The site for ranting and reporting by John Masters
A general category for things related to our society and how we interact with one another.
Kentucky bill just passed by the House would bar government sanctions when individuals, groups and businesses cite religious beliefs in refusing to recognize a marriage or civil union, or to provide goods, services, accommodations or employment benefits to a couple. Anti-discrimination lawsuits also would be barred.
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Tony Perkins (who has frequently been a speaker at white supremacist meetings) of the Family Research Council (FRC-which got it’s start with a KKK mailing list, and is an SPLC designated hate group), is upset that a judge in Kentucky has apparently that the equal protection clause of the Constitution really does apply in Kentucky, and actually even requires that LGBT people be included in those protections
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Last year, I was forced to file a complaint with the Bishop about hateful and dishonest actions by Bruce Toms, the newly appointed Pastor at Palma Ceia United Methodist Church. At the time, I was told by several Methodist Ministers to not have high expectations. That came true, and here is my response to the Bishop’s findings.
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Marco Rubio shared a link to a National Review article about the U.N. report on the Catholic Church’s worldwide problem of child abuse. The report, not surprisingly seems to be in favor of said child abuse, and is indignant that the U.N. would have the gall to call out the Catholic Church on its many abuses. Since he’s provided the link on his Facebook page, I have to assume Marco supports that view.
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The topic of the cognitive dissonance amongst far-right conservatives has been on my mind a lot lately, and was brought to a head a week or so ago in a discussion on Facebook with someone I went to high school with all those many years ago. The point of view of the tea-baggers seems to be that they are entitled to government benefits, but everyone else who ever gets help is a freeloader (a taker).
Read moreAccording to the AFA’s Sandy Rios, as the Navy begins to put forces in place to support a possible response, they’re not capable because women sailors on naval ships are getting pregnant in exponential numbers,” and of course because there might be a few gay sailors on-board, how can we possibly conduct a military operation.
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The latest fabrication from the krazy kristian kooks is that a bakery in Oregon was “forced” to close because of gay marriage. If you read the stories cited by SPLC Designated Hate Group spokesperson, Brian Fischer, the bakery was forced out of business, and equally hateful and dishonest Matt Barber claims they were forced out of business by a “vicious boycott.”
Read moreWho would have ever thought that New Mexico would become the new nexus for gay rights? A week or so ago, in response to the recent Supreme Court rulings, Dona Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins started issuing marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. As of today, she’s issued approximately 91. And just today, in response to a lawsuit filed by two men, District Judge Sara Singleton issued an order which mandates that Santa Fe County Clerk Geraldine Salazar issue the marriage licenses or appear in court to tell the judge why that shouldn’t happen.
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Brian Brown of the anti-gay designated hate group National Organization for Marriage (NOM), and Bryan Fischer of the designated hate group American Family Association (AFA), both have their knickers in a twist over recent court ruling out of New Mexico. In this ruling, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled against a Albuquerque wedding photographer, Elane Photography who refused to work with a lesbian couple citing her deeply held religious beliefs.
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For over 10 years I’ve been a member of Palma Ceia United Methodist Church here in Tampa. In 2011, at the urging of a large group of members, the Administrative Council of the Church adopted a statement of welcome to all, which was to be placed on our website. Unfortunately, we were recently appointed a new pastor who’s animus towards gay people has caused to him to withdraw that welcome and remove the statement from all public display. In fact, he’s gone so far as to have our listing removed from a website that does nothing more than provide a geographic directory of gay-welcoming churches. He did it without any consultation with the Council, and has acted in some questionable ways.
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I couldn’t let the George Zimmerman case go by without commenting. I think the main issues in the case are being overrun by our desire to make the main issue one of race. The case certainly has two points of race running through it, but the primary issues here are Florida’s draconian self-defense laws, and our concealed-carry law. Let’s get the racial issues out of the way first. I certainly believe race played a role in this case. Zimmerman clearly, based on the 911 call, profiled Trayvon Martin because he was a young black man, but that’s not the primary cause of this situation. Florida’s insane Republican Legislators have blood on their hands as well.
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