Snow Day!

I'm taking the Snow Day (Wednesday) off from blogging so I can spend some more time working on some fiction I'm writing.  See you Thursday!

How can you not love Betty White?

Those of you who know me know that I'm an avid fan of the Mary Tyler Moore Show.  Betty White is one of my favorite actors on that show.  Here she is after being awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award for her work in television.

What does the church mean by the right to religious liberty?

 The Catholic News Agency is reporting that the Archdiocese of Washington, DC has issued a statement following yet another ruling that the voters of DC do not have the right to vote on the civil rights of citizens.  “In short, the panel found a right for same-sex couples to marry by ignoring the right to religious liberty,” charged the archdiocese.  The archdiocese further argued that the Board of Elections and Ethics committee's decision advances "paternalism under the guise of righteousness.”

Okay.  Under the same-sex marriage statute, no church or religious group will be required to marry same-sex couples.  No religious group will even be required to accept gay people into its community. So just whose religious liberty is being ignored here?  The only "freedom" I can think of is the "freedom" to keep LGBT citizens from accessing the rights of every heterosexual citizen in Washington, DC.  I hadn't realized that "freedom to oppress" was an American value we needed to preserve.

And as for the "paternalism under the guise of righteousness" charge, how can anyone possibly take the statement seriously when issued by an institution that has advanced patriarchy under the guise of religion for centuries?

Not your typical school mail

High schoolers in Maryland are required to take home this flyer that reads in part, "As a gay man I never thought I could change WHO I was.  Until I realized there was a choice...and I chose to change from gay to straight."

In Maryland, schools are required to send home information from any nonprofit that isn't promoting hate speech.  Perhaps this flyer isn't overt hate speech, but I have to ask: What if instead of being gay, any religious group was inserted in this flyer?

As a Mormon I never thought I could change WHO I was.  Until I realized there was a choice...and I chose to change from Mormon to Catholic.

As a Christian I never thought I could change WHO I was.  Until I realized there was a choice...and I chose to change from Christian to atheist. 


As a Jew I never thought I could change WHO I was.  Until I realized there was a choice...and I chose to change from Jewish to Christian.

I bet that flyer would sound a whole lot more like hate speech under these circumstances.  Why should we expect less from people who are telling kids that it is not okay to be who you are if you are gay?

Maybe it's time for Maryland to take another look at his ridiculous law.

Jon Stewart on the Democrats

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A Baltimore weather announcer freaks out

Thanks to Towleroad for this clip of a public nervous breakdown.

Don't kill us, jail us

According to Americablog, Peter Spriggs (left) from the Family Research Council of Super Bowl ad fame has called for the criminalization of homosexuality.  Bryan Fischer (right) of the American Family Association agreed, because homosexuality "represents an enormous threat to public health."  Said Fischer: "It's a simple matter of common sense, sound public policy, and a concern for public health. … Whatever we think we should do to curtail injection drug use are the same sorts of things we should pursue to curtail homosexual conduct."

He further justifies his jailing gay folks by claiming that 1 Timothy1:8-11 says that "those 'who practice homosexuality' should come under the purview of the law just as much as those who take people captive in order to sell them into slavery." 

As Americablog points out, "Family Research Council (FRC) and the American Family Association (AFA) are important players in Republican politics. So, we have to start asking Republicans if they agree with this proposal to jail the gays."

So, I guess these folks think that killing gay people is a little too much.  Jailing us will do just fine.