Deep Something

It’s not really surprising to find that a small group of Republican Senators re-introduced the Federal Marriage Amendment to write discrimination into the U.S. Constitution. After all, they are mostly behind in the polls, the base is distraught and disorganized, and even fund raising isn’t going so well. What you might find interesting though, is that two of original 10 sponsors is Larry “wide stance” Craig (R-Idaho) and David “I heart hookers” Vitter (R-LA). Read more »

I have prepared a resolution on social justice to be introduced at the next meeting of the Administrative Board of Palma Ceia United Methodist Church here in Tampa. It will create an inclusive statement of non-discrimination. However, it goes a bit further. In an on-line conversation I had with a new acquaintance, he made a statement that caught my interest. He said, “People don’t have to pay a price for discrimination against gay people.” I believe this is a true statement. You can’t really change how people feel, but you can change how they behave in public through laws and through action. People who make racists statements pay a price. If they are business owner, they may be boycotted by people who don’t beleive in racism. At work, they may be ostricized, and it can affect their potential opportunities. But for the most part, people don’t pay a price for discriminating against homosexuals. My resolution requires the church to put its money where its mouth is. Read more »

The Family was no different. This bothered me a bit, so I went to the Tivo website, got a number for their corporate headquarters and called. A very nice person named Alyson called me back, and we had a nice discussion about the situation. i followed up my conversation with the following letter. Read more »

Here are a couple of things to give the krazy kristian kook wing of the Republican Party pause. Read more »

A while back John Stemberger, leader of the Anti-Gay Amendment 2 group here in Florida, was quoted in an Orlando Sentinal article discussing those opposed to Amendment 2 saying, “We’re going to confront deception and we’re going to expose them wherever they are.” Strong words, until one has to eat them. Read more »

This is the final in the series analyzing the debate between John Stemberger and Nadine Smith at the Orlando Tiger Bay club luncheon. This debate was held on March 27, 2008. This will analyze the Question and Answer section, and the closing comments by Smith and Stemberger. Read more »

This will be the first in what I expect will evolve into a series of articles related to the upcoming election and the vote on Constitutional Amendment #2. This is the krazy kristian kooks attempt to have a large conservative turnout in Florida, so instead of fielding a worthy candidate, they go for the devisive issue. Amendment #2 is, of course, a “marriage protection” amendment for the Florida Constitution. Read more »

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released annual survey results that indicate nearly half of American adults leave the “faith tradition” they were raised in to either join another religion or drop out of organized religion altogether. Ths year though, the unaffiliated — people who say they are religious but don’t claim allegiance to any particular institution or tradition — are now the fourth largest religious group in America. Read more »

All these religious right wingnuts think they absolve themselves of any responsibility for the violence purpetrated against gay people when they say, “Oh we don’t hate gays, we just hate the sin.” Bullshit. This is what you have wrought, and you will stand in judgement for it. These wingnuts love to invoke the Old Testament wrath of God when it comes to homosexuality. I’d remind them the prophets of the Old Testament were usually warning of God’s wrath in the context of how corrupt the religious leaders’ of that time had become. Micah summed it well: “He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Read more »

I had planned on a slow work week leading up to the holiday, and had attempted to be somewhat ahead of the game when it came to preparing for the holidays, but it didn’t work out that way. For that reason, I never got around to really writing anything about the holiday, but I could not let pass without comment this whole “war on Christmas bullshit” that seems to crank up every year. An example is a commentary on CNN by some guy named Roland Martin. Obviously, he perceives this concerted attack on Christmas by…well, he’s never clear about that other than categorizing the enemies of Christmas as “politically correct idiots”. Read more »

Here’s our last installment of the weekly tid bits for 2007. We’ve got a guy stuck in his septic tank on Christmas Eve. And leave it to Fred Phelps to end the year on some wing-nuttery as he blames the tiger attack in San Francisco on gay people. A wyoming woman stabbed her husband for opening presents early, and a bluetooth headset and cell phone foiled a robbery in Columbus, Ohio. We also have some Spanish scientists postulating that time might be slowing down. Read more »

I came across an article at the Christian Science Monitor on-line today about hunger in America. I spent some evenings working in the homeless shelter in Winston-Salem some years ago, and have, as a result of that experience, developed some perspective on the problems of poverty and homelessness in America. I wish I had some solutions, but I don’t…just a sense of what the world is really like. Read more »