Thursday, December 29, 2011

Via JMG: Ron Paul's Website Boasts Of Endorsement From "Death To Gays" Christian Pastor


"In a society that was being converted, homosexuals could continue to be converted as they were in the church of Corinth. Even after a society implemented Biblical law and made homosexuality a crime, there are many checks and balances that would be in place. The civil government could not round them up. Only those who were prosecuted by citizens could be punished, and the punishment could take a number of forms, including death. This would have a tendency of driving homosexuals back into their closets. I think I have demonstrated how even capital punishment can be restorative. Other aspects of penology such as restitution, indentured servitude, etc. are certainly restorative." - Pastor Phil Kayser, from his 2009 book, Is The Death Penalty Just? Ron Paul's website is currently bragging about the endorsement of the "eminent" Keyser.

Has Andrew Sullivan fully retracted his endorsement yet?

UPDATE: The above endorsement has now been yanked from Ron Paul's site.


Reposted from Joe

Via JMG: Truth Wins Out To Run Full-Page Ad Calling For Resignation Of Cardinal George


The ad will run in this Sunday's Chicago Tribune. Via press release:
Truth Wins Out stepped up its campaign calling on Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Francis George to resign today by placing a full-page ad in this upcoming Sunday's Chicago Tribune. The ad is headlined, "Hey, Cardinal Francis George, Gay is not like the KKK," and slams the Cardinal for foolishly comparing the LGBT community to the Ku Klux Klan. It satirically includes a picture of a rainbow-robed Klansman and debunks the lies and misinformation disseminated by the Archbishop about the LGBT community. The ad comes as an online TWO petition calling on George to step down has reached more than 4,000 signatures. "We felt compelled to place this ad after Cardinal George compounded his initial smear with further insults disguised as an apology," said Truth Wins Out's Executive Director Wayne Besen. "It seems the sin of pride is keeping George from saying he is sorry for his outrageous and misleading remarks about Gay Pride. At this point, the only road to redemption is his resignation."

Reposted from Joe

Via AmericaBlogGay:

Pedophile-enabling religions, that still haven't come clean, have lost any right to make moral comparisons about anything. 

Statement from Francis Cardinal George, OMI
Archbishop of Chicago
December 27, 2011
The Chicago Gay Pride Parade has been organized and attended for many years without interfering with the worship of God in a Catholic church. When the 2012 Parade organizers announced a time and route change this year, it was apparent that the Parade would interfere with divine worship in a Catholic parish on the new route. When the pastor's request for reconsideration of the plans was ignored, the organizers invited an obvious comparison to other groups who have historically attempted to stifle the religious freedom of the Catholic Church. One such organization is the Ku Klux Klan which, well into the 1940's, paraded through American cities not only to interfere with Catholic worship but also to demonstrate that Catholics stand outside of the American consensus. It is not a precedent anyone should want to emulate.

Gay journalist Rex Wockner responds via email:

"The Chicago gay pride parade attracts 800,000 people. It proceeds through a heavily congested, dense urban cityscape. Absolutely positively everything in its wake is disrupted. What on earth makes one service at one church on one day special enough to change the start time of a gigantic parade? Let alone excuses comparing 'the gay liberation movement' with the 'Ku Klux Klan'? No, cardinal, the gay pride committee is not targeting the Catholic church. 'The gay liberation movement' is not targeting the Catholic church either. Your church building is affected in no way any different from hundreds upon hundreds of buildings for miles in all directions (Lake Michigan notwithstanding). You really do need to get out more."

This is part of the larger religious right "we're so oppressed" mantra, that the Catholic church has clearly adopted now as well.  If they can't have their way in everything, if governments and elected politicians refuse to do their bidding 100% of the time, then the Catholics are being terribly oppressed. It's a spin off of the old "you're intolerant of my intolerance" argument the religious right likes to make in an effort to stifle all criticism of their bigotry.  In this case, if you don't do what the Catholic church tells you, even if you're not Catholic, well then, you're just like the Klan.

One can only imagine Cardinal George grocery shopping.  "You know who else won't accept expired coupons? The Klan."

Via Tricycle Daily Dharma:

Tricycle Daily Dharma December 29, 2011

Mindful Breathing

Mindful breathing helps you see your anger, your frustration, your suffering. When you breathe mindfully, you practice looking deeply into yourself. You are made of feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness. Your true nature is what—if not these things? Because it is wrong perceptions that make you suffer, and if you don’t know the nature of your own perceptions, you are not likely to get free of your suffering. So your true nature is the nature of your feelings, your perceptions, your mental formations, and your consciousness.
- Thich Nhat Hanh, “Interbeing with Thich Nhat Hanh”
Read the entire article in the Tricycle Wisdom Collection