I've been reading a friend's blog about her path from Christian Fundamentalism to atheism. I don't agree with her on the assumption that there is no god or deity of any kind, but I don't think that her life is worse without such belief or better with it.
I've tried on several occasions to articulate exactly what it is that I believe and why. I think this might be a good time to take a look again.
I believe in the existence of deity. A being, a mind that is greater than our own. I cannot tell you which is older. Perhaps we invented it, a product of the collective consciousness of millions of people over thousands of years. The sheer power of the human mind, reinforced and collected over millenia. Or perhaps we come from it, a creator that brought us into being, to add to itself, or to not be alone.
I believe in the existence of this deity because I've encountered it. I don't expect that anyone else should take this as evidence. I could have been delusional. I don't think I was. It was a deeply personal experience with something more, something greater than myself.
The hard part about defining such a being, something that exists outside of our perceived reality, is language is almost exclusively used to define concrete existence. To define something is to place a limit on it. If something is good, it cannot be evil. If it is male, it cannot be female. If it is omnipotent, it cannot be weak.
I'm inclined to think that Deity is neither good nor evil. I think it is a source of life and energy, and it is a driving force to our existence. We learn and grow, and that existence feeds the Divine, in turn empowering us. A symbiosis. The gods do not show favoritism to one being over another. However, as a part of the Divine's existence, we have the capacity to tap into that energy and make changes in the world.
I don't think you'll meet the Divine in some book, or by some special technique. Each must find their own path, and some will not need the gods to do it. I doubt that anything as powerful as a god could be so insecure as to demand that everyone worship it, or so petty as to punish people for not believing in the absence of evidence to the contrary. If it were, then it could only be a creation of mortals, rather than the other way around, needing to take its power from the worship of its followers. That isn't symbiosis, but more of a parasitic relationship.
When I engage in worship of the Divine, I use symbols to focus myself. The Sun, the Moon, The Earth, the Elements, The Goddess and the God.
Could I be wrong? Could I be delusional? Absolutely. But I really don't think it matters. It gives me comfort to think that there's something out there, something greater than myself. I'm not denying facts, I'm just acknowledging the limitations of my knowledge. I don't know for certain, so what difference does it make?
Monday, April 8, 2013
Saturday, April 6, 2013
I Don't Believe in Homosexuality.
You'll be surprised where this is going. Pay attention.
A few years ago, I was talking to my sister and she informed me that her daughter, my niece, was bisexual (and for the record, still is). I'd come a long way since my years under cult influence. Before, I'd been unsure of how to feel about homosexuals and their lifestyle. By the point of this conversation, I knew there was nothing wrong with my niece and was glad that she could accept herself.
I'd recently taken a class on human sexuality and the discussion triggered a series of thoughts in my mind. How do you classify a woman who believes she is actually a man and is attracted to women? Is she gay for having a vagina and being attracted to women, or straight for believing she should have a penis and having the same attraction? If she undergoes surgery and now has a penis and is still attracted to women? We could run through the same questions for a man who believes he's a woman. What if a person believes they are androgynous and is attracted to one gender or the other? What if they're only attracted to other androgynous people? Hermaphrodites? What if a person has no sexual drive or desire whatsoever? Or a person who can only find sexual release through self stimulation?
Consider a woman who is in a relationship with a female to male transgender? Is she gay or straight? If the one she's with is male to female? What about a pre-female to male transgender living with a post op male to female?
How do you categorize a person who interest in their own gender is only a phase in their development? or perhaps their interest in the opposite gender is only passing? Perhaps sex itself is only a passing phase? or perhaps their art and thus the center of their self-expression?
Even along the limited perspective of 2 genders, the terms Homosexual, Heterosexual, and Bisexual fall quite short of adequate. Take for instance three men who categorize themselves as Bisexual. One may have a strong preference for men, another for women, and the third may like both equally. One could then consider that the one with a preference for men may have a higher overall libido, that he may take on more partners in a shorter period of time, or may have sex more often with just one or two partners, while the others get by with having sex less often or with fewer overall people.
So, no, I don't believe in homosexuality. Or heterosexuality. or bisexuality. Human beings just aren't that simplistic. So go, satisfy your wants, urges and needs in whatever way seems best to you, with whomever you find attractive. Stop worrying about categorizing yourself.
A few years ago, I was talking to my sister and she informed me that her daughter, my niece, was bisexual (and for the record, still is). I'd come a long way since my years under cult influence. Before, I'd been unsure of how to feel about homosexuals and their lifestyle. By the point of this conversation, I knew there was nothing wrong with my niece and was glad that she could accept herself.
I'd recently taken a class on human sexuality and the discussion triggered a series of thoughts in my mind. How do you classify a woman who believes she is actually a man and is attracted to women? Is she gay for having a vagina and being attracted to women, or straight for believing she should have a penis and having the same attraction? If she undergoes surgery and now has a penis and is still attracted to women? We could run through the same questions for a man who believes he's a woman. What if a person believes they are androgynous and is attracted to one gender or the other? What if they're only attracted to other androgynous people? Hermaphrodites? What if a person has no sexual drive or desire whatsoever? Or a person who can only find sexual release through self stimulation?
Consider a woman who is in a relationship with a female to male transgender? Is she gay or straight? If the one she's with is male to female? What about a pre-female to male transgender living with a post op male to female?
How do you categorize a person who interest in their own gender is only a phase in their development? or perhaps their interest in the opposite gender is only passing? Perhaps sex itself is only a passing phase? or perhaps their art and thus the center of their self-expression?
Even along the limited perspective of 2 genders, the terms Homosexual, Heterosexual, and Bisexual fall quite short of adequate. Take for instance three men who categorize themselves as Bisexual. One may have a strong preference for men, another for women, and the third may like both equally. One could then consider that the one with a preference for men may have a higher overall libido, that he may take on more partners in a shorter period of time, or may have sex more often with just one or two partners, while the others get by with having sex less often or with fewer overall people.
So, no, I don't believe in homosexuality. Or heterosexuality. or bisexuality. Human beings just aren't that simplistic. So go, satisfy your wants, urges and needs in whatever way seems best to you, with whomever you find attractive. Stop worrying about categorizing yourself.
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