Friday, January 16, 2015
Flor do Dia - Flor del Día - Flower of the Day - 16/01/2015
“Tenho te inspirado a servir, pois compreendo que o serviço é a forma
mais rápida de transformar o sofrimento em alegria. Através dele, você
se sente ocupando seu lugar no mundo. E somente quando encontra seu
lugar no mundo, você pode sentir alegria ao levantar pela manhã. Mas,
para que o serviço tenha esse poder de iluminar sua vida, ele precisa
ser verdadeiro, ou seja, ele precisa ser desinteressado.”
Acesse o Satsang completo: http://bit.ly/15bLTOD
“Vengo inspirándote a servir, porque comprendo que el servicio es la
forma más rápida de transformar el sufrimiento en alegría. A través de
él, te sientes ocupando tu lugar en el mundo. Y solo cuando encuentras
tu lugar en el mundo, puedes sentir alegría al levantarte por la mañana.
Pero para que el servicio tenga este poder de iluminar tu vida, debe
ser verdadero, es decir, debe ser desinteresado.”
“I encourage people to serve, for I understand that service is the fastest way to transform suffering into joy. Through service, we feel ourselves occupying our place in the world, which brings us the joy of waking up in the morning. However, in order for service to have the power to illuminate our life, the service needs to be authentic – it must be selfless.”
“I encourage people to serve, for I understand that service is the fastest way to transform suffering into joy. Through service, we feel ourselves occupying our place in the world, which brings us the joy of waking up in the morning. However, in order for service to have the power to illuminate our life, the service needs to be authentic – it must be selfless.”
Via Daily Dharma
Pain is Our Teacher | January 16, 2015
While we may never prefer to have pain, it can nevertheless push us in
ways we would not otherwise push ourselves—into a deeper and ultimately
more appreciative experience of what it is to be genuinely alive.
- Ezra Bayda, "More than This Body"
- Ezra Bayda, "More than This Body"
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Flor do Dia - Flor del Día - Flower of the Day - 15/01/2015
“Só existe uma chave que te leva à compreensão do casamento entre a
energia vital e o sofrimento; só existe uma porta de acesso a esse
núcleo da consciência que te faz compreender o prazer em machucar e ser
machucado. Essa chave é a autorresponsabilidade. Somente essa qualidade
te liberta da principal distração da jornada evolutiva: o jogo de
acusação. Quando você deixa de procurar culpados pelo seu sofrimento e
compreende que não é uma vítima, você quebra o ciclo vicioso do sadomasoquismo.”
“Só existe uma chave que te leva à compreensão do casamento entre a energia vital e o sofrimento; só existe uma porta de acesso a esse núcleo da consciência que te faz compreender o prazer em machucar e ser machucado. Essa chave é a autorresponsabilidade. Somente essa qualidade te liberta da principal distração da jornada evolutiva: o jogo de acusação. Quando você deixa de procurar culpados pelo seu sofrimento e compreende que não é uma vítima, você quebra o ciclo vicioso do sadomasoquismo.”
“There is only one key that leads us to understanding the marriage
between our vital energy and suffering. There is only one access door to
the nucleus of our conscience that makes us understand the pleasure we
feel in hurting others and being hurt. This key is self-responsibility.
Only this quality will free us from the main distraction of the
evolutionary journey: the blaming game. When we stop looking for others
to blame for our own suffering and can understand that we are not a
victim, we break the vicious cycle of sadomasochism.”
“Solo existe una llave que te lleva a la comprensión del casamiento entre la energía vital y el sufrimiento; solo existe una puerta de acceso a este núcleo de la conciencia que te hace comprender el placer en lastimar y ser lastimado. Esa llave es la auto-responsabilidad. Solamente esta cualidad te libera de la distracción principal del camino evolutivo: el juego de acusación. Cuando dejas de buscar culpables por tu sufrimiento y comprendes que no eres una víctima, quebrás el círculo vicioso del sadomasoquismo.”
“Solo existe una llave que te lleva a la comprensión del casamiento entre la energía vital y el sufrimiento; solo existe una puerta de acceso a este núcleo de la conciencia que te hace comprender el placer en lastimar y ser lastimado. Esa llave es la auto-responsabilidad. Solamente esta cualidad te libera de la distracción principal del camino evolutivo: el juego de acusación. Cuando dejas de buscar culpables por tu sufrimiento y comprendes que no eres una víctima, quebrás el círculo vicioso del sadomasoquismo.”
Via Daily Dharma
Beloved Community | January 15, 2015
Regardless of our beliefs, we all suffer from ignorance, and we all have
projected our losses and fears onto each other in one way or another.
This is my dream of the beloved community: that we can at least find a
way to talk to each other, to talk past the fear, the separation, and
find another way to live.
- Sallie Jiko Tisdale, "Beloved Community"
- Sallie Jiko Tisdale, "Beloved Community"
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Via JMG: GOP Rep. Randy Weber Reintroduces Bill To Ban Feds From Recognizing Out-Of-State Same-Sex Marriages
With the intent of preventing Texas gays from bringing home their filthy
marriage rights, yesterday Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX) reintroduced the
State Marriage Defense Act, which would ban the federal government from
recognizing same-sex marriages conducted outside of the state in which
the couple resides. Weber first introduced the bill in January 2014, but
it died in a House subcommittee after fewer than 25% of Republicans
bothered to sign on as cosponsors. On Monday, Weber appeared on the
Family Research Council's radio show, where he expressed optimism
that the bill will do better this time due to GOP control of both
chambers. According to Weber, Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Mike Lee will
advocate for the bill. Weber: "Then we'll see what the president does
with it. But I'm not hold my breath for the president to sign it."
RELATED: Yesterday Weber earned nationwide ridicule after comparing the president to Adolf Hitler. Weber issued an apology later in the day.
RELATED: Yesterday Weber earned nationwide ridicule after comparing the president to Adolf Hitler. Weber issued an apology later in the day.
Labels: Congress, crackpots, LGBT rights, marriage equality, Mike Lee, Randy Weber, religion, Ted Cruz, Texas, U.S. House
Via JMG: GEORGIA: Pastor Calls For End To Gay "Erotic Liberty" During House Invocation
Via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Reposted from Joe Jervis
The Rev. Bryant Wright, senior pastor at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church and a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, delivered the devotional Wednesday in the state House. In that sermon aimed at lawmakers, Wright twice equated gay marriage to “erotic liberty.” Here’s a sampling of his message: “It is just one example of what our culture is going to increasingly see as an issue of erotic liberty versus religious liberty,” Wright said. “We’re liable to see this with our military chaplains in the years ahead if they in good conscience believe they cannot perform same-sex weddings and could be kicked out of the military.” That looming threat, he said, is a reminder of lawmakers’ role in making sure government is “protective of its citizens against evil and is working for the common good.” Religious liberty, Wright said, is a “foundational aspect” of the U.S. Constitution and is for the “common good and welfare of man.” He urged legislators to remember the nation’s heritage “even though a majority of your constituencies have embraced erotic liberty over religious liberty.”Openly gay Georgia House Rep. Simone Bell responded on her Facebook page:
My direct response to him: Told him he is a disgrace to the clergy, the Word and the state of Georgia. That he squandered his opportunity to bring a message of love to people who have sacrificed to serve the state. That his religious freedom is not being trampled upon, but that he is trampling upon mine and 300,000 + more Georgian's religious freedom to be who God created us to be. He responded that we clearly have a difference of opinion. I told him we have a difference of HUMANITY.RedState editor Erick Erickson is thrilled.
Labels: Bryant Wright, Christianists, crackpots, douchebaggery, Erick Erickson, Georgia, LGBT rights, marriage equality, religion
Baha'i Fundamentalism
A fundamentalist Baha'i seems, at first glance, to be almost a contradiction in terms, given that religion's reputation for tolerance and liberal social teachings. However, forms of fundamentalism can be found in almost all of the world's religions and share several features in common, including: resistance to the secularization of society, scriptural literalism, rejection of scientific and scholarly findings which contradict the fundamentalist worldview, apocalypticism and millennialism, a belief that the faithful are under siege by the forces of evil, authoritarian and/or charismatic leadership, and the insistence that fundamentalism is the only true form of the religion.
So, fundamentalism also exists within the Baha'i Faith, including some members of its leadership, and Baha'i fundamentalism shares many attitudes with that found in other religions. The Baha'i Faith presents its liberal face to the public, emphasizing such teachings as the unity of religion and racial harmony, because these teachings are more attractive to potential converts. However, fundamentalists within the Faith emphasize the more authoritarian and legalistic aspects of Baha'i practice and community structure.The central teaching at stake, the Baha'i equivalent to Biblical inerrancy, is the doctrine of the Covenant. As the term is usually used, it refers to the written transfer of authority to successive leaders of the Baha'i Faith, from its founder, Baha'u'llah, to his son 'Abdu'l-Baha, to his grandson Shoghi Effendi, to today's Universal House of Justice. Because the administrative structure of the Baha'i Faith was outlined in scripture by both Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha, it is considered to be divine in origin. Fundamentalists often view the institutions themselves with a deep reverence and consider that they are to be obeyed without question. Moderates and liberals tend to treat them more as a citizen would treat any elected body, and as less central to their religious belief and practice. Fundamentalists believe that Shoghi Effendi, as Guardian, and the Universal House of Justice(UHJ) were and are inerrant in all the decisions that they have made. Liberals tend to point out the scriptural limitations on both of these institutions.
When discussing issues concerning Baha'i community life, or the judicial practices of Baha'i institutions, fundamentalists tend to defend the status quo, since they believe the UHJ especially to be infallible, and the administrative order as a whole to be divinely guided. There seems to be a particular reluctance to change any practice that dates from the time of Shoghi Effendi, who died in 1957 without a successor. Liberals tend to be more reform-minded and flexible in their thinking.
One of the common features of fundamentalisms world-wide is that they protest against the declining role of religion in secular societies. Baha'i fundamentalism shows an absolute contempt of traditional democratic values such as the right to free speech, the necessity of a free press as a check on institutional power, or the right for a person accused of wrongdoing to have knowledge of the evidence against them and face their accusers. Fundamentalists also expect that the world will be brought together under a theocracy ruled by Baha'i institutions. As I pointed out in my article "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", the belief in a future theocracy is not solidly grounded in scripture, and actually runs counter to statements Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha made supporting the separation of church and state.
Christian fundamentalists often see themselves as being besieged by the forces of evil, such as "secular humanism", or New Age beliefs that are seen as infiltrating both the beliefs of unwary Christians and society at large. The Baha'i equivalent is the fear of both "covenant breakers" or schismatic heretics, and the more recent fear of "internal opposition", meaning the expression of more liberal ideas by Baha'is on the Internet. However, the Baha'i Faith goes much farther than fundamentalist Christians in that Baha'is can be investigated by appointed officials given the specific job of "Protection". Ordinary believers, in fact, will sometimes "turn in" their fellows that they feel are suspect either in their behavior or belief, and this can sometimes lead to an investigation and/or sanction.
Christian fundamentalism in this country was, in its origins, a reaction to Biblical criticism and modern scholarship. Baha'i fundamentalism is also deeply mistrustful of secular academics. In its April 7, 1999 letter, the Universal House of Justice, the religion's supreme ruling body, dismissed Western academic thought as "materialist", and described it as "designed to ignore the truths that make religion what it is." Unofficial statements by Baha'i fundamentalists can be even more scathing, saying that it is not acceptable for a scholar to "write as if he were not a Baha'i" and even calling the sort of research and writing common in Western universities "bad scholarship" because it does not attribute certain events to divine intervention.
Another feature Baha'i fundamentalism shares with its Christian counterpart is that it insists on the scientific and historical accuracy of scripture. For example, some Baha'is reject the theory of evolution, based upon some statements made about it by 'Abdu'l-Baha. Such an approach seems to undermine the very principle of harmony between science and religion that 'Abdu'l-Baha' himself promoted.
Baha'i fundamentalism can even discard the tolerance that is the foundation of Baha'u'llah's teachings. As in Christian fundamentalism, there is a rigid demarcation between correct and incorrect belief, cutting itself off both from other Baha'i approaches and other world religions. I personally heard a member of the U.S. National Spiritual Assembly say that if a person does not accept the Baha'i revelation, they they would not enter paradise. I found this especially shocking since the teaching that all the world's religions have a common foundation was very important to me. This "triumphalist" view that while previous religions were true in their day, they now have been rendered obsolete by the advent of Baha'u'llah is a fairly common fundamentalist viewpoint.
Author's Note: This article first appeared in Themestream January 2, 2001. It was published on IAMValley on April 14, 2001, where it was chosen "Editor's Pick".
Found here: http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/bigquestions/fundamentalism.html
Via JMG: Pete Coors Drops Out Of Anti-Gay Summit
MillerCoors chairman and 2004 Senate candidate Pete Coors has withdrawn
from his speaking gig at the annual convention of Legatus, the anti-gay
Catholic group that supports NARTH and "ex-gay" torture. Today's news
follows the withdrawal of actor Gary Sinese and Fox News anchor Bret
Baier. As always, major props to our own relentless Str8Grandmother for
her social media campaign against the event. I'll update this post if
MillerCoors issued a more formal statement.
Labels: Catholics, ex-gay, hate groups, Legatus, LGBT rights, MillerCoors, NARTH, Pete Coors, religion
Via JMG: Fox Anchor Bails On Anti-Gay Convention
Yesterday actor Gary Sinese canceled his speaking gig at the Florida convention of Catholic anti-gay activists. Today AdWeek reports that Fox News anchor Bret Baier has done the same.
Baier had been among the confirmed speakers at the 2015 Legatus Summit later this month in Naples, FL. But he’s canceled the appearance following recent revelations that the group’s publication insisted that LGBT people could be cured. “Bret Baier has withdrawn his participation as a speaker at the upcoming Legatus Summit due to the controversy surrounding some editorial stances in the organization’s magazine,” a Fox News spokesperson tells us. “Bret accepted the invitation to speak about his book, his faith, and his son’s congenital heart disease. He was unaware of these articles or the controversy surrounding them.”Both of these cancellations are likely due to the work of Jeremy Hooper, who first publicized the list of attendees yesterday at Good As You. Still attending at this writing: Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and MillerCoors Brewing chairman Pete Coors. (Tipped by JMG reader DM)
Labels: Bobby Jindal, Bret Baier, Catholics, ex-gay, Fox News, hate groups, Jeremy Hooper, Legatus, Pete Coors, religion, Timothy Dolan
Via JMG: COLORADO: Church Cancels Funeral For Lesbian Minutes After Scheduled Start
Via Denver's NBC affiliate:
A "Dignity in Death" rally will be held Tuesday afternoon for a lesbian woman who was denied a funeral at New Hope Ministries in Lakewood, Colo. last week. Vanessa Collier's friends say the funeral was canceled by the church 15 minutes after the service was supposed to start because the church would not allow a picture to be shown of Collier proposing to her wife. The open casket and flowers were in place and about 170 people were in attendance.Collier reportedly died from an accidental gun shot while cleaning her weapon.
According to Chaplain Greg Rolando, who would later preside over the funeral across the street at Newcomer Funeral Home, the New Hope Ministry is very community oriented. He says pastors there welcome those who are gay but ask that alternative lifestyles be censored in the church. New Hope Ministries is not commenting on the decision.
He says moments prior to the funeral service, a video that was supposed to be played during the funeral was reviewed by church officials. The church asked the video to be edited in order to proceed. Rolando says the family refused to take the picture of Collier's proposal out of the video, and the funeral had to be moved to the mortuary across the street.
Via JMG: Ship Your Enemies Glitter
Via Salon:
Reposted from Joe Jervis
On Tuesday morning, Twitter exploded when a link to a website called Ship Your Enemies Glitter started getting passed around. We first saw a link to the website posted to Reddit's r/InternetIsBeautiful forum and later on startup discovery website Product Hunt. Ship Your Enemies Glitter was described by Product Hunt founder Ryan Hoover as “the ultimate troll product.” Quite literally, the expletive-laden Australian website lets you pay $9.99 to send glitter to your enemies. “Hint: the glitter will be mixed in with the note thus increasing maximum spillage,” the website reads. The website has since crashed, presumably due to the traffic it received.
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