Thursday, October 10, 2013
Via jMG: USPS To Announce Harvey Milk Stamp
Breaking! It is official! The USPS will confirm this week that my uncle, Harvey Milk will be commemorated on a 2014 US postage stamp. Another first! My deep gratitude to everyone that supported this effort! More details including the image to come via USPS soon! "Hope Will Never Be Silent" and will be on millions of letters soon!Get ready for some super-sadz!
Labels: Harvey Milk, LGBT History, USPS
More Sarah goes to Church – her Baha’i on Life blog
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Sarah goes to Church – her Baha’i on Life blogby justabahai |
"Sarah
Goes To Church" is an engaging and insightful blog on her independent
investigations into different religions. So she went along to find out
about the Bahais of Webster Groves, Missouri along with her partner with
the dazzling pink hair. Enjoy the read! http://sarahgoestochurch.
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma October 10, 2013
Devotional Practice
In
Asia, laypeople generally relate to Buddhism devotionally. But in
America, when laypeople engage in these traditions they most often want
to relate to them solely as a yogic path, beyond devotion. The problem
is that they have all of the problems that lay Buddhists have always
had. Trying to force yourself into the yogic path while living with all
of the distractions, complications, and follies of the lay life may not
always work so well.
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- Mark Unno, “The Buddha of Infinite Light and Life”
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 11, 2013
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Via Sarah Goes To Church: AND THAT'S WHEN SARAH STEPPED OFF THE BAHA'I BOAT
Baha'i on Life
Sidebar - I'm tired of talking about gay issues at church. My life is like a gay pride parade - it's constantly raining glitter and fabulous. Gay is all around me and it's wonderful. I wouldn't want it any other way. My life is amazing. It's just...I know people are still working through this whole "Is it okay to be gay?" thing and trying to figure out where God fits in with the issue. But I'm really losing my patience and I'm starting to get angry. GOD LOVES EVERYONE NOW SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!! Can we please talk about something other than gayness? Please? PLEASE!!??!!! Anything. Syria. Gun violence. The afterlife. Mysteries of the universe. Tacos. A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G.
Gayness follows me. I cannot escape it. Long ago I accepted that I
indeed have magical gay powers and everything I touch turns to gay. So, I
should have known the Baha'i service would eventually start heading
down a gay road...and it did.
Out of nowhere the conversation turned to David's son, who recently
realized he was gay. David was very supportive of his gay son - standing
up for his desire to wear skirts and make-up at school. David's son
felt for some time that he was transgender - living life as a woman in a
man's body - and started expressing himself as such. David beautifully
described how God didn't see gender or biological sex. God only sees our
soul and our souls are without gender or biological sex. It's not your
human body that matters - it's your soul. Up until this point I
appreciated everything David had to say about gender and homosexuality.
Then things got sticky...someone brought up the issue of having sex.
Baha'i's are to refrain from sexual activity until they enter into a
religious marriage - and the only marriages recognized are marriages
between...you guessed it...one man and one women. The Baha'i faith
doesn't exactly condemn gay love. They are big believers in legal
marriage equality and protecting gay rights. And you can totally hold
hands and talk and snuggle and share your deepest darkest secrets with
your same-sex partner, but you can't have sex with him or her. EVER. Not
even oral. Nope. Not okay. If you are gay and you follow the
Baha'i faith you are expected to practice life long chastity.
AND THAT'S WHEN SARAH STEPPED OFF THE BAHA'I BOAT.
WHAT?!?!?!!!!! Does God hate gay people? Cause that seems like lifelong
punishment for being gay...the way God made them to be. What kind of God
does that? Here ya go, here are all these desires and feelings and instincts but DON'T YOU DARE DO ANYTHING WITH THEM OR I WON'T LIKE IT!
Also, if God doesn't see the physical body and only cares about the
soul then why does God care about gay sex or sex at all for that matter?
No really, why does God care if we have sex? WHY? See, I don't think
God cares. Not even a little bit. I think God could give two shits about
where you poke your pickle or who's dusting your closet. I think sex is
a good thing - not a curse, or a punishment or a test of will-power.
It's a great stress reliever - like all natural Xanax. It's a sleep-aid.
It helps you deal with body issues. It can give you energy. It makes
you happy. Maybe God created us with these "feel good places" because
God wants us to...I don't know...feel good?
There was a woman at the service, a gay woman, who talked about how hard
it was to be chaste but she knew this life was only but a blip and
that her devotion would be rewarded in the next life.
This just does not make sense to me. AT ALL. This Earthly life is but a
test for the next one? Baha'i's don't believe in a literal hell or
heaven, but instead gauge heaven and hell by your closeness with God.
So, apparently God is King Candy and having gay sex is like drawing that
horrible gum drop guy when you are half way through with Candyland (the
children's game) and are now even further away from a heavenly ice-
cream palace finish. It helps me if you can explain things in preschool
terms. Candyland exhausts me and I really think God can do better.
After the service the nice man sitting next to me talked about how
having standards is so important. I questioned which standards you are
supposed to follow because lately I've found everyone is claiming
different standards as "God's". He was very understanding and explained
that the great thing about Baha'u'llah is that he was truly a messenger
of God and spoke the truth.
Uh huh. Right. Thanks. Gotta run. I need a drink - which you do not believe in.
This sex loving booze drinking spiritual enthusiast left church and
headed straight to Cherokee street for some authentic Mexican cuisine
and a delicious homemade margarita. I said a quiet prayer for all the
gay people around the world who have been led to believe they shouldn't
live a happy and full and SEXUAL life because of their orientation. I
wish you all many wonderful orgasms and lots and lots of post-coital
snuggles.
I'm so glad I finally made it back to church.
Cheers!
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
JMG Quote Of The Day - Rev. Gary Hall
Via JMG: Activists To IOC: Uphold Principle 6
Athlete Ally, working with a company called the Idea Brand and the professional football player Brendon Ayanbadejo, came up with and developed the notion of using the very name of that clause, along with a logo or logos that allude to it, as a rebuke of Russia’s laws and a method for athletes and fans to express their convictions. The symbol and the syllables P6, perhaps worn as a sticker, perhaps woven into clothing, could evolve into something along the lines of a Livestrong bracelet: a ubiquitous motif that doesn’t spell out a whole philosophy but has an unmistakable meaning and message. [snip] It’s an attempt to take full advantage of the world’s attention to the Winter Games without putting athletes at risk of censure. Maybe they hold up six fingers. Maybe their outfits include something with a P6 logo, several designs for which are being considered.Read more about the Principle 6 campaign at the Athlete Ally site. Their petition is at the link. Samples of the proposed Principle 6 logos are at the Times link.
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma October 9, 2013
Faith in Mind
Reject existence and you fall into it,
Pursue emptiness and you move away from it.
With many words and thoughts
You miss what is right before you.
Cutting off words and thought
Nothing remains unpenetrated.
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- Jianzhi Sengcan, "Faith in Mind"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 10, 2013
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Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma October 8, 2013
A Serious Engagement
When
we engage seriously with the Buddhist tradition we learn other ways of
construing the world, other stories we can tell about the way things
are, and these can be cogent, coherent, and compelling in their own way.
This is not to argue for a naive acceptance of Buddhist epistemology
and cosmology. But we won't see what Buddhism has to offer if, at the
outset, we twist it out of shape to make it conform to contemporary
norms.
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- Robert Sharf, "Losing Our Religion"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 9, 2013
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Monday, October 7, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma October 7, 2013
Spacious Mind
Noticing
the space around people and things provides a different way of looking
at them, and developing this spacious view is a way of opening oneself.
When one has a spacious mind, there is room for everything. When one has
a narrow mind, there is room for only a few things.
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- Ajahn Sumedho, “Noticing Space”
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 8, 2013
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Sunday, October 6, 2013
Via JMG: CALIFORNIA: Governor Signs Bill Allowing Children More Than Two Legal Parents
After vetoing a similar measure last year, California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed a bill which allows children to have more than two legal parents.
Sen. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) said he authored the measure to address the changes in family structure in California, including situations in which same-sex couples have a child with an opposite-sex biological parent. The law will allow the courts to recognize three or more legal parents so that custody and financial responsibility can be shared by all those involved in raising a child, Leno said. "Courts need the ability to recognize these changes so children are supported by the adults that play a central role in loving and caring for them," Leno said. "It is critical that judges have the ability to recognize the roles of all parents so that no child has to endure separation from one of the adults he or she has always known as a parent."Anti-gay groups, of course, are furious about the bill.
Labels: California, gay families, gay parenting, Mark Leno
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma October 6, 2013
Forgive
Forgiveness
is really not about someone’s harmful behavior; it’s about our own
relationship with our past. When we begin the work of forgiveness, it is
primarily a practice for ourselves.
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- Gina Sharpe, “The Power of Forgiveness”
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 7, 2013
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Saturday, October 5, 2013
Via JMG: Married
The gay Marine whose homecoming kiss went globally viral last year got married to his boyfriend yesterday in a small town the Finger Lakes area of western New York. Hit the link for more.
Reposted from Joe
Friday, October 4, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma October 4, 2013
Nothing to Get, Everything to Give
On
the spiritual path, there's nothing to get, and everything to get rid
of. Obviously, the first thing to let go of is trying to 'get' love, and
instead to give it. That's the secret of the spiritual path. How can we
give ourselves? By not holding back. By not wanting for ourselves. If
we want to be loved, we are looking for a support system. If we want to
love, we are looking for spiritual growth.
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- Ayya Khema, "What Love Is"
Read the entire article in the Wisdom Collection through October 5, 2013
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