The Wrap-Up: May 30, 2012

Apparently black people started what has since become Memorial Day. You're welcome for the long weekend folks.

While making a Memorial Day speech, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) was heckled by a protester. I'm no fan of McCain for the most part, but there are times when he says things worthy of being heckled...and this was one of those times.

Tea Party darling Rep. Allen West (R-FL) has praised elements of the Affordable Care Act (aka "Obamacare"), meaning he probably won't be a Tea Party darling for long.

A Minnesota pastor may lose his church because he supports marriage equality. Of course this is happening at the same time that other churches who are using their pulpits to gather money to fight marriage equality retain their tax exempt status. Where is the justice in this?

A Florida high school is under investigation after a straight student attempted suicide because of anti-gay bullying (the state has an anti-bullying law that may have been ignored).

One of the victims of Florida's voting purge: a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge.

The European Union adopted a resolution condemning anti-gay laws in the continent. Hopefully Russia (among other countries) is paying attention.

The Boy Scouts will receive a petition some 275,000 signatures strong supporting a den mother who was ousted from her position solely because she is a lesbian.

And lastly, Liberty Council's Matt Barber thinks it is offensive and demeaning the the NAACP (the nation's oldest civil right organization) supports equal rights for ALL Americans.

The Religious Wrong: Equality=Tyranny

Shit Homophobic People Say

The Religious Wrong: Think of the Children

Apparently Matt Barber prefers these children being denied both instead of being "denied" one or the other. The fact of the matter is that there are not enough opposite-sex couples out there who are willing and able to take in all of the children in this country that need to be adopted. If same-sex couples are not allowed to legally adopt, many would not be adopted at all. They would not only be denied parents, they would be denied extended family and they would be denied the safety net that comes with all of that which so many of the rest of us take for granted on a daily basis. There are same-sex couples (as well as potential single parents) who are willing and able to adopt, and they should be allowed to do so.

The only thing that is tragic about this is that people like Barber are fighting against adoption rights, and it's the children who suffer.

The Religious Wrong: The Real Bullies are...???

What America is really seeing is that it is our LGBT youth (or those perceived as such) who are really the ones being bullied into despairing of life, not people of faith. This is why people are beginning to stand against it all over the country. This is why there is an "It Gets Better" campaign. This is why there is a national conversation underway about how to stop this epidemic that has claimed an unknown number of lives (although 1 is too many). This man, Matt Barber, either truly is ignorant on what is really going on here, or he is just plain lying (and my money is on the latter).

The Religious Wrong: The Heart of Liberalism

Yet again this Matt Barber guy is very, very wrong. The Bible, which Christians believe to be the word of God, talks about helping the poor, the destitute, the disenfranchised and so forth. These principles are all things that the political left are far more likely to espouse. On the other hand, Conservatives, particularly those elected into governmental power, are the ones fighting for tax cuts for the super rich, subsidies for big oil, and more money for those who are already doing well while at the same time trying to gut Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, education, and various other programs that help those who are unable to attain it elsewhere.

I am no theological scholar. However, I find it amazing how those who claim to be, or act as though they are, are usually the ones who forget (read: ignore) the most basic aspects of the Bible. BEWARE FALSE PROPHETS!!!

The Religious Wrong: Not Charles Xavier

I love how Matt Barber and his friend tries to read my (read: our) thoughts...primarily because he fails massively. These guys really need to give up their attempts at telepathy.