1 in 10 Americans Are on Unemployment
[Andy Szekeres is a political consultant from Denver who specializes in LGBT ballot measures and progressive candidates and causes.]
[Editor's Note: I'm lucky that I've had familial support such that I haven't needed unemployment support. Yet, as someone who has been unemployed for over a year, I personally understand the importance of this message in a near and dear way. Please heed Andy's call for support! --Zack]
1 in 10 Americans are on Unemployment – that is a staggering fact, one that affects our fellow LGBT brothers and sisters at a high rate. With the push for DADT repeal, I hope you will also take a second to demand that Congress extend Unemployment Benefits to the millions of Americans who are out of work.
As someone who has been on unemployment before, I can personally vouch that if it were not for the support of the unemployment support I received, I would have likely lost my home and my healthcare coverage. This can be devastating for our communities and devastating to neighbors who are dependent on medications, friends struggling to keep their homes, or family-members faced with a life-threatening illness.
We all know someone who is looking for work right now, the job market is slow and even tougher for a minority. For many of us, we want to be working; we want to be contributing our fair share, but sometimes we are over-looked for openings because we happen to be trans or openly gay. We have a small window to push Congress into action and extend this crucial lifeline to tens or hundreds of thousands of our community members.
Americans for Democratic Action has launched an aggressive petition to force Congress to act now. While Congress debates tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, our community members are struggling to find work, are losing their homes and are being forced to choose between crucial medications and going hungry.
I hope you will take two seconds out of your day to sign this petition and urge your friends to do the same – this maybe a lifeline to one of your friends or even yourself, and it will only be extended in the lame duck session if we act together.
Sign the petition right now at – http://bit.ly/ib93ap
Help expand the reach, Donate your facebook and twitter today with this link to tell all your friends.
Demand Congress help the 1 in 10 Americans on unemployment NOW – http://bit.ly/ib93ap – #p2 #lgbt
Two Arguments for Faith I Don’t Get (Blair vs. Hitchens)
So, Tony Blair and Christopher Hitchens had a debate recently about whether religion is a force for good in the world.
I’ve created a playlist for all the clips below. It’s pretty good, and Hitchens is still right on his game, despite his health. I particularly appreciated Hitchens’ argument that the way to end poverty is to empower women. It’s worth a listen.
Tony Blair continued making two arguments throughout the debate that I just do not understand. I mean, I don’t think either of them actually help support his point that religion is a good thing to have.
The first was the idea that faith is good because lots of people already have faith. Since we can’t convince everyone to suddenly not have faith, we should encourage people who have faith to apply that faith in good ways.
Is this really an argument for anything? This is the same argument people make to support smoking. They say, Oh, well lots of people are smokers (i.e. addicted to smoking), so we should just let them keep smoking. Umm, no! Sorry smokers. Your habit is gross and makes me sneeze. Go outside, keep your tar clouds away, and yes, keep trying to quit!
Just because people have faith doesn’t mean faith is good! Like Tim Minchin says in his song White Wine in the Sun, “I don’t believe just because ideas are tenacious that they’re worthy.” This argument is really a concession. It doesn’t demonstrate anything at all about the difference faith makes, just that we’re stuck with it, so we ought to try to make the most of it. If anything, it sounds more like a strategy for coping with the persistence of faith.
The other argument he made a lot is that though some people use religion for bad things, some people also use religion for good things. This is not a good argument in favor of religion. It actually demonstrates how pointless religion is. If it can be used for both good and bad, then it doesn’t make a difference at all! It just is.
My argument has long been that there are no unique benefits to religion/faith. None of Mr. Blair’s arguments challenge that claim at all. Sure, some people do good things inspired by their faith, but so what? Plenty of people do good things without faith, and honestly, they’re often better things in the absence of proselytization.
If you are supporting the claim that religion is a force for good, you have to be able to demonstrate that there is something we get from faith that we could not get without it. Given that there are plenty of bad things that are unique to religion—the very suspension of critical thinking that faith requires is itself a detractor—I really don’t think Mr. Blair had much to offer. Admittedly, my expectations were not high given that his opening statement included mention of Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot, hackneyed jabs at atheism that don’t hold up (and which Hitchens didn’t even bother addressing). It’s not surprising that Mr. Hitchens successfully swayed a much larger percentage of the audience than did Mr. Blair.
The debate is not short, but throw the playlist on and listen while you’re at work. Share your own thoughts about these arguments or other things that are said in the discussion.
httpvp://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=45A081C92957109B
A podcast w/ Peterson Toscano!
