Tag Archives: women’s rights

Memo To Democrats: Thomas Jefferson Is Not The Confederate Flag

Thomas Jefferson is a Southerner, but he is not the Confederate Flag. I understand why the contemporary Democratic Party would backbench the two white males (Jackson and Jefferson) who founded the Democratic Party, but I still love Jefferson. His words sing. … Continue reading

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The Terrible Toos (Too Fat, Too Poor, Too Old…)

Too this, too that. Theatrical, but moving. Might bring tears. __________ Watching Jade Beall’s TED talk on body hatred recalled for me the general problem of human suffering described by John Koller in Asian Philosophies (2007, p. 9, fifth edition): … Continue reading

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Let Them Eat (Or Not Eat) Wedding Cake: Religious Conscience, Gay Marriage, And Empathy For Others

With regard to bakers who might balk, out of conscience, in making a cake for a gay wedding, I think many of us who are heterosexual and support gay marriage have a problem: our empathy goes all in one direction–toward … Continue reading

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Why Call “Gay Marriage” Marriage?

Conservatives sometimes ask why gay marriage has to be called “marriage” at all. Why not, for example, stick with “civil unions”–or adopt some other distinctive name? But there already is a serviceable name distinction: civil marriage v. religious marriage. Gays … Continue reading

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Tony Perkins: “There’s a shared desire to come behind a candidate.”

Calling Dr. Freud. This is in The New York Times today: “There’s a shared desire to come behind a candidate,” said Tony Perkins, the President of the Family Research Council, a national lobbying group that opposes abortion and equal rights … Continue reading

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Arguing about Gay Marriage with Thomists: Love vs. Reproduction

The premises underlying Thomistic arguments against gay marriage are four: sex’s goal should be directed ultimately to reproduction; marriage is for the rearing of children and the union of man and woman; marriage is naturally a social institution for promoting … Continue reading

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Fox News’ “boobs on the ground” vs. Fox News’ “balls on the ground”

Fox News anchors apparently refer to women in the military as boobs on the ground, but if the old farts at Fox News were in the military they’d be balls on the ground.

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An Awesome, Awesome Documentary on the Women’s Movement

I recently watched the first two hours of a three hour documentary on the American women’s movement (I found it at a local library, then bought it at Amazon to have my own copy). It’s titled, Makers: Women Who Make … Continue reading

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Hillary’s Fate: Mitt Romney’s?

I personally think that Hillary Clinton’s calculated insincerity, so persistently on display whenever she opens her mouth in interview (or writes a book), is going to doom her as a candidate. Her husband was insincere, but he knew how to … Continue reading

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Woman Stoned in Nuclear Pakistan

Stoned to death. In the 21st century. And she was three months pregnant. And Pakistan has about 100 nuclear weapons. Think about that. What if fanatic, populist, fundamentalist Muslims of the sort that stoned this woman for “family honor” attain … Continue reading

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The New Sexual Orientation Blindness: Michael Hannon Says It’s Time To Stop Seeing Individuals As “Heterosexual” Or “Homosexual”

In the latest volley between right and left over gay equality and civil rights, watch for this idea to catch fire among religious conservatives: sexual orientation blindness. That’s my phrase for the position of Michael Hannon. Writing in the Catholic … Continue reading

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In Light of Kiev, Will Vladimir Putin Be Tightening the Screws Even Further on Russian Dissidents?

Julia Ioffe, at The New Republic, thinks so: Moscow’s liberals are watching Kiev with a mix of horror, envy, and admiration: they’re just like us, but look at what they’ve been able to do against a president they didn’t like. … Continue reading

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For Gays, Jim Crow May Be Coming To Kansas

Jim Crow, Kansas style. In Kansas, Tea Party Republicans don’t just oppose gay marriage, they also favor a law that would allow business owners to discriminate against gay couples. The following bill is winding its way through the Kansas House … Continue reading

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Here Comes Planet Hillary

__________ The New York Times Magazine for January 20, 2014 depicts Hillary Clinton as a planet with “gravitational pull.” I like the analogy and image. Will she also warp space and time?

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Gays Cannot Be Excluded From Juries Just Because They Are Gay

Gay and lesbian dignity and equality in the United States continues its historic progress. This is in The Wall Street Journal today: The Constitution prohibits excluding someone from a jury based on sexual orientation, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, … Continue reading

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Limbaugh Dropped from KFI Signals Ongoing Decline of Baby Boom Right

Another conservative canary swoons in the right-wing coal mine. Los Angeles-based KFI (AM640) is probably the largest radio station west of the Mississippi, reaching south to San Diego, north to Fresno, and east to Las Vegas. And effective January 20th, … Continue reading

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A Film Worth Seeing?

Blue is the Warmest Color, a lesbian coming-of-age film, is three hours long, but Richard Corliss of Time calls it unmissable.

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A Pretty Awesome Disruption of Business as Usual

Speaking truth to power and standing up for the stigmatized and persecuted.

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Charles Darwin Gets the Hook to Jane Austen on British Currency!

__________ Charles Darwin has been on the ten pound bank-note for over a decade, but now The Guardian reports that Jane Austen is about to take a turn there: Austen will take her place on the £10 note in 2017, … Continue reading

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Does God Love Uganda?

American evangelicals certainly think so, and a new documentary, God Loves Uganda, tells the story of their interaction with the country, and how that interaction is impacting cultural politics there (most especially in relation to a new death penalty law … Continue reading

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