June 20, 2008
This holier-than-thou “Christian” should make up his mind: Is he a doctor or a preacher?
From WOODTV:
Same-sex couple claims discrimination at doctor’s office
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — [Ashleigh Haberman and Erica Schaub] went to the doctor’s office for an exam, but [the] same-sex couple said they got a lecture on lifestyle instead. …
The discussion took place at Spectrum Health South Pavilion Urgent Care Center in Grand Rapids. Schaub was there to get checked out for a lingering cold.
But instead of her symptoms, they say the doctor was more interested in the couple’s relationship and how they felt about the recent California ruling allowing same-sex marriage.
“And he proceeded to give his opinion on how he felt that marriage, gay marriage, shouldn’t be called a marriage because it’s a religious based word, and he’s a Christian, and there’s no way that marriage could be considered legal in the gay sense,” said Haberman.
While the couple’s [Canadian] marriage is not legally recognized in Michigan, they say that’s not the point, rather, the doctor’s office is not the time nor place for a debate. They were there for an exam — not a lecture on lifestyle. …
The couple said they want the doctor in this case to be reprimanded — not for his views — but for choosing to bring up such a personal issue in a professional setting. …
Spectrum Health says it’s investigating the affront.
Posted by: Sapphocrat
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Christianity,
Health & Wellness,
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Michigan,
Radical Religious Right
June 18, 2008
Shameful:
Muslims barred from picture at Obama event
Two Muslim women at Barack Obama’s rally in Detroit Monday were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women’s headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate.
The campaign has apologized to the women, both Obama supporters who said they felt betrayed by their treatment at the rally.
“This is of course not the policy of the campaign. It is offensive and counter to Obama’s commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. “We sincerely apologize for the behavior of these volunteers.”
Building a human backdrop to a political candidate, a set of faces to appear on television and in photographs, is always a delicate exercise in demographics and political correctness. Advance staffers typically pick supporters out of a crowd to reflect the candidate’s message.
When Obama won North Carolina amid questions about his ability to connect with white voters, for instance, he stood in front of a group of middle-aged white women waving small American flags. On the Republican side, a Hispanic New Hampshire Democrat, Roberto Fuentes, told Politico that he was recently asked, and declined, to contribute to the “diversity” of the crowd behind Sen. John McCain at a Nashua event.
But for Obama, the old-fashioned image-making contrasts with his promise to transcend identity politics and to embrace all elements of America. The incidents in Michigan, which has one of the largest Arab and Muslim populations in the country, also raise an aspect of his campaign that sometimes rubs Muslims the wrong way: The candidate has vigorously denied a false, viral rumor that he himself is Muslim. But the denials seem to some at times to imply that there is something wrong with the faith, though Obama occasionally adds that he means no disrespect to Islam.
“I was coming to support him, and I felt like I was discriminated against by the very person who was supposed to be bringing this change, who I could really relate to,” said Hebba Aref, a 25-year-old lawyer who lives in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills. “The message that I thought was delivered to us was that they do not want him associated with Muslims or Muslim supporters.”
In Detroit on Monday, the two different Obama volunteers — in separate incidents — made it clear that headscarves wouldn’t be in the picture. The volunteers gave different explanations for excluding the hijabs, one bluntly political and the other less clear.
In Aref’s case, there was no ambiguity. …
Good for Camp O with the quick apology — but you’ve got to wonder what drives some of these volunteers; aren’t they required to, er, graduate from Camp Obama Basic Training or anything before being given this kind of (ir)responsibility? If not, why not? And if so, are they not getting the message — or is there something wrong with the message itself?
In any case, that’s some Unity Pony they got goin’ there.
Posted by: Sapphocrat
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Barack Obama,
Election 2008,
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Random Stupidity
April 11, 2008
The short version: A 22-year-old Tennessean named Steven Scarborough beat 62-year-old Victor Manious to death with a baseball bat, then, with his friend Justin Robinson, stuffed Manious — still alive — in the trunk of Manious’ car, and left Manious to die while parked on a city street.
Scarborough’s defense: Perp and victim scuffled, Manious knocked out Scarborough, and when Scarborough came to, he discovered Manious “sexually assaulting” him. So he killed him.
Like we haven’t heard that one before.
And then, of course, because he was ever-so-remorseful (do we need to use a “sarcasm” emoticon here?), Scarborough used his victim’s credit cards and took a flight to Texas.
Scarborough was charged with felony murder and faced mandatory life in prison without parole. The verdict — from a jury whose brains must be lodged permanently up their asses — was voluntary manslaughter.
The maximum prison sentence for voluntary manslaughter is 15 years.
As if it couldn’t get any worse, the jury actually considered acquitting Scarborough.
Are there not twelve sane people in Grand Rapids? If so, not a one was on that jury.
More details — read ‘em and weep:
Upon hearing the verdict, Scarborough hugged his lawyer, Paul Denenfeld, and smiled. His mother, Veronica Hand, in court with her husband, Michael, wept.
Grand Rapids Police Detective Kristen Rogers, who interviewed Scarborough once he was apprehended, put her head in her hands.
Kent County Assistant Prosecutor Helen Brinkman said she would tell the Manious family she did her best. …
About two hours earlier before the verdict was reached, jurors had asked for information regarding acquittal. …
After the verdict Scarborough’s stepfather, Michael Hand, said, “I’m just sorry any of this happened.”
Though Manious was still alive, Scarborough and Robinson then dumped him into the trunk of his own car, after which Scarborough drove Manious’ car to an isolated spot with Robinson accompanying him in another vehicle. Scarborough then joined Robnson, and the two drove away, leaving Manious trapped in the trunk, where he died. …
It is the defense’s contention that throwing Manious into the car trunk and then abandoning him, plus Scarborough’s fleeing to a Texas town, were at the suggestion of Robinson, whom the defense have characterized as more a “mastermind” in the events than Scarborough.
It was Robinson who then tipped off police, saying that he had noticed a man’s name on a credit card that Scarborough subsequently used for a shopping spree. Robinson reportedly claimed that he became suspicious because Scarborough had told him that the card belonged to a girlfriend. …
The incident took place last July; the trial commenced two weeks ago, and in that time, the family of the slain businessman and church leader, who was 62, have heard what they consider to be incredible stories of Manious’ so-called gay double life. …
Soheir Manious’ brother, John Fahd, also shook off allegations that Manious, an immigrant from Egypt who arrived in the U.S. thirty years ago, was leading a double life, noting that the slain man was a church leader for local Coptic Christians. …
Helen Brinkman, the assistant prosecutor for Kent County, told the jury that luring gay men to their apartment and then robbing them was a modus operandi for Scarborough and Robinson. Brinkman’s sequence of events portrayed the two as selecting Manious as their next victim based on their perception that he was foreign and wealthy. …
“A really arduous process. It was tough,” [one of the jurors] said of the deliberations. “The major focus was on the possibility of a sexual assault” of Scarborough on Manious.
He added such an assault was never proved or disproved.
“…if he (Scarborough) felt he was being violated, he was someone in an emotional state. He just lost it, overreached in the amount of force he used in reacting to sexual abuse. A lot of us said, ‘If it were us, what would we have done?’ I feel relief we reached a decision even though in the beginning I thought there could have been a more severe verdict. In the end, we came up with the best we could. I feel just awful for Victor’s family.” …
So you take the word of a confessed murderer, and decide that maybe, just maybe, if it happened the way this scumbag says it did, that makes it OK to bludgeon another human being to death?
The jury is as sick as the killer. May the lot of them lose sleep every night for the rest of their lives over their unforgivable decision.
The only thing that got raped in this case was justice.
Posted by: Sapphocrat
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Crime,
Down-Low/MSM,
Hate Crimes,
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Michigan
September 25, 2007
Company Refuses To Insure Church Over Denomination’s Support For Gay Marriage
(Adrian, Michigan) A company that specializes in church insurance has refused to provide coverage to a United Church of Christ congregation over the denomination’s support for same-sex marriage.
The UCC said that West Adrian United Church of Christ was told that its gay-affirming stances made it a “higher risk” for property and liability insurance.
“Our company’s decision to not submit a quote to your organization arose out of information that was supplied in a supplemental application, indicating that your organization ‘publicly endorses or practices the marriage of same-sex couples’ and ‘publicly endorses or practices the ordination of the homosexual clergy,’” Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company, based in Fort Wayne, Indiana said in a letter to the church.
“[Brotherhood Mutual has] an obligation to serve as stewards of our policyholder’s funds, and to avoid knowingly insuring organizations that are at higher risk of loss based on the controversial positions that they have taken,” the letter, signed by Marci J. Fretz, a regional underwriter for the company, said.
Founded in 1917, Brotherhood Mutual, bills itself as one of the nation’s leading insurers of churches and related ministries. It provides insurance to 30,000 congregations in 29 states and the District of Columbia.
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United States
