Roberta
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Post by Roberta on Dec 26, 2014 8:06:30 GMT -8
The question was "Should public displays of faith be taken out of sports?" and I worked in baseball which justifies me posting this here even though it lacks a peace theme. You can get to the rest of the responses at www.glendalenewspress.com/opinion/religion/ . I would lead you directly to the column except it still refuses to link the last few characters. Strange. www.burbankleader.com/opinion/tn-blr-me-in-theory-should-public-displays-of-faith-be-taken-out-of-sports-20141223,0,5873258.story Enough procrastination -- now I have to finish this week's which is due in a few hours! _______________________ It already seemed a little silly to me that the Roman Catholic basketball players crossed themselves before taking a free-throw during our high school games. It set them apart from the Protestant kids, who were probably believers too, and I guess that was the point. In today's elite stratosphere of professional sports, where the performers have spent a lifetime basically doing almost nothing but honing their skills, it seems even more ridiculous to credit the supernatural with their achievements. Better that they thank their loved ones for the sacrifices that have helped to get them there. I do not question the players' rights to express themselves. And a professional football player who is Muslim penalized for a prayer posture when "Tebowing" is fine? Just how many ways can the NFL show themselves to be unenlightened? I rejoice seeing professional athletes show their support for the rights and lives of black Americans, while it is my fondest hope that the MLB will rethink the now-obligatory singing of "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch. Maybe the difference is making a personal statement versus an official, institutionalized expression forced on an entire stadium. Roberta Medford Atheist Montrose |
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Post by Roberta Medford on Feb 10, 2015 19:32:18 GMT -8
Here's my latest In Theory, the rest on Junipero Serra are at www.burbankleader.com/opinion/tn-blr-me-in-theory-is-father-junipero-serra-worthy-of-sainthood-20150127,0,7379153.story No human, let alone a human with as much baggage as Junipero Serra, qualifies for sainthood, in my opinion. There is nothing alleged about the genocide the mission system perpetrated on Native Californians. Of the more than 300,000 American Indians in California in 1769, just one-sixth, about 50,000, remained of the population 100 years later. Serra's defenders say that he personally treated Indians with compassion at times. Defenders of the Roman Catholic's mission system say that the deaths of most of the Indian population and the extinguishing of their culture and livelihood were not intended or done maliciously on the part of the church, and that Christian salvation justifies the negatives. None of these excuses make it OK, and certainly not praiseworthy. Pope Francis has announced that despite the special significance of this monumental announcement to California, he can't fit in a flight out here from Philadelphia during his U.S. visit this fall. Makes me wonder if he thinks his reception here would reveal more negative than positive feelings about canonizing Father Serra. Roberta Medford Atheist Montrose |
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Roberta
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Posts: 1,033
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Post by Roberta on Apr 1, 2015 9:31:06 GMT -8
Here's my take on this week's In Theory question. All war, all the time means I too can work it in anywhere. Full column at: www.burbankleader.com/opinion/tn-blr-me-in-theory-thoughts-on-nycs-prek-prayer-plan-20150331,0,1730949.story Do prayers and religious instruction during the school day at publicly funded prekindergarden programs, held at and presumably taught by employees of Jewish, Christian and Muslim schools, constitute a violation of our constitutional separation of church and state? Gee, ya think? This question caps a bad week for atheists, indeed for anyone who likes our secular government and does not relish an established religion, any religion, here. The head of government of Israel, supposedly the shining example of multicultural democracy in the region, frets that too many of the other are going to vote, and flatly states that they have no place of their own in the region anyway. The fear card triumphs, then he immediately takes it all back and we let him get away with it. In Afghanistan, where we have poured our treasure and blood for decades, we saw religious citizens (not the Taliban or jihadists or other terrorists) form a mob and stone and beat to death a mentally ill woman for allegedly burning a few pages of a Koran. The head of their Ministry of Religious Affairs — that my tax dollars are going to a country that has such a ministry is depressing right there — opined that if she did that, well, then she got just what she deserved. Turned out it wasn't a Koran after all. Oops. There is an argument that says the wars in the greater Middle East are not about religion. I have struggled to understand this tortured logic and while clearly geopolitics and economics are involved, so is religion. Today as I write, we are bombing both sides in the conflict. If nearly half our federal budget didn't go for preparation, execution and aftermath of war, we could fund secular universal education and much, much more. The rest of the developed world manages it. Oh, right, we're fighting the idiotic, hopeless wars for them. Tax-supported religious schools are a step down this sectarian road, right here in the U.S. Roberta Medford Atheist Montrose |
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Roberta
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Posts: 1,033
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Post by Roberta on Apr 30, 2015 20:38:41 GMT -8
This from my email ...
Beyond the Box Mural” project on Foothill Boulevard. The project will take place on Saturday, May 2. There are 5 utility boxes on Foothill Boulevard between Lowell Avenue & Pennsylvania Avenue that are a part of the project. There will be a different artist for each box.
Everyone is welcome to come out and view these boxes being turned into works of art.
Jacqueline Bartlow ● City of Glendale ● Economic Development Dept.
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Roberta
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Post by Roberta on May 1, 2015 8:26:36 GMT -8
Here is my answer to this week's In Theory question: "Will the Pope's statement on the Armenian Genocide help?" You can read the entire column by clicking on that question at www.glendalenewspress.com/opinion/religion/ . Pope Francis has taken a stand that puts his church on the right side of history once again. My understanding is that the country of Turkey, along with Israel, pretty much stand alone now in officially denying the reality of the Armenian Genocide. To the rest of the world it is an accepted historical fact. The New York Times reported recently that only 9% of Turks thought the government should label the atrocities a genocide and apologize for them, in a poll by an Istanbul research organization. Turkey has thoroughly miseducated its citizens. The U.S. depends on Turkey allowing a large U.S. military presence in that country as a base of operations for our armed invasions, occupations and air strikes into the Middle East. Thus President Obama, who of course knows that the Armenian Genocide is real, continues to avoid the word. I regret to say that I doubt even such a prominent statement as the Pope's will change the ossified positions of the main actors in this drama, or perhaps I should say farce. Turkish and U.S. official recognition of the world's first genocide is not coming any time soon. As a peace activist I know a little something about hopeless causes in which great forces are aligned against you. I cannot say what course of action Armenians and most of the world who supports the truth of 1915 should take, but maybe it is time to disengage from this particular point of the debate and try a new tack. Roberta Medford Atheist Montrose |
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Roberta
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Posts: 1,033
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Post by Roberta on May 27, 2015 14:36:32 GMT -8
My latest windmill tilting in the Glendale News Press, which I pasted below since their links still don't completely link: www.glendalenewspress.com/opinion/tn-gnp-letter-b2-bombers-belie-parades-message-20150526,0,4082675.story I was not in favor of city funds going toward a float in the Tournament of Roses parade, nor will I be contributing my money or my energy at this point toward a Glendale float. Here's why: the B2 stealth bomber flyover that has become standard to open the parade. Seeing as an accepted part of the parade a vehicle whose only purpose is mass destruction — each of its 16 nuclear bombs has 20,000 times the killing power of a single Hiroshima bomb — I despair for our culture. Is there nothing we can't militarize? This powerful symbol of aggression has no place in an event celebrating community spirit and artful beauty. Though the Department of Defense refuses to disclose specific budget figures for the B2 flyover, several sources I find estimate that it costs more than $100,000 per flight hour just to have it in the air. Since the DOD seems to have our tax dollars to burn, perhaps the Glendale Rose Float Assn. should hit up the Pentagon for a float grant. Even better though would be if all float fans would join us — I know that I am not alone — in pressing to end this New Year's travesty. I'll support a Glendale float with all my being when it is not preceded by a weapon of total annihilation. Roberta Medford Montrose |
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Post by Jeanne on May 31, 2015 13:52:03 GMT -8
My latest windmill tilting in the Glendale News Press, which I pasted below since their links still don't completely link: www.glendalenewspress.com/opinion/tn-gnp-letter-b2-bombers-belie-parades-message-20150526,0,4082675.story I was not in favor of city funds going toward a float in the Tournament of Roses parade, nor will I be contributing my money or my energy at this point toward a Glendale float. Here's why: the B2 stealth bomber flyover that has become standard to open the parade. Seeing as an accepted part of the parade a vehicle whose only purpose is mass destruction — each of its 16 nuclear bombs has 20,000 times the killing power of a single Hiroshima bomb — I despair for our culture. Is there nothing we can't militarize? This powerful symbol of aggression has no place in an event celebrating community spirit and artful beauty. Though the Department of Defense refuses to disclose specific budget figures for the B2 flyover, several sources I find estimate that it costs more than $100,000 per flight hour just to have it in the air. Since the DOD seems to have our tax dollars to burn, perhaps the Glendale Rose Float Assn. should hit up the Pentagon for a float grant. Even better though would be if all float fans would join us — I know that I am not alone — in pressing to end this New Year's travesty. I'll support a Glendale float with all my being when it is not preceded by a weapon of total annihilation. Roberta Medford Montrose Thanks to Sharon's prompting, I have written a "dyspeptic" response. If it gets published, I'll post a link. |
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Post by Sharon W on Jun 2, 2015 7:30:37 GMT -8
Thank you Jeanne!
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Roberta
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Posts: 1,033
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Post by Roberta on Jun 4, 2015 10:40:25 GMT -8
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Roberta
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Post by Roberta on Jul 6, 2015 2:19:44 GMT -8
Just to say HI and to add some content from Ireland. Here's my response to the most recent In Theory question asking our thoughts on the Pentagon's move toward inclusion. At: <glendalenewspress.com/opinion/religion> you can click on the topic and read all the responses, including one by another message board poster. fyi, someone at the News Press added "men and" to my last sentence. A few men in the military are sexually harassed and raped, but the overwhelming majority of victims are women.
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I think that discrimination against gays in the military was effectively banned with the elimination of “don't ask, don't tell” in 2011. Carter's recent announcement may be about cleaning up outdated policy language. Gearing up to extend benefits for same-sex spouses in the military means that the Pentagon wisely anticipated the June 26Supreme Court decision extending the right to marry to adults in all the states.
Despite some downsizing, the United States armed forces remain a huge employer and as such they must operate in the real world. In a rising economy with lower unemployment, the Department of Defense needs to compete with other organizations and businesses to recruit and retain quality staff. They can't afford to ignore or alienate the homosexual community, which some estimate to be about 1 in 10 of the U.S. population.
Gay people have served in the military all along, despite bans and discrimination. A more inclusive military will make life easier for everyone. Like attitudes toward gay marriage, I think this is a case of officialdom catching up with the majority of us who are already there in acceptance.
Transgender persons will be another challenge, and of course ending the military's abysmal record of turning a blind eye to rape and sexual harassment of men and women.
Roberta Medford
Atheist
Montrose
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