parenting – Bruce Llama http://www.brucellama.com That's one crazy Llama Mon, 04 Jan 2016 02:22:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.4 Abbott the Rabbit http://www.brucellama.com/2010/01/26/1222/ http://www.brucellama.com/2010/01/26/1222/#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:13:13 +0000 http://www.brucellama.com/?p=1222 [SOURCE]

The Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott has been talking.  The man shouldn’t open his mouth.

In a nutshell, the man, who seeks advice from Cardinal Hell, tells women they should keep their virginity and treat is as a gift – a gift that should be open like a box of chocolates says my Love Llama.

Abbott was once told to keep ‘your rosary off my ovaries’ and yet, here is the potential Australian Prime Minister dictating moral standings to the populace.

“I think all of us should act in ways that value ourselves. I’m trying not to be prescriptive here, I am trying not to be a preacher, but if someone asks my advice I would say don’t do anything you will live to regret if you can possibly help it.”

Yes, indeed, we should act in a way that values ourselves, so mind your own business, you are being prescriptive in trying to inflict your version of morality on other people who do not follow your rather quaint and Victorian views.  If someone asks your advice the correct response is “What do you think?  You should follow your own values”  It’s pretty easy.

In fairness he was probably only asked about girls – he has three himself, but he makes no mention of the same rules applying for the boys.  So off you go then, wave your willy around and see if there are any girls out there with a gift to give you.  I’m going off now to do a bit of willy waving, but not at girls…. I wonder what he feels about that then.

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]]> http://www.brucellama.com/2010/01/26/1222/feed/ 1 Family http://www.brucellama.com/2009/10/25/family/ http://www.brucellama.com/2009/10/25/family/#comments Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:43:18 +0000 http://www.brucellama.com/?p=999 [The Australian Family Association]

The Australian Family Association (AFA) is really keen to make sure it keeps marriage between one man and one woman.  Really keen.  They’ve launched a campaign. They must be running scared. Perhaps the Equal Love campaign has had more success than they thought. Perhaps the recent surveys showing 60% of Australians support equal rights to marriage has then worried.

The AFA likes tradition.  They want marriage to be between one man and one woman, to the exclusion of all others and for a life long commitment.  They want you to get married and stay married, they want you to have children, so lots of breeding.  They also want the woman to stay at home, barefoot no doubt, and the man to go out and work. They think that ‘family’ is all about  being married to a person from the opposite sex, they think life is sacred from conception.  They think that a family is designed, they think the law should punish you if you break your marriage vows.

For them marriage is all about control.  Women are kept by their husbands, there can be no abortions, if you cheat on your partner civil law should punish you, perhaps they would like a public flogging.

Oh, yes, they’re very nice to ‘non-traditional’ relationships.  They acknowledge that there are a variety of human families.  Its very generous of them.

The AFA wants family to be their definition.  They ignore the reality of the world.  People for as long as we can remember come together in convenient  groupings, and when that grouping fails, we move on.  That’s what family is.  It’s what you make it.  Two men living together and raising children is as valid as a man and a women doing the same thing.  Marriage simply creates a method of ownership and control and isn’t needed at all.

I bet, to completely stereotype, the AFA is run by a bunch of crusty old men with a few dried up women who think things were much better in the 1950’s, who think the world would be a much better place if we would all just listen to them.  They have little concept of the real world in the 21st century and would enjoy nothing more than having the power to control peoples lives.

Time and time again these organisations can show no reason why same sex relationships shouldn’t enjoy the same rights as opposite sex relationships.  They continually ignore that most people just get on with their lives regardless of marriage.  People live together and separate as needed, without the legal mumbo jumbo of marriage.  We don’t need civil marriage, we certainly don’t need religious marriage.  Of course, we do need laws that protect children and protect people in relationships, but let’s just get rid of the archaic quaint notion of marriage.  It’s day is done.

While I’m waiting for that to happen, if someone wants to get married, if anyone wants to get married, then let them.  Stop standing in their way.

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]]> http://www.brucellama.com/2009/10/25/family/feed/ 2 Prayers for Bobby http://www.brucellama.com/2009/10/17/prayers-for-bobby/ http://www.brucellama.com/2009/10/17/prayers-for-bobby/#comments Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:41:37 +0000 http://www.brucellama.com/?p=973 [IMDB] [Wikipedia] [PFLAG DC]

Prayers for Bobby is the story of a mother (Mary Griffith) who does everything within her power to cure her son (Bobby) from his homosexuality.

I got to watch the show last night.  It is a very powerful movie and takes you on a roller coaster of emotions.  Made even more powerful because its a true story.

I think the impact on me was because of the use of religion in the film.  The mother uses her faith as a weapon against her son.  Her focus is on the afterlife, making sure that all her family is there.  There is no room in heaven for gay people, and she takes it upon herself to help her son in an effort to make him straight.  He starts out trying to please his mother and finally fails, gives up and heads off to the gay world.

It’s set in the 1980’s, religion is a powerful force and its so hard for Bobby to break away, there’s a lot of heartache as the movie progresses from the late nights, to the prayers, to the disowning of her son and the the suicide of Bobby.

Bobby had to die for the mother to realise what she had lost.  She then goes on to struggle to find peace with her god and can’t.  She so wants her son to be in heaven and can’t find a way in her faith to make it so.

As the film winds up we finally see the mother take on the cause of gay people.  She becomes an activist.

Alas, it’s all too late.

I’ve said this:

It is no longer acceptable to say fucking horrible things against people because of their race, their sexual orientation or their gender.  It is no longer ok to hide behind silly hats, long dresses and dead men on sticks claiming some sort of divine right to be a hate mongering bastard. [SOURCE]

Young people sit in religious services and listen to hatred being spewed from the front, it’s hard to take as you’re growing up and trying to understand what’s happening to you.  As the believers continue to say nasty things about gay people, they don’t take into account that a child is listening to their hate speech.  They are contributing to the on-going suffering and possible death of their children, and it’s really got to stop.

“Before you echo ‘Amen’ in your home or place of worship, think and remember…a child is listening.”
— Mary Griffith

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]]> http://www.brucellama.com/2009/10/17/prayers-for-bobby/feed/ 3 Stop making babies http://www.brucellama.com/2009/07/16/stop-making-babies/ http://www.brucellama.com/2009/07/16/stop-making-babies/#comments Wed, 15 Jul 2009 23:58:05 +0000 http://www.brucellama.com/?p=658 [SOURCE]

Things are so bad in India, they’re just making babies all the time, that the call has gone out to electrify all the villages and install television as a method of contraception.

The theory is that people will stay up all night with their new electric lights, watching television and be so tired that they won’t have time for mutual pulling and poking of their bits.

Umm…. ok.  Wouldn’t it be cheaper to give away some condoms?

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]]> http://www.brucellama.com/2009/07/16/stop-making-babies/feed/ 2 Just get married http://www.brucellama.com/2009/07/10/just-get-married/ Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:49:27 +0000 http://www.brucellama.com/?p=640 I’ve written about marriage plenty of times on this blog.

There’s organisation devoted to keeping marriage between a man and a woman and there’s organisations hoping to achieve equality so all can get married.

The ‘traditionalist’ are frighten that ‘allowing’ men to marry men or women to marry women will bring about the destruction to our civilisation.  They never offer any any evidence for this downfall or suggest just how this might cause the world as we know it to collapse.  They often quote the bible as proof that it was their god’s intention to only have a man marry a women, that their god created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.  They often cite research that indicates children grow up much happier when they are the product of a marriage where the parents stay together, but ignore the fact that there is no evidence to suggest this wouldn’t be the case if the parents were the same sex.

Some years ago the Australian  government under the leadership of John Howard, passed an amendment to the marriage act that essentially removed any hope that people of the same sex could get married.  He changed the act to say that marriage was between one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.  This move was supported by the then opposition who have now come into power.  Activist hope that with the new government will come new hope, and in fact the Australian Government did amend a raft of laws that removed discrimination against all but one thing.  Same sex couples still can’t get married.

Gay people are now seen as mostly equal in the eyes of the Government, even the general population now agrees that discrimination against people because of their sexuality is wrong.  I would guess that most people don’t give a rats arse.

Equal Love has a day of protest coming up on 1st of August and they have released a few YouTube videos that are really very clever and talk about equality.

I’m not one for getting married.  I’m in a very good place in my relationship, I have a Love Llama that I’m very dedicated to and want to spend a considerable amount of time with.  I don’t actually need some legal documentation that tells me I’m married to him.  I love him without that need.  My public declaration of my love for him is seen by those we mix with, we kiss, hold hands, share glances across the table, we hug and touch all the time, being ‘married’ would not change the way we are and would add nothing to our relationship.  In a way we are married if you consider marriage to be a public declaration of love between two people.

I’d be happy to do away with the ‘institution’ of marriage right now.  Throw it out with the christians.  Set up a system where people who share and live together are required to register that relationship but purely as a legal necessity if things should get ugly.

Having said that, I expect and demand that people have the right to choose marriage, regardless of their gender and the gender of their partner.  There is no reason to deny anyone this right any more.  The world will not stop moving just because two poofs hitch up or a couple of lessos tie the knot.  I’d go a step further, and say that as it is a civil contract, any ‘celebrant’ the refuses to marry two men or two women should have their license revoked on the spot.  The one area that seems reluctant to change is that of religion.  They continue to deny homosexuals equal status as members of their congregations, they continue to call homosexuals sick, sinners or abominations.  It’s time to call them to account for their medieval attitudes and force them to conform to the rest of the world.  Religions of the world have shown the ability to change, and here’s another change for them.  It must be mandated, they can no longer hide behind their god and claim that as the reason why they continue to discriminate.

Oh, Love Llama – will you marry me?

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]]> Kiss Kiss http://www.brucellama.com/2009/04/29/kiss-kiss/ Wed, 29 Apr 2009 08:00:30 +0000 http://www.brucellama.com/?p=451 Courage Campaign | Contribute.

NOM

The National Organization for Marriage is an American outfit who are trying to save marriage so that’s its between one woman and one man. All very christian and nice, you know the type.

So, they released a commercial about the ‘coming storm’ and made some outrageous statements – its worth looking at, just so you can laugh. Its high on emotions, but has no ‘facts’ as such.

The NOM seem to link marriage with having children. It is possible to be married and not have children, some people choose that.

The website of NOM has a download, Why Marriage Matters (catholic edition), you can get it in English or Spanish and for catholic, protestant or jew. It lists seven scientific reasons as to why marriage matters. Lets have a look at those reasons, just for the fucking fun of it.

The document quotes it source as the Institute for American Values that claim to contribute intellectually to strengthening families and civil society in the U.S. and the world. How noble of them, how very christian of them, and how revealing that the report from NOM comes from a self serving organisation.

You can find the information from the IAV website, however you have to cough up the money for it. There’s no indication that the survey or studies done are completed by independent bodies. I rather suspect its self interest.

Scientific fact 1:

Marriage reduces the risk of poverty for children and communities

Cool – let gay people get married then. Regardless of whether or not they have children, the risk of poverty is reduced. Mind you, if what you did was increase the pay of single parents, reduced the cost of child care then the fact that they have one income would help them. Married couples are lucky, one of them can stay home, or they can both work and use child care.

Scientific fact 2:

Fatherless households increase crime.

Great – then two father households would reduce the crime rate by 200%? Do they mean that boys are more likely to commit a crime if they have no father figure? Get them a father figure.

Scientific fact 3:

Marriage protects children’s physical and mental health.

It can also fuck it up big time, especially if one of your parents lies and cheats, sexually abuses you, mentally abuses you, physically abuses you.

Scientific fact 4:

Both men and women who marry live longer, healthier and happier lives.

How do you measure happiness? Perhaps they just live longer lives because they don’t want to die before their partner, so as not to give them the satisfaction of driving them to an early grave. How many studies have been done on two married men, do they live longer than a man and a woman? What studies have been done if two women get married? How is this a scientific reason to keep the status quo. What if the evidence indicated that two men living together live longer, will marriage be banned because its a danger to the health of men and women?

Scientific fact 5:

Just living together is not the same as marriage.

Well no. Being married is a legally binding contract. Mind you, plenty of de facto relationships exist and perhaps that’s the same. Any way- why is this a scientific fact? Is it a legal fact?
Scientific fact 6:

Parents who don’t get or stay married put children’s education at risk.

Put it at risk? Put their education at risk? Even if I accept the ‘fact’, the risk is that they get lower point grade averages. Not “no education” their education is fine, they just get a lower score. They are also less likely to end up as college graduates. Umm…. less likely, so that means that its still likely.

Scientific fact 7:

When marriages fail, ties between parents and children typically weaken too.

Well yes, but this fact points more to the divorce process of one parent being given ‘rights’ over the other. Perhaps if the children were put first and parents agreed fully to co-parenting then this would be less of an issue.

The whole notion that marriage and children can only be done with a man and a women is flawed. Children are raised in all sort of circumstances, and a vast majority of them seem to turn out ok. Divorce has been happening in higher numbers since the 60’s and that generation now runs the world. Lets face it, when using statistics to prove your point, or even your scientific fact, you need to actually conduct your experiments in the correct manner, to allow for peer review, and to fully cover the broad spectrum, in this case, of human relationship.

These are not scientific fact, these are results of surveys and studies. Prone to error based on who and how the questions were asked. It’s self serving and does not indicate the ‘other side’ was even considered.

As far as I can tell, there is no evidence to suggest that my children, raised by me a gay llama, raised in straight and gay relationships are any worse off than my straight llama friend who has done it as a married man, a single man and partnered man.

These are not claims against gay marriage.

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]]> Lobby for Jesus http://www.brucellama.com/2009/02/28/lobby-for-jesus/ Sat, 28 Feb 2009 09:08:53 +0000 http://www.brucellama.com/?p=331 Australian Christian Lobby National Homepage.

You know that jesus bloke.  Well, from what I can understand the dirty little jew boy was the son of god, that’d be the god of Abraham, the one true god, the creator of heaven and earth (at last, someone to blame for all the screwups).  Well, it seems that this all powerful deity, who by his own claim is a jealous god (Exodus 20:5), so jealous that if you piss him off he’ll punish not only you but your off spring to the third or fourth generation.  I guess it depends on just how much you piss him off.  Sorry, I’m getting carried away, I know you want to know about the ACL.  It seems that this god thing of theirs, that’s the all powerful one, needs them to lobby for him because he’s too busy, possibly burning Victorians to death or drowning Queenslanders or killing Sudanese or hanging Iranians because they want to change religions.

This crowd are so carried away with their concept of god that they have the audacity to claim to understand why nature (god) intended children to have a mother and father.  Apparently common sense and the natural law say that its the way to go.

Neither common sense or natural law seems to help when children are deprived of their parents.

Its such a load of snuffblat.

The fear that two men or two women can’t raise children as well as a man and a women is misplaced.  Any couple is likely to stuff it up, really.  Its true, its the way of us humans.

The ACL made a submission to Same-sex adoption enquiry and in it they explain their warped logic and tell us that its indulgent social engineering.  This coming from a christian based organisation who’s main purpose in the world is social engineering.

What a bunch of snuts.

ACL Press release

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]]> The trouble with boys http://www.brucellama.com/2008/03/31/the-trouble-with-boys/ Mon, 31 Mar 2008 00:54:06 +0000 http://www.brucellama.com/?p=49 Full Story

This stuff really gets on my alpaca (or goat if you prefer).

The sub-text is that somehow boys are broke and need to be fixed.  Hey, we’re not broke, so stop trying to fix us.  Different, yes, you don’t need a government grant to work that out.  We learn in different ways, we do things differently and we think about sex a lot.  But we don’t need to be taught how to be the sort of men that women want.  I like me just the way I am.  Well apart from the extra weight around my belly button.

There is no trouble with boys, there’s trouble with a system that refuses to allow for differences in the sexes and the way we learn.  Sure, you can separate the sexes, but remember, in this world we all live as one on equal terms, so while it might be good for the girls to get a better start in life, in the end single sex schools teach exclusion and reek of sexism.  Its about time we just got on and taught everyone to the best of their ability and stop trying to fix them.

There.  I said it.  Now I’m going to go and shit in the woods.

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]]> Sperm http://www.brucellama.com/2007/12/10/sperm/ Mon, 10 Dec 2007 07:31:15 +0000 http://www.brucellama.com/index.php/2007/12/10/sperm/ News Story

I just knew that would get your attention.

So – you’re a bloke and you get asked to father a child and you’re told that you’ll never have any involvement with that child.

You agree, and make a lesbian couple very happy.  But drats and darn it – they split up.  Now to my way of thinking, the muffin munchers wanted children, just because you break up doesn’t mean that its ok to now return to your spoof maker and ask him to fork over the dough.  Regardless of what the law expects to happen, children are your responsibility, it doesn’t matter if you are gay or straight or love the smell of sparrow farts, they’re yours regardless.  If you do happen to con some poor hapless sperm factory, and you’ve made it clear that all you want is their DNA – don’t be trying to go back on your agreement down the track.

Courts need to recognise  parental responsibility and get out of the rut of every child has a mother and a father and look at the reality of the world. What’s that?  Its the law makers that make them play by the rules?  Lets change that rule then?  What’s that? Its community attitudes the demand it.  Well, sort yourselves out and change that crappy Victorian era attitude.  Children  and stupid men should not suffer because of this rubbish.  The wrong guy is being made to suffer here.

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