"I vow to offer joy to one person in the morning and to help relieve the grief of one person in the afternoon." Thich Nhat Hanh
"If you do not have the capacity to love yourself, then there is simply no basis on which to build a sense of caring toward others." Dalai Lama
Two of the hottest topics lately have been Obama’s picks for science positions in his cabinet and having Rick Warren give the invocation at his inauguration. And while it may be stretching things to tie the two together there is actually a connection at least in my mind. But lets start with a little background into my thought processes first.
To start with I have almost as many gay and lesbian friends as I do straight friends. I have no problems with either life style. What I do have a problem with is people demanding that people live only according to their narrow beliefs that are usually tied to their religion. When I was living in California several years ago there were a group of religious rights trying to get a resolution passed that would prevent gays from teaching in the district. I was accosted by one of these people, who was covered in religious pins and dragging along a child who appeared to be about seven. I was in no mood to be charitable to this woman. I told her that she was a hypocrite and that Jesus taught “Though shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” and that he put no qualifiers on that statement. He did not say “thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself providing he is white Anglo-Saxon, upper middle class, Republican, heterosexual with 2.5 children.” I told he she was not living Christ’s word and had no right to call herself a Christian. I also told her as far as I was concerned dragging a child around while engaging in hate mongering was child abuse and that she was a lousy mother. Like I said I was really pissed off. She never tried to get signatures at that grocery store parking lot again.
When I was running my science fiction/mystery convention one of my guests was the late Ray Sharkey. He died a few months later of AIDS. My staff and I all had pins that we wore that said “You can’t get AIDS from a hug” and I will always treasure the hug I got from Ray when he was leaving. We did a square for the AIDS quilt in his name. If you ever see it my section is the embroidered rosary. Mr. Sharkey shared my Catholic religion and he was buried with the rosary that we gave him.
This brings me to Rick Warren. Two years ago he was attacked by the religious right for inviting Barak Obama to speak at his AIDS conference. While I disagree with Mr. Warren and his views on gays I would like to suggest that maybe what Obama is trying to tell the world by inviting Mr. Warren is that he will be a President who will actually try to lead in the fight to find a cure for AIDS. Obama has already made clear that he supports Gay Rights. Maybe what he is trying to say to us now is that he will team up with whomever he has to stamp out AIDS. I have lost too many friends to AIDS. If Rick Warren is going to fight for a cure then he will have my support in that. As far as his views on homosexuals is concerned I would suggest that if he is going to call himself a Christian then maybe he better start living Christ’s words of loving thy neighbor with no qualifiers on it. Also keep in mind where Mr. Warren is speaking, first. What are people going to remember? They will remember Obama’s speech and maybe the prayer at the end.
It will take the dedicated work and funding of scientists to discover a cure for AIDS. Science is one of my loves and I find no reason why it can’t exist with my belief in God and my desire to follow Christ’s teachings. What I believe in though is an intelligent God. I have put forth the idea before that even if we take the science of physics all the way back to a primordial atom then where did that atom come from? I believe that is where God’s hands is. It is a personal belief. What I cannot believe in is a God that is stupid. Creationism is not science. Why should I believe in a God that cannot work according to scientific principals? I believe that the greatest thing we can do if we believe in God is to use the minds that S/He gave us.
I am really jazzed about the fact that Obama is naming real honest to goodness scientists to science positions. What a concept! I am hoping that these men and women will use their brains to come up with solutions that will solve the problems facing us with the climate and pollution and feeding an ever-expanding world. As a space geek I hope to see us reaching for the stars. And while I am a real Doctor Who fan I do know enough about science to realize that you can’t “reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.” It sounds impressive but I would be more impressed to see a man on Mars.
The picture is called Medieval Christmas.
"If you do not have the capacity to love yourself, then there is simply no basis on which to build a sense of caring toward others." Dalai Lama
Two of the hottest topics lately have been Obama’s picks for science positions in his cabinet and having Rick Warren give the invocation at his inauguration. And while it may be stretching things to tie the two together there is actually a connection at least in my mind. But lets start with a little background into my thought processes first.
To start with I have almost as many gay and lesbian friends as I do straight friends. I have no problems with either life style. What I do have a problem with is people demanding that people live only according to their narrow beliefs that are usually tied to their religion. When I was living in California several years ago there were a group of religious rights trying to get a resolution passed that would prevent gays from teaching in the district. I was accosted by one of these people, who was covered in religious pins and dragging along a child who appeared to be about seven. I was in no mood to be charitable to this woman. I told her that she was a hypocrite and that Jesus taught “Though shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” and that he put no qualifiers on that statement. He did not say “thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself providing he is white Anglo-Saxon, upper middle class, Republican, heterosexual with 2.5 children.” I told he she was not living Christ’s word and had no right to call herself a Christian. I also told her as far as I was concerned dragging a child around while engaging in hate mongering was child abuse and that she was a lousy mother. Like I said I was really pissed off. She never tried to get signatures at that grocery store parking lot again.
When I was running my science fiction/mystery convention one of my guests was the late Ray Sharkey. He died a few months later of AIDS. My staff and I all had pins that we wore that said “You can’t get AIDS from a hug” and I will always treasure the hug I got from Ray when he was leaving. We did a square for the AIDS quilt in his name. If you ever see it my section is the embroidered rosary. Mr. Sharkey shared my Catholic religion and he was buried with the rosary that we gave him.
This brings me to Rick Warren. Two years ago he was attacked by the religious right for inviting Barak Obama to speak at his AIDS conference. While I disagree with Mr. Warren and his views on gays I would like to suggest that maybe what Obama is trying to tell the world by inviting Mr. Warren is that he will be a President who will actually try to lead in the fight to find a cure for AIDS. Obama has already made clear that he supports Gay Rights. Maybe what he is trying to say to us now is that he will team up with whomever he has to stamp out AIDS. I have lost too many friends to AIDS. If Rick Warren is going to fight for a cure then he will have my support in that. As far as his views on homosexuals is concerned I would suggest that if he is going to call himself a Christian then maybe he better start living Christ’s words of loving thy neighbor with no qualifiers on it. Also keep in mind where Mr. Warren is speaking, first. What are people going to remember? They will remember Obama’s speech and maybe the prayer at the end.
It will take the dedicated work and funding of scientists to discover a cure for AIDS. Science is one of my loves and I find no reason why it can’t exist with my belief in God and my desire to follow Christ’s teachings. What I believe in though is an intelligent God. I have put forth the idea before that even if we take the science of physics all the way back to a primordial atom then where did that atom come from? I believe that is where God’s hands is. It is a personal belief. What I cannot believe in is a God that is stupid. Creationism is not science. Why should I believe in a God that cannot work according to scientific principals? I believe that the greatest thing we can do if we believe in God is to use the minds that S/He gave us.
I am really jazzed about the fact that Obama is naming real honest to goodness scientists to science positions. What a concept! I am hoping that these men and women will use their brains to come up with solutions that will solve the problems facing us with the climate and pollution and feeding an ever-expanding world. As a space geek I hope to see us reaching for the stars. And while I am a real Doctor Who fan I do know enough about science to realize that you can’t “reverse the polarity of the neutron flow.” It sounds impressive but I would be more impressed to see a man on Mars.
The picture is called Medieval Christmas.
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