Sex and a Cup of Coffee

The best help I can offer is to point you to Amy Cuddy’s book, Presence. She talks about Imposter Syndrome (and interviews me in it) and offers helpful insight.

The second best help might be in the form of an anecdote. Some years ago, I was lucky enough invited to a gathering of great and good people: artists and scientists, writers and discoverers of things. And I felt that at any moment they would realise that I didn’t qualify to be there, among these people who had really done things.

On my second or third night there, I was standing at the back of the hall, while a musical entertainment happened, and I started talking to a very nice, polite, elderly gentleman about several things, including our shared first name. And then he pointed to the hall of people, and said words to the effect of, “I just look at all these people, and I think, what the heck am I doing here? They’ve made amazing things. I just went where I was sent.”

And I said, “Yes. But you were the first man on the moon. I think that counts for something.”

And I felt a bit better. Because if Neil Armstrong felt like an imposter, maybe everyone did. Maybe there weren’t any grown-ups, only people who had worked hard and also got lucky and were slightly out of their depth, all of us doing the best job we could, which is all we can really hope for.

“The LGBT wants to talk about discrimination but the discrimination has turned to the other side…I want them to have rights. I believe in treating them well. But our rights as Christians are being taken from us.”  ~ Pastor Steve Branstutter, Kokomo, IN

Our rights as Christians?  Look, bro, I get that you are out for the sake of freedom of speech and expression as is a right given to you in the First Amendment, but you have no exclusive rights in this country as a Christian.

I may not be the best or brightest history student (my best friend is in a Doctoral program for Civil War studies, and by comparison, I just…no), but I’m pretty sure this country was founded partially on the premise of religious freedom.  Isn’t that why those people sailed on the Mayflower in the first place?  To escape religious persecution from England or some such?  And now you’re telling me that your rights as a Christian are being taken away just because other people that don’t meet your standards in sexual orientation want fair treatment in jobs and housing?

You know what?  As a matter of fact, let’s do a little research…

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/overview

There are all 27 Amendments of the Constitution, with detailed explanations included.  Go ahead and see how many times you find the word “Christian” in any of them.

Go ahead…  I’ll wait…

All done?

Did you count 0?  You should have.  Because you have no exclusive rights in the United States as a member of the Christian faith.  You might be getting this confused with the right to PRACTICE Christianity.  Were your rights as a man also jeopardized when women could vote in 1920?  Or your rights as a white person when African Americans were freed from slavery and indentured servitude?

I know times are changing pretty quickly and there’s a lot for some religious folks to get their head around, but seriously.  Pull yourself out of the ‘60′s and come join us in the 21st century, @RevSteveBrans.

On a sidenote, your Tweet on 7/4/15…the one about you flying the flag high and proud of what this country was founded upon…yeah…okay…

The source material for this rant can be found here. http://www.wthr.com/story/31468009/kokomo-passes-lgbt-protections-ordinance-5-4

/rant

And now for a moment of zen.  A pug giving a high-five.

Jane Jacobs (via lovefreedompowerlove)