The Flag of Equal Marriage

Via JMG: Presbyterian Church USA Votes To Allow Pastors To Perform Same-Sex Marriages

Via the Associated Press:

The top legislative body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has taken major steps toward recognizing gay marriage. The General Assembly voted Thursday in favor of redefining Christian marriage in the church constitution as the union of "two people" instead of "a man and a woman." The redefinition will take effect only if most of the 172 regional Presbyteries approve it in voting over the next year. The Presbyterian delegates in Detroit also voted to immediately allow pastors to preside at gay weddings in states that recognize same-sex marriage.

More from GLAAD.

“The Church affirmed all its faithful members today. This vote is an answer to many prayers for the Church to recognize love between committed same-sex couples,” said Alex McNeill, Executive Director of More Light Presbyterians, a national network of Presbyterians working for the full inclusion of the LGBT community within the church. “We will keep praying that the majority of our 172 presbyteries will confirm that all loving couples can turn to their churches when they are ready to be married.” The General Assembly of PC (USA) is taking place this week from June 14 – 21 in Detroit, Michigan. At the last General Assembly two years ago, marriage equality was not upheld, though a policy had been amended around that time to allow gay and lesbian Presbyterians to be ordained as clergy.

UPDATE: The Human Rights Campaign reacts.

"This is a giant step forward for the PCUSA Church and for people of faith everywhere. Presbyterian LGBT couples are now one step closer to being able to get married in the church of their choice,” said Sharon Groves, Director of HRC's Religion and Faith Program. “Perhaps even more significantly, young people and their families can go into a Presbyterian church and know that their denomination has not turned a blind eye to them but has instead taken a giant step toward becoming a more loving and more welcoming place for all people to worship. We at HRC congratulate the Presbyterian Church (USA) on a job well done and thank the good people at More Light Presbyterian, The Covenant Network, So We May Freely Serve and Presbyterian Welcome for their years of dedication that got us to this point.”

UPDATE II: The anti-gay Institute On Religion & Democracy is ever so pissed about this.

By overturning natural marriage the PCUSA is only accelerating its already fast-paced demise. It will become even smaller, whiter and older. Only declining denominations reject historic Christian standards and in nearly every case that rejection reinforces the decline. Who respects a church that only echoes the secular world? Many faithful have already quit the PCUSA and many more now will. But some faithful will remain. May the Holy Spirit bless their witness and lay the groundwork for the PCUSA's return some day to the teachings of the global church.

Labels: marriage equality, Presbyterian Church, religion

Reposted from Joe Jervis

A Good Man

Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavantu

Via Cory Booker / FB:

Full Speech: Jim Carrey's Commencement Address at the 2014 MUM Graduation

Here’s Colbert on the gay marriage juggernaut, followed by his interview with Olson and Boies:

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,The Colbert Report on Facebook,Video Archive

Via Good News Network

A 64 year-old man in Istanbul decided to brighten the neighborhood by painting rainbow colors on some wide, gray, crumbling stairs. When municipal officials sent workers after nightfall to hurriedly repaint the steps gray, a quiet revolution started on Twitter. Not only did volunteers come out to repaint those stairs that Huseyin Cetinel had spent hundreds of dollars on, they painted other stairs and walkways in cities around Turkey, posting photos on social media. A Pandora's Box of color had unwittingly been opened.

VIDEO at Good News Network: http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/civics/brightly-painted-stairway-in-turkey-starts-color-revolution-against-drab-gray.html

Photo credit: Gürol Demirutku

Via Daily Dharma

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Why Meditate on Skeletons? | June 17, 2014

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In urging his followers to meditate on skeletons and bloody remains, the Buddha was advocating consciousness, not disdain for the body. When we are aware of all the intricate processes and parts that make up our bodies, we are less likely to identify the overall image as 'me.' Disdain for our bodies is, in fact, born not of detachment but of identification.

—Hannah Tennant-Moore, "Not Our Bodies, Not Ourselves"

Via Flower of the Day

"It's a great challenge to speak about the truth, since it is an experience, and it is always difficult to translate an experience into words. How can we transform the experience of love into words? How do we explain joy, ecstasy and compassion? Words are too small to express the greatness of the truth, but they can be used as a bridge to reach this experience. Words can help you transition from the state of the mind to the state of ‘no-mind.’ As your questions are answered, the mind starts to calm down and become free of anxiety. The mind then becomes receptive to being flooded with the awareness that comes with the experience of the truth."

Sri Prem Baba

Via Tricycle:

June 16, 2014 | New at Tricycle: Restoring Zen's female lineage, learning to listen deeply, and kicking off the Fourth Annual Tricycle | BuddhaFest Online Film Festival.
				MAGAZINE: ROUSED FROM A DREAM
The importance of lineage in Zen Buddhism cannot be overstated. Yet the transmission of Zen has been documented through an exclusively male lineage chart—until now. Journalist Mary Fowles reports on restoring Zen’s female lineage and embodying a new story for Zen, "a story that includes women."

Via Daily Dharma

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End This Suffering, Too | June 16, 2014

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Buddhism is, of course, a tradition that strives to end suffering, but concern with the suffering that is caused by gender stereotypes, constrictive narratives, and discriminatory customs is relatively new, at least in its public discourse. How women’s lives have been marginalized from the Buddhist narrative is still being discovered, acknowledged, and remedied.

 

—Mary Fowles, “Roused from a Dream”

 

Via Daily Dharma

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Spiritual Hunger | June 14, 2014

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The spiritual journey involves stepping into unknown territory with a hunger to know what is true.

 

—Aura Glaser, “Into the Demon’s Mouth”

 

Via JMG: AFA Refuses Donation With Milk Stamp

The Wire reports:

How much do anti-gay groups hate the new Harvey Milk stamps from the U.S. Postal Service? One organization refused to even open a mailed donation to their cause using one such stamp as postage. Staying true to their announcement that they would boycott all mail with the Milk stamps, the American Family Association told The Wire that the organization had mailed back our attempted $5 donation to their anti-gay group unopened. Speaking to The Wire, AFA's Director of Issues Analysis Bryan Fischer said that the very existence of the Harvey Milk stamp was akin to "honoring Jeffrey Dahmer on a postage stamp designed to honor the culinary arts." That's because Fischer and the AFA, citing a line from a biography of Milk, believe that Milk was a sexual predator. "He is not somebody that should ever be honored on a postage stamp," Fischer said.

Maybe the Wire shouldn't have announced the attempt two weeks ago? Focus On The Family and the Family Research Council both processed Milk-stamped donations sent by the Wire.

Labels: AFA, Bryan Fischer, crackpots, douchebaggery, ex-gay. religion, Harvey Milk, hate groups, USPS

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma

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Beware of Celebrity Teachers | June 12, 2014

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Western people who really want to study Buddhism should not follow celebrities. Of course, His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a great master. And of course people can receive his teachings. That’s no problem. But if somebody wants to be a good student, they might look for a learned teacher, and among the learned lamas, one that has renounced. 

 

—Shamar Rinpoche, "Tulku, Inc.: The Perils of Picking a Teacher" 

 

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Moral Health | June 11, 2014

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That morality is a natural feature of the natural world is an insight we all have to learn if we hope to be deeply well. The more the sense of an autonomous self is injected into any situation, the more it acts as a lightning rod for greed, hatred, and delusion, which inevitably bring suffering. The more we can get the self out of the way, the more clearly we can see the effect of our thoughts, words, and action upon ourselves and others. 

 

—Andrew Olendzki, "Moral Health"

 

THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

6 June 2014

Her Excellency Ms. Dilma Rousseff,

President ofthe Federative Republic of Brazil

Your Excellency,

In response to your kind invitation, we take pleasure in sending the following message on the occasion of the opening of the 2014 World Cup.

We extend our heartfelt greetings to the people of Brazil as they welcome the representatives of so many countries to their homeland for a celebration of sporting prowess. Few occasions can claim to embrace so wide a cross-section of humanity, comprising peoples of varied ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds. It is clear to every observer that the sport that has brought these nations to Brazil is only strengthened by the marvellous diversity of the participants. To rejoice in this fact is to reject prejudice in all its forms. Truly, nothing is more striking about this extraordinary footballing spectacle than its capacity to reflect the global culture that has emerged in this age. And in summoning together the nations in friendship, it powerfully suggests that collaboration and common endeavour are possible in all things.

Humanity today is bound together in a global civilization. As the world advances in its organic evolution, let it reflect at this moment on the many qualities that the Brazilian people so admirably embody. For the path to peace will require expansive hearts, a passion for progress, unbounded creative energy, great resilience, a strength forged from diversity, and minds enlightened by the spirit of the age and inspired by the quest for justice. The peoples of the world are as variegated flowers in one splendid garden. Is any nation more fit to demonstrate this simple but essential truth than Brazil? In the vibrant, interwoven colours of this land the world can imagine its own dazzling future possibilities.

A sporting contest, even one on such a scale as this, cannot obscure the severity of the challenges that confront humankind. But in the weeks to come, we hope that observers everywhere—especially the youth of the world—will take heart from the many examples of teamwork, fair play, valour, and earnest striving that are sure to surface in the tournament. God willing, they will aspire to show those same qualities in their lives, in service to their communities, and in the promotion of peace.

Whether labouring for the elimination of every trace of racism and discrimination, championing the equality of women and men, or seeking to advance justice, the efforts of every member of the human family are necessary. Constructive change is possible everywhere. Man, woman, youth, and child—all have an essential contribution to make.

We anticipate a time when competition among the nations may be a phenomenon chiefly witnessed in the sporting arena, whereas interactions on the global stage will be dominated by cooperation, reciprocity and mutual support.  We pray that this present occasion will redound to the honour of the great nation of Brazil as hosts and that the event will inspire not only passing fellowship but lasting solidarity among all who participate and the countless millions who spectate.

signed,

The Universal House of Justice

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