A Gay Woman Comments On The Arizona Bill

"As a gay conservative woman, I supported Arizona’s religious freedom bill, which was just vetoed this week by Gov. Jan Brewer. I supported it because it embodied the values every American civil rights movement stood for: the freedom to live our lives without being punished for who we are. In this case, it was a bill making sure people of faith would not be forced to violate their religious beliefs in the event someone demanded they do so.

This bill, like others across the country, was thought necessary because of the emergence of business, large and small, being attacked by the gay left for either espousing Christian values or acting on their Christian faith. Ranging from a bakery to a photographer, individuals were being sued for refusing to violate their religious beliefs. Having been a liberal “community organizer” in my past, I immediately recognized the strategy being employed. This is an effort to condition the public into automatically equating faith with bigotry. To make faith in the public square illegal and dangerous, you need legal cases and publicity. Voila, lawsuits against small business resting on the notion that acting on genuinely held faith is bigotry per se.

Under these rules, freedom of conscience is squashed under the jackboot of liberals, all in the Orwellian name of “equality and fairness.” Here we are dealing with not just forcing someone to do something for you, but forcing them in the process to violate a sacrament of their faith as well. If we are able to coerce someone, via the threat of lawsuit and personal destruction, to provide a service, how is that not slavery? If we insist that you must violate your faith specifically in that slavish action, how is that not abject tyranny?

Of all the people in the world who should understand the scourge of living under constant threat of losing life, liberty or the ability to make a living because of who you are, it’s gays. It has been disgusting to watch supposed gay “leadership” drag young gays and lesbians through an indoctrination that insists that in order to have equality, you must force other people to do your will, make them betray who they are, and punish them if they offend you.

Horribly, the gay civil rights movement has morphed into a Gay Gestapo. Its ranks will now do the punishing of those who dare to be different or dissent from the approved leftist dogma. To all the young gays who tweet and email me that this is about “equality,” how exactly? Forcing someone to do something against their faith has nothing to do with equality for you, has nothing to do with bigotry and has everything to do with a personal, spiritual understanding of right and wrong. In other words, I tell them, not everything is about you.

This reaction to the Arizona bill surprised people, but it shouldn’t have. Keep in mind, the legal targeting of people of faith has been ongoing, with the Obama administration leading the charge. We see it in the Obamacare birth control mandate, which is also determined to force people of faith to abandon their belief under legal threat. The attack on Chick-fil-A because its CEO dared to espouse a faith-based view on gay marriage is another example of the attempt to intimidate people of faith.

That targeting of Chick-fil-A was a massive failure, which is why, I contend, the left shifted its focus to smaller, local businesses that could more easily be intimidated and threatened.

Why would the Gay Gestapo suddenly need to convince everyone that any act of faith must be viewed suspiciously as discrimination and “hate?” Forcing a bakery, Hobby Lobby, Chick-fil-A or a photographer to either violate their religious beliefs or be destroyed is simply a test run. The real target is the church and temple. If the left can convince our society to force people of faith to violate their sacraments in the name of “equality,” why would we allow that to stop at the church door?

This is why bills like Arizona’s protecting individual Christians from lawsuits will have to return, because the left has a mission, and this is only the beginning. It was clear Mrs. Brewer had no choice but to veto the bill, considering the left had completely smeared the state in the process of its media frenzy. Add to that the fact that liberals would like nothing better in this election year than to have this be the discussion in the media instead of Obamacare and the economy. Still, it will have to be confronted eventually if we are keep tyranny from eating away at the fabric of our culture.

Ultimately, the Arizona bill had nothing to do with gays and everything to do with protecting the right of individuals to live their lives in ways that may not include others, or may even offend certain groups. As Americans, we did not go through the growing pains of the civil rights movements only to capitulate to 21st century bullies who have the gall to use the importance of minority rights as a weapon to extinguish those with whom they disagree.

We can have both equality and religious freedom, but only if the bullies on the left are confronted about the truth of their agenda."

Tammy Bruce is a radio talk-show host, New York Times best-selling author and Fox News political contributor.

h/t Andy Parks and The Washington Times

The Only Bigotry It's About is Anti-Christian

No, it's not about anti-gay bigotry.  It's about deeply held religious beliefs.  And about the co-opting of victim status by a group that has no right to it.  And it IS about the religious beliefs of one group being forced on another. It's about religious beliefs being forced on Christians.

Being homosexual is not the same as being black, and blacks should be outraged that their arguments for justice have been stolen and are being used, sometimes against them.  Homosexuality is  a disordered desire, not a state of being. Being black is a state of being that the black person has no control over - they cannot cease to "act" black.  Homosexual BEHAVIOR, which is what laws like that passed by Arizona's legislature are about, is the acting out on that desire.  In that way it is much like alcoholism - there is nothing "wrong" with having the disorder but rather the acting on it that is wrong.  It is a struggle, a burden, a cross to bear.  And like alcoholism, the homosexual person has a choice in their behavior.  A "gay gene" has never been found, and if one ever is then the numbers of homosexuals will drop even more than their already low numbers - they will die like the black children of New York in the same abortion mills.

The intent of the Arizona law was NOT to allow random discrimination. To begin with, if a homosexual person walked into a bakery and ordered a cake, just how would the proprietor know they were homosexual unless they announced "I want to have sex with people who are the same sex as me!"?  What Christians (and Orthodox Jews and Mormons and Muslims - but it's politically correct to bash Christians) are seeking protection from is the requirement to participate in the sinfulness of the homosexual lifestyle by catering to such things as "weddings".  And, just like people misrepresent Christians who object to being forced to pay for the abortions and contraception drugs of others, the religious beliefs of those seeking protection are being misrepresented either in ignorance or deliberately.  

Anybody who has been paying attention knows that the homosexual lobby is not content with obtaining the recognition of the fiction of their marriages from the government.  What it wants and what it is actually working for is to force every person to not just accept it as legal, but to force every person to declare in one way or another that it is a positive good.  That has been made very clear in lawsuits brought against churches by couples seeking to force them to perform same-sex marriages.  The money quote from a recent suit against the Anglican Church is "We didn't get what we wanted." And they will attack us and attack us because of that, using emotions and catch phrases and guilt as weapons and bludgeoning us with the force of laws, of fines and jail, of loss of businesses, until they get what they want.
 
And what we want is not a license to throw people out of our shops.  What we want is the right to not serve people who are behaving in a way that we believe to be immoral because by assisting in that behavior we ourselves sin.  And sin is separation from the Creator of all that is and from whom we derive our being.  But we live in a culture that says that we should check our beliefs at the door and in saying that reveals that it is absolutely clueless about what religious faith is.  It has no concept that sin means separation from God.  If you do not believe in God, then separate yourself from breathing and blood flow - it's exactly the same.  And if you believe in God but think that what I described is OK then your god is a very small god indeed. And those who call themselves Christian and say that Jesus would be fine with whatever behavior they come up with 'cause He's their buddy have invented their own Jesus, for He spoke fiercely and often of sin and it's wages and at no time was He a warm fuzzy who declared "Party on!"
 
Even if you remove religion from the equation homosexual behavior is NOT a positive good in a world that is moving rapidly towards a population collapse that will have profound implications for the future of our grandchildren.  This is actually what is behind Russia's laws - an understanding of demographics.  It may come as a surprise to people, but the basic purpose of sex in nature is procreation.  It may further surprise people that same sex couples can't procreate. Of course, the same people most surprised by this are those that demand all natural foods and no GMOs while popping synthetic hormones that are tied to such little problems as blood clots and demand legalized mary jane while passing laws against tobacco smoke. So perhaps that's not too surprising.

We are living in a culture that has accepted the laughable idea that sex just for sex's sake is the answer to all problems, all ills, all difficulties  That it's a sport that exists simply for entertainment.  That idea has left pain and suffering in its wake.  There is no longer a concept of the human body as a gift, no concept of the sacred or of the holy in that gift. It's just a toy and Facebook will give you 50 definitions as to how you can use it as a toy.  And then demand that someone else pay for the disease, the psychological issues, the pregnancies, the lost and heart-sick or dead children that result from using another human being as a toy.

Unfortunately, the fiction of victimhood is effective at gaining sympathy.  It works on conservatives as well because they don't want to be the bad guy.  Most aren't strong enough to stand against the tide.  If they were, impeachment proceedings would have been started long ago for the likes of Eric Holder and others currently in office.  Conservatives can't stand against the accusation that they are racist.  And in the same way, they can't stand against the accusation, however wrongly used, that they are homophobic bigots.

Perhaps someone might speak up if observant Jews or Seventh Day Adventists were being pressured to open their businesses on Saturday.  Or if laws were being passed that banned Jewish circumcision.  This is the same situation.  Exactly the same.  Except anti-Christian bigotry is accepted, promoted, and politically correct these days, and so we don't have the same protections.  What I wonder is just how long those who are still under the liberal radar will retain theirs.

Musta Been Something I Said

There's A Moment...

...when you realize that Winter is over.  That no matter what it does next week or even the week after, Winter is done.  The temps will jiggle up and down, but trend up.  We may have snow and ice, but it will be temporary.  Despite the hard Winter, the daffodils are already poking through in the front yard.  And I heard robins twice this weekend - they're coming out of the deep woods where they wintered.  Spring's coming.  It's very close now.

I Hear That Train A Comin'

It's comin' round the bend...

 

Yeah, that would bother me if I was driving down that road.

Story here. 

And in case that got an ear worm going...

So What Kind Of Line...

...does the Ukraine get?

h/t zerohedge.com

Well, That Was Fun

Grandbaby having turned 1 this month, plans were laid for a first birthday party up Detroit way, and my presence was requested.  Plane reservations for last Thursday evening made, cat sitters confirmed.   Fingers crossed.

The fingers crossed part didn't work.

The system that I had had some hopes of pushing off the east coast didn't, and as I watched what looked to be a classic nor'easter form and watched the storm predictions firm up I started thinking "I need to get off the mountain.  I'll have to stay at an airport hotel the night before."  Then after watching it some more I thought "I need to get completely the hell out of Dodge before that hits."  Paid an extra $200 to move the flight to early Wednesday afternoon and ran around frantically. Main cat sitter informed me that because of fear that she wouldn't be able to get to the house for a few days she was just going to move in and hunker down.  Yay!  Grocery run for supplies for her.  Some holes in my own emergency supplies found - where the heck have all my lighters gone? And when did I break the big flashlight?

Then off to Detroit in a jet full of others fleeing the storm, many of whom had originally been scheduled to fly through Atlanta, which was already closed.  I think not just the airport.  I think the whole city of Atlanta.

Arrived to find that Amelia had been running a dandy fever, which spiked at 104.2.  Ear infection - well, at least that can be treated.

Then I woke up with a screaming headache.  The kind where it feels like the plates in your skull are cracking.  And shortly thereafter everything I had eaten the day before was violently expelled from my body.  Also any future foods/liquids I might consider consuming.   

Even though at that point I was bed ridden if I wasn't in the bathroom, I had been Typhoid Mary - they couldn't risk bringing people into the house.  Noroviruses are incredibly contagious, including before symptoms show up.  Party canceled.  But we did do our own little thing, and she did get the traditional first cake.

By Saturday afternoon my daughter's throat felt like it was full of razor blades, and by Sunday there was a pounding head and fever to go with it.  Trip to urgent care - sinus infection.

House of Plague.

I was supposed to fly home Sunday evening, but it was clear that there was no way I was going to be able to travel by Sunday, particularly with the prospect of having to shovel 15 inches of snow off my SUV once I got back to BWI.   The way I was feeling made Monday iffy too, so I rescheduled for Tuesday, and the nice fellow at Delta didn't charge me the $200 change fee once he learned that I was changing the flight due to illness.

I got incredibly happy Monday evening when I realized that I was feeling hungry. I hadn't felt hungry in days. 

I left a very white and cold Michigan that was looking forward to a heat wave of at least 32 degrees, maybe up to 40 this week.

And returned to a balmy 55 and a whole lot of snow melt in Baltimore.

I had thrown a couple shovels and a broom in the back of the SUV, but color me happy that I didn't have to use them.

 
Now I have a ton of blog reading to do.  Not to mention work.  I guess they want me to work.

And FYI for travelers - do not use skin cream before you fly.   It can cause a positive reading on the random explosives swabs they do at security.  Yeah, that was fun, too.  At least I always show up a good hour before boarding time.

Hee

Just Wondering

Once we are all liberated from work and I can just sit on my deck all day, who's paying for my beer?

Just wondering.

Penn and Teller and Trees

A little hysteria dissection to start the week.

Yep

And I have three of them...

Besides, when busy go for the cat joke...

The Commute From Hell

I'm glad I don't have that commute anymore.  Or at least I only have to deal with it one day a week, and not that if roads are questionable.  Yesterday's ice storm left us all glittery and a commute that sort of looked like this:

But some folks don't have the telework or liberal leave option, so they slipped and slid out their doors, some of them to the MARC commuter train station in Harper's Ferry, climbing sleepily aboard to head east at 6:05 am.  Only to come to a crashing stop about 10 minutes after leaving the station.

A lot of ice burdened trees came down yesterday.  The MARC train was passing one at just the wrong moment.  Fortunately, none of the crew was sitting there when the tree hit.

They made it into the Brunswick station and then sat while the powers that be decided whether or not train service was going to happen on that line at all.  Finally, another engine was put on and the commute resumed.

And then there was another crash.

Once again it was fortunate that nobody was sitting in that seat.  This one involved power lines and they had to wait for the power company to send a crew out before anybody could do anything.  

At that point MARC threw up their hands and said "We're taking you home."  Back the other way they went.  Only to hit another tree on the way back.

A friend of mine headed for the first train at 5:50 am.  She got back to her house about 12:30 pm, having made it about 10 miles.  Maybe she should have checked her horoscope before leaving.  Staying in bed would have been the better option.

Found It!

'Fraid I don't have anything to add to what Murphy's Law, Old NFO, Jay G, or anyone else who posted about Saturday had to say.  Except that somebody must have measured my hand.  And then made me sad.  Because there was this at that little gun show:

Smith and Wesson series 60 .357 magnum.  It fit like it had been made especially for me. But its price tag didn't fit nearly as well - $690.  And then there was a Kahr 9 mm that didn't have as much personality but, again, fit my hand like it was made for me.  I don't need a 9 mm.  But talk about yer perfect concealed carry for a person with small hands...

And dinner oh yeah.  Mudbugs are good no matter how you serve them and those were the best hush-puppies I have ever had.  Not to mention some of the best stories I've ever heard.  There was the one about the naked...well, never mind.  You want to hear it you gotta come to the next gathering.

And the whole thing inspired me to try to start getting the laundry room where my reloading set up languishes back into a functional state.  I made some loads and shot them and then there was that phone call in the wee hours of February 10, 2013, and it's like I got totally distracted and it sat.  But in the middle of the rearranging I came across a couple small boxes that I had never really paid attention to.  Well.

A million years ago I stretched out in Grandma's porch swing and read the books she read and carried with her when she "went to housekeeping" and the books "the boys" accumulated when they still lived at home.  The likes of Penrod and Sam and Chicken Every Sunday, both of which now live with me.  And there was another book, a book whose title I couldn't remember.  A book of poetry:

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward.
All in the Valley of Death Rode the six hundred.

And:

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.

I didn't know about the stupidity of Crimean War commanders or the myth of the Noble Redman then.  The summer bees sang in the green warmth of a mountain farm well off the paved road as the chickens clucked and scratched contentedly in the bushes and the cushions smelled of coal smoke and dust and the swing moved lazily with a push of my foot against the chain and I read the verses year after year after year until I knew some of them by heart.  And then I was grown up and Grandma was gone and, when I poked through the bookshelf when we went to close the farm, so was the book of poems.  Sigh.  So in recent years I've poked about the internet and through shelves of books in antique stores, hampered by the fact that I was looking for a book whose title I couldn't remember.

And then there was this little box with stuff from Mom's house that I hadn't actually looked in.

Damn.  It was on my parent's bookshelf and then in my own laundry room all those years.  It has gotten too fragile to really read, but it lives in a safe and cherished place now.

And then there was stuff like:

A little research showed me why I have no memory of this - the S 200 S stove required its own gas tank and it was a long time ago.  Not useful. I just wonder who gave it to me.

So now the laundry room is only half done and I've wandered off to watch "Survivorman", leaving various boxes strung around the TV room. Maybe the upcoming weather will encourage me to go back to work.  I'm so easily distracted but it's pretty much guaranteed that I'm going to be stuck inside.

And the air pressure readings over in the Pacific say we've got at least 2 more major storms coming over the next 2 weeks.