tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24003502024-03-07T03:04:21.998-06:00The Things That Mark SeesWho cares what I think?Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.comBlogger122125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-46802316497039847432018-08-06T14:08:00.000-05:002018-08-06T14:17:26.012-05:00Busy Treading Water<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's been a bit since I've posted things I've noticed here. I tend to post links to articles and memes of interest on FB as that's where most of my social connections lie. But I distrust it and expect that it will be superseded by something at some point. In any event, I'll keep my little corner of the web here which my domain registration points to for the nonce.<br />
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We tried to sell the house three years ago and it fell through at the last minute. We're getting position to attempt again as soon as the market improves. I'd love to be in the position of living up north during the summer and having someplace small to live in Houston in the winter. We shall see what we can organize that way.<br />
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In the meanwhile, I'm plugging away at work and looking forward to the next travel adventure.</div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-83474131839957740332015-03-26T10:41:00.001-05:002015-03-26T10:41:49.896-05:00The Cruz Troika<a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-cruz-troika">The Cruz Troika</a><br /><br />
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Dear God.<br /><br />
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Abrams, Bolton and Woolsey - crazy town.<br /><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Droid Serif', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">"After the respected neoconservative and the clownish warmonger you have a guy who might simply be certifiable: former CIA Director James Woolsey, perhaps the champion at being the biggest purveyor crap in the lead up to the Iraq War, which is saying something because the competition is intense. He may be the only former high level official still holding on to Saddam Hussein being the mastermind of 9/11.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Droid Serif', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Droid Serif', 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">Like everything else with Cruz's campaign, this really is if not the first then the ultimate Fox News candidacy. Like Cruz himself, the effort is not just extreme but focused less on implementation than provocation and histrionics. Even Cruz doesn't seem to go in for nutball conspiracy theories. But his favorite experts do. Basically it's just as bad as you might have expected with Cruz or perhaps worse."</div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-7933816099207210252015-02-19T08:38:00.001-06:002015-02-19T08:38:04.181-06:00Binary Isn’t<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Scalzi points out what those of us who have been mulling these things for years already knew. There is no such thing as absolute binary gender. Science.</span><br /><br />
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<a href="http://whatever.scalzi.com/2015/02/18/binary-isnt/">Binary Isn’t | Whatever</a>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-19796126821958833212015-02-18T20:16:00.001-06:002015-02-18T20:16:14.556-06:00How Asteroid Mining Could Pay for Our First Space Colony<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This has been under discussion since the O'Neill colonies were first proposed in the late 60's. Now it seems it's closer to becoming real.</span><br /><br />
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<a href="http://gizmodo.com/how-asteroid-mining-could-pay-for-our-first-space-colon-1685429089">How Asteroid Mining Could Pay for Our First Space Colony</a>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-86010268522253087742015-02-18T15:06:00.001-06:002015-02-18T15:06:26.247-06:00FiveThirtyEight’s Election-Style Oscar Predictions | FiveThirtyEight<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I really would prefer "The Imitation Game" to win. 538 seems to think it's going to be "Birdman"</span><br /><br />
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<a href="http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/oscars-predictions-best-picture-director-actor-actress/">FiveThirtyEight’s Election-Style Oscar Predictions | FiveThirtyEight</a>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-23609867900465422642015-02-18T14:55:00.001-06:002015-02-18T14:55:58.960-06:00Australian Dads read: I Think I’m A Poof<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Brilliant.</span><br /><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-1S0Rts-6xQ" width="480"></iframe>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-51766105387505010302014-06-10T09:25:00.001-05:002014-06-10T09:25:59.355-05:00If your kid comes out to youBenjamin Moberg hits the nail on the hit (gently) and references some wonderful people and efforts underway to support parents who come from conservative backgrounds about how to simply love their children in the midst of chaos and confusion.<br /><br />
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<a href="http://www.registeredrunaway.com/2014/06/10/if-your-kid-comes-out-to-you/">if your kid comes out to you |</a><br /><br />
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"<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26.18181800842285px;">At the Gay Christian Network there were a number of parents present wearing large buttons that said</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26.18181800842285px;"> </span><em style="border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 26.18181800842285px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Free Dad Hugs! </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26.18181800842285px;">and</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26.18181800842285px;"> </span><em style="border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18px; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 26.18181800842285px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Free Mom Hugs! </em><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26.18181800842285px;">ready with arms wide open for the kids whose parents cut them out. Told them off. Said they loved them, but hated their sexuality. In a quiet room of the hotel we were at, these proxy parents held these orphaned kids. Held them close. Prayed over them and told them they loved them.</span><br /><br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26.18181800842285px; margin-bottom: 1rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26.18181800842285px; margin-bottom: 1rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">I tell you, friends, resurrection always wins, even in the dark- for that matter,<em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">especially </em>in the dark. God is near."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26.18181800842285px; margin-bottom: 1rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">"Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Convention who is <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">not</em> a family therapist, who has (to my knowledge) <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">no</em> gay kids of his own, wrote a <a href="http://www.russellmoore.com/2014/06/06/what-if-your-child-is-gay/" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease; border: 0px; color: #ef5f69; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease; vertical-align: baseline;">blog post</a> about how parents should react to a gay son or daughter coming out to them. It was, as expected, unhelpful. But his post is nothing compared to <a href="http://www.gty.org/blog/B140603" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease; border: 0px; color: #ef5f69; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s ease; vertical-align: baseline;">John MacArthur’s video,</a> in which he said that the Christ-like response to a child coming out is too <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">shun </em>them. To disown them. To, in John’s words, <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“turn them over to Satan.”</em></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26.18181800842285px; margin-bottom: 1rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26.18181800842285px; margin-bottom: 1rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">So, I thought I’d pen my own advice, <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">from experience.</em> This is for all the parents with closeted gay kids. These are words you need to hear.</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26.18181800842285px; margin-bottom: 1rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26.18181800842285px; margin-bottom: 1rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;">If your son or daughter comes out to you, <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">go to them.</em> Hold them. Whisper your love and kiss their forehead and make them feel your love. Say it again and again and again because here’s the deal: The faith many of us were raised in told us this was a deal-breaker. That this love between you was not strong enough for <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">this. </em>And odds are, your kid is thinking there’s a chance you might not love them anymore and a chance that your lying if you say you do. If there was ever a moment to step up as a parent and love your baby, now is it. You don’t get a redo."</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 26.18181800842285px; margin-bottom: 1rem; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;"><br /></div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-61341515150296774792014-06-09T08:04:00.001-05:002014-06-09T08:04:55.130-05:00The end of gay historyJohn Aravosis talks about the strains on the fabric of the community of not-straight people and what it all means using the on-going attacks of Dan Savage by some in the trans community as an entre into his essay.<br /><br />
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"<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px;">If we don’t figure out how to continue the mission, if we don’t foster the relationship between Ls, Gs, Bs and Ts; between younger members of the community and their elders; between our brethren of different races and genders and sexual orientations and gender identities — if we don’t stop being, and making people, afraid to ask questions and talk about the things we might not understand and might not even agree on – I fear that, sometime soon, a good and important chunk of our community is going to take its big pink ball and go home."</span><br /><br />
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<a href="http://americablog.com/2014/06/end-of-gay-history.html">The end of gay history</a>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-70130452442403551962014-05-03T08:00:00.001-05:002014-05-03T08:00:02.111-05:00Antigay religion: How Catholics and evangelicals are coming to accept same-sex marriage."There will always be Christians, Muslims, and Jews who condemn homosexuality. There will be bigots, bashers, and demagogues. And in some places, particularly in Africa and Asia, there will be persecution and oppressive laws. <b>But in this country, religious resistance is crumbling.</b> It’s being overwhelmed by love, conscience, and a God who keeps creating gay kids, even in the most devout families. Over time, He will prevail." -- William Saletan<br /><br />
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<a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/frame_game/2014/05/antigay_religion_how_catholics_and_evangelicals_are_coming_to_accept_same.html">Antigay religion: How Catholics and evangelicals are coming to accept same-sex marriage.</a>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-34982195744881214872014-04-27T07:41:00.001-05:002014-04-27T07:41:16.356-05:00“Capital in the 21st Century” is a game-changerAnother book to purchase on Kindle and read on my iPad. I am increasingly concerned about the shrinking middle class in the US and how the economic prescriptions of both primary parties utterly fail to address it. It should be the biggest concern of the electorate and ties into the power of the moneyed oligarch's to destroy the goose that laid the golden egg. We must find workable remedies and I will be voting for people and policies that address it with priority.<br /><br />
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<a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/04/27/welcome_to_the_piketty_revolution_capital_in_the_21st_century_is_a_game_changer_even_if_you_never_read_it/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow">Welcome to the Piketty revolution: “Capital in the 21st Century” is a game-changer (even if you never read it) - Salon.com</a><br /><br />
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"<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">Piketty is a symbol of the increasing consensus among academic economists and political scientists about inequality and democracy. This consensus, which has been demonstrated in innumerable</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><a href="http://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/~jnd260/cab/CAB2012%20-%20Page1.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: red; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">studies</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><a href="http://www.demos.org/stacked-deck-how-dominance-politics-affluent-business-undermines-economic-mobility-america" style="border: 0px; color: red; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">reports</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">and</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8664.html" style="border: 0px; color: red; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">books</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">already, establishes a few propositions: Inequality has been increasing in the United States over the past three decades. This inequality has been defined particularly by an</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><a href="http://gabriel-zucman.eu/files/SaezZucman2014Slides.pdf" style="border: 0px; color: red; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">explosion among the very top</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">, be it the 1 percent or the 0.1 percent (or even the .01 percent). This concentration of economic power has coincided with an</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/12/14/the_right%E2%80%99s_inequality_canard_they_botch_history_and_economics/" style="border: 0px; color: red; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">increase in political power</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">for</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><a href="http://www.demos.org/stacked-deck-how-dominance-politics-affluent-business-undermines-economic-mobility-america" style="border: 0px; color: red; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">the wealthiest Americans</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">. There are still some ideologues who dispute these points, but there are ideologues who still dispute</span><a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/02/20/why_creationists_cant_be_scientists/" style="border: 0px; color: red; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">evolution</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">and</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/04/republicans-framing-climate-change/360911/" style="border: 0px; color: red; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">global warming</a><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">— best to</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/07/04/july_4_guide_how_to_debate_crazy_relatives_at_the_family_bbq/" style="border: 0px; color: red; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">move along.</a><br /><br />
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 15px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Second, Piketty puts conservatives in a rather awkward position. Conservative values, like “opportunity,” “family” and “tradition” — which are broadly supported by Americans — were once the backbone of the Republican Party. Today, that tradition has been jettisoned by the GOP in favor of becoming a subservient vessel for the richest of the rich. Some conservatives <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottwinship/2014/04/17/whither-the-bottom-90-percent-thomas-piketty/" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: red; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">have argued</a> that inequality isn’t a problem because government transfer programs — Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare — reduce inequality. This is certainly true, but these are the same transfer programs conservatives are so eager to cut! So if conservatives wish to make this argument, they must implicitly accept that transfer programs work to alleviate inequality, and therefore that cutting them will increase inequality." -- <span style="font-style: italic;">Sean McElwee</span></div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-14201849022846413642014-04-27T07:01:00.001-05:002014-04-27T07:01:20.261-05:00On Gay Marriage, Intolerance Cuts Both Ways - or does it?<a href="http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/04/27/on_gay_marriage_intolerance_cuts_both_ways_122415.html">On Gay Marriage, Intolerance Cuts Both Ways | RealClearPolitics</a><br /><br />
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This is an intriguing emerging perspective and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Should the SBC been held to account for their historical support of slavery and, subsequently, segregation? I believe so. Their moral authority to speak to the current marriage equality debate is critically compromised precisely because of this history. They were wrong on people of color. They have been and continue to be wrong about women in society and the church. They're wrong about LGBT people and marriage equality. Why shouldn't their feet be held to the fire as a matter of moral accountability? How does that get defined as "intolerance"? Seems Orwellian double-speak to me.<br /><br />
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I think that opposition to marriage equality is fundamentally rooted in bigotry, however it is rationalized and justified. I see no essential distinction between religious arguments in support of opposite-sex only marriage and the religious arguments in support of slavery and segregation. Ultimately the arguments are repugnant and do a disservice to the very Gospel they purport to serve. Using those religious-based arguments in the civil arena is especially a no-go. So, being on the business end of this kind of discrimination, we're supposed to simply let it go and not call the perpetrators to moral account? I don't get that.<br /><br />
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On a minor note, reading about what was happening behind the scenes of the 2004 presidential campaign is endlessly fascinating. The public persona of President Bush apparently simply didn't match his private beliefs. Politics at it's worst.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-14907859517058294512014-04-13T18:04:00.001-05:002014-04-13T18:04:04.965-05:00Leviticus Defiled: The Perversion of Two Verses | Scribalishess<span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">"When you use a biblical book only to condemn but ignore it otherwise, that’s bibliolatry. You are defiling God’s word by using it wrongly and selectively. When you ignore a book filled with important (but difficult) theology only to appeal to it when it’s convenient, you are abusing it. This is biblical pornography—putting selected verses on display in a way that defiles them and uses them for your own perverted purposes..."</span><br /><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">and later on</span><br /><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #2b2b2b; font-family: Lato, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">"Isn’t it interesting, that when Jesus quoted Leviticus, he quoted a verse about love (Lev. 19:18)? Maybe, if we’re going to pick one verse out of Leviticus to plaster on signs, that’s the one we should choose."</span><br /><br />
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<a href="http://scribalishess.wordpress.com/2014/02/28/leviticus-defiled-the-perversion-of-two-verses/">Leviticus Defiled: The Perversion of Two Verses | Scribalishess</a><br /><br />
by <a href="http://gravatar.com/scribalishess" style="color: #222222; cursor: pointer; font-family: proxima-nova-soft, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 26px; line-height: 1em; text-decoration: none;">scribalishess</a><br /><br />
<div class="description" id="bio" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.901961); color: #333333; cursor: text; font-family: 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.4;">Mother of two beautiful kids; professor of Old Testament and Hebrew (Ph.D); gadget lover, Mac enthusiast, fountain pen collector and user, photographer, Fellow-Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics.</div>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-59187708708767209792014-03-03T13:27:00.004-06:002014-03-03T13:27:38.658-06:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="yiv1329448112apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">"We
must find the freedom to step over our wounds and the courage to forgive those
who have wounded us. The real danger is to get stuck in anger and resentment.
Then we start living as ‘the wounded one,’ always complaining that life isn’t
‘fair.’</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
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<span class="yiv1329448112apple-style-span">Jesus came to save us from these
self-destructive complaints. He says: ‘Let go of your complaints, forgive those
who loved you poorly, step over your feelings of being rejected, and have the
courage to trust that you won’t fall into an abyss of nothingness but into the
safe embrace of a God whose love will heal all your wounds.'"</span><br />
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<span class="yiv1329448112apple-style-span">— Henri Nouwen:</span><span class="yiv1329448112apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="yiv1329448112apple-style-span"><span style="color: #2244bb;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0824519671" target="_blank">Here and Now: Living in the Spirit</a></span>,
57-58</span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-2969064695706267612014-01-29T13:38:00.001-06:002014-01-29T13:38:58.158-06:00Griselda reflects on the GCN Conference<a href="http://freedhearts.wordpress.com/2014/01/29/when-he-hugged-me-i-just-fell-into-his-arms/">When He Hugged Me, I Just Fell Into His Arms « FreedHearts</a><br /><br />
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Susan Cottrell is kind enough to post Criselda's reflection, the deep wound between her and her parents and how straight parents @ GCN reached out in a welcome way.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-41743948791476671842014-01-26T09:34:00.001-06:002014-01-26T09:34:19.752-06:00Stacey Chomiak reflects on the GCN conference<a href="http://staceychomiak.wordpress.com/2014/01/26/experiencing-gcn-2014-live-it-out/">Experiencing GCN 2014 “Live it Out” « This is what I see.</a><br /><br />
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I heard a lot about Stacey and Tam Chomiak during the conference but hadn't spent time with them. They had a major impact with the animation they did for Rob and Linda Robertson's "Just Because He Breathes" and for their own breakout they conducted about recovering from brokenness in relationship. What I like is that she takes you through her experience of the conference, the high points, and how it affected her.<br /><br />
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Glad to hear another story of how *relationships* are fostered and strengthened through the ministry of GCN.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-61091251815230079732014-01-24T16:12:00.001-06:002014-01-24T16:12:43.938-06:00The 30-Year-Old Macintosh and a Lost Conversation With Steve Jobs<a href="http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/01/24/the-30-year-old-macintosh-and-a-lost-conversation-with-steve-jobs/?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=TE_T3M_20140124&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1388552400000&bicmet=1420088400000">The 30-Year-Old Macintosh and a Lost Conversation With Steve Jobs - NYTimes.com</a><br /><br />
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In retrospect, I'll bet they wish they'd run it on the front page. It's had that much impact.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-36586437537655671612014-01-19T00:52:00.001-06:002014-01-19T00:52:10.741-06:00Susan Cottrell reflects on the GCN Conference<a href="http://freedhearts.wordpress.com/2014/01/13/gods-love-abundant-at-gcn-conference/">God’s Love Abundant at GCN Conference « FreedHearts</a><br />
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I worked with Susan during the service project and it was a joy to be around her even though we didn't get to know each other beyond acquaintance. She's really written a book: "<a href="http://freedhearts.wordpress.com/mom-im-gay-book-preorder/" target="_blank">Mom, I'm Gay</a>" about her experience with her daughter's revelation that she was lesbian. I'm looking forward to reading the book when it comes out and it's great that she's a fellow Texan.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-35706733453880746662014-01-18T08:40:00.001-06:002014-01-18T08:40:42.334-06:00Christians aren’t being driven out of public life – they’re just losing their unfair advantages<a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/2014/01/christians-are-merely-losing-their-unfair-advantages">Christians aren’t being driven out of public life – they’re just losing their unfair advantages</a><br />
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Robin Ince, a self-identified athiest in the UK, presents his perspective on the whinging of Christians (specifically citing Cristina Odone, a blogger at "The Telegraph") about their "oppression" in a society that is incrementally improving equality, especially as concerns marriage being extended to same-sex couples. While I identify as a Christian, I think he makes good points as regards the expression of faith in the civil arena.<br />
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Money quotes:<br />
"<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.65625px;">Just as some men bleat that they are the oppressed because of feminism, Odone confuses a loss of advantage with an act of oppression. This is the shock of those who are losing their divine right to dominate."</span><br />
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"<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.65625px;">As for practising her beliefs, Odone can do that, too. Same-sex marriage is not compulsory; it is very much an opt-in scenario. Cristina Odone will not be forced into a lesbian coupling, nor will she be forced to have an abortion – nor, should it become law, will she be made to embrace assisted dying, even if her death is agonising and the pain impossible to relieve."</span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-16400490341660424632014-01-17T15:01:00.001-06:002014-01-17T15:01:27.365-06:00Ty McCarthy Reflects on the GCN ConferenceTy McCarthy's reflections on the conference hit on so many things that I've found true and valuable over the years - the connections and sharing of stories being the chief among them. I think he hit the nail on the head in this piece about what makes it so good.<br />
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<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ty-mccarthy/reflections-gay-christian-network_b_4618613.html">Reflections on the 2014 GCN Conference | Ty McCarthy</a>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-19004672319741364812014-01-17T12:21:00.001-06:002014-01-17T12:21:33.963-06:00Ric Alba"I was ... involved in helping to alleviate the AIDS crisis, which had been caused in great part by society forcing gay people into closets. [...] I can now let myself be known in ways I didn’t dare during the ‘80’s. Everyone has the drive to be known and loved. [...] When you’re delivering to friends..., someone other than your true self, it’s nearly impossible to absorb the love people send you. It always feels like it was meant for someone else, and that you’re taking love under false pretenses."<br />
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<a href="http://www.redletterchristians.org/an-interview-with-former-christian-punk-rocker-ric-alba/">An Interview with former Christian punk rocker Ric Alba - Red Letter Christians</a>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-71717482096530650912014-01-16T12:12:00.001-06:002014-01-16T12:12:18.613-06:00God, Gays, and the Gilded Age: First Baptist Church of Dallas and the New SatanismAn article on First Baptist Dallas and the anti-gay animus (among other things) of their pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress, who claims to speak for Jesus and, as a result, foments the most unlike-Jesus stuff in the culture. Emily makes a provocative claim.<br />
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<a href="http://emilypothast.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/god-gays-and-the-gilded-age-first-baptist-church-of-dallas-and-the-new-satanism/">God, Gays, and the Gilded Age: First Baptist Church of Dallas and the New Satanism | translinguistic other</a><br />
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Money quote:<br />
"No one’s point of view is objective, but over the years of pursuing an avid, albeit amateur interest in spirituality, I have arrived at a simple set of criteria I tend to rely upon when assessing the relative “goodness” of an organized religion. For these purposes, I define “goodness” as the degree to which a religious body fosters those near-universal moral imperatives collectively described by a good many saints and scholars as the Perennial Philosophy, and my criteria are as follows:<br />
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1. Does this religion foster a sense of awe, wonder, and appreciation of the sheer amazingness of existence?<br />
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2. Does this religion foster a sense of interconnectedness and interdependence between all beings, both living and non-living?<br />
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3. Does this religion place a premium on love or compassion as its highest virtue?<br />
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For what it’s worth, the megachurch movement—as does the majority of evangelical American Christianity—fails the Perennial Philosophy test miserably. Although the rhetoric of these denominations is cloaked in the idea of “community,” in practice they define their identity from an us-vs-them exclusion of outsiders (gays! liberals! non-Christians!) Add to this the fact that the political ends they support often have the effect of encouraging environmental destruction and enforcing an economic system that helps the wealthiest among us accumulate more wealth at the expense of the poorest, both violations of criteria (2) and (3)."<br />
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Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-22916367013125979712014-01-15T21:05:00.001-06:002014-01-15T21:05:47.193-06:00Matthew Vines Announces 'God and the Gay Christian' <a href="http://global.christianpost.com/news/matthew-vines-announces-god-and-the-gay-christian-claims-book-will-radically-change-talk-on-being-gay-in-church-112672/cpf">Matthew Vines Announces 'God and the Gay Christian;' Claims Book Will 'Radically Change' Talk on Being Gay in Church</a><br />
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Refuted? Time will tell. And citing Gagnon as any kind of reasonable authority. Oh dear God - Christian Post, you're gonna get owned.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-33954597394489479372014-01-15T13:20:00.001-06:002014-01-15T13:20:10.196-06:00Lisa Salazar reflects on her conference experienceLisa Salazar identifies as a Christian and started out life as biologically male. She transitioned later in life and has written a book about her experience. This was Lisa's third conference. We have a nodding acquaintance, passing each other like ships at sea intent on our relative purposes. I'm grateful for the effort she makes to attend and willingness to share from her experience in the workshops she leads - no easy task for an introvert by nature. Bless you Lisa and thanks for this reflection.<br />
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<a href="http://impactmagazine.us/?p=4699">My Highs and Lows of Transgender Advocacy | IMPACTmagazine.us</a>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-36281482408454024332014-01-15T12:02:00.001-06:002014-01-15T12:02:45.937-06:00Betsy Henning reflects on her conference experienceI met Betsy virtually after the conference though I do recall seeing her in passing. With conference attendance reaching the 700 mark, it is really getting more difficult to spend quality time with old friends and continue to meet new (to me) folks.<br />
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<a href="http://betsyhenning.blogspot.com/2014/01/processing.html">REGENERATION: Processing...</a>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2400350.post-2219802610591117372014-01-15T11:50:00.001-06:002014-01-15T11:50:08.189-06:00Rachel Held Evans reflects on her conference experience<a href="http://rachelheldevans.com/blog/gay-christian-network-conference">Good Fruit: Thoughts on the Gay Christian Network Conference</a><br />
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Shannon Ford, a friend from <a href="http://www.mercystreet.org/" target="_blank">Mercy Street</a>, came to the conference for this talk so I got to share it with her. Rachel did well for a self-professed non-public speaker. Her heart and thoughtfulness came through. <br />
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The thrust of her talk was that grace is inclusive ... it extends to me and also the Mark Driscoll's and Phil Robertsons of the world. She doesn't like "ally" because that implies the side-taking in the culture wars. She prefers "sibling" because it gets to our connectedness as family. Good talk. Short and Sweet with some powerful moments.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06559254262445527142noreply@blogger.com0