Guru Nanak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539) was the founder of Sikhism and the first of the Sikh Gurus.
His birth is celebrated world-wide as Guru Nanak Gurpurab on Kartik Poornima, the full-moon day which falls on different dates each year in the month of Katak, October–November.
Guru Nanak traveled far and wide teaching people the message of one God who dwells in every one of His creations and constitutes the eternal Truth. He set up a unique spiritual, social, and political platform based on equality, fraternal love, goodness, and virtue.
This Thanksgiving, No Place for Refugees at the American Table
Posted on Nov 18, 2015 By Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan
In the wake of the horrific attacks in Paris on Nov. 13, there has been a crushing backlash against refugees from the wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. As Americans prepare for one of the most popular national holidays, Thanksgiving, which commemorates the support and nourishment provided by the indigenous people to English refugees seeking a better life free from religious persecution, a wave of xenophobia is sweeping the country.
In the U.S. Congress, no less than six separate bills have been put forward to block any federal funding to resettle refugees from Syria or Iraq and to empower states to deny entry into their “territory.”
Imagine if all of a sudden we had 50 “statelets” creating their own border checkpoints, stopping all travelers, looking for anyone suspicious, i.e., any and all Syrians.
So far, 31 state governors have essentially demanded this.
Republican Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback issued an executive order forbidding any agency of state government from cooperating in any way with Syrian refugee support efforts. House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have called for a pause in the Syrian refugee program, with the support of Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer.
(all so called Chrstians)
It has been almost 400 years since that first, fateful Thanksgiving feast in Massachusetts.
Xenophobic policies like those threatening to shut out refugees from these wars, if allowed to stand, should serve as a shameful centerpiece at every Thanksgiving table this year.
Little girl, trying to sleep in your bed
don’t listen to the sound of the bombs nearby
just close your eyes and try not to cry
and let your brother sing you a lullaby.
And don’t listen to the noise of the guns
as the bullets flash by your door, don’t cry
just think of the peace found in sleep
while your brother sings you a lullaby.
Little girl, as you sleep in your bed
when you dream, try not to dream of the day
when soldiers came with their guns
and took your father away.
And when you wake up to a new day
looking for the sun, through the dust and smoke
try to find some hope in that terrible place
as you and your brother strive to cope.
Little girl, war is the world of grown ups
and there is nothing you can do
even if you tell them of your fear and sorrow
no one will listen to you.
But when the war is over and done
and you no longer hear an exploding shell
maybe your young life will be a better place
more like Heaven and less like Hell.
The Christian right wing has exploded in fury over the Supreme Court’s decision to recognize gay marriage, eliciting some amusingly over-dramatic and apocalyptic statements from Republicans and evangelicals across the country. Ted Cruz called it the “darkest day in our nation’s history.” Pastor BryanFisher had the poor taste to compare it to “9/11, Pearl Harbor, and slavery.” But one outspoken cleric is being forced to eat his words, in a hilarious fashion.
Pastor Rick Scarborough of Pearland, Texas said in a conference call with other anti-gay zealots that “We are not going to bow, we are not going to bend, and if necessary we will burn” when it comes to opposing the right of Americans to marry and love who they see fit, free from the judgement of others.
After the ruling on Friday, social media and the Internet began calling for him to make good on his threat to burn himself.
Texas pastor denies plan to set self on fire if gay marriage was legalized, was only quoting a song
Texas pastor who thundered that he would “Burn, if necessary” to stop the Supreme Court from legalizing gay marriage, claims he was only quoting from an old spiritual and that he has no intention on setting himself on fire, reports the Advocate.
In — literally — a ‘fire and brimstone‘ proclamation, Pastor Rick Scarborough said he and his fellow pastors should band together to halt the growing threat of same sex marriage, saying
“We are not going to bow, we are not going to bend, and if necessary, we will burn.”
Twenty-four hours after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same sex marriage, Scarborough explained that he wasn’t really going to set himself on fire — he was just using the words of a Christian spiritual to rally the troops.
“I made that comment to paraphrase a spiritual song, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in which the three were given a choice — to bow to the image of Nebucahdnezzar or burn in a furnace,” Scarborough explained .”
‘We will burn’ means that we will accept any sanction from the government for resisting Friday’s (June 26) Supreme Court decision.
We do not support any violence or physical harm.”
~~GALLERY~~
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DISCLAIMER
I’m not advocating for anyone to harm themselves or anyone to cause harms to others.
I don’t think it’s correct either to wish harm on any person. It’s a different story when someone proclaims that they would harm themselves like Pastor Pastor Rick Scarborough of Pearland, Texas did.
In my humble opinion, in spite of the excuses he declareded after marriage equality became the “law of the land”, he presented a typical attitude of a right wing, extremely conservative Christian whose beliefs run their lives in a very pragmatic way.
Surely he didn’t intend to “set himself on fire”.
Yet, all words have power and consequences.
Since he declared such a definite and final action, now he needs to face the consequences of his “choice of words”.
Now he’s facing ridicule. He’s shown a side of himself that is very easy to make fun of.
His credibility is zero now … but will any of the members of his flock hold him accountable?
I don’t think so.
There’s always an excuse.
Good way of getting out of the predicament you put yourself into, Sir.
Franklin Graham’s LGBT-Friendly Biz Boycott Backfires, and Rachel Maddow Loves It
(So do I, by the way)
If there ever was any doubt about Karma, this is a perfect example of it. This is a serious topic because it depicts the bigotry and intense hypocrisy that conservative “christians” show in regards to marriage equality and the LGBTQ community in general.
However, life has a way of setting some things right and this is one of them.
I don’t wish any ill on anyone … there’s no need to.
Rachel Maddow is glad to report that evangelist Franklin Graham traded one gay-friendly bank for an even gay-friendlier one.
If we learned anything about Rachel Maddow from her MSNBC show, it’s that she’s a big fan of instant karma.
As The Advocate reported, Christian evangelistFranklin Graham was so upset with banking titan Wells Fargo on account of its commercial featuring a lesbian couple adopting a deaf child, he announced a plan to boycott the popular bank and switch to another one.
But as Maddow was happy to report, his plan backfired in the best — and gayest — way possible.
As it turns out, the new bank that Graham switched his financial accounts to — North Carolina-based BB&T — is actually a platinum sponsor of the annual Miami Beach Gay Pride festival and parade, one of the country’s biggest pro-LGBT celebrations.
“I love this story so much I want to take it to Franklin Graham’s new bank and marry it … if it’s a lady,” Maddow said on her show.
Graham is defending his decision to switch banks and his call for a boycott.
According to Maddow’s report, BB&T is also the chief sponsor of the “Legacy Couples” program, which “is a fundraiser that celebrates same-sex couples in committed relationships for 10 years or longer” and that the Miami branch of the bank even built a special chapel to let a gay couple get married there.
“Franklin Graham threw a Facebook hissy fit and moved his accounts because of a commercial showing two women adopting a deaf little girl, but it turns out his new bank is so much gayer than his old bank,” said Maddow.
“The universe has a way of making these things work out!”
~~Published on Jun 11, 2015~~ June 10, 2015 Rachel Maddow reports that televangelist Franklin Graham found a Wells Fargo ad featuring a lesbian couple adopting a deaf girl so out of line with his Christian faith that he moved his money to a new bank … that also actively supports the gay community.
“The Cosmic Church of Truth is a metaphysical, spiritual, nondenominational church where we strive to present the truth about the issues of our world today.
We believe in Spiritual and other alternative forms of healing, and the use of sciences such as Numerology and Astrology as tools in our search for truth and guidance. We hold periodic channeling sessions and psychic fairs (fayres), as well as weekly psychic development classes to help seekers open up to, and learn from, intuitive messages from Spirit.
We have a wonderful group of ministers, teachers, and consultants, each possessing specific gifts, knowledge, and teaching techniques, who present lectures, classes, and other activities at CCOT.
We believe very strongly in one God, the Creator, regardless of what term you may use for the Divine Source in your life.
We believe we are all on a continuing path of spiritual growth as we strive for perfection in this physical world. Regardless of what stage of development you are in, we feel there is much to be gained from fellowship with other spiritual seekers in the process of fulfilling their beingness with love, generosity, caring and light.
We invite you to come and join us in unity of purpose; to learn, share, and fill your mind, heart, and spirit with the joyous vibrations of Peace, Love and Light, centered in Truth at The Cosmic Church of Truth.”
“Truth is a pathway to complete illumination, a pathway to clearness, the clearness of Spirituality.”
When we moved to Florida in 1999, we first lived in Jacksonville. As we got settled and accustomed to the city, we started venturing out. We we looking for a spiritual place where we could connect to Spirit and Source again.
Both of us had become distant to the church teachings that we had grown up with. We were searching. There was “something” calling us.
I’m a strong believer in synchronicity. I also believe without doubt that people come into our lives because it’s meant to be. They come into our lives to teach us, to leave a mark and to make us better.
We found The Cosmic Church of Truth and became active participants in their activities.
After our move to Central Florida, we stayed in touch with Mary and Jimmy.
The blessed Angelika and Connor.
They came to our reception.
Tomorrow we are headed to Jacksonville because Mary and Jimmy, ordained ministers, will perform a ceremony where we will be married in this church.
This is a very special occasion for us.
One that is difficult to put in words.
We will be married in the Church on May 17, 2015!!!
The phrase “sanctity of marriage” always gives me the feeling of having a pebble in my shoe.
I wonder “how dare they?”
When you have a glass of glass, you better make sure you don’t throw stones. According to this, I strongly believe that my marriage is stronger, real , real …. and is a much better indicator of “sanctity”.
Born and raised by underpaid public school teachers in Sanford, Fla., Andy Marlette graduated from the University of Florida and became staff editorial cartoonist at the Pensacola News Journal in 2007.
Marlette received a priceless editorial cartoon education while living with his uncle and Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Doug Marlette in Hillsborough, N.C. Doug’s tragic death in July of 2007 made evermore poignant the elder Marlette’s fierce and faithful devotion to the art form of editorial cartooning as a cornerstone of American free speech. With this in mind, Andy works daily to learn and uphold the disciplines and values passed on to him by his late uncle.
Andy’s editorial cartoons have become both hated and adored by daily readers. His work has been awarded by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors for best editorial cartoons on state issues and former Governor Charlie Crist referred to himself regularly as Marlette’s biggest fan, despite the fact that he was also regularly a target in cartoons.
Stoning, or lapidation, is a form of capital punishment whereby a group throws stones at a person until he or she dies. No individual among the group can be identified as the one who kills the subject. This is in contrast to the case of a judicial executioner. Slower than other forms of execution, stoning is a form of execution by torture.
Stoning is called Rajm in Islamic literature, and a practice found in United Arab Emirates, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Northern Nigeria, Aceh in Indonesia, Brunei, and Pakistan. In some countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq, stoning has been declared illegal but is practiced extra-judicially.
In several others, people have sentenced to death by stoning, but the sentence has not been carried out. In modern times, allegations of stoning are politically sensitive, as in case of Iran, which describes such allegations as political propaganda.
The episode of Madam Secretary that aired Sunday, April night features a storyline involving the Human Rights Campaign. In Sunday’s episode, our fictional characters interact with the head of the Human Rights Campaign. Though it’s not actually the head of HRC. It’s a fictionalized version, played by BD Wong. But still, the very real Human Rights Campaign is portrayed on our fictional television show.
So how did this come to pass?
In conceiving this episode (the penultimate one of the season), the writing team, led by Madam Secretary creator and show runner Barbara Hall, knew that we wanted to wrap up a season-long story arc involving a nuclear treaty with Iran (a fictional one, though we are amazed at the parallels to real world goings on). We didn’t want to get into the minutiae of the negotiations, but we wanted to throw an obstacle in the way of the treaty. That’s when we thought, what if on the day of the treaty signing a gay man in Iran was going to be stoned to death?
For the “crime” of being gay in Iran.
The story forces our characters to confront head on the horror of death by stoning. They also wrestle with the issue of making a deal with a country that enforces such horrors. Is it a deal with the devil? Or is it good politics?
Listen to the horrors of the stoning death of a human being. Be aware of the process and what happens to the human body. The crime may be petty, may be against a perceived religion, may be cultural; the punishment to hard and inhumane.
Isad Amani will suffer unimaginally …. until he dies.
The following doesn’t describe my personal beliefs. While looking for information to go with the graphic above, I found a site that describes sin as quoted below. If being gay is a sin and should meet with punishment, it follows to this reasoning, that all other offenses should meet a similar fate, I would say.
For such a small word, a lot is packed into the meaning of sin. The Bible describes sin as the breaking, or transgression, of God’s law. It is also defined as disobedience or rebellion against God, as well as independence from God. The original translation means “to miss the mark” of God’s holy standard of righteousness.
While the basic origin of sin is unclear, it’s known that it came into the world when the serpent, Satan, tempted Adam and Eve and they disobeyed God. The essence of the problem stemmed from the human desire to be like God. All sin, therefore, has its roots in idolatry — the attempt to put something or someone in the place of the Creator.
Most often, that someone is one’s own self. While God allows sin, he is not the author of sin. All sins are an offense to God and they separate us from him
I must confess that this Indiana/Hoosier topic doesn’t seem to want to leave my mind.
Why?
Because I believe in freedom and equality for all? Because I think I can determine what is right or wrong? Because I believe that this RFRA law signed by Gov. Pence is totally discriminatory? Because I believe this law, as originally signed, sets a precedent and opens the door for discrimination of many minority groups? Because I am a member of the LGBTQ community? Because bigotry, hate and discrimination are not supposed to be true American values?
Because I had high expectations of this country? Because I was taught the difference between right and wrong? Because I know the difference between real need and taking advantage? Because this smells fishy rather than pizza?
Because this says a lot to me about the business owners? Because this says even more about the people who are sending their hard-earned money to this fund?
You name it.
Lady, you don’t need to be sad for me. I know where I stand in my religious freedom and the beliefs that I hold dear. I know that my relationship with god is a good one for me.
Like Rosie explains below, I have a hard time imagining anyone (gay or straight) catering their wedding reception with pizza. There’s no need to worry your little head with this concern. It would never happen where people from my community are concerned. We are way too classy for that.
Get off your cloud … don’t consider yourself that lucky. Could anyone explain to me how these two thoughts go together:
“Her family ‘doesn’t hate gays’ but simply would not deliver pizzas to a gay wedding because of their religious beliefs.” Yet, they would serve them in the pizza place …. sure that’s where the profits come in.
I truly think those who have donated money have been taken for a ride.
Now nearly $800,000 richer, Indiana pizzeria co-owner is ‘sad, very sad’ for gays
Crystal O’Connor: ‘We have to accept them, and we just ask they accept us’
BY GREG HERNANDEZ
Flush with nearly $800,000 in donations from supporters, the owners of Memories Pizza in Walkerton, Indiana, aren’t through talking about gay people.
‘God has blessed us for standing up for what we believe, and not denying Him,’ Crystal O’Connor tells Fox News.
She also said her family ‘doesn’t hate gays‘ but simply would not deliver pizzas to a gay wedding because of their religious beliefs.
The family was the first Indiana business to publicly state this after the state’s governor, Mike Pence, signed a ‘religiousfreedom‘ bill into law that would allow private businesses to do so.
Memories Pizza was so besieged by phone calls and online comments that they temporarily shut their doors. This resulted in a Go Fund Me campaign that as of Friday afternoon was closing in on $800,000.
Of the LGBTI community her family has offended O’Connor says:
‘All we can do is pray for them, and truly, we’re not really angry at them. We’re sad for them. Very sad.
‘We have to accept them, and we just ask they accept us.’
It’s OK to serve gays in restaurant, but a sin ‘if we cater their wedding’
~~Published on Apr 2, 2015~~
Indiana pizzeria owner speaks out against religious freedom backlash
A pizza restaurant in a small Indiana town has turned into a flashpoint in the national fight over religious freedom and gay marriage. Crystal O’Connor, one of the owners of the family-run Memories Pizza, told a local news outlet that, hypothetically, they would not cater gay weddings. They got quite a lot of social media trolling in response, as well as lots of threats.
As a result, they had to shut down. However, on Fox Business Network tonight, O’Connor told Neil Cavuto “we have decided that we will reopen again,” they’re just not sure when. They want to wait until the anger and threats subside.
O’Connor had said in the now-infamous local TV interview that they wouldn’t mind serving gay customers, just that they wouldn’t cater gay weddings. Cavuto asked her about why that’s the case. O’Connor explained:
“It is not a sin that we bring gays into our establishment and to serve them. It is a sin, though, if we cater their wedding. We feel we are participating, we are putting a stamp of approval on their wedding.”
She did emphasize that they “show no hatred” towards gay people and told Cavuto she just feels sad for all the people attacking them.
It Is What It Is 