The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters
This Category is to cover those stories related to issues of sexual orientation.
I’ve been thinking back over the time I got spend recently at the quadrennial General Conference of the United Methodist Church held here in Tampa this year. It was a big event, and it was a mess from a church polity standpoint. Like Congress, little of great substance was accomplished, and few longstanding issues were resolved, but that may be a good thing. Here, I reflect on the experience.
Read moreWell, of course the war over writing bigotry and discrimination into the North Carolina Constitution is in full swing. I am sadly disappointed that this is what my home state has come to, but I’m not surprised. I’ve talked to several of the legislators who voted to put this on the ballot, and they absolve themselves by saying, “Well, I just think the people should vote.” But when I ask them why they don’t put every civil right on the ballot, I was called, “absurd.”
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Apparently NPR Religion Correspondent, Barbara Bradley-Haggerty, has decided that religious groups which claim to be Christian can’t possibly be hate groups. It also seems she makes decisions about who to interview for stories based on who returns her call the fastest.
Read moreSo now we come to the end of our little journey through the latest creation of Maggie Gallagher. Maggie is the former Board Chair and President of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), but she recently left those posts to create an off-shoot group called the Marriage Anti-Defamation Alliance, because you know, the good Christians like Maggie are being persecuted because they slowing losing their right to discriminate against whole classes of people under the civil laws of this country. Maggie started this group up with a guy named Frank Turek. Frank’s story was one of the first NOM started trotting out to try to show that people who believe in unequal treatment were being treated unequally.
Read moreToday’s featured guest is Ruth Sheldon, but before we get to Ruth’s story, don’t you just love the intense music NOM uses at the beginning of their videos? Ruth was the Town Clerk for Granby for nearly 16 years. She wants us to be sure we know that she loved the job, but was forced to give it up because of those icky gay people expecting to be treated fairly. She wrote in her resignation letter that “New York State passed the same-sex marriage law, a law which violates my conscience and my faith.”
Read moreLaura Fotusky is another of the town clerks being trotted out by NOM with the claim that she was somehow being persecuted because, God forbid, she might have been expected to carry out her ministerial duties as prescribed by New York State law, and actually treat everyone equally under those laws. Well, we can’t go around having government employees doing that now, can we? Back in July, Laura resigned her position as the Town Clerk of Barker, NY rather than sign marriage licenses for everyone qualified to be married under civil law.
Read moreIt appears that folks at the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), Maggie Gallagher’s personal hate group, is collecting stories of town/county clerks from around New York State who feel put-upon for having to follow the state’s law that all couples are equal under the State’s Marriage laws. As they collect their videos of the horrible (horrible I say) persecution caused these people being expected to do their civil duties under state law as Agents of The State, we’ll look at them under the light of a Constitutional Republic which is ruled by law, not religion.
Read moreSo this GOP State Senator James Forrester who is supposedly a medical doctor (fortunately the sick in his town he’s retired). The batshittery is beyond belief and goes on and on as this blow hard is caught in lie after lie as he tries to conceal the animous on which the anti-gay hate bill was based. He was the primary sponsor. I warn you, the blatant idocy could make you want to puncture your ear drums.
Read moreThe Senate today held hearings on the Defense of Marriage Act. There were a lot of poignant moments, but Senator Al Franken may have pulled off one of the best exchanges of the day. Franken is a smart guy, and these idiots from the hate organizations need to not sell him short. They may get away with making shit up with other Senators, but not much gets by Sen. Franken.
Read moreI admit to being a little late on this one, but head of SPLC designated hate group Family Research Council, Tony Perkins, is just all atwitter about marriage equality passing in New York State. Get this, he’s deeply concerned the law doesn’t “protect” deeply religious “divorce lawyers.” If, as Perkins and the other haters claim, they are just in this to “protect marriage,” why would there be any such thing as a “deeply religious divorce lawyer.” Wouldn’t their deeply held beliefs prohibit them enabling any divorce?
Read moreThere is a great tradition in the Northeast United States of annual town meetings. Important issues for the town are voted on by everyone attending (who is a legal voter in that town), and this is where the famous line, “stand and be counted” comes from. After everyone has spoken on the issue, they call on those in favor to “stand and be counted.” We’ve just celebrated the day the Declaration of Independence was ratified. Those founding fathers did more than just vote, they pledged their lives and fortunes in defiance of the Crown. Note they not only said it, they affixed their signatures to the document…an act of treason.
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