Desmond Rutherford

The parroting purveyors of pious propaganda cannot claim that they weren’t warned; that if they continued to oppress reality their religious view would be openly challenged until becoming obvious that theirs is an insanity based on completely uncorroborated myths. It can hardly be denied that human beings want, even need, something to believe in, but must that be delusional? Couldn’t it be as real as life itself; something that fills the void in the human spirit and yet we overlook it because it is so obvious that we continually miss its reality…the fact which makes us alive, makes life worth living, and creates life?

Taking down the bullies has to start with taking down those who empower the bullying. That’s not the onlookers, who are victims of their conditioning too, nor only the schools. Indeed, bullying is empowered by every institution that seeks to limit an individual’s ability to say, “No, I won’t be limited, I want the freedom to be me. I do not want to be what you want, but whoever it is that I can be, with all the good I might achieve. Now, teach me, provide me with the means to let me become all that I can be, or get out of my way.”

Easter can be seen as the symbolic crucifixion of love, with the spirit of compassion awaiting the resurrection of love in every human. Wherever loving companions create it, love wants to be recognized, proclaimed and honored, regardless of race, or of the sexuality of the consenting couples.

You can hold all the traditional values you want, but nothing will make those values rational, sane or relevant to reality, if they have been born of superstition. Sadly, in the eyes of the religious conformists, it seems that rational values are non-traditional. The upsurge in violence and intimidation against LGBTQ people and other minorities is not just physical, it is soul destroying.

LGBTQ people only desire to realize their right to love each other, not impose it on others. Don't fool yourself, the mob rule of democracy will shift the discussion to a determination of what marriage means for the majority, rather than the protection of minority rights by judicial rule of law. This protection is inherent in the U.S. Constitution, but many religious followers do not understand this, or even when they do, they do not value it or accept it.

There has been so much effort put into overcoming the religious authoritarian control over human societies and individuals. ... Our achievements towards the freedom to live our lives in natural harmony with each other, without being persecuted for whom we love or wish to marry, is threatened in many cultures, by ignorance...

I have found that nothing melts resistance to homosexuality faster than just showing that you are as human as anyone else. Strangely enough, effeminacy, sensitivity, “camp” or “affectedness,” as my grandmother called it, are not indicative of homosexual men...

What is it that makes prudes so mad about sex, especially about people enjoying sex? Why do so many think they have the right to define the limits of other people's consensual sexual activities?

The promise, the vision, the dream of America cannot survive under the conservative and Republican efforts to make the future resemble what they think the past was, and neither can the rest of the human race. We are a global community now, even if we do have diverse cultural values, and we will all survive or suffer together.

Carol's son, her illegitimate son, was in a relationship with another boy. She told herself it didn’t matter. She was almost not surprised. After all she had been through, what else could go wrong for her? It was eighteen years ago that her boyfriend had gotten her pregnant and then left her; left her alone to fend for herself.

Carol's son, her illegitimate son, was in a relationship with another boy. She told herself it didn’t matter. She was almost not surprised. After all she had been through, what else could go wrong for her? It was eighteen years ago that her boyfriend had gotten her pregnant and then left her; left her alone to fend for herself.

To live through horror, persecution and deprivation is not unknown to many peoples; indeed, LGBTQ people seem to be rather adept at learning how to survive in a hostile world. And it's not merely a matter of what we survive making us stronger, it's a matter of daring to live and love in the face of adversity...

The Occupy Wall Street protests have spread to other countries. This shows, in no small way, that what happens in America doesn't necessarily stay in America.

Let “freedom to live, love and be happy” be more than just a slogan in the passing of our times. Let it not be our epitaph, but our non-violent resistance to freedom being denied to us all.

No one should be bullied to death; that is a cruel, vicious waste of life. No one should ever die feeling unloved; that is a human and universal tragedy. Everyone should have the freedom to love, and be loved. That is the greatest thing we will ever learn.