If Your Religion...Part 5

Oh, hello there! How're we doing today? Good, to hear. So I bet you're here to find out what I'm going to rant about next, huh? Then I'll just get on with the show, shall I? Without introduction...

If your religion preaches hate instead of love, you're doing it wrong.

This seems like it would be a pretty big, "Uh...Duh Red..." but if that were really the case, then the issues we're having with homosexuals and people of other religions and races just wouldn't be happening would it?

In the US we're just about to have our mid-term elections, so the political machines are churning out massive amounts of advertising for their chosen platforms. One of the favorite targets this season is gay marriage. With the national coverage of Prop 8 in California, many conservatives are using this issue as a soap box to draw in people interested in "saving the family", "protecting the sanctity of marriage", "protecting our children from the homosexual agenda" and several other phrases of dubious meaning.

So what's really at stake here? At its core, the gay marriage issue is about civil rights, not religion. Marriage in the US comes with responsibilities and rewards, things like joint taxes, health care, decision rights concerning a spouse in a critical health situation just to name a few. By banning gay marriage, people are discriminating against a portion of the American people, and I'd thought we'd gotten past that after women were given the right to vote and black people no longer had to sit in the back of the bus.

Why am I talking about this issue then? Because it's the "religious right" that is making the most noise against gay marriage. "It's Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve" is a popular phrase when talking about homosexuality in general from a religious standpoint.

Recently a video from FCKH8.com made the rounds on Facebook. (WARNING! If you are offended by the "F word" or are in a place where watching such material would not be approved of, do *NOT* watch the video.) Someone shared the link off my wall and someone else commented that "to my dying day, I will not believe in gay marriage". When I mentioned that marriage is a civil issue and that civil rights are involved, I was informed that the Bible said no gay marriage and that's all that mattered.

Orly?

I am fairly certain that there isn't anywhere in the Bible that says anything about gay *marriage*. It does say something about man not lying with man as with a woman, but that has nothing to do with marriage, does it? (If I am wrong and there is actually a passage in the Bible that deals with gay marriage, please let me know and I will happily correct my statement.) In fact, the idea of marriage as we know it today is very young compared to its history. An abbreviated account can be found here (among other places).

I really don't get it actually. As far as I can tell, someone's sexual preference should only matter to you if you plan on participating in it. And if living with someone you're having sex with outside of marriage is "living in sin" wouldn't the religious right want gay people to get married? Or would that be double sin? I've lost count. >.>

People screaming about the sanctity of marriage should really only be concerned with one marriage...theirs. They also should actually know what their book says about the subject before they try to thump other people with it too. (WARNING! The video is *very* tongue and cheek and pokes fun at the Bible. If that's likely to offend, ya prolly shouldn't watch.)

And then there's all those poor children committing suicide because they are gay and are being bullied. W...T...F...when did it become ok to traumatize someone so much that the only way out they can see is death?

Yes, I am putting the blame squarely on the shoulders of the religious right. It is because of their doctrines of hate and segregation that these tragedies are happening. I cannot endorse or even be content to agree to disagree when the rights and lives of other people are involved. If the witch hunts and crusades taught us nothing, it should have taught us that blood spilled in the name of religion is just as damning and wrong as blood spilled for any other selfish reason. And just because it was a suicide, doesn't mean that religion didn't have a hand in putting the gun there in the first place.

And then there's the Mormons. I struggled writing this part because I know many devout Mormons who don't hate anyone and I consider them true and trusted friends. But I'm not really talking about individuals, I'm talking about the leadership, the doctrines, and how they were connected to Prop 8.

This letter written over 10 years ago shows that the issue of gays in the church is not a new one. It's just getting new attention because of recent publicity. This letter written earlier this month demonstrates that the issue is reaching the point where someone is going to have to bend...I can only hope that it will be the religious leaders that currently continue to preach ignorance and hate.

Because it is hate. You can coat it in beliefs of choice and selfishness, you can spin it in such a way as the church looks like the victim, or that it is a matter of saving the soul, but it doesn't change the fact that it's irrational fear and hate speaking. I seem to remember, back when I was a Christian, that Christ preached a doctrine of love. Wasn't it, "Love one another as I have loved you"? Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was and not, "Love one another as I have love you, except those people over there." It is a shame that those with the power to enforce dogma and the will of the collective seem to have forgotten that and have twisted his words into something else.

This rant has been riding me for about a month now, and I am grateful for the chance to get it out there. If you've waded through my words this far, I thank you, and hope you understand that I know there are those who are devout and reject the principles of hate. To those, I say thank you, and hope that your example can help bring clarity to others.

To those who say, "My views may be outdated, but I thank God I will not be on this earth too many more years to see what it looks like when people like you take over everyone's thinking."

Well, I choose a different way, and so should you, whatever it may be.

Till next time, be well,

Red

PS, for those that might say I'm only this up in arms about the issue because I'm gay and want me to admit the truth...unless you plan on trying to sleep with me, it's really none of your business.

If Your Religion... Part 2

So I should probably start this post with a sort of disclaimer...why would I write about my thoughts on religion on a blog about my jewelry? Well, I create my jewelry using information I've been picking up for the last twenty years, and that information is filtered through the philosophies I have been studying also for the last 20 years. The two are interconnected, and so I get to rant here instead of creating a separate blog. Handy, no?

Anyroad, I'm thinking of doing one of these segments about once a month, as they really do inform the reader as to my methods, in creating jewelry if nothing else. So, without further ado...

If your religion makes you stupid...you're doing it wrong.

Inflammatory, I know, but this part is really important. How many remember the story of the guy who shoved 50ish or so needles under his son's skin to kill him? The guy claimed that it was a religious tenant that prompted him to do it. Some might say that makes him crazy, and maybe there is a chemical imbalance I am unaware of, but I think that it just makes him stupid. How could he possibly believe that killing a child is acceptable in any way? (How could anyone? But that's a rant for another day.) I don't care what answer he gives, whatever it is, he's just wrong, and being swayed to perform this obscene act in the first place makes him stupid.

This next case in point was actually the genesis of this piece, I just held on to it long enough for Dumbass with Needles to make the news, and I felt it was a very potent example.

So in the course of my new networking adventure, I've found all sorts of people on the internet. Most of them have interesting links for me to follow, this one in particular was to an auction (no, I won't post the link, I don't want to send any traffic their way).

These auctions were offering items that were said to be magical, blessed by a coven, and promised to do all sorts of amazing things. One was a love spell that promised you *anyone*, including someone famous, or people who didn't know you. I find this highly irresponsible, how dare someone claim they can toy with someone's emotions that way. Another was for a wealth ring that would bring the wearer money. The site even claimed that the last wearer had eared over $120,000 over the course of three years. That sounds great right? I suppose it could be if it didn't work out to a $40k a year job.

Guys, this isn't magick. This is promises that cannot possibly be fulfilled by people who will take your money and then give you some sort of excuse when it doesn't work. Offering this sort of mockery makes me angry. Believing in it makes me sad.

((A friend of mine pointed out that I might not be clear enough on the types of magic I am accusing of being stupid...allow me to clarify...

There is magick that makes sense, using earth and "bloodstones" to help a woman feel better during her moontime. Lighting a candle to help the bank approve of your loan. These are the sorts of spells I not only endorse, but practice.

Then there is magic that makes no sense, promising someone that even if it's Brad Pitt, the object of your desire will dream about you, and make their way to you.

Use reason and judgement, wisdom and knowledge when looking at magick, and if you have a good grounding in common sense, you'll know the difference.))

But Red, how is that different from what you do?

First off, I will *never* claim that my jewelry will do something *for* you. I always only offer an item that will help you help yourself. My Creativity bracelet isn't going to work if you don't put your butt in the chair or in front of the easel. My Awakening bracelet isn't going to do anything if you don't make the conscious decision to be more open to the world around and within you. The qualities of Air, clarity of thought and enhancing memory aren't going to help you pass that test unless you study.

Secondly, it doesn't bother me if someone just wants a piece of my jewelry because they like the colors. They want to wear it without knowing or caring about the intention I put into the piece, be my guest. The stones themselves are beautiful, and I am truly grateful to anyone who wants to give them a good home. You don't have to handle my jewelry with mock reverence in case it gets offended, or to keep from doing something to blaspheme or some other silly thing.

You decide how you want to wear my jewelry, if at all. I offer it the way I do because I enjoy it. It makes me happy to think that somewhere, someone might have a little easier time sleeping because they're focused on the calming properties that blue lace agate is said to have. I get to play with stones all day...how awesome is that?

Don't be mislead, there's lots of people out there using lots of charisma to fool people with promises or offers that don't make sense, have no bearing on real life or cannot possibly be kept.

I choose a different way, and so should you, whatever it may be.

Till next time, be well,
Red

If Your Religion... Part 1

This has been brewing for a fair bit now, so I'm just going to set it down.

If your religion makes you scared...you're doing it wrong.

Case in point, a friend of mine wanted some medical attention, and had to go to a free clinic. They didn't do much but what she had already done, but then gave her some "information". One would think they'd give her info about her medical question...but no, what she got instead was Christian propaganda pamphlets.

I have a somewhat secret fascination with them, and have a few really good ones I've collected. I read them as two people...one is the long term pagan that laughs behind her hand, "ROFL...that's awesome! They're really stupid!" The other is the person who could be affected by these words, and more often than not comes away as unsatisfied with their proposed answers as I was the twenty or so years ago when I discovered I wasn't Catholic.

Of these two that my friend gave to me, one was pretty innocuous. "Is Witchcraft the Way?" tells the tale of a nice woman who was a witch for many years (point in their favor...she was a nice, kind woman who was just looking for spiritual meaning. Not some psycho, blood sacrificing, nut job or emo, dark spirit raising, goth wannabe that's usually in these anecdotal accounts), then she started having problems with bad spirits and dark energy (you know...the stuff the rest of us deal with all the time, right? *rolls eyes*), and eventually a very nice Christian man told her "the truth" and she's ok now, cuz she's Christian.

Meh...whatever. Oh, but I did like the part where she's told that the spirits of the elements were actually devils in disguise. How tricksy of them...

Anyway...it was the second one...that was the treasure trove find. This nasty piece of work was called, "First Six Days in Hell", and is supposedly a literal account, extrapolated from Biblical references on what it's going to be like for you when you go to Hell.

And it assumed you would...so you'd better get ready with this handy guide. It was horrifying, my morbid fascination with these things was really stretched with this one...the burning torture that was described, along with the deep, soul crushing inevitability of it, it was truly a piece of work.

Of course, if you just "accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior" you can escape going to Hell and never experience what was described.

My question becomes, "Who wants followers that are there out of abject terror?" This isn't just fear that they're trying to evoke. This is deeper, primal..."if these are just the first six days, imagine what an eternity would be like"...some of these images are the stuff that night terrors are made from.

No thank you...I'm good.

How is this acceptable? How is this ok to do? In what sense of morality is it acceptable to terrify people into following a god that is supposedly all good? Jesus gave us one commandment, "Love one another as I have loved you." Where is the love in that pamphlet? Really?

I find this sort of thing irresponsible, and hope that most people just throw it in the trash, not reading it without the philosophical and spiritual protections that I and most of my friends have.

It's not enough to be good because you're afraid of punishment. One should be good, because it is the right thing to do. Pamphlets like this don't help create good Christians, they create fearful people without an inner core of ethics. Sometimes they're more damaging than those who do wrong because they want to...at least you can predict their behavior.

I know it's not my usual blog fare, but I hope you've made it this far and at least got something to think about. I'm not condemning Christianity as a whole. There is beauty and grace in the religion and if being Christian helps you to be happy and good, then I celebrate that. No, it's the desperate fear mongers that I am pointing my finger at hoping that one day they are forced to wake up and understand that using fear doesn't attract good followers, just other fearful people.

I choose another way. And so should you, whatever it may be.

Till next time, be well,
Red