"In today's world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by
questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern
the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind
and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has
deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my
incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this
reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom
I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of
Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a
way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome,
the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new
Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it
is." - Pope Benedict XVI, in his official resignation letter.
Reposted from Joe
A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via JMG: LGBT Catholic Groups React
Dignity
As members of the Church who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, as well as family members and allies, we call on the Cardinals and the new Pope to enter into a true dialogue with our community. We call for an end to statements that inflict harm on already marginalized people, depict us as less than fully human, and lend credence to those seeking to justify discrimination. We call on our Church not only to embrace but to champion the dignity and equality of all humans, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.Equally Blessed
With the pope’s impending resignation, the church has an opportunity to turn away from his oppressive policies toward lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Catholics, and their families and friends, and develop a new understanding of the ways in which God is at work in the lives of faithful and loving people regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. We pray for a pope who is willing to listen to and learn from all of God’s people. We pray for a pope who will realize that in promoting discrimination against LGBT people, the church inflicts pain on marginalized people, alienates the faithful and lends moral credibility to reactionary political movements across the globe.New Ways Ministry
We are praying, too, for LGBT Catholics and their families and friends, whose lives were made more difficult living under Benedict’s reign both as pontiff and as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), where he served previously. For the last three decades, Benedict has been one of the main architects of the Vatican’s policies against LGBT people. New Ways Ministry directly experienced those harsh policies several times over the years…Fortunately, we have survived the many attempts by the Vatican to end our ministry, and, thanks to the support of so many Catholics, we have emerged stronger for it.Source.
Labels: Benedict Palpatine, Catholic Church, Vatican
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 11, 2013
Spiraling Toward Freedom
Each
time you meet an old emotional pattern with presence, your awakening to
truth can deepen. There’s less identification with the self in the
story and more ability to rest in the awareness that is witnessing
what’s happening. You become more able to abide in compassion, to
remember and trust your true home. Rather than cycling repetitively
through old conditioning, you are actually spiraling toward freedom.
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- Tara Brach, "Finding True Refuge"
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 10, 2013
Transforming the World
We
must proceed with a clear-eyed awareness of the social, political, and
economic context in which we live and practice. Once we awaken to where
we are, we must take the responsibility to transform that world into a
matrix of opportunity for wisdom and compassion, not just for ourselves
but for all others.
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- David Patt, “Who’s Zoomin’ Who? The Commodification of Buddhism in the American Marketplace”
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 9, 2013
Staying in the Present
Don’t
get caught up in hopes of what you’ll achieve and how good your
situation will be some day in the future. What you do right now is what
matters.
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- Pema Chodron, “Bite-Sized Buddhism”
Friday, February 8, 2013
Via Gay Politics Report:
- LGBT issues front and center as Obama's second term begins
- President
Barack Obama has started his second term by pushing forward proposals
on immigration and military benefits that recognize same-sex couples,
and he's spoken out in favor of the Boy Scouts of America allowing
openly gay members. These actions, along with the call for LGBT equality
included in Obama's inaugural address, have left some advocates
impressed with how the president has embraced much of their agenda.
"There are some times when I have to pinch myself," said one gay rights
activist and Obama donor. The Hill
(2/7)
Via JMG: Late PFLAG Founder Jeanne Manford To Receive Presidential Citizens Medal
PFLAG founder Jeanne Manford, who died last month at the age of 92, will be posthumously honored with the Presidential Citizens Medal, the second-highest honor the government gives a civilian. Twelve others will receive the medal at an upcoming White House ceremony. Paul Schindler reports at Gay City News:
When Manford died last month at the age of 92, Jody Huckaby, PFLAG’s national executive director, said, “Jeanne Manford proved the power of a single person to transform the world. She paved the way for us to speak out for what is right, uniting the unique parent, family, and ally voice with the voice of LGBT people everywhere.” President Barack Obama will honor the Medal winners at a White House ceremony on February 15. The recipients were announced on February 8. Manford is only the second Citizens Medal recipient honored for her work on LGBT causes. A 2011 Medal went to Janice K. Langbehn, a lesbian who sued a Miami hospital after she and her three young children were denied the right to visit her partner of 18 years, Lisa Marie Pond, as she lay dying after suffering a brain aneurysm while on vacation there in 2007. Despite having been told that they were in “an anti-gay city and state” by a hospital official, Langbehn’s suit was dismissed.Others to receive the Presidential Citizens Medal have included Elizabeth Taylor, Colin Powell, and AIDS researcher David Ho.
UPDATE: PFLAG has issued a statement.
“When Jeanne Manford publicly stood up for her gay son in 1972, she had no idea that her actions would spark a movement that would change the lives of so many individuals and families,” said PFLAG National Executive Director Jody M. Huckaby. “It started out as a simple act of love, but Jeanne’s legacy lives on, as straight allies continue to stand alongside their LGBT loved ones, united by their collective belief in a better—and more equal—tomorrow. Her voice has been joined by millions of others who have raised their voices and will continue to do so in support of acceptance, fairness, and equality.” “I was able to share the news of this honor with my mom before she left us and I only wish the President could have seen the amazing smile that spread across her face,” said Suzanne Manford Swan, daughter of the late Jeanne Manford. “My family is deeply touched by this honor and to represent the PFLAG family values of love and acceptance.”
Labels: heroes, LGBT History, PFLAG
A Gay Dad's Invitation to a Supreme Court Justice: Come to Dinner With My Family
Some of us are afraid to exhale. Same-sex marriage is before the Supreme Court.
Just as the election had the "swing-state factor," these two cases have a swing vote: Justice Anthony Kennedy. Justice Kennedy was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan but has been on the progressive side of two key LGBTQ cases, Romer v. Evans and Lawrence v. Texas. Now, with the question of same-sex marriage before the Supreme Court, Justice Kennedy, with the right decision, could eclipse the likes of Barbra Streisand, Madonna and Lady Gaga as the greatest gilded eagle for gay equality ever known.
Propaganda-like amicus briefs from the anti-gay community seem to be papering the walls of the Supreme Court on a daily basis. The Westboro Baptist Church, the Republicans of the House of Representatives, the Catholic bishops... they all have one. Progressive briefs are due in March.
I am just a gay dad. We gay dads tend not to file amicus briefs. However, we do jot notes, make lists and write letters. Sometimes we invite people to dinner. I think that will tell him more than all the anti-gay briefs put together.
Just as the election had the "swing-state factor," these two cases have a swing vote: Justice Anthony Kennedy. Justice Kennedy was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Ronald Reagan but has been on the progressive side of two key LGBTQ cases, Romer v. Evans and Lawrence v. Texas. Now, with the question of same-sex marriage before the Supreme Court, Justice Kennedy, with the right decision, could eclipse the likes of Barbra Streisand, Madonna and Lady Gaga as the greatest gilded eagle for gay equality ever known.
Propaganda-like amicus briefs from the anti-gay community seem to be papering the walls of the Supreme Court on a daily basis. The Westboro Baptist Church, the Republicans of the House of Representatives, the Catholic bishops... they all have one. Progressive briefs are due in March.
I am just a gay dad. We gay dads tend not to file amicus briefs. However, we do jot notes, make lists and write letters. Sometimes we invite people to dinner. I think that will tell him more than all the anti-gay briefs put together.
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 8, 2013
Our Shared Awakening
Nothing
is separate and alone. This is how things are. This is compassion, not
merely an extra something one of us feels for another, but existence
itself. Being is by its nature sharing and loving. And we realize this
not as a concept or a method we can work at and finally grasp, but as a
truth that we perceive through our mutual recognition, our mutual shared
awakening.
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- Norman Fischer, "Revealing a World of Bliss"
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 7, 2013
Outside the Story
Our
lives are meaningless if we take meaning for a coherent narrative plot
of some sort. When we strain to make our lives otherwise, we're merely
telling ourselves a story. You and I don't manifest in the universe as
meaning, we manifest as living human beings. We're not here to represent
something else. We're here in our own right.
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- Lin Jensen, “Wash Your Bowl”
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Via Nalanda LGBT Buddhist Cultural and Resource Center / FB:
"Attachment
constrains our vision so that we are not able to see things from a
wider perspective."- His Holiness, the Dalai Lama
JMG HomoQuotable - Evan Wolfson
"With France and Britain poised to become the next countries to embrace the freedom to marry, it's clear that the momentum we see here in the United States for ending marriage discrimination is, in fact, a global movement toward greater freedom and equality for all - and the U.S. should be leading, not lagging. America cannot afford to fall behind its closest allies and trade partners in this global economy, and needs to do right by its families, as a right-of-center British prime minister and left-of-center French president have called on their parliaments to do, with resounding success." - Freedom To Marry head Evan Wolfson, in a press release noting this week's victories in Britain and France.
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 6, 2013
No Time to Waste
This
precious human body, supreme instrument though it is for the attainment
of enlightenment, is itself a transient phenomenon. No one knows when,
or how, death will come. Bubbles form on the surface of the water, but
the next instant they are gone, they do not stay. It is just the same
with this precious human body we have managed to find. We take all the
time in the world before engaging in the practice, but who knows when
this life of ours will simply cease to be?
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- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, “A City of Dreams”
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Via Gay Politics Report: Over a million petition-signers ask Boy Scouts to drop gay ban
Over a million petition-signers ask Boy Scouts to drop gay ban
Gay scouts and their supporters delivered 1.4 million petition signatures to Boy Scouts of America headquarters this week in a bid to pressure the organization to allow local branches to admit openly gay scouts and leaders. The effort also got the backing of President Barack Obama, who in a pre-Super Bowl interview this weekend said the BSA should change its longstanding policy. Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the group should hold firm and keep the ban in place, and the anti-gay Family Research Council ran a full page-ad in USA Today urging the same. The Dallas Morning News (free content)/The Scoop blog (2/4), CBS News/Political Eye (2/3), Dallas Voice (2/4), Towleroad (2/4)
Gay scouts and their supporters delivered 1.4 million petition signatures to Boy Scouts of America headquarters this week in a bid to pressure the organization to allow local branches to admit openly gay scouts and leaders. The effort also got the backing of President Barack Obama, who in a pre-Super Bowl interview this weekend said the BSA should change its longstanding policy. Texas Gov. Rick Perry said the group should hold firm and keep the ban in place, and the anti-gay Family Research Council ran a full page-ad in USA Today urging the same. The Dallas Morning News (free content)/The Scoop blog (2/4), CBS News/Political Eye (2/3), Dallas Voice (2/4), Towleroad (2/4)
Why Homophobia Is Not An Acceptable Life Choice
Macklemore, the first unsigned artist to make it to #1 in over
a decade, perfectly frames the world homophobia creates. Give his hit
track "Same Love" a listen and see if that doesn't melt your heart in a
jiffy.
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 5, 2013
Investing in Practice
It
is essential at the beginning of practice to acknowledge that the path
is personal and intimate. It is no good to examine it from a distance as
if it were someone else’s. You must walk it for yourself. In this
spirit, you invest yourself in your practice, confident of your
heritage, and train earnestly side by side with your sisters and
brothers. It is this engagement that brings peace and realization.
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- Robert Aitken Roshi, “The Teacher in Everything”
Monday, February 4, 2013
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 4, 2013
What Meditation Tells Us
Meditation
practice helps us relinquish old, painful habits; it challenges our
assumptions about whether or not we deserve happiness. (We do, it tells
us emphatically.) It also ignites a very potent energy in us. With a
strong foundation in how to practice meditation, we can begin to live in
a way that enables us to respect ourselves, to be calm rather than
anxious, and to offer caring attention to others instead of being held
back by notions of separation.
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- Sharon Salzberg, “Sticking with It”
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 3, 2013
Developing Determination
When
you admit to yourself, 'I must make this change to be more happy'—not
because the Buddha said so, but because your heart recognized a deep
truth—you must devote all your energy to making the change. You need
strong determination to overcome harmful habits. But the payoff is
happiness—not just for today but for always.
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- Bhante Henepola Gunaratana, “Getting Started”
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Via JMG: Today In NOM Chutzpah
Jeremy Hooper writes: "Important reminder: March 26 is not only the first day of SCOTUS hearings and the day that NOM plans to march against us—it's also the one year anniversary of us all learning their stated intent to 'drive a wedge between gays and blacks' in order to 'provoke the gay base.' The coincidence sure makes those March on Washington parallels all the more ignoble, huh?"
RELATED: Join the Facebook March 4 Marriage page to keep up with all the developments coming next month.
Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 2, 2013
Illuminating Your Path
For
the dharma to become firsthand knowledge—to feel the ‘ouch’ of it—you
have to live intimately with it, hold it up to scrutiny, and let it hold
you up to scrutiny. In the end, the ball is always thrown back to you:
‘Be a lamp unto yourself,’ says the Buddha. In other words, you must
ultimately find the way on your own, by putting your ideas of the truth
to the test. Your questions light the way.
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- Larry Rosenberg, “The Right to Ask Questions”
Friday, February 1, 2013
Via JMG: NEW MEXICO: Marriage Bill Advances
By a 5-4 vote, yesterday the New Mexico House Public Affairs Committee narrowly approved a bill to place marriage equality to a public vote.
The bill would let voters decide the issue of same-sex marriage, but it also states churches would not be required to recognize the same-sex marriage bill. After hearing very different opinions and personal experiences, lawmakers decided along party lines to pass the bill, which moves it to the next committee. "We should not discriminate. The state should be doing everything possible to encourage people to enter into committed, long-term relationships, especially when there's children involved," Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, said. "What happens to those kids? Those kids were not created in that relationship," same-sex marriage opponent Jose Vasquez said. Egolf said he's been contacted by hundreds of people who thanked him for sponsoring the bill.The bill must pass out of another committee before moving to the full House. If approved by both state chambers and signed by the governor, marriage equality would appear on the November 2014 ballot. (Tipped by JMG reader Elise)
Labels: 2014 elections, marriage equality, New Mexico
Via JMG: Quote Of The Day: MP Helen Grant
"I am a God-fearing woman. My faith is very fundamental to everything I do and think. I am a member of the Church of England, a Christian, and my faith is very, very important to me. I think [same-sex marriage] is absolutely consistent with my beliefs. For me, as a Christian, I see it as about justice, equality, fairness, ending discrimination and opening up marriage to more people on the basis that marriage is a very special institution." - Conservative MP Helen Grant, speaking in advance of Tuesday's second reading of Britain's marriage equality bill.
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma February 1, 2013
The Simple Act of Attention
Empathy
naturally leads to compassionate action. But simple inattention kills
empathy, let alone compassion. So the first step in compassion is to
notice the other's need. It all begins with the simple act of attention.
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- Daniel Goleman, “I Feel Your Brain”
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Via JMG: Nielsen: Gays Shop & Spend More
Nielsen has come to the shocking conclusion that gay men go shopping a lot.
American same-sex partnered households have significant spending power. In fact, same-sex partnered households make 16 percent more shopping trips than the average U.S. household each year (173 average shopping trips vs. 149 average shopping trips for total U.S. households), according to a recent Nielsen report measuring the shopping habits of U.S. lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) households. The additional shopping trips translate into a marked difference in total spending on consumer packaged goods (CPG). Same-sex partnered households spend an average of $8,651 each year on CPG, compared with $6,898 for the average U.S. household. Within the LGBT community, male same-sex partnered households shop more frequently than female same-sex households (182 trips vs. 163 trips), raising male same-sex household annual CPG spending to $8,943—nearly 30 percent higher than the average U.S. household.But the below chart that compares where gay men and lesbians exceed the national purchasing average is more interesting, yes? The linked article doesn't make it clear, but one presumes the overall average for each of the below categories is 100. (Tipped by JMG reader Thomas)
Labels: LGBT culture, Nielsen, retail
Via Buddhism on Beliefnet:
| Daily Buddhist Wisdom | |||
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Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:
Tricycle Daily Dharma January 31, 2013
Mature Wisdom
The
test of how far your wisdom has matured lies in the strategic skill
with which you can keep yourself from doing things that you like to do
but that would cause long-term harm, and the skill with which you can
talk yourself into doing things that you don’t like to do but that would
lead to long-term well-being and happiness. In other words, mature
wisdom requires a mature ego.
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- Thanissaro Bhikkhu, “Hang On to Your Ego”
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Via JMG: Conference Of Catholic Bishops Files SCOTUS Briefs On DOMA & Prop 8
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops today filed Supreme Court briefs against the overturn of DOMA and Proposition 8.
From their DOMA brief:
The USCCB brief in United States v. Windsor says that “there is no fundamental right to marry a person of the same sex.” The brief also states that “as defined by courts ‘sexual orientation’ is not a classification that should trigger heightened scrutiny,” such as race or ethnicity would. It added that “civil recognition of same-sex relationships is not deeply rooted in the Nation’s history and tradition—quite the opposite is true. Nor can the treatment of such relationships as marriages be said to be implicit in the concept of ordered liberty, such that neither liberty nor justice would exist if they were sacrificed.” USCCB argued that previous Supreme Court decisions “describing marriage as a fundamental right plainly contemplate the union of one man and one woman.” The USCCB also cautioned that a decision invalidating DOMA “would have adverse consequences in other areas of law.”From their Proposition 8 brief:
“While this Court has held that laws forbidding private, consensual, homosexual conduct between adults lack a rational basis, it does not follow that the government has a constitutional duty to encourage or endorse such conduct. Thus, governments may legitimately decide to further the interests of opposite-sex unions only. Similarly, minimum standards of rationality under the Constitution do not require adopting the lower court’s incoherent definition of ‘marriage’ as merely a ‘committed lifelong relationship,’ which is wildly over-inclusive, empties the term of its meaning, and leads to absurd results.” “Marriage, understood as the union of one man and one woman, is not an historical relic, but a vital and foundational institution of civil society today,” the USCCB brief states.(Via Zack Ford @ Think Progress)
Labels: Catholic Church, child abuse, cults, DOMA, marriage equality, molestation, Proposition 8, SCOTUS, UCCB, Vatican
Via JMG: Super Gay Bet: Blade Vs B.A.R.
From Washington Blade reporter Phil Reese:
Editors and publishers of the Washington Blade and the Bay Area Reporter, an LGBT newspaper in San Francisco, announced this week the terms of a bet for their respective teams playing in Sunday’s Super Bowl championship in New Orleans. If the Ravens win, BAR will send the Blade staff a lunch of dungeness crabs and a $1,000 donation to the local LGBT charity of the Blade’s choosing. If the 49ers win, the Blade will send BAR’s staff a lunch of Chesapeake Bay blue crabs and a $1,000 donation to a San Francisco LGBT charity of BAR’s choosing. “When Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage in 2004, the Patriots won the Super Bowl. When New York legalized marriage in 2011, the Giants won the Super Bowl. In 2012, Maryland passed marriage equality, so it’s our turn,” said Blade editor Kevin Naff, who lives in Baltimore. “Go Ravens!”I suppose it should be pointed out that DC legalized same-sex marriage in 2009 and that the Redskins finished last in their division that year, having won only four games all season. Yes, I had look that up. Go sportsball! Go local/regional team! I like the ones in the aubergine blouses!
Labels: Bay Area Reporter, Super Bowl, Washington Blade
Via Nalanda LGBT Buddhist Cultural and Resource Center / FB:
"Happiness
arises as a result of different causes and conditions. If you harm
someone out of anger, you may feel some superficial satisfaction, but
deep down you know it was wrong. Your confidence will be undermined.
However, if you have an altruistic attitude, you’ll feel comfortable and
confident in the presence of others." - His Holiness, the Dalai Lama
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