A small pile - getting larger

Pile of guns
Originally uploaded by spacewalker115

Simply...

This Is NRA Porn

Getting Involved In Government Programs - Secular Volunteers YES, Churches NO

Change We can Believe in...Huh?

The Change We Can Believe In
Might Not Be the Change We Want to See.

Obama's fallen into an Evangelical trap: 45 minutes ago, AP announced that Barack Obama would be seeking to expand Bush's Faith Based Initiative.

(AP) Reaching out to evangelical voters, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is announcing plans to expand President Bush's program steering federal social service dollars to religious groups. Obama was unveiling his approach to getting religious charities more involved in government anti-poverty programs during a tour and remarks Tuesday in Zanesville, Ohio, at Eastside Community Ministry, which provides food, clothes, youth ministry and other services. "The challenges we face today ... are simply too big for government to solve alone," Obama was to say, according to a prepared text of his remarks obtained by The Associated Press. "We need all hands on deck."

We need all hands on deck alright, but with proselytizing hands, the right hand may keep secret what the left hand is doing. The faith-based initiative was risky from the start, and it was only by the grace of God (sorry) that Bush was tight-fisted to give the program the money he promised. There are plenty of non-religious, non-profit organizations doing what the government should be doing. And there are a host of people waiting to volunteer their time and efforts who don't need to say, "First tell me Jesus is your personal savior, then you can have your bowl of soup." And who will the bulk of the money go to? Only churches big enough to have a grant proposal writer, a promotion director and a glossy introduction kit. Megachurches will get bigger and small churches may go the way of the Dodo. Question: does Joel Osteen really need more money? And just where is Rod Parsley going to come up with an agency to feed the poor instead of himself? He'd have to agree to some kind of transparency - something many megachurch/televangelists are loathe to do. Something stinks in the Obama campaign.

That's right, brother, you better pray that tomorrow you're not my bitch

Barack, Let's Get Out Of Here! This Isn't Our Country Anymore!

"THEY" Are Out To Get Us!

Read this Washington Post article and you'll see why the people who scream they are Values Voters may be Values Liars: False Obama Rumors Fly in Flag City.

For every post, I cruise that fantastic site, Flickr. Sometimes I get more than I bargained for. This was one of those times.

I searched for "Barack Hussein Obama" Below are some of the results. They are horrendous, yes, but they are truthful in that they show us the ugly side of America - the irrational hatred that comes of ignorance and blind belief. These people need to hate someone, something, anything. The problem is that they are also the ones who have guns. Some of them anyway. And they have the right to vote. And they have the right to be "religious" and act on what they hear coming from the pulpit.

I'm afraid for Barack Obama. I'm afraid for myself and for everyone who believes in the Greek virtues of Knowledge, Wisdom, Compassion and Love. Every morning I wake up trying to put my faith where it belongs: in humanity. Images like the ones on this post always challenge that faith. I'm tired of the sniping and the hatred, the intolerance, the racism, the homophobia, the sexism that comes with today's "Faith." Sometimes I feel like Rhett Butler in Gone With The Wind's last scene when he says to Scarlett that he wants to see what little there is left of grace and dignity in the world. Then when she asks him what she will do after he's gone, the classic line, "My dear, I don't give a damn," resonates within me. I hate myself for having such feelings. There are, I know, wonderful people outside of my beautiful sanctuary of San Francisco, but with all the hatred and the posturing, they're getting harder and harder to pick out.

O.K.: Let's get this over with.





And the worst of it all: the photo is real and the commentary is real:

Hussein Obama thinks:

And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

This country was founded on principles found in that big book I'm clinging to.
Obama wants to ban guns, the greatest equalizer to bitter assholes who want to harm me and/or my family and property.
Obama wants to spread over $800 billion in 13 years around the world with his Global Poverty Reduction act.
Fuck you Obama!

Proud "typical white person" NRA member and talk radio listener.

In 2003 the US knocked a Hussein out of power. 2008 we are looking to put a Hussein back in power.

So What Do Jehovah's Witnesses Think About McCain and Obama?

Jehovah's Witnesses' Stanley Theater

During This Values Voters
and Creepy Christofascist Presidential Campaign...
Just Where do Jehovah's Witnesses Fit In?

Nowhere, it seems.

From Wikipedia:

Jehovah's Witnesses believe their allegiance belongs to God's Kingdom, which is viewed as an actual government. Thus they refrain from saluting the flag of any country or singing nationalistic songs.They believe that these acts are tantamount to worship. The political neutrality of Jehovah's Witnesses is also expressed by their refusal to participate in military service – even when it is compulsory – and by their detachment from secular politics. Voting in political elections is considered a compromise of their Christian neutrality.

How unpatriotic!! How Cult-like! But to a certain extent...

How reasonable. Witnesses seem to realize that convergence of politics and religion does not make for a healthy nation. Since they consider secular government inconsequential to their religion, they are not hypocritical in forcing government to bend to their values. They don't run for office. How sane. They do not hold Values Voters Summits. How perfectly humble. While others are holding picket signs and screaming during Gay Pride Parades, Jehovah's Witnesses are quietly standing on the sidelines holding copies of Watchtower and Awake! If they are Christians - they are DIGNIFIED Christians.

I get an rss feed from a king of "blog" called ChristiaNet.com a which there has been an argument as to whether or not Jehovah's Witnesses are a "cult" with all the pejorative meanings of the word. Religious intolerance abounds during these free-for-alls. Needless to say, they are never dignified.

Example:

A destructive cult of false teachings, that frequently result in spiritual and psychological abuse, as well as needless deaths (bogus blood transfusion ban).Yes,you can 'check out anytime you want but you can never leave',because they can and will hold your family hostage.

The world has the Internet now,and there are tens of thousands of pages up from disgruntled ex-Jehovah's Witnesses like myself who have been abused by the Watchtower cult.Jehovah's Witnesses are often a mouth that prays a hand that kills.The Watchtower is a truly Orwellian world.

I've heard that said about the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints as well.

Religions hating other religions. Who to believe? What to believe?

Bush Catholic?

Might make sense - If You're George Bush

Boy did I miss this one! I must have been ruminating on something pretty hard not to see the rumors coming. I reported that George Bush was dumb enough to call the Pope "Your Eminence." I probably assumed no one that stupid would convert to Catholicism.

(From The Drudge Retort)

President George Bush was given such a splendid welcome by Pope Benedict XVI yesterday that rumors started flying that the President, like Tony Blair before him, was on the verge of converting to Catholicism, according to The Independent. It was a Vatican visit such as no other head of state has ever enjoyed.

Of course, if Bush is as power-hungry AND as stupid as people think, he might become Catholic to see if he can become pope. An obscure ecclesiastical rule that has never been erased: one does not necessarily have to be a priest to become Pope. There is the problem, however, of Laura Bush: if he tries to annul their marriage, then the twins would be technically illegitimate.

Bush's brother, Jeb, converted to Catholicism several years ago. Has it changed him? Who knows. He's off the political radar screen these days.

Thank God.




Of course,
George might be possessed in which case he'd have to undergo an exorcism!

The Politics of In-Your-Face Pride ...OOOH! Half-Naked Men and...

Completely Naked Truths, Compassion, and Humanity!

I'm blogging here while fireworks are going off in the night sky. It's Pink Saturday in San Francisco and a time for revelry, but not for me. I don't mind, because I'm here with whoever is reading this.

I remember one Gay Pride Parade - I was in it, on a float with about 10 hunky(er) men. We were the last float (the last float was always the one with the loudest/best music to dance to all the way down to the Civic Center) and we passed by what looked to me like a group of Stepford Wives. They were shouting that we were so very sinful and going to hell. That was when I realized that the vehemence of their shouts were meant not at our gayness ...but at our maleness. They were, in a word, jealous. The testosterone from the float would have made anyone swoon, but these guys weren't attracted to them. Their femaleness was being openly offended.

There's a certain kind of glee to be gotten from in-your-face pride. I'll admit that. But there's a certain amount of political posturing going on as well. I'll admit that too. To strut with a sign that says, "I'm Here. I'm Queer. Get Used To It." means that you are willing to take a bold stance against something. Unfortunately, that "something" is (these days) a segment of Christianity. The dark portion, if you will. You know, when gays started coming out of their closets in the 70s, many of them thought, "If they can just see us for the good human beings we are, then everything will be O.K." WRONG!! The more we started coming out of the closet, the more we were vilified by "Christians". Then the Age of AIDS came along and gave some people more ammunition for hatred. Sad: what could have been Christianity's shining hour turned out to be it's darkest years. People died in the streets. People danced in the streets. People were thrown out of their homes while they were sick and dying and Christian mentors were shouting approval. The first faith-based AIDS agency outside of San Francisco was the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles - 6 years after the outbreak. 65,000 people had already died. And it took real courage for the LA diocese to help AIDS victims. The churches of the Southern Baptist Convention still do not sponsor any AIDS agencies (outside of Africa, of course). Twenty-five years later, and some people still think you can get AIDS from a toilet seat. Uninformed? Sadly, no. They're just that stupid. They trusted people like Jerry Falwell and Jesse Helms. I'm sure that some people of Orlando, FLA are still waiting for a meteor to strike them because Disney World sponsored a Gay Day - Pat Robertson said so!!

So where does my pride come from? It comes from all of those truly compassionate people who gave their time, their efforts, their money and their very lives to helping all of the AIDS victims while few others would. I'm proud of being gay because of them. I'm especially proud of San Francisco, the city that sprouted about 60 different AIDS agencies within a meager two years!

I'm Proud. I'm Loud. Get Over It!

I culled some pictures from several past Pride Parades. Yes, I love the gratuitous naked men, but I hope you'll find something else besides sex: the joy of loving everyone while loving yourself.







I think the best part of the SF Gay Pride parade is the Christofascist protesters: they look so silly with their badly spelled (or just bad grammar) makeshift signs, wondering if they're going to get killed by almost one million people. The joke is soooo on them: even for bigots, this is probably the safest place to be. If there's violence, honey, don't blame us!

Here are some Christofascists and The One...The Only...Fred Phelps!

Separated at Birth?

Oh, the inhumanity of it all.
What a waste.

Really OK? Or Just Tolerated?

Originally uploaded by deborah lattimore

There are too many people in the country who would look upon this as the most offensive of all the pictures I'm posting today. Even one is one too many, but you know there are perhaps millions (if the Christofascist numbers are correct). Tolerance schmolerance. Frankly, I'm sick of it. It's arrogant - how many people do you know who say the word "tolerance" while they're looking down their noses? It's righteous f*cking arrogance (sorry, but I'm riled up today). Tolerance is NOT full acceptance! And full acceptance is what is needed. And equal rights are based on full acceptance. That's why same-sex marriage is so important to so many of us.