My other entry in Blog Against Theocracy:
Apr. 6th, 2007 03:01 pmThis entry addresses the right to worship OR NOT. What follows are my personal experiences and opinions which I welcome you to disagree with.
There are many places in the United States where you can be a Buddhist, a Pagan, an Agnostic, even a Zoroastrian and people will accept you. These places are most likely to be on either the east or west coast. For those of us who are not lucky enough to reside in either of those locations, finding others who believe as we do is difficult. Factor in familial pressure, and it can make life very stressful indeed.
I did not ask to forgo my Roman Catholic upbringing. I knew I did not think, as is required by the Roman Catholic Church, that the bread and wine ACTUALLY became the body and blood of Jesus Christ when the priest consecrates these items, in a process called the Eucharist. It took me several years to realize I did not have to simply go through the motions, I could actually reject this theology in favor of Agnosticism. Oh I tried to be Christian, but I found that I did not believe Jesus Christ actually lived; he was a story I was told, and yes he could do some really cool and amazing things, but that was as far as it went. A piece of bread is a piece of bread to me, and does not become something it is not even after being prayed upon. In short, I was simply too logical to believe things that no longer added up to me.
Despite all of this, I still believe there is something out there. I cannot classify it; nor do I want to try. But it is there perhaps interacting, but certainly watching us. Whatever it is, it does not come with instructions, rules, or accepted behaviors attached. Why should there be anymore rules than there already are, anyway? Just for some God to control how I act? To me, that makes as much sense as what I was told when I was younger, "Because I'm the mother and I said so." And what happens when I grow up? What happens when that no longer holds any merit?
There are many places in the United States where you can be a Buddhist, a Pagan, an Agnostic, even a Zoroastrian and people will accept you. These places are most likely to be on either the east or west coast. For those of us who are not lucky enough to reside in either of those locations, finding others who believe as we do is difficult. Factor in familial pressure, and it can make life very stressful indeed.
I did not ask to forgo my Roman Catholic upbringing. I knew I did not think, as is required by the Roman Catholic Church, that the bread and wine ACTUALLY became the body and blood of Jesus Christ when the priest consecrates these items, in a process called the Eucharist. It took me several years to realize I did not have to simply go through the motions, I could actually reject this theology in favor of Agnosticism. Oh I tried to be Christian, but I found that I did not believe Jesus Christ actually lived; he was a story I was told, and yes he could do some really cool and amazing things, but that was as far as it went. A piece of bread is a piece of bread to me, and does not become something it is not even after being prayed upon. In short, I was simply too logical to believe things that no longer added up to me.
Despite all of this, I still believe there is something out there. I cannot classify it; nor do I want to try. But it is there perhaps interacting, but certainly watching us. Whatever it is, it does not come with instructions, rules, or accepted behaviors attached. Why should there be anymore rules than there already are, anyway? Just for some God to control how I act? To me, that makes as much sense as what I was told when I was younger, "Because I'm the mother and I said so." And what happens when I grow up? What happens when that no longer holds any merit?
My entry for Blog against Theocracy:
Apr. 6th, 2007 10:34 amI have chosen this topic:
Respect for ALL (based on love, not sexual orientation).
First, I'd like to say that these are my experiences, and they are my personal opinions. So you are free to disagree, I give you permission or whatever.
Life itself is hard. There's the birth itself, which may go off without a hitch, or it may not. One could end up fighting for life at three months premature and spend the next three months in the hospital. There's also anything and everything that can happen during one's life. People get in accidents, grandparents and parents die a natural death of old age, unemployment, raising children, not to mention simply living with another person and the sort of disagreements that can bring. For example, does the toilet paper roll get inserted so that it is over or under?
Stress happens, even in the least stressful situations. Why would one choose to add to that stress by discrediting a family member's experiences and feelings because that person is homosexual or bisexual? It is often not a just "a phrase you're going through." Most likely the person in question has given this issue careful thought and come to the logical conclusion that this is a part of who the person is. It is not against God, unnatural and the person cannot "beat these feelings". It is who she is.
Let us not forget that once upon a time, and even more recently than we would like to admit, children who were left-handed were taught to write with their right hands. When I was 18, I had a roommate who was 25. She and her older brother were both made to use their right hands to write. However, we have gotten past that foul notion that left-handed people are of the devil. I hope that we will see the time when homosexuals, bisexuals and those of other alternative sexualities, are truly accepted for who they are.
Respect for ALL (based on love, not sexual orientation).
First, I'd like to say that these are my experiences, and they are my personal opinions. So you are free to disagree, I give you permission or whatever.
Life itself is hard. There's the birth itself, which may go off without a hitch, or it may not. One could end up fighting for life at three months premature and spend the next three months in the hospital. There's also anything and everything that can happen during one's life. People get in accidents, grandparents and parents die a natural death of old age, unemployment, raising children, not to mention simply living with another person and the sort of disagreements that can bring. For example, does the toilet paper roll get inserted so that it is over or under?
Stress happens, even in the least stressful situations. Why would one choose to add to that stress by discrediting a family member's experiences and feelings because that person is homosexual or bisexual? It is often not a just "a phrase you're going through." Most likely the person in question has given this issue careful thought and come to the logical conclusion that this is a part of who the person is. It is not against God, unnatural and the person cannot "beat these feelings". It is who she is.
Let us not forget that once upon a time, and even more recently than we would like to admit, children who were left-handed were taught to write with their right hands. When I was 18, I had a roommate who was 25. She and her older brother were both made to use their right hands to write. However, we have gotten past that foul notion that left-handed people are of the devil. I hope that we will see the time when homosexuals, bisexuals and those of other alternative sexualities, are truly accepted for who they are.
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