A friend of mine has written about his experience phone banking against Proposition 8. Click on continue reading to learn more.
Did you make many phone calls during this election cycle? Are they effective? It seems all the winning campaigns in a contested election do them, yet most of us consider them annoying.
A liberal activist group put together this ad that singles out the Mormon Church, without mentioning other religious groups, for supporting Proposition 8.
Do you think it goes too far or is it just humor? Either way it doesn't seem like it would be an effective tactic to win over voters. But maybe that is the part of me that grew up in Simi Valley, where there are many Mormons.
Working the phone bank was emotionally draining and empowering.
I was given a list of about 90 names and started dialing. I was 2/3 of the way through the list and only about 10 of my calls were answered. Many of the people were angry that I had called them. A few were in agreement and were very pleasant. I began to question the purpose of the calls if no votes were changed. I asked the rest of the team and nobody was making an impact on the voting public.
Then I made a call to a woman who said that she was a Christian who was concerned with what the Bible said about homosexuality and that she also didn't want to take away peoples civil rights. She said that she was African American and was sensitive to peoples rights. We talked for about 30 minutes. We discussed how the Bible supports slavery and that to condemn slavery necessitates a morality that is beyond the Bible. I told her that the same applies to same sex marriage and that ultimately the important thing is to love other people as you love yourself.
When we were done, she seemed ready to vote no on 8 and asked me to talk to her husband. She said that others have talked to him and that he scared them off.
I started off doing more listening than talking with her husband, . His concerns were the same as his wife, but he was a bit more dogmatic. He also said that he deals with being African American every day. I used the same slavery/morality argument. At one point he asked what was really at stake with Prop. 8. I had never considered this and I was lucky to give the right answer. I said that the legal rights issues are small. The real issue is simply a label of respect that should be equally given to all.
We talked more, maybe a total of 20 minutes. He finally said something where I knew that I had him. He asked why gay people need this label. After all, it is only a word that they are fighting for. They should be able to just get over it.
I told him that these words of respect are of great importance and that he knows it because he deals with this every day himself. They will be important as long as he is a human being. Again I told him that he should love others as he loves himself.
I think when we were done, he had gone from voting yes to undecided.
I didn't ask either one to promise to vote no. I felt that we had formed a personal bond of understanding and depended on their conscience to guide them.
I made an impact and it was empowering, but it drained me. I couldn't dial any more numbers.
The Bible "supports" slavery? Yes on 8 = slavery? And people wonder why they can't convince others that traditional marriage is the same as everything else.
Are you really ignorant about how people have used the Bible to justify slavery?
Are they correct in their justification?
Many quotes in the Bible deal with slavery. Some people over the ages have taken a line here or there literally. If this line was taken literally it would seem to back up slavery.
I am not an expert, so I await more learned people helping us understand this issue.
"Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh." (1 Peter 2:18)
Feel free to explain the quote in fuller context if you think it needs it.
History has proven that religion and those in power have used the Bible to show proof that their cause is just and the will of God.
Religions have used the bible to keep people in fear so they are easier to control and guide to what they want to people to think, act, or feel.
The fact of this makes me wonder what Gospels have been excluded from or changed in the bible because it would erode the power of those in power.
Here is a very interesting site about the bible.
http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/
Does it strike anybody as odd that these people are using a 2,000-year-old permutated document as the basis for laws but are ignoring our 14th Amendment, enacted in 1868?
All these whiny little protests do nothing to change the fact that it's over. Pack up your signs and go home. By the way, it looks like the 2,000-year-old document prevailed this time.
Give it up!
The courts will overturn it again.
The problem is Jesus never refers to homosexuality in the Bible.
All good an honest religious people are too busy with their own sins to start deciding what are the more important sins and who is committing them.
Republicans only have those with third grade mentalities as fans and this was a big winner with them.
I think the next purge should be against divorced people in churches. They shouldn't be allowed to hold any leadership position. It says so in the Bible.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,449747,00.html
ME said:
The problem is Jesus never refers to homosexuality in the Bible.
However in the Bible, John 13:23-26 it says:
13:23 Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.
13:24 Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him, that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake.
13:25 He then lying on Jesus' breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it?
Which leads me to the question...was Jesus gay?
Quick misinterpreting the Bible to make some far-fetched point. The bottom line is you guys (and gals) cannot accept the results of a democratic process that was fair and wide open for everyone to participate in. And participate they did, apparently, to your dismay and displeasure.
Stop your whining and re-invest your energy into something that has a better chance of success and fulfillment, like helping the poor or the homeless. The longer you go on like this, the more desperate and foolish it makes you look.
The Governor of California has told people to keep going and the ballot box should not dictate basic rights.
Dear President Bush,
Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's law. I have learned a great deal from you and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them:
1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not to Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev. 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.
4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev. 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states that he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
6. A friend of mine feels that, even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev. 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there "degrees" of abomination?
7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them (Lev. 24:10-16)? Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws (Lev. 20:14)?
I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help.
Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.
It's over. You're protests are just seen as sour grapes. If you want to have the court overturn the decision, that's one thing. You should definitely work within the legal system to accomplish this.
But this non-stop whining and stomping your feet is just nonsense and nobody is taking it seriously anymore.
In 1848, at the Seneca Falls Convention in New York, activists including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott began a seventy year struggle to secure the right to vote for women.
What make you think that any group is going to stop, or should stop protesting to end discrimination.
To "It's Over"
From the Movie Animal House.
Bluto: What? "Over"? Did you say "over"? Nothing's over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell, no!
Otter: Germans?
Boon: Forget it, he's rolling.
Bluto: "And it ain't over now." "Cause when the going gets tough...the tough get going! Who's with me? Let's go! Come on!
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