School Shooting Survivors Demand Tougher Gun LawsSchool Shooting Survivors Demand Tougher Gun Laws

For many years I played the role of a victim. For a decade I coped by hiding in the closet. Then I tentatively started to come out to a few people, but I still was afraid and lacked self-confidence. I avoided any risk so I compromised my career and avoided any situation that might be a threat. I lived life on the fringes - not really engaged.

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Twenty Years Later: the Life and Legacy of Matthew Wayne ShepardTwenty Years Later: the Life and Legacy of Matthew Wayne Shepard

Considering all of the anti-LGBT rhetoric that has come out of Washington the past 18 months, it was inspiring to watch the memorial service at the National Cathedral today. Most of the music was surprisingly old-fashioned and simple until the end when the extended mournful melodies carried on too long. Bishop Gene Robinson gave a short, informal homily that was moving but not maudlin. I was surprised that he got a standing ovation in the middle of a worship service.

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Church and StateChurch and State

In many aspects the double speak of George Orwell’s 1984 book has arrived, but none is more flagrant than the actions of the U.S Department of Justice. Our founding fathers wanted to preserve our nation from the religious wars that dominated Europe for centuries and so proclaimed “freedom of religion” in the U.S. Bill of Rights. In reality, they proclaimed a “freedom from religion,” i.e. a state-imposed religion that required everyone to not only accept that religion but also to pay taxes to support it. That is still the case in some European nations.

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