While this is my first post on the current events in Iran I have been following the situation. There’s so much happening there and so many stories to tell but this one, in particular, struck me. Her name is believed to have been Neda, which translates into “the call” in Farsi, and she was brutally murdered in the streets during a protest in Tehran. ***Warning: Stories and videos contain graphic content (descriptions and depictions of real-life violence). ***
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2:23 PM ET — Neda before she was shot. A reader forwards this video showing Neda (in the black shirt and blue jeans) and her father (blue striped shirt) during the rally. Another reader sends an unconfirmed report of a memorial service for Neda planned for tomorrow at 5PM at Niloufar mosque at Abas Abad, Tehran.
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10:27 AM ET — What Neda’s father said. The image of Neda, a young Iranian woman, being shot and killed in the streets yesterday has become a rallying cry for Iranian reformists and their allies internationally. If you haven’t seen the video, I’m reposting it below, but please be warned, it is very very graphic.
A reader who couldn’t quite make out what her father was saying in the video understood after learning that her name is Neda. He sent in the transcript: “Neda, don’t be afraid. Neda, don’t be afraid. (There is yelling and screaming.) Neda, stay with me. Neda stay with me!”
Iran’s revolution has now run through a full cycle. A gruesomely captivating video of a young woman — laid out on a Tehran street after apparently being shot, blood pouring from her mouth and then across her face — swept Twitter, Facebook and other websites this weekend. The woman rapidly became a symbol of Iran’s escalating crisis, from a political confrontation to far more ominous physical clashes. Some sites refer to her as “Neda,” Farsi for the voice or the call. Tributes that incorporate startlingly upclose footage of her dying have started to spring up on YouTube.
Although it is not yet clear who shot “Neda” (a soldier? pro-government militant? an accidental misfiring?), her death may have changed everything. For the cycles of mourning in Shiite Islam actually provide a schedule for political combat — a way to generate or revive momentum. Shiite Muslims mourn their dead on the third, seventh and 40th days after a death, and these commemorations are a pivotal part of Iran’s rich history. During the revolution, the pattern of confrontations between the shah’s security forces and the revolutionaries often played out in 40-day cycles.
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“Neda” is already being hailed as a martyr, a second important concept in Shiism. With the reported deaths of 19 people Saturday, martyrdom also provides a potent force that could further deepen public anger at Iran’s regime.
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Because of Hussein, revolt against tyranny became part of Shiite tradition. Indeed, protest and martyrdom are widely considered duties to God. And nowhere is the practice more honored than in Iran, the world’s largest Shiite country.
The revolutionaries exploited the deep passion about martyrdom as well as the timetable of Shiite mourning in whipping up greater opposition to Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. With the deaths of “Neda” and others, they may now find the same phenomena used against them.
Regrettably it’s likely Neda is among the first of many to lose their lives in this revolution.
Despite the hideous lies and fearmongering of the RRRW, including outrageous claims that Matthew Shepard’s death was “a hoax”, the House of Representatives passed HR 1913 by a wide margin!
The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Mathew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, passed the U.S. House of Representatives with a 249 to 175 vote. A total of 231 Democrats voted in favor of the legislation with 17 voting against, while 18 Republicans voted for the legislation with 158 voting against, according to Stonewall Democrats.
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This description comes from HRC:
During debate on hate crimes legislation taking place today on the floor of the United States House of Representatives, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) claimed that Matthew Shepard’s death was “a hoax.” While Matthew’s mother, Judy Shepard looked on from the House gallery, Foxx, who managed the floor for those opposed to the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, spoke saying, “the hate crimes bill that’s called the Matthew Shepard Bill is named after a very unfortunate incident that happened where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn’t because he was gay. This – the bill was named for him, hate crimes bill was named for him, but it’s really a hoax that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.”
You have to love those Republicans and their “family values”. Nothing screams “morality” like supporting violent crimes against people just because you think they’re icky. Watch some of their antics yourself, courtesy of Think Progress.
The bill now goes to the Senate where it is anticipated voting will be close. Hopefully, though, the Senate will do the right thing, as the House did.
I’m used to the blame-and-shame mentality of the RRRWers, and the way they use it to excuse their utter lack of compassion for fellow human beings. But am I still able to be shocked when I encounter a particularly egregious case of it? Yes, because I have a heart–which they seem to lack. Case in point, Colorado state representative Dave Schultheis.
Democrats were outraged Wednesday morning when Republican state Sen. Dave Schultheis said he planned to vote against a bill to require HIV tests for pregnant women because the disease “stems from sexual promiscuity” and he didn’t think the Legislature should “remove the negative consequences that take place from poor behavior and unacceptable behavior.” The Colorado Springs lawmaker then proceeded to cast the lone vote against SB 179, which passed 32-1 and moves on to the House.
Schultheis presents two typical RRRW traits here. The first is dogmatic thinking: HIV/AIDS is the result of “sexual promiscuity”. Women get it by being sluts and men get it from having rampant gay sex. If you’ve heard anything from “scientists” about how you can get it through no fault of your own and/or through other means that’s just Satan lying to you. The second trait is the uncanny desire to heap punishment in one form or another on people they deem “sinful”. And to them pretty much everyone is a depraved sinner.
But it gets worse. Schultheis doesn’t want to punish only those slutty pregnant women .
“What I’m hoping is that, yes, that person may have AIDS, have it seriously as a baby and when they grow up, but the mother will begin to feel guilt as a result of that,” he said. “The family will see the negative consequences of that promiscuity and it may make a number of people over the coming years begin to realize that there are negative consequences and maybe they should adjust their behavior.”
Wanting a baby to be born with HIV/AIDS and suffer with it seriously for life so it will make the mother feel guilty! That is depraved beyond words. This man doesn’t’ care at all about people, but just wants to make them and everyone around them suffer for what he sees as “sins” and other transgressions. What is it about RRRWers that makes them such twisted, heartless, vindictive, inhumane things?
Yet they still claim to be the “pro-family” and “moral values” party. How anybody takes that seriously is beyond me.
Of course there are the obvious ones that are inherent in the specific laws themselves. Legislation banning same-sex marriage prevents gay and lesbian couples from accessing the 1138 federal rights and hundreds of state rights that are automatically granted to married couples. Such laws also reduce same-sex couples and their families to second-class status. LGBT people have many other laws specifically against them and do not enjoy the same protections others do, mostly due to the efforts of the RRRW.
Just as insidious, and often more dangerous, is the way that anti-gay legislation gives to intolerant people implicit permission to engage in hate-crimes against LGBT people. We’re not protected, and we’re not considered worthy of protection, so we’re fair game. What’s more, in cases where such laws have recently been passed the trend is for hate-crimes against LGBT people to surge. Perhaps the bigots are trying to send us a message, like “Now shut the eff up about your rights and get back in the closet you *****”.
LBGT PEOPLE and their supporters, who have turned out in large numbers to protest the narrow passage of the anti-gay Proposition 8 in California, are turning their attention to increasing incidents of horrifying hate crimes.
On December 13, in the Bay Area city of Richmond, a lesbian woman was gang-raped by four men who used homophobic epithets as they violently assaulted her for almost an hour, before leaving her naked in the street.
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Activists note that anti-gay hate crimes are on the rise nationally. According to FBI statistics, hate crimes directed at people because of their sexual orientation have risen over the past two years–1,017 were reported in 2005, 1,195 in 2006 and 1,265 in 2007.
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Avy Skolnik, a coordinator with the New York-based National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs, noted, “Anytime there is an anti-LGBT initiative, we tend to see spikes both in the numbers and the severity of attacks. People feel this extra entitlement to act out their prejudice.”
In 2008 alone, there was a spike in violent crime against LGBT people. Overall, the FBI reported a 1 percent decline in hate crimes in the U.S. last year–but a 6 percent increase in hate crimes against gay, lesbian and transgender people.
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In December, in Brooklyn, a 31-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant, Jose Sucuzhanay, was beaten with a baseball bat and kicked by three men, who jumped out of a car yelling anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs.
Angie Zapata, an 18-year-old transgender woman in Greeley, Colo., was found dead in her apartment on July 17. She had been beaten with fists and a fire extinguisher, after her assailant discovered she was biologically male.
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On January 6, 11 gay bars in Seattle received letters addressed to the “Owner/Manager” that warned, “Your establishment has been targeted. I have in my possession approximately 67 grams of ricin with which I will indiscriminately target at least five of your clients.” A 12th letter was sent to the alternative weekly, The Stranger, warning that the paper should be “prepared to announce the deaths of approximately 55 individuals.”
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Yet the RRRWers have been wringing their hands over how persecuted they are. Apparently people have been saying less than glowing things about some of them. That’s obviously much worse than what Zapata, Sucuzhanay, the lady in Richmond, and others endured. (Is the sarcasm emoticon really necessary here? )
SO WHY has there been such a spike in in violent crimes against LGBT people?
Society at large has moved in the direction of supporting LGBT rights, as ideas around sexuality have moved to the left in the past decade. One example of this is the fact that in 2004, the anti-gay Prop 22 in California won by a 14 point margin as opposed to the 4 percent margin of Prop 8.
However, as the trend of tolerance and acceptance has been increasing, so has the growth of right-wing religious organizations that have focused on getting anti-gay legislation passed across the U.S.
And the RRRW can’t stand the thought of losing their “right” to keep us mashed firmly under their boot heels. What’s more, if we could no longer be legally discriminated against the leaders of the RRRW would have to concoct a new “enemy” for their minions to engage in battle against. They have no identity unless they are God’s Christian Soldiers fighting some enemy. Should they lose us it would take great deals of money, time and effort to redirect their hatred to another target. It’s such a pity they can’t fight poverty, homelessness and hunger with the zeal they do our rights and our very existence.
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Prop 8 and similar legislation not only deny civil rights to gays and lesbians, but they give a green light to violent attacks against LGBT people. Anti-gay legislation gives credence to the idea that LGBT people are “immoral,” “unequal” and don’t deserve protection from hate. And the silence of politicians like Barack Obama on repealing DOMA gives a free pass to the homophobia expressed in legislation like Prop 8.
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Unfortunately Obama is, IMO, beyond hope. He’s apparently decided to throw LGBT people completely under the bus in favor of alliances with the RRRW. Essentially invisible token gestures and weak words on our behalf are useless and gain nothing.
The effects of anti-gay laws go well beyond laws themselves. They give carte blanche to bigots to keep being bigots and to harm LGBT people. They allow society to look the other way when law-abiding human beings are harmed, and their families are destroyed, simply because of who they are. It’s well beyond time we rid ourselves of them for the good of all.
Two-thirds of U.S. adults today perceive that the influence of religion in American life is waning, while just 27% believe it is rising. This represents a sharp decline in the image of religion compared with only three years ago, when 50% thought its influence was on an upswing, and marks one of the weakest readings on the influence of religion in Gallup’s five-decade history of asking the question.
“At the present time, do you think religion as a whole is increasing its influence on American life or losing its influence?”
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Religion rose even higher in perceived prominence in the 1980s during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, when religious conservatism — also known as the “religious right” was in ascendance as a potent political force. From 1983 to 1986, Gallup consistently recorded more Americans perceiving religion to be on the rise than in decline.
Given this historical context, it is possible that the recent decline in perceptions that religion is increasing in influence is partially a result of the decline of Republican political strength throughout President George W. Bush’s second term, a trend that was punctuated by the election of Democrat Barack Obama last month.
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Of course the theocrats see Obama’s election as a “sign” that their iron grip on America is waning. But he’s proven repeatedly through his association with RRRW preachers and constant infusion of religion into his campaign that he’s no friend to LGBTs or advocate for Separation of Church and State.
Public perceptions about the influence of religion have varied widely over the last half-century, and may be more a reflection of changing political realities than of personal beliefs about religion. However, the new poll also finds the percentage of Americans believing that religion can answer society’s problems is at an all-time low. Although still a majority, just 53% of Americans say religion “can answer all or most of today’s problems.” While 28% say it is “largely old-fashioned and out of date.”
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The vast majority of Americans who attend church or another worship service weekly (82%) say religion can answer today’s problems, as do 59% of those attending at least monthly, but only 27% of those who rarely or never attend agreed.
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And hardcore drug addicts are far more likely than non-users to think another fix is just what they need. Fancy that.
At the close of 2008, few Americans perceive that religion is thriving in U.S. society, and a relatively small majority believe religion is relevant to solving today’s problems. These perceptions may stem in part from the political climate — characterized by a weakened Republican Party and the incoming Democratic administration — as well as from the overwhelming consensus that the main problems facing the country today are economic.
I hope this trend continues. Maybe our descent into the Dark Ages is finally over–not that I expect the RRRW to give up without a fight. Their minions are getting more vicious as they realize they’re losing the battle.
At the same time, a solid majority of Americans (56%), largely unchanged from recent years, say that religion plays a very important role in their own lives. Also, Gallup Poll Daily tracking data shows no decline in the percent of Americans’ self-reported church attendance this year.
If it remains something that plays a role in their own lives it neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg, as Jefferson said. Only when they try to impose it on me do I take issue with it. Sadly some people can’t discern the difference between the former and the latter.
A study released Tuesday showed that despite popular opinion politicians who openly support and vote for LGBT friendly laws do not suffer damage to their political careers. In fact, they fare better than their bigoted or equivocating counterparts. (Guess what, Obama, you didn’t have to do a complete turn-around and sacrificeus for your presidential bid. )
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A review of votes from 2005 to the present shows that legislators who vote to end marriage discrimination for same-sex couples are consistently re-elected.
The success of more than 1,100 state legislators who voted to support same-sex marriage appears to defy the commonly held belief that supporting marriage equality ends political campaigns and careers.
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It also found that legislators who ran for higher office won after voting in favor of marriage for same-sex couples.
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“The American people deserve leaders who aren’t afraid to lead.” said Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry.
“For politicians, standing up for marriage equality is not touching a third-rail, rather, it is a track to re-election – and, happily, the path toward inclusion that America is traveling.”
The study included results from 21 different states representing all four major regions of the country.
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” And those of us outside the legislature should not be afraid to ask our representatives to do the right thing, and should do our part to help them do it, by talking about the injustice of exclusion from marriage and how government should help, not hurt, all families.”
This study should be forwarded to every politician in America. They need to know that it’s no longer necessary to kowtow to the RRRW bullies’ threats and tantrums. Voting for equality and fairness–the right thing to do–will actually advance their careers.
It would be wonderful to see our current descent into the Dark Ages come to an end.
Obama is having a few token gays at his inauguration in an attempt to seem “fair and balanced”. Needless to say a gay marching band and gay Episcopal Bishop who has never done nor wished harm on anyone doesn’t begin to make up for Rick Warren, Mass Murderer. But I digress.
The usual RRRW shills are having kittens because actual gays will appear at the event. Apparently we’re supposed to have been left locked in our closets until sometime after the Apocalypse.
The Rev. Gene Robinson, a gay Episcopal bishop, will say a prayer at an inaugural event at the Lincoln Monument on Sunday; a gay and lesbian marching band will take its place in the official presidential parade; and a slew of gay parties and inaugural balls will be held in the nation’s capital before and after Obama takes the oath of office.
But the gay-themed events have some conservative critics expressing concerns that while the celebration may be gay-friendly, it won’t be family-friendly.
Yeah, I’m sure Robinson is going to do his prayer in butt-less chaps, and the marching band will feature full-frontal nudity. That’s how we gays are, you know. Do these people ever get their minds out of the gutter?
Of course the assumption is always that gay people don’t have families, nor are they part of families, and that anything about them is automatically “not family-friendly”. The RRRW needs to wake up to the fact that their definition of family is not the only one that exists, or the only one that is acceptable.
“It’s not a day where a group that feels like it has some payback coming should be putting its decadent lifestyle on display.”
I agree. So does that mean Obama will finally can Rick Warren?
Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, an organization that describes itself as “devoted exclusively to exposing and countering the homosexual activist agenda,” is worried less about what happens in public and more about what may go on behind closed doors.
That’s the biggest problem with the RRRW. They spend too much time obsessing about, and interfering with, what people do behind closed doors. It’s none of their freaking business! And to think they have the nerve to call Liberals “Nanny Staters”. However the majority of the “gay” events will likely be much like the other events. Drinking and celebrating the inauguration of the new president. The notion that they’ll be huge gay orgies is just a figment (fantasy?) of LaBarbera and his cronies. Maybe if they spent more time having sex instead of repressing everyone else it wouldn’t be such an obsession with them.
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But not everyone shares their enthusiasm. LaBarbera’s group hopes to disrupt the Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend, held annually on Martin Luther King weekend for men with an interest in motorcycles and leather, by releasing details about the group’s plans.
“They keep their hotel location top-secret because they don’t want conservatives to find out. But we know it, and we’re going to try to get it stopped,” he said. “This is the most vile event, and it’s being held at a swanky hotel where conferences regularly occur. Groups coming in after MAL won’t know what went on there before they got there.”
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By “disrupt” Peter means “take lots of photos of half-nude and fully-nude men“. I notice Peter never takes photos of the women at these leather events (women do attend them, you know), nor does he take pictures of the heterosexual couples (who also attend leather events). And he never runs around the country infiltrating the Swinger parties to “disrupt” them. Maybe that’s because Peter is utterly and completely obsessed with gay men.
But there is some lingering resentment toward the gay community for its reaction to the passing of Proposition 8 in California, when demonstrators protested outside some houses of worship. “We would never choose the route of bigotry or hatred,” Mahoney said, “as the gay community did when they lost Prop 8, by defacing and vandalizing churches and places of worship, and attacked people of faith because they did not share their beliefs.
Oh FFS it drives me crazy when they lie like that. Hello! Proposition 8 was one of the most direct routes of bigotry and hatred you could ever have taken. Or would you like us to take away some of your rights while claiming we don’t hate you, we’re just “defending tradition” (or some other happy horse-poo)?
And the RRRW can’t even begin to pretend the “resentment” began after Proposition 8 protests. They’ve hated us since day one, and will do so until their dying day. Or until they do as they truly wish, and find a way to eradicate us.
The Christian Anti-Defamation Commission has published their list of the “Top Ten Instances of Christian Bashing in America”. Mind you I in no way condone actual threats, harm or abuse (verbal, physical or psychological) toward anyone. But as with most of their claims of “bashing” this top ten list is fraught with hyperbole and hysteria. And as with most RRRW Christian sources none of their claims, no matter how serious, have any citations at all. They know their like-minded readers are going to just take them at their word, but I certainly don’t, and you shouldn’t either. But on with the list.
INSTANCE #10: Jack Black Musical Video
In a short video posted on FunnyorDie.com entitled, “Prop 8 The Musical,” an all star cast of Hollywood celebrities perform a low budget musical farce that defames Christ, mocks Christians and distorts the teaching of the Bible. Jack Black played the lead role of Jesus.
Actually the video has Jesus come out and remind bigots who quote the tired old “the Bible says gays are an abomination (so they don’t deserve anything and that’s why it was good and righteous that we eradicated their right to marry and I don’t understand why people are questioning our deeply held religious beliefs blah blah blah)” that the Bible says a lot of things that even devout Christians don’t adhere to any more. They no longer refuse to eat shellfish, they don’t sell their daughters into slavery, they don’t stone their wives, etc. He also calls them hypocrites for picking and choosing because they don’t do any of those things yet continue to preach against gays and work to harm them. There is nothing in the video that defames Jesus or distorts the teaching of the Bible. Certain people are just ticked off because it exposes them for what they are. Hypocritical bigots who use their religion as a weapon against gay people and a shield for themselves against question or criticism of their actions. Watch it yourself if you don’t believe me.
INSTANCE #9: Bill Maher Gratuitously Attacks Pope
Bill Maher, host of the HBO program Real Time, made light of the Pope during his recent visit and the tragic sexual abuse scandal. Maher said, “Now I know what you’re thinking, Bill. You can’t be saying that the Catholic Church is no better than this creepy (radical Mormon polygamist) Texas cult. For one thing, alter boys can’t even get pregnant. But really, what tripped up the little cult on the prairie was that they only abused hundreds of kids, not thousands all over the world. Cults get raided; religions get parades… If you have a few hundred followers and you let some of them molest children, they call you a cult leader. If you have a billion, they call you Pope.”
How is anything Maher said wrong? For decades the Catholic church responded to sexual abuse complaints by intimidating and even threatening victims. They also moved offending clergy from one diocese to another in an attempt to quiet the storm in the former community. They essentially ignored the problem and many thousands of victims suffer needlessly. Only when secular lawsuits began did the Church finally have to admit openly there was a problem.
He urged efforts “to address the sin of abuse within the wider context of sexual mores” as well as a reassessment of “the values underpinning society.”
“What does it mean to speak of child protection when pornography and violence can be viewed in so many homes through media widely available today?” the pontiff said on the first full day of his US visit.
“Children deserve to grow up with a healthy understanding of sexuality and its proper place in human relationships. They should be spared the degrading manifestations and the crude manipulation of sexuality so prevalent today.”
Gee, it’s terrible about what those priests did to those children but–hey, look over there!!!
We shouldn’t worry about protecting children from predatory clergy because pornography is presently widely available? WTF? Not only is that a complete non-sequitur but he completely ignores the fact that 50-60 years ago when pornography was far less available priests were still abusing children. What is Pope Ratzi’s excuse for that? How about he just says “Satan made them do it” and be done with it.
Now lest anybody think I’m singling out the Catholics, I’m well aware that sexual abuse by church agents is rampant in many denominations. It’s to be expected where sexual repression is combined with deference to authority (particularly religious authority) and subservience of women and children. Head over to Conservative Babylon and Deep Thoughts to get your fill of pedophile and rapist pastors, reverends, deacons and the like.
INSTANCE #7: Minnesota University Professor Desecrates Communion
A Biology Professor from the University of Minnesota, Paul Zachary Myers, recently desecrated a consecrated communion wafer from a Catholic Mass. Meyer’s has also asked people to steal the Eucharist for him in order that he might desecrate it and display it on his blog.
How is this Christian bashing? Meyers nailed the wafer, along with torn out pages of The Koran and The God Delusion (a popular atheist book) to a copy of The Koran. His message is that things are things and should not be made sacred/idols. Sadly those who prefer to elevate things and ideologies over humanity didn’t get it, and probably never will.
Tell you what. Rip up a Rainbow Flag. Shred a dozen. I don’t give a darn. It won’t harm one hair on my head or worry me for a minute. The rainbow flag is a piece of fabric and a symbol. Damaging or even destroying it would not be “bashing gays” or harming us as people. What harms me and my community is denying us equal rights, protections and freedoms under the law, and preaching that we deserve to be mistreated–even when you claim to be doing it out of “love”.
INSTANCE #6: Religulous the Movie
Bill Maher released a very shallow, pseudo-intellectual documentary entitled Religulous. The movie did not cover any new intellectual ground. It simply raised the old attacks on the faith. Maher studiously avoided being fair and did not allow for legitimate Christian answers from any leading Christian intellectuals.
Get over it. I didn’t hear any Christians denouncing the heavily biased Expelled, which was nothing more than Creationists decrying the fact that they couldn’t pass off their religion as legitimate science and claiming that was “persecution”. But of course any movie that fails to paint religion and the religious in a strictly positive light will naturally be denounced as “bashing”. They can dish it out by the pound but they can’t take it even by the ounce.
INSTANCE #4: Colorado Law Criminalizes the Bible
SB200, a Colorado state bill recently signed into law, criminalizes the Bible. Section 8 of the bill entitled “Publishing of discriminative matter forbidden” makes publishing the Bible illegal because it contains anti-homosexual passages. This is part of a larger effort to criminalize the expression of certain opinions and beliefs.
No they didn’t, and this is another instance of the RRRW misstating the content and/or effect of laws to terrorize their flock into a desired response. SB 200 merely added sexual orientation to a list of other “protected classes ” (which includes race, national origin, marital status, and religion–which I don’t hear them crying about) against whom discrimination is illegal. That, of course, is what got the bigots’ panties in a knot. They loathe the prospect of not being able to legally discriminate against us in the name of their “deeply held religious beliefs”. Mind you similar disinformation campaigns were waged with SB 777, Proposition 8, Proposition 102 and many others, promising all manner of horrors if they did or did not pass. They’ll do and say anything to protect their perceived right to keep us under their boot heels. Making themselves out to be the victims is only part of the game.
INSTANCE #2: Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin Is Attacked
Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, came under sharp attack by some in the mainstream media because she self-identifies as a Christian. The Washington Post published a cartoon by Pat Oliphant mocking Palin because she has a background as a Pentecostal/Charistmatic Christian. A suspicious arson fire at Sarah Palin’s home church recently caused over $1,000,000 in damage.
INSTANCE #1: Radical Homosexuals Assault Prop 8 Marriage Supporters in California
During and after the November campaign stories flooded in of pro-Prop 8 signs being taken, people verbally and physically assaulted, church property and private automobiles vandalized, and person’s jobs and pastor’s lives threatened simply for exercising their right to campaign and vote in support of traditional marriage.
Correction. Radical Homosexual Activists exercised their First Amendment right to protest when their right to marry was stolen by an organized campaign of hatred, intolerance, lies and big money. As I’ve noted previously there’s no such thing as “traditional marriage” so anybody who thought or claimed that voting Yes on Proposition 8 was anything but an act of anti-gay bigotry was lying, be it to themselves or others.
Furthermore, the protests were predominantly peaceful and while some acts of vandalism occurred there have been no officially documented instances where gay people engaged in unprovoked acts against others. The giant cross lady provoked those who stomped on her cross, the “white powder” has never been proved to come from anybody in particular, let alone radical homosexuals, and please note that CADC provides not one link to support their claims of these Gays Gone Wild assertions. If they’re going to purport that clergy were threatened and the like they need to back it up with citations–ones that have some form of proof that the people who engaged in the acts were gay and acting against the individuals because they were religious. Wild allegations simply won’t do.
Christians in America are not persecuted or oppressed, except in the imaginations of some individuals. People disagreeing with a belief or position, even in a contrary way, is not bashing. The people who do the most persecuting are the ones who whine loudest when their gilded seat of privilege is questioned or challenged. The bullies cry loudest when anybody dare stand up to them.
Rick Warren has been making quite a stink about “defending” so-called traditional marriage from Teh Gays. But the more he talks, the more it becomes apparent he has no clue about the history of marriage at all. From the San Francisco Chronicle’s Jon Carrol:
Here’s a lovely quote you may wish to put in your scrapbook:
“For 5,000 years, every culture and every religion - not just Christianity - has defined marriage as a contract between men and women. There is no reason to change the universal, historical definition of marriage to appease 2 percent of our population. This is one issue that both Democrats and Republicans can agree on. Both Barack Obama and John McCain have publicly opposed the redefinition of marriage to include so-called ‘gay marriage.’ Even some gay leaders, like Al Rantel of KABC, oppose watering down the definition of marriage. … Of course, my longtime opposition is well known. This is not a political issue, it is a moral issue that God has spoken clearly about. There is no doubt where we should stand on this issue. … This will be a close contest, maybe even decided by a few thousand votes. I urge you to vote yes on Proposition 8 - to preserve the biblical definition of marriage. Don’t forget to vote!”
There’s so much wrong with that quote, I don’t know where to start. Islam, a reasonably well-known religion, has defined marriage as a contract between one man and as many as four women. I note that the speaker skillfully slides over that well-known custom; would he, one wonders, support a law allowing for polygamous marriages, since it is sanctioned by a popular monotheistic religion? No, he’s just cherry-picking.
Homosexuality was and is permitted in many cultures around the world. Even where it is not sanctioned, it is common and tolerated. Sometimes it is forced underground, turning gay people into criminals and making them more susceptible to both blackmail and disease. Does the speaker believe that criminalizing that private and nonviolent behavior constitutes an action of Christian charity?
Sadly he and his ilk do. They think they’re saving us from burning in hell by making our lives here on earth a living hell, even to the point that we kill ourselves in despair. Or so they claim.
And in what sense is the definition of marriage “watered down” by allowing gays to marry? Surely legalizing same-sex unions strengthens bonds, gives gays a greater stake in a free and peaceful society and makes the care of children of gay couples more stable and more loving.
Oh, but allowing gay people to marry destroys marriage for straight couples. They’ve given all sorts of valid reasons like, um…um… Well I’m sure they would give them if they existed.
We don’t invite Nazis to speak at the inauguration. We don’t invite Holocaust deniers. We don’t invite officials of the Ku Klux Klan. There are plenty of ministers who personally oppose same-sex marriage but do not get involved in political battles, allowing their parishioners to vote their consciences as opposed to ordering them to support one side. For that matter, there are plenty of ministers who support same-sex marriage. They are men and women of God, scholars, people who minister to the sick and watch over the dying. They too have purpose-driven lives, and their purposes are rather more admirable than leading a fight to take away previously granted rights from gays and lesbians.
Sadly Obama has a long history of associating with vicious homophobes and using them to suck up to the RRRW. Warren is just the latest in this trend. I have yet to see him “reach out” to the KKK, and I’m not holding my breath.
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Rick Warren, the controversial evangelist Obama has invited to speak at his inauguration tells Ann Curry in an NBC interview that, “For five thousand years, every single culture and every single religion has defined marriage as a man and a woman.”
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The prerequisite for this sort of absolute declaration is absolute ignorance of what one is talking about. In fact, the world is teeming with innumerable examples of marriage that would be unrecognizable to Warren and other so-called traditionalists.
Two spirited ones (formerly known as berdache) were commonly found in many Amerindian cultures. They were either biological males who felt the presence of a female soul so strongly that they chose to live their lives as women or vice-versa, females who chose to live as men. Pedro de Magalhães de Gandovo described such women — whom he called Amazons — in 1576: “The wear their hair cut in the same way as the men, and go to war with bows and arrows and pursue game, always in company with men; each has a woman to serve her, to whom she says she is married, and they treat each other and speak with each other as man and wife.”
The Mosuo people of China practice a form of courtship and sexual interaction anthropologists have called walking marriage, which consists basically of women being completely free to sleep with whomever they like, with children being cared for by the woman’s family — her brothers being paternal figures. Biological paternity is a non-issue. Every night is seen as an independent event, with no expectation of permanence or even continuity.
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Gay people who are accepted by society and women with complete sexual freedom. Wouldn’t that send the Fundies into paroxysms?
Among the Canela, “Virginity loss is only the first step into full marriage for a woman.” There are several other steps needed before the Canela society considers a couple to by truly married, including the young woman’s gaining social acceptance through her service in a “festival men’s society,” which includes sequential sex with fifteen to twenty members (no pun intended) and “the mother in law’s receipt of meat earned by the bride through extramarital sex” on a festival day.
Got that? Part of the marrying process is group sex followed by a gift to the mother-in-law-to-be of meat gained in exchange for sexual shenanigans with men other than the husband-to-be.
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Apart from expectations of permanence or social recognition, what about virginity and sexual fidelity? Are they universal and integral parts of marriage? Apparently not. For many societies, virginity is so unimportant there isn’t even a word for the concept in their language.
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So when defenders of traditional marriage make their appeals to some universally-accepted notion of what marriage is, they’re talking through their hats. No such institution exists, or ever has.
Rick Warren doesn’t know anything about Traditional Marriage. He obviously doesn’t even know that according to the Bible he cites as the reason gay people don’t deserve equal rights, polygamy and multiple concubines were considered Traditional Marriage. ( Exodus 21:10, 2 Samuel 5:13, 1 Chronicles 3:1-9, 1 Kings 11:3, 2 Chronicles 11:21, Deuteronomy 21:15-16). Therefore he shouldn’t proclaim himself defender of Traditional Marriage nor arbiter of who can or cannot participate in it.
That’s what Driving Equality is doing, anyway. What is Driving Equality?
Driving Equality is a trek across America to raise awareness of the various forms of discrimination faced by LGBT people in each state of the nation. Highlighting the differences in rights, laws, and amendments between the states will shed light on the current social standing of queer individuals today. I hope to create a dialogue about the disparities across the nation, and what can be done to end discrimination for all.
During the 100-day trip, I will be meeting with LGBT community organizers, activists, and any citizens willing to talk. Through these interviews, I will gain an understanding of the current political climates, and explore ways of combating discrimination. Throughout my journey, I will make frequent posts on this website, including photos and video clips.
The project will culminate with a documentary of my experience with the aim of activating a discussion about potential strategies for ensuring equality.
Driving Equality is holding a Rick-A-Thon whereby Warren’s appearance at the inauguration will raise money to help fund the 16,000 mile trip. BTW, DE will work to ensure the effort is as environmentally friendly as possible.
We are using Warren’s own bigotry to raise funds for a good cause, one that will help counter the lies that are being spread about LGBT people. Donations will go to Driving Equality, a 100-day trek across America, through all of the lower 48 states, to advance LGBT equality.
More, including embedded videos of Warren preaching intolerance, at the link.
You can pledge a particular amount of money per second Warren speaks or a flat amount for the entire time he’s on stage. See the pledge form for details and to sign up. Driving Equality also has Facebook and MySpace groups for anybody who would like to join.
Do these people ever get their minds out of the gutter?
The Christian Anti-Defamation Commission has published their list of the “Top Ten Instances of Christian Bashing in America”. Mind you I in no way condone actual threats, harm or abuse (verbal, physical or psychological) toward anyone. But as with most of their claims of “bashing” this top ten list is fraught with hyperbole and hysteria. And as with most RRRW Christian sources none of their claims, no matter how serious, have any citations at all. They know their like-minded readers are going to just take them at their word, but I certainly don’t, and you shouldn’t either. But on with 
Get over it. I didn’t hear any Christians denouncing the heavily biased 
That’s what 
