I need some opinion from the homosexual community. Goto page Previous1, 2, 3, 4Next
Author
Thread
LoriSue
Joined: 25 Jul 2005
Posts: 118
Location: Canada
Interesting
I have stayed out of the topic, however, I feel it interesting to point it that this discourse was started by a male who entered into this safe place where women come to relax and find friendship among other lesbians.
I wish you all the realization that gives you peace,
Lorisue _________________
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten......
Natasha Bedingfield
Sat Apr 01, 2006 11:31 am
Mairi bheag
Joined: 04 Mar 2005
Posts: 5094
Location: Scotland
Lorisue, he wasn't the first, and he won't be the last. Some male guests treat us with respect.
Mb
xx
_________________ all posted material (c) Marie Marshall, unless otherwise stated.
Sat Apr 01, 2006 11:58 am
realwoman
Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 1040
Location: under our tree in Africa
Frowning at myself for not keeping my trap shut like I decided initially, I have to agree with the Irish Girl and say the following to perhaps provide more clarity:
It is not about individualism. The power of positive thoughts and Love within a group of people is much stronger than that of any individual. Spirituality is all about seeing the Power of the positive Energy of LOVE that is shared between people. The difference is that communities which formed into organised religions, started to make rules for the individuals that comprises the group, started to decide for their individual members what is right and wrong, because they fear that they may lose their control over their members if they let their members think for themselves, making these individuals dependant on the group, and even started to call only their group right and all other groups that are not following their rules 'wrong'. This single charachteristic is shared by all religions. However, there is no right or wrong - no absolutes, no objective values, and everything is indeed a matter of degree, of shades of grey..
GOD is LOVE, but we kill each other over which name to give the nameless God. My God is NOT a christian, a buddist, shaman, muslim or a hindu, but the God OF the christian, buddist, shaman, muslim and hindu. God, by whatever name, is Universal and complex and cannot be defined by the rules of a single religion. No one has a monopoly on God. I however found my road to God through Christianity, and I believe that Jesus Christ came here to show the world the true meaning of LOVE, however this message has been turned by religion into rules that prevents people from understanding the very essence of the message of Love, and that results in fear and hate and war....
The following quote (by Marian Williamson, in A Return to Love) says it much better than I can say it in my second language:
"
We have an 'authority' problem. Rather than accepting the Love that is in us, we arrogantly thought we can create ourselves, and then create God. We think we can author God with the rules of religion. We are afraid of the unknown, we are angry at others that are different from us, we are judgemental, and we have projected those charachteristics onto God. We have made up a god in our image. A god that judges and condemns.
BUT God remains God, and is not so simplistic. God is complex, and is what God is and always have been: the Energy and the Source of Unconditional Love. God cannot have anger or judgement, as Love means mercy and compassion and total acceptance. "
God is LOVE. God is the Force, the Energy, that keeps the Universe together. Energy is indestructable. Love is Energy. Love is immortal. Love is GOD.
The question is no longer 'what is God?' God is the Love within me. The question is "what is Love?'. To accept God means i must accept myself, as I am, and accept who I am, and start loving myself. "Whoever knows and loves herself knows and loves God". Love is the absence of fear. Fearing the judgement of others about myself and about who I am prevents me from loving myself, and keeps me from God, and from loving others. I am FREE from the Rules of Society. God is my Source of Energy, not the acknowledgement of people. I live by the rules of my inner guiding system, my VALUES, measured only by the Love that is in me..
Now that i have said it again, I will go back to zipping my lips.
quote:Originally posted by Mairi bheag:
Yes they can. They may just be right. The prophets will be the ones who claim nothing of themselves, and indeed are usually mystified to find they have been given a message at all. All we can really say is that we don't have to listen. If they have no right to say their message is absolute, then equally you have no right to say that it isn't.
Mb
xx
"may just be right"
The key word being "may" which implies the possibility of being wrong.
"If they have no right to say their message is absolute, then equally you have no right to say that it isn't."
Anyone can say their belief is absolute but I have as yet to meet anyone who can prove it and I would never say they are wrong and I do not feel that asking them to convince me they are right is saying they are wrong even after they have told me that I am damned to hell. When someone is telling me that there belief is the only one and true belief and that mine is wrong then I will question them and ask them to convince me and I may even ask for evidence and proof. I may very well be wrong in my beliefs but they are my beliefs and I do not try to force them on anyone else unlike some who have tried to force their beliefs upon me.
Hmmm...I think someone said, "It is impossible to prove anything at all beyond one's own existence. " Cogito ergo sum " is the only absolute" I wonder who that was
Joined: 04 Mar 2005
Posts: 5094
Location: Scotland
quote:Originally posted by Eiregirl:
Hmmm...I think someone said, "It is impossible to prove anything at all beyond one's own existence. " Cogito ergo sum " is the only absolute" I wonder who that was
Hugs,
Eiregirl
*
smiles
* You know very well who that was . It is a truth which should humble all of us. It takes a leap of faith to assume anything true beyond that. I repeat - faith.
Mb
xx
_________________ all posted material (c) Marie Marshall, unless otherwise stated.
Sun Apr 02, 2006 6:20 pm
RedViolin1
Joined: 29 Sep 2005
Posts: 86
Location: Michigan
Here's my two cents on perhaps maybe almost sorta kinda nearly like a last word on the subject of whether homosexuality is a choice/sin
I was born this way and I happily CHOOSE to love womyn!
Why the hell are we wasting our time arguing with religious zealots, MEN (and one another) about it? ITS NON OF THEIR BUSINESS WHO I SLEEP WITH AND LOVE! MY SOUL IS NOT THEIR BUSINESS! My bedroom is NOT THEIR BUSINESS!
Why are we sitting back and being railroaded into taking on a supposed sin that we were born with?? Sexual arousal to a person of the same gender is not normal it is EXCEPTIONAL (Mairi I expanded on your thought)....
Why do we take ....
...being discriminated against, being denied the right to receive partner benefits, being targeted by religious bigots, threatened at times with bodily harm, being compared to pedophiles (good luck Catholic Church on THAT one), .....parents hatefully disowning their children.....being talked down to by supposed higher authority quasi adult that has been spoon fed re-translated bible text for 19 years. These are intimidation tactics that have sucessfully kept us in the closet for hundreds of years.
We as gay people should pray to our higher powers for THEM. And let them know it, just like they do us.
Those that deny a segment of the population basic human rights should should be ashamed, embarrassed, and be called out for their actions, they should repent, change their ways and beg whomever they believe in for forgiveness for discriminating and working against the civil rights of homosexuals.
We have all been taught to loath ourselves to some degree sometimes by well-meaning adults, most oft by authority figures who seek to control our lives and our expressions of love. It's time we realized how wrong this is and call for a moritorium on it.
We all need to stop being victims, stop endlessly debating amongst ourselves and start to plan how we can accomplish something to better our lives. Put our energies into effecting a positive change. Imagine what we could do.
Maybe we should have a Lesbian union. (no pun intended...lol)
Remember when Gay used to mean happy...it still does! _________________ i am ceaslessly amazing... at times! fun loving, passionate, perfectly imperfect human being.
Some say the glass is half full, some say it's half empty. I drink whats left and ask for a refill!
Sun Apr 02, 2006 7:40 pm
RedViolin1
Joined: 29 Sep 2005
Posts: 86
Location: Michigan
Architect the very first part of your paper says it all
The issue of homosexuality threatens to fracture whole denominations, as the issue of slavery did one hundred and fifty years ago" nuff said
hmm denying blacks their freedom to live free and earn a decent wage was wrong.......denying homosexuals the freedoms to love and marry whom they want is wrong.
the church is W R O N G
wouldn't be the first time
**Stands up and yells,,,,I AM AS MAD AS HELL and I am NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE**
see I told you it was only sorta the last word...hehehe _________________ i am ceaslessly amazing... at times! fun loving, passionate, perfectly imperfect human being.
Some say the glass is half full, some say it's half empty. I drink whats left and ask for a refill!
Sun Apr 02, 2006 7:48 pm
Mairi bheag
Joined: 04 Mar 2005
Posts: 5094
Location: Scotland
quote:Originally posted by RedViolin1:
Remember when Gay used to mean happy...it still does!
Strad! I for one certainly do!
Mb
xx
_________________ all posted material (c) Marie Marshall, unless otherwise stated.
"It is a truth which should humble all of us. It takes a leap of faith to assume anything true beyond that. I repeat - faith."
A truth? Is it an absolute truth?
Awareness proves existence…if that is an absolute then something would have to prove awareness.
Hmm I wonder what could prove awareness.
Faith?
What is faith?
To have faith is to have belief. Faith is trust in something you cannot prove beyond doubt. It is common for many people to turn their noses up at religious and spiritual beliefs because it takes so much account of faith. Many people assume that they have no need of faith in anything. Oh how wrong they are because it would be and is so easy to prove they do have faith, maybe not faith in a religious or spiritual belief but faith non the less. Even those that do not have a religious or spiritual belief have faith. Religious skeptics having rejected religion because they say there is no evidence or proof. They have closed their mind to believing something they can’t see or touch and say they have no faith in religion but place their faith in science…therefore they have faith. There are some people who have no belief in religion of any kind nor do they have any trust that science has validity yet they trust themselves and believe the sun will rise…that is faith. People who have no spiritual belief wonder why we have so much faith in something we cannot see or touch. Hmm
But I can see it. I can see the evidence of my faith in the way I deal with the good and bad things in my life.
But I can touch it. I can touch the evidence of my faith when I help someone who needs help.
I can even feel the evidence of my faith in my heart and the feelings of friends and loved ones.
We can all see the evidence of our faith as we look upon the face of those we have helped and shown kindness toward. Having faith in a higher being gives a purpose to life. There is no proof beyond the shadow of a doubt for any religious or spiritual belief just as there is no proof against it. But for those who have faith, there is no doubt.
You mentioned prophets in an earlier post by saying,
“Yes they can. They may just be right. The prophets will be the ones who claim nothing of themselves…”
In order to believe what they have to say one would first have to have faith they exist.
Hugs you tight
Eiregirl
Sun Apr 02, 2006 9:12 pm
Mairi bheag
Joined: 04 Mar 2005
Posts: 5094
Location: Scotland
Re your last sentence - well of course!
And while we have been arguing about it - who knows? - one may have crept in, said something of vital importance, and crept out un-noticed.
Mb
xx
_________________ all posted material (c) Marie Marshall, unless otherwise stated.
quote:Originally posted by Mairi bheag:
Re your last sentence - well of course!
And while we have been arguing about it - who knows? - one may have crept in, said something of vital importance, and crept out un-noticed.
Mb
xx
Mairi,
Who has been arguing???
I thought we were having a simple discussion of idea's and philosophy.
If I had known it was an argument I would have turned and walked away and come back to discuss another day.
Eiregirl
Mon Apr 03, 2006 4:40 am
Mairi bheag
Joined: 04 Mar 2005
Posts: 5094
Location: Scotland
quote:Originally posted by Eiregirl:
argument
Semantics, darling
Friends can argue, and hug afterwards.
Hugs
Mb
xx
_________________ all posted material (c) Marie Marshall, unless otherwise stated.
quote:Originally posted by Mairi bheag:
Semantics, darling
Friends can argue, and hug afterwards.
Hugs
Mb
xx
Semantics can often lead to misunderstanding and confusion that can cause problems.
Yes it is true that often friends can argue and hug afterwards but sometimes arguments damage and even end friendships therefore I much prefer the definition of discuss as apposed to argue especially when there is no contentious or heated exchange of opinions.
Eiregirl
Mon Apr 03, 2006 7:00 pm
RedIsTheNewBlackBabe
Joined: 13 Nov 2006
Posts: 160
Location: I am Canadian!!
I hate to drudge up old topics but I am amazed at the fact that no one realized that this guy did not actually write the essay he was claiming to be his.. Plagiarism is a huge pet-peve of mine because people pour their souls into their work and others attempt to take the credit for it.. regardless of what he was attempting to do I think passing this work off as his own was spineless
Walter Wink, is Professor of Biblical Interpretation at Auburn Theological Seminary in New York City. He has also taught at Union Theological Seminary and Hartford Seminary, and has been a visiting professor at Columbia and Drew universities. In 1989-1990 he was a Peace Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, DC.
His published works include a trilogy on the Powers: Naming the Powers (1984), Unmasking the Powers (1986), and Engaging the Powers (1992), all from Fortress Press. Engaging the Powers received three "Religious Book of the Year" awards in 1993. Doubleday Books will publish a condensed version of the Powers trilogy in 1997 under the title, The Powers That Be.
He is also the author of The Bible in Human Transformation (Fortress, 1973), Transforming Bible Study (Abingdon, second edition, 1990), and other works, including 134 articles.
He is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Society of Biblical Literature, Studiorum Novi Testament Societies, and the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and has lectured at over seventy universities.
He has led workshops on nonviolence and other themes all over North America, as well as in South Africa, Northern Ireland, East Germany, South Korea, New Zealand, and South and Central America.
Dr. Wink is a United Methodist minister, works for a Presbyterian seminary, and attends Quaker meeting. For five years he served as pastor of a church in southeast Texas.
This recent essay by Dr. Wink is a rather fascinating (even new) take on the 'clobber passages.' Hope you enjoy it. You may contact Dr. Wink on
(the above is taken from the site) _________________ I know it's easy to say but it's harder to feel this way.. And I miss you more than I should... Than I thought I could... Can't get my mind off of you..
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Gallery
FAQ
Profile PM's 
I wonder who that was 
. It is a truth which should humble all of us. It takes a leap of faith to assume anything true beyond that. I repeat - faith.
