But it will be a long running battle, until the right wing churches are turned into museums showing one of mankinds greatest failures.

How many people realized that thanks to the nutty christian preachers, birth control devices were illegal in the USA until about the 1930s. A law flouted left and right, which also helped to destroy respect for law. Another part of our so called religious heritage.

but maybe a solution is coming. People in biotech say that within 25 years or so we will create basic life forms from non-life. Proving it is a natural occurance given favorable conditions, and hundreds of millions of years. We’ll also create self aware computer personalities in the same time frame.

The end of superstition.

Does this mean that if push came to shove we could go on a city-by-city campaign for our rights? Say if San Francisco wanted to issue say, City Marriage Licenses (or Domestic Union cards or whatever) that would bestow benefits to couples inside the City Limits; would that be legal? I know the ruling back in 04 said that the city didn’t have the right to issue Marriage Licenses, but it could be argued that those where STATE marriage licenses… thoughts?

Presently, yes, we have our politicians who will no doubt make headlines: That will be Louisiana’s contribution to political and legal history (we seem to attract extreme candidates over moderate ones). Our Governor is definitely in that league. That is any Louisianian’s cross to carry, unfortunately.

In closing, I’d like to mention that “religion” in and of itself is not a bad thing, especially in the South. “Organized religion,” well, that’s a horse of a different breed. I encourage everyone to become “religious” by studying about the culture and background of their own religious beliefs, and to stop listening to others to make their own opinions. In my experience, I had to learn about how to read the Bible and interpret its message for myself, along with its many contradicting specifics. As a great professor and friend remind me: The evil of religion is in the details, the good is in the broad scheme of its purpose. “Religious” people are good people and focus on good. Those who do not, are probably members of “organized religion” and aren’t capable of thinking for themselves, much less interpreting the Bible or other holy works, and believe what they are told – those are the people who are the most dangerous because their beliefs aren’t grounded in knowledge or know how. Personally, I’m glad I’m in New Orleans and In the Know.

Even in the face of a multitude of attacks which the LGBT community has suffered in the last several years under the dictatorship of der Fuhrer Bush and the RepubliNazis; regardless of these cretins’ desperate and cynical machination by making same-sex marriage equality a wedge issue by which to goose their spiteful lynch-mob into a frenzied stampede to the polls on election day; notwithstanding the Democrats cowardly “playing it safe” official national policy of standing for absolutely nothing until the polls say it’s ok to do so; despite it all, my bubble of optimism remains unbroken.

The tide of history is rising at our side. It is just a matter of time before we are free. Nothing will prevent it; nothing will deter it. It is far past time that the phrase, “Liberty and Justice for All”, means something in the USA. Soon it will, and all of the homophobes can go put keffiyehs on their heads and immigrate to Saudi Arabia if they want the law to impose their religious lunacy on those who do not wish to live their kind of hate-filled lives.

The horrors that are committed in the name of any alleged “god” makes one wonder if there is anything in any religion that is worth bothering with. Organized religions are either private clubs; political caucuses or lynch mobs. Far too many are simply a curse on humanity.

Someone once told me that it isn’t religion that does these things — it’s the people. To which I responded: Yeah, that’s kind of like the simple-minded mantra of the NRA which moronically claims, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people” — as if no contributing relationship or association exists. Nope, sorry that wont wash anymore.

Furthermore, religions often provide a twisted justification for violence –they always have. This is especially true when you have people in the Protestant Evangelical Cults; in the Catholic Klan, and in the Muslim Mob who constantly belittle, persecute, and attack the hundreds of millions of Gays and Lesbians in this world. Anything that threatens their limited world view, based on their irrational obsession with superstition, must be controlled, altered or destroyed — according to them.

I ask all people of “faith” to give me one rational reason; just ONE carefully thought-out and intelligent justification for the maltreatment and the limitations on the civil rights of Gay and Lesbian citizens around the globe. But they can’t give you one. That is why these hate-filled depots turn to the superstitious mandates of religion in order to justify their evil acts. None of the powerful, of any faith, can hold the moral high-ground — especially when self-styled “Christian” and militant Muslim leaders encourage and incite violent anti-social knee-jerk reactions in their adherents through their perpetually demeaning rhetoric and their pathological behavior towards Gay and Lesbian human beings.

As I’ve always said, religion is the last refuge for the scoundrel. It will always be that until people respect the humanity in their fellow man and woman, and not try to force people to be just like them. Nothing is more destructive to one’s sense of individuality and to the human spirit or to one’s pursuit of happiness than imposing one group’s beliefs on another — either through legislative action or through force of violence.

If the old maxim: “I may not agree with what you say, but I’ll fight to the death for your right so say it”, could be amended to include, “I may not agree with the choice of what kind of non-related, adult human being you choose to love in a monogamous relationship, but I’ll defend your right to make that decision for yourself.”

Then, if only people could mind their own business and not try to take away from others the rights they so easily take for granted for themselves…well, then it would be a safer and a more respectful world for millions more.

There is hardly a mole-hill of good that religion has done compared to the mountain of evil that most Abrahamic religions (extreme Orthodox Judaism, Fundamentalist Protestantism and current Catholic Christianity as well as militant Islam) have directly and indirectly perpetuated by forcing their tenets on others who do not bend a knee willingly to these retrograde expressions of tribalism. Yet some people say that organized religions have performed some good functions.

By comparison, yes, some people can legitimately admire Hitler because his socialist policies helped to get the German people out of the Great Depression. But do we forgive him for all of his atrocities because he did some good too? I think not.

Likewise, in light of all the bad that has been done in the “cause” of religion, wouldn’t we be better off without any of it? Just like we’re better off without Communism and Nazism. Wouldn’t humanity function better and grow more creatively and be more productive in a secular, rational society where the individuality is more encouraged than blind conformity to a herd mentality that make a virtue out of ignorance and superstition?

If you can’t be a good person and teach the ethics of right and wrong and proper social behavior to your children without beating some religious dogma into their heads, then you are a bad parent. Reliance on superstition is a poor substitute for reason. Religion most often relies on stifling curiosity about the natural world and about life’s great mysteries– and that makes religion very dangerous and extremely detrimental to human advancement.

Many religions have so much in common with communism and fascist regimes which have created similar cult messiahs (Stalin, Mao, Jerry Falwell, Fidel Castro, Pat Robertson, Ronald Reagan, Ayatollah Khomeini, Adolf Hitler, many former Popes, especially the current one, etc). And similar demands are made on mindless conformity for “the greater good” of society. In other words, to quash opposition to their despotic grip on power.

Communist, Fascist, Muslims and Christians all burned books when so-called “dangerous thoughts or ideas” were promulgated in them. Moreover, similiar brainless “religion-based” censorship often targets art and even music. It is so obvious that religion is antithetical to human development. It retards rather advances mankind. It is a millstone that we should no longer have to endure.

“Religion is the opiate of the people,” Karl Marx used to say. Too bad ol’ Karl substituted one form of totalitarianism and self-delusion for another. Although, regarding one thing he was right — it’s about time most of the planet heads to the Betty Ford clinic and gets detoxed off from organized religions of all persuasions. It would be a far, far better world if they did.

(c) Bud Evans, Jan 2009

http://rainfish2000.blogspot.com

Ignorant gay people who flock to one particular congregation of whatever XYZ denomination they attend are often convinced that their church is “gay friendly, ethnically diverse, blah blah blah blah” yet they are ignorant to the fact that their church actively engages in homophobic politics especially in the South.

Even the UCC which has huge signs up in Massachusetts saying “Support Marriage Equality, We Do”, even this denomination welcomes the likes of Barack Obama who invites anti-gay terrorists(ie Warren) to his inauguration.

Of course we can always count on Morgan the gay version of the Church lady to exclaim the gospel according to his congregation.

Here in Maryland we have kept the antigay MD constitutional amendment “at bay” again and again.

***PEOPLE (LGBT) BE AWARE, Do your research, Payub/Payush “Bobby” Jindal, governor of LA is a Republican, Right Wing, Catholic Convert, NAZI, Weazle.

He will be looking to get into the White House. He is 37 or so in age and is another political oppurtunist! BE AWARE.

He is another that runs campaigns on “Family Values” which you know doesn’t include LGBT families!

He was in office for a week and he (by executive order) removed an ordinance that protected LGBT from Discrimination in the workforce. He stated that it was special treatment and not needed.

I wonder if he was discriminated against because he is brown skin eastern indian weazle, how would he feel? hmmm.

Of course in Lousiana, we have the “Marriage Amendment” that states not only “Marriage” for LGBT, BUT no civil unions, domestic partnerships, etc… Now, if that is just downright MEAN and VERY UNCHRISTIAN, then I don’t know what is!

These ppl. all over call themselves “Christians” I would be so ashamed and one can only imagine what their “God”‘s judgement will be on them when they pull up in their gas gussling SUV(s) and they tell “god” their reasons for why they voted and felt that two ppl. who loved each other were NOT allowed to see each other in hospitals, rights to health care, etc. as they were.

Isn’t there a saying in the bible, “treat your neighbors as you would treat yourself”?

The ONLY way the south will get any kind of marriage right is when they are forced by the US Supreme Court and even then it will be another 100 years before truly accepted.

The reason is RELIGION, all souther religion groups (yes even the ones that tend to be “liberal” in other areas of the U.S.) are full of haters……