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President Bartlet: Good. I like your show. I like how you call homosexuality an abomination. Dr. Jenna Jacobs: I don’t say homosexuality is an abomination, Mr. President. The Bible does. President Bartlet: Yes, it does. Leviticus. Dr. Jenna Jacobs: 18:22. President Bartlet: Chapter and verse. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions while I had you here. I’m interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She’s a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be? While thinking about that, can I ask another? My Chief of Staff Leo McGarry insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or is it okay to call the police? Here’s one that’s really important ’cause we’ve got a lot of sports fans in this town: Touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean. Leviticus 11:7. If they promise to wear gloves, can the Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame? Can West Point? Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother John for planting different crops side by side? Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads? What Bartlet says in this TV show, is indeed chapter and verse. Further, the point he is making is a very valid point. A point I too hold. For whatever reason, that was the law, but then the law was fulfilled. I once prayed for God to let me know if being gay, active or inactive, was a sin. A three word verse came to me as my answer. God is love. Peace Billy

Ever wondered what Lady Galadriel said to Sauron as she spanked him back to the East in Peter Jackson's "Battle of the Five Armies"? You have no power here, servant of Morgoth! You are nameless, Faceless, Formless! Go back to the Void from whence you came! Morgoth was the mighty evil tyrant of yesteryear, in his origin the most powerful of the angels of Eru and rather similar in many ways to the Adversary of Christian Apocrypha. To learn of Morgoth, the servants of Morgoth, and the Void, read Tolkien's "The Silmarillion, arguably the greatest of his works. As a boy, I despised "The Silmarillion," because it is the least accessible work by Tolkien and the least finished, more an outline in truth than a proper story like "The Lord of the Rings." I found it impenetrable and put it down for twenty years, but when I picked it up again, I perceived it was deeper by far and more meaningful, one might even say a fuller and superior realization of the author's religion. For my part, I find the Silmarillion more satisfying than the Bible. It is a wonderful fusion between the Christian faith and the Pagan. Eru is not some proud, vengeful, ridiculous, demented Old Testament deity, but a fully realized Christian God, loving and kind and mystical and beyond comparison, embodying the philosophy of Jesus, but employing the methods and manners of Paganism, magic and wonder and mystery. What Tolkien gave to us is a revelation. I do not bother with the Bible's Revelations, boring prattle penned by politicking patriarchs, more reflections of the power struggles of their age than the divine or the wise. I like Tolkien's take on religion and I think he improved upon what he inherited from his ancestors.

Life's curves I don't know, I get so confused sometimes. I listen to people talk, read stories (fiction, i know) and like all stories there's usually a grain of truth in them. They do came from someone's experiences. Like it's been said, there's nothing new under the sun. Years ago I admitted to a friend that being gay scared me not because of what other people thought, since I had been through so much already by the age of 27 to worry with opinions not my own. It scared me because I never saw any older gay couples and I didn't want to die alone. I think the fear of dying alone made me reach out through the internet to feel close to more people since I was limited at home. Through all the chemo, radiation, and other crap I had to deal with, I was always scared of dying alone. I mean I knew my parents would always be there for me, but I mean that someone, that special someone. Yet the more I learn about life, the more I feel alone. I don't even know why I'm writing this. I'm not in remission yet, but I should be soon. So, I guess I'm getting better. There's still the bone marrow transplant donor to find and do. But, things are looking better again. Yet, I also see now that I missed out on so much as a teenager. I think I would trade my life today to have had a normal life as a teenager. Making all the mistakes and finding the new experiences. I guess I'm making a fool of myself. Tonight I set up most of the night reading a long story on nifty and envied the characters, even the sad ones. At least they got to experience life. I guess after so many years of battling my battles, I'm starting to become a little bitter over it. I do treasure my online friends, even some of the old guys that pretended to be teens before they either literally died from old age or disappeared. Life isn't always fair, in fact, it rarely is. But, I have to have the hope and belief that if you pour yourself into life, in the long run, it's all worth it. I am however real enough to know that's not always true. And it saddens me to see people have to deal with the worst life can throw at you. I wish the world wasn't like that. And like I said earlier, I dunno why I'm writing this, but here it is, raw, unedited me. Please, if you feel you can't take anymore, it will get better. There's nothing life can throw at us that we can't over come or find a way around it, it will get better. Nothing last forever, including the bad times, it will get better. Reach out to someone, talk to someone, share your feelings, it will get better. Never ever give up, it will get better. There are organizations that are there to help us through the bad times, it will get better. The Trevor Project is just one of those, reach out to them, support their work, it will get better. The Trevor Project

My hometown is hosting gymnastics try-out for Olympics. Today is men's final. Though I couldn't afford a ticket ($100+, if you want a good seat), but I still went to HP Pavilion with my camera. It turned out there were some event hosting at the park next to it as a pre-show event. Many people went. For some reason, some religion people with their picket signs showed up. You know, the kind that tells you you're going to h*ll unless you believe in Jesus Christ. And of course, the hate sign.... I think it had the words fornication and homosexual on it. Of all days, they picked the men's gymnastics final to do their protest.... For crying out loud, there were lots of kids in that event. Shame on them for corrupting our youth. OMG.... Where is the family value? (in case you haven't noticed..., I am being sarcastic) Fortunately, I didn't wear my purple t-shirt, because there was another guy wore the same one.... That would be TRULY embarrassing. Instead, I wore an orange ringer that says Lake Tahoe or Bust. That probably made me look borderline straight, or at least confusing, so I wasn't attacked by Jesus-loving haters. On the other side of the fornication sign, it said, "I love to forgive." Cool, because I love to forgive, too. Most of the time.... Honestly, if there weren't so many kids and police around, I would go up and ask them if they would forgive people like me. I really would love to see their faces. I hope I didn't look too straight to them. I think my camera had some magical power. When I pointed my camera at them, one of them felt shameful and his picket sign went flaccid. Round One: Camera 1, Picket fence 0. Next time I should use a Holga (mine is the version with monkey sticker on it), then I'll really teach them the power of Homo Lomo. On the brighter side. I think men's gymnastics pulled a lot of guys out of their closets Silicon Valley computer desks. I really didn't expect so many guys to show up. Many wore shorts so they showed their nice gymnasts look-alike calves. Fortunately I hike a lot so my own calves didn't embarrass me. I know.... so vane.... There were two guys went together, and wore the same t-shirt. Don't know what it said in the front, but the back said, "the hardest sport in the world" with the word "hardest" in red print.... I don't know..., but I think they might be fornicators in the eyes of Jesus.... I know... I am rambling..., please forgive me. But I am so excited because it's my first gay pride parade.... Wait..., it's men's gymnastics final.... Oops.