Sister Joan Chittister famously said, "We are each called to go through life reclaiming the planet an inch at a time until the Garden of Eden grows green again." Reflecting on that journey -- a blog at a time -- is the focus of this site.
Some conservatives are starting to get a clue.... but meanwhile they continue with this dangerous meme that gay marriage some how impinges on THEIR civil rights. We have to stop their attempt to frame this as a religious issue from their viewpoint because it's not.
"The Human Rights Campaign has found the audition reels for the anti-gay National Organization For Marriage spot that I posted this morning. Oops, all that "I'm a Massachusetts mother" bullshit turns out to be exactly that. What’s next for the National Organization for Marriage? Will they hire legendary infomercial pitchman Ron Popeil to hawk their phony agenda?” said Human Rights Campaign Spokesman Brad Luna. “This ad is full of outrageous falsehoods—and they don’t even come out of the mouths of real people.” According to sources, the phony ad is set to run eight times per day in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and California. The National Organization for Marriage hired actors to peddle their lies about marriage for lesbian and gay couples."
Happy to see the GoodAsYou response. It's excellent. As one person commented on YouTube, though, the GoodAsYou response is 3 mins. long. Somehow, we need to get as smart as the bigots about distilling our message into 30- and 60-second soundbytes.
Disgusting doesn't even begin to come close. . . Great Youtube response.
After your experiences in CA do you have a sense of which organizations are in a position to make the most effective use of donations? Every LGBT supportive group that has my email had an appeal in my inbox today. I can't afford to give to all of them, but am not really in a position to know who would be best.
Supose I should introduce myself-- have been reading your blog for months but this is (I think) the first time I have posted a comment. Am a supportive ally from Virginia. Christian, but not Episcopalian.
I'm pleased that citizens NOM are organizing and making their voices heard. Now, those of us with opposing views, can practice our hard won skills of Tolerance, Acceptance, & Inclusion of all beliefs! Have you hugged a Christian today?
Let us stress what WelcomeToTheSearch brought up: these are fakes. These are actors in the NOM ad. They aren't real people, they are speaking the lines they were paid to say.
The HRC news release rebuts the lies in each of the "cases" the NOM video discusses.
LIES. This is what we need to get out there. THEY ARE TELLING LIES. Don't fall for them, refute them, and challenge anyone who tells them.
As for the question about who to support, I'm sure Susan has her views.
Nationally, I don't know.
In California, we gave a lot to Equality CA including setting up a wedding registry (our guests were VERY generous) but I was decidedly unimpressed with the campaign they won, and their blaming of everyone else for it. Their decision to avoid any actual gay people was a total....disaster.
I have been impressed with the grassroots effort of The Courage Campaign. This will be won using local organizations and effort to counter the hatred of the Catholic and the MOrmon organizations.
Hey Susan, Sorry to bend the topic slightly, but I wanted to let you and your readers know that the Prop 8 folks are asking their followers to write letters to a list of Iowa legislators they feel might be sympathetic to their cause, asking them to get the Iowa Marriage Amendment out of committee and on the road to (they hope) passage.
I...er...borrowed the list and sent a letter of my own.
Right now, I am sure that you are being bombarded with letters from those in the Religious Right who want very much for you to bring the Iowa Marriage Amendment out of committee.
I am urging you to think carefully before doing so. This nation has a long-held tradition of freedom of religion, which means that each of us is protected by law in practicing his or her personal religious beliefs in the manner of his or her own choosing. Some conservative religious people believe that being gay is inherently sinful, and that the government should step in on their behalf and enforce their personal religious beliefs upon their fellow citizens. This isn't what freedom of religion is all about, however. We are not required to live by the tenets of other people's faiths. We should each be faithful to our OWN religious beliefs and responsible for our own lives. Those who believe that homosexuality is sinful should not engage in a same-gender marriage, but they should not have the right to dictate their beliefs to others who do not share them.
Please use the power you have been given as a legislator to uphold our constitutional rights and freedoms to believe and practice the religion of our own choosing, not one forced upon us by someone else's religion.
"In California, we gave a lot to Equality CA including setting up a wedding registry (our guests were VERY generous) but I was decidedly unimpressed with the campaign they won" (sic)
I thought it was the worst-run political campaign I've seen in my lifetime since I began working in campaigns in 1961. It was utterly ineffective until it was too far gone to be saved. And I think the worst, the absolute worst mistake they made was to sit on their collective hands through the summer while the bad guys were putting the pieces of their fear and lie campaign in place.
The lesson as far as I'm concerned is that if we do not respond immediately to the crap the bigots are circulating now, we're screwed, not just in CA, everywhere.
13 comments:
And here's a response on Youtube.
Some conservatives are starting to get a clue.... but meanwhile they continue with this dangerous meme that gay marriage some how impinges on THEIR civil rights. We have to stop their attempt to frame this as a religious issue from their viewpoint because it's not.
IT
http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2009/04/lying-nom-ad-played-by-lying-actors.html
"The Human Rights Campaign has found the audition reels for the anti-gay National Organization For Marriage spot that I posted this morning. Oops, all that "I'm a Massachusetts mother" bullshit turns out to be exactly that.
What’s next for the National Organization for Marriage? Will they hire legendary infomercial pitchman Ron Popeil to hawk their phony agenda?” said Human Rights Campaign Spokesman Brad Luna. “This ad is full of outrageous falsehoods—and they don’t even come out of the mouths of real people.” According to sources, the phony ad is set to run eight times per day in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and California. The National Organization for Marriage hired actors to peddle their lies about marriage for lesbian and gay couples."
If we don't already have response ads in the can ready to go, we'd better get to work producing them!
Happy to see the GoodAsYou response. It's excellent.
As one person commented on YouTube, though, the GoodAsYou response is 3 mins. long. Somehow, we need to get as smart as the bigots about distilling our message into 30- and 60-second soundbytes.
Disgusting doesn't even begin to come close. . . Great Youtube response.
After your experiences in CA do you have a sense of which organizations are in a position to make the most effective use of donations? Every LGBT supportive group that has my email had an appeal in my inbox today. I can't afford to give to all of them, but am not really in a position to know who would be best.
Supose I should introduce myself-- have been reading your blog for months but this is (I think) the first time I have posted a comment. Am a supportive ally from Virginia. Christian, but not Episcopalian.
Karen
I'm pleased that citizens NOM are organizing and making their voices heard. Now, those of us with opposing views, can practice our hard won skills of Tolerance, Acceptance, & Inclusion of all beliefs! Have you hugged a Christian today?
Happy to hug 'em, LG ... just not willing to roll over and let them write their bigotry into our constitution!
Fear. The loss of freedom. Punishment by "the government." The same old conservative playback, whatever the issue.
The government is always a malevolent, exterior force. The government as "We, the people" - not so much.
Yet, government intervention to substitute religious indoctrination for reality-based policy - hey, no problem!
Let us stress what WelcomeToTheSearch brought up: these are fakes. These are actors in the NOM ad. They aren't real people, they are speaking the lines they were paid to say.
The HRC news release rebuts the lies in each of the "cases" the NOM video discusses.
LIES. This is what we need to get out there. THEY ARE TELLING LIES. Don't fall for them, refute them, and challenge anyone who tells them.
As for the question about who to support, I'm sure Susan has her views.
Nationally, I don't know.
In California, we gave a lot to Equality CA including setting up a wedding registry (our guests were VERY generous) but I was decidedly unimpressed with the campaign they won, and their blaming of everyone else for it. Their decision to avoid any actual gay people was a total....disaster.
I have been impressed with the grassroots effort of The Courage Campaign. This will be won using local organizations and effort to counter the hatred of the Catholic and the MOrmon organizations.
See the take down of the NOM vAUDITIONS here (Different Youtube than the response one)
Hey Susan, Sorry to bend the topic slightly, but I wanted to let you and your readers know that the Prop 8 folks are asking their followers to write letters to a list of Iowa legislators they feel might be sympathetic to their cause, asking them to get the Iowa Marriage Amendment out of committee and on the road to (they hope) passage.
I...er...borrowed the list and sent a letter of my own.
Here's the list:
'brian.quirk@legis.state.ia.us'; 'mike.reasoner@legis.state.ia.us'; 'kurt.swaim@legis.state.ia.us'; 'larry.marek@legis.state.ia.us'; 'kerry.burt@legis.state.ia.us'; 'wayne.ford@legis.state.ia.us'; 'nathan.reichert@legis.state.ia.us'; 'paul.shomshor@legis.state.ia.us'; 'phyllis.thede@legis.state.ia.us'
And here's my letter:
Dear Iowa Legislator,
Right now, I am sure that you are being bombarded with letters from those in the Religious Right who want very much for you to bring the Iowa Marriage Amendment out of committee.
I am urging you to think carefully before doing so. This nation has a long-held tradition of freedom of religion, which means that each of us is protected by law in practicing his or her personal religious beliefs in the manner of his or her own choosing. Some conservative religious people believe that being gay is inherently sinful, and that the government should step in on their behalf and enforce their personal religious beliefs upon their fellow citizens. This isn't what freedom of religion is all about, however. We are not required to live by the tenets of other people's faiths. We should each be faithful to our OWN religious beliefs and responsible for our own lives. Those who believe that homosexuality is sinful should not engage in a same-gender marriage, but they should not have the right to dictate their beliefs to others who do not share them.
Please use the power you have been given as a legislator to uphold our constitutional rights and freedoms to believe and practice the religion of our own choosing, not one forced upon us by someone else's religion.
Sincerely,
Maybe some of y'all would like to join me? :)
To respond to IT,
"In California, we gave a lot to Equality CA including setting up a wedding registry (our guests were VERY generous) but I was decidedly unimpressed with the campaign they won" (sic)
I thought it was the worst-run political campaign I've seen in my lifetime since I began working in campaigns in 1961. It was utterly ineffective until it was too far gone to be saved. And I think the worst, the absolute worst mistake they made was to sit on their collective hands through the summer while the bad guys were putting the pieces of their fear and lie campaign in place.
The lesson as far as I'm concerned is that if we do not respond immediately to the crap the bigots are circulating now, we're screwed, not just in CA, everywhere.
Post a Comment