No Hate, Presidential Affirmations and More….

At the beginning of this month, I had the privilege of attending a NOH8 function with a dear friend of mine.  It was a photo shoot in beautiful downtown Vancouver.  I was so impressed with the work of the NOH8 campaign and with President Obama’s recent affirmation of the rights of gay people to marry, that I just had to blog about it.

I loved the idea of people sporting a duct-taped face with the NOH8 logo on one cheek, photographed by none other than Adam Bouska in a variety of poses.  I loved that many non LGBT family and friends were there to support their loved ones.  I loved that the day after the event, I received a text from the same friend letting me know that President Obama had  affirmed his belief that gay people ought to have the right to marry.  How fortuitous that an African-American president, running for reelection, had the temerity to historically state, “…it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.”  This is of course, after stating this:  “…I’ve stood on the side of broader equality for the LGBT community….”   Would civil unions, enacted into law, been enough?  What if the proverbial tables were turned and male-female marriages were not recognised? At least a modern, sitting president was willing to accept that change is taking place whether “federalized” or not.

Whatever is happening, we have to remember two very important things here:  First, historic though it may be, a presidential affirmation does not legislation make.  Second, that the presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is in favour of a “federal constitutional amendment” banning same-sex marriage. And let’s not forget that 30 American states have passed laws banning same-sex marriage, so where does that leave President Obama’s affirmation?  Well, legally, it doesn’t have much on which to stand.  Morally, and perhaps most importantly, it has made the personal political and the political personal.
Even the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights is rather vague on this issue; it has no specific dialogue on the rights of members of the LGBT community marrying, however, given when it was drafted, its language is somewhat inclusive:

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 16:

  • (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

  • (2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the   intending spouses.

  • (3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

This leaves the presidential affirmation in a state of social acceptability but not of legal acceptability.  It may yet take another twenty years for the United States to pass a law that legalizes same-sex marriage in every state and allow for same-sex divorces in much the same manner of heterosexual marriage and divorce.  Here’s what would make the most succinct difference: a constitutional amendment that does not allow for a same-sex marriage law to be repealed under any circumstance. I always question what happened in the legal process that allowed for same-sex marriages to take place and then have the courts declare that the same law was repealed, thus voiding the marriages of many a couple who thought that finally, the law had been updated to reflect ‘modern’ society.
How did we become a society that allows for people to get married and then the next day, tell them their marriage isn’t valid because some people disagree with their rights to be married?

I realise that I am a little behind in my blog this time, but I wanted to collect my thoughts because many people I love are affected by this issue.  Moreover, I wanted to encourage those of you who broke out the champagne and celebrated President Obama’s affirmation to continue keeping the hope alive, but bring out the bubbly when same-sex marriage becomes federal law in the United States.

In the meantime, wishing you all good things!  And cheers to the NOH8 Campaign!

It ain’t just the economy stupid…

Social and print media have been bombarded with images of war and state sponsored terrorism lately.  No more so than images being leaked from Syria and not surprisingly, from Israel and Palestine.  France struggles with electing a new President in the midst of continued economic down turn and America is on the road to deciding once again if change is necessary.  In Canada, we recently celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  Yet, I ask you, how many of you Canadians even knew that our Charter is only 30 years old?  Better yet, how many of you even knew we had one?  Our “culture” is so consumed by Americanisation that it surprises me that many do not know that there is an entire “Charter” that protects fundamental freedoms, like our right to freedom of expression.  While we have miles and miles to go before the Charter is reflective of every walk of life, we have come a very long way since 1982.

Rights activists will no doubt be screaming out that the Charter is lacking in a great many areas, however, compared to living in Syria or Palestine, I think we have things pretty good.  While we could undoubtedly give more recognition to our Aboriginal Peoples and to those who identify through sexual orientation, we are incredulously, among the luckiest people in the world.  Our government has not sponsored its forces to commit terrorism against us. Nor has our government walled us off from friends and family telling us that due to religious beliefs, we have no right to life or no access to water.  Although I am sure that many in Attawapiskat would tell you otherwise, the people of Palestine are facing a struggle so dire that, left unchecked, will result in the most covert, deceitful form of apartheid there is:  civil apartheid.  Human Rights activist and coordinator of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, Frank Barat writes on Al-Jazeera that “we’ve gone way beyond Apartheid.”  That annexation of certain areas of Palestine to Israel is happening on such a civil level that the offer of citizenship to Palestinians in areas being annexed is nothing more than apartheid because it forces the walled in separation of Arabs from Jews.

Check out his article:

We’ve gone way beyond Apartheid

What is more concerning to me is what happens when most Palestinians are walled off from water sources.  Many no longer have access to water wells and sources that once belonged to them through ancestral inheritance of land. Is this the new level on which wars will be fought?  And has this been done deliberately so that each party can turn to the world and say “see? we told you they would….!”

We have become so complacent in our lack of understanding others that there is no longer outcry when Syrian forces kill young students without hesitation.  When people are starved of their rights to provide for themselves and educate themselves, what is left are a people so marred by violence and hatred that even the mundane activity of buying bread can become an event in rage.  Why is it necessary to murder in the name of a man who is so far removed from his own truth that he is creating a nightmare for all those who have the misfortune to be living under his rule?

For a world economy that is so fragile, so based in deceit to repair itself, will take leaders of all nations to come together to recognise the validity and the value of human life.  Even if it takes fifty or one hundred years, the end result will be well worth the effort.  Without the energy and the spirit of human kind, no amount of money will replace the lives, the dignity of all those who have fallen victim to apartheid, genocide, economic disaster, civil strife and war.  Today our lives aren’t just about the economy — they are about the meaning we derive from every moment.  Perhaps one day, Palestine and Syria will have charters akin to Canada’s. Perhaps one day, resources that are part of our environmental commons will be shared between all peoples, regardless of historical ancestry.

Here’s hoping….

 

Stand In Your Truth…

The world in which we live can prove disastrously challenging.  Especially when one is trying to live one’s truth.  What I have learned in the last week is that people will always have a reason for you not to own your truth and allow you to stand within it.  The great gift of this universe is that we do not require the permission of others to be who we were meant to be.

Standing in one’s truth may prove difficult at first; there may be others around you that will belittle you, insult you, envy you, make things difficult for you.  However, there is a greater strength at work here:  you.   As Iyanla Vanzant said many years ago, “a child of God with a made up mind is a powerful thing!”   One does not have to name a deity or believe in a particular religion to have this be true.  One simply needs to identify the truth of his/her own life and live it.   Yes, this can be more difficult than anything you have ever attempted, however, the greater power of you aligned with a universe that is on the same wavelength will conquer the insulters, the enviers, the people who do not believe that you have the right or the power to live your best life.

Whether your truth is being a teacher, a photographer, a writer, a singer, a stay at home parent, acknowledge this.  If your truth is identifying with your sexual orientation or living outside of the culture in which you were raised, acknowledge this.  If your truth is admitting that you have more debt than you know what to do with, acknowledge this.  Once you have the presence of mind to acknowledge your truth, whatever it might be, you will understand in your own life, how to express that truth.  And that expression doesn’t have to be grandiose in nature; one step at one time will lead to a “road less travelled.”

From Marianne Williamson, one of my favourites,  “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure….Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you….And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

May the truth in which you stand light the way in service, in compassion and in the upliftment of people everywhere.

Living Your Truth?

Lately, I have been pointed in the direction of people living their truths and it got me thinking about people who never stopped living their truths.

We can look at people like Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, Princess Diana (to an extent), every Mystic, every Sufi, every change-maker from Galileo to Omar Khayyam and every person who ever had to live under the yoke of oppression, and can conclude that these people never wavered from their own truths.  Or from truths that were presented to them.  Nelson Mandela lived in a jail cell for 27 years and kept hope alive within himself that one day his people, his nation would live freely.  I know many of you will question my choice of the late Princess Diana, however, she really did bring “touch” back to what seemed an untouchable monarchy.  Whatever her legacy, that in itself is an incredible accomplishment. When people live their truths, the universe has no choice but to unfold within those truths.

Conversely, if we look at people like Hosni Mubarak, Muammar Gaddafi, Zine El-Abideen Ben Ali, Hitler, Genghis Khan, can we honestly say they were living their truths?  Or were they living their greatest fears made manifest? And yet the universe seemed to unfold to their wills.  Thus, the greater lesson unfolds:  what you focus on becomes truth. If a fear is made manifest, is it because it has been focused on so much or because the peace-makers/peace-keepers in the midst stepped aside and said “this too shall pass?”

Is Bashar Al-Assad living his truth in Syria or is he living his greatest fear made manifest?  And if he is living his fears, are the people around him living their own fears?  Hitler was a vegetarian but lacked the respect for life when it came to living people of his own species.  Is that relational?  Does one have to do with the other?

Here is the most salient lesson I have learned this week:  When I present myself as I am, it will be enough.

Every where I turn this week…

Life has been “showing up!”

Lessons abound at every turn. One I would like to share with all of you, courtesy of life teacher and great mother, Iyanla Vanzant:

“If you don’t show up with who you are, people fall in love with who you are not.”

Have the courage to be true to who you are and who you were meant to be.  Life will take care of the rest.

Have a blessed week!
♥

 

 

So much goin’ on…

A great deal has happened in our world over this past week; from bus crashes to the hysteria surrounding Joseph Kony, events in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.  The Republican circus in the United States is doing its usual “stuff.”

Last week I addressed the Joseph Kony movement issue and I was really hoping that this would lead to positive change, however, all sides of this issue have not been taken into account.  Adam Branch, senior research fellow at the Makerere Institute for Social Research, Uganda, and assistant political science professor at San Diego State University, California, argues that “The video qualifies as irresponsible advocacy by prompting militarisation and detracting from Uganda’s real problems.”  If you had the time to watch the Kony 2012 video, then please take a moment to watch this video, courtesy of Al-Jazeera.  (another one of my favourite websites!)

Dangerous Ignorance: The hysteria of Joseph Kony 2012

Let us remember that the thousands of child soldiers who were forced to become so, all over Africa deserve to have a voice, and a choice.  Let us not detract from that. Ever.

Recent events in Afghanistan have left me pondering if the world deliberately wants to go crazy and if the US is, not in fact, encouraging it to do so.  I don’t advocate the burning of any book, period, let alone a holy book.  To burn a Quran is to burn the Bible and the Torah.  Whatever your beliefs, burning holy books is a sign of incredulous disrespect.  We must not let the actions of one or two immaturely, irresponsibly stupid people be left to the “sanctions,” of the United States militia.  The resulting slaughter of innocent civilians by staff Sergeant Robert Bales is inexcusable.  I don’t care how many deployments he’s had overseas, that is no excuse to end the lives of innocent civilians! My heart does go out to his family who must be wondering what on earth is going on…

I do have to comment on one thing that is really bothering me though:  that he has been repatriated to the United States.  That “he is one of ours and has to be protected,” is unacceptable.  Yes, I am calling the Change Card here: Let people begin taking responsibility for their actions. If, when in another country, you commit a crime, you are subject to the laws and processes governing that country. Unless, that is, you are American military? Did the men, women and children who were lawlessly gunned-down not deserve protection as well?  What did those children do to so tragically offend Sergeant Bales other than having the unlucky happenstance of being born Afghani?  Bales ought to be returned to Afghanistan and tried in an Afghan court,  under prevailing Sharia Law.  I know that many of you, Westerners, will vehemently disagree, but here’s the rub: (and it bears repeating) if, when in another country, you commit a crime, you are subject to the laws and processes governing that country.   If it’s not okay to smuggle drugs into or out of countries, and if it is illegal to murder, then why is this case not being tried as a multiple murder?   I am absolutely sure that, if the tables were turned and an Afghan military man had done the same on American soil, then been repatriated to his own country, there would be enormous outcry in America, and demands for that person’s return to American soil to be tried in an American court. The American double-standard that applies when it comes to Americans v. Muslims is in itself, inexcusable.  That it is given executive privilege to protect “one of our own,” is utter, inherent, absolute rubbish.

On other notes…

My heart goes out to the families in Belgium that are suffering the losses of their children and teachers/teaching staff who died in the horrible crash in Switzerland.

My heart continues to go out to the people of Syria.  May there be a swift and just end with a positive outcome to your revolution.

To the Republican circus, I have only this to say:  the more some things change…..

Congratulations to some Outstanding Women!

March 8th, 2012 marked the most recent International Women’s Day and I wanted to reach out and congratulate some outstanding women:

Congratulations to: Margret Atwood, Regine Chassagne, Ta’Kaiya Blaney, Jennifer Stoddart, and Clara Hughes!
Each of these women are fighting to bring awareness and insight to preserve literary education, to end the continuity of extreme poverty in Haiti, the protection of environmental lands and resources, the protection of personal privacy and the right to the protection of information, and the championing of surpassing human limitations and speaking out about subjects once considered unspeakable.From one of my favourite websites: http://www.strombo.com:

Women Who Rock

Congratulations to every woman who has ever had to overcome…

Viva La Revolucion??

It often amazes me that we live in such an advanced era and yet millions of people are still struggling in their day-to-day lives.  That an entire revolution could be organised and forged from and through social media is incredible.  That these same revolutionaries live in countries in which most homes do not have computers or keep astride of recent technological breakthroughs is more incredible.

My heart goes out to the people of Syria.  I sincerely hope that Syria can carve a path for itself with a future determined by its people for a Syria of their own choosing.  I also hope that calls for air strikes on Syria are not met with alarming alacrity.  It is my hope that diplomacy takes precedence; where there is still a capacity to save lives, let that be the dominant and overriding belief.

My heart goes out to the children of the Congo, Liberia, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Uganda, who were forced to fight in wars not of their own making.  Forced to flee from their homelands to fight for brutal, barbaric tyrants who force children to kill their own parents, rape their sisters and friends and use rape as a war tool.  This is not to say that these incidents occurred in every one of the countries mentioned here, rather that this is happening, and has been happening because we (the world) chose to ignore this.  Was Rwanda not lesson enough?

There is a movement, organised by the Invisible Children Inc., on to draw out Joseph Kony, barbaric enslaver, brutal tyrannical dictator and coward.  The movement is called Joseph Kony 2012.  Kony is one of the cowards in Uganda waging an incredulous civil war.  He has no purpose for his fighting, other than to enslave thousands of children, turning them into soldiers and sexual slaves.  He has forced children to kill their parents.  He has encouraged rape as a method of war.   While there are many who would disagree with the methods used by Invisible Children Inc., I think this movement is important.  It’s important because we need to realise that no matter where we occupy space on this planet, the point is we occupy that space together. One world. One resource— each other.

Want Change for my World is about creating inspiring change….

and starting with ourselves.

I care about our spiritual development and its lack thereof.  At times, it feels like we are in a spiritual free fall – forgetting the Source.  I want to uplift and inspire.

I also care deeply about developments occurring internationally and I wanted to give voice to those concerns.

With this blog, I hope that through that sharing, we can help each other create the world we desire.  And then desire what we create.

Hello world!

Welcome to my blog!