Stomp the Stigma - May is Mental Health Awareness Month

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSfntKqtsJY

Take Action Against Bullying of ANY Kind!

Stand Up for Those Who Can't Stand Up for Themselves!

Anti Bullying Creative Action (ABCA)
http://www.antibullyingweek.co.uk

Working together creatively to tackle bullying and violence in schools, communities and the work place.

Everyone has a responsibility to help prevent bullying. We can all make a difference; the bystander can intervene, the bully can end violence, the bullied can learn strategies and we can all help educate the ignorants out there.

Basic anti-bullying advice:
- Tell someone
- Don't stay quiet about it
- Empower yourself
- Find a way to stand your ground
- Keep eye contact with the bully
- Have open body language
- Stay with friends
- Practice sport and healthy eating
- Have some responsibility for yourself
- Remember you have rights
- Take action

Bullying can take many forms including:
- Racist bullying
- Homophobic bullying
- Hitting/Kicking/Spitting
- Name calling
- Spreading malicious rumours
- Isolating
- Oppressing
- Stealing
- Taking away your friends
- Threats and intimidation
- Damaging belongings
- Frightening or scaring
- Making/sending abusive phone calls or SMS's
- Posting insulting internet messages or IM's

Another Thought on US Immigration Laws

Just to be clear, I certainly do not support the influx of illegal aliens in the United States. I hope that Arizona will pass a bill that will prosecute the businesses that are hiring the illegal immigrants. I think that would be far more effective in stopping their problem.

I often try to put myself in someone else’s shoes (it’s called empathy, in case anyone is curious), and I wonder what it would be like if the Baden-Württemberg police began to stop me, and other foreigners, on the street and ask to see my residency visa because I wear my engagement ring on my left hand, just to make sure I am here legally. That would become a real pain after a while... Oh wait. I don't wear my engagement ring since I moved to Germany for just that reason! Not because there is a law to incentivize the police to check my “papers” to see if I am here illegally, but because I don’t want to be singled out as a foreigner and treated as an outsider who isn’t wanted here. It's a good thing I can take off my ring and keep my mouth shut so no one will ever know that I'm really not a citizen of this country. I suspect that legal Hispanic immigrants in Arizona have a harder time blending in with the European-Americans...

An Embarrassing Day for European-Americans

As a "European-American" and a foreigner, I find this Arizona state legislation extremely disturbing... Rachel Maddow does a great job summarizing the issue.

I wonder how many of the people who support this type of legislation have ever lived as a foreigner, legal or otherwise, in another country for more than their 3 month study abroad program in college, or a vacation... Or for that matter have ever been issued a US Passport. Or better yet, have ever studied US History beyond the one class they took in high school - I'm looking at you, tea-partiers!

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April 26: Rachel Maddow exposes the origins of Arizona's new immigration law in the racist Federation for American Immigration Reform.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3096434/vp/36791568#36791568

Lord, Save Us From Your Followers

Why is the Gospel of Love Dividing America?

If you were to meet ten average Americans on the street, nine of them would say they believe in God. So why is the Gospel of Love dividing America?

Dan Merchant put on his bumper-sticker-clad jumpsuit and decided to find the reason. After talking with scores of men and women on streets all across the nation, and also interviewing many well-known activists in today’s “Culture Wars,” Dan realized that the public discussion of faith doesn’t have to be contentious.

From its opening Talking Heads sequence through its touching look at faith in action, Lord, Save Us From Your Followers is a fast-paced, highly engaging documentary that explores the collision of faith and culture in America while opening up this important conversation to all of us.

As discussion of religion floods the media, the rhetoric is divisive, hyper, and most often, angry. With humor more common in a comedy-sketch program than a documentary, Merchant brings the sensibilities of someone who is deeply concerned with how his faith is being represented by others. Lord, Save Us provides a provocative, funny, and redemptive discussion that is sure to continue long after the credits run.

Merchant sits down for interviews with well-known people on all sides of this great divide, including best-selling author William Paul Young (The Shack), comedian/politician Al Franken, former “Religious Right” Senator Rick Santorum, noted “liberal evangelical” Tony Campolo, conservative radio host Michael Reagan, and racial reconciliation activist Dr. John Perkins.

If that’s not divergent enough, other features include Bono, Rick Warren, Bill Maher, James Dobson, George Clooney, Jerry Falwell, Stephen Colbert, Ann Coulter, Pat Robertson, Lewis Black, Tony Perkins, Monty Python, and even Stewie from “Family Guy”… along with many others.

Add to that the nationwide man-on-the-street interviews with “Bumper-Sticker Man,” the Culture Wars game show, the “renaming” of St. Paul to New Leningrad, and a controversial and moving “Confession Booth” at Portland’s Gay Pride celebration, and Lord, Save Us From Your Followers delves into religious hot-button issues with candor, humor, and balance.

Engaging, unpredictable, and challenging, Lord, Save Us From Your Followers will change the way you talk about faith!

http://lordsaveusthemovie.com/