Showing posts with label Anderson Cooper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anderson Cooper. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Oct. 12, 2016 - Trump backers go after Anderson Cooper with homophobic posts
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Saturday, September 3, 2016
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Saturday, January 2, 2016
Thursday, June 12, 2014
CNN's Anderson Cooper vs. Texas state rep and "gay cure" therapy
Thursday, March 13, 2014
March 13, 2014 - A Day at a Time
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Reflection for the Day
All my life, I looked to others for comfort, security and all the other things that add up to what I now call serenity. But I've come to realize that I was always looking in the wrong place. The source of serenity is not outside, but within myself. The kingdom is within me, and I already have the key. All I have to do is to be willing to use it.
Am I using the tools of The Program on a daily basis? Am I willing?
Today I Pray
God gave me the courage to seek out the kingdom inside myself, to find that well-spring within me which has its source in the never-ending, life-giving river of God. May my soul be restored there. May I find the serenity I seek.
Today I Will Remember
To seek the inner kingdom.
Hazelden Foundation
Friday, March 7, 2014
March 7, 2014 - A Day at a Time
Friday, March 7, 2014
Reflection for the Day
It's time for me to realize that my attitude - toward the life I'm living and the people in it - can have a tangible, measurable and profound effect on what happens to me day by day. If I expect good, then good will surely come to me. And if I try each day to base my attitude and point of view on a sound spiritual foundation, I know it will change all the circumstances of my life for the better, too.
Do I accept the fact that I have been given only a daily reprieve that is contingent on the maintenance of my spiritual condition?
Today I Pray
Since my illness was spiritual - as well as physical and emotional - may I mend spiritually through daily communion with God. May I find a corner of quiet within me where I can spend a few moments with Him. May He make His will known to me. May I worship Him from that inner temple that is in myself.
Today I Will Remember
To spend a quiet moment with God.
Hazelden Foundation
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Feb. 27, 2014 - Today's Gift from Hazelden
Thursday, Feb 27, 2014
Today's thought from Hazelden is:
Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bear bad fruit – and man is his own gardener.
-- John Leonard
Evil thoughts and destructive attitudes are not forced on us by fate. They are choices we make as we act and react to events in our lives.
Before the Program, when negative things happened, our first reaction was to choose to react negatively: "Life's not fair." "Why did that have to happen to me?" "I hate them for doing that." "I'm going to get even if it's the last thing I do." It is easy to react positively when good things happen. But we have often chosen to react negatively to even good events.
Good can be found in even the worst situations if we look for it. Bankruptcy can provide a fresh start. Defeat can allow rebuilding in a new and better way. Evil teaches us what is good. Death brings new life. Admitting our powerlessness finally gave us the freedom to make choices.
By choosing good thoughts and attitudes, the garden of my soul will thrive. By choosing bad ones, it will shrivel and die.
Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bear bad fruit – and man is his own gardener.
-- John Leonard
Evil thoughts and destructive attitudes are not forced on us by fate. They are choices we make as we act and react to events in our lives.
Before the Program, when negative things happened, our first reaction was to choose to react negatively: "Life's not fair." "Why did that have to happen to me?" "I hate them for doing that." "I'm going to get even if it's the last thing I do." It is easy to react positively when good things happen. But we have often chosen to react negatively to even good events.
Good can be found in even the worst situations if we look for it. Bankruptcy can provide a fresh start. Defeat can allow rebuilding in a new and better way. Evil teaches us what is good. Death brings new life. Admitting our powerlessness finally gave us the freedom to make choices.
By choosing good thoughts and attitudes, the garden of my soul will thrive. By choosing bad ones, it will shrivel and die.
From the book:
Easy Does It © 1999 by Hazelden Foundation
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Dec. 21, 2013 - The Eye Opener
The Eye Opener
Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013
If the purpose of living is to live so that our lives will be more like that Divine Example that God has disclosed to us, then only our deeds in life can serve as our advocate at the bar of Infinite Justice.
It will be our deeds that will speak for or against us, and we will be judged worthy and well-qualified only if our actions so testify.
Hazelden Foundation
Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013
If the purpose of living is to live so that our lives will be more like that Divine Example that God has disclosed to us, then only our deeds in life can serve as our advocate at the bar of Infinite Justice.
It will be our deeds that will speak for or against us, and we will be judged worthy and well-qualified only if our actions so testify.
Hazelden Foundation
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Coming out as gay: Should it or does it matter?
CNN newscaster and talk show host Anderson Cooper's disclosure this week that he is gay arguably was less a coming out than a confirmation to the public of his sexuality. Cooper's orientation apparently either was suspected or known within the broadcast news industry anyway but put to rest speculation by the public.
The "news" stirred an avalanche of messages supporting or congratulating Cooper for his courage in publicly disclosing his sexuality. And they're warranted - but why? Other of the media's most recognized names have come out as gay, but Cooper may well be the "highest ranking" to acknowledge his sexuality. But is coming out as gay any more a revelation than coming out as straight or any other sexual or gender status? Probably not. Instead, Cooper's stepping forward as gay hopefully moved public dialogue about sexuality, homosexuality in particular, from the realm of "Should it matter?" to "Does it matter?"
It shouldn't, but unfortunately it does matter - at least to the right-wing religious and conservative factions and to some relatives of non-heterosexual people who still struggle to accept themselves as gay before they can even think of coming out to their families. It also matters to the gay school-age child who fears bullying or rejection if his sexuality is even suspected, a fear so intense and bullying by peers so vicious that suicide rates among gay teens are at unacceptable levels.
Despite the legal and legislative protections afforded to gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender and transsexual people, societal and institutional prejudice remains to some extent in the form of states and local governments that do not extend to same-sex couples the same benefits that are offered to straight or "traditional" couples. On an individual basis, people who are not straight and even are perceived to be other than straight, are subject to rejection and acts of physical violence.
We cannot look to state and federal governments to redress this disparity, however. And the disparity itself is not to legislate acceptance of non-straight people but rather to legislate non-discrimination. After all, although it's been tried in other issues, government simply cannot legislate morality. Nor should it. Instead, the judiciary must be moved to enforce existing laws and protections that should be aimed at "punishing" individuals and institutions that discriminate and carry out acts of violence against non-straight people.
Yet the judiciary cannot be expected to impose on individual families the requirement to accept the son or daughter who is struggling to "confess" their sexuality but fear rejection by their loved ones. This is where the gay, bi, transgender and transsexual communities have a responsibility: educational and support programs that emphasize that the sexuality of a loved one is not the preeminent characteristic that defines the total person, that being anything other than straight does not diminish the non-straight's contributions any more than being straight enhances those contributions.
Anderson Cooper's "coming out" cannot and should not be received as something courageous solely on the grounds of being gay. Instead, it should be welcomed as an opportunity to advance the still-taboo subject of non-straight sexuality from the realm of "Should it matter?" to "Does it really matter?" If Cooper's acknowledgment can achieve that, he may well deserve the status of hero.
The "news" stirred an avalanche of messages supporting or congratulating Cooper for his courage in publicly disclosing his sexuality. And they're warranted - but why? Other of the media's most recognized names have come out as gay, but Cooper may well be the "highest ranking" to acknowledge his sexuality. But is coming out as gay any more a revelation than coming out as straight or any other sexual or gender status? Probably not. Instead, Cooper's stepping forward as gay hopefully moved public dialogue about sexuality, homosexuality in particular, from the realm of "Should it matter?" to "Does it matter?"
It shouldn't, but unfortunately it does matter - at least to the right-wing religious and conservative factions and to some relatives of non-heterosexual people who still struggle to accept themselves as gay before they can even think of coming out to their families. It also matters to the gay school-age child who fears bullying or rejection if his sexuality is even suspected, a fear so intense and bullying by peers so vicious that suicide rates among gay teens are at unacceptable levels.
Despite the legal and legislative protections afforded to gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender and transsexual people, societal and institutional prejudice remains to some extent in the form of states and local governments that do not extend to same-sex couples the same benefits that are offered to straight or "traditional" couples. On an individual basis, people who are not straight and even are perceived to be other than straight, are subject to rejection and acts of physical violence.
We cannot look to state and federal governments to redress this disparity, however. And the disparity itself is not to legislate acceptance of non-straight people but rather to legislate non-discrimination. After all, although it's been tried in other issues, government simply cannot legislate morality. Nor should it. Instead, the judiciary must be moved to enforce existing laws and protections that should be aimed at "punishing" individuals and institutions that discriminate and carry out acts of violence against non-straight people.
Yet the judiciary cannot be expected to impose on individual families the requirement to accept the son or daughter who is struggling to "confess" their sexuality but fear rejection by their loved ones. This is where the gay, bi, transgender and transsexual communities have a responsibility: educational and support programs that emphasize that the sexuality of a loved one is not the preeminent characteristic that defines the total person, that being anything other than straight does not diminish the non-straight's contributions any more than being straight enhances those contributions.
Anderson Cooper's "coming out" cannot and should not be received as something courageous solely on the grounds of being gay. Instead, it should be welcomed as an opportunity to advance the still-taboo subject of non-straight sexuality from the realm of "Should it matter?" to "Does it really matter?" If Cooper's acknowledgment can achieve that, he may well deserve the status of hero.
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