My Christmas List

This year's list is rather a bit odd. There isn't much I need, (though lots of things I want).

• 
  
  
  Healthy parents.



• 
  
  
  For my dog to be healthyand happy.



• 
  
  
  Higher pay and better hours.



• 
  
  
  Passage of marriage equality.



• 
  
  
  Lose another 15 pounds and tighten everything back up.



• 
  
  
  More parties, events, etc. to attend.



• 
  
  
  An end to the war.



• 
  
  
  Not to be involved in another war.



• 
  
  
  The economy to return to previous levels without the frivolity.



• 
  
  
  An end to hunger, proverty and homelessness in this country.



• 
  
  
  The Christian Right to realize they aren't.

And the biggest wish of all:

• 
  
  
  I find a man of my very own before my parents are gone,so they will know I'm loved and cared for.

My View

I've been half heartily following the Prop 8 trial, but by all accounts, I can see no other outcome but to over turn it. Maybe I'm biased or just over optimistic, or even have too much faith that the judges will do the right thing. I'm hoping for the best and planning for the worst. Anyone who believes in separation of church and state, that is sworn to uphold the law whether it contradicts their personal beliefs or not, can plainly see by this trial, that there is no real choice but to overturn Prop 8. Not to do so, would undermine everything this country is suppose to stand for and go against the Constitution itself. I can only hope, pray, wish, dream that court will do the right thing for my people.

We The People

I was thinking this afternoon of all the strife in the world. It disturbs me greatly at the state of this country in particular. A nation with such promise has failed miserably. It has let fall by the wayside it's greatness. Tarnished it's halo. And for what? Profit it seems. Money has corrupted this country. Greed has become it's master. Money was once an instrument, a tool, used to do great and wondrous things. Now it is a noose around the neck, slowly strangling the good from the country. Corporations now rule the land. It only matters that their coffers are full. Instead of a social responsibility once shown by the former titans of industries of long ago, the CEO and Board of Directors of these companies see dollar signs. There is no great philanthropy left. No goodwill to spread. They earn bonuses for crippling the economy, keeping wages stagnate, and making sure that those who do have, keep it. And those that don't, never get it. We the people, let them and smiled and asked for more. Boost our stock portfolios, mail us our dividend was our mantra. We never questioned. We never demanded. We accepted. We let them lobby our government instead of telling them hands off. We let them by never saying loudly, or often enough, that the people of this country come first. That the citizens come before profit. We let them and now they are in control. Are we gonna retake control of our government for the people, not the corporations? Are we gonna give up our environment, our health care, our educations, our futures for their bottom line?

Winter Solstice

December 21st is moving quick upon us, the Winter Solstice. It's fascinating to think how so many ancient cultures figured all this astronomy stuff out. It marks the reversal of the days shortening and nights lengthening. It represents the transition of the earth's axial tilt from being the farthest away from the sun, to moving to the closest. On Monday, December 21st, 2009, it will take place at 6:47 EST. I'm excited! Are you?

The Ugly Truth

Creating ugly isn't easy. Ugliness takes planning and a great deal of effort. One must put aside for a moment the natural tendency to make better any wrong. To side step truth and create a different narrative with circular logic to achieve the heinous effect desired. One must also develop a clever skill of concealment. It would appear that anyone can do this, if they have a vested interest in the outcome. Governments, religions, institutions, politicians, leaders of every stripe have under taken this mission. Somehow, they reasoned it was worth the effort to lie, distort, misinform, malign, or circumvent what was truthful, what was beautiful. History is full of these deeds and their perpetrators duly noted. Tales of how it went down, who didn't speak up, those who turned a blind eye to the ugly truth of what was happening are there in the margins. Recent events, here in this country and abroad clearly shows that those evil ways are still being propagated, without much pressure to cease. A strongly worded press release or embargo will only do so much. For those who do resist the evil tide, the weary fight is usually alone, or they are ill equipped to handle it. The beauty of mankind's humanity has a stain. It has soaked to the very fibers of a country's being. While time will expose all ugly deeds to the intense scrutiny of daylight, and will gradually fade, it will still be visible upon close inspection. Are the ones responsible for creating and maintaining beauty in this world, creative enough, strong enough, to cover over the stain with a new pattern to blend it away? Or will it become a scar for humanity to stare at over time while trying to recall how it happened? Those uglies have persisted throughout history around the world. Once, this nation was seen as great. We had moved beyond the ugly portions of our collective past. We considered ourselves enlightened, smarter, diligent, industrious, a world leader. We followed no one, they followed us. Now we are backsliding. The world community looks at us and wonders why we don't see what is plainly happening in front of our faces. They pity us. They mock us. They are waiting, like vultures to pounce at our demise. The ugly truth is we allowed all this to happen. We stayed silent and passive. We let incompetence rule the land and ignorance become vogue. The greatest question now is, will we allow it to continue?

The Sad Truth

The sad truth is that those individuals and groups that claim to be protecting marriage and family and children, aren't. They may have the best of intentions but are sadly misguided in their efforts. If you are wanting to do God's work, then there are few things you should know first. Spreading the word through legislation isn't the proper way. Acts of charity, love and respect are. That "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar and render unto God what is God" thing comes to mind. The fact that helping the homeless, the sick, the needy, the impoverished, the elderly and the hungry plays a very large part in God's plan. It is very simply stated, repeatedly for emphasis. The hypocrisy is blatant when you stick to only a few chosen passages in the Bible, yet chose to ignore others. Leviticus says homosexual acts are an abomination. That's well and good. Yet it also classifies, eating shellfish, and wearing poly cotton as abominations. So where does that leave these thumpers on the old sin scale? Especially given there are no degrees of sin. Right there, ring side, on the lake of fire. Should we save them a seat? If you're gonna go for broke with your quotin' then be prepared to do some totin'. That cross gets heavy after awhile. Just ask Jesus.

Knowledge IS Power

Interesting stuff these days. It is almost overload on the economy and healthcare, the right wingers and their scandals. Just too much to asssilimate in one sitting. The hate crimes are becoming scarier by the day. I always thought that at this stage of the game, that people would realize that whether you agreed with someone or disapproved of their choices they were still human beings and should be treated as such. Apparently some did not get the memo. Violence has always been a part of man's makeup, since the whole Cain and Able thing. It would appear we haven't progressed much since. Yes, we talk pretty now, but our actions and attitudes sure haven't changed much as a species. It seems the worse is from those that place ideology above reason and common sense. That is sad. Something that was suppose to make the human race strive to be better, has returned some to Neanderthals. Murder, beatings, decapitation, and on and on, spring forth from some seriously twisted minds. Where does this twist come come, you may ask? It is born out of a feeling of righteousness. The thought that nothing except your personal beliefs are important and anyone who appears, believes, acts differently than you is less than you. Granted, they are always exceptions, not everyone of faith or ideological backgrounds will fall lockstep. There is a special mental and emotional makeup to those that do. In my experience, it comes from religious repression of basic human needs or urges, low self esteem, and sadly a certain degree of ignorance, whether organic in nature or willful. These people have serious issues of their own that need to be addressed and church or political affiliation will not resolve them. Sure, you get the warm fuzzies from belonging, but that isn't an answer to their problems. It only serves to intensify the feelings they already have. It allows the issues to remain hidden behind good deeds and plastic smiles, where it festers and slowly over time it will surface. There is help for these people. All is not lost. People can and do change, but rarely on their own. It usually requires some outside event to challenge them to a new way of thinking, to expose their beliefs to be shallow and unworthy. Those held in it's deepest sway will never acknowledge truth regardless of it's source. For others, time and knowledge are keys to their awakening.

Fighting Back

Once again we were told that we don't matter. Our relationships aren't important. That religious beliefs triumph civil rights. We were shown that putting civil rights to a majority vote isn't the way to gain them. That our enemy is very effective at campaigns based on lies and distortions. We were also shown that the anti-gay organizations will not stop till all gay and lesbians are back in the closet, unseen and unheard from at the least, and their preference would be to see us dead or non-existent.
Now is the time to formula a new plan. Educating the ignorant, strengthening support from our allies and undermining the credibility and funding of hate groups, should become our priorities. Striking back with boycotts has met with limited success. Installing allies into government offices has paid dividends. Now the next step.
We have been too reactive, showing up to the fight after it starts, always on the defensive. We must now become proactive. Take the fight to their gate. Keep them off balance. Hammer them hard and repeatedly. This should be ongoing, whether there is a ballot measure or not. We need a constant stream of negative imaging campaign that ties directly to the groups and their funding sources. For example, using websites, on air advertising, billboards, etc. that exposes the facts of the corruption in Catholic churches, the shady dealings of vocal hate preachers, let the general public know that these people cannot be trusted to tell them the truth, that they are self serving and only want to enslave the population to serve them and their needs, through manipulation and lies, to arrive at their ultimate agenda of a theocracy. Pit them against other religions as to who would rule over the new theocracy they so desperately want to create for their God.
There is enough infrastructure in place, but the efforts need to be coordinated and relentless. Use the same broad brushstrokes used against us to paint them. This isn't about revenge, but survival. It truly is us against them. Our allies can only do so much. We need to step up our efforts, use the same rule book as they and above all, stop playing nice!

Notice to Anti Gay Groups

Churches of God's Love?

Instead of preventing this as the Bible instructed,

you chose to prevent this.

Which really seems more horrific?

Which really seems to be more in line with

the teachings you claim to hold so dear?

Rally Cry

Now we need to take the gloves off people. Let's expose the liars and haters for what they truly are. Let's get measures on ballots to strip away tax exempt status for all churches.

God's Agenda?

Can you imagine what could have been done with the money that churches and religious folk have spent trying to deny marriage to same sex couples? I was taught that first and foremost God was about unconditional love. I was taught the the Golden Rule was paramount in church teachings. Also that the Ten Commandments where to be strictly adhered to. I was taught that we live under Grace (the new testament) not the Law (the old testament). That was the purpose of the sacrifice. While I no longer attend a church or believe in one single dogma, my religious studies have found the same basic tenants in most every major religion on the planet, even if expressed differently. The behavior of churches against the gay civil rights movement has been appalling, downright blasphemous. It smacks God in the face, regardless of what form he may take for you personally. Granted not all, support these attacks and do good works as directed, but they are accessories to the facts simply by not aggressively taking a stance against them. They are directed to do such when other followers are out of line with biblical teachings, to gently admonish them. How many people could have been fed, clothed, or sheltered? How many could have had their home saved or electricity restored or prescriptions refilled? How many could have truly been helped that are deeply suffering through this recession? Instead, the churches and other religious folk disobeyed God's word to help others, to treat them with respect, to force their view, their agenda on the nation. That is the greatest abomination.

Healthcare Reform

If you can't speak the truth.....

Cartoon

The religious right isn't.

A Sign From God?

Just My POV

Yesterday's post generated some response. At least, someone is reading this blog. While I agree with wanting this administration to say something, I also feel that at this particular juncture, saying nothing is a smart move. It doesn't make us happy, but at least it does not give ammo to the other side nor does it give them time to implement a plan of resistance against what is coming down the pike. I see the silence as more of a strategic move more so than an abandonment. Like I said yesterday, there is a lot on his plate at the moment. I honestly don't recall a time line being mentioned while Obama was campaigning as to when equality would be addressed. Even if he had even one, the ideal and implementation are two entirely different things. As a gay American, I wish it was already a done deal. But I am an American first and gay is much further down the list. I want a strong country and economy. I want the wars to end. I want to see the Bushies held accountable for their crimes. Maybe because I'm not in a relationship, marriage isn't the foremost issue on my mind. Even if I were, there are states where it can happen. Change takes time, not only for those against it to come around, but for those who support it to lay the groundwork to make it happen. Silence can sometimes be golden, even if it isn't what you want to hear.

Just My POV

I'll be the first to admit that I had wanted/expected more from Obama on the gay rights front. I'll be the first to say "Thank you" to the states that have made great strides toward equality on their own. I'll also realize that the war, economy and health care are just as important to everyone whether they are gay or not. Undoing the damage of the Bush regime is a monumental task for anyone. Even with so many on our side now thanks to the Prop 8 fiasco, it will still take time to achieve the repeal of DADT and to recognize gay marriages on a federal level. I still believe all of these things will happen in time. I also know Obama is barely out of his first hundred days in office. Could things move along faster? Certainly. Do I wish it would? Hell yes! But despite whatever shortcoming real or perceived in our President, I would rather have him in office than Caribou Barbie/ McFlip. Everything has a season. Too much change too fast could cause more damage to our causes than this slower approach. Americans still need to process these changes that are coming. The religious right and the republican party needs to finish their implosions for all to see. When that time comes, when some of the dust has settled from the financial markets tanking, when the the economy has continued upward for a while and unemployment stops raising, when the new plan for ending the wars are finally implemented, the time will be right. While all of this is occurring isn't the best time to throw fuel on the fire with religious views clouding gay marriage and so many aspects of other things hanging over America at this time. The plate is full. Let's digest a little before hitting the buffet again. There is much to catch up on and make right and undo from the Bush years. I understand that. I don't expect miracles from anyone these days. I do expect an honest effort at the appropriate time. We elect our presidents to four year terms. Let's try to remember that. It isn't for only a few months. Things take time and timing is just as important.

Why?

In a world of interconnectedness, do we not feel each others' pain?

In a world grown smaller, how can we not?

Now what are we gonna do about it?

The hunger?

The poverty?

The disease?

The oppression?

The torture?

The wars?

The hate?

Where is the outcry?

Where is the rage?

Where is our world's leaders?

Where is the call to action?

Silver Linings

I'm sure the wingnuts are quaking in their boots over the events of the last few days. They finally must realize that what they have been saying has been discovered to be lies and misinformation by the more rational folk in this country. The ads have already started airing in some areas. I think this is a great opportunity for the LGBT community and it's allies to counteract this propaganda. We need to put the truth out there as only we can do, with parody and tongue - in - cheek humor. The educated and reasonable people see their ads and know it is false and intentional misleading, it is the others we need to reach with our message. Equality means equality for all, not select groups of ideologies. Counter misinformation with truth, and hate with love. After all, it's that what marriage is about?

That's What I Thought