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Jun. 28th, 2015 10:38 pm1) For some reason or other, television is just not holding my interest at the moment.
Tried to watch the film The Grand Budapest Hotel from HBO, but alas, my attention kept wandering. It may just be that film. Except, I had a similar experience with an episode of Game of Thrones last night. I did however, manage to watch the new USA (the network not the country) series Mr. Robot which is being filmed in my borough and specifically my neighborhood - I know I ran into the film crew on the way to the grocery store. Also recognized the subway station and various locals. It's actually quite good - surprisingly so. The lead character is believable and oddly likable. And it's well directed and written -- odd for USA series. Felt like I was watching something on AMC or F/X.
2) Been busy helping my parents plan their 50th Wedding Anniversary in Brooklyn, in August. ( personal )
3) Speaking of marriage...I had a wonderful experience in church this morning. I was sitting next to a woman who was breast feeding her child. Not too long ago that would have been considered illegal to do in public and she would have been told to stop. Now, it is illegal to forbid it. Then the lay minister got up and announced the Supreme Court Ruling that had declared same sex marriage legal in all fifty states, automatically overriding all the laws and State constitutional clauses that dictated otherwise, including any previous federal laws. In fact it made every law that denounced gay marriage null and void. Next, the lay minister read word for word the following paragraph from the majority opinion:
These considerations lead to the conclusion that the right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person, and under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment couples of the same-sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty.
And:
No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.
This, said our lay minister, is about human dignity, the dignity of every individual, which is in keeping with our Unitarian Universalist beliefs and faith. That above all, the individual dignity of human beings and living things should be upheld.
The entire congregation applauded. No one walked out.
In direct contrast? My mother called and told me about her horrible experience at church today. She's Catholic and attends a Catholic Church in South Carolina. The Priest decided to rant about the recent Supreme Court ruling. About how our society and world was falling rapidly into dark times, and this was one more instance of the horrible and sinful nature of our world. She almost got up and walked out. A good many people did get up and walked out. What disturbed her, however, was how many applauded. My mother was furious. She said that "it made no sense to her how the religious leadership of her church could contradict God? How was preaching hate and intolerance - remotely Christian?
God created homosexuals, God created people to love one another regardless of gender. Who were we to question God?" [Considering the current Pope is preaching kindness and compassion - it seems to me that the US Bishops and Catholic league are going against their own leader.]
As a straight person, I was deeply saddened by this.
In college, I watched a roommate, and five close friends hide who they were out of fear. It was the 1980s. At that time, I had friends who thought you could get AIDS sitting with a gay friend in a hot tub. (Yes, you can't make this stuff up.) One female college friend was in love with a woman - but was terrified to acknowledge it. I remember her asking me if there was something inherently wrong with her. She was a born again Christian, her faith told her that she was damaged and sinful. So she jumped in and out of bed with various men to prove to herself that she wasn't gay. She talked about how sexy men were and went on about sex with them - to try and prove that she was heterosexual. (I lost track of the many lesbian friends who did this. Trying desperately to be something they weren't to do what exactly? Appease an intolerant and cruel societal dictate?) And this wasn't quite as bad as the 1960s, 50s and well most of the early 20th Century - were homosexuals were considered insane and institutionalized. Alan Turning was forced to take hormone treatments and imprisoned for having sex with men, this later led to his suicide. Bars and restaurants were forbidden to serve Gays. If they did, they would be closed down for impropriety and breaking the moral code.
Later at work -- I had a disturbing discussion with a co-worker and friend, who was Catholic. She said that while she had no problems with gays, the idea of them being permitted to be married was offensive to her. And it should be prohibited. I remember asking how this had anything to do with her? How did it effect her? Was she being forced or coerced in any way to watch? No, she said. It's just that it exists that it would be offensive. I retorted - well, that's offensive to me! These are my friends, you are hurting them by restricting their individual rights and for what reason? Because it happens to offend your religious sensibilities? How would you feel if I had the power to retrict your freedom to practice your religious faith because it offended me??
We stopped the conversation right there. Mainly because it was the work place, and well, she was above me in the hierarchy, and I just got that job, after 23 months of unemployment.
Four years later, I had another discussion - this time online, regarding religious freedom and same-sex marriage. This round, I chose my words more carefully. And explained how same-sex marriage did not infringe on religious freedom. There was nothing in the law or legality of gay marriage that would force a church to marry two people of the same-sex. After all the Catholic church refuses to marry people who are divorced all the time. And to make same-sex marriage illegal was in effect putting religious freedom above other individual rights, and only specific religions. That was a slippery slope you did not want to slide down. I used Loving vs. the State of Virgina as an example - citing the miscegation laws of the 1950s and 60s, where in 17 states it was illegal to marry someone of another race or color. Religious institutions supported the illegality, just as they did the illegality of two separate faiths marrying. This was a clear infraction of individual rights - providing religious institutions with far too much power and control over the rights of individuals. Keep in mind, I added, that United States is founded on religious and individual freedom.
I managed to change her mind - she thanked me for taking the time to compassionately listen to her concerns and provide well-thought out arguments in response. Unfortunately we did it on a Meetup email thread and the others on the thread were annoyed. So we got booted off the thread.
As a straight person...I agree with what Connie Schultz on Face Book stated:
As a straight ally, this has been our shame to bear, this government endorsement of second-class citizenship to people we know, people we love. How many times have I tried to assure my friends and loved ones that most of us don't feel this way about them? How many times have I fallen silent to their rebuttals, their ability to point to what sometimes seemed to be overwhelming evidence to the contrary?
All of that is now history.
I don't want to harness my joy to make the bigots feel more comfortable. I will not temper my celebration to make those who oppose same-gender marriage feel better about their self-righteousness. I am not celebrating their misery. They didn't lose anything.
I am rejoicing for my gay brothers and sisters. I am welcoming them home.
Amen.
Tried to watch the film The Grand Budapest Hotel from HBO, but alas, my attention kept wandering. It may just be that film. Except, I had a similar experience with an episode of Game of Thrones last night. I did however, manage to watch the new USA (the network not the country) series Mr. Robot which is being filmed in my borough and specifically my neighborhood - I know I ran into the film crew on the way to the grocery store. Also recognized the subway station and various locals. It's actually quite good - surprisingly so. The lead character is believable and oddly likable. And it's well directed and written -- odd for USA series. Felt like I was watching something on AMC or F/X.
2) Been busy helping my parents plan their 50th Wedding Anniversary in Brooklyn, in August. ( personal )
3) Speaking of marriage...I had a wonderful experience in church this morning. I was sitting next to a woman who was breast feeding her child. Not too long ago that would have been considered illegal to do in public and she would have been told to stop. Now, it is illegal to forbid it. Then the lay minister got up and announced the Supreme Court Ruling that had declared same sex marriage legal in all fifty states, automatically overriding all the laws and State constitutional clauses that dictated otherwise, including any previous federal laws. In fact it made every law that denounced gay marriage null and void. Next, the lay minister read word for word the following paragraph from the majority opinion:
These considerations lead to the conclusion that the right to marry is a fundamental right inherent in the liberty of the person, and under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment couples of the same-sex may not be deprived of that right and that liberty.
And:
No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.
This, said our lay minister, is about human dignity, the dignity of every individual, which is in keeping with our Unitarian Universalist beliefs and faith. That above all, the individual dignity of human beings and living things should be upheld.
The entire congregation applauded. No one walked out.
In direct contrast? My mother called and told me about her horrible experience at church today. She's Catholic and attends a Catholic Church in South Carolina. The Priest decided to rant about the recent Supreme Court ruling. About how our society and world was falling rapidly into dark times, and this was one more instance of the horrible and sinful nature of our world. She almost got up and walked out. A good many people did get up and walked out. What disturbed her, however, was how many applauded. My mother was furious. She said that "it made no sense to her how the religious leadership of her church could contradict God? How was preaching hate and intolerance - remotely Christian?
God created homosexuals, God created people to love one another regardless of gender. Who were we to question God?" [Considering the current Pope is preaching kindness and compassion - it seems to me that the US Bishops and Catholic league are going against their own leader.]
As a straight person, I was deeply saddened by this.
In college, I watched a roommate, and five close friends hide who they were out of fear. It was the 1980s. At that time, I had friends who thought you could get AIDS sitting with a gay friend in a hot tub. (Yes, you can't make this stuff up.) One female college friend was in love with a woman - but was terrified to acknowledge it. I remember her asking me if there was something inherently wrong with her. She was a born again Christian, her faith told her that she was damaged and sinful. So she jumped in and out of bed with various men to prove to herself that she wasn't gay. She talked about how sexy men were and went on about sex with them - to try and prove that she was heterosexual. (I lost track of the many lesbian friends who did this. Trying desperately to be something they weren't to do what exactly? Appease an intolerant and cruel societal dictate?) And this wasn't quite as bad as the 1960s, 50s and well most of the early 20th Century - were homosexuals were considered insane and institutionalized. Alan Turning was forced to take hormone treatments and imprisoned for having sex with men, this later led to his suicide. Bars and restaurants were forbidden to serve Gays. If they did, they would be closed down for impropriety and breaking the moral code.
Later at work -- I had a disturbing discussion with a co-worker and friend, who was Catholic. She said that while she had no problems with gays, the idea of them being permitted to be married was offensive to her. And it should be prohibited. I remember asking how this had anything to do with her? How did it effect her? Was she being forced or coerced in any way to watch? No, she said. It's just that it exists that it would be offensive. I retorted - well, that's offensive to me! These are my friends, you are hurting them by restricting their individual rights and for what reason? Because it happens to offend your religious sensibilities? How would you feel if I had the power to retrict your freedom to practice your religious faith because it offended me??
We stopped the conversation right there. Mainly because it was the work place, and well, she was above me in the hierarchy, and I just got that job, after 23 months of unemployment.
Four years later, I had another discussion - this time online, regarding religious freedom and same-sex marriage. This round, I chose my words more carefully. And explained how same-sex marriage did not infringe on religious freedom. There was nothing in the law or legality of gay marriage that would force a church to marry two people of the same-sex. After all the Catholic church refuses to marry people who are divorced all the time. And to make same-sex marriage illegal was in effect putting religious freedom above other individual rights, and only specific religions. That was a slippery slope you did not want to slide down. I used Loving vs. the State of Virgina as an example - citing the miscegation laws of the 1950s and 60s, where in 17 states it was illegal to marry someone of another race or color. Religious institutions supported the illegality, just as they did the illegality of two separate faiths marrying. This was a clear infraction of individual rights - providing religious institutions with far too much power and control over the rights of individuals. Keep in mind, I added, that United States is founded on religious and individual freedom.
I managed to change her mind - she thanked me for taking the time to compassionately listen to her concerns and provide well-thought out arguments in response. Unfortunately we did it on a Meetup email thread and the others on the thread were annoyed. So we got booted off the thread.
As a straight person...I agree with what Connie Schultz on Face Book stated:
As a straight ally, this has been our shame to bear, this government endorsement of second-class citizenship to people we know, people we love. How many times have I tried to assure my friends and loved ones that most of us don't feel this way about them? How many times have I fallen silent to their rebuttals, their ability to point to what sometimes seemed to be overwhelming evidence to the contrary?
All of that is now history.
I don't want to harness my joy to make the bigots feel more comfortable. I will not temper my celebration to make those who oppose same-gender marriage feel better about their self-righteousness. I am not celebrating their misery. They didn't lose anything.
I am rejoicing for my gay brothers and sisters. I am welcoming them home.
Amen.