Prop 8

I say this to those who continue to fight against the human and civil rights of homosexual people under any rationalization or righteous religious banner. You are bigots and liars.

I am tired of hearing the public pronouncements by homophobic ministers, priests, judges and legislators that they are not anti-gay. Anyone...yes, anyone...who supports depriving gay people of marriage and/or any other civil rights is an anti-gay bigot. And, if he/she then states that he/she does not dislike gay people he/she is a liar. Are we all clear on this now?

Fundamentalism

I am a fundamentalist.

I believe in the fundamental physicality of the human condition.

I believe we are mammals, animals.

I believe we have basic physical needs for and rights to nutrition, safe housing, cleanliness, sex, love, acceptance, community.

I believe it is right to love one another, to promote peace and to share what we have with each other.

I believe it is wrong to intentionally harm, to kill, to rape, to steal and to promote disharmony by selfishly ignoring the needs of one another in a shared society.

I am a fundamentalist. What are you?

Intelligence

The human brain has propelled the evolution of our species. The natural selection which led to the development of the frontal lobe has, in some ways, jettisoned our species out of the non-human evolutionary sphere of the planet. I see our species as out of sync with the evolution of other species, which do not have the capability of synthesizing their own environments and their own DNA. Perhaps evolution itself is evolving.

The implications for humans and the planet are becoming glaringly evident, as polar ice caps melt, flooding increases, the quality of the food supply deteriorates and potable water resources become more precious. While many Green advocates focus backward at the swath of environmental destruction our species has left behind, others wisely look to the future. The truly intelligent of our species consider mobilizing our frontal lobes to place us in sync with the planet's natural environment and attributes. Renewable energy, low-carbon footprints, reproductive education, local food production, biological diversity management. These all make sense and provide a hopeful alternative to the impending train wreck of fossil fuel dependency, real estate profiteering, overpopulation and natural-resource exploitation.

The intellectuals in colleges and universities worldwide have been slow to understand their role in all this. Still clinging to traditional academic hierarchies and bureaucracies, based in arcane competition and publishing showmanship, they have seemingly been incapable of mobilizing their considerable resources to focus on the crucial, real issues facing the planet. Instead, they have focused on the politics of change, rather than change itself. In the U.S., this is understandable, since the funding mechanisms of higher education are highly politicized and capitalized.

So, as our species gapes at its self-induced environmental threats, our public preparatory educational systems are at a low point. The price of higher education is excluding many inventive and innovative minds from campuses. The increasingly undereducated, uninformed and mass-media-mesmerized populace rallies against raising taxes, quality testing and detaching student loans from gouging private banks. Those of academic provenance and privilege, who largely populate and control the influential academic environments, climb a few flights higher in their ivory towers for better views of multi-billion-dollar sports complexes and entertainment venues, where they play chess with star athletes and toe-tap to celebrity performers.

I see publicly funded education as a basic human right and a basic human responsibility of those who have children and the whole society. And, I think it is imperative that publicly funded education includes the highest levels of education available in a society. An intelligent society should provide unlimited, quality education to those who qualify for it. An intelligent society should understand that providing this would yield those with the ideas and skills to save the human species from its own follies.

Lifestyle

The word "choice" has become imbued with connotations of individualism by its constant use in reference to reproductive rights of women. However, I see choice as the key element of humanist practice, or humanist lifestyle.

"Paper or plastic?" This question, slowly becoming obsolete with the advent of pay-per-bag policies in food stores, is a good example of choice in a materialistic, consumer-driven society. It is a trick question for the humanist, in my opinion. The mindful humanist answer would be "Neither, I have my canvas bag, thank you." This mindful, practical humanist would have made the choice to bring his reusable bag, in other words. And, if he forgets to make that choice, he could choose either option as long as he recycles whichever bag he chooses. In other words, all choices aren't necessarily polar, dichotomous or rigid.

These minor daily lifestyle choices comprise what I call my humanist practice. I have been inspired to make the connection between lifestyle and practice after being accused recently on several occasions of incorrectly using the term "humanist" in reference to these lifestyle choices. The accusers were quite obviously offended by my use of the word "practice". Inferences were made that I might well be a closeted Catholic or Buddhist. In other words, choosing an ethical lifestyle and associating it with my sense of humanism apparently offended them as self-identified Humanists, with the capital H.

Living in any closet or behind any banner is alien to me. At first, these challenges confused me. After all, I hadn't prescribed my particular humanist lifestyle for these Humanists. I did choose to tell them what my humanist lifestyle entails. I did sit and hoped to hear what their Humanist lifestyles entail. I am still listening, but, frankly, I haven't heard much from these particular Humanists about their Humanist choices in daily life.

So, I wonder, is the new Humanism just another coffee-social opportunity for those who wish to gingerly approach humanist action for the betterment of the species and the planet, as long as it is not inconvenient or costly? After all, that is also a choice of lifestyle. Any movement ultimately reflects those who shape it and maintain it. Humanism, as a growing social, ethical movement, will reflect the choices and lifestyles/practices of those who support it.

For my part, as someone who has consciously tried to live a personal humanism in work and relationships throughout my adult life, participation in the activities of the current Humanist movement is simply an extension of my humanist lifestyle. However, I am beginning to question whether many in the new Humanist movement are simply joining another club for networking or social gratification without making a personal, daily commitment to advocating for and working for the ideals of universal human rights, universal human education, universal human health care, universal human economic justice.

Yes, my ideals are lofty. If ideals aren't lofty, then what's the point of having them? I am an older man with a lot of mileage and wear. But, I cannot see the worth of any ethical movement in the current world we humans have made which does not actively address the growing problems and inequities which will develop with ecological deterioration and overpopulation, caused by the human species.

This activism begins with individual, moment-by-moment commitment to mindful, just and compassionate choice. I call this my humanist practice, or my humanist lifestyle, if you wish. What do you call the process of your daily choices?

Competition

At the heart of Reaganism lies the enshrined myth of the powers of competition in free markets. Unfortunately, truly free markets do not and cannot exist in human society which aspires to honor the rights and dignity of all human beings. Human beings are not and do not behave as commodities in a post-slavery world.

While we do live in a society in the U.S. where people profit from aging, sickness and death, we are seeing the failure of that profiteering in the health care system. The majority of the American electorate acknowledge that this is a serious problem. They also demonstrate with polling that they have no idea what to do about it. This is the cognitive dissonance of Reaganism as it has been sold by Neo-con minions.

Corporate welfare has blossomed since the Reagan era. Multinationals are becoming the welfare mothers of the new millennium. The truly poor and the newly poor, once seen as the working or lower middle class, are dependent on ongoing funding bills in Congress to secure unemployment benefits, which are necessitated by the financial mismanagement and downsizing greed of corporations, whose bail-outs were swiftly paid out.

The relentless brain-washing of the populace by Murdoch media since the Reagan era has duped the general public in the U.S. into equating socialism with Nazi-ism. Meanwhile, Murdoch and his cronies are collecting billions in subsidies and tax exemptions. They are laughing all the way to their bailed-out banks. They are dancing at their own elegant tea parties, while funding uninformed malcontents to disrupt the people's business.

The myth of free markets often merges with the myth of competitive sports in pop culture. And, like the financial markets, competitive sports are a corrupted version of the ideals of team play. Drug-enhanced athletes lie in front of Congress with relative impunity. Sports venues are over-priced gladiatorial displays which represent big money and big profits, not fair play.

Why does all this sound so familiar? Well, human history has a way of cycling because human beings are generally averse to change. And, there isn't a quick fix for that problem as long as universal human rights and universal human education are seen as impractical, lofty ideals. Fighting for those ideals is not a free market principle. There is little profit in it.

Dying

Craig Ewert died in Switzerland in 2006 by his own intentional plan. He was helped by two men, working with the Swiss organization, Dignitas. His devoted wife sat with him, massaged his feet and gently wished him a "safe journey'.

If you have not seen this week's PBS-Frontline presentation, "Suicide Tourist", watch it on line. The Ewerts will tell you everything you need to know about assisted suicide. My gratitude to them is profound. As a humanist, as a human being, as a nurse, I see them as courageous and highly admirable.

You may also watch "Right to Die?", the original documentary, in five parts on youtube.

Valentine

 "The first representation of Saint Valentine appeared in the Nuremberg Chronicle, (1493); alongside the woodcut portrait of Valentine the text states that he was a Roman priest martyred during the reign of Claudius II, known as Claudius Gothicus. He was arrested and imprisoned upon being caught marrying Christian couples and otherwise aiding Christians who were at the time being persecuted by Claudius in Rome. Helping Christians at this time was considered a crime. Claudius took a liking to this prisoner -- until Valentinus tried to convert the Emperor -- whereupon this priest was condemned to death. He was beaten with clubs and stoned; when that didn't finish him, he was beheaded outside the Flaminian Gate. Various dates are given for the martyrdom or martyrdoms: 269, 270, or 273.[8]"...Quoted from Wikipedia Entry on St. Valentine.

Now let's get this straight, so to speak. One plausible real person, made patron saint of St. Valentine's Day, the most mainstream holiday of romance and marriage in the Christian world, was a Christian priest martyred for marrying (political) minority couples by an intolerant (polytheistic) state? Well now, I guess we can all take a lesson from that, can't we?

Detours

As a pacifist and gay man, I find the focus of today's GLBT political community and the press on Don't-Ask-Don't-Tell (DADT) less than inspiring. While I understand the political importance of the issue to some, I dispute its merit as a major focus of the GLBT movement. The premise appears to be that being a soldier somehow makes a person, despite his/her sexual orientation, a more qualified or more respectable citizen. This is an unconstitutional premise in America.

As a political movement, we rejected that premise resoundingly during the Gay Liberation Movement which existed quite healthily before being decimated by HIV. While many in the community of the late 1970s and early 1980s supported the personal struggle of Leonard Matlovich and others who were mistreated by the military, it was not a major focus of the movement. The main focus of the movement was to achieve direct and unqualified acceptance of all people under the law as equal in all rights of citizenship. Period.

DADT follows gay marriage as a wedge issue in Washington and in the media. The current GLBT leadership, Neo-Liberal at its best and Log Cabin at its worst, wants to make GLBT people 'just like straight people' under the law. This furthers the dichotomy of gay-vs-straight. It does not cut through the dichotomy to the core issue, universal human rights under the law. And, one of those universal human rights is the right to not be forced to kill or aid in the killing of another human being. As long as armies exist, so will conscription in one form or another.

The foundation of the modern GLBT movement rested on the peace movements of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Previous gay rights' organizations did not reach all classes and all segments of American society. They were primarily middle-to-upper-middle-class, intellectual organizations. The Stonewall Riot changed that, thanks to the courageous drag queens and working-class gay men who finally stood up to corrupt police oppression. Demonstration for equal human rights got the GLBT movement where it is today. Not back door legislation and political bargaining.

While I praise and support the GLBT people who strive for their rights in any way, I do not necessarily approve of their techniques. I would not approve of aggressive violence, for example. I do not approve of lobbying our way to freedom in a way that makes us look manipulative and aligned with everything that is wrong with government in the U.S., as it now operates.

I am also quite disgusted by the media's coverage of both the gay marriage and DADT issues. For example, today on NPR, I was presented with a back-and-forth discussion of the DADT issue by military-affiliated personnel, who freely spoke of GLBT people as though they were a different, non-human species. If the word "Jew" or "Black" or "Woman" were substituted in any of the statements made, there would have been enraged howls from all corners. Yet, the interviewers and presenters carried on with an air of everyday indifference.

DADT will not achieve universal human rights. Gay marriage will not achieve universal human rights. These battles, if won, will simply lessen the potency of the gay-straight dichotomy. And, in my opinion as a gay man and humanist, that simply isn't enough.

Rights

Human rights. Equal rights. Do we really all agree on what these terms mean?

As a gay man, I have a fairly clear understanding of 'unequal rights' from personal experiences in the workplace, my neighborhood and my business dealings.

Universal human rights imply equality for all human beings without qualification. But what are these universal human rights?

The United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, passed in 1948, includes the following articles:

Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4.
No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5.
No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6.
Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

Article 7.
All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 8.
Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

Article 9.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.

Article 10.
Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

Article 11.
(1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
(2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

Article 12.
No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

Article 13.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.
(2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

Article 14.
(1) Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
(2) This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 15.
(1) Everyone has the right to a nationality.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.

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.

Article 17.
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.
(2) No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Article 18.
Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 19.
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20.
(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
(2) No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21.
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.
(3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

Article 22.
Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

Article 23.
(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24.
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

Article 26.
(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Article 27.
(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.
(2) Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author.

Article 28.
Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

Article 29.
(1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.
(2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.
(3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

Article 30.
Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

This declaration was signed over 60 years ago by 48 member nations of the United Nations with the exception of 8 abstaining nations. So, where have we come in that six decades in the area of human rights? What are the impediments to the actualization of universal human rights?

Religious fundamentalism, exploitative nationalism, totalitarianism, fascistic capitalism...all movements that exploit ignorance, racism, sexism, economic disparity and slavery...impede the actualization of universal human rights. How does your behavior impede the actualization of universal human rights? What systems...social, political, religious, or economic...do you passively or actively support? What do those systems do for the promotion of universal human rights?

I know I am most likely asking these questions of people who are already invested in doing whatever they can do to actualize universal human rights. But, I strongly believe that a certain amount of time should be spent regularly assessing these questions in my own life. Then, I believe it is my responsibility to do whatever I can do to adjust my behavior accordingly.

March

Tomorrow, October 11, 2009, may herald the reawakening of the national homosexual community in the U.S., after a long, exhausted slumber, caused by epidemic and the active Republican oppression, internal and external, of the last decade. Grass roots organizations have rallied, despite active discouragement by gay lobbyists, politicians and bureaucrats. Buses will roll down highways. Jet travelers will fill D.C. hotels. The tide of real, not virtual, community will come in to face the white marble indifference of the nation's capital in the name of universal human rights, guaranteed by federal law.

Notably, Barney Frank, U.S. Representative from Massachusetts, who is a homosexual man with a rather checkered past of his own, has posed as Pope of Gay Politics and issued a dictum that these young, energized people should stay home. Now, this is indeed surprising, especially in light of Mr. Frank's well publicized and one-time scandalous predeliction for young men. One would think he would be mingling happily among the marchers.

There have been other reactionary shouts against the Equality March from lobbyists and professional gay politicos. Is there really any question about their motivation? Gay rights and marriage rights, like AIDS services, have become a GLBT minority business with its own guilds and mafia-like gangs. Professional homosexuals are making their living in the nation's capital and in state capitals in the pursuit of 'equality for all'. Rather prosperous livings in some cases.

While I applaud the dedication of those who are selflessly pursuing a vocation in the name of universal freedoms and protections, I also need to remind the GLBT community that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Pop-culture heroes, the likes of Dan Savage and Andrew Sullivan, are very influential in shaping public opinion. However, few celebrities can resist the corruption of principles that occurs when money and fame become major motivators.

So, to you young and energetic marchers, I say, have a blast. Strut your stuff. And, pay little heed to the men behind the curtain of political respectability. You must meet in groups and bond to create a new vital human-rights movement. It is, after all, the American Way.

Politicians

The recent death of Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts gave the awake observer some tremendous insights into politics, government as we know it, and politicians. The mindful and truthful have been testifying against politics, government and politicians since these phenomena were invented. And King Solomon would again shake his head and shrug if he were alive today. Nothing new under the Sun.

At a time when politicians in the majority are taking bribes (they call these 'campaign contributions') from the private health insurance industry to keep the American people slaves to premiums which support a Byzantine insurance bureaucracy, we have heard somber, solemn and totally hypocritical eulogies about the one Senator in Congress who has consistently supported universal health care with no buts or ifs.

'That's the way our system works, ' I have heard them say in defense of their hypocrisy and corruption. They speak of the interests of corporations as though they were of equal moral and ethical merit as the interests of the population, The People. This is not only lying. It is unconstitutional. We are supposed to be a democracy of the people, by the people and for the people. Corporations are not people. CEOs and lobbyists are people, but they are an infinitesimal minority of the people. Why are their interests being held above those of all the people?

Most troubling to me is the lack of counterpoint coming from the Kennedys themselves. In order to provide themselves the glory of a state funeral, it appeared, they have allowed the most despicable celebrities of the political class to jump on the funeral publicity train. The very people who have plotted to defeat the central pillar of Edward Kennedy's career, universal health care, rushed to fill well positioned church pews in Boston.

Death is not negotiable. It has no nuance. It is not debatable. It has no Right or Left. And neither does Truth.

If Americans could grasp and internalize their mortality, stripped of all the opiates of religion, plastic surgery, hormone enhancement, and television, perhaps they would demand Truth from their politicians. Perhaps they would demand that a Truthful legacy be granted to honor a man of the caliber of Senator Kennedy. Perhaps they would demand basic human rights, like health care, for all Americans and all the people in the world.

Inauguration

My heart swells for joy at the realization of Martin Luther King's dream. My eyes bear the tears of one whose full humanity has yet to be recognized by his nation.

Proposition 8

The narrow success of Proposition 8 in California must be a great blow to those LGBT people who look to the heterosexual culture for approval. It is also a blow to those LGBT people who expect normal civil rights. It is a hostile denial of those human rights by heterosexuals who still need to think they are superior to someone....anyone. The large support for Proposition 8 in the African-American and Latino-American communities of Southern California has been seen by some analysts as the tipping point for the success of the proposition. The timing is so unfortunate, when many LGBT people enthusiastically helped elect Barack Obama president.

While individuals cannot change the disappointing outcome of such a test of humanity in the polls, individual LGBT people and those who support them can adopt a practice of unwavering out-ness and unwavering vocal support for LGBT civil rights. This is the best way to educate those insecure people who are ignorant of the common humanity they share with LGBT people. They may eventually be taught that denying the humanity of any human being lessens their own humanity.

Meanwhile, I encourage my LGBT brothers and sisters to live in strengthened solidarity and community. We need to stop allowing this wedge issue of heterosexual approval to wedge us apart. We need to be aware of each other in the public space. We need to acknowledge each other and be open to each other in the public space. By showing those frightened by us that we are among them and are social human beings, we can also educate. Wear a gay button on your jacket. Wear a rainbow. Put your arm on your friend's or partner's or spouse's shoulder. Smile at other LGBT people when you see them. Just smile. Let us make the world as friendly as we can for each other. It's the least we can do while we wait for the world to join us in our happiness with who we are.

Equality

Equality as a human right begins in the mind of the individual.

Getting married does not make a gay man equal. Adopting a child does not make a lesbian equal. Going to Harvard does not make a black man equal. Running for President does not make a woman equal.

These are simply the outward signs of equality according to human law and convention.

I made myself equal in my own mind and heart when I revolted against a violent and domineering family. I was twenty at the time. It was the beginning of my adulthood and the beginning of my individual practice of personal evolution. I said "No!" to violence, insults and constant attempts to control my life by my parents. Until then, I was depressed, confused and impotent, just the way my family liked me to be.

No amount of mimicking or sincerely imitating an oppressor will give you your own equality and subsequent freedom. This has been the mistake of many conservative political movements for change in the status of minorities. The wealthy heterosexual elite in American society derive great pleasure from these attempts at being like them. But they will not surrender their power and oppression without fear of the consequences of not surrendering those evils. They fear one thing: Loss of money, whether it be in the form of personal property, corporate assets, political power or social power.

The only protection of human rights is constant protest of their abuse in the face of the abusers, those in power. The human rights of all will not be assured until the weakest among us are protected from violence, oppression and poverty. The core of that protest is each individual person's actualization of his/her personal equality. That begins with saying "No!" to those in one's life who hurt, oppress and impoverish.

Evil

Evil is not a vague, abstract, simple moralistic concept. Evil is violence. Evil is mindless hatred. Evil is the decision in any moment to deliberately harm another being. On May 27, Russian police and skinheads chose to be evil by violently attacking peaceful gay/lesbian Russians who were attempting to hold a gay-pride march in Moscow. Marchers were ruthlessly beaten and arrested. The current Pope, a former Nazi supporter, has been in Poland all week. He has been promoting the continuation of his predecessor's evil in that country, where the government has also oppressed free expression by gay/lesbian people in the city of Krakow. Evil is the perversion of laws and democracy to propagate war and the massacre of poor desperate youngsters who seek security by selling their lives to the military establishment. Evil is pretending to be compassionate toward illegal immigrants when, in fact, they are being exploited as the cheapest possible labor by a wealthy and greedy society. Evil is not an abstract concept at all. My practice entails struggling with evil in my life from moment to moment.