Posts Tagged ‘gay marriage’
Keir Starmer apologies for meeting Christians at Easter
Keir Starmer has apologised for spending part of this Easter weekend visiting a church in Brent, London, run by Christians who think homosexuality is a sin. It can be dangerous to literally demonise homosexuality, the right for people to love. Because gay sex is love. But that’s religion for you: it does so like rules and judgement. The Guardian reported: “Keir Starmer criticised over visit to church where pastor opposed same-sex marriage.” Look out for similar headlines with ‘church’ replaced by any other type of orthodox house of worship. Starmer apologised. He removed the video of his visit. “I apologise for the hurt my visit caused,” said Starmer. By which token, where should he visit – and do garden centres all want him there?
Posted: 6th, April 2021 | In: News, Politicians | Comment
Violent Australian bigots have the say on same‑sex marriage
In Australia a debate over gay marriage has turned nasty. Australia’s 16m registered voters are answering a question “Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?” We’ll know the answer on November 15th. And whatever the outcome, the result is not legally binding. The poll is being conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, not the body that oversees elections.
It’s popularity contest. The Government will use toe vote to gage what the people want. Greens’ party leader Richard Di Natale said the plebiscite could “give a megaphone to hate and homophobia”. Opposition leader Bill Shorten said a campaign “would be an emotional torment for gay teenagers”.
Indeed, the debate has become brutal.
A sick public culture in which these destructive idiocies are given license. It’s not free speech. It’s an assault. https://t.co/01o9RlgnbY
— Jonathan Green (@GreenJ) September 19, 2017
#yes, you miserable carnival of bastards pic.twitter.com/1p0Il3pPSF
— Scott Ludlam 🌈 (@Scottludlam) September 19, 2017
Religion is playing no small part in the row. The Telegraph reports:
Imams and Islamic leaders are ramping up a campaign against same-sex marriage, using their sermons in mosques across Australia to urge the Muslim community to vote no.
Islamic Friendship Association of Australia head Keysar Trad has begun a tour of prayer halls in a bid to thwart same-sex marriage, comparing gay love to incestuous relationships.
“We might love our mum and dad intensively but you don’t denigrate that love with sexual behaviour,” he said.
Not everyone is as confused as Mr Trad. But, boy, are they ever intolerant. In Canberra, one woman is paying the price for thinking for herself:
A small-business owner has sacked a staff member who came out in support of the “no” campaign in the same-sex marriage postal plebiscite.
Madlin Sims, who runs a party entertainment company in Canberra, said she was taking a stand on the issue, likening it to employing a staff member who posted racist material online.
The sacked contractor was a woman who took photos of events and often posted them on Facebook. “Today I fired a staff member who made it public knowledge that they feel ‘it’s okay to vote no’,” Ms Sims wrote on Sunday.
“Advertising your desire to vote no for SSM is, in my eyes, hate speech. Voting no is homophobic. Advertising your homophobia is hate speech. As a business owner I can’t have somebody who publicly represents my business posting hate speech online.
“1. Its bad for business. 2. I don’t like s**t morals. 3. I don’t want homophobes working for me, especially in an environment with children.
“It’s not okay to vote no.”
And now former PM Tony Abbott has been headbutted by a 38-year-old man wearing a “Vote Yes” badge. The Daily Telegraph reports:
The former prime minister said he was headbutted after attending a private function on Thursday.
Speaking with 2GB radio after the incident, Mr Abbott said he was confronted by one male while walking back to his hotel on Thursday.
“A fellow sung out to me, ‘Hey, Tony’, I turned around, there was a chap wearing a ‘vote Yes’ badge’, he says ‘I wanna shake your hand’,” he said.
“I went over to shake his hand and he headbutted me.”
Mr Abbott said his attacker “wasn’t very good at it”, but said the blow did make contact.
Abott, who earned two Blues for boxing while at Oxford University, is attracting not a lot of symapthy from ‘yes’ voters. This one stands out:
I would *love* to headbutt Tony Abbott. Guess I’ll never get the chance now.
— 🌈Peter Mattessi (@pmattessi) September 21, 2017
Peter Mattessi writes for the BBC. He’s done nothing wrong. He’s made no threats. His views are just part of a debate about love and equality.
Is the media biased?
The Daily Telegraph has more:
An ABC staff member has applauded the alleged assault on former Prime Minister Tony Abbott by a same-sex activist…
The email was responding to a breaking news alert from ABC News 24’s producer and presenter Jason Om that Mr Abbott had been attacked in Hobart.
Om’s email was titled “Abbott headbutted” and read: “Tony Abbott has told 2GB he was subjected to a ‘Liverpool kiss’ in Hobart by a man who supported same sex marriage.”
The email alert went out at 8.12pm, after Mr Abbott was allegedly headbutted by a man wearing a YES campaign badge who had asked to shake his hand.
Less than a minute later, the reply all from the employee responded: “Good.”
The Australian adds:
An ABC spokesperson said: “The email was unacceptable and the staff member in question, who is a technical operator and not a journalist, has been counselled. It was a one-word lapse in judgment by one person rather than a general reflection of the entire ABC.”
Vote now and vote often.
Posted: 22nd, September 2017 | In: Key Posts, News, Politicians | Comment
Jim Wells’ gay comments are none of the police’s business
Northern Ireland Health Minister Jim Wells has resigned? Why? Well, there was that comment her made, the one about gays and paedos:
“You don’t bring a child up in a homosexual relationship. That a child is far more likely to be abused and neglected….”
Ignorant balls, of course. But that’s not why Mr Wells has resigned. As he says:
“As many people are aware I have been focused on helping my wife during her fight for life. Those who know my family and I, know the last three months have been the toughest of our lives as we watched my wife, Grace, suffer two successive strokes and battle through major heart surgery. However, as she now faces further challenges I have come to the point where I am no longer able to continue my ministerial duties and give Grace the attention she deserves.”
Fair enough. But about his words linking child abuse and being gay… Well, on that he says:
“I accept that one line of what I said caused offence and deep concern. I regret having wrongly made that remark about abuse and I’m sorry those words were uttered. The comment did not reflect my view nor that of my party.”
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Posted: 27th, April 2015 | In: Politicians, Reviews | Comment
Campus censorship: read the ‘gay marriage’ blog post that got Professor John McAdams sacked at Marquette University
More on how university is all about being compliant and comfortable. Marquette University are censoring the speakers:
Professor John McAdams is being stripped of tenure by Marquette University for writing a blog post that administrators characterize as inaccurate and irresponsible.
Inaccuaray is bad form. But irresponsible? How? Says who?
McAdams is 69-year-old, a Harvard Ph.D. who taught courses on American politics and public policy.
Marquette University Dean Richard C. Holtz, explains:
The incident that McAdams blogged about happened on October 28, 2014. Cheryl Abbate, a graduate student in philosophy who was leading a class called Theory of Ethics, was teaching undergraduates about John Rawls. She asked for examples of current events to which Rawlsian philosophy could be applied.
“One student offered the example of gay marriage as something that Rawls’ Equal Liberty Principle would allow because it would not restrict the liberty of others and therefore should not be illegal. Ms. Abbate noted that this was a correct way to apply Rawls’ Principle and is said to have asked ‘does anyone not agree with this?’ Ms. Abbate later added that if anyone did not agree that gay marriage was an example of something that fits the Rawls’ Equal Liberty Principle, they should see her after class.”
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1 In 5 BBC Listeners Would Refuse To Attend A Gay Marriage
A FIFTH of BBC Radio 5 Live listeners, when asked, said that they wouldn’t attend a gay marriage (thanks to legislation, now known as ‘a marriage’) and that men were twice as likely to not to attend a same-sex wedding as women.
The first Marriages That Happen To Have People Who Are The Same Gender will take place across England and Wales on Saturday, with some tying the knot on the stroke of midnight, after the government’s legislation received the Royal Assent.
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Nigeria’s greatest living scientist uses magnets, pi and lions to prove that gay marriage is wrong
“I WAS the first to publish report about the 2006 total solar eclipse in the newspaper in Nigeria when I was writing for the defunct New Age newspaper,” says University of Lagos post graduate student, Chibuihem Amalaha.
“I also reported the true situation about the 2010 acid rain in Nigeria. I carried out analysis and found out that there was nothing like cancer of the skin attributed to the acid rain and by 2011, I emerged the best science reporter in Nigeria where I won Nigeria Media Merit Award in the energy category as a science editor with Compass newspapers.”
“Ever since then I have been doing a lot of researches in the country. There are many discoveries and inventions I have made in science and technology. I have also been able to prove that the mathematical symbol pi which people thought of as 22 over 7 is not actually 22 over , but rather a transcendental number while 22 over 7 is a rational number. I also proved that watching television in the dark impacts negatively on one’s eyes and by God’s grace, I was the first person to use scientific instruments to prove it in the whole world. The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) featured me on this in one of their programmes on January 12, 2013, where I demonstrated to millions of their viewers that watching television in the dark damages the eyes. Usually when it’s around 10pm, many families in Nigeria will switch off their surrounding lights to use the light from television or the light from computer alone thinking that they will see images brighter. But from experiments I found that it’s not true and experts both at the University of Lagos and elsewhere have found my work to be true. The reason for this is because there is a lot of difference in illuminants (brightness) between the television screen and the dark background in the room known as the periphery.
“In recent time I found that gay marriage,which is homosexuality and lesbianism, is eating deep into the fabric of our human nature all over the world and this was why nations of Sodom and Gomora were destroyed by God because they were into gay practice. That is, a man marrying another man and a woman marrying another woman.
“A recent publication on May 3, 2013 shows that France is the 14th country in the world that have legalised gay. I asked myself why should a man be marrying a man and a woman marrying a woman, does it mean that there is no more female for a man to marry or there is no more male for a woman to marry? And recently, Britain told Nigeria to legalise gay marriage of forfeit international aid. I thank God for our lawmakers who refused to sign the bill legalising gay marriage. And so God gave me the wisdom to use science as a scientist to prove gay marriage wrong.
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Posted: 17th, September 2013 | In: Key Posts, Strange But True | Comments (3)
Why Marriage? Republican Senator says gays create poverty and violence
NEW MEXICO state Sen. William Sharer (rep.) writes on his blog:
“Procreation through the natural acts of men and women is the unique aspect of marriage.”
He explains that he’s not anti-gay; he’s just pro-straight:
“If we wanted to purposefully establish a culture of poverty and violence we would work to arrange for most children to be born to single teenage mothers with little or no family support. — Oh wait, that is exactly what we have done.”
He then talks about Alexander the Great, a notorious peacenik:
[Alexander the Great] directed his officers to stop “whoring” around and find a local woman to marry.WHY?
BECAUSE
“It is only through blood relations that hatred and war will end”. In other words, Alexander the Great thought that marriage was about creating and raising the next generation.
This is the reason for Marriage –
The creation and raising of children who have the best chance to grow to be peaceful, responsible citizens.
He then observes:
“Sex between a man and a woman produces babies – society needs babies – babies need both moms and dads.”
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Posted: 29th, August 2013 | In: Politicians | Comments (2)
Free ice-cream for every gay marriage
THE debate on gay marriage just got sugary. In the Anorak post bag:
“BEN & JERRY’S and lesbian, gay and bisexual equality organisation Stonewall joined forces today to celebrate the final parliamentary stage of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill in the House of Lords, with hundreds of supporters cutting a one metre tall rainbow cake in London. Gathering outside the House of Lords, supporters of marriage equality enjoyed taking a bite out of the rainbow cake… Ben & Jerry’s also announced that they will supply the same cake design used today and provide ice cream for the first same sex marriage in the U.K.”
If Ben & Jerry are gay, are Holland & Barrett, Fortnum and Mason, Marks & Spencer…
Posted: 16th, July 2013 | In: Reviews, The Consumer | Comment
The New Yorker cover shows Sesame Street’s Bert & Ernie in gay embrace
THE New Yorker’s July covers are Moment of Joy. They show Sesame Street’s Bert and Ernie snuggled up in front of a TV broadcasting the Supreme Court of the United States’ sanctioning of gay marriage.
Artist Jack Hunter says:
“It’s amazing to witness how attitudes on gay rights have evolved in my lifetime. This is great for our kids, a moment we can all celebrate.”
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Posted: 28th, June 2013 | In: TV & Radio | Comment
Epic Fail: Anti-gay Christian group produces suggestive logo (‘On our knees for America’)
IS this an epic fail? The anti-gay mariage, anti-gay, sex-obsessed Christianist group Call 2 Fall have produced a new logo:
Declaration comes straight from the pages of Scripture:
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14).
The journey back to God, to His forgiveness and favor, begins on our knees in humility and repentant prayer. Consider the words of the Declaration prayerfully:I will answer God’s call to fall on my knees in humility and seek His face in repentance so that He might forgive my sins and heal our land.
Adding:
The Call2Fall is nothing fancy. It is not a slick new program. No big production is necessary. It is simple. We are just talking about a definite time during worship on Sunday, June 30, 2013 when we get on our knees and faces before the Lord in repentant prayer, pleading with God to reshape our lives, renew our land, and send times of refreshing (See 2 Chronicles 7:14; Acts 3:19).
We’re “On our knees for America”.
Want to see the logo? Here is it:
I’m in! All the way!
Katie Price is bored of being married… AGAIN
WHEN straight people talk about gay-marriage, they’re often keen to bring up how marriage is a sacred thing. The sanctity of marriage shouldn’t be sullied by those gay people. They sometimes argue that it’ll be humans marrying dogs next!
However, undermining straighties arguments about the sanctity of marriage, almost single handed, is Katie Price. She’s got a phenomenal record when it comes to making a mockery of getting wed.
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Posted: 29th, January 2013 | In: Celebrities | Comments (3)
Nick Clegg finds his backbone then loses it to gay marriage ‘bigots’
NICK Clegg says opponents of gay marriage are “bigots“. Ooops. Sorry. No. He doesn’t. The missive from Clegg HQ has been withdrawn.
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Posted: 11th, September 2012 | In: Politicians | Comment (1)
The troubling story of Lisa Miller and the anti-gay Mennonite church
SAME-sex unions are big news. The Rev. Kenneth Miller 46, a Mennonite from Stuarts Draft, Va., has been found guilty of helping Lisa Miller (no relation) leave the USA in September 2009. Rev. Kenneth Miller has been found guilty of aiding in international kidnapping.
Miller and Jenkins had joined in a Vermont civil union in 2000. In 2002, Isabella was born through artificial insemination. The couple split in 2003. Lisa Miller got custody. Jenkins got visitation rights. Lisa Miller turned her back on her homosexuality. She turned to the Church, becoming a Baptist, then a Mennonite. She refused to let Jenkins see their child. This was in breach of the court.
In August 2009, a judge indicated that unless Lisa Miller comply he would turn custody of the girl over to Jenkins. Preparation swere made for Jenkins to take full custody.
Lisa Miller took Isabella and fled to Nicaragua.
Life Site News reports:
Nicaraguan Mennonites say that they have been persecuted by government authorities since they chose to shelter ex-lesbian Lisa Miller and her daughter Isabella following their escape from the United States, but add that they are willing to suffer and even die to protect Isabella from a court-ordered custody transfer to her non-biological lesbian “mother” [Janet Jenkins].
…The letter of the Nicaragua Brotherhood does not specify which Nicaraguan Menonite churches are represented. Although its publication date is given as February of this year, it appears not to have been distributed outside of Mennonite circles. It was quoted in May in the Mennonite World Review, and was quoted in Jenkins’ lawsuit.
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Posted: 11th, September 2012 | In: Key Posts, Reviews | Comment (1)
10 reasons to ban gay marriage
WHY should gay marriage be banned? Barry Harper has compiled a list of 10 reasons why it should be. Yep, just 10:
Archbishops Vincent Nichols and Peter Smith’s letter on gay marriage
YESTERDAY in England and Wales, every Catholic Church presented to worshippers a letter signed by Archbishop Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Peter Smith:
This week the Coalition Government is expected to present its consultation paper on the proposed change in the legal definition of marriage so as to open the institution of marriage to same-sex partnerships.
Today we want to put before you the Catholic vision of marriage and the light it casts on the importance of marriage for our society.
The roots of the institution of marriage lie in our nature. Male and female we have been created, and written into our nature is this pattern of complementarity and fertility. This pattern is, of course, affirmed by many other religious traditions. Christian teaching fills out this pattern and reveals its deepest meaning, but neither the Church nor the State has the power to change this fundamental understanding of marriage itself. Nor is this simply a matter of public opinion.
Understood as a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, and for the creation and upbringing of children, marriage is an expression of our fundamental humanity. Its status in law is the prudent fruit of experience, for the good of the spouses and the good of the family. In this way society esteems the married couple as the source and guardians of the next generation. As an institution marriage is at the foundation of our society.
There are many reasons why people get married. For most couples, there is an instinctive understanding that the stability of a marriage provides the best context for the flourishing of their relationship and for bringing up their children. Society recognises marriage as an important institution for these same reasons: to enhance stability in society and to respect and support parents in the crucial task of having children and bringing them up as well as possible.
The Church starts from this appreciation that marriage is a natural institution, and indeed the Church recognises civil marriage. The Catholic understanding of marriage, however, raises this to a new level. As the Catechism says: ‘The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, by its nature is ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptised persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.’ (para.1601)
These rather abstract words are reflected however imperfectly in the experience of married couples. We know that at the heart of a good marriage is a relationship of astonishing power and richness, for the couple, their children, their wider circle of friends and relations and society. As a Sacrament, this is a place where divine grace flows. Indeed, marriage is a sharing in the mystery of God’s own life: the unending and perfect flow of love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We know, too, that just as God’s love is creative, so too the love of husband and wife is creative of new life. It is open, in its essence, to welcoming new life, ready to love and nurture that life to its fullness, not only here on earth but also into eternity.
This is a high and noble vision, for marriage is a high and noble vocation. It is not easily followed. But we are sure that Christ is at the heart of marriage, for his presence is a sure gift of the God who is Love, who wants nothing more than for the love of husband and wife to find its fulfilment. So the daily effort that marriage requires, the many ways in which family living breaks and reshapes us, is a sharing in the mission of Christ, that of making visible in the world the creative and forgiving love of God.
In these ways we understand marriage to be a call to holiness for a husband and wife, with children recognised and loved as the gift of God, with fidelity and permanence as the boundaries which create its sacred space. Marriage is also a crucial witness in our society, contributing to its stability, its capacity for compassion and forgiveness and its future, in a way that no other institution can.
In putting before you these thoughts about why marriage is so important, we also want to recognise the experience of those who have suffered the pain of bereavement or relationship breakdown and their contribution to the Church and society. Many provide a remarkable example of courage and fidelity. Many strive to make the best out of difficult and complex situations. We hope that they are always welcomed and helped to feel valued members of our parish communities.
The reasons given by our government for wanting to change the definition of marriage are those of equality and discrimination. But our present law does not discriminate unjustly when it requires both a man and a woman for marriage. It simply recognises and protects the distinctive nature of marriage.
Changing the legal definition of marriage would be a profoundly radical step. Its consequences should be taken seriously now. The law helps to shape and form social and cultural values. A change in the law would gradually and inevitably transform society’s understanding of the purpose of marriage. It would reduce it just to the commitment of the two people involved. There would be no recognition of the complementarity of male and female or that marriage is intended for the procreation and education of children.
We have a duty to married people today, and to those who come after us, to do all we can to ensure that the true meaning of marriage is not lost for future generations.
With every blessing,
Most Reverend V. Nichols, Most Reverend P. Smith
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Posted: 12th, March 2012 | In: Reviews | Comments (4)
Rupert Murdoch shows Twitter support to anti-gay marriage Rick Santorum
TWITTER has gained a Rick Santorum fan named Rupert Murdoch, leaving many to deduce that he’s going to try and buy it. Yeah. He did an incredible job with MySpace didn’t he?
Either way, he’s been spouting off like the rest of us… however, Murdoch has already been offending everybody. In his short time online, he’s already slagged off the whole of the UK, slighted Glenn Beck and, perhaps worst of all, shown his support for an American presidential hopeful who wants to nullify all existing gay marriages.
Murdoch said of Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator who is surging in Iowa polls, Murdoch tweeted Monday night: “Can’t resist this tweet, but all Iowans think about Rick Santorum. Only candidate with genuine big vision for country.” On Sunday he tweeted: “Good to see Santorum surging in Iowa. Regardless of policies, all debates showed principles, consistency and humility like no other.”
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Posted: 3rd, January 2012 | In: Politicians | Comment (1)
Jacob Dickerman And Gay Storms
THE story that the National Organization for Marriage senses the “darkening storm” of gay marriage is covered on the Huffington Post by – get this – Jacob… Dickerman.
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A Rainbow Coalition For Anti-Gay Marriage
THE Stalinist sounding National Organization for Marriage senses the darkening storm.
“The clouds are dark. The winds are stong.”
Gays might prevent global warming.
But they may be prevented by “love” and a “rainbow coalition” of like-minded people of every right-minded viewpoint from those who hate gays to those who merely despise gays all the way to those who think gays are products of the Devil’s spunk.
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Posted: 9th, April 2009 | In: Reviews | Comments (6)
