BLOGARIFICA: May 2005

Monday, May 30, 2005

War Protest In Atlanta

War Protest in Dallas

Thursday, May 26, 2005

Bring Your Gays - Beheadings at 5:00

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Follow-up : My Letter to Microsoft regarding HB1515 and Microsoft's Stance on GLBT Policy

Below is the response from Microsoft regarding my letter which is also listed below.

From: Microsoft
Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2005 6:00 AM
To: Clint Thomson
Subject: CST191225xxxxD - RE:Microsoft.Com ContactUS

Hello Clint,

This is Farrah of Microsoft.com Customer Support. I apologize for the delayed response.

Thank you for sharing your views with us. After considering views from all sides, Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, has articulated a clear policy that we will use to decide which issues will be the focus of our public policy activities. The company has thought carefully in developing these principles and has concluded that diversity in the workplace is such an important issue for our business that it should be included in our legislative agenda. The company therefore will continue to support federal legislation that would extend existing law to prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and will support legislation similar to HB 1515 should it come up in a future Washington State legislative session.

Steve’s mail can be found on Microsoft PressPass at:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/misc/05-06-05StevebPublicPolicy.asp .

Should you have other concerns, please feel free to write back.

Sincerely,

Farrah
Microsoft.com Customer Support

--- Original Message ---
From: Clint Thomson
To: Microsoft Partner Services
Sent: Thu Apr 21 14:02:56 PDT 2005

To whom it may concern:

I was very surprised by the change of direction from Microsoft on GLBT civil rights. Microsoft has removed support for House bill 1515, the anti-gay-discrimination bill currently under consideration by the Washington State legislature.

In response, our company will begin stocking and promoting competing server and productivity based software (Linux, Novel, Word Perfect, etc.) to all of our clients.

I do hope that you will change your stance on this and other issues. We are a loyal reseller and have been so for many years. We are also a Gay owned and operated company that provides services to GLBT and straight clients and businesses.

It is time to stand up against bigotry and hate. You have the power.

I am very ashamed of Microsoft and I hope that you are equally ashamed of yourselves.

Sincerely,
Clint Thomson
Celeratec Managed Services
Dallas, TX

Friday, May 13, 2005

You Know You are a Fundamentalist Christian When ...

10 - You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.

9 - You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.

8 - You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.

7 - Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" including women, children, and trees!

6 - You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.

5 - You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.

4 - You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs -- though excluding those in all rival sects - will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."

3 - While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.

2 - You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.

1 - You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history - but still call yourself a Christian.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

My Thoughts on Religion

I was excited to see that someone intelligent actually read my previous post and provided some counter points to my "Top 10 Reasons Conservatives Push Religion". I wanted to clarify some of the points that I made, since it was really late when I wrote the previous post and I think it was a little blunter that it should have been.

Before I take on his points, I want to clarify my position on religion, and Christianity specifically.

History - I was baptized Catholic, and have attended Baptist, Methodist, Anglican, Catholic, Revivalist, and many other churches. Starting at the age of 8 and proceeding until the age of 16, I attended church every Sunday and was heavily involved in after church activities. I also attended a Christian boy’s year-round boarding school, where we said prayer at every meal, and twice a day at assembly. I have been "born again" three times, repented my sins, given my life to Jesus, and sung in the choir.

My views on religion in general - Most religions spring from very lofty and wholesome ideas such as love thy neighbor, treat others as you would be treated, feed the poor, etc. The idea behind them is a good and loving one; however as with everything humans do, most organized religion has become co-opted and corrupted by power hungry, greedy, hateful people.

My views on Christianity specifically - Christianity is religion based on the teachings of Jesus (Christ) of Nazareth, yet very few Christian leaders, permitted by Christians to represent them in the media and to the world, are anything like Christ. People like James Dobsen, Jerry Falwell and Fred Phelps draw no visible rebuke from the Christian community when they twist and bend the teaching on Christ to suit their needs and reinforce their points.

Finally, Counterpoint to the comment of my previous post.

>>2. Faith - I'm sure you have faith in some things or people. Does that make you ignorant? <<

I have faith in people because I can see their actions, I have faith in things because they follow a defined set of rules. I have faith in these items because I can see, hear, feel, smell and taste them. Yet faith is not a good description for this, knowledge is better. I have knowledge of a person or item. I know what it will do (or likely do); I know what it is because I have experienced it using one of my senses. If God exists and created us, providing us with these gifts of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste, do you not also think that he gave us thought to decide for ourselves about religion, the world and God?

>>3. Hate - I know you're probably referring to Christianity when you say religion. Actually, Christianity teaches just the exact opposite. <<

What Christianity teaches and what its students do are two very separate things (See Hypocrisy below). Think about the evil and vile things that have happened in our past and you can almost always link the majority of them back to religion and a lot back to Christians. (Iraq, Mathew Shepard, Salem Witch Trials, Crusades, etc.)

>>7. The Bible - I guess since you weren't there you kind of have to have faith to believe that it wasn't written by God through these people. Can you prove that it wasn't? <<

Can you prove that it was? (See Faith Above)

>>8. Hypocrisy - A lot of Christians are hypocritical. They just go with the flow. But, not all Christians. <<

Do you consider yourself a hypocrite? Do you adhere strictly to everything in the bible? Do you eat pork? Wear polyester or nylon? Burn offering to God? Masturbate? It seems strange to me that Christians will adhere to the parts of the bible and the teaching of Christ that are convenient for them while condemning non-believers to death or worse for not adhering strictly to every teaching or scripture.

>>10. Blind Faith Followers - Again, if you're referring to Christianity you're wrong! Christianity commands just the opposite again. We are told to not blindly follow religious leaders. <<

Again what Christianity teaches and what its students do are two very separate things (See Hypocrisy above). Also most American's are to lazy to do anything other than follow blindly, why do you think that Fox News is popular and viewers believe that it is actually real news?

>>I don't understand why it's ok for you to hate a group of people (Christians) but then accuse them of the same thing. Weird. <<

You misunderstand me, I do not hate anyone (except Tom Delay). I do not hate Christians, I just feel frustrated at their hypocrisy and ignorance. I am also sad that such a beautiful religion has become so corrupt and twisted.

>>The problem is not Christians. The problem is people that call themselves Christians so they can try to use it to justify their own hate. Unfortunately, those are the people that you see on TV or read about in the paper. Not the real Christians that are following Christ and don't hate. <<

This is an honest statement and I am glad that at least one Christian can see this. The problem is this, where are the Christian protesters, or real Christian leaders that stand up and challenge these charlatans?

Top Ten Reasons Conservatives Push Religion

I was Blog surfing and happened upon the following blog entry of a so called "recovering long-haired hippy freak that became a card-carrying member of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy". The blog entry "Enlightenment Reactionary: Top Ten Reasons Liberals Fear Religion" was just screaming for a sane response, so here goes.

Top Ten Reasons Conservatives Push Religion (not any religion, just Christianity because the other religious are all false)

1. Fear - Fear motivates better than anything else in life.

2. Faith - There is no reasonable argument against it. If something cannot be proven, then you should take it on faith. (Faith is another word for ignorance.)

3. Hate - religion gives believers permission to hate others (gays, witches [1692], etc.).

4. Funding - Organized religion is big business and they give heavily to conservatives.

5. Deflection - Religious issues (gay marriage, Terri Schiavo) draw attention away from embarrassing mistakes. (Tom Delay!!)

6. Proselytize - indoctrinated at an early age, most followers of Christianity learn early to indoctrinate others in order to get into heaven.

7. The Bible - A book written by fallible humans with as much communication with god then as today provides written instruction on everyday life including government. (incidentally, only specific books of the bible chosen by some people in the church made it into the generally accepted print edition. * see Gnostic entry below)

8. hypocrisy - Conservatives like to pick and choose the parts of Christianity and the bible that applies to them while all others are expected to adhere strictly to it. They believe that this gives them the right to tell others how they should live (no gays Leviticus 20:13 NAB) while ignoring parts of the bible that conflict with their habits, lifestyles or things that no sane person would adhere to in these times (Slavery Permitted [I Peter 2:18], Divorce [Mark 10:11-12], Child Abuse Permitted [Proverbs 23:13-14 NAB], Death for Adultery [Leviticus 20:10 NLT], No Sex During Menstruation [Leviticus 20:18NAB], etc, etc, etc). ** See what Jesus thought about hypocrites below.

9. Power - Religion commands power and influence through the many people in leadership positions who believe and fear hell unless they comply with the will of the church. Conservatives like to tap into that power and abuse it for their purposes.

10. Blind Faith Followers - Religion commands legions of Blind faith followers (see faith above) who vote for the candidate endorsed by religious leaders.

* Gnosticism is an ancient form of alternative Christianity which competed with the Catholic Church for the first 350 years of Christian history. You've probably never heard of it, because the Church wiped it out as soon as Roman persecution ended, and the Gnostic scriptures were not included in the "Bible." They were instead buried in a jar in the Egyptian desert, where they remained hidden until 1945. Ironically, many scholars now believe that Jesus himself was probably Gnostic!

** There seems to be little Jesus of Nazareth hated as much as hypocrisy; he condemned it more than anything else.
Jesus also claims that hypocrites "have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness" (Matthew 23:23). Peter advised, "Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind" (1 Peter 2:1).

All too often we forget that life is for the living! Experience what you came here to experience and grow from it! Pathetic people live a shell of a life and hypocrisy is unforgivable (people on the right take note)!