"Guns are not the problem"

True, guns are not the problem, that is, the entire problem but, they are a huge part of the problem.  Additionally, and in the wake of the carnage and wreckage and destroyed lives in Newtown, Ct.; why would a seemingly rational and kind person publish something such as above?

 

 

One act of horror, Oklahoma City does not forgive, exclude or mitigate the horror, terror and destruction of another act of mass murder.  Each in its own right exposes a fundamental flaw in the fabric of our society and our culture.  To think that a man, any man would disarm his mother, turn her guns against her and then rampage killing 25 more and then in one final act of rage kill himself is unfathomable. Yet in our culture, or society it happens over and over and over again.

 

 

Oh gun rights advocates will cluck that the second amendment blah, blah, blah and yes true, it does say that but, the founding fathers were thinking about single shot, cumbersome muskets not automatic weapons of mass destruction that would wipe away countess in a few minutes. One can only imagine how Washington, Madison, Jefferson and Adams would react to the world since Columbine. Perhaps it's time for Americans, all Americans who are thoughtful and rational to step back from this craziness and think about a solution to this problem. Clearly what we're doing now IS NOT WORKING.



Guns,Guns,Guns,Guns,Guns,Guns,Guns,Guns,Guns,

Guns

Durham restaurant owner killed

The owner of a Durham restaurant was found shot to death in the eatery's parking lot late Thursday, police said.

 

Sad, sad, sad and sad.  Then I posted on GOLO a response to some nut's rank about being pro gun and if the shop keep had had a gun then...blah, blah, blah...

 

(I'm amazed at how a tragic crime like this can trigger an emotional and political rant about gun rights, when a gun was used to kill this man. There are enough guns in the hands of Americans to arm each and every one of us and yet gun ownership advocates still want more gun ownership. Clearly this policy isn't working. So I'll put it this way to SmokeWagon and the rest of his ilk, it is time for a different solution and until you come up with something that works...I shall remain anti gun.)

 

Notice nothing, not a word saying I wanted to take away anyone's guns.

 

From working human

 

("" Please don't align all gun owners with the likes of Smokewagon. I come from a family of responsible gun owners...hunters & competitors. It's the cowardly, worthless pieces of bone & carcass that would gun down another human being in cold blood. Not all gun owners are so devoid of empathy, morals and consideration of their fellow human beings. We have gun laws that are not currently enforced that absolutely should be. I personally feel gun shows and kitchen table sellers should be outlawed as you are able to skirt laws in place to keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons, and the mentally disturbed.

What a senseless tragedy. My thoughts and prayers go out to this man's family and loved ones. I hope they catch this coward that murdered this man as soon as humanly possible.)

 

Ok, logical.

 

Goalieman

 

(amenmike, you are more than welcome to remain anti-gun but don't try to take my rights away!! Just because you believe something is wrong doesn't make you right. There are bad people out there and they have the illegal guns. Mine is registered! Something needs to be done about the illegal guns and gangs!!)

 

And we're swimming in a sea of crazy.

 

Of course then I throw gas on the fire...

 

Goalieman et al, the ball is in your court, you want your guns, then fix the problem. Until you do, I will indeed work to take away your right and eveyone else' right to own guns.

 

From pauley

 

("I'm amazed at how a tragic crime like this can trigger an emotional and political rant about gun rights, when a gun was used to kill this man. There are enough guns in the hands of Americans to arm each and every one of us and yet gun ownership advocates still want more gun ownership." --amenmike)

Are you advocating that Americans give up their rights to guns entirely? If so, I'd argue that there would still be guns and the only ones with guns would be these criminals.

Gun control laws are reasonable. People who with a violent criminal history should not have them. That said, criminals with non-violent offenses (even felonies) should not be excluded. Fail to pay taxes or license a business and lose gun rights?

The root problem is not guns. It is people who are so cold that they would even think of using a gun. We need to fix the people in this country. Many are morally bankrupt.)

 

Still on the balance beam.

 

From NCSUEngineerFC

 

---

("Goalieman et al, the ball is in your court, you want your guns, then fix the problem. Until you do, I will indeed work to take away your right and eveyone else' right to own guns." - amenmike

Wow, that's quite an attitude to have. Just dump the problem off on the other side of the aisle. You do know that law-abiding citizens have the right to bear arms according to the 2nd amendment, right? I'm hoping you do.)

 

Here NCSUEngineerFC assumes I haven't read the Constitution.

 

Then per nctorwart

 

(Amenmike: if you don't like the constitution then leave.)

 

It's not that I don't like the Constitution.  What I don't like is what handguns do to innocent shop keepers etc. who are simply going about their business. NCtowart employs that simple confuse and difuse tactic; I have no logical response so I'll attack.

 

Then carlostheass, who just well might be a huge one, pipes in

(Goalieman et al, the ball is in your court, you want your guns, then fix the problem. Until you do, I will indeed work to take away your right and eveyone else' right to own guns." --amenmike

People also drown people. I don't see you working to ban water. Are you on a thirst strike? Water is evil because it drowns people, as guns are evil because they cause massive tissue trauma, right? No more water for you until you fix the problem of people drowning people.)

 

His sense of logic is to say the least LACKING. Again, water is a naturally occuring substance and not, NOT created to kill.  

 

Then samdutes says this

(Until you do, I will indeed work to take away your right and eveyone else' right to own guns. --amenmike

So, what are you doing to take away peoples cars......folks break the law every day and kill people in cars.....just sayin')

 

Um, no Sam, cars are manufactered for moving people around not killing. If we were to use Sam's logic we'd have to outlaw knives, baseball bats, lead pipes...all objects made for a non-lethal reason but perverted sometimes for lethal purposes.  Guns are made to do one thing, kill.

 

By the way, go to google, and type in guns and see what happens.

Tony Perkins and Family Research Council...

Dan Savage take em down...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Mdu7uFDSlvM



Maybe Tony Perkins will step up and sue Dan...the witness stand is a lonely place to lie.

Facebook and the election

The following interplay was posted on my nephew's Facebook page.  I couldn't help but jump into the fray....

Julian: Obama wins!!
KC: And we lose. May God have mercy on the US.
JC:Oh yes, we should get on our knees!!!
AD: Maybe God wanted Obama to win and you are going against what God wants. That is a no-no for you!!!
Julian:Couldn't agree more!
AD:It's funny how in man's eyes, God usually supports the losers..
KC:God sets the leaders in place, but if we are apart of His family that does not mean that we have to believe in the ways of that leader. Just as Daniel was in a foreign land so are we. He did not follow the ways of the world. So please don't misunderstand because Obama is placed in the leadership role that God trust in his ways. But we are to continue to follow God's ways. If we are His children we don't follow the ways of the world. We live in the world but are not of this world.
JC; (who is the son of KC and a little mouthpiece for daddy)God gave u a choice, that's the beauty u don't seem to understand.[sic]
KC: Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Matt. 6:33 Seeking God is the key and you will find His will for your life and know His ways.(no surprise here; the easy way out is to go to scripture; it saves one from thinking for himself)
AD:"Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ;"-Ephesians 6:5. To disobey your leaders is to disobey god. (Gotta hand it to the young man here...he gives it right back.)
This Coggin fellow and his son are quick to push for following the leader, when THEY are the leader.  When someone else is the leader...the rules change.
KC:If you think God wants us to kill babies then you are sorely deceived. Understand that we follow God first. Any leader that ask us to go against our God we have a duty to God first and we can not follow just as Joseph did not bow before Pharaoh. (So typical here, instead of sticking it out like a man and truly arguing the point, Keith Coggin ducks weaves and brings in abortion, completely off topic.)
Julian:Just so u know, Andrew Daniels can make an argument over anything. And he always wins..
AD:Who said anything about babies? Now you are just making things up. Plus, if you have a duty to your God first, then please get out of my country. Because in this country, the real-world comes before "your" world. Real people, such as neighbors, friends, and family, are more important than some words in a book. "Learn from the past, look to the future, but
KC: (He knows he's lost the argument)just because you believe a lie, and argue for the sake of it, that's your choice.
JC:hey andrew, first of all the man your arguing with has done more for your country than you'll ever do. second his intellectual level is 10 times more than you'll ever have. so stop arguing with your elders, and maybe one day you'll understand the true meaning of life.(Another shift of topic) and he adds more...the point he was trying to make about life, which you didnt seem to grasp, is legalising arbortion. and not only that, but they also want you to pay for that preson who is arborting the baby. what he was trying to tell you is the democratic party has no moral values.and more...so am and more...so andrew, if you need a history lesson on ''American Government'' dont be shy to call on me. ill be happy to show you how the government began, and how it's intended to run. and by the way, christians are the best law abiding citizens in America.
The I pipe in: Thank God
And a day later I add...Wow Julian nothing like having the joy taken out of your sails by folks going off on tangents about morals and abortion. To say that a married man, with two daughters and one wife is immoral is illogical, unfair and hateful; I am speaking of President Obama of course. Additionally, to hear a person that I can only assume to be evangelical yammering about the Bible and yet I assume supports someone (Mitt Romney) a Mormon; part of a church that 150 years ago decided to follow an American "prophet" and completely bastardize their Christian faith, well that just leaves me shaking my head. I can only guess that Mr. Coggin hasn't figured out, because he lives in a very small and narrow place where those around him look like him, sound like him and think like him, that America has changed. Like it or not America is plural, brown, female, young, un-married and tolerant. Additionally I am a Democrat and a Christian and I also have morals and ethics.As for Coggin Jr. and discussing with elders, perhaps it would do you well to question your elders lest you end up in a like situation.

I then did send my two cents directly to this man...

He currently lives in Uganda where he is doing good deeds with children there.  Sadly, he is happy to lump those with which he disagrees into a pile of "sinful" mess. 

To that I take exception. This especially when folks like this feel inclined to go thousands of miles away to do good deeds when there is a whole lot of need right in their own backyard.

Oh but it is personal

I haven't had the courage to talk to my friends, family and loved ones about how they vote but...it is personal to me.

On one side, the Republican side we have a party that would deny me equal rights, equal protection under the law and would keep me relegated to second class citizenship.  Yet in spite of this, people who "love me" and "care for me" and spend time with me would vote for members of this party.  Members who publicly profess that I am second class.  Of course their decision to vote a particular way might be disguised in the belief that the GOP is in favor of smaller government, even though their behavior of the last forty years proves otherwise. Anyhow I digress.

I cannot help but feel very hurt, especially by family that posts pro-Republican points of view on their Facebook pages.  Additionally I'll see pro Chik fil A posts and all sorts of clap trap claiming that the majorities rights are being abridged and taken away.  Yet when I ask:

• What rights did you have four years ago that you don't have today?

The answer I get is typically silence or a blank stare.

I cannot help but feeling very sad, disappointed and disrespected when family members, MY FAMILY members post pro family values and marriage placards in their front yards and on the bumpers of their motor vehicles.  I mean, these people know me, they're related to me, we share blood but yet...

• When I say that I'd NEVER, EVER vote for someone who'd push to take away their rights I get

Silence or a blank stare.

Perhaps it's just a lack of respect for me and people like me and different people.
I sometimes get the argument that the Republicans running for office don't really believe in their conservative social stances.  They just have to say those things to get elected. This kills me on a variety of levels...

•  They're saying something they don't believe in to get elected and you'd STILL vote for them?
• They DID say it and those words and beliefs really and genuinely hurt me and STILL you'd vote for them?

So my dears, my loved ones, my friends and my... FAMILY....hear me well, I WOULD...NEVER...DO...THAT...TO...YOU!

Inspriration

 

The Durham Bull

 

Tower Bridge in Sepia

 

There is a joy in photography and photography done well.  I'm thinking that both of these photos will translate into paintings when I find time.



Voter Fraud

In a nutshell....there is none, yet right wing, tea party wack jobs have highjacked the voter registration process in poor, minority dominated states to jurymander the coming 2012 general elections.

Want proof...click here...

Too True

Romney/Ryan change, really, seriously?

The Budget of the United States Government is the President's proposal to the U.S. Congress which recommends funding levels for the next fiscal year, beginning October 1. Congressional decisions are governed by rules and legislation regarding the federal budget process. Budget committees set spending limits for the House and Senate committees and for Appropriations subcommittees, which then approve individual appropriations bills to allocate funding to various federal programs

Then taken directly from the http://budget.house.gov/about/committeehistory.htm

As the first panel to examine the President’s annual budget message, the Budget Committee’s chief responsibility is to draft a concurrent resolution that reconciles spending details with the overall comprehensive budget package. The committee is required to draft a budget resolution, agreed to by April 15 of each year, which establishes total targets in five budget areas: authority; outlays; revenues; surplus or deficit; and public debt. The resolution also sets budget authority and outlay targets for each of the 21 spending categories.


So Mr. Ryan, what exactly have you changed?

Crimes against humanity.

Guilty.

Rome...still inspiring

Here it is well over a year after my return from Rome and I still find myself there inspired by the place.  I have to admit the imagery of the city and Italy as a whole left me inspired and wanting more.  

A meditation on Chick-fil-A and friendship

So in the last couple of weeks since the brouhaha at Chick-fil-A has blown up I have un-friended several people on FaceBook.  On the list are family members and people who I once considered to be friends.  My actions are based on the fact that I disagree with these folks.  They are entitled to have their opinions and I respect that fact.  What I don’t accept, and what I won’t tolerate is public disrespect of me.

Additionally, I don’t buy into the notion that this is a first amendment argument.  This is an argument about a corporation and its financial support of organizations that harm people.  I don’t buy the argument that the “buycott” generated by some on the right was done to protect first amendment rights and family values.  The last time I looked gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender folks were all members of someone’s family.  So I’m left wondering, what are family values?  What does that mean?

Interestingly, I’ve noticed that many of Chick-fil-A supporters have referred to boycotters as fascists.  The logic here escapes me.  By its definition fascism is conservative.  Fascism is xenophobic, nationalistic, authoritarian, autocratic and rigid.  Inclusive, enlightened liberalism is none of those things.  Liberalism endeavors to make a place the table for anyone so long as they don’t hurt others.  Whether that hurt is by word, action or deed.

I recognize that a boycott by its nature is designed to inflict some degree of pain.  Typically the pain is economic.  The boycott of South Africa in the 1980s is an excellent example of economic activism.  Those of us on the left who are offended by Chick-fil-A actions are simply trying to affect change through that sort of nonviolent action.  So, to my friends who aren’t anymore, think about that.  Your public professions like that of Chick-fil-A ‘s president hurt those around you.

Kermit the Frog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj8WAszedXk

Silly, silly me

Why should I care about folks flocking to a chiken joint when tens of thousands of farmers and half the country's counties are dry as a cotton ball.

Shame on WRAL for not making this natural disaster front page news, instead they pander to sell time by talking about Chik Fil A.

Silly me, I fell for it.

Have a little hate on your chiken sammie!

North Carolina the state that I live in  is full of shameful, hateful people who guise themselves as Christian and loving people.  If they were loving they'd be for marriage equality for all people.  Yet, this is a state that voted 6 to 1 in favor of an amendment to the state constitution denying marriage equality to same gender peoples. Is it any wonder that these people flock to Chik Fil A?

God knows I love Jesus but his people terrify me.

The culture war comes home.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.  This is the first line of the Declaration of Independence a fundamental cornerstone of our culture and society.

When I consider the words above, especially in the context of the culture war being waged when it comes to equal rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people I can’t help but come to the realization that many of my countrymen have never fully digested the words above.  If the majority truly believed that all people are created equal, by their creator, then the majority would gladly bestow equal rights on all the people of this great nation.

I must draw the conclusion that many people in our society, by their actions, by their attitudes and by their behaviors view me as less than equal and less than a full man because of what I am.  There is still a long festering belief that I somehow chose to be what I am, that I made some sort of conscious decision to be what I am.  It’s true I did make a decision; that decision was not to be what I am, but rather not to live in secret and in shame.  My decision was to be true to myself.

I have to wonder about friends and family members who support politicians, pundits and businesses that openly and freely advocate discrimination against me.  I would hope that if the shoe were on the other foot that I would not behave in such a way.  I would hope that at all costs, that I would support, defend, nurture and advocate for any friend or family member who I perceived to be under the heel of repression.  Sadly, this isn’t the case.

Sarah Palin, grandma extra-ordinaire

This is obviously a statement about traditional marriage.  Well ok, perhaps they should explain that to their daughter and illegitimate grandson.

Welcome

http://joemygod.blogspot.com/search/label/Azariah%20Southworth

Well bless Jonathan Merritt's heart.

Sadly

Sadly

In our world of social media we can post whatever we’re thinking and feeling from the safe confines of our home sanctuary.  We can post without a thought as to how our feelings; religious, social, moral, political and economic might affect those with whom we’ve formed a relationship or bond.  This is sad and unfortunate.

These postings especially those of narrow minded antiquated religious conviction can be so damaging and hurtful.  Now I know those making the posting will claim that they do so out of “love” to save those not in belief alignment from eternal damnation and the flames of hell. That may or may not be true; but that is NOT the point.  The point is; one is free to have one’s personal beliefs and opinions but it really is a violation of societal codes to discuss them openly and in a Facebook or Twitter posting.

As a gay man and one so often the target of such postings in the last week I’ve been compelled to unfriend not only people who I thought were friends but blood family members, my brother,  who through their postings have demonstrated a complete lack of love, kindness or respect for me.    Do I care?  Of course I do. 

I’ve tried for many years to engage and similarly to convince myself that I don’t care and that to no avail.  I’ve tried to overlook the yard signs and the bumper stickers, ramblings and postings; I’ve tried to find common ground where a relationship could be maintained and I’ve failed.  The estrangement, silence and now overt hostility have created too wide a chasm and I don’t see the ice melting or the ground moving closer so I’m done trying.

Marriage

According to enrichment journal on the divorce rate in America:
The divorce rate in America for first marriage is 41%
The divorce rate in America for second marriage is 60%
The divorce rate in America for third marriage is 73%

Until proponents of "traditional marriage" get their house in order and fix the divorce rate at epidemic rates among their compatriots, I'd dare say they don't have a chiken leg to stand on.

Why I'd venture to say that someone sleeping on the sofa might have multiple marriages and out of wed-lock children all over the chiken coop.

Nuff said///

This man

Chose this woman as his running mate for vice president over

This man, Mitt Romney.

Nuff said.

Until gun owners can figure it out...

In my opinion it is the burden of gun owners and gun ownership advocates to work to make sure that these horrible slaughters stop. I'm of the attitude, ok if you want to own guns that's fine but you find a way to make it safe and sane and if you can't well then the shame and guilt is on you. Until we have some sort of rational system for keeping weapons of mass destruction and terror out of the hands of the insane, criminally insane, anti-social and psychopathic I shall remain...anti-gun.

OK gun lovers...help me on this one

One of the clarion calls of gun lovers is..."We need our guns to protect ourselves in the event of mayhem."

OK, I get that but....

 

14 shot dead at 'Dark Knight Rises' screening in Aurora, Colorado

Story

Early reports are not whispering a word about armed citizens in the theater rising to the occasion to do battle with the assailant. Thankfully this is the case given statistics regarding outcomes when gun battles erupt between heavily armed people.

 

 

Sarcasm aside, dear Lord God in heaven comfort and heal those hurt in this tragedy, touch and comfort their families and friends and lead us in your ways. 

Chow Down Chik Fil A

This is why I love drag queens.

Truth with humor!



Facism in America

I've been taking an inventory.  You see many folk are stating that this country is headed straight into a fascist state, ironically most of the folks saying this are on the right.  Perhaps they should read up on what Fascism is. It certainly ain't liberal, that would be um, Communism. Any how, I digress, what are a few facts among friends right?

Those that believe this stuff say that the current president is taking away all their rights. 

So, my inventory?  I've been trying to find one right that I had four years ago that I don't have today. I'm looking for one, just one ity, bity right that I no longer have. My answer none, I can't find any.

That's a big ole...

Yep that's right, I still have all of my rights and...so do you; all safely safe guarded by the constitution that the president swore to uphold with his hand on a...Bible! 

Sadly if you buy into the 24 hour news blather on Faux News that we're headed for Fascism, well then you buy into the blather which isn't news but lies and fear mongering.

Oh Ann Romney, poor, poor Ann Romney

Ann Romney July 19, 2012

"For the first time in the history of this country, people are saying to me, my children are not going to be better off than I am. That is not the way it's supposed to be in America. We have got to do something about that," Ann Romney said to the crowd.

How very true Ann, how very true.  Our children will not be better off because selfish, self- centered, self-serving rich people like you and your husband have hidden your money off shore and have FAILED to pay your fair share in taxes.

If you have nothing to hide, you'd release all of your tax records.  

No more CHIKEN for me

Chik Fil A has spent millions of dollars promoting discrimination against GTBL peoples.  Such is their right.  Well it is my right to BOYCOTT them and encourage everyone who I know and who CARES about me to do the same.

I realize that some minds will never be changed. I accept that, but that said, I will not spend my money on their products.

http://boycottchickfila.com/

Did you? Do you?

Do you?

Do you bristle at the thought of more government?  Is one of your philosophies a worry that Big Brother, Uncle Sam and all his little Uncle Samettes are slowly and surely invading your space, zapping your will, stealing your thunder and absconding with your rights and personal liberties? That they are generally meddling too much in your life?

Did you vote yes to Amendment one on Tuesday May 8, 2012 in North Carolina? If you answered affirmatively to the above questions, then my query for you is; how do you reconcile your actions?

By voting yes to Amendment one you’ve invited keen over site into an institution that you hold dear. You’ve diminished that institution that you value as one between you, a spouse and God, because you’ve invited a fourth party into the relationship, that being the State of North Carolina. Sure they’ve been there for a long time but now they, the state, are much more invested in what your relationship looks like, how it’s formed and what God’s role is.  God, by your action has now been moved out of the center, where God should be, to the sidelines and the new resident at the center of your marriage is the State.

To me, why that smacks of, dare I say it? Socialism or worst, Communism!  In those states God has no place in the relationship; God is supplanted by Big Brother at the center of all.   That yes vote for Amendment one in North Carolina had unforeseen consequences that the special interest groups and the authors of the bill and the yes voters never contemplated or envisioned. Those groups by their short sited actions in an attempt to strengthen what they hold dear and protect, their marriage, have indeed diminished it.

So, that’s the warning in knee jerk, reactionary legislation; it has dire and unexpected outcomes and by denying others a right, one often abridges one’s own rights and conditions.  Sadly messes like this one are terribly difficult to clean up.

I Feel...

I feel oppressed

For the first time in my life, I truly feel oppressed.  I've felt discrimination, I've felt hate, I've been targeted; had my home egged, shot at and paint balled. I had someone threaten to kill me and my partner John; had them threaten to burn our home down on Easter Sunday, I've had to clean up the glass from broken windows.  As disturbing as all of those acts were while we lived on Mineral Springs Rd. here in Durham NC; they don't compare to how this week's vote on Amendment 1 in North Carolina has made me feel. 

For the first time in my live I feel pressured by institutional oppression.  Interestingly enough, I'm single and unattached with no hint of romantic prospects and not even a glimmer on the horizon.  So marriage or civil union for me isn't possible right now. Even after several assaults and bumps and bruises in the past; here in North Carolina and once in Louisiana, I don't recall ever feeling as demoralized and damaged as I feel this week.  I am perplexed and disturbed by the fact that, in facing my neighbors, co-workers, family members and friends; that six in ten of them voted to make me a second class citizen with far fewer rights than they enjoy.  

I suppose that when there were physical confrontations at the Our House diner on Glenwood Ave. in Raleigh or when a sheriff's deputy with Durham County cornered my date and me at Waffle House on Hillsborough Rd. in Durham because in his words, "Something just didn't look right." I coped rather well because the bigotry was overt.  The sheriff's deputy didn't like two buff, late thirties, men in somewhat flamboyant bar wear visiting Waffle House at three am on a Sunday morning. What to him didn't look right was we were who we are and we weren't drunk, so he had NOTHING on us. But he held us for twenty minutes of incessant questioning until one of his comrades said, "Let them go."

This vote on Amendment one was covert.  You see so many with whom I work, have stayed silent and by their silence have spoken volumes.  They've said hello and asked how I am, but they haven't mentioned Tuesday.  Those around me who have voiced compassion and expressed dismay; well that tells me how they voted and where they came down  on the issue.

The masses who turned out to vote for this Amendment were mostly coached into their vote by their preachers and lay people in their churches, by the idiot brigade on AM talk radio and by deep seeded bigotry; away from the public eye and in a secret society. A society where there is no debate or rebuttal but rather edict and hierarchy. A secret society in which this is the way that it has always been and yes, shall remain. Those masses who voted yes, at heart view me as less than equal; as if something is wrong with me; as if I made some sort of decision to gladly live at the point of their bigotry, intolerance, ignorance and sometimes violence.

Yes, I feel oppressed, but let me give you oppressors fair warning here and now.  The gloves are off.  I'm NOT leaving, I'm here for a reason and I will remain here. I will fight too. Not with my fists but with my whit, my pen, my money and my brain. I will when I deem it necessary disrupt you in your secret places.  I will when essential call you out in print by your name. I will, when needed punish you financially by directing my money and my business referrals away from you. I will participate in the broader and greater struggles to free any and all peoples who might feel the yoke of oppression. 

Finally, I will work to my dying breath to educate my enemies that I did not make a choice to be what and who I am anymore than they made a choice to be what and who they are.  I did however and will continue to make a choice to live an open, honest and affirming life; the life that God has called me and all of his beloved to live.

Killing God in others

What is it?

What is it that would compel a Southern Baptist preacher from his pulpit to proclaim on the Fourth of July, that the president of the United States is one of the antichrist? In reflection several questions come to my mind;

1. Where is the Christ driven love, grace and compassion in that statement?
2. What possible goal is contemplated with such a statement?
3. What possible good can come of such a statement?

First Timothy 4:4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected when it is received with thanksgiving.

Man, all men and women are made in God’s image and in each person resides God. When we demean, diminish men and women we are demeaning and diminishing the God within them. To paint another as him whose name I will not speak or as antichrist then we are killing God within that person and there is no Christ appointed love, grace or compassion in that. We can disagree with points of view, with behavior but the human is always human and therefore a divinely inspired creature.

The goal of such a statement is simple to advance a personal agenda, perhaps, to cover some sort of insecurity, to garner an amen from those assembled, perhaps none of the above, perhaps all of the above. There is no Biblical foundation for such a statement or belief. The blood of Christ washed all of that away.

What good can come of such statements; none. Any statement that kills God in another diminishes the glory and gift of Calvary. Statements as such make God’s gift to humanity less real to all because it blows open the door to kill God in all. Today the God found in the president tomorrow the God found in you or me. That isn’t to say that we cannot find individual actions of a human to be less than divine, indeed we can and our call in those instances is prayer and example.

What is the call to action? Prayer; all people are worthy of the cross. We may not like some of their actions, we may find that some of their actions are contrary to scripture and teaching; but they the person in which God resides in worthy of our love, grace and respect.

NC Marriage Amendment a Response

Hmmmm

What do you do when you must face 6 in 10 people in your home state that have voted for an amendment to the state constitution that based on archaic religious grounds makes you a second class citizen?

Yesterday the voters of North Carolina overwhelmingly approved a poorly worded and ill-conceived amendment to the state constitution banning all forms of union except that of one between a man and a woman. The religious in droves went to the poll upholding the mores of the Old Testament whilst all but ignoring the good news that Jesus Christ brought in the New Testament. That Good News fulfilled the Old and in the words of Christ, “Finished it.” More succinctly, “It is done.”

Yes indeed it is done, but too many “followers” haven’t gotten the message. That being do unto others as you would have them do unto you; love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul and love your neighbors as you love yourself. Clearly in North Carolina this didn’t happen. A majority here as in most places are mired in the rigid religiosity of the Jewish Bible and to that end they will abrogate and deny equal protection under the law to their neighbors, co-workers, friends and family members.

The will do to the least what was done to Christ and they will feel smug and justified in doing so and that is terribly sad and immoral. Ironically those who voted to amend will feel most moral and will often pat themselves on their collective backs in self-congratulation for taking the moral high ground.

They will forget that during Jim Crow those who instituted and upheld terrible, abusive laws often behaved the same way. They felt justified in harming those considered to be lesser and less worthy. So until the masses in North Carolina and the world can get to a place where they truly understand that Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender people do not make a decision to be what they are; then the collective we will have to find some way to cope and endure through these most difficult, painful and hurtful days.

There is immense anger and hurt today in North Carolina, although many of us aren’t much surprised, scratch the surface and look closely and one sees a society that is ignorant, bigoted and prejudice in a whole spectrum of beliefs. Our hate and intolerance abuses those on the margins, those different, those painted as wicked and the only way to combat that hate is steadfast resolve and the moral high ground.

Kohlberg and moral development

Heinz dilemma

Heinz wife is dying of a rare form of cancer. There is a drug that can cure the cancer. Heinz tries to get the drug for his wife by raising money and beseeching the CEO of the drug company. He fails; what should he do?

1. Steal the drug and not go to jail.
2. Steal the drug and go to jail.
3. Let his wife die.

Conventional ethics, law and order, good boy, bad boy ethics state he should go to jail if he steals the drug. Post conventional ethics, he should not go to jail because the “broader” social contract asserts that he’s doing the right thing and pre conventional ethics would let his wife die, the rules are the rules. This according to Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of moral development who hypothesizes that each stage is more advanced than the previous; pre-conventional leads to conventional which leads to post conventional and so on.

Interesting, though in my approach to the dilemma I couldn’t help but thinking beyond the simple facts presented. Yes the drug company in the scenario is going to make tremendous profits at the cost to their social contract and I do have a problem with that. However, let’s suppose that a key ingredient in the drug is harvested by the poorest of poor farmers in the poorest of poor nations and that by stealing the drug to save his wife; Heinz denies those farmers a paycheck and their children starve to death. Then, did Heinz do the right thing? Did the ends justify the means and does Kohlberg’s scale really hold water?

My conclussion is that questions of morals and ethics in many situations tend to be much more blurry than what we see on the surface.

Serena RTP

Serena RTP

Looking for a fun, funky and somewhat loud atmosphere and food at a reasonable price? Try Serena on Miami Blvd. just south of I-40 on the outskirts of RTP. The place hops at lunch and sometimes at dinner, this past Friday evening it was hopping, mostly due to a huge bus full of University of Maryland women. By eight pm, my party was left alone in the place and the music changed form top 40 to 70’s so that was nice; you don’t hear Carol King while out too much anymore.

Expect pop music, expect sports on big screen televisions and expect a wait staff that is very friendly, warm and helpful. We were a party of seven and our waitress was great and funny too.

The menu is marketed as Sicilian influenced Gastropub. Ok, I can go with that. I started with Bruschetta which was exceptionally well done. The toasted bread was seasoned just right and the Roma tomatoes were fresh and delicious and swimming in a pool of slightly vinaigrette marinade.

My entre consisted of Gnocchi in Tony’s of Endicott Sicilian-Style Tomato Sauce with Moorish Meatballs. I’m pretty sure the Gnocchi was indeed homemade; I loved it. Tony’s sauce is delicate and light; my guess is that no tomato paste is used; a happy thing for me. It is so easy to weigh down the gravy and completely overpower the pasta. That said; the meatballs, oh the meatballs; yes, yes, yes. They are exquisite and I highly recommend them.

Friday night out at Serena RTP, fun, music modern, atmosphere neato and food oh so reasonably priced at $17 total; so I suggest that you go if you can.