Tom Toles for April 09, 2009

  1. Image013
    believecommonsense  about 15 years ago

    Wow .. strong statement there. it may be that the courts will resolve this. And, please, the courts that have ruled a ban unconstitutional so far have NOT been liberal lefties. They’ve included judges appointed by both parties.

     •  Reply
  2. 80x80 cartoon0144 55lwwwustftoczzcecr3q
    tracht47  about 15 years ago

    The marriage of liberty and justice. Represented by two women.

     •  Reply
  3. Green lingerie   003
    riley05  about 15 years ago

    Great take on the issue, Mr. Toles.

     •  Reply
  4. Think
    tpenna  about 15 years ago

    Nice.

     •  Reply
  5. Ishikawa  gun
    AdmNaismith  about 15 years ago

    When the Courts take care of it, the Fundys say it is the purview of the Legislature (and that the Courts are making things up). When The People vote for it, the Fundy’s say the Courts should take care of it (and try to change everyone’s Constitution out from under them). Remember, the Fundys won’t be happy until they take over our minds, our bodies, and make women own-able objects again). I avoided the Fundy Drama by going to Canada and having a beautiful wedding, easy as you please.

    Thank you for this, Mr. Toles.

     •  Reply
  6. John adams1
    Motivemagus  about 15 years ago

    Elegantly done.

     •  Reply
  7. 1107121618000
    CorosiveFrog Premium Member about 15 years ago

    Great toon, clever and strong message.

    Favorite it is!

     •  Reply
  8. Missing large
    LaineC  about 15 years ago

    Toles makes life, love, and liberty clear.

     •  Reply
  9. Missing large
    LaineC  about 15 years ago

    Toles makes life, love, and liberty clear.

     •  Reply
  10. Missing large
    LaineC  about 15 years ago

    Toles makes life, love, and liberty clear.

     •  Reply
  11. Missing large
    LaineC  about 15 years ago

    Toles makes life, love, and liberty clear.

     •  Reply
  12. Missing large
    curiosity1  about 15 years ago

    Very nicely done. It says so much so simply. Thank you Toles. Thank you Iowa. Thank you Vermont. Thank you Connecticut. Thank you Massachussetts. Thank you Canada. Thank you Belgium. Thank you Netherlands. Thank you South Africa. Thank you Sweden. Thank you Spain. Thank you Norway. And yes…thank you California, for a court that recognized my equality, and for a legislature that recognized my equality…TWICE. I am hopeful that the courts will find for liberty and justice, and that even if they don’t, we will have a referendum which will be passed BY THE PEOPLE.

    Thank you to all the people who read this who say ‘Halelujah - I am joyous that you found someone with whom to go forward in your life arm-in-arm’. Thank you to all the people who will never see this who have said to themselves ‘Wow, they really are just like us. Why was I afraid of them.’ Thank you to all the friends and family who have spoken of me and my husband to their friends and their families.

    I’ll even say thank you to the religious conservatives. Your passion about this issue has driven more and more mainstream churches to recognize our love for what it is - LOVE. And thank you to those mainline churches for embracing that love.

    Peace, prosperity, hope, and delight to all. Alex

     •  Reply
  13. Image013
    believecommonsense  about 15 years ago

    curiosity1, thanks for including California in the list. We were in the forefront until this last ballot initiative, which I think, and hope, may well be struck down by the CA Supreme Court as unconstitutional. I can’t tell you how many people, including me, were shocked that Prop 8 passed.

     •  Reply
  14. John adams1
    Motivemagus  about 15 years ago

    I believe in the merciful Christian God, as it happens, so I expect He does.

     •  Reply
  15. Amnesia
    Simon_Jester  about 15 years ago

    Luke 10:30-37 Jesus answered, “A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’ Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?” He said, “He who showed mercy on him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

    What most folks don’t understand about this parable is that the Judeans hated the Samaritans with a passion that far and away eclipses even the most militant Fundy-Christian’s animosity towards gays.

    And the verse that precedes this by the way, is the one where Jesus admonishes us to, ‘love thy enighbor as thyself’…to which someone responded, “Who is my neighbor?”

     •  Reply
  16. 009 8a
    MaryWorth Premium Member about 15 years ago

    stewiez, if God didn’t like homosexuals he’d quit making those little gay babies…

     •  Reply
  17. Ha thur  har ewe
    stpatme  about 15 years ago

    The Supreme Court Building in Washington, DC has four words on its front portico: EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW. Anything short of that is UnAmerican!

    Despite the lies told about the Bible, nowhere does it speak of two people who are of the same sex expressing their love sexually. It speaks of violations of the rules of hospitality (as in Sodom), it speaks of lust and rape, and in Leviticus it speaks of use of male prostitutes as acts of worship of the local fertility goddess - which IS an abomination - but the very concept of homosexuality didn’t exist until the 19th century, so the Bible is silent on the matter. Therefore, it is not a sin! And even if it were, that is no excuse for violating people’s equal rights!

     •  Reply
  18. Tom13
    tomcib  about 15 years ago

    Whenever I ask an opponent to gay marriage to show me where Jesus says that gays cannot marry (not Leviticus nor Timothy, but Jesus), it stays very quiet. If you’re a Christian, follow Christ’s teachings. ‘Nuff said. Cheers!

     •  Reply
  19. Avatar
    WillBerry  about 15 years ago

    Tom Ciborowski, et al, - You must not know many Christians! Jesus, yes JESUS, condemns something called “fornication” as among the foremost of sins, along with murder, and a couple of others, that separate people from God, and Heaven, AND the Resurrection! Fornication, by the way, is defined as any sexual relation outside the marriage of one man to one woman (polygamy was no longer allowed in Judaism following the return from Babylon). Thus fornication includes incest, premarital sex, extramarital sex, post-marital sex (yes, some people have sex with their ex-spouses following divorce and without benefit of re-marriage), bestiality, AND homosexuality. See Matthew 15:19 and Mark 7:21.

     •  Reply
  20. Avatar
    WillBerry  about 15 years ago

    stpatme - See post to Tom C., God defines sin, not you, not me. And according to Jesus fornication (which includes homosexual relations) IS SIN. And what did you think those people actually wanted to do with the stranger who came to visit Lot? They were condemned because they wanted to have FORCIBLE HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONS with him. Before you start quoting Bible passages, you might want to actually READ THEM!

     •  Reply
  21. Avatar
    WillBerry  about 15 years ago

    Simon - That “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself” phrase that Jesus was quoting comes from Leviticus chapter 19, verse 18, the SAME BOOK of the Bible that condemns HOMOSEXUAL relations (and any sexual relation outside the marriage of a man and a woman)!

     •  Reply
  22. Avatar
    WillBerry  about 15 years ago

    AdmNaismith, BCS, etc… : The Fundys (I suppose you are not speaking of people who live on the BAY of Fundy) have NEVER had to refer the voice of the People to the leftist tilt of the courts for the simple reason that even in California the PEOPLE actually REJECT homosexual marriage by a large majority. Check it out! Prop Eight in California did not just EEK by, but passed with a much greater majority than The Great Impostor received. And BCS - EVERY court that has ruled the ban unconstitutional IS liberal, and VERY leftist. Party affiliation does not apply in most judicial appointments, since the SENATE approves Federal judges, and even very CONSERVATIVE Presidents have ended up nominating liberal judges, because, as it is said, power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and when you receive a lifetime appointment to the bench you have pretty much RECEIVED absolute power!

     •  Reply
  23. Image013
    believecommonsense  about 15 years ago

    WillieB, state courts that have ruled on this issue have not been all far-left liberal; they’ve been a mix of conservative, moderate, liberal

     •  Reply
  24. Emujustcheckingonu
    Patinphx Premium Member about 15 years ago

    Thanks! That’s lovely and right!!

     •  Reply
  25. Tom13
    tomcib  about 15 years ago

    Will Berry: Let them get married then they won’t be fornicating. All fornication is is sex outside marriage. AND there is no place in the bible that Jesus says: “Gays cannot marry.” I don’t see that when I read Matthew 15:19 or Mark 7:21.

     •  Reply
  26. Ishikawa  gun
    AdmNaismith  about 15 years ago

    Jesus has nothing to say about this. Jesus is a myth manufactured out of every heroic story that came before. If there is an omnipotent god, it clearly doesn’t manifest itself in any human’s everyday life. There is more to worry about in my everyday life that what some distant entity thinks.

    We Men here on Earth have instituted laws that are meant to guarantee equality for all citizens, and I have no intention of giving any of those up in deference to people who lead shallow, narrow lives and keep invisible friends.

     •  Reply
  27. Amnesia
    Simon_Jester  about 15 years ago

    Wilberry Jesus also said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

    Were you a virgin on your wedding night?

    And the Book of Leviticus also says…

    “For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him.” (Leviticus 20:9)

    “Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property.” (Leviticus 25:44-45)

    ( This was a favored quote of Southern Preachers during the debate on slavery in America )

    “But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are an abomination to you.” (Leviticus 11:10)

    And has anyone else here noticed something?

    Why is it that the folks who always refer to President Obama by cuch ‘clevurr’ names as ‘Jackazz’, ‘The Great Imposter,’ ‘BoZo,’ etc. ALSO like to bring God into their posts now and again?

     •  Reply
  28. 1107121618000
    CorosiveFrog Premium Member about 15 years ago

    I just reread Genesis 19. Homosexuality is not explicitly mentioned, generations of people speculated (and probably projected) that since the city was called sodom, the said sin was sodomy (homosexuality). Fact is, there is so many sins in that part of the Bible (rape, incest, assault to messengers of God and yes, extra-marital sex in just one chapter. Who knows, maybe Lot’s neighbors were even eating rare pork with cheese, OMG!) that you can pick your own favorite and call it Sodom’s sin.

    I use a french translation of Saint Jerome’s Vulgata that my mother gave me but don’t forget that Genesis was composed long before the invention of the french, english and even latin languages. So, it is more probable that somebody designated homosexuality as sodomy after the Bible city than the other way around (logic, but many people forget it).

    The Sodom’s sin = homosexuality proponents have a point in the fact that the crowd said, according to the Bible; “bring them out so we can know them” (Gen, 19 v.5). In the Bible, the verb “to know” is often used as an euphemism for “to have sex with”, but not always.

    Frankly, do you see a whole village yelling at somebody’s door in the middle of the night “Hey, Lot! Get those two foreing s@ckers down here so we can f@ck their brains out!”. I see one drunk guy doing that, a small group of four or six, maybe but a whole village??? Unless they were rioting. In that case, Sodom was not always lawless (no authority, no hierarchy, nothing to revolt against). Pagan sex was not that wild. Yes, there was sacred prostitution in Babylon and the prostitutes were under the protection of Ishtar. But sacred prostitution was in the privacy of temples. Even the roman sacred orgies, baccanals, were not out on the street like you see in Sodom and no rape took place.

    We can all speculate on what these villagers were up to when they knocked on Lot’s door; maybe they were curious, paranoid about that stranger, maybe they wanted to rob him. In all cases, if they were gay, what would they do with Lot’s daughters anyway? From what I read, they seem to me like rioters, paranoid about that stranger (see Gen 19, v.5) “acting like he’s the juge, here”. Such paranoia is often seen in places under the threat of war.

    If I wanted to push it very far and speculate, I’d say maybe THEY thought Lot was up to something no good; late at night,with strangers, doors closed… wink wink :). To me, Sodom’s sin seem to be hostility and violence toward strangers.

    The croud’s intentions may or may not have been to have homosexual sex with the stranger but to assume it right away is pure projection.

    Also, the Sodom’s sin = homosexual sex idea leaves a kick @ss loophole; in condemns anal sex between to men, but doesn’t mention sex between two women! :D

     •  Reply
  29. Campina 2
    deadheadzan  about 15 years ago

    curiosity1, very nicely stated. The cartoon is a powerful image- the wedding of truth and liberty. Women got a couple good roles in truth and liberty.

     •  Reply
  30. New bitmap image
    NoFearPup  about 15 years ago

    You folks act like you want to know what God says about homosexuality…but then you tear apart the only collective witness that validates anything that can be called a “GOD” by rational standards. And then proceed to remake God into what you think He must be and what He must be for or against, and then use as your only proof what YOU think… I’m not condemning anyone here - I’m glad you are having the discussion. But if you don’t want to entertain a plausible answer that disagrees with your prejudices, why bother?

    The clearest inference that can be made from your collective protestations is that you all don’t want a God to have jurisdiction over your actions, and be able to judge them…

    Just some thoughts to share on a lazy Good Friday afternoon…

     •  Reply
  31. Campina 2
    deadheadzan  about 15 years ago

    Bunny, I, for one do not want to know what your version of god has to say about homosexuality. I have heard it over and over, and I thank the goddess that I have been a pantheist all my life.

     •  Reply
  32. New bitmap image
    NoFearPup  about 15 years ago

    Hi! DHZan…So you believe in many gods..or many faiths? Believeme I don’t want to debate today…I’m just curious.

     •  Reply
  33. Latest
    Kevin Parker Premium Member about 15 years ago

    WillBerry, Jesus (if he existed and the Bible quotes him accurately, both of which I doubt) never said a reported word about homosexuals, but he did repeatedly condemn divorce: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery; and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. (Matthew 5:32; 19:9; Mark 10:11-11; Luke 16:17) So it would be more Christian to leave gays alone and go after divorced people… like, say, Ronald and Nancy Reagan.

     •  Reply
  34. Campina 2
    deadheadzan  about 15 years ago

    Buns- my pantheism in as uncomplicated a thought as I can make it is: we all as individuals share a common collective soul- now add in all life including stones, animal, vegetable and mineral. We exist individually and also in, I believe it is refered to as a quantum manner that has us belonging to an interconnected web of life. It works for me.

     •  Reply
  35. 1107121618000
    CorosiveFrog Premium Member about 15 years ago

    dhz; Your vision is pretty much like the Indu’s Brama/Atman and the buddhist Samsara.

    I do believe that God’s word can be found through reason and compassion. The Bible may be 2000 pages long, but I don’t think just a book can contain all that God intended for us. That’s why He gave us our own reason and conscience as compasses to ga back to him.

     •  Reply
  36. 1107121618000
    CorosiveFrog Premium Member about 15 years ago

    The Ten Commandments can be summed up by two; Love God and Love Thy Neighbor.

    If you love God, you won’t curse His name, you won’t adore other Gods, will respect the day he kept as sacred and certainly won’t adore a peice of gold or metal instead on the real thing.

    If you love thy neighbor, you won’t steal his stuff, you won’t lie about him, you won’t kill him, you won’t steal his wife (or anything that’s “his”) and your parents are the most importants of those “neighbors”, they’re the ones who gave you life, so double-love them.

     •  Reply
  37. New bitmap image
    NoFearPup  about 15 years ago

    Thanks DeadheadZ for your response. Cor Frog you are an amazing person! Being able to read and write in two languages is an awesome skill!

     •  Reply
  38. 1107121618000
    CorosiveFrog Premium Member about 15 years ago

    ^^ For a french-canadian, it’s just a start. Believe me!

     •  Reply
Sign in to comment

More From Tom Toles