Category Archives: Faith

PAD 2/8/13 – Reincarnation

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“Reincarnation: do you believe in it?”

 I know it’s true. I’ve done this before. Living and all. I’ve written about this before as well, back in my old LiveJournal. I’ve had many lives and I have impressions of at least the most recent past one. It’s comedy gold that in the most recent past life I was a catholic priest somewhere in the United Kingdom. Lots of wet, lots of cold, lots of cliffs. I also know that the people in my life now were in that prior life as well. The dramas that I played out in this life were strikingly similar to things that happened before. One of the best kept little jokes about existence is that human beings reincarnate and that gender is at best, incidental and at worst, accidental. Your soul isn’t male or female, your body is. You change those out like socks, except for the timescale, the analogy is quite apt, I think. So, in many ways there is no reason for me to fear death, there may still be an undiscovered country, but if so, this is it. Or it’s not and there is something new coming. The best part of living is that you never know whether you get to go again on the merry-go-round of life or if you get to hop off of it on the path towards enlightenment. Perhaps the path doesn’t exist and it’s all just hopping on and off the merry-go-round. I don’t know. But what I do know is that we all have done these things before, we’ve danced before, lived, loved, laughed, and fought. We’ll most likely continue this until we either stop or there isn’t any more life left in the Universe – or not. The best part of thinking about reincarnation is the “or not” part. It’s vital, I think, to allow the “or not” into your life. It lets you remain flexible when and where you need it.

So, round we go, all of us, once again. Dizzy yet? 🙂

PAD 1/31/13 – Burnt

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“Remember yesterday, when your home was on fire and you got to save five items? That means you left a lot of stuff behind. What are the things you wish you could have taken, but had to leave behind?”

What would fire consume? Everything. That’s what insurance is for. There are things I would miss. Things that weren’t saved because there is just too much of it, it’s too difficult to rescue or move in time. What kind of things would I miss? My wardrobe, Scott’s comic books, our extensive entertainment library with both DVD’s and books. So much would be lost, but that’s one of the reasons why there is safety equipment at home and fire extinguishers, but even then, disaster could strike.

There is something about living simply which bears here I think. The wisdom that if you have a lot of things in your life that in certain ways, you don’t own the stuff, but rather the stuff owns you. Reducing the amount of stuff you own is likely a wiser move, but it runs so much against American culture, that you own or rent a residence and then fill it full of treasure and then keep it. Adding to it and never reducing it. I’ve read so many articles online about radical simplification and there is something in it. I cannot deny the wisdom in living simply and rejecting the consumer culture that abounds here in America. Always having more stuff and adding more stuff to that just doesn’t make much rational sense.

This works a lot like greed in a certain way as well. People are driven by greed to always increase the amount of money they have, to earn more, corner the market, whatever it takes to maximize your fiscal health. I don’t think I could be any more left-leaning if I tried. I’ve said before and I still believe this that the irrational accumulation of stuff is just as silly as the irrational accumulation of wealth. It runs directly against capitalism which pushes us all towards making as much money and keeping it as possible, even beyond rational understanding. I think that you should earn what can make your life comfortable and anything beyond that is actually wrong. I’ve thought long and hard about this and I put the limit on personal wealth at $75,000 a year. Beyond $75,000 and the money does less and less for you. Eventually that money means nothing and it starts to injure you. Look at the filthy rich, they lead lives of plenty with endless funds and they are miserable human beings. They are sad, they abuse drugs or alcohol, they act irresponsibly and generally are poor little rich people, devoid of true happiness. Sometimes, when I’m feeling very liberal I do spend time considering the forceful redistribution of individual wealth, where everyone’s wealth is capped at $75,000 and those who don’t earn enough to reach that limit are given money so that they can reach it, on the backs of the rich who, lets face it, wouldn’t even notice the money being gone. This of course would upset anyone who is a capitalist and would brand me as a socialist – why stop there, why not just go all the way to communism? Yes, I write this out of mean spite. I don’t really think the world will ever be like this idea in my head, but after years of watching the poor, the children, and the disadvantaged suffer while the rich build their obnoxious residences and waste their money on worthless endeavors, it’s actually a great reaction. Consider it not in terms of capitalism but rather in terms of suffering. How much suffering could be alleviated by forcefully redistributing the wealth of the richest people amongst us? I think it’s a worthy to consider a world like this, because to me, this seems to be something that Jesus himself would likely smile at and approve of. It has always struck me as odd, how people can maintain the wealth disparity in our society with their self-professed belief in Christianity.

I look forward to your spirited responses to this idea. 🙂

PAD 1/15/2013 – Arguments

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“It’s never a good idea to discuss religion or politics with people you don’t really know.” Agree or disagree?

 Without a doubt this is the one piece of advice that has taken me the longest time to learn and I had to learn it all by myself, which of course is the most difficult way but what you learn is honestly yours. I used to engage in arguments with my family over religion and politics and those arguments just upset me, or irritated me, and the central thing that really got to me was that nobody was really listening. They weren’t listening to me and I wasn’t listening to them. It was easy for me to not listen to them because in both situations they were preaching from their comfort zone and since they were family I knew for years and years the extents of those arguments. Nothing they said impressed me or had value to change my mind. Either the arguments were self-referential and circular, as in the religious arguments – not discussing how things might be but rather arguing over the shape and form of scripture that was already established. I was questioning everything from the beginning and the family member I was arguing with never questioned those parts but started all their arguments from what was written down and starting from there. Honestly I think we could never actually have a good conversation on religion because I had dismissed the pretext of their entire religious argument. With politics it’s quite the same, instead of scripture it was a political playbook which was constantly being spooled against me. Thinking really wasn’t a part of the argument as it was mostly scripted shorthand being flung at me and blanket protestations that anything but the way that my family member saw the world was the correct way.

Politics, Religion, Climate – these are the toxic pillars that people really shouldn’t discuss. That’s why faith, at least in America is a very private thing and I am fine with people practicing whatever faith they have as long as they keep it out of the public space. Months ago, during the Christmas season we went to the local mall and a church group was leading a Christmas sing-a-long in the public space of the mall. The violation of that space, a public pluralistic space which suddenly was filled with singing with lyrics that included “Fall on your knees” and references to Christ abounded. I don’t have any problems if those things are sung in church or private homes or even in public spaces when I see that I am walking into that situation. What I walked into was a passionate christian sing-a-long powered by a flashmob. I started to get jumpy and uncomfortable, it was awkward and embarrassing and irritating. Politics is only slightly less upsetting in public spaces, in this vein. Working in a public institution of higher learning you have to accept that sometimes you’ll run into political or religious crazies on campus with a bullhorn trying to convert or accuse students of impure living or wrong political thinking. Even where I work the space is different, it doesn’t upset me because you sort of “expect the unexpected” in a college or university setting. Even in that space it’s more of a sideshow entertainment than a space for actual discourse. I don’t think that discourse is possible, so these topics really should be a matter of personal self-contemplation and secret ballot. You should vote secretly and you should seek out spaces where your religious pursuits match those of those around you as close as possible. Anything else invites disaster.

To other people considering this very question I would tell you that you should just skip it. Don’t engage in the battle. People aren’t really interested in modifying their positions when it comes to religion or politics so it’s best to remain silent and nudge any incoming arguments that touch on these topics to other less upsetting subjects. In many ways, much like the Golden Retriever in Disney’s “UP” movie, sometimes the best response to a political or religious argument is “Squirrel!”

Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond Of Each Other

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I saw this news item from thinkprogress.org:

 

“Republican House Leader Vows To Use ‘Power Of Humiliation’ To Undermine LGBT Program”

My first reaction was a knee-jerk one of course. “What is it to you?” What is it about gay people that gets these particular people all worked up? I’ve always wanted to know that. My curiosity of course is somewhat rhetorical as it’s pretty much obvious that much of this comes straight (ouch, pun) out of the pulpit and is certainly reinforced by the mirror maze of political self-convincing talk.

What would these people do if they were faced with the reality of what they say? The subject of their ire is the Mental Health Services Administration’s book titled “Provider’s Introduction to Substance Abuse Treatment for Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender Individuals.” So, what about this document? The title is really quite plain and explanatory and being a gay man, and knowing my particular niche culture gives me a unique viewpoint on this particular issue. Is it important? Do you think that people who are sick should be cared for, that people who are despondent and without hope should be helped? What are your thoughts on suicide? This gets right to the heart of it. I bet a lot of these people are upright god-fearing Christian types, they hail from Oklahoma and there is a stereotype, lets face it, about that region being rather salt-to-the-earth and quite red when it comes to politics. Sit back and let’s think for a moment about what your self-professed lord and savior, Jesus Christ, would think about “Provider’s Introduction to Substance Abuse Treatment for Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender Individuals.” Your lord and savior wandered around healing the sick, he never asked anyone if they were gay, lesbian, or transgendered. It just didn’t matter to him. People who cared for the sick like he did, he said, would be favored in God’s sight because they cared. Care. That’s what it really gets down to, who cares and who does not? Who hides behind a carapace of bigoted ignorance and who really cares? For these people in this meeting, all of them who didn’t stand up, who didn’t stomp their foot on the ground and argue against this – all of them – how can you face your self-professed lord and savior who you see every Sunday, nailed to a crucifix? Yes, he died to absolve you on sin, but when he was alive, when he was teaching – what was that part? Did you all miss that part? In your haste to be absolved of your sins, perhaps you missed everything up until the climax and after it was all over, you just rolled over and fell asleep?

These are valid questions that I would love answers to. I would dearly enjoy facing these people after we all march through the stations of the cross together. Jesus healing the lepers, Jesus bringing Lazarus back to life, Jesus and the children. Then turn to me, turn to a younger me, turn to any gay man, lesbian, or transgendered person and spit out that vitriol about the “Gay Agenda”.

Ma’am, yes, we do have a Gay Agenda. You caught us red-handed. Our agenda is simple. We are in pursuit of ending suffering of the people who are like us. The kids who grow up bullied and turn to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain of being mocked for being different. Not the color of our skin, not anything patently obvious like that, but mocked for who we love. You mock us over love. How can you face Jesus Christ when you mock people for loving? Wasn’t Jesus all about Love? Isn’t that what he preached? Love each other, be good to each other, and for the love of god, stop killing each other! So, where’s the love? That’s what the agenda is. We want to save ourselves and people like us. We want to reduce the suffering, we want to catch the sad and hold them tight and tell them that they are not alone. We want to rescue people who are so alone and unhappy that all they want to do is hang, shoot themselves, or drink or take drugs until they die.

So, is this document that the Mental Health Services Administration is providing a good thing or a bad thing? What are your feelings on dead children? How about young men and women dying at their own hands? What about that? How does that stand up to your fear of some undefined pink menace coming for you and yours?

Jesus Christ My Ass.

 

PAD 1/11/2013 – Book of Life

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The book

“If you could read a book containing all that has happened and will ever happen in your life, would you? If you choose to read it, you must read it cover to cover.”

The answer for me is quite simple. I would leave that particular book on the shelf and I would leave it be for years and years while I lived, moved, loved, got sick, got well, and enjoyed a nice long life. Then when I am very old and very tired I will sit back with an obnoxiously expensive drink, put on some Mozart, sit back, pull it off the shelf and make it a page-a-day until I got to the end. Then I would put the book back and enjoy a life well-lived and the serenity that comes with robbing death of his surprise ending.

 

Les Miserables is delightfully blasphemous

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I was reading this article on CNN on how the movie was specifically targeted to Christian evangelicals. I certainly agree with the premise and message of this article and I didn’t have anything directly to comment on.

After watching the movie, and this isn’t going to give away anything really since everyone at this point knows the general gist of the story, if not by the Broadway or Off-Broadway production of the work or even the source book, the fact that they released the movie on Christmas Day and also featured a series of scenes (not just one) where Santa is led into Thenardier’s Inn for some alcoholic and carnal refreshment. I find the image of a freshly tossed Santa wandering into the snow and sitting on a wooden box being pulled by an ass is  an utterly delightful multidimensional blasphemy.

Universal has balls. Giant glittering Christmas balls. Release it on Christmas, whore up Santa, and then micromarket the movie to Christian evangelicals.

I would say that based on previous scenes of the movie, that the Thenardier’s may have plied Santa with liquor mixed with urine. So the blasphemy gets even more insidious and blasphemous as you contemplate this section of the movie. Released on Christmas, Liquor/piss-swilling, whore-tossing Santa who rides on a dull box (the sleigh went AWOL) pulled not by Reindeer, but by an … Ass. It’s like an obscene and elaborate hat-bow to people like me who can appreciate a earnest and heartfelt passion for obnoxious blasphemy against a religious figure. Then the cherry on top, which is that aforementioned evangelicals will suggest everyone in their flock go to see this movie for it’s religious overtones only to unintentionally deliver this hidden gem to their followers and nobody will walk away from the movie even mentioning it.

Nobody will be upset because the movie covers an emotional slap and tickle with bookended emotional bombs. You’ll be so overwhelmed with being emotionally victimized by this movie, and being glad for it, that you’ll overlook this whole Santa blasphemy.

Bravo!

Ugly, but hey, the hats kind of neat…

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The Catholic Church opens its mouth and they say the darnedest things. They live in an uniquely distorted world: People aren’t exactly flocking to churches, the Pope himself is deeply implicated with shielding pedophiles in the Church ranks and then they say this out loud. How exactly are you spreading the word of Jesus Christ? Is it by preaching hate and sexually abusing children that you think is the path to salvation?

Much like the conservatives, it seems that the Church has drifted so far off its axis that they no longer seem to have any grip on reality.

But hey, who am I? Hah! Have you looked in a mirror lately?

Knackers

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So, a secular humanist goes to Midnight Mass and the holy water basin doesn’t burst into flames. Yeah, Catholics are weird. Also, someone changed all the words, came up with really odd “Carols” and apparently Michigan Catholics are really quick on the sacraments. But I enjoyed myself. Lots of up and down. Some genuflecting, which I skipped out on. Also, a lot of fear. I reflected during midnight mass and this is what I came up with: original sin created a context of inescapable failure. We’re never good enough or ever without sin, because of this pesky sentience thing we’ve got, so in a way, since there is only fail, being rotten is kind of expected. We’re wretched and hopeless, because we’re always bad and there is never any chance to win. At all.

With the game rigged in this fashion, no amount of love, forgiveness, or (and this is the best part) mercy will ever be well spent on the awfulness that is humanity. Or at least, that’s what’s being packaged up and sold.

What if humanity was good from the get go? What if we judged ourselves when we died? What if God is in every single thing, the good and the bad. The grace and the sin. What if sin is meaningless? What if we don’t have to always be losing out? Always afraid, needing to commit blood sacrifices or cannibalism in order to assuage our guilty consciences?

Then again, that’s picking a fight with Genesis. Perhaps it’s the best thing, the most adaptive thing to leave all of this mess for the Catholics and Christians to figure out and I can go back to feeling better about myself as a secular humanist. I don’t need God. I like Jesus, think he’s a fine fellow and a knackers teacher, but that’s as far as I’m gonna go with that. I don’t have sin. Sin is stupid.

Ta-dah! I feel better already. Knackers! 🙂 Merry Christmas. 😉

Father Benedict Groeschel, American Friar, Claims Teens Seduce Priests In Some Sex Abuse Cases

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Father Benedict Groeschel, American Friar, Claims Teens Seduce Priests In Some Sex Abuse Cases.

Filling up holes, not withstanding on this article I have only one real solid comment to make, and that is a question I would like to pose to the dear Father:

“Sir, in these situations, is there an adult present?”

So, is there? Because if there is an adult present, then they should have the grace and capacity for restraint and FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO NOT RAPE THE CHILDREN.

I mean, ahem, Father… You seem to be casting your own fellow priests as victims when… OH LOOK WHO GOT RAPED BY FATHER FLANNIGAN! Ahem… I’m sorry dear Father, but I apparently have a terrible case of bullshit-induced tourettes.

I once thought that if I were Christian, and I was in that mindset that I would be, quite possibly, Franciscan. It is clear to me now… FINE! RAPE THE SHEEP AND COWS BUT STOP RAPING THE CHILDREN… ahem…

Damn Tourettes…

Faith as an Idea

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There are many paths to faith. Many possibilities and recently I’ve been musing on one particular idea of faith that amuses and appeals to me.

That the entire universe has only one soul in it, that soul is God. That through the function of the flow of time that singular soul is holographically projected throughout existence as consciousness in sentient life forms. Humanity for example.

As time flows, the light of life illuminates a structure fixed at the center of the nature of the Universe and shines through it. This structure we call God, and as the light of life shines through it, various expressions of that singular soul are played out throughout the expanse of the Universe. These holographic projections are all of us. That we are God, but more specifically, we are all fundamentally the same. Whenever one does violence to someone else, it is quite literally self-abuse. Not only do you do violence to yourself, but you do violence to God.

I consider this concept to be a riff on the Golden Rule, which is “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” and lies at the very center of my ethical and moral existence. The lesson of the Golden Rule is that you should treat everyone equally, and nicely, the way you wish to be treated. In this light, the Golden Rule is recast anew as a way to honor God, by honoring ourselves.

This also eliminates the distance between God and Mankind. There is no distance between us, we are all one. Since there is no distance, there is no fear of punishment, how could God punish itself? This also answers the question of death. When time moves through us and wears out our bodies, the holographic projection which is what we consider our consciousness, the part of us that understands we exist, that does not simply evaporate, it continues on to be re-expressed as time moves forward and the light shines through our facet of God and we are born again.

The question of evil remains. Why is there evil in our world? Why do people do bad things? It is a curse of existence that we are so very ignorant. We just do not know, we can’t appreciate the finer aspects of this kind of faith. You can see the early formations of the Golden Rule accumulating in social animals that have yet to achieve sentience, such as our evolutionary fore-bearers, the primates. They demonstrate an understanding of the Golden Rule, so on some level, this faith is instinctual. Since it is not fully understood, there is fear. Fear is, to borrow from Albert Brooks, like a dark fog that settles on the mind. Fear blots out happiness, it clouds our thinking and leads us astray. The foundation of evil is then the natural progression starting at fear and progressing downwards towards anger and hate. There is evil in our world because we are ignorant of the Golden Rule or chose to not abide by it, and therefore we suffer for it.

Personally I find this a very compelling idea. This concept of faith, this possible structure to existence and helps define the murky concept of the flow of time. It combines the things we all experience, the understanding that time flows forward, the sense that a God could exist, and if it does, it’s formed by adding up all the very best in all of us, as well as birth, life, and death. It also defines a morality that has been with humanity longer than any other, that of The Golden Rule. The most interesting thing would be, what would happen if someone lived their life with this understanding and this morality? What would you do? What would your choices be? Would they be different than they are now?