Without your integrity, you are merely a succession of meaningless moments, always vanishing.
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MAJOR news today. The board of directors of the NAACP has voted to officially endorse same-sex marriage. Reactions from other civil rights groups will be added to the bottom of this post as they arrive.“The mission of the NAACP has always been to ensure the political, social and economic equality of all people,” board chair Roslyn M. Brock said in a statement following passage of the resolution on Saturday. “We have and will oppose efforts to codify discrimination into law.”The chairman emeritus, Julian Bond, had already pledged his support earlier this week as part of a coalition of black leaders trying to tamp down speculation that Obama’s support of gay marriage would divide the black community.Here is the text of the resolution:
The resolution and statement Saturday specifically noted that the group supports “civil marriage” for same sex couples, while respecting religious freedom -- something the president also mentioned when announcing his stance. “Civil marriage is a civil right and a matter of civil law,” NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous said in the statement. “The NAACP’s support for marriage equality is deeply rooted in the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and equal protection of all people.”
The NAACP Constitution affirmatively states our objective to ensure the “political, education, social and economic equality” of all people. Therefore, the NAACP has opposed and will continue to oppose any national, state, local policy or legislative initiative that seeks to codify discrimination or hatred into the law or to remove the Constitutional rights of LGBT citizens. We support marriage equality consistent with equal protection under the law provided under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Further, we strongly affirm the religious freedoms of all people as protected by the First Amendment.National Gay & Lesbian Task Force
This is truly a historic moment as the NAACP — the nation’s oldest civil rights organization — takes an official and unequivocal stand for marriage equality. As the country’s oldest national LGBT rights group, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force could not be more thrilled. We are proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the NAACP working together on the many issues that affect all of our lives. Whether it be fair access to education and jobs, an end to voter suppression and racial profiling, the right to love and be who we are free of discrimination — these issues affect all of us, our families and our country. Today the NAACP did what it does so well — inspires and affirms our common humanity.Freedom To Marry
The NAACP has long been the nation's conscience and champion for an America where all share equally in the promise of liberty and justice for all. Today the NAACP resoundingly affirmed that the freedom to marry is a civil right and family value that belongs to all of us, and that discriminatory barriers to marriage must fall. The toxic tactics of anti-gay groups like NOM to 'drive a wedge between blacks and gays' will be washed away in the wave of righteous affirmation.Human Rights Campaign
We could not be more pleased with the NAACP’s history-making vote today – which is yet another example of the traction marriage equality continues to gain in every community. It’s time the shameful myth that the African-American community is somehow out of lockstep with the rest of the country on marriage equality is retired - once and for all. The facts and clear momentum toward marriage speak for themselves. NOM has pursued ugly racial politics seeking to divide people, but what is becoming crystal clear is that its strategy is not working. Americans from all walks of life are uniting to support love, commitment, and stronger families.GLAAD
"For more than 103 years, the NAACP has been a leading advocate and a voice for members of marginalized communities. Today’s announcement represents their continued stance against the discrimination that LGBT families face. We applaud President Ben Jealous and the NAACP Board of Directors for their leadership on this issue," said GLAAD President Herndon Graddick. "Across races, faith traditions, and political persuasions, a majority of our culture recognizes that denying gay couples the chance at happiness that comes with being married is unfair and un-American.”National Black Justice Coalition
“As a Life Member of the NAACP, I am happy to see the organization join the President of the United States in ‘evolving’ and follow the powerful example of civil rights icons and Black voices like Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery, Julian Bond, Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson and others who have said committed LGBT couples and families deserve the same protections as everyone else,” says Sharon Lettman-Hicks, NBJC Executive Director and CEO. “Family is the epicenter of Black life, community and culture. For Black LGBT people, its importance is just as great.”Marriage Equality USA
"The NAACP has an unbroken history of standing up for civil rights for all Americans, right up through their stand against the discriminatory Amendment 1 in North Carolina, and now today’s historic vote affirming marriage equality for all loving and committed couples,” said Stuart Gaffney, MEUSA Media Director. “Standing together from coast-to-coast with allies such as the NAACP is what is going to make the dream of marriage equality for all loving and committed couples a reality.”
God and Gays - Bridging the Gulf
It
is because our way of observing things is deeply rooted in our
self-centered ideas that we are disappointed when we find everything has
only a tentative existence. But when we actually realize this truth, we
will have no suffering.
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You
deal with your shit in Zen by sitting with it. By breathing right into
it. You don’t try and ignore it with pleasant thoughts or lofty ideas,
and you don’t try and bury it with solutions. You deal with it, you work
with it, one breath at a time.
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The Court of Appeals ruled 7-0 that couples who have a valid marriage from another state can divorce in Maryland. The case involved two women who were married in California and denied a divorce in 2010 by a Maryland judge. “A valid out-of-state same-sex marriage should be treated by Maryland courts as worthy of divorce, according to the applicable statues, reported cases, and court rules of this state,” the court concluded in a 21-page ruling. It said Maryland courts should withhold recognition of a valid foreign marriage only if that marriage is “repugnant” to state public policy. The court says the threshold is a high bar that has not been met in the case that it ruled on.
Sit down, there's good news from Africa. President Joyce Banda has said she wants Malawi to overturn its ban on homosexual acts - the first African country to do so since 1994. Two Malawian men were sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2010 after saying they were getting married. Several Western leaders have recently said they would cut aid to countries which did not recognise gay rights. In her first state of the nation address to parliament, Mrs Banda said: "Some laws which were duly passed by the august house... will be repealed as a matter of urgency... these include the provisions regarding indecent practices and unnatural acts." The BBC's Raphael Tenthani in the main city, Blantyre, says the president has the support of a majority of MPs and so should be able to get parliament to overturn the law.Religious groups are expected to loudly oppose Banda's plan.
France's
new prime minister yesterday vowed to fulfill the promise of
just-elected President Francois Holland (above right) and implement full civil marriage equality for same-sex couples. A communiqué issued by the office of the prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, who took office on 15 May, marked the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia yesterday with a pledge to put the president’s manifesto promise into law. It said: “On the occasion of International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, the Prime Minister reaffirmed the Government’s commitment against violence and discrimination perpetrated as a result of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Government is determined to challenge prejudice and to put an end to discrimination and violence. It will implement the commitment of the President of the Republic to the right to marriage and adoption to gay couples.”How soon the process might begin is not yet known.
And
yet, somehow, Massachusetts is still there. Happy anniversary, Bay
State. It's damned shame it's taking the rest of us so long to catch up.There's been a noticeable shift in the attitudes of African Americans in North Carolina toward rights for gay couples in the wake of President Obama's announcement last week that he supports gay marriage. Our final poll before the primary last week found only 20% of black voters in the state favoring gay marriage, with 63% opposed. Now 27% express support for gay marriage with 59% opposed, for an overall 11 point shift on the margin.Great news!
There's been a similar movement when it comes to the overall idea of providing gay couples legal rights in the form of either marriage or civil unions. Before the primary 44% of African Americans favored one of those with 51% opposed to any sort of legal recognition for same sex couples. Now 55% of blacks support either gay marriage or civil unions with only 39% against any sort of recognition. Obama's words look to be having an impact.
If
we watch our breathing without desiring calmness and without resenting
the tension arising from breathing in and out, and experience only the
impermanence, the unsatisfactoriness, and selflessness of our breath,
our mind becomes peaceful and calm.
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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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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.
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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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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