I've been kind of silly lately, which is fine. Personally, I much prefer silliness of all sorts to seriousness of any kind. I often find myself doing silly things for serious causes (as that picture of me can attest). And I'll even do serious things in serious situations (my day job, for example). Still, I've never been one to shy away from giving my opinion (right Sean?) or one to keep quiet when I see something wrong.
If you've been reading, I know you join me in continuing to remain vocal in opposition to California's Proposition 8 and similar measures in other states such as Florida and Arizona. You'll also know that I think Organized Religion is a sham - a business that is in the business of scaring people into acquiescence. And make no mistake, Organized Religion (and by no means just the LDS) scared people into passing those measures by spending millions of dollars on televised and bus-stop ad lies!
So, how do we make them stop lying and then make the people who've been lied to, believe the truth? It's not easy. There are still people out there clinging to the belief that the moonshots were faked. Even worse, there are people hopping mad and hunkering down in homemade armories because a black man is our president.
We know that the truth is simply about love and the right to love whomever you want. Wasn't there some guy about 2009 years ago or so, who said it was all about love, too? Or am I thinking of John Lennon? Or Ghandi? Does it really matter?
In a touristy little arts community not far from where I live, there is a very silly store that sells all sorts of kitchsy stuff like zombie finger puppets and vintage toys and clothing and 'Crazy Cat Lady' action figures. The store is called "Love Will Save the Day" and it's one of my favorite stores to spend an hour or so just wandering around inside. It's cramped and over-stuffed and there's way too much to look at all at once. The stuff they sell is basically useless crap, but it makes people smile and laugh and they buy, smiling and laughing as they hand over the money. No one leaves the place without at least smiling. Love, indeed, saves the day.
Trust me, there's nothing sillier or more serious than love.
This cause really has no personal effect on me - I haven't even the slightest prospect of marriage or partnership - my dance card is, sadly, wide-open. So why should I care? Because some day my dance card just might be full. Or if not, the dance card of a friend or relative.
The Courage Campaign has a new video out, called "Fidelity." It made me cry. Please share it and the link to sign the Courage Campaign's letter to the California Supreme Court here. Here's the clip (via):
"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.
“Laughter kills fear, and without fear there can be no faith, because without fear of the Devil there is no more need of God.” - Umberto Eco
So, do this serious thing for me (sign the letter) and then go laugh to chase away the Devil.
My Thanks to You,
Brian
Right. So was that shout out to me or do you you just know a lot of Seans?
ReplyDeleteSince the only regular readers I know of are friends and family and you, yes, that was a shout out to you. ;)
ReplyDeleteHey, Bri --
ReplyDeletesuch a particularly important and well-written post, about the courage campaign's video and petition. I immediately sent that link on to others, thank you. I'm just troubled by your (seeming)to tag all Organized Religion as one single-minded evil behemoth. (Am I misunderstanding? Of course, you certainly have the right to believe personally that religion is the opiate of the masses; I'm just reacting to the condemnation.) The United Churches of Christ, for example, are an open and affirming church, who publically fight this intolerance. Their recent ad campaign is a depiction of their position "No matter who you are, or where you are, on life's journey, you're welcome here." Don't forget who married some of those wonderful couples. To lump all church goers together would be another form of intolerance...
Actually, I do believe that Organzied Religion is an evil empire, a placebo for people who are afraid of non-existential death. Some individual sects are better and more tolerant than others, but so-called Christian churches use the fear of eternal damnation in the fires of 'hell' to scare people into giving them power over them. What the LDS (and other churches) did with prop 8 is a perfect example of how religious leaders lie and use fear to manipulate people into doing their bidding. This is true of all religions, not just Christianity. How do you think Al Qeada recruits their followers? (And yes, I just went there). We've never had this conversation (and I know we shouldn't), but let's agree to disagree on this one.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOrganized, Organzied... lol.
ReplyDelete