so.. the fiance is an alumn of baylor. she chose there not because of religion, but because of their great med school. one of her close friends did as well. he however, just got the shock of a lifetime.

he was a happy grad and participating alumn, happily paying his alumni dues and keeping up with the school. for some reason this year, he did not receive his yearly alumni packet as he had for the last decade. so… he inquired as to why….

her friend is a well known person (probably nobody you know) who we will keep anonymous for the time being. the reason he’s well known: he is one of the founders of a gay rights organization and is openly gay.

an the reason he didnt receive his alumni packet this year? baylor condemns his involvement in the gay rights movement, and as such, no longer recognizes him as an alumni.

so.. heres a guy who (outside of being gay) leads a great life… upstanding member of his community… financially well off… was an avid supporter of their med school, and happily continued to donate and contribute to the school. and in return, he is blacklisted for that one single segment of his life.

to say that this is fucking ridiculous is an understatement of mass proportion.

the best part… they dont even try to hide it:

In all disciplinary procedures, Baylor University will seek to be redemptive in the lives of the individuals involved and to witness to the high moral standards of the Christian faith. Baylor will be guided by the understanding that human sexuality is a gift from the creator God and that the purposes of this gift includes (1) the procreation of human life and (2) the uniting and strengthening of the marital bond in self-giving love. These purposes are to be achieved through heterosexual relationships within marriage. Misuses of God’s gift will be understood to include, but not be limited to, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, sexual assault, incest, adultery, fornication and homosexual acts.

treating rape, incest, and even sexual harassment the exact same as being gay?!?!?!

they are a private school, and recieve no tax dollars… so they can say who/what/how they run their university… but its closed minded idiocy like this that stunts our progress as a society.

thankfully for their administration… its still illegal to form lynch mobs or i would be at the front of the line.

im sure everyone may have caught wind of these “tea parties” that have been happening around the country.

ive got a few basic problems here.

this is entirely political. it is being run by republicans, covered in the news by republicans (fox), and promoted by republicans. party affiliation aside however….. why? why are they protesting? as its put by so many of their mouth pieces: “an outcry against big government and taxation”.

big government: so… the fact that this big government was been created over the last 8 years, and not in the last 10 weeks apparently means nothing. god forbid they should actually protest AS the problem is being created.

taxation: WHAT? taxes havent risen a single dime yet…. and unless these tea parties are being held at the local ritz country club or yacht club, i doubt any here will see a single dollar increase in the next 4 years either.

personally, i think this is all a guise. the basis for their protests just flat out dont fit. i think this is more of an issue about a democrat in office.

john stewart summed it up best: its supposed to taste like a shit taco.

and my two cents: QUIT FUCKING CRYING

and now i give you, the greatest clip EVER CREATED:

Tea Bagging

in other words…. these “tea parties” are essentially republicans lashing out. the ultimate case of butt hurt. grow up and get over it. we had to suffer for 8 looooong years… watch a man run rampant on our civil liberties, and watch our country decay and be run into the ground. you can taste the shit taco for a while.

i had a small clash of opinions this morning at the gas station on the way to work. normally, i will do everything in my power to jump right into it, and escalate it to a point that the other person is ready to pull a gun and kill me… but, this guy was extremely elderly and i was tired… so i let it go.

as i was standing behind him in line… i caught about half of his conversation.. one line stuck in my head though as i have heard it over and over again. “july 4th is a time of celebrating our country, its independence, and remembering those soldiers that have died for our country. we still have soldiers in a war… and we cant forget them.”

ok… sure. i agree with some of that. but one part catches me the wrong way. “remembering those soldiers that died for our country”

who in iraq has died for our country? lets make a distinction… the soldiers that died in ww2…. those soldiers died for our country. we were attacked by another country… they fought to defend us all, and gave their lives for it.

with this current war… our soldiers arent dying for us. they are dying for our government. iraq did not attack us. it was the decision of this government to pre-emptively attack them. they arent dying to protect any of us, from anything. they are dying because a group of men in office think they should be there fighting for someone else. if anything… they are dying for iraq.

it doesnt make these men any less honorable… or their loss worth less. but it hardly strikes the patriotic display of emotion when when saying “remember the men that died for iraqi freedom” ………does it?

our country is fucked up. and fucked up badly. this july 4th… remember the true meaning of what it means to be a patriot… stand up… and do something to help fix this shit. even if its just a letter to your congressman… protesting… planned marches… whatever. just decide to DO SOMETHING so this country doesnt slip back into the oppressing state that our forefathers fought so hard to free us from. this country is halfway there now. lets make sure it doesnt get any closer.