(Seven Posts in Seven Days – Day 4)
Cecilia, the fact that you have two small children means that you of all people should be paying attention everyday. It’s their future, not yours that will be most impacted. I wish you the best of luck making your decision.
But onto another undecided out there. So I love my Whoopi Goldberg. And that Joy Behar makes me laugh. Barbara Walters has lost some of her edge, but she will always have my respect for her accomplishments. And then there is Moron Hasselbeck. Enough said. But, now there is that other one. Cherry? Cheryl? Philmore? I don’t remember her name. She’s pretty forgettable. Yesterday she announced that she was still undecided. OK. That’s it. She’s a jackass. I mean this woman is on a show called The View. What exactly is it that she can’t see? She has met, in person, all the big players in this little card game. Talk about being spoon fed. And as a fellow plus-size gal I know that she has had more than her share from that spoon. I am sure qood people like Cecilia wouldn’t squander such an opportunity. It’s five days away. I’ve got no more patience. What’s her name has to go.
So several of you have emailed me about something happening in California. Now, a lot of crazy stuff goes on in that state and so I may be getting this a little mixed up. Evidently they are wanting to pass a constitutional amendment to make only marriages between a man and a woman valid in California. Talk about an ignorant pot calling a gay kettle black. Somebody really should check the latest divorce rates because clearly many marriages everywhere are not valid.
Now I am an old broad. We didn’t talk about this stuff. I really don’t know why gay people want to get married. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Just ask Harold. But I guess if one consenting adult wants to declare their love for another, why would anyone have an issue? I do know one gay couple. Margaret’s nephew and his friend have been together for several years. They are a lovely couple and make me laugh and feel special every time I see them. A couple of years ago Texas passed one of these constitutional amendments. The place where Harold and I go to vote is actually an elementary school in the neighborhood. On that particular election day I was appalled to see all the signs that said “Marriage Should Be Between a Man and Woman Only”. As Harold drove us into the parking lot to vote, I looked out the window at those signs and realized that many parents had driven their kids to school that morning driving past those very signs. I wonder if any of them had the same reaction I did – those signs reminded me of the little signs we used to have back in the day that said “Whites Only”. Think about it.
And now I must go. This seven posts in seven days thing isn’t easy. Happy Halloween everyone.
For those of you that keep emailing me about the t-shirts… Margaret’s nephew is an artist and he created some cartoons. My grandson Matthew put them on something called Cafe Press. We told the boys they could keep whatever money they made. A little fun money at their age will be much better used than what Margaret and I would do with it. It think they’ve made about $100 so good for them.
Thanks for stopping by everyone. I mean it. Really.
1 Timothy 2:9: “I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.”
Gee, someone should inform Sarah Palin that spending $150,000 dollars on clothes and adornment might not be Biblical.
Ephesians 6:5-9: “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear…”
I guess Abraham Lincoln should have read his Bible before starting all that ruckus!
Timothy 2:11-14: “A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing – if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with propriety.”
Sorry gals, I guess that leaves Margaret and Helen out of the holy loop! (You certainly aren’t silent. I guess I don’t know about the rest.)
My POINT is that the Bible has ALWAYS been used by extremist and fundamentalists to justify discrimination and hate. Religion, like language, is a living thing and is changed by millions of people and ideas and by the times and cultures in which they have lived and are living. Once a language stops evolving with the culture it becomes extinct. Who speaks Sanskrit anymore? The same can be said for religion. Are there any modern-day Puritans?
The message of Christianity is not dead, however. Consider “What Would Jesus Do in 2008?”
Love your blog girls.
By: independentstinker on November 3, 2008
at 3:26 PM
Helen, You are my new hero. Forget the out of context scripture quoting from David – you have hit the nail square on the head.
As a people we always seem to have to make some group, some subset of people suffer to make ourselves feel better and right, starting in this country with the Irish, the Chinese laborers, the Native Americans, African Americans, people in interracial marriages, immigrants (legal and not) and of course, the gays and anyone who thinks and lives their life outside of the mainstream, whatever that is.
I applaud people like yourself, especially of your generation who can look beyond what they have always been “carefully taught” to see what is right in treating people with dignity and like fellow human beings.
Thank you –
Oh – and I agree – she is a bitch!!
By: Mike M on November 3, 2008
at 8:54 AM
To A girl: Who said we were talking about sex? Who are you to limit the dependents of a family? You give excuses for making the other scenerios illegal, but you miss the glaring fact that homosexuals can not have children. If all Americans were homosexual, then Americans would eventually become extinct unless they adopted children from other countries. That is one logical or moral reason…survival of the country.
To smteaches: Learn the Bible. How is that people who criticize Christianity do not know their beliefs? Everything you quoted is Orthodox Judiasm, not Christianity. And no, Jesus was not crucified because he “hung out” with sinners. The Jewish leadership, Pharisees and Sadducees, got Jesus crucified because he declared himself the Messiah and was a threat to their authority. If you can see past the priestly connotations, the irony here is that the democrats and republicans are much like the pharisees and sadducees. And find me one verse where Jesus said, “I love you just as you are.” I guess the call to repentance of the whole New Testament passed you by.
To Alaska Pi: We are on a slippery slope. The call of the day is if the constitution doesn’t specifically state it, then it’s lawful. Without the Bill of Rights and other amendments, we would have lost basic human rights, such as freedom of speech. Under Bush, we would have been in a military state if it wasn’t for the Bill of Rights preventing them. But even still, these rights are infringed or stretched until the courts condemn them again and again. The problem is the “Founding Fathers” had limited foresight. If they knew that their vagueness would have lead to a slippery slope, then they would have been more specific. Without a national crisis, it’s very unlikely we will ever see a new amendment to the Constitution because of the divisiveness of the 2 monopolistic political parties. Supreme Court decisions can be changed.
All it would take is enough of a group to advocate a certain issue for a slippery slope to happen, say…illegal immigration. Neither party wants to deal with it fearing that it will cost them a lot of votes in Florida and the Mexican border states. Same-sex marriage is only an issue because their are enough homosexuals and enough “who cares” heterosexuals in the country, but yet not enough for the 2 main presidential candidates to endorse it. Freedom does have it’s limits and it should. Changing marriage laws from a man and a woman to a man or a woman to whomever or whatever is such a limit that needs protecting, just like other limits of freedom such as murder, rape, robbery, incest, etc.. needs protecting.
You may not envision a slippery slope now, but neither did the “Founding Fathers” back in 1787.
To Gregg and James: Where in the Bible does God or Jesus talk about gays through man? No twisting the meaning and not my words here.
“You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.” (Leviticus 18:22)
“If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” (Leviticus 20:13)
“Some Pharisees came to Jesus to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?” “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.” (Matthew 19:3-9)
“Do you not know that the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor boy prostitutes, nor practicing homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor robbers, will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
“realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.” (1 Timothy 1:9-11)
“Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.” (Romans 1:26-27)
By: David on November 3, 2008
at 8:42 AM
Dear Helen
I’m a South African (of colour) who grew up during Apartheid so I saw those “Whites Only” signs first-hand. I know what it feels like to be on the receiving end of that kind of institutionalised prejudice and I think your comparison is spot on.
I don’t see any reason why gays cannot be afforded exactly the same legal rights as non-gays. How on earth gay marriage threatens the institution of marriage is beyond me.
We are all human beings, infinite in our variety, but all still human. I feel so downhearted when I see so much effort being put into discriminating against gays.
By: Ishtar on November 3, 2008
at 7:30 AM
You are right, KS. Remember, SHerri sits next to EH. EH could smack her upside the head.
VOTE NO ON PROP 8!
By: Kim on November 2, 2008
at 4:52 PM