gopiscrap
gopiscrap's JournalI am so moved and honored
Quite a day. Not only was our congregation was able to have two of the first same sex weddings legally allowed in Washington State this afternoon, and I was able to preside at one of them. It was my very first time as a pastor to preside at a wedding. I don't know who was more excited and nervous, the couple or myself! But seriously was a joy and an honor. We thank both couples ofr allowing us to take part in their joy and also make history!!! As MLK Jr. once said: "the arc of the moral universe tends to bend towards justice!"
My heart was warmed this morning (Same Sex Marriage)
At midnight, same sex marriage was legalized by a vote of the people in Washington State. I work at a United Methodist Church in Tacoma, Washington that is a Reconciling Ministry UMC. Myself and the other two work work on our pastoral staff got up at 5 this morning to be at the County Auditors office for when they opened to hand out the first licenses. We wanted to be there to be supportive and also in case they was any backlash to show that there are those in the Church who believe that love is love!
What a blessing to be a part ofd this. I have helped campaign for this for about 23 years. When I ran for Congress, I was very vocal about being supportive of LGBT rights and same sex marriage. It was wonderful to see this day come about!
WHAT A WEEK!!!
I was so proud to be a Democrat this week..a convention of respect and admiration compared to the Republicans convention of spite, selfishness and lies!!! Last week we were staring at an empty chair, this week were being inspired and uplifted!! I know it's not important, but I couldn't help but say it!!!
I weep for America
When I came to the US in the late 60's it didn't matter whether you were a Democratic or Republican elected president, you were respected.
Lyndon Johnson's Great Society was just a few years in the making
The Civil Rights Bill had been passed about 4 years prior
Unions were in their prime
Teachers, Government, Firefighters were respected and valued
fast forward to today....
Government is vilified
Teachers and and unionists are made to be targets of jealously
Government is made to be the problem
and then it all translates into our daily discourse and interaction with others:
The President is called a liar during his State of the Union Speech
The President's citizenship is called into question
there is a meaness to our cultural interaction and then today:
two incidents at the RNC sum up what we have let the Republicans do to the nation:
a Puerto Rican speaker is shouted down and her citizenship is questioned,
an African American media employee has peanuts thrown at her and is told "This is how we feed the animals"
BY NOT BEING VIGILANT IN OUR NATIONAL DISCOURSE WE HAVE LET OUR NATION SLIP TO A SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST.
We have come full circle from JFK's stirring "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" inaugural address to Reagans axiom: I've got mine so tough shit.
When we forget the poor the downtrodden, the middle class, when we are not vigilant to the ignorant screamers and shouters around us, these incidents will become more frequent, we will become more base and belligerant and we will all suffer as a nation and a people! I am truly disgusted with the Republican Party as it is constituted today!
On the Rachel Maddow Show tonight:
She talks about a funded group called "True the Vote" that stares down people of color or other likely Democratic voters at the polls on election day...they also challenge every suspected Democratic voter. They are planning on having a million poll watchers at the polls this election day. We need to do the same!
Let's see if we can get a grassroots movement going to counteract this sort shit!
Holy Cow Just got out of the hospital: I had a stroke!!!
They did a shit load of very expensive tests..it will run me 300.00 for deductibles but I am so very lucky...it could have bankrupted me...the annoying part was that we were discussing stuff that we would never discuss had we had a single payer system...I have always been for Universal Health Care and am even more so now!!!
Why is it that in Germany there were 194 gun murders last year and in the US...
there were 9,400+ being that Germany has 82,500,000 and the US has about 340,000,000 shouldn't we be at about 776 gun murders for the past year...what could be making the difference?
BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE NRA
Massacre at Univerity of Texas-Austin late 60's
Cafeteria shooting in Texas
Kilings at McDonald's in San Ysidro
Subway shooting in NY
Columbine
DC mall and highway Sniper shootings
Virginia Tech
Nickel Mine shooting
Police officer massacre in Tacoma, Washington
Coffee House killings in Seattle, Washington
Aurora Movie Theater shooting
So I see us becoming guarded in the same way as Isreal, everytime you cross the street you're gonna have to go through a metal detector.
Thanks a shitload fuckers at the NRA for allowing us to have relatively zero gun laws, creating a culture of killing and turning this nation into a paranoid armed camp that chases after death rather than life.
So once again to the NRA: FUCK YOU!!!!!
I blame the shooter and Reagan!
Obviously the shooter is the one who pulled the trigger, but besides personal responsibility, what got him there?
In many ways, I blame Reagan! In 1980 Ronald Reagan campaigned for the Presidency of the US mainly (IMHO) on two major themes: belligerence and selfishness.
Belligerence in the form of, we're bigger and stronger than anybody else, lets go looking for a fight. Beef up the defense industry and make my rich friends richer and keep this nation on a war footing. When a nation is constantly looking for a fight, that seeps down to the personal culture of it's citizens. Let's blame somebody and punish them so that we can feel better about ourselves.
The bigger and much more serious issue was his campaigning on the theme of selfishness. Reagan demonized those who are the least among us, the poor, the dispossessed and those who have mental illness. During his time in office he worked dilligently to cut aid to welfare recipients (the welfare queen, when only 1/10 of one % ever comitted fraud) and was successful in cutting funding for mental health by about 70%. Those folks who would have been institutionalized or housed in group home settings were left to wander the streets. By perpetuating our greed for a health care system, these folks also were not able to afford the meds they so desperately needed. When they acted out, they were jailed and many times once again, either demonized or abused.
Much of this has been magnified by hateful talk radio and the tea party assholes who are trying to high jack the common decency which once was the norm in this country! Just IMHO
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Frankfurt am Main
Home country: Germany
Current location: Tacoma, Washington
Member since: Sat Jul 18, 2009, 11:55 AM
Number of posts: 23,733
