UPDATED::Dead Indian guru Ashutosh Maharaj in freezer for ‘deep meditation’ | News.com.au

UPDATE::  So what if he’s in deep freeze? Guru Ashutosh Maharaj still commands a following

In January, 2014, when Ashutosh Maharaj was declared “clinically dead” by doctors, following a suspected heart attack, he was believed to be in his seventies. Immediately after four doctors (three of them sect followers and one from Ludhiana’s Apollo Hospital) declared him dead, the dera authorities claimed Ashutosh Maharaj wasn’t actually dead but had gone into a samadhi (a deep meditative state). In order to replicate Himalayan temperatures – the traditional destination of gurus and yogis seeking a quiet samadhi spot – a cooling system was installed in Ashutosh Maharaj’s chambers at the Nurmahal dera to keep the temperature near freezing. And thus, the frozen guru and his legend was born.

You can’t avoid the story if you visit the dera. As devotees approach, a public announcement system relates anecdotes which remind and re-emphasise that Ashutosh Maharaj will be back. When we made our visit, we heard a disembodied female voice tell us that she had been one of the people that Ashutosh Maharaj had confided in and he’d told her that one day, he may have to leave his flock. “Fir woh bole, jab main wapas aaunga to tehelka mach jayega. Ye unke mukh ke shabd the,” she said, her voice ringing with certainty. (“Then he said that when I come back, there will be a sensation. These were his words.”)

To an outsider unaware of the cult of Ashutosh Maharaj, such proclamations sound incredulous and illogical. But for believers, the resurrection of Ashutosh Maharaj is not only plausible, it’s also imminent. And so they flock to the dera, feeding off each other’s belief, anchoring themselves in their community and soaking in the messages that dera authorities broadcast. Once you’re in the dera, there’s no absurdity in the idea of keeping a dead body in near-zero temperatures.

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Devotees placed Ashutosh Maharaj, whom authorities declared clinically dead on January 29, in the freezer and have been watching over his body in the sprawling ashram in a small town in northern Punjab state.

Maharaj, reportedly in his 70s, is one of India’s many gurus or god-men who headed the Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan (Divine Light Awakening Mission) and claims to have millions of followers around the world.

Mission spokesman Swami Vishalanand insisted their leader was not dead but was in fact in a state of samadhi, the highest level of meditation, and was therefore still conscious.

Dead Indian guru Ashutosh Maharaj in freezer for ‘deep meditation’ | News.com.au

UPDATED::Where a Holy Man Lies Frozen, Threat of a Standoff Looms - NYTimes.com

UPDATE:: Two years on: ‘Baba’ Ashutosh Maharaj still in freezer, no sign of thaw

However, the arrival of four Delhi-based DJJS leaders turned things on its head. The dera started claiming that Ashutosh was in “samadhi” (state of deep meditation) and he would come out of it “very soon”.

Two years on, dera managers continue to assure Ashutosh’s disciples that he will be back. The devotees themselves look forward to this ‘second coming’ as Ashutosh had told them: “My soul will disappear and return after completing a few important tasks of mankind.”
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Though the DJJS continues to give the impression that the sect is functioning normally even in Ashutosh’s absence, the Punjab Police’s CID (criminal investigation department) has witnessed a sharp drop in the number of visitors to the dera.

A senior CID official, who is tracking DJJS activities, told HT that due to the controversy over Ashutosh’s death, the number of political leaders usually visiting the dera has also decreased.
“Ashutosh was a spiritual leader whose knowledge of mankind was vast. Since there is no dera leader now of that stature, there is no point in making repeated visits,” said a senior BJP leader who has had an old association with the DJJS.

A Nakodar-based senior sect follower, who is in favour of performing Ashutosh’s last rites, said: “The DJJS may have its reasons to advocate the ‘samadhi’ theory, but the negative publicity has brought disrespect to Ashutosh.”

See also::  Two years on, followers of Punjab Dera chief 'sleeping in a freezer' await his second coming

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But somewhere inside the ashram, Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan, hidden away in a secret chamber, is the frozen body of its spiritual leader, Ashutosh Maharaj, who was declared clinically dead of a heart attack on Jan. 29. The local news media, using a Hindi word for a holy man, have taken to calling him the “frozen baba.”

His followers — men and women who flock to the ashram by the thousands — as well as the ashram leadership, do not deny that “Maharaj ji” is there, frozen in a chamber. But they swear that he is alive, having attained “samadhi,” a high state of consciousness reserved for the holiest of men, beings so evolved they can control their heartbeat, a state indistinguishable to the unenlightened from death.

“Whenever a saint goes into samadhi, it is his disciples’ duty to preserve his body,” said an ashram preacher, Swami Vishalanand, sitting in orange robes under a framed photo of Mr. Maharaj, whose likeness dominates the ashram’s walls.

On Dec. 1, however, the High Court of Punjab and Haryana issued a 129-page order citing the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads, and referring to the embalming of Lenin. The upshot: Government and police officials were ordered to cremate Mr. Maharaj’s body within 15 days.

The ashram’s leaders are planning a monthly gathering on Sunday, just before the deadline, where they expect 60,000 people from all over the state, an event many fear could lead to a violent confrontation with the police.

The last time something like this happened, the results were catastrophic. In November, a powerful spiritual leader, Baba Rampal Maharaj, who was wanted on a murder charge fended off thousands of police officers with the help of an army of volunteers armed with diesel bombs and acid pouches. The standoff left six dead and many more wounded.

Where a Holy Man Lies Frozen, Threat of a Standoff Looms - NYTimes.com

Largest Jewish group in America sets rules to embrace transgender people | World news | The Guardian

The biggest Jewish movement in North America has endorsed a policy to embrace transgender people and to campaign against discrimination in a move hailed as a historic step.

The biennial conference of the Union for Reform Judaism, meeting in Orlando, Florida, overwhelmingly backed a motion on Thursday detailing specific steps to be taken by synagogues and congregations. They include the adoption of gender-neutral language and the provision of gender-neutral restrooms, as well as training and education.

“We’re very proud of taking this step and know it has great meaning for our congregations,” said Barbara Weinstein of the Washington-based Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism. “It’s both extremely significant and a natural evolution of who we are.”

The new policy was in keeping with the welcome Reform Judaism had offered to lesbian and gay congregants for decades, she added.

Catherine Bell of Keshet, a grassroots LGBT Jewish campaign group, said: “We applaud this historic resolution.” It was a far-reaching statement from the largest Jewish denomination in North America, she added.

Largest Jewish group in America sets rules to embrace transgender people | World news | The Guardian

Indian Muslim accused of beef smuggling beaten to death | World news | The Guardian

I am going to admit that parsing news stories concerning religious based crimes, particularly those from India, is becoming difficult.  With that said, another example of debauchery inspired by religious belief.

Villagers in northern India beat a Muslim man to death and injured four others who were accused of smuggling cows to be slaughtered for beef, police have said.
 
The survivors were arrested for alleged animal cruelty.

Hardline Hindus have been calling for a national ban on cow slaughter, triggering mob violence. A Muslim man was lynched in Uttar Pradesh state last month over false rumours that his family had eaten beef for dinner.

Hindus worship cows as a sacred animal and some states have a ban on their slaughter. The country of 1.3 billion is about 81% Hindu and 13% Muslim.

Officer Somya Sambhasivam said police were searching for villagers who fled after the attack on Wednesday in Sarahan, a village in Himachal Pradesh state. The area is about 160 miles (260km) north of Delhi.

Indian Muslim accused of beef smuggling beaten to death | World news | The Guardian

UPDATED::41 writers return Indian award, cite climate of intolerance

 UPDATE::  A bit more context from Beenish Ahmed writing for ThinkProgress:

“People are being murdered for their beliefs and opinions,” read a letter signed by a dozen filmmakers who returned one of India’s top awards on Wednesday. “There seems to be no attempt to unravel the larger picture and bring to book extremist groups that believe in ruthless violence to eliminate those who hold a counter view from theirs. There has been no official condemnation of these groups and we question this silence.”

The group also expressed solidarity with students at India’s top film school who have protested political appointments to their school’s administration. The students ended a four-month long strike but vowed to continue protesting the appointments from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s right wing, Hindu nationalist party in other ways.

The movement first gained momentum when a group of more than 40 writers gave back award’s from a government-supported literary association earlier this month.

The protest is not just limited to those engaged in the arts, however.

On Thursday, prominent Indian scientists returned awards, including the country’s third most prestigious recognition for science.

The move was meant to condemn what one of the scientists called “the government’s attack on rationalism, reasoning, and science.”

Now I feel no sentimental attachment to [the award] when the government tries to institutionalize religion and curtail freedom and scientific spirit. 

_____

Many in India's literary community are disgusted. Dozens of writers say every day brings more evidence of intolerance and bigotry going mainstream — a man lynched allegedly for eating beef, an atheist critic of Hindu idol worship gunned down — all met by a deafening silence from the government.

As of Wednesday, 41 novelists, essayists, playwrights and poets had returned the awards they received from India's prestigious literary academy to protest what they call a growing climate of intolerance under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

The writers are also angry that India's Sahitya Akademi, or National Academy of Letters, has said little about the murder of the well-known rationalist Malleshappa Kalburgi, an award-winning Kannada-language writer, gunned down in August for his writings against superstition and false beliefs.

The government has dismissed the writers' protests, questioning their motives and accusing them of being politically motivated.

"If they say they are unable to write, let them stop writing," culture minister Mahesh Sharma told reporters.

41 writers return Indian award, cite climate of intolerance

The Eternal Regret of Ananta

I do not how else to preface the following other than to sa just read it.  Thank you to Matthew Facciani for sharing.

This is a piece written by Farid Ahmed, a friend of murdered secular blogger Ananta Bijoy Das. Ahmed is the current moderator of Avijit Roy’s Mukto-Mona website. The following is a harrowing account of how dangerous it is to simply write about secular issues in Bangladesh. More people need to learn what life can be like for these brave writers. We need to put pressure on the Bangladeshi government to protect all of their people and end these horrific events. So please consider sharing Ahmed’s article here and especially sharing the petition below to protect Bangladeshi bloggers. This article was translated from Bangla to English by Riasat Ahsan.
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Just a month and a half ago, when the founder of the Mukto-Mona blog, popular science author, and rationalist Avijit Roy was savagely hacked to death with machetes on his way back from a book fair, Ananta Bijoy Das felt grief accompanied by a chill of fear running down his spine. It wasn’t just him; all the Bangladeshi rationalist writers felt uneasiness. Then, just one month later when Washiqur Rahman Babu was also attacked in the middle of the day, in front of scores of people and murdered in the same brutal manner, the fear turned into intense panic. The panic caused many to stop writing or hide behind pseudonyms, and some to lose enthusiasm and only make irregular appearances in the world of writing.

Ananta was no exception. He was also gripped by panic following the murders of Avijit Roy and Washiqur Rahman. He knew that he was unsafe during this turbulent time of hostilities. He maintained a low profile and covered his tracks as best as he could and started living a kind of “life on the run.”  Such a life, however, is not for a normal human being. One cannot remain healthy with the constant anxiety and fear of malicious attacks and an untimely death. Therefore, like many others, Ananta was attempting to go abroad as soon as possible. Doing so would mean leaving behind his beloved country, his dearest parents, and his brothers and sisters. Even so, at least he would be able to heave a sigh of relief, and live his life in freedom.  This was the motivation behind his resolve to leave the country. He wrote to many places and asked several people to write recommendation letters for him to aid his departure. I was one of them.

The Eternal Regret of Ananta

ADDENDUM::Indian trucker was killed over rumor that he was carrying beef - LA Times

Some 2,000 people took to the streets Monday in an Indian-controlled area of Kashmir to protest the killing of a teenage Muslim truck driver who was burned to death in the cab of his truck, apparently because he was wrongly suspected of transporting beef.

It was the third instance in recent weeks in which a Muslim man has been killed over beef. Cows are considered sacred by Hindus.

Zahid Rasool Bhat, 18, the truck driver who died Sunday of burns, was buried Monday in his village, Botengo, in South Kashmir. Hindu militants are suspected of carrying out the attack, in which gasoline bombs were reportedly thrown into his vehicle on Oct. 9. The incident was caught on security cameras.

Bhat was reportedly carrying coal in his truck, not beef.
,,,
Five people were arrested for murder, rioting, conspiracy and explosives charges, according to Waheed-ur-Rahman, spokesman of the state government. He said one had fled and was the target of a manhunt. He said the case would be held in a “fast-track” court designed to speed up India’s typically slow judicial process.

Indian trucker was killed over rumor that he was carrying beef - LA Times

How the British Army Spread Rumors of Black Magic and Witchcraft in 1970s Northern Ireland | VICE | United States

The Information Policy group may not have started the rumors, but they fed them in order to smear paramilitary organizations. It was only one aspect of a broader black propaganda strategy, which also relied on more "classic" defamatory rumors involving misappropriated money, communism, and drug trafficking. Their aim was to establish a link in the public opinion between the rise of paramilitary groups' violence and things that both the protestant and catholic communities would find objectionable. Ireland's strong religious culture and supernatural folklore gave the military the idea of this new kind of threat which could also encourage people—especially children and teenagers—to stay home at night. 

I called Richard Jenkins up for a chat about this weird phenomenon.

How the British Army Spread Rumors of Black Magic and Witchcraft in 1970s Northern Ireland | VICE | United States

Mob Attack, Fueled by Rumors of Cow Slaughter, Has Political Overtones in India - The New York Times

There is also a powerful political motivation behind their activism.

Many leaders of Save the Cow here are also prominent local organizers in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, or B.J.P., which is vying to oust the socialist party that leads Uttar Pradesh, a vast northern state with more than 200 million residents, including the 20,000 in this village. Mr. Tomar, 24, for example, is the general secretary of the local B.J.P. youth wing. Mr. Nagar, 33, is the state secretary of the B.J.P. youth wing.

By week’s end, they and many other B.J.P. leaders were blaming the governing party in Uttar Pradesh for the attack in Bisada. The state’s B.J.P. president, Lakshmikant Bajpayee, said in a telephone interview that while he “most definitely” disagreed with mob violence, “the blame for this incident lies squarely with the state’s administration and the law and order machinery, its police.” The failure by the police to respond quickly and forcefully to rumors of a cow’s slaughter understandably enraged Bisada’s Hindu residents, he said.

“This is a fight between the cow caretaker and the cow murderer in the state,” he said. “Had the administration done their job at protecting our cows well, these men would not have been forced to take the law in their hands.”

Save the Cow and B.J.P. leaders here have also roundly condemned the decision by the police to bring murder charges. In their view, the death of Mr. Ikhlaq was at most the unintended byproduct of a chaotic, highly charged situation of his own making. “He slipped and his head hit the road and he died,” Mr. Tomar said, adding: “These things happen. It’s a mob.”

,,,

Days after the killing, the Ikhlaq family was still too shocked and overwhelmed to even begin picking up the broken furniture or repairing the shattered doors. Scores of police officers protected their home on all sides, and a steady parade of journalists made their way down the alley to ask the same basic question: Why were the Ikhlaqs singled out?

“We have been living in this village for decades and never picked as much as a fight with anyone,” Mrs. Ikhlaq said quietly. Her daughter, Shaista, 18, was reeling from having recognized several neighbors in the mob that attacked them so relentlessly.

“If they suspected we had slaughtered a cow, why did they not file a police complaint against us?” Shaista Ikhlaq asked.

“Who gave them the right to kill my father?”

Mob Attack, Fueled by Rumors of Cow Slaughter, Has Political Overtones in India - The New York Times

See also:

• Inside the Indian village where a mob killed a man for eating beef
• Brother of Indian man murdered for eating beef calls for calm

The utter inanity of eruvs, using magical wires to trick the Jewish god

This is just plain bizarre,,,

But some believers spend even more time figuring out ways around these prohibitions. An entire cottage industry has blossomed as a result, one that Bill Maher lampooned quite well in Religulous. The eruv is one of these attempts to circumvent what is supposedly god’s law. The Sabbath rules are more relaxed in one’s home so the eruv extends the boundaries of the home to the entire enclosed area. This is often many city blocks, outlined by wire or string, though sometimes with markers (lechi). If the wire or string breaks, the enclosure and the eruv’s magical spell are broken.

To sum it up, an eruv is a religious rule foisted upon the public and strung across public property so that religious individuals can trick their god into thinking they are not violating one of his rules. Never mind that he is supposedly omnipotent and omniscient, or that the penalty for violating the Sabbath rules is almost always death—they strung up some wire and now their house is 20 city blocks! Only in the religious mind does this make sense.

The utter inanity of eruvin is this: These believers are devout enough to want to follow the rule, but not devout enough to actually follow the rule. So they cast enchantments to make a magical boundary within which they can violate their deity’s command. Only in religion can such hypocrisy be labeled a virtue. But it seems that the more pious a believer is, the more hypocrisy their religion requires.

The utter inanity of eruvs, using magical wires to trick the Jewish god

What Is It About Religion That Fosters Abuse? | VICE | United States

So what's causing this abuse? In reality, "religion" is a generalized term. Better to specify what kind of religion—or, better still, what kind of culture—fosters it, and how there are varying degrees. Janet Heimlich, one of the world's foremost authors on the topic and writer of the book Breaking Their Will: Shedding Light on Religious Child Maltreatment, says children are more vulnerable to abuse and neglect if they live in religious authoritarian cultures.

"There are three perfect-storm factors that identify a religious culture or community as authoritarian: One, the culture has a strict, social hierarchy. Two, the culture is fearful. And three, the culture is separatist," she told the Huffington Post in 2011. "The more intense these three factors are—the more authoritarian the culture is – the more likely children will be harmed."
,,,
Another renowned writer on the topic, Katherine Stewart—author of The Good News Club: The Christian Right's Stealth Assault on America's Children—told me about the role played by those who I'll call "average peaceful" believers.

"Of course, there is no guilt by association, and people aren't directly responsible for the misdeeds of their coreligionists," she said. "But they do have a significant responsibility. Questions of morality are, to some degree, questions of paying attention. When people join a particular religious group, they don't have the luxury of not paying attention to what that religion and its hierarchy are doing. It doesn't mean they are responsible for misdeeds, but it is irresponsible to maintain ignorance of a pattern of allegations of abuse."
,,,
Stewart adds: "If a religion places a huge stress on obedience and parental authority, sanctions corporal punishment, and emphasizes female disempowerment or subjugation, or the subjugation of other ethnic or religious groups, it lays the foundation for abuse. Of course, this principle does not just apply to religions. If members of any group or community suspect there may be abuse within their midst, they are required to pay attention and address it. We should all demand openness, transparency, and investigation of any allegation of abuse." 


What Is It About Religion That Fosters Abuse? | VICE | United States

Decolonising the mind: The misunderstanding of traditional African beliefs - This Is Africa

To the modern African who distrusts these age-old traditions, indigenous faith systems can be nothing but evil. Proof of this is in the ritual killings that keep on happening in this modern age whether it is 100 graves dug up in Benin Republic or albinos being killed for their body parts in Tanzania. These rituals, otherwise called witchcraft, are said to exist due to the superstitious nature of Africans, which arises from traditional beliefs. It is believed that in rituals, people are regularly abducted and killed, their body parts used to create charms or “fetishes” that are said to bring riches to whoever bears them. These so-called ritual killings have attained the status of urban legends in countries like Nigeria where the 10% of Nigerians who adhere to traditional beliefs have to keep their faith secret or risk being labelled as enablers of human sacrifice. There is a great need to differentiate between legitimate spiritual systems and witchcraft, yet it is widely accepted that human sacrifices were part and parcel of pre-colonial faith systems.

That these rituals are done with the main aim of making money should hint at their true capitalist nature. In a world where everyone is looking to be rich and wealthy, indigenous African spiritualities are not exempt from being corrupted by those who would do anything to get rich. Discussions about the modern “innovations” in African cultures and religious practices are almost nonexistent, so most of us never consider that the growth of Pentecostal churches is encouraging witchcraft related fears or that market forces are central to today’s beliefs in witchcraft. A few months ago at a work meeting, the topic of ritual killings and idol worship came up and a colleague boldly objected to a idea that ritual killings had been traditionally done by Nigerians in pre-colonial times. She said she recalled when human sacrifices started in Nigeria  – at the time, she was a child growing up in the 1970s. Her opinion is backed by Chief Adelekan, a Yoruba diviner who at a talk in the Manchester Museum insisted that human sacrifices have nothing to do with his indigenous worship. But in people’s minds, this modern practice of ritual killings has been conflated with indigenous faith systems.

Decolonising the mind: The misunderstanding of traditional African beliefs - This Is Africa

How the Vatican investigates miracles | New York Post

In “The Vatican Prophecies: Investigating Supernatural Signs, Apparitions, and Miracles in the Modern Age” (Viking), John Thavis, former Rome bureau chief for the Catholic News Service, describes this 1982 secret exorcism.

The new book shares how the Vatican deals with supernatural — or supposedly supernatural — events, from holy relics to instances of possession.

Thavis makes it clear that events of this sort put the Vatican in a difficult spot. On one hand, they cannot reject such supernatural phenomena outright, as to do so would reject many elements of the religion’s history.

At the same time, every claim of a supernatural or otherworldly presence must be handled with extreme skepticism, to prevent the Church from being taken in by charlatans, any one of whom could deal a blow to the Church’s credibility.

[,,,]

The Church has dealt with fake relics since the Middle Ages, when the “brain of Saint Peter,” which had been “venerated for centuries in the cathedral of Geneva was investigated and found to be a pumice stone,” and the “arm of Saint Anthony,” long “kissed by the faithful on festive occasions, turned out to be part of a stag.”

These days, rather than spend time and money exposing forgeries, the Church sometimes turns a blind eye to relics whose authenticity is in question. In 2011, Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster angered many Catholics when he stated, “If that connection is made through an object which maybe forensically won’t stand up to the test, that’s of secondary importance to the spiritual and emotive power that the object can contain.”

How the Vatican investigates miracles | New York Post

ADDENDUM::Lawyer Who Advised Churches in China Faces Secretive Detention - The New York Times

A Chinese lawyer who has opposed a government campaign to tear down churches and church crosses faces up to six months in secretive detention after the police detained him and accused him of threatening state security, his colleague said on Tuesday.

The lawyer, Zhang Kai, who is from Beijing, disappeared into custody a week ago while in Wenzhou, a commercial city on the coast of Zhejiang Province, where many members of the large and prosperous Christian community have fought the government’s efforts to reduce the presence of churches.

Mr. Zhang was in Wenzhou advising a church when the police took him away last Tuesday, and they have since issued an order that could place him under secretive detention for six months, said Yang Xingquan, a colleague of Mr. Zhang’s from the Xinqiao Law Firm in Beijing. Mr. Yang, who was in Wenzhou looking for Mr. Zhang, cited information from the police and Christians in the city.

,,,
Mr. Zhang’s case combines two aspects of tightening restrictions on civic life in China under President Xi Jinping that have alarmed human rights advocates: an intense drive against human rights lawyers and restrictions on religion.

Lawyer Who Advised Churches in China Faces Secretive Detention - The New York Times

Catholic Church leaves Antarctica | Radio New Zealand News

The National Science Foundation (NSF), which over-sees the US Antarctic Programme said the decline in people attending services at McMurdo Station meant there was no longer the need for a Catholic Priest.

A military chaplaincy will remain at the base providing inter-denominational religious services and personal support to the population.

Co-ordinator of the Catholic Church in Antarctica Father Dan Doyle has spent 14 summers on the ice since his first trip in 1984.

"There is a gradual decrease in religiosity, there is also a decrease in the number of people working at McMurdo Station and the South Pole and budget cuts so all of these factors have led to the decision that only one chaplain is necessary."

Father Doyle said he has been working with the NSF on the transition that would bring an end to a 57-year relationship between the Diocese and the Programme.


Catholic Church leaves Antarctica | Radio New Zealand News

Breaking: In Historic Ruling, EEOC Finds Sexual Orientation Discrimination Is Already Illegal - The New Civil Rights Movement

For the basics:

After decades of fighting for protections against discrimination in the workplace, gay, lesbian, and bisexual employees are actually covered under federal law already, the EEOC has ruled this afternoon. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission finds GLB workers are protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The EEOC finds today that "allegations of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation necessarily state a claim of discrimination on the basis of sex," as Buzzfeed's Chris Geidner first reported.

Today's ruling is historic, and sets an important precedent that no doubt will lead to a Supreme Court case in the future. 

Technically, the ruling covers federal workers directly, but, as Geidner notes, "it also applies to the entire EEOC, which includes its offices across the nation that take and investigate claims of discrimination in private employment. And, while only the Supreme Court could issue a definitive ruling on the interpretation, EEOC decisions are given significant deference by federal courts."

In short, the commission today has ruled that discrimination based on sexual orientation is discrimination based on sex, and thus covered under federal law.

From Ari Ezra Waldman over at TowlerRoad, who expands a bit more,

This is a groundbreaking development because federal judges listen closely to EEOC decisions. The EEOC is the agency in charge of interpreting and implementing Title VII; the Commission is the expert in the law of employment discrimination. And basic principles of administrative law state that the judiciary should give significant deference to agency conclusions because, unlike generalist judges, EEOC commissioners are the experts in this field of law. So, although we would feel better if this ruling were handed down by a federal court, the EEOC has taken an enormous jump in that direction.

The EEOC case involved a federal employee, so the Commission’s decision gives federal employees an avenue for justice. But for those who work for most private companies, things are not so certain. True, the decision does not directly apply to them and their employers. However, the basis for private companies’ decisions to discriminate against gays is that Title VII allows it. It will be hard to make that argument now: at least according to the EEOC, Title VII does not permit anti-gay discrimination.

Still, more work needs to be done. We need to take this decision to the Supreme Court to ensure it applies to all workers. We also need a comprehensive anti-gay discrimination law passed at the federal level because this decision (and Title VII) only applies to employment discrimination. Gays are discriminated against in the provision of housing, education, and a host of other social services. But remember this EEOC decision. It will pop up again, and again, as we march further toward full equality.

Why is this important,

When one looks at the decision rendered by SCOTUS [in regards to Hobby Lobby ruling] it has to be through the lens of the Reich's overall agenda -  starting with a "reformed" interpretation of the Free Exercise Clause or an outright repeal of the First Amendment,  continuing with the abolition of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ending with the implementation of dominionist ideology in order to govern by theocratic control.  With the ruling in Hobby Lobby, the Reich will "now" be able to exempt themselves from any laws that they don’t like; that they find “religiously objectionable.” 

It just may throw a kink into their plan as exemplified by Newland v. Sebilius.

Breaking: In Historic Ruling, EEOC Finds Sexual Orientation Discrimination Is Already Illegal - The New Civil Rights Movement

Why Don’t Women Just Leave Fundamentalism?

I saw in fundamentalism a very clear life script and assurances that I didn’t have otherwise.. There wasn’t much about me that fit into my new faith system’s expectations for women, who were pushed into cookie-cutter molds and made to feel terribly guilty if they couldn’t fit. I tried my best. Outside of fundamentalism, I didn’t know how I was supposed to act or when it was okay to speak definitively or stand up for myself. But within fundamentalism, the rules were crystal-clear. If they were also impossible to fulfill, well, that was sorta my problem.

I didn’t notice that the demands were unreasonable, only that I finally had a clear vision of how to achieve respect and standing in my community. I didn’t have much else going for me. My church discouraged all clubs and community activities that weren’t part of their world; I was at church most days of the week, sometimes for many hours at a time. I volunteered extensively and studied my Bible in my off-time–and most of it while attending school full-time! Though I did well in classes, all that really mattered to me was my “walk”–meaning my spiritual life and devotions. I wanted the approval and admiration of my peers and leaders–and I wanted to have what all of them seemed to have: this deep, rich, two-way communication with “God.” I ached and hungered for it, and assumed that once I figured out what I was doing wrong, I’d find it. (Much later I’d discover that many of them were “speaking truth to power”–or in other words, faking it till they made it. At the time, I trusted that they were all being perfectly honest about their experiences and that I was the only one experiencing anything different.)

And, too, fundamentalism fit in very well with my very black-and-white way of looking at the world, and gave me a great deal of certainty about that world. Nobody ever has to wonder about much of anything in fundamentalism, or struggle with difficult questions. Every answer was easy and simple–even if putting that answer into motion was impossible, at which point the problem was me, not the answer, which was seen as totally infallible and unquestionable.
,,,

So when someone says, all exasperated, “Why do so many women stay in a religion that unfair?” I’ll tell ‘em exactly why at least this woman stayed as long as she did.

I was afraid of so many things. I craved security. I wanted safety. I needed structure. I ached to see the reality of the spiritual world I’d been taught since toddlerhood existed all around me. I wanted to be part of something much bigger than myself.

Why Don’t Women Just Leave Fundamentalism?

Ted Cruz says there is no biblical opposition to interracial marriage so you can’t compare it to same-sex marriage

It is mind-blowing that these politicians cannot see the similarities of this debate and still see race as something you are born with and sexual orientation as a choice.

Does Cruz think we need to fight a bloody war to finally realize that same-sex marriage is a right, just as he thinks we needed to do in order to understand slavery is wrong?

Ted Cruz says there is no biblical opposition to interracial marriage so you can’t compare it to same-sex marriage

ADDENDUM::Houston man trolls airwaves with anti-gay ads — Project Q Houston

Houston anti-gay crank Steven Hotze won't give up his quest to have Texas defy a U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage, now taking his fight to the airwaves and asking for your cash to help.

Hotze and his Conservative Republicans of Texas unleashed a TV and radio advertising campaign on Tuesday to pressure Gov. Greg Abbott into calling lawmakers back to Austin for a special session to fight gay marriage. Hotze wants legislators to pass a measure from state Rep. Cecil Bell that would defy an expected Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage in the 13 states, like Texas, that don't yet have marriage equality.

Bell's proposal flopped and in its wake, Abbott refused to call a special session to consider it again.

Hotze is incredulous that Texas lawmakers won't stand with him to oppose a "lawless Supreme Court ruling on marriage."

"Gov. Abbott and the Republican leadership caved to the homosexual political movement and its cheerleader, the Texas Association of Business, and failed to pass legislation to preserve state sovereignty and the marriage amendment," Hotze's 60-second radio spot says.

He keeps up the pressure on Abbott in a 30-second television ad.

Houston man trolls airwaves with anti-gay ads — Project Q Houston

When in Doubt, Religify! Fear Mongering about Religious Liberty | Political Research Associates

I have been sitting on this article for almost a month now.  Not quite sure as to how to introduce it, or where exactly the issue addressed falls in the grand scheme of thing.  But Clarksom, in his initial write up, mentions two recent rulings:

The Institute draws on detailed understandings of recent Supreme Court cases as sources for this legal groundwork against the coming siege. They point particularly to the 2012 case of Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which disallowed a discrimination complaint by a teacher, declaring that her role was part of the ministry of the church, and her employer therefore was exempt from employment discrimination laws. The decision is widely seen as having opened the door to a wide range of religious exemptions from civil rights and labor laws. The Institute also points to the 2014 decision in Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. & Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Burwell, which for the first time endowed “closely held” for-profit corporations with religious rights under the First Amendment.

And, that took my mind back to something I wrote last year in regards to the Hobby Lobby ruling:

When one looks at the decision rendered by SCOTUS it has to be through the lens of the Reich's overall agenda -  starting with a "reformed" interpretation of the Free Exercise Clause or an outright repeal of the First Amendment,  continuing with the abolition of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, ending with the implementation of dominionist ideology in order to govern by theocratic control.  With the ruling in Hobby Lobby, the Reich will "now" be able to exempt themselves from any laws that they don’t like; that they find “religiously objectionable.” 

As Clarkson notes, "most of our attention is directed to larger-than-life marriage equality dramas being played out in courtrooms, legislative chambers, and major media outlets, the foundation is being laid for massive resistance to marriage equality and much more."  The faux persecution complex, the so-called fight for religious liberty, and so on.

What has gone unnoticed in all this, the Reich has realized that they are losing in the court of public opinion.  They may not admit it but as Clarkson states in his companion piece for LGBTQNation "they foresee as a long siege against conservative Christian churches, businesses, and organizations."  Hence the issue at hand:

Major Christian Right legal agencies have begun issuing manuals for conservative churches and other organizations to inoculate themselves against private lawsuits and government enforcement of civil rights laws.

The national Christian Right legal network Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF, one of the primary groups behind the legislative agenda to redefine religious freedom into an affirmative right to discriminate) joined forces with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention to issue one such handbook, and the Texas-based Liberty Institute has issued a similar manual.

The ADF and Southern Baptist handbook (titled, “Protecting Your Ministry from Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Lawsuits: A Legal Guide for Southern Baptist and Evangelical Churches, Schools, and Ministries”) anticipates needing to “engage a hostile social and political culture… amid the gathering spiritual darkness.”

The Liberty Institute sees it as “not a matter of if but when religious institutions will be faced with damaging, anti-religious legal attacks.”  To prepare, the Institute advises institutions from churches and synagogues to fraternities and for-profit corporations to “religify.”  [Emphases in the original.]

Both manuals urge religification by revising all of their institutional documents, from employee job descriptions to facility rental agreements. Workers and volunteers are reclassified under a broad redefinition of “ministry”; and institutional functions are cast specifically in terms of religious doctrine. The goal is to be seen by the courts as qualifying for broad “ministerial exemptions” from the law in as many ways as possible.

As I mentioned last July, Hobby Lobby was a test and as the Rev. Terry Fox declared, in regards to what has now amounted to a renewed push for state RFRAs, "We are not going to let it die. We are very committed. The Body of Christ is a powerful movement when it comes together."

And just as Fox asserted, "These manuals demonstrate that Christian Right leaders of the culture war intend to fight LGBTQ Rights and marriage equality in the states, in the towns and cities, and in many kinds of institutions, no matter what the federal government and the courts may say."

When in Doubt, Religify! Fear Mongering about Religious Liberty | Political Research Associates