Ron's Log

NAACP For Marriage Equality

By a vote of 62-2 the Board of Directors of NAACP approved the following resolution:

The NAACP Constitution affirmatively states our objective to ensure the "political, education, social and economic equality" of all people. Therefore, the NAACP has opposed and will continue to oppose any national, state, local policy or legislative initiative that seeks to codify discrimination or hatred into the law or to remove the Constitutional rights of LGBT citizens. We support marriage equality consistent with equal protection under the law provided under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. Further, we strongly affirm the religious freedoms of all people as protected by the First Amendment.

Keep It Up, Pastor Bob

Pastor Bob is hilariously wrong on so many levels.

First, encouraging people to go into Starbucks and buy venti anything only to pour it into a sewer totally misses his own goal. But I'm going to back him on this. Please, all people opposed to equal rights, go into your nearest Starbucks and spend ALL of your money (all if it) on coffee to take outside and dump. Then do it again the next day. Something will change eventually.

Second, he's going to go buy his coffee at McDonald's. Really, if you are going to get into this, you've got to keep track of the dwindling list of corporations who agree with your homophobic position. The American Family Association has been boycotting McDonald's since 2008 when the retailer of the Big Mac joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. I was going to suggest that instant Sanka was the only coffee fit for rightwing consumption, but the American Family Association is boycotting Maxwell House, too. Here's a website where you can buy Ugandan coffee. That ought to do it.

Pastor Bob says "Jesus Christ said that 'God made us male and female at the beginning of the creation.'" This is laughably out of context. It comes from Matthew 19 which is an admonition against divorce:

When Jesus had finished this talk, he left Galilee. He went away to the part of Judea that is on the other side of the Jordan River.

2 Many people followed him. He healed them there.

3 The Pharisees came to Jesus to test him. They asked, 'Is it right for a man to send his wife away from him for any reason?'

4 Jesus answered, 'Have you not read this? From the time God first made people, he made them a man and a woman.

5 God said, "A man must leave his father and mother and must stay with his wife. The two of them will be like one person."

6 So they are not two people any more, but they are one person. Man must not separate what God has joined together.'

7 They said to Jesus, 'Then why did Moses make this law? He said that a man may give his wife a paper to show that he does not want her any more. Then he may send her away.'

8 Jesus said to them, 'Moses wrote that law because your hearts are so hard. That is why he let you send your wives away. But in the beginning it was not that way.

9 But I tell you this. No man may send his wife away unless she has committed adultery. If he does, and if he marries another woman, he commits adultery. And if a man marries a woman who has been sent away by her husband, he commits adultery.'

One cannot overlook what else Jesus has to say:

11 Jesus said, 'Not everyone can agree to that. But God has chosen some not to be married.

12 Some men cannot marry because they were born that way. Some were made that way by men. Others said, "I will not marry, for the sake of the kingdom of heaven." 'Anyone who can do this, should do it.'

We might as well keep going to get the real homophobic content:

17 Jesus said, 'Why do you ask me about what is good? Only God is good. If you want to live for ever, you must keep God's laws.'

18 The man said, 'Which laws?' Jesus said, 'Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not tell lies.

19 Respect your father and your mother. Love your neighbor as you love yourself.'

20 The young man said, 'I have kept all those laws. What more must I do?'

21 Jesus said, 'If you want to be all right, go and sell everything you have. Give the money to poor people. For this you will be rich in heaven. Then come and go with me.'

And then he must have said "keep hating gay people and spend your money and energy to keep them from getting married," but somebody dropped it from the translation. At least I can't find it now. Damn sloppy translators.

Remember Those Two Guys From Palm Springs Who Were Busted In Dominica For Public Sex?

Dennis Mayer and John Hart of Palm Springs tell their own story. They were actually on a cruise of De Nile. It's everybody's fault but their own, although they do acknowledge that, yes, they were having totally naked buttsex in full view of the docks on the balcony of their stateroom. The couple suggest, however, that if they were women no one would have objected.

"We were on the privacy of our stateroom balcony as the ship was being moored into port." Not so different from "We were in the privacy of our front yard as the school bus drove by."

The couple finds it hard to believe that other passengers complained "because most passengers on board are doing the same thing we were." The only differences they admit were that this couple did it in full daylight on their balcony while in port and the other people did it in the privacy of their rooms while at sea - but otherwise, the same thing!

"When you pay the kind of money to have a Sky Suite, you have an expectation of some level of privacy." What are those peon dock workers thinking, raising their eyes to look up at the wealthy people who have paid for a Sky Suite?

"Why is one of the largest promoters of gay cruises and events taking folks from the LGBT community to these countries with laws against homosexuals on their books?" Why, when we travel to foreign lands with foreign cultures, is it different from Palm Springs or West Hollywood? What's the point of traveling if things are different from home? Why didn't we do any research before we bought our Sky Suite? Why didn't we get good service when we yelled at the Dominican waiter in English?

Another Sign Of Republican Progress On Equal Rights

Jan van Lohuizen is probably a more reliable person to gauge shifts in Republican Party attitudes than Jon Stewart. He's been doing polling since 1977. Here's an interview with him by The Iowa Republican, published in July last year. He conducted three statewide polls for The Iowa Republican.

In the 1980s, he worked for two of the leading Republican polling firms and spent two years as the opinion research director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

In 1991, he founded his own firm, Voter/Consumer Research. He served as President George W. Bush’s pollster in both of his presidential election campaigns. He is highly regarded by political professionals in both parties.

Here's what he said about Romney in that interview:

I worked for the Romney campaign 4 years ago and it was one of the worst if not the worst campaign experiences I’ve had. I personally liked (and like) Romney, and he’s clearly very bright, but I came to the conclusion that to be a successful venture capitalist you mostly have to be a great pitchman, much more so than a great manager.

Romney clearly is a good pitchman, and I think that in ’08 this was more a liability than an asset: he sounded as convincing telling people he was pro-choice (on tape in his campaign for Senate against Kennedy) as he sounded telling people he was pro-life 4 years ago. That made a lot of people very nervous. It might have been survivable if he switched on just one issue, but he switched on so many that he lost his credibility. I think the damage has proven to be lasting.

In his current campaign he made the right decision to try to become the leading economic expert in the field. However, if you read what he actually says it sound very hollow and mostly consists of safe conservative dogma; if he has said something original on the economy I missed it. I do think he will be a strong candidate against the President if he manages to get out of the primaries, but whether he does remains to be seen.

But that's just background, so you know where he's coming from. His name is hitting the news today because he has issued a talking points memo suggesting Republicans are shifting and should shift their anti-gay positions. Over here, Andrew Sullivan has shared images of the memo, and formatted the text readably. The story seems to have originated with Burns & Haberman, but they can't format HTML for shit.

Jan van Lohuizen says:

Support for same sex marriage has been growing and in the last few years support has grown at an accelerated rate with no sign of slowing down. A review of public polling shows that up to 2009 support for gay marriage increased at a rate of 1% a year. Starting in 2010 the change in the level of support accelerated to 5% a year. The most recent public polling shows supporters of gay marriage outnumber opponents by a margin of roughly 10%.

He also says polling shows that there is majority Republican support for these positions:

1. Protecting gays and lesbians against being fired for reasons of sexual orientation
   
2. Protections against bullying and harassment
3. Repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell.
4. Right to visit partners in hospitals
5. Protecting partners against loss of home in case of severe medical emergencies or death
6. Legal protection in some form for gay couples whether it be same sex marriage or domestic partnership

Here is his final suggested talking point:

"As people who promote personal responsibility, family values, commitment and stability, and emphasize freedom and limited government we have to recognize that freedom means freedom for everyone. This includes the freedom to decide how you live and to enter into relationships of your choosing, the freedom to live without excessive interference of the regulatory force of government."

Back in August 2011, Jan van Lohuizen recommended that Republican candidates simply ignore gay marriage. "The fiscal issues are so much more decisive than the social issues. Why go out on a limb with this one?"

Jon Stewart Points Out Republican Progress On Equal Rights

No longer marrying turtles.

The History Of Christian Same-Sex Marriage

An anthropologist says that Christian churches performed same-sex unions from the 8th to 18th century. This is based on the research of John Boswell which he published in Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe.

United Methodists Cling To Bigotry

"Saying that a homosexual person was created by God was like saying 'that God created me to live with animals.'" That's what a delegate from Africa said at the United Methodist General Conference in Tampa, Florida, last week. By a vote of 61% to 39%, the delegates affirmed that view by refusing to change the Book of Discipline which calls homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching." A proposal "which said that Methodists could acknowledge their differences on homosexuality while still living together as a church" was defeated by a similar margin. That proposal had been made by the Rev. Adam Hamilton, pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan., and the Rev. Mike Slaughter, pastor of Ginghamsburg Church, Tipp City, Ohio. Leawood, Kansas, and Tipp City, Ohio! Not exactly hotbeds of liberalism.

"Hamilton reminded delegates to the 2012 United Methodist General Conference that John Wesley once said, 'Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may.'"

40% of the delegates at the conference came from outside the United States.

When protesters gathered around a central communion table and began singing Let us Break Bread Together, the session was recessed and re-opened with attendance limited to delegates, authorized personnel and authorized guests. Church laws "prohibit the ordination of self-avowed practicing homosexuals and limit ministry to same-gender couples."

The protestors celebrating communion and singing. Photo by United Methodist News Service.

Here, retired Methodist clergyman, Rev. Gil Caldwell writes about the church's racist past and his views on the church's current policy on gay members.

For those delegates who claim they are maintaining "tradition" as they vote to sustain current United Methodist language and legislation, I remind them that at one time some persons maintained and/or tolerated, colonialism, slavery, the oppression of women, racial segregation, prohibitions against the ordination of women and resistance to interracial marriage, because they represented long-held "traditions." The breaking of tradition is what established Christianity, Protestantism and the United States.

I Guess Obama Has Evolved Now

Too late to help the people of North Carolina, but today, President Obama said "I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married."

Jesus Christ Prince Of Peace In Clinton, Iowa

This story especially caught my eye because I lived in Clinton, Iowa, for three cold years in the late 1970s.

Keaton Fuller, a graduating senior at Jesus Christ Prince Of Peace Catholic School in Clinton, Iowa, was awarded a Matthew Shepard Scholarship. I went to the Matthew Shepard Scholarship website to find out what they are all about. It says:

Iowa's Matthew Shepard Scholarship Program works with highly motivated students who are interested in advice and assistance from adult mentors to accelerate their academic experience and performance, improve their adjustment to professional standards of behavior, goals, ethics and success and out-perform their age group in transitioning to adult leadership roles. Scholarship awards are based on academic aptitude, academic achievement, community service and financial need.

And it says:

Matthew Shepard Scholarships are awarded to students with a reputation for honesty, integrity and community service, who respect themselves and others and who conduct themselves in such a way as to demonstrate moral and ethical leadership in their own lives and inspire others in kind.

And also this:

Applicant Checklist

• Graduating Iowa high school senior.
• GPA of 3.0 or better on a 4.0 scale.
• ACT score of 22 or better.
• High moral and ethical standards and conduct.

Mr. Fuller's high school will not allow the scholarship to be presented to him at the graduation ceremony on May 20 because "We cannot allow any one or any organization which promotes a position that is contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church to present at a diocesan institution," according to Bishop Amos of Davenport.

I left out two points from the "Applicant Checklist."

• Openly Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Transgender.
• Demonstrable LGBT activism and community service.

Mr. Fuller wrote an open letter to the school's body and staff. You can read the whole thing here. I'll give you some excerpts:

Being the lone openly gay student in a small, Catholic school has not always been easy. Upon first realizing I was gay, I suffered a lot of anxiety over wondering how everybody in this school would treat me if I were to tell people the truth about my sexual orientation. When I did begin to tell people, I was pleasantly surprised and touched to find that nearly everybody treated me with the same acceptance and respect as they always had.

I have never felt as invalidated and unaccepted as I have upon hearing the news that the scholarship that I have worked so hard for not just in the application process, but also in my deportment and actions over the years, would not be recognized in the way that it should at the graduation ceremony It is difficult to understand how after I have spent thirteen years at this school and worked hard during all of them, I would be made to feel that my accomplishments are less than everybody else’s. This whole ordeal has been incredibly hurtful, and I am even sadder that this will be one of my last experiences to remember my high school years by.

Here's the website for Prince of Peace parish. It didn't exist when I lived there, but was created by the consolidation of five parishes in the city. The newest of those five churches was built in 1908. At one time, the local Clinton history teaches, the City of Clinton had more millionaires than any other city in America. The wealth was create by the lumber industry, it is said. St. Patrick's (1905) and St. Mary's (1884) were demolished. St. Irenaeus (1864) was sold to the Clinton County Historical Society and is being renovated. Sacred Heart (1891) is part of Prince of Peace's buildings now. And a non-profit has been organized to preserve St. Boniface (1908).

North Carolina Today

In North Carolina today they are voting on whether the state should move backwards. Reverend Barber explains what the issue really is.

Rev. Barber is the pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro.