Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 07/06/2015

“Um ditado popular no Brasil diz: “Quanto mais eu rezo, mais assombração me aparece”. Essa sensação é normal no início da jornada evolutiva, porque o primeiro vislumbre da Verdade geralmente é uma grande escuridão. Quando você começa a desamortecer, ou seja, quando começa a retirar as máscaras, os monstros que estavam escondidos atrás delas começam a aparecer, e isso pode ser bastante assustador.”

“Un dicho popular en Brasil dice: "Cuanto más rezo, más fantasmas me aparecen". Esta sensación es normal en el inicio del camino evolutivo, porque el primer vislumbre de la Verdad generalmente es una gran oscuridad. Cuando empiezas a salir de la anestesia, es decir, cuando empiezas a retirar las máscaras, los monstruos que estaban escondidos detrás de ellas comienzan a aparecer, y esto puede ser bastante aterrador.”

“There is a popular saying in Brazil that goes like this: ‘The more I pray, the more ghosts appear.’ This sensation is quite normal at the outset of the evolutionary journey, because the first glimpse of the truth is usually a great darkness. When you start to de-numb yourself by removing the masks, the monsters that were hiding behind them start to appear, and this can be pretty scary.”

Via Freedom From Religion Foundation / FB

Today's Daily Dharma: What Will Carry You

What Will Carry You

Just as oil rises to the top of a pot submerged in water, your virtue, your goodness, your faith, or generosity will rise to the top, and that is what will carry you to your next destination. - The Buddha, "The Best Possible Habit"

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Via Justabahai: Homosexuality – a false dichotomy?

” … I feel I can no longer associate with a religion that does not perceive LGBT rights as a true social value,” Rayshel said, adding, “I, as a gay man, find it offensive that my same-sex attraction is primarily summed up to a sex act or a perceived notion that I over-emphasize my sexuality which is seen as destructive and self-indulgent.”
Sean Rayshel in The Bay Area Reporter, 4 June 2015.

Is the Bahai Faith “a religion that does not perceive LGBT rights as a true social value?” At the practical level, that is true except where a Bahai makes it clear that they do not discriminate and that their communities do not discriminate. For the present at least, the Bahai community has something to prove in this respect.

Because of the dominance of the perception of discrimination within the Bahai community, I have to constantly state first that I am for equality for gays and lesbians and only then state that I am a Bahai. Otherwise the person I am speaking to is put off from the beginning. I have so many stories, so many encounters, in which people do a double-take and tell me, “but Bahais don’t like gays” or “Bahais discriminate.” In the Philippines, in the U.K., in New Zealand, in the U.S., in the Netherlands … people have said things such as: “Oh what is the Bahai Faith about, because when I read that you didn’t accept gays, I stopped reading” or “So tell me more – I thought the Bahai Faith was conservative” and “When I read about homosexuality being forbidden I thought it was a fundamentalist church.”

I explain that I am as much a Bahai as the person who told them that gays cannot join the Bahai Faith. Then they learn that the discrimination is not embedded in our teachings. For me it is not so much whether or not a seeker is put off but two bigger issues: that our gay children are not tormented by impossible demands, and that our community practises the essential Bahai principles of justice and equality. 

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

MALAFAIA VERSUS BOTICÁRIO!

Via Human Rights Campaign / FB:

 

Human Rights Campaign

‪#‎ICYMI‬: Hafa adai to marriage equality!🇬🇺:
‪#‎MarriageEquality‬ Reaches Guam, Where America’s Day Begins!

Read more: http://www.hrc.org/…/breaking-marriage-equality-reaches-gua…

In a historic win, marriage equality has reached Guam following a decision by Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood at the U.S. District Court on Guam. The Pacific island of Guam now officially becomes the first U.S. territory where marriage equality is the law of the land.

Located just past the international date line, Guam is where America’s Day Begins & where momentum for marriage equality continues. ‪

#‎MarriageMomentum‬ ‪#‎LoveCantWait‬ ‪#‎GuamaniansforEquality‬

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 05/06/2015

“Não é possível conhecer o amor através da mente. O amor é a respiração da vida - é a fragrância do Divino. Para conhecê-lo é preciso correr o risco de abrir mão de todas as crenças e ideias a respeito dele, pois só é possível conhecer o amor amando.”

“No es posible conocer el amor a través de la mente. El amor es la respiración de la vida - es la fragancia de lo Divino. Para conocerlo es necesario correr el riesgo de soltar todas las creencias e ideas acerca de él, pues sólo es posible conocer el amor amando.”

It’s impossible to know love through the mind. Love is the breath of life: it is the fragrance of the Divine. In order to know love, we must take a risk and let go of all our beliefs and ideas about it, because it’s only possible to know love by loving.”

Today's Daily Dharma: The Happiness of Uncertainty

 

Image: Untitled (Mandala # 406), Bill Armstrong

The Happiness of Uncertainty

Part of the reason we try to understand the causes of our experience is that we believe we can make these experiences happen again. The problem is, understanding also makes the experience less valuable, because we adapt to it. It?s surprising things, uncertain things, things we don?t fully comprehend that seem to bring us the greatest and longest-lasting happiness. - Daniel Gilbert, "The Pleasure Paradox"

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David Cross: Gay Voice

Via JMG: Hate Group Leader Kayla Moore Passes Along Fake Story About Hillary Clinton

 

This weekend Foundation For Moral Law head Kayla Moore will be headlining yet another anti-gay marriage rally in Alabama. In the meantime she's posted a fake news item about Hillary Clinton from a satire site.  

Labels: Alabama, crackpots, Foundation For Moral Law, hate groups, Kayla Moore, loony tunes, religion, Roy Moore

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Do I Sound Gay? - Official Trailer I HD I Sundance Selects

Via AlterNet / FB:

Via Torpedo Bags / FB:

Via Seven Factor / FB:

Via Yahoo News: Meet the plaintiff at the heart of a Supreme Court case that could legalize same-sex marriage nationwide

“What we're asking for is simply to be part of that same tradition of marriage where two people commit to each other and make those promises to love, protect and honor each other. How are we changing that? How are we harming that? We're just asking to do the same thing.”

Jim Obergefell is fired up. He’s the lead plaintiff in a case before the Supreme Court that this month could change gay rights in America forever. And in an exclusive interview with Yahoo global news anchor Katie Couric, he explains why.

Make the jump here to watch the video

Via JMG: Occupy Democrats

Via JMG: Katie Couric Interviews Jim Obergefell

 

Via Yahoo News:

“What we're asking for is simply to be part of that same tradition of marriage where two people commit to each other and make those promises to love, protect and honor each other. How are we changing that? How are we harming that? We're just asking to do the same thing.” Jim Obergefell is fired up. He’s the lead plaintiff in a case before the Supreme Court that this month could change gay rights in America forever. And in an exclusive interview with Yahoo global news anchor Katie Couric, he explains why.

“It's scary to think about having the highest court in the land rule that you really are a second-class citizen and you don't deserve the same rights, the same protections, the same responsibilities as other people.” His case, Obergefell v. Hodges, rests on two questions. One is whether the Constitution requires a state where same-sex marriage is not legal to recognize a marriage licensed in a state where it is legal. The other question is whether the Constitution requires states to license marriages between two people of the same sex — in other words, whether same-sex marriage should be legal nationwide.

You might need a tissue for this clip.

UPDATE: The clip won't embed properly for some reason. Hit the link at watch it at Yahoo.

Labels: marriage equality, Obergefell, SCOTUS

Reposted from Joe Jervis

JMG CALIFORNIA: "Intolerant Jackass Act" Backers Can Start Collecting Signatures

Via CBS San Francisco:

While the status of a “Sodomite Suppression Act” proposed state ballot initiative remains in limbo, proponents of a rival “Intolerant Jackass Act” initiative were cleared by state Secretary of State Alex Padilla to begin collecting signatures Wednesday. The rival initiative would force the filer of the Sodomite Suppression Act or any similar initiative to attend sensitivity training and donate $5,000 to a pro-gay or pro-lesbian organization. When Huntington Beach attorney Matt McLaughlin filed the Sodomite Suppression Act earlier this year, which would make homosexuality punishable by death, it set off a nationwide backlash for its evident hatred and dubious constitutionality. Attorney General Kamala Harris sought a court injunction rescinding her obligation to prepare a title and summary for the initiative, a necessary step before proponents can begin gathering the 365,880 signatures necessary to get it on the ballot.

The Intolerant Jackass Act was filed by activist Charlotte Laws in late March. Last month the California Assembly approved a bill that would raise the referendum filing fee from $200 to $8000. The measure has not yet been heard by the state Senate.

Labels: 2016 elections, California, gay death penalty, religion

Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do Dia- Flor del Día- Flower of the day 04/06/2015

“Estamos destruindo o planeta porque não sabemos lidar com essa forma de energia que é o dinheiro. Ele é um instrumento de troca que deve estar a serviço do Espirito. Damos ao dinheiro um grande valor emocional e acreditamos que ele trará a felicidade que tanto buscamos. Mas essa visão distorcida tem gerado grande sofrimento para a humanidade.”

“Estamos destruyendo el planeta porque no sabemos lidiar con esta forma de energía que es el dinero. Es un instrumento de intercambio que debe estar al servicio del Espíritu. Le damos al dinero un gran valor emocional y creemos que nos traerá la felicidad que tanto buscamos. Pero esta visión distorsionada ha generado gran sufrimiento para la humanidad.”

“We are destroying the planet in large part because we don’t know how to deal with money as a form of energy. Money is an exchange tool that should be at the service of the spirit. We attribute great emotional value to money and believe that it will bring us the happiness that we so desperately seek. This distorted vision has generated tremendous suffering for humanity.”