Existential Punk

Now, Someone Has a Brain!

 

At a blog post over at the blog Finding Rhythm entitled "The Myth of 'Biblical Marriage' ", i found the comment by Chris, who blogs at prophetsandpopstars.com, to make the most sense on this entire same-sex marriage debate. Now, someone has a brain!

"I don’t comment often either, however…should we not be thinking about ‘civil’ constructs of marriage rather than ‘Biblical?’ Is it necessary for Christians to hold everyone up to a Biblical standard even when the Bible isn’t a person’s particular standard? It’s pretty ridiculous to throw, “but Jesus says…” to a person who could give a rip about what Jesus says. Does the Church need to be running the government when it’s struggling to run itself?

I appreciate both sides of the discussion, but when civil privileges are at the core of the issue (and not moral definitions) ought we not turn our rhetoric towards civic discussion rather than religious?

I could go on and on, but that’s my half penny.

Word!"

i love Chris’s comment. My partner, Katryna, and i were just talking about this when we we found his comment. He nails it on the head. This is NOT a theocracy and we have a Constitution that gives us freedoms, not take them away!

Katryna can’t agree more. She is so excited at the thought of putting divorce on the ballot because divorce of course IS against the Biblical standards in marriage. She is so offended people have been divorcing for years and years that it is about time we took that right away from them. Therefore, she’s starting a petition to get a new ballot on the books to take away the right to divorce! She can’t stop laughing!

Some Thoughts On Same Sex Marriage

i was just over at a friend's blog and responded to a post about Prop 8, which Adam is a strong gay rights advocate. i got so fucking angry at many of the comments. i felt like a tick filled with blood ready to explode. i had to say something and here is how i responded:

First off, i know Adam and know he has a beautiful and enriching faith in Christ. Second, We ought not judge people. Our faith is between God and ourselves. i could say the same about some of the commenters here and wonder if they really are Christians. But, that is pointless for me to do, unproductive, and divisive, which Christ is not about at all.  Lastly, i am a queer Christ-follower. It really hurts to hear many of the comments here about people like myself.

So now i'd like to share some thoughts for you to ponder and chew on about prop 8, which affects me and my partner:

1. We are ALL created equal under the Constitution. i pay taxes like everyone else in this damn country. Yet, i am a 2nd class citizen because i cannot marry.

2. To those of you who say just give us civil unions: Civil union rights vary from state to state, if they even have them. Marriage affords couples way more rights and protections than civil unions. Civil unions mean separate but equal.

3. Civil marriages do not need churches to perform them.

4, Yes, there were same sex unions in 'the olden days': Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe.

4. The Bible was written by imperfect humans inspired by God, yet still fallible and able to miss it. That does not mean there are not truths to be gleaned from the Bible. i am not a literalist when reading the Bible, but that does not mean the stories don't teach truth. Nowhere in the Bible does it state it is "the INERRANT word of God."

5. "The majority ruled, so get over yourselves". So, if we followed this mentality many moons ago, i guess blacks could still be sitting at the back of the bus, women would not be voting, slaves would still be around, and interracial marriages would still be illegal. The Constitution is meant to give freedoms, NOT take away  freedoms. Majorities are NOT always right.

6. "Traditional marriage" threatened by gay marriage." HOW? marriage used to be a contract between a man and the father of the woman he married. Women were property. If you feel threatened, then don't marry someone of the same sex! Divorce, spousal abuse, spousal murder, etc. are what threatens marriage!

7. Separation of church and state. These churches spent tons of money and told their congregants how to vote on prop 8. REVOKE their tax-exempt status! They lied and said churches would be required to perform gay marriages. NOT TRUE! They lied and said schools would have to teach children about homosexuality. FALSE! We cannot impose religious beliefs on others who may not believe the same things. This is NOT a theocracy!

8. This is a civil rights issue. It's a HUMAN RIGHTS issue. Where is love and inclusion? This is what Jesus spoke about. He never spoke about homosexuality.

9. This vote for Prop 8 is a slippery slope. Your rights could just as easily be put before a vote and taken away too.

10. i don't come into your bedrooms, so why don't you all who fight against me and others in the LGBTQ community stay out of our bedrooms. It's REALLY NONE of your damn business!

Respectfully,

Adele

This is the WRONG Way to Act!

If we are going to build bridges and allies, which we STRONGLY need since we are a minority, then this is NOT the way to treat people, whoever and whatever their beliefs are about anything. We can passionately disagree, but violence or stealing/taking and/or destroying someone else's property is unacceptable. People already hate us, so we do not need to give them more ammo! Let this be a reminder and a lesson to treat others as we would want them to treat us. Of course i found this at Fox News.

 

TOTALLY ABSURD!!!

When did winter scarves become dangerous, except maybe an accidental hanging?! :) The Orange County High School Principal in New York seems to think wearing a scarf is akin to wearing gang clothing. In our society we wear scarves to keep warm and for fashion. So, if gangs were to adopt, say, sunglasses or uggs as gang paraphernalia, are we to assume school head honchos will ban these from schools as well? This is absolutely absurd!

"It all began last Thursday when a student wore a scarf to school. An administrator looked at the scarf and decided it was some kind of show of support for gangs.

Students say the boy denied supporting gangs.

"We asked him, 'Why do you wear scarves?' And he said, 'Because they match my outfit!'" Smith told CBS 2. "It's suspicion, it's discrimination, and it's not fair."

A day later, the principal announced a new policy: no scarves of any kind could be worn inside the school building."

A Change To Existential Punk

i, as Existential Punk, have always been welcome to divergent viewpoints in the comment sections of my posts. Dialogue is good and a place where we can learn from others. For several years now i have had one repeat commenter who mostly comments on my posts dealing with LGBTQ issues/concerns. His is a very narrow-minded, legalistic, fundamentalist person who finds himself having ALL the answers and feels the need to disseminate it all here.  i learned early on not to entangle myself in back and forth because he is very narrow-minded. It just frustrated the snot out of me and i realized we were getting nowhere in dialogue. i have been tolerant to him and his comments, maybe to a fault. He has his narrow views and most people who do comment here do not find his conversations helpful.

The last straw finally broke when he said this today, "Think of marriage as a sort of family contract, which arises due to the fact that their sex produces babies. Sadly, while many gays understand this and don't seek to marry, others are too stupid to understand." He called me stupid and i have to have some self-respect. Since this is MY blog, i can decide who is welcome to post here and who is NOT! From now on, this person will be banned from posting on my blog. If anyone else comes here to post narrow-minded meanness, i will ban them too. Again, i am NOT opposed to divergent viewpoints from my own. i just want respectful, kind, and encouraging dialogue and not see people torn down. There are enough Sean Hannity's and Rush Limbaugh's in this world i don't need them here.

Thanks for your understanding and thanks to all who visit and comment by these standards.

Existential Punk

Latinos and Gay Marriage

As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere." You'd think that as Latinos, proud and strong and willing to fight for our own rights,- we'd refuse to turn against the "punier kid," wouldn't you? 

___________________________________________________________________________________

A GREAT commentary on why Latinos should see gay marriage as a civil right from Fernando Espuelas at CNN.

So it was BOTH the Latino community and the African American community that came out in droves to vote for Obama and also voted yes on Prop 8. How ironic that two groups who have experienced prejudice would vote to take away our rights. It sounds so hypocritical to me. i am blown away by this and left dazed and confused. i will not turn negative towards them and i will continue to stand up for them because it is the right thing to do. BUT, i will still be honest with them about my feelings of betrayal. i LOVE the Martin Luther King, Jr. quote above as it really does sum up the situation.

Another View on Prop 8

A fellow Richmond blogger weighs in on the passing of California's Prop 8. i think she hits the nail on the head and makes really great points.

I've got to weigh in.

So, here's my two cents:

Do we really want religious beliefs informing our laws?

One of the catch phrases that Republicans used to justify the war in Iraq was "they hate our freedom." Remember that? Well, if we are supposed to be opposed to terrorists because they "hate our freedom," then why are we voting to take away the freedoms of our own citizens?

If you say that it's because they (gay and lesbian citizens) should have never had the right to marry in the first place, then I'd ask you - Why not? Why should a heterosexual couple be allowed to marry any more than a same-sex couple? If your answer takes you right back to the old "because marriage is between a man and a woman" argument then my response to that is - Why?

Invariably bigots will either quote the bible or mention something about the natural laws of procreation. Well, then why don't we just do away with secular law all together and follow biblical law? Which one do you want to go with? The King James bible? The Book of Mormon? (Anyone else think it's effing religulous that Mormons, of all people, want to get in on an argument about marriage?) The Koran? The Torah? Which one can we all agree to abide by?

And if you really believe that the ability to procreate somehow sanctifies a family unit then I suppose you'll be all for it when the Earth is populated to the point that we are all walking on top of each other like cockroaches and fighting to the death for a last morsel of food. Fucking is a lot more spiritual when you are in love, but anybody who thinks that it doesn't, or shouldn't, or couldn't happen outside of holy matrimony is obviously either a sanctimonious liar or has shit for brains.

And if you think that it's in any way appropriate for civil rights to be put to the popular vote then I sincerely hope that you are not black, not a woman, or do not have so much as a drop of immigrant blood in your body, because if you are in any way a part of - or love someone who is a part of - any of the aforementioned groups then you can thank supreme court justices for your ability to cast a vote in favor or against someone else's civil rights right now.

And if you think judges are "legislating from the bench" then you really are ignorant. Mob rule will never protect the rights of a minority. May your God help you if you ever find yourself in a minority at the mercy of a majority vote.

And don't tell me that next it'll be "a man and a cat" or "a woman and two birds" or some moronic crap like that. You know better than that shit and if you don't then you really should just keep your mouth shut anyway.

I'm not telling you not to follow your religious convictions, I'm just telling you to practice them in the privacy of your home and your church and keep them off my constitution. If you don't believe in same-sex marriage, then don't marry anyone of the same-sex. But leave me the hell alone and I will leave you alone.

It really is that simple.

P. S. Kelly, has a great solution! If this is all about "protecting the sanctity of marriage" then let's fight to amend the constitution to prohibit divorce. Wonder how that'll go over. Talk about hypocrisy!

HT to earth2karen.

A happy and sad day in America

It's a happy day for Barack Obama supporters and the African American population. i am very proud of our nation for electing Obama as our next President.

Yet, it is also a very sad day for the LGBTQ community because Arizona, California, and Florida have furthered hate, homophobia, and divisiveness by passing their anti-gay marriage propositions. As a queer woman, i have very mixed emotions today; i am elated and deflated at the same time.

Our country has come a long way in such a short time for the African American community and i come alongside them in celebrating. i also will not get too down regarding the marriage bans passing but will get motivated more to fight harder. With an Obama administartion i have hope for our community. This Obama victory shows anything is possible. The LGBTQ has a long and hard fight ahead of us but we can and will succeed! i have to believe it will happen and sometime in my life.

i'm at a real loss here . . .

Ok, i just saw a woman on MSNBC, who owns a diner in Pennsylvania. She said she is a registered Democrat but today is STILL UNDECIDED. She also believes her vote will affect her and she is STILL WAITING to see what each candidate has to offer! i am at a real loss here! HOW can anyone STILL NOT KNOW where the candidates stand? Are they living on another planet? Do they NOT read their positions on their websites? Obama on the issues here and  McCain on the issues here. Do they NOT read news sites or listen to the television? The candidates speeches are all over the airwaves and the internet. Either way people, get some balls and make a fucking decision. Either vote Obama/Biden or vote McCain/Palin. i prefer the former over the latter, but in the words of Nike, "JUST DO IT!" 

Lance Simmens from his piece at Huffington Post says this:

"The troubled times we find ourselves in cry out for and demand creativity, ingenuity, and a new way of thinking. Obama/Biden offers at least the possibility of a new frontier. McCain/Palin offers no possibility other than a reckless tack into a mythical past that never existed."

Good food for thought and if this lady would read this, maybe her decision could be made today. BUT, i don't have much hope in her or other undecideds, yet.

                                                                                                                                                          

UPDATE: Here is an article about this lady and other UNDECIDEDS at CNN.

Dirty Politics in Virginia!

i DETEST dirty politics that are used to win an election at ANY cost rather than allowing voters and the political process in our country to play out and decide elections. CHEATERS NEVER PROSPER in the LONG RUN. In the short run, they may succeed, like the elections in 2000 and 2004, but they end up ruining it for everyone.

This story from Talking Points Memo IS DESPICABLE!

Phony Virginia Flier Tells Dems To Vote November 5

By Zachary Roth - October 27, 2008, 5:04PM

A phony flier, purporting to be from the Virginia Board of Elections, is circulating in the African-American-heavy Hampton Roads region of the state, falsely informing people that, because of expected high turnout, Democrats should vote on November 5th.

The election is November 4th.

State election officials informed the local press of the flier, which was posted on the website of The Virginian-Pilot, and is designed to look like an official announcement. It even uses images of the state board logo and the state seal, both of which are available online.

It reads:

Due to the larger than expected voter turnout in this years [sic] electoral process, An [sic] emergency session of the General Assembly has adopted the following emergency regulations to ease the load on local electorial [sic] precincts and ensure a fair electorial [sic] process.

All Democratic party supporters and independent voters supporting Democratic candidates shall vote on November 5th as adopted by emergency regulation of the Virginia General Assembly.

All Republican party supporters and independent voters supporting Republican candidates shall vote on November 4th as precribed [sic] by law.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause but felt this was the only way to ensure fairness to the complete electorial [sic] process.

State police are looking into the flier's provenance, according to election officials. It can be a federal crime to attempt to obstruct someone from voting.

Virginia, where Barack Obama currently leads, is a crucial swing state in the election.