Susi... not Suzi Q, not Suey... just Susi. Welcome to my Soap Box. Everything is up for discussion... Relationships, politics, religion, current events, stupid people... EVERYTHING!
Nothing is sacred... especially religion.
And then occasionally some poetry. Enjoy.
June 26, 2015 is a day we'll not soon forget. It was much too long in getting here, but it ultimately did arrive. Love won and the majority of this country is just fine with it except... You'll remember that Rick Scarborough, a Christian political activist, said...
"We are not going to bow. We are not going to bend, and if necessary we will burn." He implied things are going to hot for us if the immoral take over and make decisions for the righteous. He's inciting all the followers to rise up and protest in what could possibly end up in the worst case scenario - the lives of those who would like to think they know better, taking all the naughty ones with them. Say we believed in their alleged god, do you ever wonder what he thinks right about now? Why aren't believers contemplating that instead of them deciding what the next step is? Who left and made them king? No one actually since we are all lowly sinners, people! And that's my point. If god is the almighty ruler and life flows how he dictates (at least that's what believers keep chanting) then let your god decide what happens to this country for the decisions it's making for the collective. Don't instigate, stop hating, stop fighting... you'll supposedly get what you deserve in the end anyways right? You'll be living the charmed life in heaven with your pops and the sinners will be down in hell flaming it up with satan. Let god make his appearance to either shit and finally get off the pot to punish us or he doesn't and you're just wrong that gay marriage is the be-all-end-all thing. Let it go, and leave us in peace. That's all anyone ever wanted... RIGHT?!?!?!
The first business of Indiana is publicly stating their beliefs coincide with Governor Mike Pence's beliefs as well. He being the one who recently signed into law the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a bill designed to actively promote the discrimination of members of the LGBT community.
And of course, this restaurant supports this bill because, you know... god. They wear their religion on their sleeves and the bible tells them so. It didn't take them long to rush to the local media to show exactly how much their religious beliefs mean to them. Me thinks they don't understand how this legitimized discrimination will hurt them in the long run.
Their bigotry and ignorance is glaringly obvious, just watch the video as she can't even understand how their actions and this new law function in reality. Given how she blatantly says she will refuse service based on their religious beliefs, one can see she doesn't understand what the word means.
But that's OK, I guess. When they have to put up the "Going Out Of Business Sale" sign, maybe then they'll understand.
This bill may have been pushed through with the intention and restatement of what they already have a right to and hold dear, but ultimately what it will accomplish is to give those who support this bill the legal right to discriminate against a class of people who make them feel icky. That's it. They'll for sure tell you it's only about upholding their religious beliefs, but marginalizing others because you don't agree with their lifestyle is discrimination. Period.
But we're just supposed to throw out the fact that words have meanings.
dis·crim·i·na·tion
dəˌskriməˈnāSH(ə)n/
noun
1.
the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex.
Wake up people... one religion is not more important than the other and if you think it is, you don't understand the basic tenets of our constitution. You have a right to freely practice your religion, but you do not have a right to impose your religion on others. Denying service to someone because of your religious beliefs IS imposing your beliefs on them.
All this new law wants to accomplish is to legitimize discrimination. Propping up religious beliefs as the reason for it is just wrong. Sharia Law, American-style baby! This is what it looks like.
We've come so far with all the states who have legalized gay marriage. To see Indiana pass this law, and do so gleefully, means we are going backwards. Sadly, there are others now trying to follow suit.
It just makes me sick to my stomach that we as a nation can't seem to get on the right page of history.
****UPDATE: It got ugly quicker than I expected - Memories Pizza is closed for now... maybe permanently.
*****UPDATE 4/2/15: The GoFundMe page for the owners of Memories Pizza has received donations in excess of $200,000 in support of them sticking to their principles and upholding their faith.
When and UNTIL your god magically updates every single bible in existence and all future versions contain what you now call 'traditional marriage' between one man and one woman, and only when that happens will I listen to what you have to say, maybe... well, probably not because you know... knowledge about the validity of the bible and things. In the meantime, I will respectfully ask you to STFU! You use that bookto support your position of disgust to deny the LGBT community marriage equality and I, along with millions of other people, demand that you stop using that book that you wave and continually cite during this struggle to achieve equality for this community.
Read your book again before you wag your tongue and wave your righteous finger. If we were truly doing 'traditional marriages' then our nation would NOT be what it is currently. One man and one woman bound by a desire to be together is what has evolved in these modern times because where we started with, that which is represented in the bible, is reprehensible. And contradictory to what you say the bible preaches today. Knock it off and get real.
The states in this country are moving (and quickly), one by one, into the direction of extending the same rights that current marriages enjoy to those who currently don't have them. The revolution of love is occurring whether you like it or not. Think about it. You've dissed the bible in favor of much more loving relationships by agreeing that your current 'traditional marriage' is more desirable... so do it again and stand with us. Stop fighting what is right and what will ultimately happen! Marriage Equality will happen in ALL states. Your protests are useless. And your bigotry and hate only injuring your own emotional health. If you replaced it with love and acceptance, just imagine what a kinder nation this would be.
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I felt a certain joy rising within me when the CNN breaking news icon popped up on my Facebook page announcing that DADT will soon be a thing of the past. After reading other related news stories, I came upon this piece AP - Obama to sign law ending gay military ban.
Many, including myself, appreciated the support from the Republicans that went against party lines and voted with the majority to repeal DADT. When the Senate advanced the bill to overturn it, a familiar dissenting voice opposed it. It was said that Senator John McCain blamed elite liberals with no military experience for pushing their social agenda on troops during wartime. McCain said of service members “They will do what is asked of them. But don't think there won't be a great cost."
McCain seemed to suggest that the gay men and women in the military, previously closeted, would somehow render every heterosexual enlisted person incapable of performing their duties when the DADT repeal went into effect, and he insinuated that a backlash from all the enlisted would occur because they would have to serve with someone who was openly gay. The possibility certainly exists that some of the enlisted personnel could engage in isolated instances and act out in an immature, emotional and possibly, criminal fashion to those that are finally able to admit being openly homosexual. However, the likelihood of a backlash will presumably be even more minimal than the percentage who are against the repeal. According to a Gallup Poll done in December, 2010, 67% of the public favors the repeal of DADT. Should such a backlash occur, the responsibility will reside with the leaders of the armed forces to ensure that their enlisted remain calm and level-headed during and after the transition.
One real cost associated with DADT being in effect since 1993 has been that over 13,000 servicemen and women lost the right to serve in the armed forces and be gain-fully employed in the branch of their choice. The approximate $364 million spent in keeping this law in effect has been monetarily exorbitant, as well as wasting many valuable manpower hours in filling those positions the qualified personnel once held. The financial cost and the incredible loss of all that experience (highly decorated, in some cases), intelligence, and bravery is truly much higher than the imagined cost McCain refers to that will occur if this country dares to overturn DADT. In reality, the only real cost is that we have had to deal with a monumental waste of good and talented individuals that were lost in the process of upholding this antiquated law.
In addition, the extent of the real psychological cost experienced by the closeted service personnel will never be fully understood. Maintaining their secret to keep their jobs took precedence over what they allowed themselves to feel comfortable in revealing. The fear of being found out weighing heavily on a consistent basis, contributing costs in ways that can never be measured now.
The repeal of DADT took only 17 years. Historically, America has shown itself to take much longer in regards to righting the injustices' that it had a hand in. Past social turning points such as giving women the right to vote, passing Roe V. Wade giving women the right to choose an abortion and seeing to it that slavery ended; those took many more years to become law in this country.
Current support for the LGBT youth campaign 'It Gets Better Project' is just one more indication of public opinion that eliminating the pervasive hate and bigotry in this country is of utmost importance; the repeal of DADT just adds more conviction to the notion that our stance should be one of acceptance and understanding of a segment of our population that has been silenced and oppressed for too long.
It is at last, officially, a step in the right direction.
