Welcome to Street Prophets Coffee Hour! Thermal for the warmth of a good cup of coffee or your preferred beverage, as well as the warmth of a more progressive religion and community. Feel free to share what you’re drinking (or eating) in the Comments, if you’re so inclined. This is also an Open Thread for you to connect.
Quick bread is my favourite comfort food. I recently made this, theviewfromgreatisland.com/… with many substitutes. Most notably, my choice of fruit was fresh, not-dried, cranberries. Goes great with a warm beverage, can be sliced, microwaved 30 seconds, and then buttered for warm goodness. Enjoy!
Today’s Topic: I was furious about the topic of Chris Rodda’s diary yesterday, It's time for this year's National Desecrate a Non-Christian Veteran's Grave Day. What part of “not your religion” do they not understand? Apparently quite a bit. A nonprofit places “Christmas wreaths” on veterans’ graves without asking first whether or not their loved ones want them there. Some might do this in a spirit of “welcome to our world,” but still, non-Christians don’t necessarily want our welcome. For that matter, I wouldn’t want a wreath from a conservative “Christian” group. I wouldn’t want them to include me; they can keep their hateful hands and symbols to themselves. Also, wreaths aren’t really all that Christian, having had much more ancient origins, but that doesn’t matter in this context — they’re still being used as an appropriated Christian symbol to beat people over the head with their Christianity — people who aren’t here to defend themselves.
And then, as with so many things right wing, it turns out it’s all a grift: The “nonprofit” that takes donations to provide wreaths turns around and buys them from the for-profit wreath company owned by the same people in charge of the nonprofit! So the more wreaths they lay on graves, the more money they make. And that, probably more than any religious belief system, is why they lay wreaths on every grave whether you like it or not. If you throw it away later, meh, they (actually we, through tax breaks, in addition to others through donations!) already paid for it.
Chris and Mikey Weinstein and MRFF fight this fight every year and get wreaths removed from those who complain, but why this isn’t resulting in everything from prevention to discipline to loss of nonprofit status to criminal prosecution, I don’t know. Except, of course, right-wing “Christians” manage to be a force no one wants to fight, with even judges only going so far to limit their hateful activities.
So you probably won’t see progressive Christians laying wreaths without permissions, and here’s why: We do not believe in the primacy of Christianity above any other religions or non-religions. For example, from Core (non-dogmatic) Values at progressivechristianity.org: We:
… recognize that the Spirit moves in beneficial ways in many faith traditions.
…. Seek community that is inclusive of all people, honoring differences in theological perspective….
… believ[e] there is more value in questioning than in absolutes.
Amongst many, many essays on the same blog, writer Walt Shelton in We Need to Listen to Care About Others, quotes Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh, who adopts insights from Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism and Islam. He is quoted as saying:
“When participants are willing to learn from each other, dialogue takes place just by their being together…. For dialogue to be fruitful, we need to live deeply our own tradition and, at the same time, listen deeply to others. Through the practice of deep looking and deep listening, we become free, able to see… values in our own and others’ tradition.”
Hanh’s wisdom applies well beyond purely religious contexts.
Indeed, I would say it applies to other religions, those who prefer no religion, and those whose insights are nontraditional as well as traditional. To think that our religion is better than others is egotistical arrogance. To think that religion is better than non-religion, the same. To think that old traditions are better than modern insights just because we prefer tradition, also egotistical arrogance. We need to take off our blinders that how we were raised is the only “proper” way to be raised. We should certainly be able to debate all these things, but need to come at them from a position of humility: No single person has all the answers. And respect: FFS, if someone doesn’t want you jumping on them about or with symbols of your religion, back off and leave them in peace. Better yet, extend an invitation and wait for their response, instead of inserting yourself where you don’t belong in the first place.
Finally as always, let’s elevate our Community Cred and repost The Needs List! From Aashirs nani (with permission) on Helping Humpday:
PLEASE NOTE:
When sending via PayPal, be sure to select “Send to family/friend” to avoid fees on either end. Be aware, both donor and recipient, that GFM not only charges fees, but also money received through that platform is treated as taxable income. If you are requesting help through GFM, also be aware that there can be delays in accessing the money.
COMMUNITY NEEDS LIST AS OF 12/14/22:
Fundraisers who want a diary to be or stay on the list: PLEASE kosmail requests and donations received to njm5000 by Tuesday evening to be included on the Wednesday morning updated list.
Living on the financial edge—need help? Check out the Helping Directories before your next emergency.
Housing and Living Expenses Fundraisers and Other Links
morgansmom—needs help towards major car repairs and moving to a better environment. $8000 7950 7900 7850 7750 7725 7615 7605 7565 7465 7415 7375 7275 7175 7025 6920 6820 6570 6470 6360 6350 6150 Turns out the car needs a front end rebuild, so repairs are on hold, til more $ is raised. :-) • Visit the KoFi page to see some cool artwork & donate! • PayPal: wingednag at gmail dot com.
DHfromKY—is looking to raise $2450 1950 1830 1720 1685 1585 1385 1285 1180 1170 960 860 750 735 725 690490 for rent and other necessities. Against the wall, again...• PayPal is dharden40219 at yahoo dot com—select “Send to a friend”, and PayPal doesn’t charge a fee.
J Graham—"Your child has mental health issues." But you're a fighter. "It's cancer." But you're a fighter... • She’s sleeping in a tent! (Cats, music, and a chance to help a deserving Daily Kos member). The goal is $14,000 9944 9534 8884 8859 8709 8684 4448 4348 4323 4223 4213 3913 to cover first and last month rent, security deposit, some medical expenses, utility bills, and moving costs. She has a Mighty Cause fundraiser, and PayPal at: jgraham4healthcare at gmail dot com
michelewln—goals met.
Wired Wolf—needs about $3000 2960 2800 2600 2200. Helping support Mom “…on one full time retail wage…and living on credit cards through Covid have suddenly caught up with us bigtime--I'm in way over my head right now…we're still waiting for our utility-assistance appeal and my student loan servicer never paused IBR payments. Paypal is paypal dot me/WiredWolf
anotherdemocrat—has a diary up: Anyone know where I can find a 2nd job? She’s in Austin and is suddenly $24000 in debt, mainly due to an HOA assessment! From the diary: “So, $24,000 is more money than I can ask even a big community like Daily Kos to donate. I have a venmo: at Becky-Helton, Cashapp: $B3ckyHelt0n, and GoFundMe, if anyone wants to help with next month’s payments but for a big total like that, I need a 2nd job. My day job is M-F from 8-5, so it would have to be evenings & weekends.” and “Skills: writing, 20+ years of customer service work, super reliable…” anotherdemocrat has payments covered for a couple of months (thanks, donors <3) and wants to pause donations. She does ask for help updating her resume. “There are part-time remote jobs that look good. Just need an updated resume to upload.” Kosmail, if you can help.
gtghawaii—Needs $550 315 65 to get the car out of the shop. Diary The work has been done and it still has problems. The bill needs to be paid so it can be taken for further diagnosis. venmo.com/… • paypal @SCarpio
Kos Katalogue 2022 is here—please Kosmail CathyM or BeadLady if you have corrections or additions.
Update: Added from the Comments: From Falcon Hawke:
I have been for complicated reasons staying in my truck since July. I was hospitalised over Halloween for a week due to heart illnesses, second time in 23 months. I have severe arthritis in my knees making walking a bit tough. On Thanksgiving Day my water pump exploded which took more money, including a few nights lodging, than I had. One good person here paid for part of it. I am trying to not be on the streets or in a shelter taking a bed from someone without a vehicle. Last week my backpack was taken with a truck key and remote, all my toiletries were lost and I can’t spend gas money on replacements. I am limiting my food intake. It has been difficult and my small family is not helping much at all, sigh…
I could use some help for a few things at this time, mainly gas because it is quite frigid and snowy here now, a little food, staying clean using a discounted city pool membership, and I am at the end of my ability to deal with this series of unfortunate events. I have never done this before, I am uncomfortable asking for assistance, but that is the situation, and I found this so here I am. I set up a PayPal Account at: celtichart1@aol.com and I also have a Venmo Account at: celtichart1@aol.com I know there are many good folks in my area, and here at Kos we have many more. Thanks for any help you decide to give...”
Yay, Michele’s goals are met! Great job, fellow Kossack donors. Accept a round of applause!
I’m in for a mickle each week toward a variety of DKos members on the Needs List. I hope you’ll join me. Always glad to see the needed amounts gradually decreasing!
I’ll probably give Falcon Hawke a little boost this week to get things started for them. Falcon, please consider using the shelters. “Frigid and snowy” can turn tragic too easily!
If helping financially isn’t the right choice for you at this time, you can still help. Tip and rec the diary so it stays visible. Share on social media: Twitter, Facebook, whatever platform you use, to bring the attention of others outside our daily readers. And offer words of encouragement to people who are struggling. It can be scary to be struggling, and it can feel lonely. Let them know we understand and are here to help.
If you have time, please visit the diaries above and leave comments for their authors. Those words of encouragement are vital!
If you don’t like fundraisers, please just move along. They are a longstanding tradition at DKos — Until we vote in enough progressives to create a much stronger social safety net! (Maybe in 2 years.)
Please note: I take care of my 90ish-year-old Mom and something could come up, so I am scheduling this to auto-publish. If possible, I’ll be here to engage in Comments. However, if I’m not here, please chat amongst yourselves, take a coffee break, post aminal photos, food/drink and tunes, spread the word and invite your friends, etc.! Thanks to all!