ADignorantium

#MarriageEquality

File this under #DiggyRant

Can you imagine waiting for The Supreme Court of the United States of America to decide whether or not you are Created Equal & endowed by your creator to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness? Can you imagine waiting for a group of nine judges to determine your worthiness as a human being?

Fifteen years ago, when the idea of Same-Sex Marriage was in it’s infancy, I may have settled for Civil Unions, but the negative outcry from conservatives and religious zealots has made me dig in my heals.

So now I will settle for nothing less than equal treatment under the law.

It’s personal.

At the height of the AIDS crisis I lost many close friends, the majority of whom were in long term relationships. In each case, the surviving partner had a negative experience with the parents or family of the deceased. All but one surviving partner were forced out of their homes as family members of the deceased claimed property. He was spared because he and his partner were rather wealthy and had hired lawyers to draw up contracts that specifically defined ownership rights. It cost then thousands of dollars for the very same protections that every heterosexual couple is afforded with a $50 marriage license.

In one particularly ugly case, the surviving partner challenged his deceased partner’s family. The father had disowned his gay son and then completely cut off all communication when he discovered his son had AIDS, but then decided he had rights to his dead son’s property. The father, who was a lawyer, told his son’s partner, “I have infinite resources. You will go bankrupt if you try to challenge me.” The surviving partner’s case never made it to court. He was forced to move less than a year later.

These are just two examples, but they illustrate the issue clearly. Our relationships deserve the same legal rights and responsibilities as all married couples.

Civil Unions are NOT Equal to Marriage. Married couples have 1,138 federal rights, protections and responsibilities. Civil Unions do not.

stfuconservatives:

portersbats:

punk-rant:

Here are some interesting facts about him, though:

He basically saved public television. In 1969 the government wanted to cut public television funds. Mister Rogers then went to Washington where he gave an amazing merely six minute speech. By the end of the speech not only did he charm the hostile Senators, he got them to double the budget they would have initially cut down. The whole thing can be found on youtube, a video called “Mister Rogers defending PBS to the US Senate.”

“Certain fundamentalist preachers hated him because, apparently not getting the “kindest man who ever lived” memo, they would ask him to denounce homosexuals. Mr. Rogers’s response? He’d pat the target on the shoulder and say, “God loves you just as you are.” Rogers even belonged to a “More Light” congregation in Pittsburgh, a part of the Presbyterian Church dedicated to welcoming LGBT persons to full participation in the church.”

According to a TV Guide piece on him, Fred Rogers drove a plain old Impala for years. One day, however, the car was stolen from the street near the TV station. When Rogers filed a police report, the story was picked up by every newspaper, radio and media outlet around town. Amazingly, within 48 hours the car was left in the exact spot where it was taken from, with an apology on the dashboard. It read, “If we’d known it was yours, we never would have taken it.”

Once, on a fancy trip up to a PBS exec’s house, he heard the limo driver was going to wait outside for 2 hours, so he insisted the driver come in and join them (which flustered the host). On the way back, Rogers sat up front, and when he learned that they were passing the driver’s home on the way, he asked if they could stop in to meet his family. According to the driver, it was one of the best nights of his life—the house supposedly lit up when Rogers arrived, and he played jazz piano and bantered with them late into the night. Further, like with the reporters, Rogers sent him notes and kept in touch with the driver for the rest of his life.

I really didnt need more reasons to love Mr Rodgers but now I have them.

BA Mr. Rogers

These are all amazing facts about an amazing person, but mostly I’m reblogging it for the gif of him doing the dual bird flip.

The world desperately needs another Fred Rogers.

(Source: junglelauren)

↵ Originally from junglelauren

↵ Reblogged from kipperny

Benedict Too Pooped To Pope.

No matter your opinion of organized religion, you must give Pope Benedict XVI credit for putting his church ahead of himself.

My opinion of the church, and by default the Pope, has not always been a good one. At times, their rhetoric seems to be at odds with the teachings of Christ. But I need to put my personal opinions aside, and give Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI praise for recognizing his own very human limitations; something rare in the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church.

Farewell sir.

“Why was I given a mind and then be politely told to sit in the corner and wonder?”

The following is excerpted from “The Gentle Indifference of the World,” as posted on Against The Grain: Non-Mainstream Observations by John T. Marohn

The Christian Soul and American Culture

In my Christian tradition, I was told that every human being has a soul. That soul, I was led to believe, is created by God and is comprised of a mind and a free will. And that soul, I was also taught by my church, would live on after I died. (I was not taught that, since I have a free will, I could choose the after-life habitat I wanted. That decision would be made for me based on my earthly track record and an omniscient God’s foreknowledge—a very tricky combination.)

Using that philosophical and theological model, Hitler, Stalin, Ted Bundy, and Jeffrey Dahmer also had souls. According to that same paradigm, they also had minds and free wills and therefore were to be held accountable for their actions (Christian theologians, to my knowledge, do not accept paranoid schizophrenia, psychosis, or bi-polar disorders as viable excuses for getting off the hook on the final day of judgment).

The American culture I grew up in led me to believe that I could be anything I wanted to be. That I could be my own person. That I could live out any success-story dream I fantasized about. If I just put my hand on the plow of my life, worked hard, and persevered, the world would be my oyster.

Except for the built-in fatalism of the omniscient-God paradigm, I had been well-schooled in Optimism 101. My culture told me I could succeed. My religion taught me that I was morally responsible for all of my actions. That everything was just up to me. That God, through no innate goodness on my part, would intervene, on my behalf, and zap me with favors and grace, if I lived up to His expectations by leading a good life.

But I had no excuses for moral, or even professional failure in life. After all, I was graced with being alive and had a mind and free will—a soul, remember?

Sometimes you don’t really know what your beliefs are, until you are forced to defend them. - ADignorantium

For the last month or so, I’ve been debating someone on YouTube about Marriage Equality.

The original discussion had nothing to do with Same Sex Marriage.

I posted a comment on the YouTube video “Mitt Romney as a Mormon Bishop…(April 24, 2012) from CNN” in which I commented ”„,When was the last time a Catholic Bishop, a Priest, or a Jewish Rabbi, tried to run for President? Do you think if any of them, or a Muslim Imam ran for office, they’d make if very far?”

Let me tell you, the Shit hit the Fan!

I found myself defending the separation of Church and State. The heated arguments came dangerously close to crossing the line of civility. I’m not proud to admit losing my cool on several occasions. Each response tested my convictions. …and my grammar.

*You are allowed only 500 characters on YouTube. You’d be surprised how quickly I can pass that.

Now, somewhere in this thread, the conversation took a turn from Holy Men running for President, to Marriage Equality. I’m not sure how that happened, and I’m not really interested enough to read all the replies just so I can find out.

However, through the course of six weeks or so, I’ve had to examine and then defend my point of view. And it feels Great!

Having to examine and defend your views ensures that your views are your own, and not something regurgitated from some outside source.

*I am a firm believer in “LIVE and LET LIVE”. I don’t want you telling me what to do with my life, so I sure as fire wont tell you what to do with yours. It’s all about consistency.

*I believe people have the fundamental right to worship as they please. But I have a problem when those same people use God to crusade for a cause or condemn a specific group. You go right ahead and Tithe your Ten Percent to your Church. Bless you for doing it. But Do NOT come after ME or Anybody else because we don’t worship like you.

*I believe Pro-Choice is NOT Pro-Abortion. I’ve seen the emotional turmoil a woman must endure before making the heart breaking decision to terminate a pregnancy. Why would I want to add to that grief? That’s just cruel.

*I believe we are too Sex-phobic in America, and most of our problems come from our fear of sexual frankness. A little education goes a long way to prevent unwanted pregnancies and STDs like HIV, AIDS, Gonorrhea, HPV, and Herpes.

*I believe in providing Free Contraception to women who want it, because paying for Contraceptives is cheaper than paying for Welfare, Housing and Childcare. But I wouldn’t remove these Safety Nets for those who need them.

*I believe, as Tax Paying Americans, Same Sex Couples deserve the right to Marry their Partners. If a Bachelor can Marry a Stranger he met on a Game Show, I should be allowed to Marry my Partner of Eight Years.

It’s amazing how easy it is to come to these conclusions when you remove emotion and stick to logic.

- I believe Mr. Spock would be proud. {:-)

*

* BTW- If you want to see the offending video, click the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhGFBVcViSQ&lc=C72_2jOjV6UbYhzUAReKutqRKQG2NEG31JxMIjlLwSA&lch=email_reply&feature=em-comment_reply_received

Let’s Be Clear…

The recent sex abuse scandals involving priests and university coaches has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with homosexuality.

Just as in cases of rape, sex abuse is about power. NOTHING MORE!

It Couldn’t Happen Here… Right?

Almost a century ago, a man in Eastern Europe gained power by feeding into the fears of the populace that was struggling financially, and needed scapegoats. Jews, Gypsies, and Homosexuals were imprisoned in concentration camps with the purpose of extermination.

That couldn’t happen again, right?

It CERTAINLY couldn’t happen HERE, Right?

RIGHT???

source - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=d2n7vSPwhSU

Separation of Church and State

The 2012 GOP race for the Presidential nomination is a circus. There are Seven Billion people on the planet, yet the GOP can’t find ONE sane person for their nominee?

How in the world did we allow a Bishop to rise in the U.S. political arena? What happened to separation of Church and State? If you don’t know what I’m referring to, just enter the words “Mormon Bishop Mitt Romney” in your search engine. And before you accuse me of picking on Mormons, ask yourself this. Would a Catholic Bishop, Priest, Rabbi, or Muslim Imam even make it past a local election?

Separation of Church and State?