The obvious answer is the right one

This really isn't funny, but it may be the funny answer. The question was, on a “health” website, Why is the HIV rate so high among young male Latinos (it's 21% when they are 16% of the population, which actually is a lot better than young black men whose HIV rate is 42% with 13% of the population). There were ten responses from Latinos (with photos): they ranged from immigration policies to no health information in Spanish to homophobia in the Latino community. Only one response mentioned having sex with other men as the reason, and he said, "Latinos are hot and we love sex."

The transgender cancel culture hoax

The transgender movement may be the biggest "cancel culture" of them all. And it's all to cancel women. Transman or transwoman, makes no difference. It all cancels women and their specialness. I had a really good friend who thought he was a woman--long before it became trendy. He was a Christian, slightly built, odd, quirky and incredibly bright. Now (or the last time I saw him 20 years ago) he says he's a woman--Christian, slightly built, odd, quirky and incredibly bright but wearing make-up and wearing women's clothing. It's also pretty convenient to cancel the homosexuals too, since most don't see themselves as a wannabe anything but what they are.

Some things to read on this hoax--although they don't actually say what I do--that the trans-movement is anti-women. That it is the ultimate anti-female snuff movement.

Wall Street Journal Journalist’s Book Researching Rise in Transgender Identification Censored, ‘Canceled’ | BCNN1 - Black Christian News Network

Thomas Gallatin: Rainbow Mafia Cancels Book for Questioning ‘Transgender’ Craze — The Patriot Post

Cancel culture cannot erase a strong argument (feministcurrent.com)

What is Transgenderism? And What Comes Next? (hli.org)

Data Shows that Suicide Rate of Transgender Teens Is Breathtakingly High (redstate.com)

Trans Rights Activism is Anti-Woman - NRN • New Right Network

Ben Shapiro Interviews Zuby on TRANSGENDER Deadlift Record & Rap Music - YouTube

The good old days

Whether nostalgia or bad memory or politicians, you may be wrong about "the good old days," crime, climate, income gaps, etc.

"According to a YouGov poll last year, between 21 percent and 45 percent of respondents across the Western world thought that climate change “likely” or “quite likely” will make the human race extinct. At the same time, both the absolute numbers and the proportion of people dying from natural catastrophes like storms, floods, droughts, or wildfires has plummeted over the last century – and that includes all kinds of natural disasters (such as earthquakes and tsunamis) not just the ones that climate change may have worsened."

https://www.humanprogress.org/nothing-is-more-responsible-for-the-good-old-days-than-a-bad-memory/?

A few years ago I recall a report that asked people what percent of the population was homosexual, and many guessed 20-25%. The correct answer was a little over 2%. But it was the topics and characters of films, books and TV programs that caused them to make that wrong estimate. There are some people who think 50% of people who get Covid19 die (99.75% recover).  I think 24/7 news and social media are worsening our memories.

Philomena the movie, HIV and Reagan

This week at Lakeside we have a foreign film series, but these are all in English and two are about international adoptions, Philomena (British) and Lion (Australian).  I’d seen Philomena starring Judi Dench years ago and had forgotten most of it, particularly the sub-plot about the journalist who had lost his career and was more or less forced into writing a “human interest” non-fiction story which later became the book and then the movie. That it’s anti-Catholic is probably no surprise—the Roman Catholic church may be the largest and oldest target for both religious issues and social issues. Atheists, agnostics, and Protestants can all find something to criticize.    It is not just a Christian church—it is the largest social service agency in the world, and has about 26 different branches under its name all over the world each with unique language and culture. In the end, it is Philomena (the woman) who understands forgiveness, not the nuns and certainly not the journalist/author.

But Philomena the movie is also anti-Republican and anti-President Reagan, and that’s par for the course for the Brits who think we should have been happy to remain under the Union Jack.   Philomena’s birth son was adopted by an affluent American couple and grows up to become a valuable member of both the Reagan and Bush I administrations. He dies of AIDS in 1995.  However, he was gay during a time when there was almost no hope for remission from HIV (and 30 years later—it was identified in 1981—there is still no vaccine or cure), so Reagan is blamed for not pushing the federal funding more vigorously in 1986.  That’s absurd.

The U.S. was emerging from the boomer, free-sex and legalized abortion movements of the 1960s and 1970s,  people were demanding privacy in all things sexual and personal, the gay lifestyle was increasingly being recognized for “loving and caring” relationships particularly in literature and the arts, healthy lifestyles and personal responsibility for health advocacy groups were growing.  On top of all that, in the medical field researchers and university faculty were practically assuring us that the era and threat of infectious diseases was over.  STDs were going to be held at bay not by responsible monogamous life styles, but with penicillin. I remember that from the medical journals I was handling in the library.  Infectious disease journals were gathering dust.

President Reagan was blamed for the “gay disease” charge about HIV-AIDS in this movie.  And yet if you read any CDC fact sheet today, virtually all new cases (83%) of HIV are among “men who have sex with men” and that includes bi-sexual men who then infect women.
The recommendations by the USPSTF on screening are in order of importance:

1) Male-to-male sex (every 3 to 6 months screened)
And any risky life style comes next.
2) injection drug use
3) anal intercourse without a condom
4) more than one partner whose HIV status is unknown
5) transactional sex (exchanging sex for drugs)
6) commercial sex trade (prostitution)

So you see, in many cases it is still behavior and personal responsibility, not the federal government, which is your best protection from any sexual disease from syphilis to gonorrhea to AIDS. Don’t get advice on serious health matters from a movie with a political agenda.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG3QP8foCvg  Trailer

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2690288/
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/01/philomena_and_the_magical_sodomite_archetype.html
https://www.thebalance.com/who-funds-biomedical-research-2663193
https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2015/01/29/public-and-scientists-views-on-science-and-society/

If I’m disappointed, imagine how Catholics must feel!

A big nothingburger.

“The summit’s very title (“The Protection of Minors in the Church”) and agenda limited the focus to the sexual abuse of minors. Not only is the abuse of minors egregious, it is criminal, and must be met with the strongest penalties. However, as the Theodore McCarrick case illustrates, the problem is more widespread than the abuse of minors. His abuse of at least two underage boys was preceded by many complaints. Even more widespread were the rumors of his sexual harassment of seminarians and younger priests. As has been well documented, even though many prelates in this country and in Rome knew of his behavior, there was little correction. Further, the restrictions that were finally placed upon him were largely ignored. His status as an active player in crucial Church matters, including international diplomacy and the advancement of men in the episcopacy, was effectively restored.

A tremendous opportunity to restore credibility to the Church was missed in failing to review and criticize the structures and decisions that allowed Theodore McCarrick to advance, failing to identify and call to account those responsible for it, and failing to discuss specific credible charges related to the overall sexual abuse crisis in any substantial way. . .

A summit purporting to address the sexual abuse of minors that ignores the high correlation between homosexual attraction and sexual abuse by clergy has no more credibility than a summit on lung cancer that ignores the link to smoking. Not only does this glaring omission strain the credibility of the conference, it makes its deliberations and conclusions seem largely irrelevant.”

Msgr. Charles Pope http://www.ncregister.com/blog/msgr-pope/why-the-summit-fell-flat-and-what-might-happen-next

Who knew what when? Theodore McCarrick

“More than sixty years after his priestly ordination, nearly five decades after he began sexually abusing young men and boys, more than four decades after his episcopal consecration, and at least nineteen years after his preying on seminarians was first reported to the Vatican, Theodore McCarrick is – we are told – on the verge of being removed from the clerical state”

In this era of either hyper-vigilance over a joke or a yearbook 35 years old,  contrasted with a casual accepting attitude toward homosexuality, the church will be conflicted over what to do.  So far, the oversight and caring for the teens and boys who have been abused is just disgusting.

https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2019/02/14/mr-mccarricks-mess/

Sex crimes in the church

Homosexual priests preying on teen age boys, and a Cardinal preying on seminarians. It's been a tough year for the faithful, says Father Murray at The Catholic Thing.

"The faith and love of Catholics for Christ and His Church has been severely tried this year. The common expectation among Catholics that the bishops as a whole shared the same horror of sexual, and in particular of homosexual, immorality among the clergy has been shown to be an illusion. So be it.

Love for the Church has prompted laity to call for a reform of the hierarchy. Accountability for past failures to root out sexual immorality is the first necessity, as is a clear demonstration that a repeat of the career path of a Theodore McCarrick will be impossible in the future.

Bishops will only regain the respect of ordinary Catholics if they truly live up to what we all believe is the Church’s true mission, the salvation of souls. If the dark clouds of 2018 have a silver lining, it’s that there is now at least some chance that immoral and conniving priests and bishops will no longer be tolerated, protected, or promoted, but rather called to repent and held to account."

Sounds like Paul’s letter to the Romans.

https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2018/12/17/a-troubling-year-in-review/

Racist, sexist, homophobic, yada, yada

Everything is racist: starting and ending with the people you disagree with (on any subject at all).  (David Warren commenting on his website being blocked) https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2018/11/09/on-hate-racism/

“To people who hate the truth, the truth looks like hate.” Father Paul Sullins suggesting the strong relationship between a sub-culture of homosexual priests and the abuse of young men.  http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/is-catholic-clergy-sex-abuse-related-to-homosexual-priests

Do you know the sex/gender terminology?

Grant #2011-JF-FX-0001  Urban Institute  “Access to Safety, Health Outcomes, Substance Use and Abuse, and Service Provision for LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Who Engage in Survival Sex “https://www.urban.org/research/publication/access-safety-health-outcomes-substance-use-and-abuse-and-service-provision-lgbtq-youth-ymsm-and-ywsw-who-engage-survival-sex   

This report provides a list of definitions for LGBTQ youth at risk for health problems. It was sort of wordy, so I condensed a bit.  In a discussion group we were noting the changing terminology.

Cisgender: Individuals whose experiences of their gender match the sex they were assigned at birth.

Gender expression: The aspects of behavior and outward presentation that may (intentionally or unintentionally) communicate gender to others in a given culture or society.

Gender nonconforming: People who have or are perceived to have gender characteristics or behaviors that do not conform to traditional or societal expectations. Gender-nonconforming people may or may not identify as transgender.

Sexual orientation: Whom a person is physically and emotionally attracted to. Sexual orientation is distinct from gender identity; transgender people may identify as heterosexual, bisexual, gay, lesbian, or any other sexual orientation.

Transgender: People whose gender identity (internal sense of being female, male, or another gender) is incongruent with their sex assigned at birth (physical body).

Young men who have sex with men (YMSM): Young men who may identify as heterosexual but have sex with members of the same sex, often in exchange for money and/or material goods.

Young women who have sex with women (YWSW): Young women who may identify as hetero-sexual but have sex with members of the same sex, often in exchange for money and/or material goods.

Exploiter: An individual who uses tactics involving force, fraud, and coercion to control a young person’s involvement in the commercial sex market.

Peer facilitator: A peer, who may or may not be engaged in survival sex, who provides nonexploitative support to someone engaging in survival sex, so the person engaging in survival sex does not have limited mobility; decides what they do and what they trade sex for; and is not subject to force, fraud, or coercion.

Youth engaged in survival sex: The phrases “youth engaged in survival sex” and “youth who exchange sex for money and/or material goods (e.g., shelter, food, and drugs)” are used here to reflect young people’s experiences of involvement in the commercial sex market in their own terms.

Gay family: An alternative familial network of LGBTQ people that may act as an alternative to the family of origin from which many LGBTQ people, particularly youth, have been excluded. The term may also be used to refer to drag houses in the ball scene.

Ball scene/house culture: A community consisting primarily of black and Latino and Latina LGBTQ people organized around anchoring family-like structures, called houses, and competitive balls. [I’d never heard of Ball Culture, but you can find a description in Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_culture .  Apparently, Langston Hughes in the 1920s described it.)

Barrier and nonbarrier protection: Any contraceptive or other protective device or method used to prevent unwanted pregnancy or the transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or other STDs.

 Interesting findings about the almost 300 youth in this study (this is the 3rd report):

99% of these LGBTQ at risk youth in this study were using contraceptives (barrier and nonbarrier). [A quick look shows that compares with about 50% of non LGBTQ teens)

93% were using the services of a helping agency, 99% accepted help from them and 94% said they would seek help from that agency again

only 5% in the study were white.

47% male, 36% female, 11% transwoman (i.e.biological male), 3% transman (biological female), 5% other, not specified, or wouldn’t say

These youth are at greater risk than heterosexual male and female youth for violence, abuse, sexual victimization, mental health risks,  sexually transmitted diseases, and homelessness

Other reports funded by this grant

https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/71446/2000424-Locked-In-Interactions-with-the-Criminal-Justice-and-Child-Welfare-Systems-for-LGBTQ-Youth-YMSM-and-YWSW-Who-Engage-in-Survival-Sex.pdf

U Got This

“U Got This,” is beginning today at Ohio State University.  “ To advance a culture of respect and care for others, the university is launching mandatory online sexual misconduct prevention education for all faculty, staff and students.”

Am I the only one who finds “culture of respect” and “mandatory education” for adults in the same sentence sort of off putting?  Plus, if the unit or department already has something in place, like diversity training or toxic masculinity workshops, that doesn’t get the student out of the pan-university requirement.

If the student is also a university employee, he/she gets to take it twice and it’s required every year.  According to the web page, they haven’t yet come up with discipline (aka punishment) if a student blows this off.

The production company is called Catharsis Productions and was created about 20 years ago by Dr. Gail Stern and Christian Murphy. This Atlantic article is about 4 years old, but skimming it, I think is lines up with other things I’ve read. Considered innovative, entertaining and funny, after 20 years shouldn’t we be seeing fewer assaults and bullying by now?

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/06/teaching-sexual-assault-prevention-through-comedy/371433/

I checked out “U Got This” reeducation camps and they are already offered on many campuses, so Ohio State is sort of late to the party. https://titleix.osu.edu/navigation/prevention/training.html?

Of course, re-education camps come in many sizes and countries.

“Vast swathes of the Uighur population in China’s western region of Xinjiang — as well as Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other ethnic minorities — are being detained to undergo what the state calls “transformation through education.” Many tens of thousands of them have been locked up in new thought-control camps with barbed wire, bombproof surfaces, reinforced doors and guard rooms. “https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/opinion/china-re-education-camps.html

How a myth is hurting women--transgenderism

There is no such person as a transgender. Just stop pretending. One can take hormones, remove or transplant a penis or breasts, take voice lessons, put on the most expensive pancake makeup and buy a wig, but that doesn't change anything basic. Why should the baker, candlestick maker, and kindergarten teacher be required to bow to a religion they don't believe in? But that's the Left for you. If they don't have it, steal it. I think women, whether heterosexual or homosexual, have the most to lose in this cultural battle of the sexes, all 30 of them. It's taken millennia for women to achieve voting rights, athletic competitions, government positions, proper medical testing techniques and drugs, marriage equality, rights to their children, and even their own all female clubs and schools if so desired, and along comes some twit of a man who can't compete on the lower rungs of manhood, so poof, he hops on the lady train and rides it all the way into a political office or the runway or even the red light district stepping on us all the way.

https://townhall.com/columnists/toddstarnes/2018/08/16/set-up-christian-baker-targeted-by-lgbt-activist-over-transgenderthemed-cake-n2510513

"The owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop filed a federal lawsuit against the Colorado Civil Rights Commission and Gov. John Hickenlooper claiming he has been bullied and targeted for his religious beliefs.

In June the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Jack Phillips, the owner of the cake shop who had declined to create a cake for a same-sex wedding ceremony."

What’s happening with Philadelphia’s foster care?

The City of Philadelphia is attacking the Catholics--THIS time—because it doesn’t recognize marriage between/among homosexuals. Therefore it must lose its grant funding for children’s foster care.  But in fact, federal, state and local government social services sub-contract to many different religious groups, Jews, Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, and Muslim. The problem is, you have to dance with the one who brought you. And many do.  Churches often have to compromise their beliefs, morals and values in order to get the money—to collaborate--or to even get insurance for their staff members. Remember when Obama went after the nuns who cared for the elderly and poor because they didn't provide birth control for staff? And Chick-fil-a because it didn't cover abortifacients?  I believe it was Massachusetts that planned to penalize churches that didn’t “integrate” the bathrooms because the building might be used for secular or public purposes. http://newbostonpost.com/2016/12/19/not-so-fast-massachusetts-ag-office-says-churches-not-always-exempt-from-bathroom-bill/

All Christians are commanded to do good works--some see it as part of salvation, others see it as an outcome of salvation, but Jesus made it clear--if you have no good works, you don't recognize him as savior (Matt. 25) and he won't see you as his flock. There are no goats in heaven. At one time in the U.S., virtually all community services were handled by the churches and community organizations, but gradually the government became more socialist and began copying and co-opting them (like the Peace Corps which was built on the Anabaptist volunteer model) and then doling out funding for the churches to do what Christ commanded. Gradually, churches lost their mission, and began competing for the government dollar instead of hearts.

Not accepting the grant money isn't always the solution. The government also controls the licensing and regulations for social services and all the HR regulations for staff, internships, codes, building, etc. Also, some of these agencies that the government attacks for not recognizing homosexuals as adoption candidates or fostering (it is after all supposed to be about the children) also run food panties, clothing and material outlets for the poor, settle refugees and immigrants, run job training programs, prison ministries, summer camps, disaster relief, etc., and the government can consider those "contaminated" and pull those grants, too.

So the holier than thou accusations about gay couples are really just an all out attack on Christians. Even those Christian organizations who have no problem with gay couples, just might draw the line at polygamy, incest or someone who choses another of the 32 genders.

Trump, the Tranies, and the Deep State

Some time during the 2012 election cycle people in the deep state of the Obama administration made it clear to him that he would need to follow the LGBTQ agenda or else (some think that they had planned to out him, which would have little impact today, but might have in 2012) and all of a sudden Obama discovered gay marriage and transgender agenda were "human rights," whereas to get elected in 2008 both he and Ms. Clinton were staunchly pro-marriage as it had been understood by pagans, Buddhists, Muslims and atheists and our Founders since the beginning of recorded history. Unfortunately, these same agendists and gender-fascists also have Trump's ear and are still manipulating American citizens in the bathroom and pronoun wars.

"The Trump administration should pull away from the politically correct beliefs of the previous administration and examine carefully, with a new presidential task force if necessary, the psychological and medical science associated with attempts to help youth with transsexual attractions." Rick Fitzgibbon, MD, "The Transgender Agenda vs. the Science" https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2017/06/28/the-transgender-agenda-vs-the-science/

Syphilis on the rise among gay men

Data from 2015, analyzed with a new methodology, show that the incidence of primary and secondary syphilis among Men who have sex with men (MSM) was 309.0 cases per 100,000 people, compared with 2.9 per 100,000 among men who reported sex with women only. (Medpage Today, April 7)

April is STD awareness month.  Syphilis is passed from person to person through direct contact with a syphilis sore. In men, sores can occur on or around the penis, around the anus, or in the rectum, or in or around the mouth. These sores can be painless, so it is possible to have them and not notice them. (CDC fact sheet, rev. Feb. 10, 2017) Of course, CDC recommends condoms, but any sensible person would recommend chastity and monogamy.

 https://www.cdc.gov/std/syphilis/stdfact-msm-syphilis.htm

The gay organ majors at Oberlin

Gay alumni of Oberlin (small college in Ohio) have documentation of their history on the internet.  One writer decries always presenting gay men as victims, when in fact he thinks they are quite wonderful  and creative and supportive (in his introduction to this  history of the organ majors of 50 years ago). Here's how they carved out a special dorm space.

"Nearly all the organ majors were gay men, their presence could not be denied, by the school or to each other. It wasn't calculated at all, it simply was. Gay men following their passion for music arrived to discover that others were more like themselves than they could ever have dreamed. How wonderful is that? Starting in the early '50s, someone whose name is lost to history had the brilliant idea for the organ majors to take over the top floor (consisting of 10 or 12 rooms, some double, some triple) of a dormitory named Burton Hall. And so they did. If you have ever lived in a dorm at college you know this took considerable forethought and planning, applying for particular rooms a year in advance. Covert and subversive, it was a sacred trust, no one admitted to what was going on and would deny it if questioned. The administration was mute. It remains unclear whether the scheme was unknown or best unacknowledged. The organ majors of Oberlin did hold some esteem and clout. They were talented and it is said what they lacked in technical skills was far exceeded by the emotion they could find in a seemingly neutral piece of music. There is much evidence that some highly placed, closeted professors knew well what was going on and did what they could to deflect and gloss over rumblings from the administration or gossip."

 http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/9/4/1013446/-

Newsweek called it in 2012--the first gay president

"House Republicans asked the departments of Education and Justice to clarify their transgender bathroom directive for public schools, but the Obama administration isn’t answering. Now, a congressman from North Carolina is rebuking the White House for pulling “a political stunt.” . . . "

The guidelines are vague and the President is stonewalling the Republicans, although he’s being very vocal about how he’s protecting yet another victim group, ignoring the 99% of us who know t...hat gender isn’t fluid or a feeling. It’s biology. And the leftists who are usually so adamant about scientific evidence (even when it contradicts them as in global climate changes that go back millions of years), are saying without a shred of evidence that feelings, desires, surgery or hormones can change one’s gender.

The same liberals who decided the right to privacy (which isn't in the Constitution and had to be cobbled together from other decisions) meant the right to kill an unborn child, now are determined to claim that child who makes it through to birth has no rights to the binary gender system which humans have followed since the beginning of time because it might guarantee her some privacy in the locker room.
 http://dailysignal.com/2016/06/01/obama-administration-keeps-house-republicans-waiting-on-transgender-bathroom-order/

By the end of his term, the president will be out of the closet, either as a gay man, or a transwoman. His eagerness to transform attitudes and values to make this acceptable goes beyond his desire to change the health system, ruin the military and destroy the fossil fuel sector. If you think that is insulting or mean, then you must be homophobic or transphobic.

Talking points on same sex marriage and other hot issues of the day

• Why is it intolerant for me to point out the intolerance of those who say they can’t tolerate someone else’s “intolerance?” Why is it hateful for me to call attention to the hate of those who clearly hate those they find “hateful?” Why is it illogical for me to argue for logic? Why is it fallacious for me to challenge those who use fallacies? And why is it considered libel for me to point out the illiberality of those who claim to be “liberal?”

• Why is it unscientific to argue for science; to contend for facts and, thus, point out that it is a physiological fact that gender is genetic and not a feeling; that it is a sociological fact that children fair much better in a household anchored by a married mom and dad; that it is a medical fact that some sexual behaviors result in disproportionate negative consequences; and that it is an economic fact that traditional marriage accrues to the financial advantage of women and their children?

• Why is it considered loathsome for me to argue for the highest definition of the human being and to contend that it’s an insult to dumb down the identity of a person to nothing but the sum total of his or her appetites and inclinations?

• Why is it angry for me to draw attention to the anger of those who are clearly angry?

• Why is it wrong for me to point out that many who disagree with my above points will find it impossible to avoid name calling and other meaningless breaches of basic freshman level Socratic logic; that in their closed-mindedness they will find it impossible to be open-minded; that in their illiberality they will find it impossible to be “liberal; and that they will not be able to resist shooting the messenger rather than simply considering the veracity of his message?

• Why is it wrong to challenge those who ignore the facts of an argument and instead digress into the fallacious, sensational and salacious?

• Why is it wrong to suggest that those who have lectured conservatives for years about the dangers of legislating morality are now celebrating the legislation of morality?

• Why is it wrong to point out that same judges who constructed the wall separating Church and State now seem intent on dismantling that wall brick by brick?

• Why is it wrong to ask what ever happened to academic freedom and intellectual liberty and to remind everyone that the liberal arts academy was founded some 800 years ago upon these precepts and not upon an ideological fascism where power suppresses the people and where conformity is demanded by demagogues who seek to silence debate?

• Why am I wrong to suggest that the thoughtful scholar and true liberal, as well as, the committed conservationist (i.e. one who truly believes in conserving not only the physical environment but also the time tested truths of justice and human dignity) must always seek to do what’s right regardless of what the Supreme Court of the United State says?

• Why is anyone wrong to remind everyone that morality isn’t determined by the minority, virtue isn’t defined by a vote, and nine men and women in black robes surely don’t have the power to tell over 300 million Americans what a sacrament of the Church is or isn’t?

• Why is it wrong to contend that, as human beings, self-evident truth is written on every heart and that we don’t have any right to make the rules up as we go?

Everett Piper

In 2005 we visited this college on an architectural tour.

Domestic violence among gays and lesbian couples

It's not easy to find reliable statistics on domestic abuse and battering within the gay community (it's quite a bit higher than among heterosexual couples), in part because they've been afraid to report it, or societal factors are blamed, and more recently there is the not so subtle threat of homophobia if anyone researches it. But this paper has some good resources.

https://www.rit.edu/cla/criminaljustice/sites/rit.edu.cla.criminaljustice/files/docs/WorkingPapers/2009/2009-16.pdf

http://thehairpin.com/2012/08/run-anyway

HIV/AIDS increasing among black gay men

"Published research does not provide definitive answers about why new HIV infections among young, black/African American gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) have increased. However, black/African American MSM of all ages experience racial disparities in health and are more likely than other gay and bisexual men of other races/ethnicities to encounter broader social and economic barriers. These and other factors place black/African American MSM at higher risk for HIV."  “In fiscal year (FY) 2011, approximately 41percent of the CDC’s budget was targeted to HIV prevention activities for MSM.” CDC fact sheet.

I am stunned that “research” is blaming racial disparities and homophobia for the increase in HIV at a time when gay sex is practically being pushed into the forefront of every news story, and everyone should be covered with Obamacare.

Here’s the score.  Anal sex is transmitting HIV, not poverty, not stigma, not society. And the more that is encouraged and normalized (by “safer” sex methods), the higher the transmission rate. Also, young people know there is treatment available if they develop HIV, so there is little reason to be cautious as men were becoming in the 80s.

New statistics from the New York Department of Health and Hygiene and the Centers for Disease Control show that, in New York City, the majority of 647 women who tested HIV-positive in 2012 acquired the virus through unprotected sex with bisexual men.

There is so much money being funneled into community based prevention and behavioral programs that recipients would be crazy to ever find a way to stop young men from having sex with each other an end the government gravy train. For example:

$111 million Expanded Testing Initiative (ETI)

$55 million to 34 states and cities  to support HIV testing services  for  minority at-risk populations.

$240,000 over two years to two organizations—AIDS Unitedand theCenter for Black Equity (formerly the International Federation of Black Prides) to increase awareness

NYC article

Foreclosure of a mega church in Georgia

Blogger.com where I have my blogs has a feature called "next blog" so I was browsing today and found Church in the Now of Conyers, GA, and the last entry was about its foreclosure, Easter 2012. It was a huge, magnificent facility and not ugly like most mega churches. So I read through the pastor's timeline of how he started it in 1985 with 54 members, up to the sale for over $18 million, and about the other 90 churches in Georgia going through foreclosure.

Wondering where they went and expecting a rebuilding with renewed energy, I Googled. In 2010, he had announced he was gay, he says, to stem the tide of gay teen suicides. Really? How many teens listen to adults about their sexuality? Plus the highest suicide rate in the U.S. isn't gay teens--it's men over 85. And he'd been married twice and had 4 children. If claiming to be honest about sexuality, at least be honest about other things.

Over the centuries, millions of men and women have given up acting on sexual feelings and putting aside personal relationships from marriage to affairs to procreation in order to achieve a higher calling (whether or not you agree isn't the point). Millions more are caretakers for spouses and have set aside sexual desires for a higher form of expressing love.  Every day there are married people who choose to be faithful to their vows rather than act on their sexual desires.  He needed to be honest, but probably should have started with his first wife and the original congregation of 1985 and stop blaming society for his hiding his true feelings all these years. From celebrities to politicians to pastors: if you can't accept your homosexuality, don't be surprised when society isn't sympathetic with your cover up when you finally come out.