No Words - 9/11

The History of 9.11.01

The 9/11 attacks were a series of four suicide attacks that were committed in the United States on September 11, 2001, coordinated to strike areas of New York City and Washington, D.C. On that Tuesday morning, 19 terrorists from the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets. The hijackers intentionally piloted two of those planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City; both towers collapsed within two hours. The hijackers also intentionally crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and intended to pilot the fourth hijacked jet, United Airlines Flight 93, into the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.; however, the plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after its passengers attempted to take control of the jet from the hijackers. Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks, including the 246 civilians and 19 hijackers aboard the four planes.

The destruction of the Twin Towers caused serious damage to the economy of Lower Manhattan and had a significant impact on global markets. Cleanup of the World Trade Center site was completed in May 2002, and the Pentagon was repaired within a year. Numerous memorials were constructed, including the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York, the Pentagon Memorial, and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania. After a lengthy delay, the 1,776-foot-tall One World Trade Center is expected to be completed at ground zero in New York by 2013.

- L.H.

9/11

WE WILL NEVER FORGET!!!!!!!

August 12th and 13th...

The Gays and the Chicken

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or don’t have facebook or twitter (same difference, right?) you already know about the recent fire that chic-fil-a has come under for its stance on gay marriage.  Along those same lines I’ve seen several articles about other restaurants and businesses that, as concerned citizens of our world, we should not patronize - Jimmy John’s, White Castle, and Waffle House to name a few.

In America where we have free speech we can all agree that Mr Cathy has the right to say or believe whatever he wants. There are even those who say well he’s only 1 vote and has the right to believe and vote how he wants. While both of these are 100% true, neither of these are the issue. The real issue is that these companies are donating large sums of money to the cause of discriminating against others who believe differently than them.  Folks wake up! This is YOUR money that YOU spent on nuggets and hash browns that is now going to help discriminate against people. It shouldn’t matter if you’re gay or straight or black or white we cannot allow discrimination against anyone.

Let’s think back to past civil rights movements. There was a time when it was widely accepted that blacks were inferior to whites, Women were inferior to men and legally others had the right to discriminate against those groups. This type of thought is ludicrous now, and why? Because those groups (and those in other demographics who felt strongly enough to support them) marched and protested and did what was necessary to fight for their rights … OUR rights.  These people were sprayed with hoses and tear gassed while fighting for their rights, and right now we can’t seem to get it through to some folks that we are all human and it is NOT ok to harm us or deny us basic rights because of who we are even if it’s different than you.

Granted, we as gay people don’t have separate water fountains and we don’t have to stage sit-ins to be allowed access to local establishments, but our rights are not what they should be. One of the main pro-CFA arguments is that chic-fil-a doesn’t discriminate against gay patrons and gay employees. That argument is seriously equivalent to saying to someone “We’re not racist. We have lots of black people as friends” or “we let you in the house when the weather’s bad”. All you’re doing is telling me how you humble yourself to be nice to me on occasion and I should feel lucky to be treated human in that way. In the meantime, you go behind my back and deny me basic rights.   Right now is our time to fight for what we need and deserve. This country was founded on religious freedom and that means freedom from religion if you choose not to participate.  So you want to run your company on Christian values. That’s great! I myself am a Christian, and as such I think that one should respect all people’s right to do what makes them happy as long as no harm comes to others. But when you take your beliefs and donate what ultimately is your customers’ money to a cause it should not be one whose purpose is to discriminate against many of the people who patronized you and brought you success as well as some of the very people you employ (who also helped make you successful). That’s a moral issue not a legal one.

No one is arguing that he has the right to do it, but suppose it was for a more obviously (and widely accepted as such) wrong and discriminatory group.  Let’s say for instance that McDonalds gave a huge donation to the KKK.  If you were seen with a big mac you would likely be chastised by any and everyone you came across. Why? Because what was acceptable 50 years ago as people standing up for what they believe in is now known to be just a bunch of bigots discriminating on people because of the color of their skin.

The message here for my straight Christian friends who believe that this is a free speech issue. It’s not. You have been duped by your churches, the media, and any other influence who gathered you all in masses for the cause of defending Dan Cathy’s freedom of speech. (and making record amounts of money for Dan Cathy and a hellish day at work for the chic-fil-a employees). Most people at some point in our country’s history (or present in many cases) fall into a demographic which are, have been, or will be in the future discriminated against based on some part of you that you wouldn’t change even if you could. Women, we couldn’t vote or own property. Think about that as you go to the polls in Nov and make that mortgage payment every month. Black people, shoooot, we couldn’t use their toilets, drink their water, marry EACH OTHER and don’t even THINK of marrying a white person! I believe that in their hearts they really believe they are doing what’s right. I pray that through the love of God they will see that they have been fear mongered into these beliefs and reconsider their position on this to one of love and inclusion.

I think the message here, gay people and supporters, is that we have to step up our game. As it stands, they are well within their rights to donate money however they want. So if we want to celebrate companies who give to our cause we have to accept that companies are going to go against us too. We need to organize, and work harder to seek out companies who do support us. Don’t bitch about your enemies because negative publicity is the best way to send people running there in droves to support them. Note the crowds at every chic-fil-a all day yesterday. Our organizations that work hard to fight for our rights need our financial help. We can’t just NOT give our money to those who don’t support us. We have to give our $ or our time or whatever we can afford to give in the fight for our own rights.  And we need to make moves that make sense and are not just based out of the "that'll really piss 'em off" principle. Obviously, we must stand up for ourselves but there is also a lot of room for some bridge building. 

Here’s something to consider. Tomorrow Aug 3 is lesbian kiss day where we’re supposed to go kiss in a chic-fil-a.  I have seen postings for some Christian organizations who are actually wanting to be there to show us love in counter protest. If they are successful and that goes well it could be a wonderful day for the two communities and their relations. If we as a community go there with our hearts, ears, and mouth ready to open dialogue rather than with our fists ready to fight, imagine the common ground we could reach across the country!

12th Annual She Speaks Conference!

July 20-22, 2012, Concord, North Carolina

 

If you have a passion to share the messages God has placed on your heart through speaking or writing, we invite you to join us at our 12th annual She Speaks Conference.

During this life-changing three day conference, you will receive the tools and the confidence you need to answer God’s call on your life. You will learn how to make the most of your messages, the nuts and bolts of speaking, writing, leading and influencing, and have the opportunity to meet with some of today’s top Christian publishers. And you will be inspired and encouraged. She Speaks is not just another conference … it is a true experience with God and a revival in your calling!

 

For specific details about the conference, click on Conference Information.

Review: Martin Lawrence, Comedy Tour 2011

On Saturday, August 13^th I was in attendance at my first Martin Lawrence stand up comedy show in Houston, Texas. All I can say it was well worth the money. This man is one of the funniest comedians in the business. As I sat there watching, listening, and laughing my ass off, it was apparent that Martin Lawrence has not lost a step at all when it comes to his stand up show. My assumption was that he may not have been as sharp because he has been off the stand up scene for a minute doing movies and other projects, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was wrong. It was hilarious. He used the full stage and engaged the audience throughout the entire time he was on stage. Seeing Martin on stage was like watching an old friend that you haven’t seen in a while talk about things you had done or thought about at some point in your life. You have to understand my point of view when it comes to Martin Lawrence; he quickly became a fixture in my life when he came out with The Martin Lawrence show in the early 1990s. That show became a source of laughter for me and so many of my friends up until this very day. The number of characters this man is able to play is amazing to me. This is not something many skilled actors can do. However, Martin makes playing multiple characters look so effortless. He has played women, children, and even a white man in addition to several other male characters. All I can say is that if you have not enjoyed Martin Lawrence’s talent in some shape form or fashion then you are depriving yourself of a great laugh. This man is one of the best at what he does and there is no doubt about that. I guess it goes without saying that I highly recommend you going to see him live if you are ever given an opportunity to do so in the future.

Nashville Pride 2011

This weekend I attended Nashville's Pride celebration. In past years I have attended this festival when it had been in Centinial Park and it was fine there. However, in recent years they have moved it downtown to the Riverfront. I had my doubts about the logistics of that but I think it turned out for the better. For starters, instead of putting a fence along First Avenue, they set it up so festival goers could go in and out of the back entrances to the businesses and bars on Second Avenue. This was a great idea, and had it been especially hot that would have come in very handy for cooling off. People usually end up crowded in the one beer tent because that was the only place you could drink at pride. They had drink vendors all over the place this time and of course the bars were available. We found a good crowd ended up at Coyote Ugly. I've been to this bar before but seeing some cute lesbians up on that bar was definitely much better this time!

The best thing about pride for me this year was the music. They had a few stages set up for musical acts, and I have to admit there were some really great acts. That said, I have to mention and give a shout out to Heidi Burson and Reverse Halo Effect. I really loved seeing both acts perform. There was also a band that sounded so much like Abba we thought it was a recording. Even though I'm the complete opposite of an Abba fan - I hate them with a fiery burning passion only a Scorpio could handle - I have to give them props for this. At any rate, I'd say this festival was a success despite the rainy weather. The daytime festival is a good time for the whole family ( both traditional and not so traditional) to come have a good time at the Riverfront. Of course the next part of pride is everyone going out on Saturday night to kick it. This is where this story ends, cause what happens in the club stays in the club.