in the book of being at this park in Seattle many years ago, where a limo pulls up and a bride and a groom tumble out to get their portraits at this very famous park with a beautiful view of downtown Seattle. And as they're walking back to the limo everyone starts to applaud, and rightly so. Everyone takes delight when two people find each other and make that commitment. I was standing there clapping next to these two older gentlemen with two big dogs. It was clear that they were gay and I was gay. And as they get into their car, the one closest to me looks at me and says, `We are always happy for them. Would it kill them to be happy for us?' We've reached that tipping point, where they are happy for us. Now you see straight people looking at gay people and recognizing something about themselves in us." - Dan Savage, speaking to the Associated Press.

Labels: Dan Savage, LGBT culture, LGBT rights

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Obama Issues Pride 2013 Proclamation

Friday, May 31, 2013

Obama Issues Pride 2013 Proclamation

This afternoon the White House issued President Obama's proclamation in recognition of LGBT Pride Month.  The message cites the president's support for ENDA, the federal bill to overturn DOMA, and HIV reduction campaigns 

For more than two centuries, our Nation has struggled to transform the ideals of liberty and equality from founding promise into lasting reality. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans and their allies have been hard at work on the next great chapter of that history -- from the patrons of The Stonewall Inn who sparked a movement to service members who can finally be honest about who they love to brave young people who come out and speak out every day. This year, we celebrate LGBT Pride Month at a moment of great hope and progress, recognizing that more needs to be done. 

Support for LGBT equality is growing, led by a generation which understands that, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." In the past year, for the first time, voters in multiple States affirmed marriage equality for same-sex couples. State and local governments have taken important steps to provide much-needed protections for transgender Americans. 

My Administration is a proud partner in the journey toward LGBT equality. We extended hate crimes protections to include attacks based on sexual orientation or gender identity and repealed "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." We lifted the HIV entry ban and ensured hospital visitation rights for LGBT patients. Together, we have investigated and addressed pervasive bullying faced by LGBT students, prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Federal housing, and extended benefits for same-sex domestic partners. Earlier this year, I signed a reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in the implementation of any VAWA-funded program. 

And because LGBT rights are human rights, my Administration is implementing the first-ever Federal strategy to advance equality for LGBT people around the world. We have witnessed real and lasting change, but our work is not complete. I continue to support a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act, as well as the Respect for Marriage Act. My Administration continues to implement the Affordable Care Act, which beginning in 2014, prohibits insurers from denying coverage to consumers based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, as well as the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which addresses the disparate impact of the HIV epidemic among certain LGBT sub-communities. 

We have a long way to go, but if we continue on this path together, I am confident that one day soon, from coast to coast, all of our young people will look to the future with the same sense of promise and possibility. I am confident because I have seen the talent, passion, and commitment of LGBT advocates and their allies, and I know that when voices are joined in common purpose, they cannot be stopped. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2013 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to eliminate prejudice everywhere it exists, and to celebrate the great diversity of the American people. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh. - Barack Obama.

Labels: Barack Obama, gay Pride, White House

Reposted from Joe

Via Gay Politics Report

Politics and Policy

Nigerian lawmakers pass sweeping anti-gay measure


Same-sex couples who marry could each face as much as 14 years in prison under a law awaiting the signature of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan. The bill, which was previously passed in the Senate, was approved Thursday in the House unanimously and without discussion. The new law also criminalizes participation in LGBT rights groups, as well as public displays of affection, which could bring sentences of as many as 10 years behind bars. The Washington Post/The Associated Press (5/30)

Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	Every time a problem arises, the essential thing is to immediately become aware that the problem comes from our selfish mind, that it is created by self-cherishing thoughts. As long as you put the blame outside yourself, there can be no happiness. - Lama Zopa Rinpoche, "Transforming Problems Into Happiness" More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 31, 2013

What is Happiness?

Whatever realization may come by way of silence, our happiness is never won that way. Happiness is not happiness unless it is shared. For happiness is the one thing in all the world that comes to us only at the moment we give it, and is likewise increased by being given away.

- Clark Strand, “The Wisdom of Frogs”

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through June 1, 2013
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VIa Buddhism on Beliefnet

Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	Contrary to what some people might believe, there is nothing wrong with having pleasures and enjoyments. What is wrong is the confused way we grasp onto these pleasures, turning them from a source of happiness into a source of pain and dissatisfaction. - Lama Thubten Yeshe, "Introdu

Via JMG: Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 30, 2013

A Sense of Closeness

It is not sufficient merely to see that sentient beings are suffering. You must also develop a sense of closeness with them, a sense that they are dear. With that combination‚ you can develop compassion.

- Jeffrey Hopkins, "Everyone as a Friend"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through May 31, 2013
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We can dance - Hollywood Movie Dance Tribute

Via JMG: The Three-Pronged Pitchfork Of Bigotry

"The first prong is political. When a politician like Marco Rubio is willing to sacrifice his career defining immigration reform legislation solely to insure that gays and lesbians are denied equal protection under the law, we have to admit that we're under attack. This is not pragmatic politics at work. These are the policies of bias, exclusion and unfairness.

"The second wave is the steady barrage coming from those who would call themselves moral leaders. Shielded behind lecterns, they assign condemnation with impunity. Claiming to be brimming with the love of their creator, they spew forth the cowardice of the mob. Fundamentalism, whether raining down terror abroad or in homilies from our home parishes, is the enemy. It is the death knell of tolerance, progress and compromise. Fundamentalism is, in all practicality, nothing but an invitation to bigotry.

"And thirdly, when we excuse homophobia as a matter of opinion instead of treating it as a destructive social illness, we invite fear to explode into violence. How often are the perpetrators of hate-crimes discovered to be self-loathing? Valued individuals do not strike out against strangers." - Harvey Fierstein, writing for the Huffington Post.

Read the full essay.

Labels: bigotry, Broadway, gay artists, gay writers, Harvey Fierstein, hate crimes, hate speech, religion

Reposted from Joe

Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:

	Daily Buddhist Wisdom
	Without love we could not survive. Human beings are social creatures, and a concern for each other is the very basis of our life together. - His Holiness the Dalai Lama More Buddhism Quotes >>

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 29, 2013

Fostering a Meditative Life

Don’t be a slave to style. Don’t take more from the world than you’re willing to give back. And learn to undo the perceptions—so heavily promoted by the media—that shopping is a form of therapy and that a purchase is nothing but a victory or a gain.

- Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "Skillful Shelter"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through May 30, 2013
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Via JMG: European Court Rules Against Refusing Service To Gays On Religious Grounds

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that it is legal to discipline employees for refusing to provide services to same-sex couples on the basis of religious objections. The ruling came in the cases of three British Christians who had refused to perform relationship counseling or conduct civil partnership ceremonies.

Tuesday's decision was welcomed by the National Secular Society. The group's executive director, Keith Porteous Wood, said: "Fortunately, Europe's highest court has now wisely followed numerous lower courts and rejected the applicants' attempts for religious conscience to trump equality law. "The UK has the world's most comprehensive equality laws which already include strong protection for religious believers and they would have been fatally compromised, particularly for LGBT people, had the Grand Chamber overturned any of these judgments. "We hope that this will now draw a line under the attempts by a small coterie of Christian activists to obtain special privileges for themselves which would invariably come at the expense of other people's rights."

The Court is based in Strasbourg, France. (Tipped by JMG reader Julian)

Labels: bigotry, employment, Europe, religion

Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Frank Rich On LGBT History

"As we just learned, a man can still be murdered for being gay a few blocks away from the Stonewall Inn. But the rapidity of change has been stunning. The world only spins forward, as Tony Kushner wrote. And yet as we celebrate the forward velocity of gay rights, I think we must glance backward as well. History is being lost in this shuffle—that of those gay men and women who experienced little or none of today’s freedoms. Whatever the other distinctions between the struggles of black Americans and gay Americans for equality under the law—starting with the overarching horror of slavery—one difference is intrinsic. Black people couldn’t (for the most part) hide their identity in an America that treated them cruelly. Gay people could hide and, out of self-protection, often did. That’s why their stories were cloaked in silence and are at risk of being forgotten."- Frank Rich, opening his New York Magazine article on LGBT history and his surrogate gay father.

Read the full essay.

Labels: Frank Rich, LGBT History, LGBT rights

Reposted from Joe

Via Gay Poltics Report:

Will recent marriage legislation affect Supreme Court cases?

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule in June on two marriage-equality cases, but those opinions could change between now and then depending on how the justices view recent legislative victories for marriage-equality proponents, according to this analysis. Current events have affected written decisions in the past, and the court has likely noticed that three states enacted marriage-equality laws in a 10-day span in May alone.  

The Boston Globe (tiered subscription model)/The Associated Press (5/28)

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma May 28, 2013

Supreme Optimism

Buddhism is a path of supreme optimism, for one of its basic tenets is that no human life or experience is to be wasted or forgotten, but all should be transformed into a source of wisdom and compassionate living.

- Taitetsu Unno, "Number One Fool"

Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through May 29, 2013
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Dan Savage on his new book American Savage

Via JMG: BRAZIL: 100,000 Evangelicals Rally Against Same-Sex Marriage In Rio

An estimated 100,000 evangelicals staged an anti-gay march in Rio de Janeiro yesterday in protest of the recent ruling that effectively legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Via On Top Magazine:

According to the AFP, the demonstrators ended their march at the Cinelandia square, where pastors spoke out against such unions and the faithful prayed. Gospel singers such as Marcelo Aguiar and Bruna Karla and the rap group Ao Cubo were among those who performed at the annual March for Jesus (Marcha para Jesus). Several elected officials appeared at the event, including Mayor Eduardo Paes. “We say no to sin, no to corruption, no to homosexuality,” a participant was quoted as saying. “We say yes to Jesus.” The ruling, handed down earlier this month by the National Council of Justice, says notary publics cannot deny a gay couple's request for a marriage license.

Labels: bigotry, Brazil, LGBT rights, marriage equality, protests, religion, Rio de Janeiro

Reposted from Joe