Thursday, January 31, 2013

“Gay Dog” Sent To Shelter To Be “Put Down” In Tennesse SAVED!

“Gay Dog” Sent To Shelter To Be “Put Down” In Tennesse SAVED!:
"An adorable pitbull puppy was abandoned at a Jackson, Tennessee animal shelter because his heartless bigoted owner believed him to be gay because the dog was seen “hunched over,” another male dog, therefore, in this owner’s mind, the dog must be gay and took him to the shelter to be “put down”.

More than 4,000 people shared the post overnight. Men and women from across the United States volunteered to adopt the dog or pay for him to be moved to a no-kill shelter.

Today the rescue group “Saving the Animals Together” posted on Facebook that the dog was safe, and is being adopted." Full story here via Back2Stonewall!

Dear Pastor Bell, Where was your leadership in all of this?

     How do you intend to LEAD with this situation?  I mean someone has lost her job!  Yes it could be said that the server should not have posted a picture of the receipt.  But, honestly, YOU stiffed the server!  She had a right to be angry towards you and your group.  YOU ARE THE LEADER.  Where was YOUR leadership in all of this?

     Do you intend to help the server get a job?  

Dear Pastor Bell,

     Was 65 cents per person in your party at Applebee's really too much to pay for the kind and decent service you and your party got after your church meeting?

     I really am baffled by your actions!  Please share with me how you represented your faith?  your church?  your Christianity?  your God?

     I mean, come  on!  You're the leader!

Gary Oliver - Holy Holy Holy

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

So we get our cues from nature (without cherry picking)?

Male lion kill cubs.  Should we follow their examples?

Some spiders eat (literally) their mates.  Should we follow their examples?

Ever notice how promiscuous dogs (among other animals) can be?  Should we follow their examples?

Many animals are brutal when they kill other animals.  Should we follow their examples?

Cats (yes household cats) are cold blooded killers.  Should we follow their examples?


"Marriage" and "Nature"

Sometimes in my mind, equating "marriage" with "nature" seems a bit perverse!

Monday, January 28, 2013

Remember these things about your Mom.

She's a girl.
She's a woman.
She's a daughter.
She's (maybe) a sister.
She's (maybe) an aunt.
She's (maybe) a cousin.
She's (maybe) a wife.

She wears many hats.  Remember, your mother is an individual.  She has her own desires.  She has her own thoughts and opinions.  She has her own dreams.  She has lived her own life.  She has stories to tell.  She has perspective.  She's full of wonder.

Have you gotten to really KNOW your mother?

How Near-Death Experiences Are Changing The World - Part 2 of 2

How Near-Death Experiences Are Changing The World - Part 1 of 2

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Present! - Barbara Whitfield's Near-Death Experience

Present! - P.M.H. Atwater and the Near Death Experience

Do your praying in secret between you and God.

     Keep your prayers secret.  Keep them between you and God.  No one needs to know what you are praying.  No one needs to know that you are praying on their behalf.  There is no need to tell everyone on a social website, or in a church, or anywhere else that you are praying.  Just do it.  Pray whatever you want to pray.  Keep it between you and God.

     Oh, and another thing!  When a person enjoys a good experience, there's no need for you to say anything like, "I've been praying for you."   

     Pray whatever you want.  Do it in secret.  Leave it alone.

The fruit of God's spirit is LOVE....

The fruit of God's spirit is LOVE... against which there is no law!

     Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God.  He that does not love is (to put it mildly) resisting God.

     This is my commandment.  Love one another.

Dear Republicans, you're not going to win until...!

     Get real!  The LGBT community has had enough!  Until you embrace them (accept Gay Marriage) boldly, explicitly, and loudly, you're not going to win!

     

7,000,000,000+ !!!!!!!!!!!!!

     Seven billion (plus) people on planet earth!  That's 7,000,000,000+ individual people




  • with something on their minds
  • soul searching
  • thinking
  • trying to figure out life
  • let alone eating, sleeping, playing, going to the bathroom,

and YOU are only ONE of them.

Revisiting Yeongcheon in South Korea

Nurse Shares 30 Years Of Spiritual Experiences With Death & Dying

It could be the last ....

So, this was the end of the world?

A Ride in Mt. Airy, Georgia. What's the child thinking?

Friday, January 25, 2013

Mothers, Fathers, Brothers, Sisters... be careful...!

     If you have a child who really is a good child -- very well behaved, kind, sweet, honest, not looking for trouble (you get the idea) -- in your life and the only thing that bothers you is that he / she is Gay, be careful before you say something like this.  "I don't want that in my home."  

     That child just might go far away to keep "that" away, and you might find yourself missing that child a lot.  

     Don't blame him / her for not being there!

     Of course you want that child to be considerate of you.  Shouldn't you, just as well, be considerate of that child?  

     It may have taken a lot of guts for that good child to "come out" to you (and/or to anyone else).  

The Deeper Scandal of the Evangelical Mind: We Are Not Allowed to Use It

     The Deeper Scandal of the Evangelical Mind: We Are Not Allowed to Use It

Thursday, January 24, 2013

If women voluntarily sign up to get paid to fight...!

     Personally, I wish NO ONE was needed for military fighting, but if women voluntarily sign up and swear-in to get paid (with tax payer dollars) train, prepare, and do combat duty, then so be it.

   What are the REAL arguers  against this really trying to say?

   

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

What makes a leader? Inspiration.

     As I see it, inspiration is what makes a leader.  A real leader does not have to call him / herself "a leader."  He / She requires no title.  People follow him / her voluntarily  because they see (or at least sense) something they want (even if they can't name what it is).

Be a leader?

     I've never wanted to be a leader.  I don't want to be a leader now.  But, I will not follow someone who does not inspire me.  I might submit as an employ does to a boss.  I might obey as a child does a parent.  But, if he / she does not inspire me, I will not follow him / her.

Just because I'm enjoying what I'm seeing...

Just because I'm enjoying what I'm seeing 

  • a beautiful horse
  • a beautiful dog
  • a beautiful man
  • a beautiful woman
  • a beautiful building
  • a beautiful insect
  • a beautiful bird
  • etc
does NOT mean that I'm lusting!

Hey, Guilt Trippers!

     Go ahead, send your guilt tripping messages my way.  

I enjoy a good lecture!

Send your lectures my way!  

Judge me, please!

Judge me, please.  Prepare to be judged!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Very simple examples of circular argument

1.  I believe God has wings.
2.  I found a Bible line that says ..."wings of the Almighty."
3.  See there!  I was / am right!






1.  I believe two men sleeping together is yucky.
2.  I found a Bible line that says "...man should not lie with another man."
3.  See!  I was / am right!

See how it can work?

1.  You claim to believe something.
2.  Later, you find a Bible line that (seems to) matches what you claim to believe.
3.  See!  God thinks just like you do!

1.  You think of certain people as being disgusting.
2.  Later, you find a Bible verse that (seems to) match what you think of certain people.
3.  See there!  God hates the same people you do!

1.  I've already made up my mind about proper sexuality.  I can't see it any other way.
2.  Later, I find Bible lines that (seems to) match the belief that I already have.
3.  See there!  God wants things my way!

Yea! I'm just so sure all you heterosexuals are sooo afraid...!

     Yea!  I'm just soooo sure that all you heterosexuals are soooo worried that some Gay person is gonna turn you into a Gay person!  Uh huh! 

    How's that working for you? 

Saturday, January 19, 2013

When you were three years old, you probably never thought...

     When you were two, three, five, ten years old (and counting), you probably never thought why you'd ever need to know the stuff you were learning.  

Dear Pastor,

What are you good at besides handing out advice?

Dear Pastor, How well connected are YOU to REAL people???

     Random and abrupt thoughts of mine were these on this day.    

      I often wonder, "How well connected pastors really are to real people in real places living real lives.  To me, it seems so easy to spend a lot of time rehearsing for another television production.  It seems so easy to bury oneself in ones office writing sermons.  It seems so easy attending meetings, planning lectures, meeting people for lunch, preparing for and doing broadcasts, planning building programs, and whatever.

     How well do they KNOW the plights of people in remote places where survival is a constant struggle?  Who, WHO do they really know that actually lives in such places...... in the Philippines, in Malaysia, in Indonesia, in Vietnam, in Africa, in South America?  Who do they really know in the USA?  (I know!  Set up a task force.  Send a missionary.  Pass the buck.  That's not my calling.  etc).

     It seems that churches are built to shun the poor and struggling and exploit those who are successful enough that they don't have to work on Sunday (or on any other church meeting day).  It seems that pastors (I don't know how many or how few) live and work in bubbles that insulate them from real worlds of real people doing real struggles.  Seems to me it's all about comfort zones.

     Are churches existing simply to support clergy?  Are they any more than welfare vehicles for clergy?  While everyone else is hammering nails, waiting on tables, dealing with irritated customers,  enduring the outdoor elements, fighting traffic, and STILL making time to visit people in hospitals, care for sick people... What are pastors doing?  (Attending church is not an EXTRA activity for them like it is for everyone else.).

     I think it ought to be a requirement that anyone wanting to fill a clergy role must spend a year or so in a place on earth where modern conveniences are few (if any), where people bathe in buckets of water or in rivers or lakes, where people carry buckets of water from the water source to their homes, where people live in houses made of simple bamboo poles or plain cinder blocks, where entire families sleep together in one room, where laundry is done by hand and hung up to dry....  

     I think clergy prospects should work jobs (at minimum wage) on Sunday and Wednesday for at least a year before ever being allowed to head a church...

    I think no church should be allowed to exist that cannot show, explicitly, how it intends to help create jobs and help people who needs jobs get jobs.



     

   

Why should we learn all this stuff?

     Chances are, I'll bet, we never need to know all the stuff we've ever learned.  That's the way it is with a lot of matters about life.  Many things aren't worth a thing until you need them.

Dear Pastor,

Just curious!  What do you do all day?

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

I hate the phrase "I'm sorry."

     When a person says "I'm sorry," I wonder


  • are you going to change anything?
  • are you simply wanting "off the hook?"
Honestly, if the person is not going to change his / her habit, behavior, way of talking, making offense, etc., then (as I see it) "I'm sorry" means nothing.

I'd rather the person tell me what I can expect from now on.

     

Monday, January 14, 2013

Isn't using the same profile picture for five years like lying!

     Yes, this is abrupt rant and rambling!

     Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  I use various websites to post profiles of myself.  On each an every one of them I state "I'm Christian.  I'm Gay.  I'm Out.  I'm Open"  Furthermore, "no hookups, no secret friendships, no sex-buddies."  Also, I go out of my way to keep my pictures current.  I do all this to promote honesty.  I'd rather people reject me for that than to accept me because I lied or attempted to mislead them about something.  Isn't that what a profile is for???

     What is it with guys who've used the same profile picture for one, two, three, (I'm not kidding) FOUR plus years?  Isn't that like lying?   

     What is it with guys who show pictures of themselves "a mile away from the camera?"  What are they trying to hide by doing that?

     What is it with guys who show a group picture but don't bother to point out which person in the picture is them?

     What is it with guys who begin to ask all sort of questions about private matters, not to mention request for more pictures (need I say pictures of what?), when they haven't bothered to produce a picture of themselves?  and they've posted so little information about themselves.  I mean come on!

       Have you read profiles that have said something like "I'm looking for someone to take care of me" in so many words?  

     Have you read the lectures about life and love on the profiles of the twenty-something know-it-all's?

     What about the ones where the guys beats around the bush and say nothing more than "I want to hook up and then disappear?"  Well, if that's your thing, then so be it.  Why not just come right out and say so?

I'm so jealous of contemporary Gays younger than me!

     This is not an English paper.  I'm just writing stuff as I think for whatever it might be worth.

     Yea!  I'm so jealous of younger gays these days!  Every time I see a happy young gay couple, or a picture of a happy young gay couple (in spite of the fact I know I'm seeing only a few moments, or a split second, of time in their lives), I let the jealousy rage a bit.  I guess it's the same sort of jealousy that people in the past would be about cars, airplanes, mobile phones, personal computers.  Oh to be young again in a world where Gay marriage is possible at least in some places, where (at least in many places) one can be openly gay during ones youth, where one can get on the likes of Youtube and Facebook and connect with other Gay youth all around the world, where one stood a greater chance (greater than ever before) of courting other guys during ones youth and developing a love life that could last a life time!  Yea!  I'm so jealous!

     I've lived through some days of wonderful moments though!  I was in the second grade when the Gemini-III space craft orbited earth three times.  I watched, sometimes in classes with classmates and teachers, television coverage of the launching and return of all the Apollo missions including Neil Armstrong's first steps on the moon.  I've seen microwave ovens and color TV's become common household items.  I've lived through the beginning days of cell phones, personal computers, and internet.  I can't say I've not enjoyed excitement during my time on earth.  

     Still, I'm jealous!

     It's true that there's no guarantee of what would've happened had situations been different.  Not every Gay person on earth has it easy even in 2013.  In fact, some are still executed.  Even in the USA, many Gays are still experiencing very tough "coming out" experiences.  Many Gays all over the world are still, for good reasons, in the closet.  So, counting my blessings and hoping for the best seems to be a pretty good proper practice for me.  And, whose to say that my best days aren't yet to be lived?  Maybe, just maybe, those days will be as a man gladly married to the man who's glad he married me.

     Still, I'm jealous!

     I'm happy for people who are enjoying happy love lives.  And who am I kidding?  I've, although somewhat late in the game,  enjoyed a few myself.  I hated that they ended (especially as they did), still I enjoyed them and am glad I experienced them.  Maybe, not that I ever wanted it to be so, but just maybe, someone somewhere was a bit jealous of me too.

     Oh God!  Why, oh why can't everyone on earth have the love life of his / her dreams?  

     

     

Why am I Gay? I just don't know!

     To this very day, I can think of only one person among my peers while growing up through elementary, middle, and high school who is also Gay.  But, I did not find out that he was Gay until twenty-plus years later after I had moved away from the town where we knew each other.  I never suspected that he was Gay.  I didn't think of myself as Gay, although I knew that I had been attracted to guys and wanted to fall in love with a guy ever since my elementary school days.  The point that I am making is that, as I said at the beginning of this paragraph, I never knowingly knew any Gay guys until I was in my thirties.  

     I cannot, for the life of me, think of any person, people, or situations that could have influenced me towards being Gay.  Every person, all the people, all situations around me were blatantly anti-gay.  I know of no one in my family (immediate and extended) who is Gay.

     Why I am gay, I don't know.  I just don't know.

     


Sunday, January 13, 2013

Really, why do "churches" exist?

     I heard someone say, "Churches exist to support clergy."

     I do wonder how often that is true.  

     Even if it is true some of the time, I tend to think there's a professional place for clergy people through all societies.  I've listened to wisdom packed edifying sermons from some of them.  However, I'll admit I am guilty of thinking that churches seem, to my mind, too often to be "vehicles of welfare for individuals who love titles, love being adored and enjoy the power they play over people and their lives."

     

      

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Before you insult your listener....

     Before you insult your listener/s (audience) with a lecture, find out what he / she / they already know/s.

     If you're simply practicing, tell them that ... and ask them for candid  feedback.

Believing in God....

     Believing in God has never required a Ph.D. nor has it ever required anyone to abandon truth, logic, and reason.


Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Final memories of 2012







      I want to thank my sister (Hey Tina) for the wonderful time!  I can't tell you how happy it all made me feel!

     Mom and Dad picked me up at a MARTA station about an hour or so after I arrived by plane after flying for about fourteen hours.  From there, we went to my sister's house to enjoy food, fun, and hospitality.  What a delightful time!


      While at Tina and Charles' place, I enjoyed the company of this Boston Terrier (I can't remember its name) who belongs to my niece Valerie (Tina's second child).


     From left to right:  Nickki, Valerie, Chandra, Allysa, and Dad (without whom this picture would not have been possible).


      From left to right:  Tina, Dad, Chandra, Me, Valerie, and Mom




          I'm sitting next to the most important woman in my life
 (Hi Mom!) and without whom this occasion would not have been possible.  For as long as I've known her, she's been 100% mom.  I'm convinced "being a mother" was her life time calling, and she's worked the part very well.  Not only has she watched her children grow and journey through a lot, I've watched her -- as a girl, a woman, a granddaughter, a daughter, a sister, a cousin, a niece, an aunt, a mother, a wife, and an individual with memories and dreams -- grow and journey through a lot too.  
      Behind me is the house where Mom and Dad live.  It sits on property in Habersham County, Georgia where a lot of memories have been made.

      The main house sits way back from the highway.

      That's the first house where Mom and Dad lived after they first bought the property back in about 1979.  The property means nothing.  The parents who have lived there, and the memories we share mean more than the whole world.  
   
          While at the Atlanta airport on December 31, 2012, I called Mom to tell her I would board the plane in about thirty minutes.  But, that's not all I called for.  She cried.  I cried.  She said, "I'll miss you."  I said, "I'll miss you too."  She said, "I love you."  I said, "I love you too."