U.S.-born
Daniel Clark Orey and his Brazi-born husband Milton Rosa find it easier
to live in Brazil because the government recognizes their California
marriage license. Because of DOMA, Orey can't sponsor Rosa for a U.S.
green card
Friday, May 18, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma May 17, 2012
Allegiance to Life
Our pain for the world, and our power to take part in the healing of our world, both come from the same place.
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- Joanna Macy, "Allegiance to Life"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Via AmericaBlog Gay:
Religious right hate groups say Obama probably gay
As Right Wing Watch notes, this nut is cited by AFA, FRC and all the rest of their ilk:Paul Cameron of the Family Research Institute is an “expert” cited by groups like the Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America and the American Family Association, among others in the Religious Right. While his claims have been consistently discredited, Cameron is still a favorite of opponents of...
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Via JMG: Why Young People Leave The Church
Dan Savage points us to this fascinating story:
When asked by The Barna Group what words or phrases best describe Christianity, the top response among Americans ages 16-29 was “anti-homosexual.” For a staggering 91 percent of non-Christians, this was the first word that came to their mind when asked about the Christian faith. The same was true for 80 percent of young churchgoers. (The next most common negative images? : “judgmental,” “hypocritical,” and “too involved in politics.”)The author of the piece, Rachel Held Evans, has closed commenting on her post because "I want to keep this a safe place for conversation." Read some of the responses from her Christian readers and you'll see why.
In the book that documents these findings, titled unChristian, David Kinnaman writes: “The gay issue has become the 'big one,' the negative image most likely to be intertwined with Christianity’s reputation. It is also the dimensions that most clearly demonstrates the unchristian faith to young people today, surfacing in a spate of negative perceptions: judgmental, bigoted, sheltered, right-wingers, hypocritical, insincere, and uncaring. Outsiders say [Christian] hostility toward gays... has become virtually synonymous with the Christian faith.”
Later research, documented in Kinnaman’s You Lost Me, reveals that one of the top reasons 59 percent of young adults with a Christian background have left the church is because they perceive the church to be too exclusive, particularly regarding their LGBT friends. Eight million twenty-somethings have left the church, and this is one reason why.
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma May 16, 2012
Buddhanature Mind
What
is the Buddha-nature? It is a mind that is open and completely
unencumbered. It is empty. And it gives birth to warmth and compassion
for other people.
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- Reginald Ray, "The Power of Solitude"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Via Follower of the Buddha / Facebook:
I am the owner of my karma .
I inherit my karma.
I am born of my karma.
I am related to my karma.
I live supported by my karma.
Whatever karma I create, whether good or evil, that I shall inherit.
The Buddha, Anguttara Nikaya V.57 - Upajjhatthana Sutta
Tags: Follower of the Buddha
Via www.nytimes.com:
Like
many others, politicians are less influenced by party, faith or color
on the question of favoring greater legal protections for gays, both
liberals and conservatives say.
Via AmericaBlogGay:
GOP, religious right scared about backlash on marriage debate
It's
fascinating when both the lead religious right hate group and the head
of the Republican party play nice on same-sex marriage. LA Times:
Sen. Rand Paul, who said he wasn't sure President Obama's views on
marriage "could get any gayer," was rebuked by an influential
evangelical leader Sunday.
Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, appearing onCBS' "Face
the Nation," strongly...
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma May 15, 2012
Participate Fully
Cleaning
the bathroom or chopping the onions is no less important than sitting
in deep meditation. Grasping this and acting on it is called waking up.
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- Janet Jiryu Abels, "Participate Fully"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Monday, May 14, 2012
Via JMG: Breaking News From World Net Daily
World Net Daily today provides the breathless news
that Starbucks has endorsed same-sex marriage. Note how the linked
item carefully avoids mentioning any dates on a story that is months
old. Wanna bet NOM paid for this?
Reposted from Joe
Via JMG: CBS Poll: 62% Of Americans Support Same-Sex Marriage Or Civil Unions
Via JMG: Gallup: Gay Is The New Normal
Gallup reports today: The slight majority of American adults, 54%, consider gay or lesbian relations morally acceptable. Public acceptance of gay/lesbian relations as morally acceptable grew slowly but steadily from 38% in 2002 to 56% in 2011 and is now holding at the majority level. This Gallup trend mirrors the growth in public support for legalizing gay marriage, which has risen from 42% support in 2004 to 50% or greater support in the last two years. Americans' support for gay rights on both questions leveled off in this year's Values and Beliefs poll, conducted May 3-6.
Via JMG: Rhode Island To Recognize Gay Marriages
Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee today ordered all state agencies to officially recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in other jurisdictions. The executive order is expected to have many real-world implications. Same-sex spouses of state employees and anyone covered by an insurance company regulated in Rhode Island will be entitled to health and life insurance benefits, gay rights advocates say. Both partners in a same-sex couple will be able to list their names as parents on a child’s birth certificate, and same-sex couples will be entitled to sales tax exemptions on the transfer of property including vehicles. One couple who attended the signing ceremony — married in neighboring Massachusetts — described their disappointment of not being able to list both their names on their son’s birth certificate. “For our next child, we won’t have to go through the same kind of turmoil,” Martha Holt Castle said.Yay, guv!
RELATED: Civil unions have been legal in Rhode Island since last year.
Baha'i Rants: Pathology of Homosexuality
Image credit: Barat Ali Batoor
Pathology of Homosexuality
Unfortunately the exact practice that Baha’u'llah was referring to cryptically is still being practiced today in Afghanistan. You can watch the PBS domentary following the above link as well as find a brief update on the situation from this recent Washington Post article.
Make the jump here to read the full article
Via Practicing the Presence through Mind and Meditation / Facebook:
By Practicing the Presence through Mind and Meditation
Daily Mantra:
"Every day, think as you wake up, "Today I am fortunate to have woken
up. I am alive, I have a precious human life. I am not going to waste
it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my
heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all
beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going
to get angry, or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others
as much as I can."
- His Holiness The Dalai Lama
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma May 14, 2012
Using All Available Emotions
There’s
no such thing as never getting angry. Enlightenment can and does use
all the available emotions. The idea that enlightenment means sitting
around with a beatific smile on our faces is just an illusion.
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Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma May 13, 2012
The Safety of our Buddhanature
Love
and compassion make us feel safe because they express the safety of
their source—the deep buddhanature within us, the unchanging inner space
of primal awareness that cannot be harmed.
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- John Makransky, "Aren't We Right to Be Angry?"
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Via JMG: LEAKED GOP MEMO: It's Time To Let Go Of Fighting Against Same-Sex Marriage
Politico has published a just-leaked memo from an insider on Dubya's 2004 reelection team. In the light of Obama's "evolution," this guy now says that GOP strategists should abandon the losing battle against same-sex marriage.
Background: in view of this week’s news on the same sex marriage issue, here is a summary of recent survey findings on same sex marriage:Read the full memo.
Recommendation: A statement reflecting recent developments on this issue along the following lines:
- Support for same sex marriage has been growing and in the last few years support has grown at an accelerated rate with no sign of slowing down. A review of public polling shows that up to 2009 support for gay marriage increased at a rate of 1% a year. Starting in 2010 the change in the level of support accelerated to 5% a year. The most recent public polling shows supporters of gay marriage outnumber opponents by a margin of roughly 10% (for instance: NBC / WSJ poll in February / March: support 49%, oppose 40%).
- The increase in support is taking place among all partisan groups. While more Democrats support gay marriage than Republicans, support levels among Republicans are increasing over time. The same is true of age: younger people support same sex marriage more often than older people, but the trends show that all age groups are rethinking their position.
- Polling conducted among Republicans show that majorities of Republicans and Republican leaning voters support extending basic legal protections to gays and lesbians. These include majority Republican support for:
- Protecting gays and lesbians against being fired for reasons of sexual orientation
- Protections against bullying and harassment
- Repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
- Right to visit partners in hospitals
- Protecting partners against loss of home in case of severe medical emergencies or death
- Legal protection in some form for gay couples whether it be same sex marriage or domestic partnership (only 29% of Republicans oppose legal recognition in any form).
“People who believe in equality under the law as a fundamental principle, as I do, will agree that this principle extends to gay and lesbian couples; gay and lesbian couples should not face discrimination and their relationship should be protected under the law. People who disagree on the fundamental nature of marriage can agree, at the same time, that gays and lesbians should receive essential rights and protections such as hospital visitation, adoption rights, and health and death benefits.
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma May 12, 2012
Revolutionary Practice
True
dharma practice is a revolutionary activity, and you can't do it in a
comfortable way. You really have to challenge the whole identity of your
life.
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- Jack Kornfield, "The Sure Heart's Release"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Via AmericaBlogGay:
The story of Obama's evolution, starting with a blogger named Joe
I have to give Peter Wallsten and Scott Wilson credit at the Washington Post for crediting our own Joe Sudbay with being the person who got President Obama to say he's evolving on gay marriage. A lot of reporters fail to mention who hit was who got the ball rolling on this issue.
Via AmericaBlogGay: More Romney Bullying
Top Romney aide gleefully outed transgender woman, ending her political career
Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom Eric Fehrnstrom is called Mitt Romney's "most trusted" adviser. Well it seems that Mr. Romney's most trusted adviser is alleged to have "glee"-fully outed a transgender women, ending her career in politics. This from GQ: Fehrnstrom saved his cheap shots for smaller-time Massachusetts pols.
Via AmericaBlogGay:
Romney defends traditional marriage, which in his family's case means polygamy
The Daily Dish has a video of Mitt Romney talking about defending the traditional definition of marriage that's existed for 3,000 years. In the case of Romney's family, that traditional definition involved polygamy. As the Daily Dish notes, Romney's family even abandoned the United States for Mexico, after the US government clamped down on polygamists over a century ago.Romney says that...
Via AmericaBlog Gay:
Romney flip-flops today on gay adoption, now against
Romney seems to have decided that the only way can win the general election against President Obama is to swing even further to the far-right than he did during the primaries (I know the primaries aren't over, but they really are). This is actually quite surprising. He's going to turn off independents if he keeps pandering to the far right. From CBS News: Republican presidential...
Friday, May 11, 2012
Via Freedom to Marry / Facebook
Beautiful: The New Yorker Magazine cover celebrating President Obama's support for the freedom to marry.
— with T Neverdinner Jacket.
Via Formidable Republican Opposition/ Facebook
There are over 6 million registered voters in NC and only 20% (1.2million) voted
in yesterdays election. We allowed about 750,000 people or 12% of the
registered voters to decide that Amendment One is going to be written into
the NC state Constitution.
NC Registered voters:
2.7 million Democrat
1.9 million Republican
1.5 million Unaffiliated
Great find by Davey Wavey Fan Page!
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma
Tricycle Daily Dharma May 11, 2012
The Path of Optimism
Buddhism
is a path of supreme optimism, for one of its basic tenets is that no
human life or experience is to be wasted or forgotten, but all should be
transformed into a source of wisdom and compassionate living.
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- Taitetsu Unno, "Number One Fool"
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection
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