Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Rice: LGBT rights among the most challenging global human rights issues
AP
Susan Rice
WASHINGTON — With anti-gay laws taking root in nearly 80 countries, White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice on Tuesday cast the protection of gays from global discrimination, abuse and even death as one of the most challenging international human rights issue facing the United States.
Rice told a White House forum of gay rights advocates that President Barack Obama has directed that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote the rights of LGBT men and women around the world.
She urged religious, human rights and HIV health care advocates to form a united front to halt global discrimination against the LGBT community.
“To achieve lasting global change, we need everyone’s shoulder at the wheel,” she said. “With more voices to enrich and amplify the message — the message that gay rights are straight-up human rights — we can open more minds.”
Make the jump here to read the full article
Via Daily Dharma
Make the Most of It | June 24, 2014
If you think of the number of people in
the world, what percentage of them really devote any substantial amount
of time to spiritual practice? What percentage of them are even
inclined to do so? And the fact that we are willing and interested in
this kind of an approach to life is very rare. And so we are encouraged
to make the most of it.
—Ken McLeod, "37 Practices of the Bodhisattva, Verse 1"
Flower of the Day: 06/24/14
“Our
planet is going through a 'dark night.' Some people are already able to
receive rays of light from the central sun, which is the divine self,
but others are going mad. Some people are killing themselves because
they are unable to bear coming in touch with their own shadow. They
don’t know that this experience is only a transition and a passage.
Spiritual knowledge is the blessing that allows one to make this
crossing with tranquility.”
Sri Prem Baba
Via Daily Dharma
Ethics from the Heart | June 25, 2014
For the Zen Buddhist, an ethical
precept is a question to be held up to the light of circumstance, an
inquiry rather than an answer. And the nature of this inquiry is not so
much the dubious enterprise of trying to figure out the right thing to
do as it is an offering of an unaided heart. After all, it’s from this
heart of ours that the precepts themselves once arose. At the threshold
of choice, the Zen Buddhist trusts this ancient heart above all other
authority.
—Lin Jensen, "An Ear to the Ground"
Flower of the Day: 06/25/14
“Gratitude
is a powerful virtue of the soul. When one is able to materialize
gratitude through an expression of thanks, this gratitude becomes
medicine for the one receiving it. Oftentimes, the simple action of
giving thanks to someone is enough to take that person out of the pits.”
Sri Prem Baba
Monday, June 23, 2014
Via Daily Dharma
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Keep It Simple | June 23, 2014
Underneath all the drama, the restlessness, the hopes and fears, behind the narratives we weave about ourselves, and even before we’ve thought of ourselves as ourselves, lies a simple, unadorned awareness. It’s not even a thing—just an event that happens, a little burst of knowing, deep in the center of it all.
—Andrew Olendzki, “Keep It Simple”
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Flower of the Day: 06/23/14
"At some point in your journey, you will come face-to-face with your shadow. It is important for you to know that this is only one aspect of your personality, as your shadow is not who you truly are. You are not the lower self, it is only one part of yourself that needs to be understood and integrated. To do so, you must have steadiness and determination, but also a lot of compassion and patience, since these aspects of yourself are also there to teach you something. Everything is sacred: everything is part of the divine play."
Sri Prem Baba
Via Flower of the Day: 06/21/14
"Cultivating
silence, observing oneself, and being whole in action form the
foundation upon which the building of consciousness can be raised. If
you dedicate yourself to these practices, you will inevitably begin to
smell the fragrance of pure love. The seeds of silence will naturally
start to sprout, and love will begin to be revealed. Love is the nectar
of life. It opens the doors to peace and prosperity."
Sri Prem Baba
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Via Daily Dharma
Watch Fear | June 22, 2014
Fear demands to be felt, and it can be
felt most readily in the body, as a powerful sensation. The experience
may be uncomfortable, but as you watch fear manifest in the body, the
truth of the Buddha's words is revealed: It does arise because of
conditions. It is not a wall of emotion, but a constantly changing
process. And it finally ends. It has its say and departs.
—David Guy, “Trying to Speak: A Personal History of Stage Fright”
Friday, June 20, 2014
Via JMG: Sec. John Kerry Celebrates LGBT Pride, Tells Embattled Foreign Gays That "You Have A Partner In The United States"
Via press release from the White House.
Reposted from Joe Jervis
The Department of State joins the world in celebrating LGBT Pride Month and reaffirms its commitment to the promotion and protection of the human rights of LGBT persons around the globe. In the United States, we have made marked progress in tearing down the unjust and unfair barriers that have prevented the full realization of the human rights of LGBT persons. We know there is more to do, but here, the arc of history is bending towards justice.This would have been unimaginable not so long ago.
I was proud to join my colleagues at our Embassy in London last August to announce that, going forward, same-sex spouses who applied for visas would have their applications considered in the same manner as those of opposite-sex spouses. And just this week, President Obama announced his intention to sign an Executive Order banning federal contractors from discriminating against employees on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
In many places around the world, however, trends are running in the opposite direction. LGBT individuals and their allies are harassed, arrested, and even killed because of who they are and the work they do. Governments are enacting laws that discriminate against LGBT individuals and their allies and restrict their fundamental human rights. The United States strongly condemns these discriminatory acts and legislation and is working every day, both here in Washington and at our embassies and consulates around the world, to ensure that all persons can exercise their human rights, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
We raise the human rights of LGBT persons both publicly and privately, and we support civil society organizations who are working on the frontlines to ensure equality and dignity for all. Through the Global Equality Fund – a partnership supported by 14 like-minded governments, foundations, corporations and non-profit organizations – the Department of State has allocated more than $9 million for both emergency and long term LGBT-related programming in more than 50 countries worldwide.
This important work, done in conjunction with allies from civil society, faith communities, the private sector and other governments, is central to our foreign policy. So, to the activists, allies, and LGBT individuals on the front lines combating discrimination, you have a partner in the United States. I stand with you and I wish you safe and happy 2014 Pride celebrations.
Labels: foreign relations, gay Pride, John Kerry, LGBT rights, Obama administration, State Department
Via JMG: HomoQuotable - John Paulk
Via Daily Dharma
The Luminous Gap | June 20, 2014
At the moment, because of ignorance of
our real nature, we experience everything as the confused manifestations
of samsara. The sense of self creates a feeling of solidity, like the
apparent solidity of the clouds veiling the face of the sun, but at
certain moments a gap is opened up, through which we may receive a
glimpse of the light of reality.
—Francesca Freemantle, "The Luminous Gap in Bardo"
Via Flower of the Day: 06/20/14
"Your
heart rejoices when you feel that you are being guided, when you
realize that you are not alone and that you are not a leaf being strewn
in the wind. When you perceive that there is an intelligence that
connects everything, and you are a part of this play, then you feel like
you belong: like you are a flower in the Creator's garden. There is no
sadness anymore. But to reach this state of contentment, one has to
learn how to listen to the voice of intuition and to pay attention to
synchronicities. There is always a message for you behind any mysterious
‘coincidence.’ Synchronicity is the language the universe uses to show
you the next steps of your journey."
Sri Prem Baba
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Via JMG: Presbyterian Church USA Votes To Allow Pastors To Perform Same-Sex Marriages
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.
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