Gifts that Give Back 2012

'Twas the night of Thanksgiving,
and all through the town
people were camped out,
for prices marked down. 

"Bah, humbug" you say
to a Friday that's black,
I will shop instead 
for gifts that give back. 

For the Apple fan, a new case
from (Product) RED you can give.
Help Africa fight diseases,
so they can grow strong and live. 

For the cool rock star in your life,
SMS Audio takes the lead.
To help Feeding America
give nutritious meals to those in need.

Young reader who's hooked on her Kindle?
Give her Jessica Park's Flat-Out Love.
With Amazon, you can donate one too.
Through Worldreader, it's easy to do.*

Your bookworm prefers to turn the page?
Better World Books is all the rage.
Each book you buy, they donate one too. 
E-books now included, that's something new!

And speaking of books,
How about a do-gooder's guide?
Try Wendy Smith's Give a Little  
or Pay it Forward by Hyde. 

For guys and gals with laid back style,
Check out the tees by Sevenly.
Each week, brand new shirts help a new cause.
The fit and fabric are heavenly. 

Avoid malls and mayhem.
There's simply no reason.
Give gifts that give back
this holiday season.





*For most of December, Amazon will also donate an e-book for each Amazon Children's Publishing e-book purchased, including Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park.

Waffle Fries With a Side of Bigotry

First let me start by saying Dan Cathy has the right to think and say almost anything. He can claim that the gays and those heathens that support their civil rights are "inviting God's judgement on our nation." We are free to think that Jesus would like nothing better than to bitchslap the stupid out of Mr. Cathy. He is free to give some of his company's profits to whichever organization he chooses. We are free to decide that his company will not be receiving another dollar from us to further fund what we consider hate groups. He and his supporters are free to try and justify their bigotry under the guise of religion and claim they are having their rights violated or are victims of religious persecution when people disagree with them. We are free to call utter bullshit on all the above. He is free to crow about "Biblical marriage" and the Bible's view of homosexuality and I am free to point out what that really means and why it outrages so many of us.

 "Biblical marriage"? I don't think that means what you think it does.
So Dan Cathy is concerned with keeping the Biblical definition of marriage. Does that mean he believes a rapist should be able to pay off his victim's father and take her as his bride (Deut 22:28-29)? The victim could refuse I guess, but then she would be stoned to death because she is unmarried and no longer a virgin (hey it's in the Bible so it must be okay). I'm not sure if this is the "Biblical definition" of marriage Mr. Cathy is speaking about. Perhaps we should wait and see if he decides to donate some money to an organization that supports rapists marrying their victims. Don't worry. If he does support such an organization, he'll still have some supporters in those who are too busy trying to prove Obama's birth certificate is a forgery and a certain Teletubby won't rest until your son is a Judy Garland worshipping homosexual. More likely though, Mr. Cathy is either ignorant about what the Bible says about marriage or hopes that others are so that his bigotry will be mistaken for "Christian values". It worked so well for those who banned interracial marriage on Biblical grounds for so long. They weren't racists. They really wished that an interracial couple could have the same rights as they did, but that pesky little Bible just said differently.

The Slippery Slope- dumb argument or awesome gay bar?
Along with "Biblical (or traditional) marriage" there are two more terms that keep popping up in the great marriage debate, "the gay agenda" and "slippery slope". Now believe it or not, I have actually met a gay or two during my lifetime. I have, however, never been witness to the gay agenda so I can not be certain it even exists. But if it does, I bet it's fucking fabulous and covered in glitter. Damn! I just dropped an f bomb. I bet that got rid of the last of the Christian Coupling Crusaders before I could point out the biggest fallacies in their logic. Oh well. Let's move on to the slippery slope, shall we? I am sure you have all heard the arguments that if we allow gays to marry, then we have to allow polygamy, child brides and marriage between a man and goat. Let's just take the first two right off the table. Because even if allowing one type of marriage was going to signal the okay for polygamy and child brides, it would not be the gay agenda. You want the sister wives and the not even close to legal wives, look no further than the Bible. As for the man/ goat nuptials, seriously. Okay, fine. We let Pete and James profess their love and desire to file a joint return, therefore we have to let Simon marry Mr. Buttons, his goat. Now tell me how exactly this is going to affect your marriage? Did your vows state until "death do us part or the freak next door marries a goat"? If so, I am sorry for the impending implosion of your marriage. Here's where my concern over such a union begins and ends "What the fuck do you buy a goat for a wedding gift?".

But all kidding aside, here is where the real danger in letting the Bible's view on homosexuality dictate our laws comes into play. You know that Bible verse certain Christians like to spout off regarding homosexuality being an abomination? Do you know what it states the punishment for such behavior should be? Stoning to death. That's right. Kill the gays. Think that's a slippery slope? It really isn't. You see, they are already trying to pass such a bill in Uganda. And David Bahati and Martin Ssempa who are behind such legislation have been linked to American pastors and politicians, the same politicians and pastors who speak about the horrors of gay marriage. and how does David Bahati justify such a law in the first place? The Bible, of course. Also active in the anti-gay fervor in Uganda is an organization called Exodus International, a group that Chick-Fil-A donated to. So it seems that to many denying the right to same sex unions is just the first step. A little toe dip in the pool to get people comfortable before they spring the next Bible-based violation of civil rights on them.

 Now I know that some of you may not feel comfortable hearing all of this. Some of you may even think to yourselves that the notion that gays should have the same right to marry as heterosexuals is misguided, deluded, ungodly, etc. Right or wrong- you have every right to think it. Just like Dan Cathy, you have a right to your opinion and a right to voice that opinion. And- right or wrong- we have the right to think that the belief that religion gives you the right to deny another person of their rights because of their sexual orientation is unintelligent and bigoted.