pamshouseblendf

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PamsHouseBlend/~3/TTchMWy_oxo/visibility-matters-images-matter

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/14285/visibility-matters-images-matter

I own all of the three-by-five foot flags in this photo (and a few more as well), and the flags are very intentional in scope. My peers and I hope that when photos are taken of trans-related community marches or parades, the flags are highlighted. Here, the collection of flags send the message we want to send.

Note the American Flag, as well as the powder pink, white, and powder blue "Trans-American" Flag right next to it, as well as the other two flags in the photo. We carry the powder pink, white, and powder blue Transgender Flag (and the rainbow intoned GLBT Flag) near the American Flag and the "Trans-American" Flag.

My trans peers and I understand the importance of saying we're broader American society -- so we always have the American flag flying when we march. The Transgender Flag and the "Trans-American" Flag are bridges to show that trans people in San Diego are Americans in how these two flags bridge to the American Flag. And, we carry all of these by the Rainbow Flag to let people know that 1.) trans people are part of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community, and 2.) we honor the LGB people who march with our community.

Flags we also bring that are not in this picture are the Bisexual Flag (many trans people also identify as bisexual; we honor the bisexual people who are not trans and march with our community by flying their flag), the Mexican Flag (being a border town, we honor those who come to our events and identify with Mexico), and the California Flag (San Diego is, of course, in California).

It matters -- sending the message that America includes trans people; trans people in the United States are also Americans. Sometimes our LGBT community enemies here in the USA like to delude themselves by saying we're all against America, but many of us see ourselves as patriotic Americans -- whether we be liberal or conservative in our political ideologies. In the trans community her in San Diego, we seek to visually send a different message by the flags we carry.

pamshouseblendf

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PamsHouseBlend/~3/9HNw1-0I8oE/afa-tries-to-sugarcoat-the-end-of-its-embarrassingly-premature-boycott-against-gap

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/14283/afa-tries-to-sugarcoat-the-end-of-its-embarrassingly-premature-boycott-against-gap

crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

Recently via One News Now came this news:

The American Family Association (AFA) is suspending its Christmas-season boycott of Gap, Old Navy, and Banana Republic.

The suspension of the boycott is in effect until at least Saturday. A Gap official has reported to the pro-family group that it will unveil a new Christmas-themed commercial this weekend. AFA says it is suspending the boycott "in good faith" until it has an opportunity to view the new commercial.

The boycott was initiated after the clothing company refused to use the word "Christmas" in its ads and promotions. Also, some people were upset over a Gap television ad that mentioned a host of other holiday traditions along with Christmas.

Buddy Smith, a spokesman for AFA, believes the boycott has had an impact. "Our supporters here sent emails, made phone calls, wrote letters, and expressed their concern -- and so obviously GAP got the message," he explains.

It's amazing how the article tries to sugarcoat the fact that the AFA originally started the boycott because it felt that GAP wasn't using the word "Christmas" in its promotions.

From ThinkProgress.org, this is what the AFA originally said:
 

For years, Gap has refused to use the word Christmas in its television commercials, newspaper ads and in-store promotions, despite tens of thousands of consumer requests to recognize Christmas and in spite of repeated requests from AFA to do the same.

Last year, Gap issued this politically-correct statement to Christmas shoppers: “Gap recognizes that many traditions are celebrated throughout this season and we feel it is important to display holiday signage that is inclusive to everyone.”

Christmas is special because of Jesus. It’s not just a “winter holiday.” For millions of Americans the giving and receiving of gifts is in honor of the One who gave Himself. For the Gap to pretend that isn’t the foundation of the Christmas season is political correctness at best and religious bigotry at worst.

The link goes on to expose just how mistaken the AFA was in its assessment of the situation:

AFA’s first shot in the war is a misfire, as Dan Neil of the LA Times points out today. In one of the first lines of Gap’s new holiday ad, the actors yell, “Go Christmas!” (as well as “Go Hanukkah! Go Kwanzaa! Go Solstice!”)

The link even shows the commercial:

Now that the AFA has a little egg on its face, the organization is trying to wipe it away under everyone's noses.

The sentence in the One News Now article - Also, some people were upset over a Gap television ad that mentioned a host of other holiday traditions along with Christmas - seems to be an inaccurate reconstruction of why the boycott was started.

Of course the Christian thing to do would be for the AFA to just admit its mistake.

But as we have seen in so other many cases, while the AFA talks about Christian values, it doesn't know the first thing about upholding them.

However it is nice to note that while everyone else settled down to eat turkey this Thanksgiving, the AFA dined on crow.

pamshouseblendf

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PamsHouseBlend/~3/9-Sp2DEKHCY/equalitymaine-moving-forward

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/14282/equalitymaine-moving-forward

Welcome to EqualityMaine

On May 6, Maine made history when it became the first state in the country to pass a marriage equality bill through its Legislature and have it signed by its Governor. Immediately afterwards, opponents of marriage equality launched a People's Veto referendum campaign to try to overturn the law. Read about the journey that put Maine in a unique position to make history at the polls...

Choosing a communications strategy for our marriage campaign was a balancing act, where we carefully weighed messages that work with Mainers vs messages that work with marriage. Our media strategy will be debated and analyzed as time goes on, but what we do know is that our TV ads were effective in connecting marriage with Maine values of fairness and equality. View the videos and TV ads that got us to the brink of history...

Starting next weekend, EQME will be engaging in a series of open meetings around the state:

Community Conversations

Please click on one of the dates to join us for a series of Community Conversations:

Sunday, Dec 6 - Augusta
Monday, Dec 7 - Ogunquit
Tuesday, Dec 8 - Ellsworth
Wed, Dec 9 - Lewiston/Auburn
Thursday, Dec 10 - Bangor
Wed, Dec 16 - Portland**

**Note: The Portland Community Conversation was previously scheduled for Tuesday, Dec 15 but is being rescheduled to accommodate for the Downeast Pride Alliance event the same night.  

pamshouseblendf

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PamsHouseBlend/~3/9cuGSF7B3f0/even-talibangicals-cant-agree-on-which-retainlers-are-christmasfriendly

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/14281/even-talibangicals-cant-agree-on-which-retainlers-are-christmasfriendly

Christmas is not only a memorable family time, it is the season in which we celebrate God's greatest gift to man. Christ is the centerpiece of our holiday season. Help us encourage the many retailers who are doing it well and urge those who censor the word "Christmas" to change their approach!

lokiiago
bisexual_world

1. Femme bi women


2. Femme lesbians


3. Femme straight men


4. Femme transwomen


5. Femme intersex women


6. Androgenes

Who would you smooch? :D

pamshouseblendf

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PamsHouseBlend/~3/JtnC1IEQsxA/millstones-and-glass-houses-the-catholic-churchs-protection-of-child-rapists-is-coming-to-light

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/14278/millstones-and-glass-houses-the-catholic-churchs-protection-of-child-rapists-is-coming-to-light

"It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than for him to harm these little ones." - Luke 17:2

In addition to money spent to persecute non-Catholic law-abiding gay citizens, the Catholic church has spent billions of dollars worldwide enabling child rapists, concealing these heinous crimes from law enforcement, and settling civil lawsuits by victims. Recently, the Murphy Commission in Ireland completed a 3-year investigation into decades of systemic abuse and sexual exploitation of children at the hands of Roman Catholic clergy in Ireland. For anyone who wants to download the report of how the Dublin Archdiocese covered up hundreds of cases of criminal child rape, sheltered the priests, and shuffled them to other parishes to avoid discovery, including parishes in the United States, the .pdf files are located at the Irish Department of Justice, Equality, and Reform website. This is in addition to a report released six months ago detailing the endemic levels of child rape in church-run institutions since before the 1930s. Victims are urging wider government probes into the institution which for decades enabled the rape and abuse of women and children in orphanges, schools, and workhouses such as the Magdalene laundries.

The Examiner newspaper, describing the abuse as "satanic", said Thursday's report uncovered a "litany of horror" that could "only be described as an active evil, a pervading darkness that poisoned lives."

"Some years ago, the history of the sexual and physical abuse of children was described as the Irish Holocaust. At that time, that description seemed extreme. Sadly, time has justified it," it said.

"Every archbishop in recent decades was aware of this rampant evil but shirked their responsibilities and brushed the problems under the carpet," added the Examiner," it added.

The Irish Times said that the "corruption of power and the fundamentally rotten nature of relations between the Catholic Church and the state has been laid bare" in Dublin by the report.

A "studied silence by Vatican authorities and by the Apostolic Nuncio" (papal representative) to requests for additional information "will feed suspicion that the church remains fixated on protecting its tattered image."

Thursday's study found that the archbishops did not report abuse to police until the 1990s as part of a culture of secrecy and an overriding wish to avoid damaging the reputation of the Church and protect its assets.

One priest admitted to abusing over 100 children, another was an active paedophile -- raping children of both sexes -- for over 25 years.

If you were victimized by clergy, Catholic or otherwise, SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, can help you find support and counseling in a confidential healing environment.

More on American abusers below the fold. May be triggering for some.

According to a report by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, over 11,000 allegations of child and adolescent sex abuse have been made against nearly 5,000 priests in the United States between 1950 and 2002. That's only the reported cases. Cardinal Roger Mahoney of the Los Angeles Archdiocese knew he had pedophile priests in his charge, but didn't think that sexual urges towards children should disqualify someone from the priesthood. The L.A. Archdiocese spent $2 million per month on lawyers whose sole job was to block release of information about pedophile priests to law enforcement. In July of 2007 a record-breaking 508 victims who were abused by priests in California were awarded a $660 million settlement. The Boston Archdiocese, under Cardinal Bernard Law, has been forced to pay $157 million settlement to victims of its priests. Cardinal Law resigned as Archbishop of Boston in 2002, and was brought back to Rome, where he is currently being protected from extradition to the United States to face charges of criminal negligence in his willful complicity in covering up known pedophile priests in his charge.

And now, the Diocese of Wilmington, Delware, is pleading in bankruptcy court that it is obligated to pay pensions and healthcare coverage to known pedophile priests.

In a filing submitted late Thursday, attorneys for the diocese now seek authorization to provide pensions, housing costs and medical coverage to six confirmed child abusers. They cited an obligation to care for retired clergy, including priests dismissed from public ministry and facing laicization, or defrocking.

"Only the Vatican has the power to laicize clergy," the diocese said. "Thus, while several priests have been dismissed from the public ministry and have laicization proceedings pending against them, for the time being they remain clergy whom the debtor supports, and must continue to support."

The motion also seeks permission to keep paying benefits to another priest who has been accused of sex abuse, though the claims have not been substantiated. He still has authority to serve as a priest.

Instead of paying restitution to its victims, the Diocese is paying $100K per month to a public relations firm and trying to justify health benefits and pension to child rapists.

It's not just the mainland U.S. It's here in Hawaii, as well. A teacher in Kamehameha schools recently resigned after it was found that as a Catholic cleric in a Wisconsin school he had been charged with child sex crimes and quietly removed by church officials. There have been thirteen priests in the Honolulu diocese accused of child rape since 1961.

This is the way the Catholic hierarchy has worked for decades. In 1962, an official instruction on how to deal with sex abuse allegations, the Criminales Solicitaciones (English translation opens as .pdf), was issued by the Vatican's Holy Office, now called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, signed by Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani. Addressing "Patriarchs, Archbishops, Bishops, and other Diocese Ordinaries," the document lays out the requirement to nullify and silence such allegations, to reassign those priests if necessary, and to never reveal the accusations, on pain of excommunication. In 2003, when the Criminales Solicitaciones was publicized by CBS News (it has since been removed from the CBS website), the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops claimed that the 1962 document was superseded by a new instruction, issued in 2001. That is only partly true. There was a new instruction issued in 2001, but it hardly superseded the 1962 order of secrecy and enabling child rapists. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was anointed Prefect of the Congregation in 1981. On May 18, 2001, he sent a letter to the general church, which was based on Pope John Paul II's Apostolic letter concerning the church's past and future actions on allegations of abuse. (Sorry, no comprehensive English translation available at this moment. My Latin is a bit rusty.) The letter from Ratzinger does not urge the hierarchy to disclose criminal acts committed by priests to appropriate law enforcement. Rather, it re-emphasizes the requirement for secrecy under the pretext of the confessional seal, calling for internal investigation and handling only. Joseph Ratzinger was not only complicit in the coverup of child rape committed by priests, but as Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, he actively continued the church policy of secrecy and obstruction of justice. He was one of its chief architects for twenty years.

Deliver Us From Evil is the 2006 documentary about Fr. Oliver O'Grady, who has confessed to the rape and abuse of over two dozen children in his care in Northern California between 1973 and 1991. As of 2006, O'Grady was a free man living in Ireland. His current whereabouts are unknown.

ABC News coverage of the documentary and more footage in the wake of Ratzinger's election to the Papal seat. The agony and guilt felt by Bob Jyuno, the father of victim Ann Marie Jyuno, is heartbreaking.

pamshouseblendf

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PamsHouseBlend/~3/LoOPUkLGqUM/roman-catholic-glass-houses-in-maine

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/14279/roman-catholic-glass-houses-in-maine

So with a bit of dusting off, here it is again...

==============================================

From the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland comes the following:

Bishop Malone Issues Statement on Signing of Same-Sex Marriage Bill

Bishop Richard Malone, spiritual leader of Maine's 200,000 Roman Catholics, said today (May 11, 2009):

"I am deeply disappointed in the Maine Legislature and the Governor for making same sex-marriage legal in our state. The family, consisting of mother, father and children, has served throughout the ages as the natural place for the healthy development of children into well adjusted and productive citizens.

Same-sex marriage is a dangerous sociological experiment that I believe will have negative consequences for society as a whole. These are profound changes that will reverberate throughout society with tragic consequences."

So nice of The Bishop to step out of his luxurious posh mansion to release a statement, wasn't it?

Note that the mansion is constructed out of brick, the choice of smart pigs, and not a "glass house", so vulnerable to stones cast by angry parishioners...

Let's go below the fold and see what Bishop Malone and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Maine together have done to preserve the safety of the children, shall we?  
Actually, it seems they have done alot- but that they have HAD to.

From Kennebec Journal:

A former Maine priest has been barred from the ministry and an Augusta man prevented from church service due to a history of child abuse, according to the Diocese of Portland.

Frederick A. Carrigan, 74, who served at St. Joseph in Gardiner as well as parishes in Bath, Bangor, Dover-Foxcroft, East Millinocket and Hampden, has been assigned to a life of prayer and penance, which means he cannot have any ministry, present himself as a priest or wear clerical clothes, according to a statement released by the Diocese on Friday.

In a separate case, Paul Douin, 69, of Augusta, has been permanently removed from his volunteer position. The Diocese said it made that decision after confirming that Douin was convicted in 1977 of sexual abuse of minor.

Carrigan was permanently removed from service after The Vatican accepted the decision of a tribunal that heard Carrigan's case during a church trial last October. The judges, all from outside of Maine, found Carrigan guilty of abusing a minor.

The tribunal's recommendation was sent to Rome, which gave final approval in a letter sent to Bishop Richard Malone April 22.

Carrigan was removed from ministry in 1989 for "inappropriate behavior" with an adult, the Diocese said. Carrigan was accused in 1991 of abusing a minor in 1972. His ministry ended 2002.

Douin, who was most recently a volunteer at St. Augustine's Church in Augusta, was sentenced to four years in prison in 1977, the Diocese said. He has not been arrested for any offense since his release from prison, according to the Diocese.

Quick action there, kids- the abuses occurred decades ago?

And apparently I'm not the only one who feels handing in your robes is a pretty lame punishment:

Harvey Paul, director of the Maine chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, found little satisfaction in The Vatican's decision to bar Carrigan from service.

"It's way too little, way too late," Paul said.

Carrigan, who lives out of state, lives in anonymity, Paul said.

"We don't know where he is. We know nothing about him," Paul said. "We really have a problem with that."

SNAP is pushing for a Diocese-run web site, similar to Maine's sex offender registry, that would list priest the diocese has determined have abused children.

The Diocese has said only they will consider a site, Paul said.

"They've been thinking about it a few months now," he said. "It should have taken about a day of thinking. In the time they're thinking about it, children are at risk."

No kidding, the kids are at risk. But these are just isolated incidences, right? Right?

Not even close.

Michael Doucette. His confession and story was covered by NYT, as well as by Time, both in 2002.

Raymond Melville. In 2005, Maine Supreme Court Justices found that a sex abuse victim can indeed sue church leaders such as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland. But thie was the real stunner:

The impact of the case is unclear. Lipman said it opens the door to other suits against the church by sex-abuse victims. According to a report issued in 2004 by Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe, 63 priests and other diocese employees had been accused of sexual abuse over the previous 75 years, but most of those cases would be too old for lawsuits under the statute of limitations. Also, some cases have already been settled by the church and could not be brought again.

The two dissenting justices argued that the impact will be felt by a variety of institutions who could face lawsuits for failing to protect people from their employees.

"With these rulings the court invites lawsuits against businesses, schools, camps, churches and youth sports organizations for real or perceived improprieties by their members or employees that occur outside of the course and scope of the organizations' responsibilities," wrote Justice Donald Alexander.

Not 63 total cases of abuse- 63 SEPARATE PRIESTS HAVE BEEN ACCUSED. That's an overwhelming number and shows a systemic problem within the Maine Catholic community.

Lest we forget:

The late James Robichaud, who rather than face investigators last summer, killed himself in a church rectory.

Remind me again, isn't suicide a big no-no in the Catholic Church?

A priest suspected of sexually abusing a girl in 1979 was found dead Friday morning in the Dover-Foxcroft rectory where he lived.

Police confirmed the Rev. James P. Robichaud, 56, an Augusta native, committed suicide.

Robichaud, who was born and raised in Augusta, became an ordained priest in April 1979 and the same year was assigned to St. Jean-Baptiste Parish in Lowell, Mass. He served at that parish until 1983.

"This is a tragic end to a story that we may never completely understand," Bishop Richard Malone said in a statement released Friday by the diocese. "It is simply our mission to bring the healing presence of Jesus to this agonizing situation."

The same statement noted there is not yet sufficient information to dismiss or substantiate the abuse charge.

I'm not buying this, Mr. Malone... alot of people aren't.

When you have a link instructing people "How To File a Sexual Abuse Report" on your own Portland Diocese website under the section marked "Child and Youth Protection", you KNOW you're not doing enough- and that you never have!

Lemme point out that any other Mainer suspected of having committed sexual abuse of a minor is taken into custody, not simply told to hand in their robes and behave themselves, as happened with Carrigan.

That the crimes are not covered up by layer upon layer of bureaucracy for decades and victims left to fight your corporation for years in court.

Leave these Mainers alone and let them live their lives in our state, without your judgements or interference, and clean up your own house, Mr. Malone...

pamshouseblendf

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PamsHouseBlend/~3/JzUWrk6V5MY/open-thread-thanksgiving-leftover-tv-dinner

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/14277/open-thread-thanksgiving-leftover-tv-dinner

WKRP's "Turkeys Away"- way too many great lines!

Charlie Brown Thanksgiving- there was just something funny about Woodstock eating turkey and getting the bigger part of the wishbone at the end!

Addams Family Values (h/t Jeremy at G-A-Y)

Whatcha got?

mseuphrates

So that said...what's YOUR take? (Note - this is not intended to be a debate, I'm really trying to undestand here...something that didn't apparently translate in my original response to Pepper Mint's blog).

sinboy

What day is good for a Ninja Assasin outing? (Dec 5 being taken)

thewronghands

pamshouseblendf

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PamsHouseBlend/~3/MwXVs1cJSH0/ncr-fifty-catholic-dioceses-donated-to-repeal-maine-marriage-law

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/14274/ncr-fifty-catholic-dioceses-donated-to-repeal-maine-marriage-law

Gathering money from 50 U.S. dioceses, the Portland, Maine, diocese contributed more than $550,000 to the campaign to rejected Maine's law extending civil marriage to gay and lesbian couples, according to financial records filed with the state agency that tracks political contributions.

Supporters and opponents of the law spent more than $7 million, according to the Portland Press Herald.

During the summer, Bishop Richard J. Malone of Portland sent an appeal to other Catholic bishops seeking contributions to defeat the law that the state legislature passed and the governor signed in May.

Considering how poor the Portland Diocese claims to be, one wonders how they plan on explaining these numbers to their dwindling number of faithful:

According to financial records filed with Maine's campaign finance watchdog, the Portland diocese donated nearly $286,000 to Stand For Marriage Maine, which was seeking to repeal the same-sex law.

Malone had ordered a second collection be taken up at Masses one September weekend which netted $86,000.

Wonder is Malone used this DVD as part of his appeal?

Below the fold, a very long list of the donors- archdioceses, dioceses- and individual bishops who opened their wallets.
So let's examine "who gave how much":

$50,000 Donors

Philadephia, PA Diocese
Phoenix, AZ

$10,000
Newark, NJ
St Louis, MO
Youngstown, OH
Providence, RI

$5000
Arlington, VA
Rockford, IL
Crookston, MN
Pittsburgh, PA

$2500
The Roman Catholic Foundation in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Inc.

$2000
Portland, OR
Jefferson City, MO
Savannah, GA
Archdiocese of New Orleans, LA

$1500
Columbus, OH

$1,000
Archdiocese of Cincinnati, OH
 "  Hartford, CT
 "  Atlanta, GA
Dioceses of Fort Worth, TX
Green Bay, WI
Ft. Wayne-South Bend, IN
Baton Rouge, LA
Colorado Springs, CO
Gary, IN
Parma, OH
Erie, PA
Joliet, IL
Grand Island, NB
Diocesan Center for Family Life, Jacksonville, FL

$500
Biloxi, MS
Altoona-Johnstown, PA
Metuchen, N.J
Scranton, PA
Springfield-Cape Girardeau, MO
St. Thomas, V.I.
Winona, MN
Yakima, WA
LaCrosse, WI
Rockville Centre, N.Y.

$300
Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn, NY

$200
Wilmington, DE
Las Cruces, N.M.

$150
San Angelo, TX

Then we have some bishops who wrote individual checks as well.

Perhaps Malone's failure to be on this list was based upon his having to settle up homestead act exemption property taxes...

The bishop of Fall River, Mass., donated $5,000.

The archbishop of Mobile, Ala., gave $2,000.

The bishops of Wheeling-Charleston, W.Va., Louisville, Ky., and Springfield, Mass., each donated $1,000.

Giving $1,000 were Richard Lennon of Cleveland, Ohio, and William Lori of Bridgeport, Conn.

Giving $500 were Herbert Brevard of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and John D'Arcy of Fort Wayne, Ind.

Giving $250 were Jose Gomez of San Antonio, Texas, and John LeVoir of New Ulm, Minn.

Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., gave $200.

Someone remind me again how the Catholic Church is not a PAC?

Or more specifically, the Portland Diocese, which did not file as a PAC with the State of Maine?  

Or how all of this is not hiding the donors in a huge money-laundering scheme?

h/t to Joe.My.God.

shy_matsi

Woah, had such bad dreams last night, I even dreamt that I was forced to watch Twilight: New Moon and it .. Err wait.. That was no dream D: 2 1/2 hrs or "I love you both" and "why can't you just love me" and "you promised you wouldn't hurt me, liar!" UGH! The werewolf transformations and sights were worth it tho! Oh what pretty wolves!!!

Fantastic Mr Fox was Fantastic!!! What a great film, I wanna see it again!

Posted via LiveJournal.app.

pamshouseblendf

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PamsHouseBlend/~3/8HjhpM7emNA/joseph-backholm-answers-the-wrong-question

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/14260/joseph-backholm-answers-the-wrong-question

The question he is answering in this video is irrelevant.  The real question is "By prohibiting marriage equality, aren't we violating the equal protection of the laws clause in the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution?"  Backholm's approach is to introduce religion into the discussion of civil law where it is irrelevant to the discussion, then claim anti-religious discrimination when reminded of its irrelevancy.  That's twisted, sister.

The monologue begins with Backholm saying "No" as if in answer to a question from the viewer.  This is an appropriate opener for someone who literally promotes discrimination against LGBT people.  (See Backholm's July 13, 2009 "Monday Minute", and "Isn't it bad to discriminate?".)

No, the phrase "separation of church and state" does not appear anywhere in the United States or Washington State constitutions.  Regardless, the fact that people of a particular religious faith share common ideas does not mean that those ideas are necessarily unconstitutional because they are religious.

To the contrary, our laws against stealing, killing, lying, perjury, incest, rape, battery and destruction of property were all religious tenants long before they were laws.  Now no one wants to repeal the criminal code because its major themes were first recorded in the Bible.  

Now the idea that a preference for heterosexual marriage is unconstitutional is [sic] simply because it is consistent with religious doctrine is legally and constitutionally unsupportable.  

Now our Founding Fathers wanted to avoid a situation where a religious organization wrote the laws for the county.  However, they did not intend to create a country in which citizens and elected officials were forbidden from reading, discussing, thinking about or even legislating ideas that happen to be religious in nature.

[A]nd you know when we consider the fact that tremendous loss of ground that has been made on this issue - 20 years ago the fact that we would have a straight-faced conversation about same-sex marriage would be unthinkable.

On balance then, we've made enormous strides, and in Washington especially, where Backholm's organization just wasted $205,000 on the losing side of the domestic partnership referendum and their parent organization Focus on the Family wasted $92,000.  Not to mention God has endorsed gay marriage in Washington.  Backholm has stated that he recognizes this march of progress.  What to do then, when you know that ultimately you're already defeated?  I guess the answer is waste your time making videos to justify your paycheck, because you've run out of options for taking the legal offensive in Washington.  Now all you can do is sit and wait to see what The Gays and the majority of the Washington legislature and the majority of Washington voters ("The People", including those of Brier where Backholm lives) who support civil equality will do next.

Btw, I guess Backholm disagrees with the opinion of Larry Stickney, Stephen Pidgeon, Bob Struble and Gary Randall that voter ratification of the domestic partnership law via Referendum 71 will necessarily lead to a successful state supreme court challenge of the state's DOMA law that would be unassailable by the electorate.  Since Backholm is a lawyer (WSBA #36877), I think it is significant that he has remained silent on this theory.  I think it means he thinks Stickney et al. are full of it, but doesn't want to have to say so in public and jeopardize the already weak bonds between the various anti-gay factions operating in Washington.  If Backholm did anticipate the outcome Stickney et al. do, he wouldn't be wasting time making videos for what he considered a dead issue.  Instead, he'd be spending his time on issues more his speed, like bikini baristas.

pamshouseblendf

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PamsHouseBlend/~3/Vi87Z5a9c8w/the-war-on-thanksgiving

http://www.pamshouseblend.com/diary/14265/the-war-on-thanksgiving

This gem is from Christian Newswire:

The war over Thanksgiving as a holiday began when a generation was taught that the holiday's first setting was Pilgrims being saved from starvation by Native Americans. This war continues with a President that defines it as a time to thank each other.

Thanking your neighbor or Native Americans for teaching Pilgrims to fish and grow crops is not un-Christian. Redefining Thanksgiving as anything other than a call to give thanks to the one true and living God is an attempt to remove God from America's one true Christian holiday.

So before we reenlist to defeat the war on Christmas, take this one day to win the war over Thanksgiving by forgetting what President Obama said and remembering what President Washington said.

pamshouseblendf

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PamsHouseBlend/~3/j3PfOAsaoDE/phony-moralists-show-true-colors-with-antiadam-lambert-group

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crossposted on Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

 This Adam Lambert controversy is ridiculous - that's my take on it.

But some other folks are taking it very seriously. For example, there is a new facebook group called 1,000,000 to File an FCC Obscenity Complaint Against Adam Lambert!

Now these folks are shocked! Simply shocked about Adam Lamber's behavior at the American Music Awards. And they are so shocked that apparently they seem to want to be more shocking. Or at least more obscene than they think Lambert was. That is the gist one gets based on their comments, some which are below along with a little commentary by my humble self:

YAY! Good Morning America just CANCELLED Adam Lamberts scheduled performance due to the OUTRAGE from REAL families who make up the MAJORITY of their viewers! So SCREW YOU LAMBERT LOVIN HOMO'S! (I know. The "REAL families" comment unnerved me too. But not more than this person's ignorance. She failed to mention that CBS quickly snatched Lambert up, allowed him to perform, AND gave him a platform to comment about the controversy)

I just emailed ABC to let them know I filed an Obscenity complaint with the FCC and that my family and I will no longer buy their advertisers products or services and we will not watch ABC ever again if they continue this pro-homosexual agenda in their programming! (Well damn. She is on to us.)