I resent your intolerance...

This month of June at my day job I am selling two limited edition wines with commemorative labels and donating part of the proceeds to the Pride Foundation. It is after all, Pride Month. I started selling them on the 4th and have mostly received praise. I've not had any opposition to this until yesterday.

I had one customer come in trying to find a bottle of white for his wife. He said she likes Pinot Grigio. Unfortunately, I am out of Pinot Grigio for another few weeks. I told him I had a Chardonnay, a dry Riesling, and something more to her taste, a Viognier/Pinot Gris blend. That blend happens to be my Pride White. He said he could not buy that wine. That he and his wife are conservative Christians and he wouldn't hear the end of it if he brought it home. "No worries," I said. I was polite, as was he. Of course I disagree with his ideology, but whatever. He bought the Riesling and went on his way. 

Later that day I sent out our monthly email newsletter that promotes all of our events and campaigns. Among cooking class, art night and ladies night, I also mentioned our Pride Red and White wines and how we would be donating part of sales back to Pride Foundation. Now, this is not the first time we've done this. We've done this for Mary Bridge Children's Hospital, Breast Cancer Awareness, Autism, many other non-profit organizations and numerous schools. In October we will be doing the same thing for Domestic Violence Action Month.

I received two emails asking me to take them off our mailing list. One was simply, take me off your email list PLEASE... After receiving the second one, I can only assume this is because of our support of the Pride Foundation.

The other stated, and I quote, "I resent your sending 15% to Pride foundations. They are an abomination. Take me off your mailing list."

I am not sure how to respond. I am the manager and will be buying this place soon, but for now, I am not the owner. If this had happened when I ran my own business I would have told that person to fuck off I don't need your business anyway.

But I'm not running my own business...yet.

The other day, I had a customer, who supports LGBT rights, ask me how I came to do the commemorative label and offer my support to that community when my name and heritage would suggest otherwise. (family name Aquino, heritage, Italian, grew up Catholic).

I told her that although I was brought up Catholic, most of my family were very liberal and have always been welcoming of others regardless of their race, religion, sexual preference, culture, etc. We believe that everyone is equal and deserves to be treated with respect and dignity.  We are all human, we all laugh, cry, hurt, heal. We all bleed the same color. 

I cannot speak for the rest of my family, but I cannot and will not believe in a god that does not love all mankind. He is supposed to be all loving, all forgiving, merciful. Anyone who follows him and preaches his words and his works should emulate him and offer all human kind the same love, forgiveness and mercy. Yet far too much, bible verses are picked and chosen to fit in with agendas. How about these ones?:

John 8:7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them,  “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
James 2:1 My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.

Romans 3:23 ...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...
Matthew 7:1  Judge not, that you be not judged.
Don't get me wrong, the bible also talks about judging. Judging what is good. Using the right judgment. Test everything and abstain from evil. I know many that belong to the LGBT community. They are good. That is the right judgment. Are they all good? Of course not. But neither are all Christians, Mormons, whites, blacks, women, men, and so forth and so forth. There are bad apples in every bunch.
But they are not abominations or evil because of who they love. 
Many of them are even Christians! Whoa, I just blew your mind right there, right?
And let's keep in mind that these quotes, regardless if what agenda we're seeking them for, come from a book thousands of years old and translated millions of time. 
I defend my business decision to support LGBT rights and the Pride Foundation. If I lose customers over it, maybe they're not the type I want shopping in my store anyway. I will not back down from my convictions, ideologies, or values to make a few more bucks. 
And anyway, I've sold a lot more bottles than I've had complaints, so there's that.
Happy Saturday everyone. Come to the shop and see me sometime.

Present Day Religious Tyranny

I was going to rant about a bunch of stuff, but this post became very long. So, today I talk about religious tyranny.

The religious right is trying to force Christianity on the rest of the country. How are they doing this? The Religious Freedom Restoration Act for starters. This is not a freedom of religion act. This is an act of discrimination and bigotry disguised as a freedom of religion act. There was only one reason this was put in place: so business owned by Christians could deny services to the LGBT community.

And now republicans in Idaho and trying to get the Bible into schools as a text of History and Science. Complete and utter bullshit! Not everyone believes in the same god. Not everyone, even some Christians believe that the bible is to be taken literally. A book that no one can verify is factual has no place in our school system. A book based on religion has no place being anything more than  a study in literature like Siddhartha or Paradise Lost.

The Pilgrims and Puritans left Europe to be free of religious tyranny. These are the people that founded our country. Do you think they would force their religion on us as the Church of England did to them?

And what about the Revolutionary War? Sure, it wasn't solely based on religion or religious freedoms, but it played a part. People were moved to fight for their freedoms, including their religious freedoms. Thomas Paine had a hand in this when he published Common Sense. He blasted the monarchy as taking on a sovereign authority that should only belong to God. He suggested that Americans follow the lead of Jews in the Old Testament and reject a monarchical government. He urged the colonists to take up arms to protect freedom of religion for dissenters and declared the colonies as an asylum of religious liberty.  Let me repeat that. Asylum of religious liberty.


Liberty's definition is: the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views.

No one's religion should be forced upon us.  It's right there in the Constitution.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; 

This means no national or state mandated religion. It says we are free to exercise religion. It does not specify Christianity as that religion. So, what do you think you're doing when you place a book based on Christianity in our schools and treat it as fact. Hey, private schools can do what they want. But public schools, schools run by our government should not impose Christian beliefs on those who attend.

We don't need the bible in schools. If you want to teach your children the bible, do it at home, take them to church. I'm not saying that some curriculum shouldn't be based on theory, after all, much of science is based on theory. However, the bible isn't science, and it's not a proven history. Religion simply doesn't belong in schools unless you are teaching children about ALL religions.

As for the Religious Freedom Restoration Act - it's original purpose was "ensuring that interests in religious freedom are protected."  It applies to all religions, but is mostly was put in place for Native American religions and their sacred grounds that have been victim to the expansion of government projects.

The Indiana RFRA allows individuals and companies to assert that their exercise of religion. Really? The Constitution protects our religious freedoms. Why do we need this? Oh that's right, so companies and individuals in your state can turn away people they don't deem "worthy" of their Christian value services. Governor Mike Pence says it's all a big “misunderstanding.” And, “This bill is not about discrimination, and if I thought it legalized discrimination I would have vetoed it.”

Liar.

In response companies have halted expansion to Indiana. It's also been criticized by the likes of the NCAA, Apple CEO, Tim Cook, Gen Con, Disciples of Christ, and Subaru.

All of this, as I stated before, is nothing more than religious tyranny. Something many of our ancestors fled from and fought against. Our country is not a Theocracy. We cannot let the ball keep rolling in this direction. If they force this on us, what of our rights will be in jeopardy next?

The Christian Defense: Supporting Josh Duggard

Yes, people make mistakes and can be forgiven. Child molestation is not a mistake. Child molestation is an abhorrent crime that dehumanizes and demoralizes victims. It's a power play,  bullying, and an abuse of trust. These types of crimes should be punished by law. However, Josh Duggan has skirted his way around it. Read on...

His apology?

“It is not mine to forgive but nonetheless I do and look forward for you to use this opportunity to work with others who have struggled with similar or like actions and educate them on how to turn away from such behavior. I’m sure it is the last thing you want to revisit but you can help so many boys and girls and probably already have by making this public statement. Be strong and don’t let the negative reaction play over and over in your head. You have a lot of supporters, lean on them, let their words wash over you as you all pick up and move forward.”

He barely apologizes for his actions and makes himself sound like a victim.

 “Even though we would never choose to go through something so terrible, each one of our family members drew closer to God. We pray that as people watch our lives they see that we are not a perfect family."

Never choose to go through? That's exactly what you did. And thank the good Lord you molested your sisters so your whole family could be closer to God.

“The media can be shameless & so hurtful. My family has experienced the media’s lack of knowledge and truth trying to make something out of a mistake & it was so incredibly hurtful to our family. To feel as though you have truth and you’re fighting a massive giant such as the media can be so frustrating.”

Yes, your family is hurt, especially the sisters you molested. And I'm sorry, this is the job of media, to uncover and expose, even the ugly. And lack of knowledge? They dredged up a police report buried years ago. What exactly are they lacking? And the truth is you inappropriately touched young girls, including your sisters, and are hardly repentant. You seem more apologetic about being found out than actually committing the crime.

His fans are defending him, politicians..."he's an example of humility and redemption." Really? He spoke about it because he had to, because some journalist did their homework and dug up this ugliness. He would have gone his entire life not exposing this if it hadn't been found out.

One of his fans actually said something to the affect, "he only molested them, it's not like he raped them." O.o Okay, how about you get molested, then raped, then tell us what the difference is? Do you feel less violated? Less demoralized? Fuck me. No pun intended.



Some are comparing this to the Lena Dunham commission of molesting her sister. There's a difference.  Is what she did wrong? Yes.  And honestly, it did change my opinion of her the way she so flippantly spoke of it in her book. Of course, she was seven to Duggan's 14, and hers was one instant compared to repeating the offense over the course of years against 5 different girls. And Dunham doesn't shroud herself in a veil of propriety and righteousness.

Apparently, if you believe in God, all is forgiven. No need to spend time in juvee or get "real" therapy (I will talk more about that in a minute). Christians are above the law of the land? They only are accountable to religious law?

Let's talk about the parents...

His parents should have been arrested for waiting so long to report the offenses. I mean, convenient to hide the truth until the statute of limitations had run its course, right? And when Jim Bob does report it, who does he go to first? The police...oh wait, no, my mistake...the church elders. Are you fucking kidding me? Your child has just sexually violated children, YOUR OWN CHILDREN, scarring them for life, and you go to the church instead of the authorities? I'm sorry, I love my kids, but if they EVER did that, I'm sending them to the authorities, hoping they get the help they need, because for me, child abuse, in any form, needs to be dealt with.

How about setting them up for disaster? The kids, at least a few of them, definitely the molester and victims, slept in a common room. Um...14 year old boy, hormones raging, with sleeping girls. Parent Fail. Even if I trusted my kids to the ends of the earth and back, I would not put them in that situation. Boys do stupid shit, especially at an age where their libido leads the way. 

Jim Bob also refused to let police interview Josh. Helpful, no? Of course he let all of his daughters go through that torture. No report was filed either. Could it be because Jim Bob knew the state trooper he'd reported it too? The trooper gave Josh a "stern talking to" and decided that the "therapy" he'd undergone was enough. Um...how about looking into that "therapy" before making that decision? Oh wait, you probably didn't care that much since you,  yourself were a pedophile, now serving 56-years in prison for child pornography.

About this so called "therapy."

Jim Bob didn't want poor Joshy in a place where there were other offenders, he must be so fragile. Of course, that meant no sexual assault counseling for him. Nope. Jim Bob instead sent him to a good Christian program. But wait, there's more. For part of his "therapy," Josh ended up working for a family friend who was in the business of remodeling.  No counseling for sex offenders there. No counseling at all. I bet that was helpful. The other part of the time he was at the Basic Life Principles Training Center run by friend of the family, Bill Gothard. Their website contends that they are, ...dedicated to giving clear instruction and training on how to find success by following God’s principles found in Scripture." I guess God's principles includes sexual grooming and groping young women. Last year Gothard resigned his post from the center after allegations of sexual grooming and sexual harassment of over 30 young women and teens surfaced. This was the man offering his counsel to Josh Duggard. SMH.

Duggan has traveled the country bashing the LGBT community and calling them sexual deviants.  He's pronounced how doing bad things to children is evil in "one of its worst forms." He blasts
Muslims for their treatment of women.  He claims that marriage equality destroys the American family.  He stated that his family is the epitome of conservative values. All if this is hypocrisy at its finest.

• Sexual deviant, check. 
• Molesting children, check. 
• Demoralizing sisters, check. 
• Hiding his past from the public while maintaining the image of the "perfect American family," check. A child molester who never paid his time living under the guise of conservative values, check.

Has Josh Duggan lived a good life since? Supposedly, but how do I know? The public sees what their television show wants them to see. I've never seen an episode. A family breeding like rabbits and praising God isn't exactly my idea of good entertainment.

I do think people can rehabilitate with HELP.
I do believe in forgiveness.

However, what I don't agree with is this:

• Hiding behind Jesus to suit your own selfish needs. 
• Praising the almighty dollar.
• Hiding the truth. 
• Waiting until the statute of limitations runs out to report sexual assault.
• Not getting a sex offender the right kind of counseling and treatment.
• Not filing a report on a repeat sex offender, friend or not.
• Apologizing without admission.
• Acting as a role model in the public eye when you have darkened your religion and the legal system.
• Being a hypocrite.

The most frightening thing is that this is all about Josh. What about his victims? His sisters are voiceless amid this revelation. Josh got "help." Did they? Did the Duggars send their daughters to counseling? A doctor even? Probably not. It seems they've been hushed instead of standing up for themselves. Of course, this goes along with the home school teachings in sexual assault, which focuses a lot on victim blaming and is nothing less than appalling. How refreshing it would be to see one of them speak out? Sadly, I'm sure that's against their "family values."

Thought Provoking Thursday: St. Patty's Day

Some interesting facts you may or may not know.

1. St. Patrick was not Irish.  He was born in Britain, kidnapped by pirates, and sold into slavery in Ireland.  But he is the Patron Saint of the Irish.

2.  His real name was Maewyn Succat.

3. He did not run snakes out of Ireland.  The snakes are representative of the Druidic religions that disappeared as he converted the people of Ireland to Christianity.

4.  He used the Shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity.

5. Celtic Druids threw him in prison many times because of his teaching Christianity.

6.  The actual color of St. Patrick is blue. Green became associated with St. Patrick's Day during the 19th century.

7. Green, in Irish legends, was actually an unlucky color, as fairies and immortals were said to steal people, especially children, who wore too much of the color.

8. St. Patrick is believed to be the first person to speak out against slavery.

9. He died March 17, 461

10. By law, pubs in Ireland were closed on St. Patrick's Day, a national religious holiday, as recently as the 1970s.
11. The first St. Patrick's Day parade was held in the U.S., not Ireland.


12.  There are more Irish in America, than in Ireland right now, the city of Boston claiming the most.

13.  The Irish do not celebrate the holiday with corned beef, that is strictly an American tradition.

Friday Free For All: What if Jesus was just a lunatic instead of the son of God.

Okay, this may be controversial to some of you, and I'm not saying that's what I believe, but seriously, if someone in this day and age started spouting off about being the next messiah, the son of God himself, he would be committed, right? You know he would. We'd think him insane just like the crazy lady on the bus who talks to herself and slaps her purse, or like the street corner prophet.

So, what if they thought him a lunatic back in the day (okay, I know many DID think this, but what if it were everyone?) It would change religion as we know it. So many people in the world are some form of Christian, be it Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, etc, etc, what would the world be like?

Maybe we would be praising Bob, or Jill, or Fred. Maybe the most popular religion in the world would be based on the earth, or the animals, rainbows, or butterflies. Or perhaps we would worship the giant blazing orb in the sky, praying some day it would find us worthy to absorb us and burn us into ash. There really isn't an answer, is there? Maybe we would have picked up on some of the other religions and pray to Muhammad, or Buddha, or Ra.

What if the majority of us had no religion at all? Would we be living in chaos? Anarchy? After all, laws are created based on what's good and right on the world. What if we didn't have religion to tell us that? Would we still know in our heart how we should live?

I don't know the answers. I'm really not even sure what I believe. I hope there's a higher power. I hope he/she is merciful and forgiving of our simple lack of judgment or innocent errors in life. Maybe even of our larger transgressions if they don't hurt too many.

It gives you something to think about though, doesn't it? Maybe it's time I start listening to the street corner prophets.

And I promised poetry, so here is one I wrote last week.

Heart in shreds
cold autumn nights
tears fall like leaves from a tree.
Sadness.
No fear, no pain
just there clinging
dust on the window.
No reason.
Run your finger through
make sun tracks
impressions of light.
Beaming.
Warm like summer
luminous and radiant
sating hunger.
Love consumed.
Wonder and light
wrought with passion
fire and flame.
Unrelenting.
Like a season
cools by degrees.
Ephemeral.
Pain like death
loss, decay
heart in shreds.
Again.

Kisses :*

Megan

Song of the Week: The High Road by Broken Bells

Movie of the Week: The Invention of Lies, more about the concept than the funny

Book of the Week: The Unwritten Rule, a cute teenage love story by Elizabeth Scott. I should have a review out on it by next week. Fingers crossed.

Quote of the week: "Do what you are afraid to do." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson