Thursday, February 28, 2019

Methodists Vote to Dehumanize Members

If you're straight, you can vote on the issue and go home to your legally sanctioned family and forget about it. For me, it has profound, life-altering consequences. 

Excuse me if I seem strident or overly emotional about this subject. It's just that ...

It is humiliating and degrading when other people get to vote on your value as a person.  Whether in the form of civil rights,  or in the case of this week's vote in the United Methodist Church to double down on the ban against LGBTQ clergy and marriage, it is insulting to reduce human beings to an issue that can just be dismissed by the majority.

Who is the United Methodist Church to take a vote, a popularity poll, about whether fellow human beings, made in God's image, are worthy of full participation in the community of faith?

I've experienced this many times and I'm sick of it. Even though I'm not Methodist, I have history with that denomination. I learned a lot about social justice and ecumenism working in campus ministry at Nebraska Wesleyan University back in the 80s. Under the sponsorship of the UMC chaplain, I started, along with a lesbian friend,  the very first gay and lesbian group on campus (we weren't yet fully enlightened about bi and trans sisters and brothers at the time). The excitement was dampened when the chaplain was fired, in part, because of it.

In 1991, I left the Presbyterian Church USA because a majority voted for the umpteenth time to deny full membership to LGBTQ people.  No matter how big my theological school scholarship was, no matter how many positions I held, or how much ministry I was involved in, I couldn't be ordained simply because of my sexual orientation. You bet I took it personally.

I took it personally when in 1992, a majority of Coloradoans voted to suspend all civil rights protections for LGBTQ people.

I take it personally when I see protesters outside a public event holding signs that say, "God hates fags."

I take it personally when bakery owners refuse to serve gay customers. It's not some far away legal question when because my personal civil rights interfere with the comfort and self-righteousness of some religious fundamentalist, the matter has to go to the Supreme Court.

I take it personally because it is personal for me. LGBTQ equality in church and society are not some abstract issue. My humanity cannot be reduced to an academic debate over carefully selected scripture passages taken out of the context in which they originated thousands of years ago. I cannot respectfully listen to the opinion of the "other side" because they are wrong and they are trying oppress me.

If you're straight, you can vote on the issue and go home to your legally sanctioned family and forget about it. When the vote is about you, it has profound, life-altering consequences.

So excuse me if I seem defensive. Pardon me if my anger seems a little out of proportion. Forgive me if my existence makes you uncomfortable. It's because once again, I have to stand up and defend my value as a person.

Footnote: I'm happy to say that the Presbyterian Church USA has since reversed its position and now ordains and marries LGBT people. Amendment 2, the antigay law Colorado voted for, was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

What I Learned About Myself Online

I'm not so sure the government doesn't also keep tabs, but since the IRS and the Veterans Administration are still using computers from the 80s and 90s, I'm not too worried about Uncle Sam knowing how many times I look at "Hairy Chests Dot Com."

I recently read in the Huffington Post about how you can look at the data that Facebook and Google have collected on you. This data allows them to help their advertisers sell stuff directly to you instead of disseminating commercials widely and hoping they hit the relevant market by chance.

In case you weren't aware, Facebook and Google and all the other online companies keep every bit of information you ever put on their sites. They also sell it to other online companies. If you've ever looked at porn, booked a table at a restaurant, watched a movie, looked at a white supremacy website, posted a recipe online, or read subversive media such as the Huffington Post, that information is out there. Forever.

This is a chilling prospect to many people - that Big Brother is watching us every time we're connected to the online world. It turns out that Big Brother is not the government in our country like we once feared, but massive corporations trying to sell us stuff. I'm not so sure the government doesn't also keep tabs, but since the IRS and the Veterans Administration are still using computers from the 80s and 90s, I'm not too worried about Uncle Sam knowing how many times I look at "Hairy Chests Dot Com."

If we're truly worried about the data "they" are amassing about us, it would be best to learn what we can about it. I decided to see for myself what Big Data, at least Facebook and Google, has on me.

First, Facebook. HuffPost's David Howley directed me to Settings, then to Ads and Ad Preferences. Here's a little of what I found out about myself:
  • They know that I'm married. 
  • They know I have a TiVo.
  • Their version of my job title is an old one I had listed in LinkedIn a couple of years ago, and is not one I've ever used in Facebook. Someone's been sharing data.
  • My education is listed as "Scottsbluff Senior High School and 2 others." Technically yes. 
  • I live away from my hometown. Check. How does that influence advertising?
  • I am close friends of women with a birthday in 7-30 days. Probably.
  • I have a role in management. Well, that depends on your point of view I guess.
  • I'm into community and social services. Yes.
  • I access Facebook via Chrome. Yes I do.
  • They have my birthday correct.
  • My profession is related to education and libraries. Well, more or less I guess, if you take the long, long view.
  • Frequent international traveler. Check
  • Owns 2 iPads.Wow! How do they know that? I hardly ever use them. They're Clyde's hand me downs. One I only use as an e-reader. The other I don't use at all.
  • Here's the big surprise. I am African American. Whoa! While it's kind of cool that my data indicates that, there is no universe in which I could pass for African American. I'm about the whitest person I know.
On to Google. Go to Account Settings, Data & Personalization, Ad Personalization, and Ad Settings. Here's a sampling of how Google sees me:
  • Male
  • TiVo user.
  • They estimate that because of my YouTube activity, I like American football and basketball. Cue buzzer. Nope. Not even close. I watch mostly Ted Talks and BBC documentaries on YouTube. How do they get basketball out of that?
  • I'm interested in boating. Hmm.
  • And Bollywood and South Asian film. Of all the millions of movies I watch, that is a very small percentage. Very small.
  • I'm interested in Chicago. I have nothing against Chicago, but if you were to ask me what city I was interested in, a few other cities would come up first.
  • Family relationships are important to me. I'll give you that.
  • Motorcycles, gardening, and parenting. Nope. Nada.
  • Restaurants, online video, TV. Yes, absolutely.
Clearly Facebook knows me better than Google. Based on what Google claims to know about me, I must conclude that advertisers are no better off with this data than without. 

So is Big Data less scary than I thought? It would seem so. On the other hand, I'm sure it's getting more sophisticated all the time. In a year or two, I'll bet my info on Google is a lot more accurate. Still, I choose not to worry too much. After all, there is no mention in either place of "Hairy Chests Dot Com."