Monday, April 21, 2014

Via JMG: USPS Begins Milk Stamp Pre-Orders


 
Via press release from the White House:
The U.S. Postal Service officially revealed the Harvey Milk Forever Stamp today. The stamp’s official first-day-of-issue ceremony will take place May 22 at the White House. The public is invited to attend the May 28 Harvey Milk Forever Stamp special dedication ceremony in San Francisco. Details on the time and location will be forthcoming. Customers may order the Harvey Milk stamp now for delivery following the May 22 stamp issuance. The stamp image is based on a circa 1977 black and white photograph of Milk in front of his Castro Street Camera store in San Francisco taken by Daniel Nicoletta of Grants Pass, OR. Antonio Alcalá of Alexandria, VA, was art director for the stamp.
Pre-order your stamps here.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma


Union of Compassion and Wisdom | April 21, 2014

The essence of Buddha’s teaching is the union of compassion and wisdom, the view of interdependence and emptiness. An altruistic attitude is altruistic. It is not confused in itself. But without wisdom, we can act with obscured compassion or stupid compassion. 
 
—Matthieu Ricard, “Karma Crossroads”
 

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Via Daily Dharma


Inner and Outer Nature | April 20, 2014

When there is no ego or selfishness, there is nothing that will destroy nature, nothing that will exploit and abuse nature. Then the external, physical aspect of nature will be able to conserve itself automatically.
—Buddhadasa, “Conserving the Inner Ecology”
 

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Via Daily Dharma


Not Part of the Deal | April 19, 2014

The mind must be monitored and inventoried like an alcoholic in recovery or a Washington lobbyist: It never goes away until it gets what it wants. And what it wants is to be in control at all times. But control is not part of the deal of being a human being. We may rightly try to confront injustices, but some things can only be seen, noted, and accepted for what they are. 
 
—Stephen Altschuler, “Sitting Practice Redux”
 

Via JMG: Tumblr: Judgmental Maps


 
Embiggen for better reading. More cities here.

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Reposted from Joe Jervis

Friday, April 18, 2014

Via JMG: OREGON: An Openly Gay Federal Judge Will Hear Next Week's Marriage Case


Openly gay US District Court Judge Michael J. McShane will hear next week's marriage equality case in Oregon.
Unlike the five federal judges who have struck down laws prohibiting same-sex marriages in other states in recent months, McShane won't have anyone in the courtroom defending Oregon's constitutional ban when he holds oral arguments Wednesday. And, unlike the other judges, McShane also happens to be one of just nine openly gay members of the federal judiciary, according to the Human Rights Campaign. It's an unusual combination of factors for the 53-year-old jurist, who has served as a federal judge for less than a year. McShane, citing the sensitivity of the case, declined to be interviewed for this story. But friends say they're confident he'll produce a careful decision while setting aside any personal feelings. "You don't want to be the lawyer going in saying with a wink, 'I'm the lawyer on the gay-marriage side and he's going to be with me,'" says Lane Borg, who heads Metropolitan Public Defender and has known McShane for decades. "They would be ill-advised to think that just because Michael is gay that he is going to rule that way."
NOM chairman John Eastman has the sadz: "The question is not his sexual orientation, but whether he is situated identically to the plaintiffs and will benefit from the exact relief he provides to them."

RELATED: McShane began his career as a public defender in Portland. He was nominated to the federal bench by President Obama in September 2012. (Tipped by JMG reader Sam)
Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Oregon Readies Gay Marriage Licenses


Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum declared in February that she will not defend the state against the marriage equality suit filed in October 2013 by local attorneys on behalf of two gay couples. That case hasn't even been heard yet, much less ruled upon, but the state is getting ready for good news. Via the Associated Press:
In light of the Oregon attorney general's decision to not defend the state's ban on gay marriage, Oregon is now revising its marriage licenses to include forms for same-sex couples. Previously, when people applied for a marriage license, they were asked either to identify as a "bride" or "groom." Now, the new form designates as "Party A" and "Party B." Applicants can also choose to be identified as "bride," "groom" or "spouse." Another change to marriage licenses: eliminating the term "maiden name." Instead, applicants will be asked to provide their "name at birth." Most of Oregon's counties use an electronic version of the marriage form. Clerks are in the process of working with a software vendor to update the online forms.
(Tipped by JMG reader Robert)


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma


Let Go in a Discerning Way | April 18, 2014

When you let go of the body, let go in a discerning way. Don't let go in a way in which delusion and misunderstanding overcome the mind. Don't get disgusted with the body so that the mind becomes restless and agitated and stops meditating. That kind of dislike is wrong. When we look at things we don't like—such as the inconstancy, the stressfulness, and the unattractiveness of the body—remember that they're part of the noble truths. 
 
—Phra Ajaan Suwat Suvaco, "This Body of Mine"
 

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Via JMG: Lawyer Who Defended Prop 8 At SCOTUS Is Changing His Mind On Gay Marriage


 
Protect Marriage attorney Charles Cooper, who last year argued against the overturn of Proposition 8 before the Supreme Court, says his opinion on gay marriage is "evolving" now that his own daughter is planning to marry a woman.
The revelation is an unexpected footnote in the years-long debate over Proposition 8, the California measure struck down by the Supreme Court last year. It is also offers a glimpse, through the eyes of one family, of the country's rapidly shifting opinions of gay marriage, with most public polls now showing majorities in favour of allowing the unions. Cooper learned that his stepdaughter Ashley was gay as the Proposition 8 case wound its way through appellate court, according to a forthcoming book about the lengthy legal battle.
And with the Supreme Court ruling now behind him, Cooper cast his personal opinion on gay marriage as an evolving process. "My views evolve on issues of this kind the same way as other people's do, and how I view this down the road may not be the way I view it now, or how I viewed it ten years ago," Cooper said in journalist Jo Becker's book "Forcing the Spring: Inside the Fight for Marriage Equality." Cooper's words are reminiscent of the language President Barack Obama used throughout his first term to describe his "evolving" views on gay marriage. In 2012, Obama announced publicly that he did, in fact, support the rights of same-sex couples to marry.
Cooper's daughter will marry in Massachusetts in June. He says, "My daughter Ashley's path in life has led her to happiness with a lovely young woman named Casey, and our family and Casey's family are looking forward to celebrating their marriage in just a few weeks."

HRC president Chad Griffin reacts: “I spent the better part of five years sitting across courtroom aisles from Mr. Cooper, disagreeing with just about every word that came out of his mouth, but I have profound respect for his decision to love and celebrate his daughter and her fiancée because his story reflects the experience of so many of the 90 percent of Americans who personally know someone who is LGBT."

Proposition 8 plaintiffs Kris Perry and Sandy Stier react: "We were so moved to hear of the Cooper family's constant love and support of their own daughter, even as the Perry case was in full swing and Mr. Cooper was spending his days planning Prop 8's defense. Some may find this contrast between public and private jarring, but in our opinion, loving an LGBT child unequivocally is the single most important thing any parent can do. We are overjoyed for Ashley and her fiancée, and we wish them the very best."

Will Brian Brown issue his usual denouncement?


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Sodomy Banned But Not Necrophilia


Via Gawker.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

VIa Daily Dharma


Commit to Love | April 17, 2014

To commit to love is fundamentally to commit to a life beyond dualism. That’s why love is so sacred in a culture of domination, because it simply begins to erode your dualisms: dualisms of black and white, male and female, right and wrong.
 
—bell hooks, "Agent of Change"
 

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Via JMG: LOUISIANA: House Votes 66-27 To Keep Unconstitutional Anti-Sodomy Law


Thanks to pressure from a local anti-gay Christian group, the Louisiana House yesterday refused to repeal an unenforceable and unconstitutional anti-sodomy law. The vote was 66-27.
A House Committee passed the legislation onto the body's floor by a vote of 9-6 last week. But one of the state's most powerful lobbying groups, the conservative Christian Louisiana Family Forum, opposes striking the sodomy ban. The group sent out a letter to every legislator urging them to vote against the proposal, claiming that teenagers would be less protected from sexual predators if they went through with the repeal. They also said the bill would put the public health at risk. "Louisiana's anti-sodomy statute is consistent with the values of Louisiana residents who consider this behavior to be dangerous, unhealthy and immoral," stated the letter to lawmakers from the Louisiana Family Forum. During a floor discussion of the bill, the legislation's sponsor, Rep. Patricia Haynes Smith, pushed back on the Family Forum's assertions. The bill only seeks to repeal a statute that is already unconstitutional, she said.
Fucking a human corpse? Legal in Louisiana. A blowjob from a consenting adult? Technically a felony and punishable by five years in prison. Praise! Glory!


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Salon Writer: Porno Pete "Humiliated" By Student Walkout At My College


 
Salon writer Kate Geiselman recounts the walkout that took place last week when Peter LaBarbera delivered a speech about the evils of homosexuality at her Ohio college.
Mr. LaBarbera approached the podium and apologized affably for keeping us waiting. He talked about the importance of dialogue and respect. And then he said there was no scientific evidence that homosexuality is not a choice. He reminded us that the hypocritical left, in silencing voices like his, is really the party guilty of intolerance. And that was our cue to leave. We stood, without a word, and walked out. I heard a woman shouting, “Shame! Shame on you!” There were gasps and a few loud grumbles of disapproval, LaBarbera’s aforementioned “Are you effing kidding me” among them. We walked out of the venue and into the Student Activities Center, where we hugged and laughed and ate Honey Maid graham crackers. Photographs of the venue after we walked out show that about 12 people remained behind, at least two of whom I recognize as allies who likely stayed to see what he would say. It was a beautiful, beautiful thing.
Hit the first link and read the full story. (Tipped by JMG reader AJ)


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Dialy Dharma


The Truth Is Never Far Away | April 16, 2014

We tell stories about who we are and what life is, but seldom see that they’re only stories. The good news is that the truth is never far away. It’s right here, in fact, posing as backdrop. 
 
—Erik Hansen, “The Island”

Via FB:


Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Matt Gold "Appreciated "- Official Music Video


Via JMG: NYT Calls On Obama To Issue Executive Order On Employment Discrimination


From the New York Times editorial board:
Mr. Obama said in November that workplace discrimination “needs to stop, because, in the United States of America, who you are and who you love should never be a fireable offense.” An executive order barring discrimination by federal contractors would extend badly needed job protections to more than 11 million employees who work in states that lack such protections and whose companies fail to provide them voluntarily, according to the Williams Institute at the U.C.L.A. School of Law. What Mr. Obama needs to do is act on his principles and issue such an order, without the religious exemption that was put into the Senate bill to lure Republican votes. Challenged last week to explain the mystifying delay on this issue, Mr. Obama’s spokesman said that the president supported broader legislation and that its enactment by Congress would make an executive order “redundant.”
The Times concludes that the president should "lead by example" in order to prod the House to do the right thing on ENDA. The Senate passed ENDA in November.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Out Issues Power 50 Ranking


 
Out Magazine today published its eighth annual ranking of the 50 most powerful LGBT people in the United States.  Here's a bit of the list.
1. Ellen DeGeneres 2. Tim Cook 3. Rachel Maddow 4. Sen. Tammy Baldwin 5. Glenn Greenwald 6. Ryan Murphy 7. Neil Patrick Harris 8. Andy Cohen 9. Michael Sam 10. Robin Roberts
Homocon billionaire Peter Thiel is #13. Former RNC chairman Ken Mehlman is #18. Andrew Sullivan is #26. New to the list is DOMA attorney Roberta Kaplan at #47. Curiously missing from this year's ranking is closeted homocon blogger Matt Drudge, who ranked at #21 last year and at #16 in 2012. Since there's no obvious reason for Drudge to completely fall off the list in one year, I wouldn't be surprised if somebody got a cease-and-desist letter.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Daily Dharma


Giving Up Addictions | April 15, 2014

Starting to wake up is a lot like giving up an addiction. You’re going to go through withdrawal symptoms, weaning yourself from this addiction to habitual, small-minded patterns of perception. You could say enlightenment is no more addiction. You’re just fully awake, fully on the spot, without having to hide out. 
 
—Pema Chödrön, "No Right, No Wrong"
 

Monday, April 14, 2014

Joseph Arthur - In The Sun


Via Daily Dharma


The Healing We Seek | April 14, 2014

Perhaps we all carry an immemorial wound, an infinite loss, a self-exile we perpetrate on ourselves. It turns us into isolated entities stalking the earth in search of what we think we need—the temporary stays against ennui, despair, loss, and terror. But sooner or later, the wound can carry us toward its own remedy, if we only let it. 
 
—Henry Shukman, “Beautiful Storm”
 

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Via Daily Dharma


Idleness | April 13, 2014

Doing nothing is essential for thinking to occur. Many of the most important thoughts are unintentional—they can be neither solicited nor cajoled but have a rhythm of their own, creeping up, arriving, and leaving when we least expect them. It is important to cultivate the lassitude of mind that clears a place for the arrival of what cannot be anticipated. Idleness allows time for the mind to wander to places never before imagined and to return transformed. 
 
—Mark C. Taylor, "Idleness Waiting Grace"
 

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Via Daily Dharma


Where You Fall | April 12, 2014

You get up where you fall down. You don’t get up somewhere else. It’s where you fall down that you establish your practice.
 
—Ryokan Steve Weintraub, "Umbrella Man" 
 

Friday, April 11, 2014

Via JMG: Harvey Milk Stamp To Be Dedicated At White House Ceremony On May 22nd


Via press release from the White House Office of Communications:
The official first-day-of-issue dedication ceremony for the Harvey Milk Forever Stamp will take place at the White House May 22. Harvey Milk was a visionary leader who became one of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S. when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Milk’s achievements gave hope and confidence to the LGBT community in the United States and elsewhere at a time when the community was encountering widespread hostility and discrimination. Milk believed that government should represent all citizens, ensuring equality and providing needed services. His remarkable career was tragically cut short nearly a year after he took office, when he and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were assassinated. In 2009, he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. May 22 is Harvey Milk Day in California. The stamp image will be previewed at a later date and a public dedication ceremony will take place in San Francisco May 28.
I predicts some super-sadz over this!


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Via Utne: Collapse of Human Civilization 'Difficult to Avoid'

Collapse of Human Civilization 'Difficult to Avoid'

According to a NASA-funded study led by mathematician Safa Motesharrei, the collapse of human civilization is likely unless mankind accepts one of two major policy changes.

Read More...
Earth

Via Daily Dharma


Study and Practice | April 11, 2014

Deepening study can inform and empower practice and deepening practice can bring meaning to what you are studying. That unity of practice and learning can be informed by understandings of our contemporary world.
—John Makransky, "Bridging the Gap"
 

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Via The Pragmatic Progressive FB:


NSFW: Justin Sayre explains "The New Hanky Code" at The Meeting*

Publicado em 09/04/2014

The Chairman of the International Order of Sodomites discusses the latest in the gay color spectrum. Taped live in March at Joe's Pub.

Every month hosts The Meeting* to educate the membership on the latest in political news and social trends.

Video by Martian Entertainment

www.InternationalOrderofSodomites.com
 
 

Via Daily Dharma


Even the Smallest Glimpse | April 10, 2014

Even the smallest glimpse of freedom heightens our awareness of the pain we have created by our ego-fixation. Seeing the contrast is what inspires us to go forward on the path. In particular, each time we sit on the cushion and meditate, we relax and let go a little bit more. The notion we’ve held onto—that if we don’t keep up our ego-momentum something bad is going to happen—dissolves bit by bit. 
 
—Judy Lief, “Letting Go”
 

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Via JMG: Saudi Police Arrest 35 Men At "Gay Party"


Gay Star News reports:
Saudi Arabia police have arrested 35 people and accused them of being gay. The men, allegedly dressed in women’s clothes, were arrested at a beach resort in the western city of Jeddah. According to local reports, neighbors contacted the religious police complaining of the loud music being played at the party. The police took the arrested men to the station and kept the dresses and music equipment until an investigation is complete. LGBTI rights in Saudi Arabia are non-existent. Homosexuality is taboo and punished with jail, flogging, chemical castration or even death.
Saudi Arabia is one of ten nations where homosexuals acts are punishable by the death penalty.


Reposted from Joe Jervis

JMG Quote Of The Day - Hank Aaron


"A lot of things have happened in this country, but we have so far to go. There's not a whole lot that has changed. We can talk about baseball. Talk about politics. Sure, this country has a black president, but when you look at a black president, President Obama is left with his foot stuck in the mud from all of the Republicans with the way he's treated. We have moved in the right direction, and there have been improvements, but we still have a long ways to go in the country. The bigger difference is that back then they had hoods. Now they have neckties and starched shirts." - Baseball legend Hank Aaron, 80, speaking yesterday on the 40th anniversary of his having broken Babe Ruth's all-time home run record. Aaron is being attacked for the above comments over on Breitbart.

RELATED: As Aaron approached Babe Ruth's record late in the 1973 season, he had received so many death threats that the editor of the Atlanta Journal quietly had an obituary written.


Re posted from Joe Jervis

Via JMG: Mississippi And Alabama Sex Education Programs Claim That Gay Sex Is Illegal

The New Republic reports:
Mississippi’s sex-ed curriculum is not notable for its progressive nature. But one thing you can’t say about the Magnolia State is that it follows the advice of some conservative parents who want schools to totally ignore homosexuality. In fact, state law mandates that the subject be discussed, at least briefly: Students are to be told that homosexual activity is illegal. Mississippi, whose governor just signed a noxious anti-gay bill, is not the only state with such a clause in its sex ed curriculum. Neighboring Alabama requires that instructors teach that “homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense." In fact, the Supreme Court rendered all state laws against gay sex unenforceable in 2003, when it struck down an anti-sodomy law in Texas.
(Tipped by JMG reader Jake)


Reposted from Joe Jervis

Simplicity | April 9, 2014

I dream of simplicity, but I'm as far from it as ever. That is my practice, how to be in the world and remain simple. One day perhaps I'll accept the fact that I am never going to find the simple life. Maybe the first step toward simplicity will be to accept that my life will never be simple even if I go live in a cave and subsist on green nettles like Milarepa. 
 
—Peter Matthiessen, "Emptying the Bell"
 

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Thich Nhat Hanh: On Homosexuality

Thich Nhat Hanh: On Homosexuality


Thich Nhat Hanh, the noted Zen monk, poet, teacher who is the inspiration behind Deer Park Monastery and the Plum Village tradition, shares these words about the Buddhadharma’s view of “homosexuality” in the latest book, ANSWERS FROM THE HEART.
excerpt from Thay’s new book Answers from the Heart

Q. What is the Buddhist view of homosexuality?

A. The spirit of Buddhism is inclusiveness. Looking deeply into the nature of a cloud, we see the cosmos. A flower is a flower, but if we look deeply into it, we see the cosmos. Everything has a place. The base-the foundation of everything-is the same. When you look at the ocean, you see different kinds of waves, many sizes and shapes, but all the waves have water as their foundation and substance. If you are born gay or lesbian, your ground of being in the same as mine. We are different, but we share the same ground of being. The Protestant theologian Paul Tillich said that God is the ground of being. You should be yourself. If God has created me as a rose, then I should accept myself as a rose. If you are a lesbian, then be a lesbian. Looking deeply into your nature, you will see yourself as you truly are. You will be able to touch the ground of your being and find peace. 
If you’re a victim of discrimination, then your way to emancipation is not simply by crying out against injustice. Injustice cannot be repaired by recognition alone, but by your capacity to touch the ground of your being. Discrimination, intolerance, and suppression stem from lack of knowledge and lack of understanding. If you’re capable of touching the ground of your being, you can be released from the suffering that has been created in you through discrimination and oppression.

Someone who discriminates against you, because of your race or the color of your skin or your sexual orientation, is ignorant. He doesn’t know his own ground of being. He doesn’t realize that we all share the same ground of being; that is why he can discriminate against you.
Someone who discriminates against others and causes them to suffer is someone who is not happy with himself. Once you’ve touched the depth and the nature of your ground of being, you’ll be equipped with the kind of understanding that can give rise to compassion and tolerance, and you will be capable of forgiving even those who discriminate against you. Don’t believe that relief or justice will come through society alone. True emancipation lies in your capacity to look deeply.
When you suffer because of discrimination, there’s always an urge to speak out. But even if you spend a thousand years speaking out, your suffering won’t be relieved. Only through deep understanding and liberation from ignorance can you be liberated from your suffering. 

When you break through to the truth, compassion springs up like a stream of water. With that compassion, you can embrace even the people who have persecuted you. When you’re motivated by desire to help those who are victims of ignorance, only then are you free from your suffering and feelings of violation. Don’t wait for things to change around you. You have to practice liberating yourself. Then you will be equipped with the power of compassion and understanding, the only kind of power that can help transform an environment full of injustice and discrimination. You have to become such a person-one who can embody tolerance, understanding, and compassion. You transform yourself into an instrument for social change and change in the collective consciousness of mankind.

Thich Nhat Hanh, Answers from the Heart: Practical Responses To Life’s Burning Questions (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 2009), 119-122.

Via Sangha Virtual - Thich Nhat Hanh - Brasil

Qual é a visão budista sobre a homossexualidade?

Pergunta: Qual é a visão budista sobre a homossexualidade?

Thich Nhat Hanh: O espírito do Budismo é a inclusividade. Olhando profundamente a natureza de uma nuvem, vemos o cosmos. Uma flor é uma flor, mas se olharmos profundamente para ela, veremos o cosmos. Tudo tem um lugar. A base, o fundamento de tudo, é o mesmo. Quando você olha para o oceano, você vê diferentes tipos de ondas, muitos tamanhos e formas, mas todas as ondas têm a água como seu fundamento e substância.

Se você nasceu gay ou lésbica, o fundamento do ser é o mesmo que o meu. Nós somos diferentes, mas compartilhamos o mesmo fundamento do ser. O teólogo protestante Paul Tillich disse que Deus é o fundamento do ser. Você deve ser você mesmo. Se Deus me criou como uma rosa, então eu deveria me aceitar como uma rosa. Se você é lésbica, então, seja lésbica. Olhando profundamente em sua natureza, você vai ver-se como você realmente é. Você será capaz de tocar o solo do seu ser e encontrar a paz.

Alguém que discrimina contra vocês, por causa de sua raça ou a cor de sua pele ou sua orientação sexual, é ignorante. Ele não conhece o seu próprio fundamento do ser. Ele não percebe que todos partilham a mesma base do ser, é por isso que ele pode discriminá-lo. Alguém que discrimina os outros e faz com que eles sofram é alguém que não está feliz consigo mesmo. Uma vez que você tocou a profundidade e a natureza do seu fundamento do ser, você vai ser equipado com o tipo de entendimento que pode dar origem a compaixão e tolerância, e você será capaz de perdoar até mesmo aqueles que o discriminam. Não acredite que o alívio ou a justiça virá através de sociedade por si só. Verdadeira emancipação reside na sua capacidade de olhar profundamente. Quando você sofre por causa da discriminação, há sempre uma vontade de falar. Mas mesmo se você passar mil anos falando, o seu sofrimento não será aliviado. Somente através da compreensão profunda e libertação da ignorância você pode ser libertado de seu sofrimento.

Às vezes, aqueles nos discriminam agem em nome de Deus, da verdade. Podemos pertencer ao terceiro mundo, ou podemos pertencer a uma raça em particular, podemos ser pessoas de cor, podemos ser gays ou lésbicas, e nós temos sido discriminados por milhares de anos. Então como nos libertar do sofrimento de sermos vítimas de discriminação e opressão? No cristianismo, é dito que Deus criou tudo, inclusive o homem, e não há uma distinção entre o criador e a criatura. A criatura é algo criado por Deus. Quando eu olho para uma rosa, uma tulipa, ou um crisântemo, eu sei, eu vejo, eu penso, que esta flor é uma criação de Deus. Porque eu tenho praticado como um budista, eu sei que entre o criador e a criatura, deve haver algum tipo de ligação, caso contrário, a criação não seria possível. Assim, o crisântemo pode dizer que Deus é uma flor, e eu concordo, porque deve haver o elemento "flor" em Deus, para que a flor possa se tornar realidade. Assim, a flor tem o direito de dizer que Deus é uma flor.

A pessoa branca tem o direito de dizer que Deus é branco, e o negro também tem o direito de dizer que Deus é negro. Na verdade, se você for para a África, vai ver que a Virgem Maria é negra. Se você não fizer a estátua da Virgem Maria negra, não inspira as pessoas. Porque para os negros, "black is beautiful", de modo que uma pessoa negra tem o direito de dizer que Deus é preto, e na verdade eu também acredito que Deus seja negro, mas Deus não é só preto, Deus também é branco, Deus é também uma flor. Assim, quando uma lésbica pensa em seu relacionamento com Deus, se ela pratica profundamente, ela pode descobrir que Deus é também uma lésbica. Caso contrário, como você poderia estar lá? Deus é uma lésbica e Deus é gay também. Deus não é menos. Deus é lésbica, mas também gay, negro, branco, crisântemo. É porque você não entende isso, que discrimina.

Quando você discriminar o negro ou o branco, ou a flor, ou a lésbica, você discrimina contra Deus, que é a bondade fundamental em você. Você cria o sofrimento ao seu redor, e você cria o sofrimento dentro de si mesmo, e é a ilusão, a ignorância, que é a base de sua ação, a sua atitude de discriminação. 

Via Armário X: O Budismo e a homossexualidade

O Budismo e a homossexualidade

por Marco Antonio García

Nos últimos anos o Budismo virou a religião da moda nos paises ocidentais. São diversas revistas e livros falando sobre os benefícios da meditação, yoga e outras praticas budistas. Mas o que o budismo pensa a cerca da homossexualidade? Como nós homossexuais somos vistos por esta religião milenar? Estas e outras perguntas fundamentais para se entender o budismo foram respondidas pela Associação Brasil Soka Gakkai Internacional (http://www.bsgi.org.br/) e pela Lama Chagdud Khadro, diretora da Escola Nyingma do Budismo Vajrayana – Chagdud Gonpa (http://www.odsal-ling.org/), exclusivamente para o Armário X. 

Via Salon: “Anti-Christian religious bigotry” is apparently what conservatives are now calling LGBTQ rights

 
"Anti-Christian religious bigotry" is apparently what conservatives are now calling LGBTQ rights 
NOM President Brian Brown (Credit: Wikipedia)
 
In lamenting the demise of Arizona’s anti-LGBTQ discrimination bill and recent victories to secure other basic protections for LGBTQ individuals, National Organization for Marriage President Brian Brown encouraged his fellow bigots to try to change the frame on these debates by accusing LGBTQ rights advocates of pushing “anti-Christian bigotry”:
So, when [LGBTQ people and their allies] bring up discrimination, we need to turn it on its head and say, this is about anti-religious, specifically in some cases, anti-Christian religious bigotry, and there’s no place for this in this country. The discrimination is there, but right now what’s happening is the discrimination is coming from those that want to punish, repress and marginalize individuals and organizations that stand up for their religious beliefs.
Referencing a New Mexico photographer who refused to shoot a gay couple’s commitment ceremony (the Supreme Court refused on Monday to hear her case, probably because of anti-Christian bigotry), Brown said, “Whether it’s being forced to photograph a ceremony that you don’t agree with, forced to create a same-sex marriage wedding cake that you don’t agree with, whatever it is, that’s a very different thing than saying this is somehow Jim Crow all over again. In fact, it’s the reverse.”
But not every person of faith shares Brown’s bigoted paranoia.

Kansas state Rep. Louis Ruiz, a practicing Catholic, is the sponsor of a LGBTQ rights protection bill in his state. A month after his colleagues floated a proposal to enshrine anti-LGBTQ discrimination into state law, Ruiz introduced a counter measure, asking his colleagues, “What’s our message when we have these type of discriminatory bills that come out at either the federal or the state level? We’re defeating our own purpose as a country that wants to be inclusive. To me, this is a no-brainer.”
 
Ruiz said at the time that he believes his own faith is well protected, and wants to see those protections extended to others: “If you look at the bills that people are trying to pass that would permanently enshrine open discrimination against gay and lesbian Kansans, can you think of a better reason why we should introduce something [like this LGBTQ anti-discrimination bill]?”
Katie McDonough is an assistant editor for Salon, focusing on lifestyle. Follow her on Twitter @kmcdonovgh or email her at kmcdonough@salon.com.

Via JMG: LBJ's Daughters: Our Father Would Likely Have Supported Same-Sex Marriage



Katie Couric interviewed Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Bird Johnson Robb, the daughters of late President Lyndon B. Johnson, and asked them about their father's civil rights legacy in the light of the current battle for same-sex marriage.
“I think my father felt very strongly that when there was bigotry anywhere, prejudice anywhere, all of us lose out,” Johnson said. “Because it's just one more expression of hate.” For her part, Robb said she didn’t know what her father would say, because same-sex marriage was not an issue when he was in public life. “It's hard to project what Daddy would have thought about that because that wasn't an issue that had come upon the stage at that time,” Robb said. “But I know he really wanted everybody to be able to live up to the best that God gave them.” Both Robb and Johnson said they personally believe gay marriage should be allowed. “I certainly think that, if God made you a homosexual, that you should have love and affection with somebody,” Robb said. “And I would not want to deny anybody that opportunity to be happy.”
This week marks the 50th anniversary of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, which some historians consider to be the crowning achievement of the LBJ administration. Watch the interview below.

(Via Towleroad)


Reposted from Joe Jervis