I recently finished the book Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality. It is an excellent and life altering book. It really ties together a lot of what I have read about evolutionary psychology and evolutionary biology. If you have not read this book, or even if you have never read an evolutionary psychology book at all, read it. It may change the way that you see the world, and I mean that in a good way. It covers topics such as monogamy, swinging, infidelity, and polyamory in it.  It truly covers the wide spectrum of human sexuality. Wow is all I can say.

If you do not know what polyamory is I have written a primer on polyamory for those who are curious.

California’s Appellate Court granted a stay on Judge Vaughn’s ruling pending appeal. This was, in my opinion, to be expected since this is such a high profile case and precedent setting case,  so nothing drastic there. However, there is some good news as far as this process is concerned as is covered here BREAKING: 9th Circuit STAYS Judge Walker’s ruling; Appeal scheduled December 6 on Prop 8 Trial Tracker:

• the appellate court is expediting the the appeal of the ruling of the unconstitutionality of Prop 8 and set the date for the week of 6 December, which is awesome. The sooner the, hopefully, better.
• they are also specifically asking the Prop8′ers: In addition to any issues appellants wish to raise on appeal, appellants are directed to include in their opening brief a discussion of why this appeal should not be dismissed for lack of Article III standing. which is huge. Judge Vaughn said that they do not have standing for a stay or appeal, if I remember correctly, and the appellate court obviously pretty much agrees with them, but are giving them a chance to sound at least a little rational and try to retain some self respect.

In the scheme of things this is pretty huge. The appeal process could end up being pretty short (comparatively speaking) since they do not have standing for appeal, so this may most likely get dismissed with prejudice, which would prevent a Supreme Court Appeal. This will be a massively huge win and precedent for gay rights all throughout the US if this does happen, since there will be a court ruling stating that banning gay marriage is unconstitutional and they have no standing.

If  the Supreme Court does not dismiss out of hand due to lack of standing, which would rock, then the appellate court’s decision will be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Cross your fingers everyone. History and justice is happening. =)

In light of the ignorance spewed here by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s  niece, Alveda King, below, I feel compelled to publish the following excerpt while Dr. King rolls in is own grave in embarrassment and furious anger.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter from Birmingham Jail (more info at Wikipedia) that is quite pertinent to todays gay-rights movement:

…

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was “well timed” in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”

We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait.” But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?”; when you take a cross county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading “white” and “colored”; when your first name becomes “nigger,” your middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are) and your last name becomes “John,” and your wife and mother are never given the respected title “Mrs.”; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness”–then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience. You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.”

…

Holy thank God! =)

As I fully expected, and if you followed the transcripts you will know what I mean, California’s proposition 8 was ruled unconstitutional via Prop 8 Trial Tracker (full decision)! Judge Vaugh Walker dropped the big metal hammer of constitutional justice upon this sordid issue. Happy Days!

Now the long process of appeals begins for the Prop8′ers.

Here is an interesting article titled “Why I finally joined a church” on Salon about why a family finally joined a church after not having gone for so many years, and why they chose a Unitarian Universalist church.

OK, so I was reading a post on Prop 8 Trial Tracker where the following quote was rendered which spawned the creation of this post:

There’s two lenses here. One’s a biblical world view and the other is basically more of a secular humanist world view, and that’s why there never seems to be agreement,” said the Rev. Pastor Brad Cranston, of Burlington’s Heritage Baptist Church. “They’re not going to be reconciled with one another.”

Iowa – One Year Later (Proposition 8 Trial Tracker)

Now, my recent post A problem with conservative religions is that Dogma and tradition is more important than People really touched upon this, but having read that quote I realized that I realistically could take this a step further. I have stated before quite a bit, perhaps not specifically on this BLog, that modern (fundamentalist and Conservative) Christianity is not really “Christian”. They have lost their way. Jesus’ teachings were about love, compassion, mercy, and acceptance and many of the contemporary Christian teachings, especially fundamentalist and conservative Christian teachings, have nothing to do with these ideals, and in some way are antithetical to them, which saddens me greatly. In that post I also state flatly that for them dogma is more important that humans which is something that they need to move on from, especially if they are to remain relevant and not part of the problem.

Now, the above thought brought me to the create the idea of Biblical Humanism. Fortunately, I am not the only one to ever have considered this possibility. It was first (as far as my currently limited research shows) was thought up in the late 1400’s with Erasmus of Rotterdam’s’ writings. Erasmus was a monastic Catholic priest of sorts and was heralded in his time for his enlightenment and writings. He was, shall we say, the father of contemporary Biblical/Christian/Theological Humanism.

A more humanistic approach to religious practice and teachings less zealous, blind, irrational, and tyrannical. The heaven hell model and the extreme religious tyranny are why Christianity is slowly dying and why people for many years have been defecting from Catholicism and other orthodox religions to other more humanistic faiths. These conservative or fundamentalist faiths enforce their dogma with fear – fear of going to hell, fear of sinning, fear of not getting presents on Christmas, fear of not being saved. This sort of fear based propaganda stresses the psyche and emotions and eventually there is going to be a break down, and we are seeing that, especially in Europe an Asia, and also here in the United States. These religions are killing themselves and they are too proud and arrogant to see it. Historically they have changed only when they see that they have had no real choice, but perhaps this time… they may not be able to fully recover, unless they embrace a more humanistic view of Christianity – a view that is more “Christian” than what is being taught in many churches today. A Humanism Theology may be the only way to save contemporary Christianity.

Resources

• Why bother with the Bible? … Interpret, or others will do it for you (by John Buehrens @ UU World, April 2003 )
• Protestantism and Christian Humanism – Fundamental Differences Between the Two Movements of the Reformation
• Society for Humanistic Judaism
• Biblical Humanism: The Tacit Grounding of James Clerk Maxwell’s Creativity (The American Scientific Affiliation)
• Humanism in Scripture and Culture – Recovering a Balance (by Dennis Bratcher @ The Voice)
• Humanism
• Christian Humanism
• The Christian Humanist
• Some Reasons Why Humanists Reject the Bible (by Joseph C. Sommer)
• The Rennaisance Bible: Rewriting the Vulgate (University of California E-Books Collection)
• Humanist Theology

The more I read of the Proposition 8 Trial Tracker BLog’s account of the trial’s testimony the more I believe that there is really no valid argument against gay marriage.  Their Questioning, and their expert witnesses are crushing the pro- Prop 8 people. It is a blood bath in there. The historical evidence supporting the homosexuality has been to subject to demonizing, discrimination, and bigotry throughout history is huge and painful to recount, but consistent. There is also plenty of historical evidence of changing marital laws with slaves, interracial marriage, etc…  I am impressed with the legal work here.

I see good things to eventually come.  Yea!

I just received word the the Supreme Court has affirmed a block on televising the Prop 8 court proceedings. I am saddened by this. Transparency to the public in such a high profile case is important, especially to let the world see the bigotry and lies that are spread by the pro Prop 8′ers. They want to keep this as hidden as possible so they do not look so bad. They are trying to keep as much of their commercials and other propaganda and so on from being admitted for similar reasons.  They hate to have their own work used against them.

New York Times Coverage

• Two Ideological Foes Unite to Overturn Proposition 8
• YouTube Moment on Hold in Same-Sex Marriage Case in San Francisco
• Personal Focus as Same-Sex-Marriage Trial Opens in California (Day 1)
• Same-Sex Marriage Case, Day 2: History Lessons
• Same-Sex Marriage Case, Day 3: The Defense Pushes Back

Here is a link to a live blog detailing the happenings at the Proposition 8 trial: Proposition 8 Trial Tracker BLog from the Courage Campaign.

Read it and get involved. This is one of the most important civil rights issues of our time.

Read about it and you be the judge:

• Uganda considers death sentence for gay sex in bill before parliament (Guardian UK, November 2009)
• Uganda’s Anti-Gay Bill: Inspired by the U.S. (Time, December 2009)
• Taboos Silence Opponents Of Uganda Anti-Gay Bill (NPR, December 2009)
• Uganda’s bill to imprison gays for life is an outrage that should be rejected (Washington Post, January 2010)
• Op-Ed: Bearing False Witness in Uganda (HRC Backstory, January 2010)

Contact your legislators via HRC to let them know that this is not acceptable anywhere in the world.

I know what I am about to write here is bitterly sarcastic and angry… but here it is anyhow:

Congrats Scott Lively, Don Schmierer and Caleb Lee Brundidge! This must be a proud moment for you and your Fundamentalist Christian community. Bravo! Bravo! You have worked hard spreading ignorance and lies to ensure the deaths of more people. How proud you must be to know that you will soon have the potential death of many vile homo’s on your hands. Your “Godly” works are now responsible for promoting another tyrannical and oppressive regime like Iran and China where human rights are only a convenience for the state to play with and not a human right. I hope you enjoyed the participatory process in bringing about such stellar and model Christian legislation.

This article in Newsweek titled “The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage
Why same-sex marriage is an American value” is written by Theodore Olson who is a prominent Republican lawyer that served under Bush and Reagan during their presidential administrations. He, along with David Boies, a prominent liberal lawyer, have taken it upon themselves to overturn Proposition 8 all the way to the Supreme Court.

This article states his reasons for taking up the Gay Marriage case with hopes of ending the discrimination and injustice in this country. The Republican party has been struggling with their identity and have been trying to find themselves again. I think that they should take up with Mr. Olson to find out where to go – Freedom, Justice, and Family and not persecutive religious dogmatic status quo’ism.

Please take the time to read his view point. It is very compelling. And if you are really bored you can read my scrawlings on the gay marriage issue too.

I was not surprised to see this still an issue. In the pre-revolution days many of the colonies had religious tests as a requirement to hold office. They did out-law it at some point prior to the the uniting of the colonies, if I remember correctly, but still there remains these last remaining vestiges of Christian religious oppression. Fortunately, the Constitution is really clear on this and tells the state to suck it.

The article Gay on Trial: Why more than marriage is at stake in the federal legal challenge to Prop. 8 (the American Prospect) has a great run-down on the current state of the gay rights movement especially in light of the famous lawyers David Boies and Ted Olson taking up the case.

The only part of the article that I find annoying is this following quote:

Prop. 8’s defenders seem most self-assured when speaking in broad axioms. According to the motion filed by the defense in Perry, “the purpose of marriage [has] always been to promote naturally procreative sexual relationships,” and “every civilized society in recorded history [has] limited marriage to opposite-sex relationships.” But when asked concrete questions, as the defense was at a pre-trial hearing in October, lawyers have been hard-pressed to come up with an answer.

Gay on Trial, Gabriel Arana; November 23, 2009

If they paid any attention to history or anthropology they would find this statement patently false. Marriage has not, in even a pseudo modern world, traditionally been done specifically for procreative or genetic ends. Marriage has been done for power, land, and influence, and love. The ability to bear children is a natural extension of power, love, and influence.

Historically there have been many societies that have revered or thought nothing of homosexuality. There have been even some societies where sex with the opposite sex was abhorrent and only done with the explicit necessity of bearing children to perpetuate their tribe. The possibility of not having and answer for this I find annoying, because it is easy to refute.

Karen Armstrong, a former nun, gave her speech called A Charter for Compassion (TED)” to Ted Talks on Feb 2009. I watched this speech and it is quite inspiring. This speech was given as her TED Prize Wish for 2009. She now has a website of for it as well: Charter for Compassion

Related TED Talk: “Lets Revive the Golden Rule“

I have posted a new article for the Milwaukee Examiner titled “My faith (part VII) – Conclusion.

Nobel Prize

Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize (Obama: Nobel Peace Prize is ‘call to action’ [CNN], I was really, really shocked when I read this, especially as I read over the time-frame that this had to have happened – the first 12 days of his taking office. I think that this might have been a little bit premature of them, but I also find it a powerful and telling message of how much the change that Obama is the impetus for, and how much it is really, really needed not only for the United States as a country, but for the world to have faith in us as a a beacon of freedom and progress again.

Obama is powerful speaker and he is bringing that change to us that is sorely needed. He is moving in wonderful directions correcting problems that our country has had for a very long time, and just putting out a mandate of ’solve it’ where congress and the senate are working together to make it happen. This is such a wonderful thing. Hopefully, they will not screw it up too much. =)

Obama Speaks at the Human Rights Campaign

His message was powerful and affirming. For a while gay rights activists (such as me) have been not quite so sure where Obama has stood on the gay rights issue, but as of October 10th we shall no longer have any doubts. Our President is against discrimination and hate crimes and shall work tirelessly towards the passing of the Matthew Shepard Act, and the repealing of the the Defense of Marriage Act and the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell act too. This is a wonderful day that can have us looking forward to the end of discrimination, prejudice, and bigotry in the laws of our great country.

Now that is change I can believe in.

HRC Speech – Part 1

HRC Speech – Part 2

HRC Speech – Part 3