well I wanna talk about something I NEVER really talk about what it means to be gay and the issues that go along with it. apparently I pissed off a bunch of FB folks when I came out in support of breast feeding but said I didn't understand why being discreet was an issue. my family all simply use a cover/cloth , well holy crap apparently breastfeeding women and demanding their right to have their boobs on display and I have been getting hate mail for a week now (mind you I'm pro-breast feeding)
to the point I was accused of wanting women to cover up because I'm gay and don't like boobs..........which I guess means I don't sexualize them which kinda defeats the whole it's natural and their purpose. of course when I pointed out women sexualize them as much if not more than men that is horrible how dare i. (what is the point of bras, cleavage etc etc breast feeding requires none of that those tribes in Africa have em hangin to their waists and feed the children just fine) I fully admit I'm opinionated and loud and oops I have a point of view I'm not shy about sharing. what's funny is southern women are far more likely to breastfeed and it's NEVER been an issue.... I was told no one asks me to cover my "gay" when I leave the house and lemme tell you my "GAY" is ALWAYS an issue, breast feeding probably isn't going to get you beaten, chased, or killed but simply holding hands with a boyfriend can cause me serious harm up to and including death. I am forever vigilant about everyone in my vicinity and can never let my guard down. I had to fight every damn day all the way thru school and I never even said I was gay I certainly wasn't dating then, I look gay therefore I'm a target. no one sees you with a baby and says I may need to beat/kill her because she might whip out the boob and feed the kid. so pardon me if your issue doesn't mean squat to me, I respect your right to breastfeed but I stand by my comment that you should be discreet/modest, they even make bras for that so only the nipple has to be uncovered and the whole breast isn't on display and by the by I do NOT EVER go without a shirt in public (except when actually swimming which I haven't done in well over a decade) because it's disrespectful, that is the way I was raised and that includes in the house. none of the boys are allowed to run around bare-chested. this silly shit is what started the newest issue I apparently am clueless since I didn't know the tata top nipple bikini had anything to do with breastfeeding!
Head to a beach this summer and you might see a bunch of women walking around with their nipples on show. But, before you drop your ice-cream cone on the floor and gawk, know that all may not be as it first seems.
The women may very well be sporting the new TaTa Top - a bikini top with two pink nipples emblazoned onto the cups.
At first glance the top may seem like some hilarious prank, but dig slightly below the surface and its creators have a distinctly more feminist agenda.
While men are free to walk shirtless as they please, being topless if you're a woman is illegal in some American states.
With that in mind the bizarrely realistic garment has been created in order to tackle the lack of gender equality when it comes to bearing all.
On their website the makers of the bikini, Robyn Graves and Michelle Lytle, write: "Why can’t girls be topless? If you really think about it, what’s the difference between a man’s nipples and a woman’s? Is it really just the extra breast tissue? Is it the fact that women’s nipples are paired with a vagina?
"Is it the presence of a real and true female nipple bare to the world that is so offensive, that is so horrid that it must be kept covered?
"Who is this law protecting and what are they protecting them from? What message does it send to young women about their bodies? That they should be ashamed and keep them covered?"
Although not directly associated, the bikini hits (online) shelves in the wake of the #FreeTheNipple movement.
The campaign - originally started by filmmaker Lina Esco - has seen hundreds of women parade topless around New York to end gender-specific double standards
when I said if y'all wanna run nipples to the wind fine but I'm gonna wear this
a very tongue in cheek fun silly post but NOT for me apparently!
and just so you understand I'm not full of it or exaggerating here's a couple of articles............
to the point I was accused of wanting women to cover up because I'm gay and don't like boobs..........which I guess means I don't sexualize them which kinda defeats the whole it's natural and their purpose. of course when I pointed out women sexualize them as much if not more than men that is horrible how dare i. (what is the point of bras, cleavage etc etc breast feeding requires none of that those tribes in Africa have em hangin to their waists and feed the children just fine) I fully admit I'm opinionated and loud and oops I have a point of view I'm not shy about sharing. what's funny is southern women are far more likely to breastfeed and it's NEVER been an issue.... I was told no one asks me to cover my "gay" when I leave the house and lemme tell you my "GAY" is ALWAYS an issue, breast feeding probably isn't going to get you beaten, chased, or killed but simply holding hands with a boyfriend can cause me serious harm up to and including death. I am forever vigilant about everyone in my vicinity and can never let my guard down. I had to fight every damn day all the way thru school and I never even said I was gay I certainly wasn't dating then, I look gay therefore I'm a target. no one sees you with a baby and says I may need to beat/kill her because she might whip out the boob and feed the kid. so pardon me if your issue doesn't mean squat to me, I respect your right to breastfeed but I stand by my comment that you should be discreet/modest, they even make bras for that so only the nipple has to be uncovered and the whole breast isn't on display and by the by I do NOT EVER go without a shirt in public (except when actually swimming which I haven't done in well over a decade) because it's disrespectful, that is the way I was raised and that includes in the house. none of the boys are allowed to run around bare-chested. this silly shit is what started the newest issue I apparently am clueless since I didn't know the tata top nipple bikini had anything to do with breastfeeding!
Head to a beach this summer and you might see a bunch of women walking around with their nipples on show. But, before you drop your ice-cream cone on the floor and gawk, know that all may not be as it first seems.
The women may very well be sporting the new TaTa Top - a bikini top with two pink nipples emblazoned onto the cups.
At first glance the top may seem like some hilarious prank, but dig slightly below the surface and its creators have a distinctly more feminist agenda.
While men are free to walk shirtless as they please, being topless if you're a woman is illegal in some American states.
With that in mind the bizarrely realistic garment has been created in order to tackle the lack of gender equality when it comes to bearing all.
On their website the makers of the bikini, Robyn Graves and Michelle Lytle, write: "Why can’t girls be topless? If you really think about it, what’s the difference between a man’s nipples and a woman’s? Is it really just the extra breast tissue? Is it the fact that women’s nipples are paired with a vagina?
"Is it the presence of a real and true female nipple bare to the world that is so offensive, that is so horrid that it must be kept covered?
"Who is this law protecting and what are they protecting them from? What message does it send to young women about their bodies? That they should be ashamed and keep them covered?"
Although not directly associated, the bikini hits (online) shelves in the wake of the #FreeTheNipple movement.
The campaign - originally started by filmmaker Lina Esco - has seen hundreds of women parade topless around New York to end gender-specific double standards
when I said if y'all wanna run nipples to the wind fine but I'm gonna wear this
a very tongue in cheek fun silly post but NOT for me apparently!
and just so you understand I'm not full of it or exaggerating here's a couple of articles............
The national hate crime statistics published each year by the FBI are notoriously sketchy, in large part because, as a 2005 Department of Justice study found, most hate crimes are never reported to police and those that are typically are not categorized as hate crimes by local jurisdictions. Nevertheless, by examining FBI data, it is possible to make reasonable estimates of the rates of victimization by various targeted minority groups.
To calculate these rates for six categories of victims — LGBT people, Jews, blacks, Muslims, Latinos and whites — the Intelligence Report first determined the percentage of the U.S. population represented by each victim group: LGBT people, 2.1%; Jews, 2.2% (Census Bureau’s 2009 Statistical Abstract); blacks, 12.9%; Muslims, 0.8% (2009 estimate from the Pew Research Center); Latinos, 15.8%; and whites, excluding Hispanic whites, 65.1%. Of these, the percentage of LGBT people in the American population is the most debatable. We use figures on self-identified gays, lesbians and bisexuals from a National Health and Social Life Survey that were also cited by a coalition of 31 leading gay rights organizations as “the most widely accepted study of sexual practices in the United States.” The 2.1% proportion is calculated from the finding that 2.8% of men and 1.4% of women are LGBT.
Next, we compiled the total number of hate crimes against persons (that is, excluding hate crimes against property) in those categories for the years 1995-2008, the period for which there was complete data. We then totaled the crimes for those 14 years in each category and calculated what percentage of all hate crimes against persons they represented. There were 15,351 anti-LGBT hate crime offenses during those years, for instance, which amounts to 17.4% of the total of 88,463 reported violent hate crimes. The figures for the remaining victim groups were Jews, 7.7%; blacks, 41%; Muslims, 1.5%; Latinos, 8.8%; and whites, 13.3%.
Using the figures from the above two paragraphs, we then compared the level of hate crime aimed at each group to that group’s percentage in the population to determine the group’s rate of victimization compared to its representation in the population. For LGBT people, for example, it was calculated that they are victimized at 8.3 times the expected rate (17.4 divided by 2.1). The other categories were as follows: Jews were victimized at 3.5 times the expected rate, blacks at 3.2 times, Muslims at 1.9 times, Latinos at 0.6 times, and whites at 0.2 times.
Last, we compared the rate of victimization for LGBT people to that of the other groups. The figures show that LGBT people are 2.4 times more likely to suffer a violent hate crime attack than Jews (8.3 divided by 3.5). In the same way, gays are 2.6 times more likely to be attacked than blacks; 4.4 times more likely than Muslims; 13.8 times more likely than Latinos; and 41.5 times more likely than whites, according to the FBI figures. The basic pattern holds by years as well as across the years.
The bottom line: LGBT people are far more likely than any other minority group in the United States to be victimized by violent hate crime.
2.Gay Bullying Statistics:
According to recent gay bullying statistics, gay and lesbian teens are two to three times as more likely to commit teen suicide than other youths. About 30 percent of all completed suicides have been related to sexual identity crisis. Students who also fall into the gay, bisexual, lesbian or transgendered identity groups report being five times as more likely to miss school because they feel unsafe after being bullied due to their sexual orientation. About 28 percent out of those groups feel forced to drop out of school altogether. Although more and more schools are working to crack down on problems with bullying, teens are still continuing to bully each other due to sexual orientation and other factors.
In a 2005 survey about gay bullying statistics, teens reported that the number two reason they are bullied is because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender expression. The number one reason reported was because of appearance. Teens are at a pivotal point in their young adult lives when they are trying to find out who they are and who they are about to become as adults. This is why being teased, bullied and harassed is something that could negatively affect a person's self-esteem and view of themselves for the rest of their life.
In fact, about 9 out of 10 LGBT teens have reported being bullied at school within the past year because of their sexual orientation, according to the most recent gay bullying statistics. Out of those numbers, almost half have reported being physically harassed followed by another quarter who reported actually being physically assaulted. Unfortunately most teens who experience bullying of any kind are reluctant to share their experience or report the incident to a teacher or trusted adult. Even more unfortunate are the gay statistics that report a lack of response among those teachers and school administration. According to a recent statistic, out of the students that did report a harassment or bullying situation because of their sexuality, about one third of the school staff didn't do anything to resolve the issue.
Types of Bullying and Bully Prevention:
There are several ways that bullying can take place including verbal, physical, cyberbullying and indirect bullying. Physically being bullied usually entails some sort of physical assault or attack, or can also include having one's personal property destroyed or stolen. Verbal bullying arises from name calling that may be done because of a person's gender, sexual orientation, minority status, race, religious, etc. Indirect bullying is one of the most common types of bullying is the type of bullying that many people may do without even realizing it. Indirect bullying includes spreading stories and rumors about a person behind his or her back as well as exclusion from social groups. Cyber bullying can also fall into the category of indirect bullying, but includes bullying that is done over any type of electronic medium like text messaging, email, pictures sent via text or email, websites, blogs, message boards, chat-rooms and instant messaging.
When it comes to bully prevention, it is important to remember that these gay bullying statistics will never go down if action isn't taken. This is why it is important for teens to report incidents they are victims of, or even if they witness a bullying event take place. Even if it seems that the adults will be unresponsive to take action, there are always other members of the school board or administration that can be addressed. It is important not to give up or the bullying cycle will continue.
3.
Yahooligan! Welcome to Red Letter Christians! If you're new here, subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on the RLC Movement and/or sign up for the RLC newsletter!
To calculate these rates for six categories of victims — LGBT people, Jews, blacks, Muslims, Latinos and whites — the Intelligence Report first determined the percentage of the U.S. population represented by each victim group: LGBT people, 2.1%; Jews, 2.2% (Census Bureau’s 2009 Statistical Abstract); blacks, 12.9%; Muslims, 0.8% (2009 estimate from the Pew Research Center); Latinos, 15.8%; and whites, excluding Hispanic whites, 65.1%. Of these, the percentage of LGBT people in the American population is the most debatable. We use figures on self-identified gays, lesbians and bisexuals from a National Health and Social Life Survey that were also cited by a coalition of 31 leading gay rights organizations as “the most widely accepted study of sexual practices in the United States.” The 2.1% proportion is calculated from the finding that 2.8% of men and 1.4% of women are LGBT.
Next, we compiled the total number of hate crimes against persons (that is, excluding hate crimes against property) in those categories for the years 1995-2008, the period for which there was complete data. We then totaled the crimes for those 14 years in each category and calculated what percentage of all hate crimes against persons they represented. There were 15,351 anti-LGBT hate crime offenses during those years, for instance, which amounts to 17.4% of the total of 88,463 reported violent hate crimes. The figures for the remaining victim groups were Jews, 7.7%; blacks, 41%; Muslims, 1.5%; Latinos, 8.8%; and whites, 13.3%.
Using the figures from the above two paragraphs, we then compared the level of hate crime aimed at each group to that group’s percentage in the population to determine the group’s rate of victimization compared to its representation in the population. For LGBT people, for example, it was calculated that they are victimized at 8.3 times the expected rate (17.4 divided by 2.1). The other categories were as follows: Jews were victimized at 3.5 times the expected rate, blacks at 3.2 times, Muslims at 1.9 times, Latinos at 0.6 times, and whites at 0.2 times.
Last, we compared the rate of victimization for LGBT people to that of the other groups. The figures show that LGBT people are 2.4 times more likely to suffer a violent hate crime attack than Jews (8.3 divided by 3.5). In the same way, gays are 2.6 times more likely to be attacked than blacks; 4.4 times more likely than Muslims; 13.8 times more likely than Latinos; and 41.5 times more likely than whites, according to the FBI figures. The basic pattern holds by years as well as across the years.
The bottom line: LGBT people are far more likely than any other minority group in the United States to be victimized by violent hate crime.
2.Gay Bullying Statistics:
According to recent gay bullying statistics, gay and lesbian teens are two to three times as more likely to commit teen suicide than other youths. About 30 percent of all completed suicides have been related to sexual identity crisis. Students who also fall into the gay, bisexual, lesbian or transgendered identity groups report being five times as more likely to miss school because they feel unsafe after being bullied due to their sexual orientation. About 28 percent out of those groups feel forced to drop out of school altogether. Although more and more schools are working to crack down on problems with bullying, teens are still continuing to bully each other due to sexual orientation and other factors.
In a 2005 survey about gay bullying statistics, teens reported that the number two reason they are bullied is because of their actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender expression. The number one reason reported was because of appearance. Teens are at a pivotal point in their young adult lives when they are trying to find out who they are and who they are about to become as adults. This is why being teased, bullied and harassed is something that could negatively affect a person's self-esteem and view of themselves for the rest of their life.
In fact, about 9 out of 10 LGBT teens have reported being bullied at school within the past year because of their sexual orientation, according to the most recent gay bullying statistics. Out of those numbers, almost half have reported being physically harassed followed by another quarter who reported actually being physically assaulted. Unfortunately most teens who experience bullying of any kind are reluctant to share their experience or report the incident to a teacher or trusted adult. Even more unfortunate are the gay statistics that report a lack of response among those teachers and school administration. According to a recent statistic, out of the students that did report a harassment or bullying situation because of their sexuality, about one third of the school staff didn't do anything to resolve the issue.
Types of Bullying and Bully Prevention:
There are several ways that bullying can take place including verbal, physical, cyberbullying and indirect bullying. Physically being bullied usually entails some sort of physical assault or attack, or can also include having one's personal property destroyed or stolen. Verbal bullying arises from name calling that may be done because of a person's gender, sexual orientation, minority status, race, religious, etc. Indirect bullying is one of the most common types of bullying is the type of bullying that many people may do without even realizing it. Indirect bullying includes spreading stories and rumors about a person behind his or her back as well as exclusion from social groups. Cyber bullying can also fall into the category of indirect bullying, but includes bullying that is done over any type of electronic medium like text messaging, email, pictures sent via text or email, websites, blogs, message boards, chat-rooms and instant messaging.
When it comes to bully prevention, it is important to remember that these gay bullying statistics will never go down if action isn't taken. This is why it is important for teens to report incidents they are victims of, or even if they witness a bullying event take place. Even if it seems that the adults will be unresponsive to take action, there are always other members of the school board or administration that can be addressed. It is important not to give up or the bullying cycle will continue.
3.
FBI Report: Hate Crimes Against Gays Outnumber those Against Religion
This week a popular Christian magazine picked up on the recently released annual hate crime statistics report for 2011 from the FBI, noting that for the first time, hate crimes against gays outnumber those against religion. Incidents of religious bias previously outnumbered incidents of sexual orientation bias – but not any longer. Hate crimes against the LGBT community have taken the #2 spot on the Bureau’s list, with nearly 21% of over 7,240 incidents motivated by sexual-orientation bias.
Hate crimes against our LGBT brothers and sisters are on the rise.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time the magazine has reported on hate crimes. A past article by the popular magazine included responses from Christian groups to a federal hate crimes law in 2009 that moved to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of federally prosecuted hate crimes.
That law, known as the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, is named in part for Matthew Shepard. The late Shepard was a gay 21 year-old Wyoming college student who had been targeted because he was gay :: He was subsequently robbed, pistol whipped, tortured and left for dead by two men.
He was found, tied to a fence. The woman who discovered his near-lifeless and blood-soaked body initially mistook him for a scarecrow.
The men who perpetuated this heinous act were found guilty – but not of a hate crime.
They weren’t charged with one, because no criminal statute provided for such a charge.
The hate crimes prevention act bearing his name had previously been dropped from a bill in 2007 due to strong opposition from the same groups who would later unsuccessfully oppose it two years later (when the bill was finally signed into law).
Related: Sexual Orientation – It’s Not a Sin by Kathy Vestal
Out of fear and falsely envisioning a world where pastors could be arrested for preaching against homosexuality, a number of Christian groups fought tirelessly to keep crimes against folks like Matthew Shepard from being designated as ‘hate crimes’.
Others were dumbfounded by the opposition to a bill that would protect a percentage of the population against violence and hate crimes.
One was quoted as saying ::
‘I would think that the followers of Jesus would be first in line to protect any group from hate crimes. He was the one who intervened against religious violence aimed at the woman caught in the act of adultery.’
‘Religious leaders who are concerned about hate crimes legislation should separate out their views on homosexuality from what life is like for gays and lesbians in America,‘ another said. ‘They don’t have to agree with someone’s way of life in order to acknowledge that there are real threats to people that need to be addressed.’
Two years later, according to the report, hate crimes against the gay community are rising.
This is unacceptable – but also unsurprising.
Is it any wonder, when we respond out of fear in an us-versus-them mindset and treat a percentage of the population as ‘less than,’ Other or second-class-citizens, that there would be an increase in violence against that same group?
Even if those within the religious communities would condemn violent attacks on the LGBT community (as most did while simultaneously opposing the introduction of the Matthew Shepard Act), the very act of fighting against protecting the rights of a certain community will unintentionally lead to the abuse of that lack of protection.
As one friend recently pointed out here, violence against any person or people group can be boiled down to three simple steps ::
• Step 1 :: Agree that it is OK to treat some people different than others.
• Step 2 :: Agree that violence can be a useful tool to solve some problems.
• Step 3 :: Apply that violence to other people you deem lesser than you using whatever criteria you choose.
Is that not the path to all forms of violence, really?
All acts of violence stem from the dehumanization of another.
If someone fails to celebrate the imago dei in another – fails to see them as a beautiful expression of the Divine even in spite of their differences – then it is not surprising that apathy, ignorance, intolerance and even violent responses would follow. This trajectory is both inevitable (as we’ve seen in Uganda) and completely incompatible with the teachings of Jesus.
Also by Michael: Possibilities – Is this what got Jesus killed?
Obviously there are diverse theological views of the christian faith tradition regarding the morality of homosexuality.
Yet even when we disagree about a subject as controversial as sexuality, we should still look for a way to live together in harmony with all people.
Let us work tirelessly not to withhold certain rights from a select percentage of the population, nor to pass legislation that would keep any group at the margins of acceptance;
Rather, may we devote our time, energy, efforts and resources to the much greater work of seeing and celebrating the image of God stamped upon each and every person, and participating in reconciling all people toward his hesed love for all humanity.
For discussion :: The same friend I quoted in the article also asked these questions ::
‘If our churches marginalize gay people, are we complicit in these crimes? Does the rejection of gay people by the church sanctify, or put God’s stamp of approval, on the dehumanizing attitudes and actions toward gay people? These are important questions.’
Important questions indeed. What do you think?
—
Michael Kimpan is the author of the WayWard follower blog, a site designed to inspire thoughtful conversation and movement among followers of Jesus Christ. Michael works with The Marin Foundation in Chicago, a non-profit organization which works to build bridges between the LGBT community and the Church.
and lastly here's an article of common sense from www.empowered-mom.com that I agree with.....
One the one hand, some proponents of breastfeeding feel that the only way to normalize the activity and affect a change in the collective consciousness is to proceed normally, and not behave as if nursing is something that needs to be hidden away.
Others feel that they can't do much to change the opinions of uninformed individuals. They may decide to avoid offending others by using some sort of nursing cover up when feeding their baby. No approach is right, it depends on the situation and the feelings of the mother.
Some things to keep in mind when using a nursing cover up:
A large blanket tossed over mom's shoulder screams "we're nursing under here!" A better choice would be a lightweight receiving blanket that, instead of being worn over the shoulder, is placed behind the baby's back and pulled up over his head so that mom is covered. There are also specially designed, lightweight nursing covers that attach to mom's neck. These are available in a lot of cute fabrics and designs and fold up easily in a diaper bag or purse. Some of these are stiff at the top so that mom can see baby's face while nursing, preserving some of the closeness and communication between mom and baby.
Many moms find that using a baby sling, which is a soft cloth baby carrier that the mother wears on her body, is even more effective as a nursing cover up. A ring sling like the Maya Wrap can easily accommodate a nursing infant. The piece of fabric that holds the baby - the pouch - can be pulled up to cover baby's head easily. The tail of the sling can also be used to cover the baby's head or any exposed breast.
Young babies are often easy to nurse discreetly, but older babies sometimes develop habits that make discreet nursing harder. For instance, some babies refuse to be covered up. Others begin playing with mom's other nipple. If your baby begins doing this, you might want to discourage it strongly if discreet nursing is important to you. It's very difficult to get him to stop once this habit is deeply entrenched.
Nursing cover ups can also be helpful in the case of babies who are easily distracted at the breast, which is common when babies reach around 8 or 9 months of age. Sometimes mom has such a hard time getting baby settled down to nurse that she gets uncomfortably full, which can lead to problems with plugged ducts or mastitis.
Breastfeeding is gaining more acceptance as more people become aware of its benefits, but we may still be a couple of generations before it is common to see women nursing in public. Until then, nursing cover ups can prove to be helpful in keeping moms and babies breastfeeding longer.
DID I CHANGE A MIND OR HELP ANYONE BY POSTING THIS PROBABLY NOT, BUT I FEEL BETTER GETTING IT OFF MY FULLY CLOTHED CHEST!
on the food side of my day:
chili with saltines
banana
2 slices pepperoni pizza
topping off 1 slice bacon pizza
handful of Cheetos
Hate crimes against our LGBT brothers and sisters are on the rise.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time the magazine has reported on hate crimes. A past article by the popular magazine included responses from Christian groups to a federal hate crimes law in 2009 that moved to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of federally prosecuted hate crimes.
That law, known as the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, is named in part for Matthew Shepard. The late Shepard was a gay 21 year-old Wyoming college student who had been targeted because he was gay :: He was subsequently robbed, pistol whipped, tortured and left for dead by two men.
He was found, tied to a fence. The woman who discovered his near-lifeless and blood-soaked body initially mistook him for a scarecrow.
The men who perpetuated this heinous act were found guilty – but not of a hate crime.
They weren’t charged with one, because no criminal statute provided for such a charge.
The hate crimes prevention act bearing his name had previously been dropped from a bill in 2007 due to strong opposition from the same groups who would later unsuccessfully oppose it two years later (when the bill was finally signed into law).
Related: Sexual Orientation – It’s Not a Sin by Kathy Vestal
Out of fear and falsely envisioning a world where pastors could be arrested for preaching against homosexuality, a number of Christian groups fought tirelessly to keep crimes against folks like Matthew Shepard from being designated as ‘hate crimes’.
Others were dumbfounded by the opposition to a bill that would protect a percentage of the population against violence and hate crimes.
One was quoted as saying ::
‘I would think that the followers of Jesus would be first in line to protect any group from hate crimes. He was the one who intervened against religious violence aimed at the woman caught in the act of adultery.’
‘Religious leaders who are concerned about hate crimes legislation should separate out their views on homosexuality from what life is like for gays and lesbians in America,‘ another said. ‘They don’t have to agree with someone’s way of life in order to acknowledge that there are real threats to people that need to be addressed.’
Two years later, according to the report, hate crimes against the gay community are rising.
This is unacceptable – but also unsurprising.
Is it any wonder, when we respond out of fear in an us-versus-them mindset and treat a percentage of the population as ‘less than,’ Other or second-class-citizens, that there would be an increase in violence against that same group?
ADVERTISEMENT
-------------
As one friend recently pointed out here, violence against any person or people group can be boiled down to three simple steps ::
• Step 1 :: Agree that it is OK to treat some people different than others.
• Step 2 :: Agree that violence can be a useful tool to solve some problems.
• Step 3 :: Apply that violence to other people you deem lesser than you using whatever criteria you choose.
Is that not the path to all forms of violence, really?
All acts of violence stem from the dehumanization of another.
If someone fails to celebrate the imago dei in another – fails to see them as a beautiful expression of the Divine even in spite of their differences – then it is not surprising that apathy, ignorance, intolerance and even violent responses would follow. This trajectory is both inevitable (as we’ve seen in Uganda) and completely incompatible with the teachings of Jesus.
Also by Michael: Possibilities – Is this what got Jesus killed?
Obviously there are diverse theological views of the christian faith tradition regarding the morality of homosexuality.
Yet even when we disagree about a subject as controversial as sexuality, we should still look for a way to live together in harmony with all people.
Let us work tirelessly not to withhold certain rights from a select percentage of the population, nor to pass legislation that would keep any group at the margins of acceptance;
Rather, may we devote our time, energy, efforts and resources to the much greater work of seeing and celebrating the image of God stamped upon each and every person, and participating in reconciling all people toward his hesed love for all humanity.
For discussion :: The same friend I quoted in the article also asked these questions ::
‘If our churches marginalize gay people, are we complicit in these crimes? Does the rejection of gay people by the church sanctify, or put God’s stamp of approval, on the dehumanizing attitudes and actions toward gay people? These are important questions.’
Important questions indeed. What do you think?
—
Michael Kimpan is the author of the WayWard follower blog, a site designed to inspire thoughtful conversation and movement among followers of Jesus Christ. Michael works with The Marin Foundation in Chicago, a non-profit organization which works to build bridges between the LGBT community and the Church.
and lastly here's an article of common sense from www.empowered-mom.com that I agree with.....
Breastfeeding - Should You Cover Up Or Not?
Feeding a baby is not shocking, but necessary. Unfortunately in some cultures, particularly in the Western world, feeding a baby at the breast IS seen as something shocking, even vulgar by some. To be fair, many people are simply unaccustomed to seeing a woman breastfeeding and so feel some discomfort around a nursing mother. For others, breastfeeding is an activity that belongs behind closed doors.One the one hand, some proponents of breastfeeding feel that the only way to normalize the activity and affect a change in the collective consciousness is to proceed normally, and not behave as if nursing is something that needs to be hidden away.
Others feel that they can't do much to change the opinions of uninformed individuals. They may decide to avoid offending others by using some sort of nursing cover up when feeding their baby. No approach is right, it depends on the situation and the feelings of the mother.
Some things to keep in mind when using a nursing cover up:
A large blanket tossed over mom's shoulder screams "we're nursing under here!" A better choice would be a lightweight receiving blanket that, instead of being worn over the shoulder, is placed behind the baby's back and pulled up over his head so that mom is covered. There are also specially designed, lightweight nursing covers that attach to mom's neck. These are available in a lot of cute fabrics and designs and fold up easily in a diaper bag or purse. Some of these are stiff at the top so that mom can see baby's face while nursing, preserving some of the closeness and communication between mom and baby.
Many moms find that using a baby sling, which is a soft cloth baby carrier that the mother wears on her body, is even more effective as a nursing cover up. A ring sling like the Maya Wrap can easily accommodate a nursing infant. The piece of fabric that holds the baby - the pouch - can be pulled up to cover baby's head easily. The tail of the sling can also be used to cover the baby's head or any exposed breast.
Young babies are often easy to nurse discreetly, but older babies sometimes develop habits that make discreet nursing harder. For instance, some babies refuse to be covered up. Others begin playing with mom's other nipple. If your baby begins doing this, you might want to discourage it strongly if discreet nursing is important to you. It's very difficult to get him to stop once this habit is deeply entrenched.
Nursing cover ups can also be helpful in the case of babies who are easily distracted at the breast, which is common when babies reach around 8 or 9 months of age. Sometimes mom has such a hard time getting baby settled down to nurse that she gets uncomfortably full, which can lead to problems with plugged ducts or mastitis.
Breastfeeding is gaining more acceptance as more people become aware of its benefits, but we may still be a couple of generations before it is common to see women nursing in public. Until then, nursing cover ups can prove to be helpful in keeping moms and babies breastfeeding longer.
DID I CHANGE A MIND OR HELP ANYONE BY POSTING THIS PROBABLY NOT, BUT I FEEL BETTER GETTING IT OFF MY FULLY CLOTHED CHEST!
on the food side of my day:
chili with saltines
banana
2 slices pepperoni pizza
topping off 1 slice bacon pizza
handful of Cheetos
I don't see any issues with breastfeeding in public either, however, I also can understand how it may make someone uncomfortable. Breast-feeding became a hot topic here in the Toronto area (where I live) in 2012 when one mom was not happy about being told to breastfeed her baby in a private room (provided) in a government subsidized daycare as doing so in the public area was making a male employee uncomfortable. She was not using anything to cover herself up. Now if she was near me I would not have a problem with it. She demanded an apology from said daycare. It is not an easy situation - I guess - or does it really have to be made difficult? Sorry that you were blasted for actually being considerate - at least in my point of view. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteAlso sad that in today's world, hate crimes against LGBT out number those for religious beliefs. Hard to believe and sad,even while World Pride is happily taking place in my community this past week. :-)
I normally don't focus on the negative because you give it power by doing so, I think mayhaps it's this blasted mercury retrograde that's made everyone nuts! but I guess I just needed to vent lol thanks for the sweet comment and you have yourself a great weekend now ya hear!
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