Can we really choose our sexual orientation or is our sexual orientation already built within our DNA? I can’t answer that question on a scientific level but I can certainly answer it based on my life experiences.
Let’s start as far back as I can remember. I can’t pin point the exact moment that I realized that I was attracted to other men but I always knew that this was part of my being. I wasn’t forced to choose my sexual attraction to other men – I was forced to simulate to what was around me and what other people thought was ‘normality’. Society, religion and family forced heterosexuality upon me. I grew up thinking that my attraction to other men was wrong because it was an unacceptable behavior in our society based mainly on religious beliefs.
So as a child – I was already being forced to accept other people’s ideas of what they thought was right. I was told that my purpose in life was to get an education, get a good job, find a women, get a house, get married and start a family. This was what was considered ‘normal’. It wasn’t until I was a pre-teen that these ideas seemed wrong for me, especially the idea of being in a relationship with someone of the opposite sex. That notion seemed completely against who I was – it wasn’t an authentic feeling.
Needless to say, I lived my life for the benefit of making other people happy. I dated girls because it was what I had to do not what I felt. Don’t get me wrong, I loved women but not in a sexual way. For me, women were nurturing, emotional, great conversationalists, beautiful and loving.
When I began my journey into manhood, I realized that my life of lies, deceit and self-hate were only hurting me. How can I love others if I don’t even love and respect myself? I began my life of authenticity – it was a long and painful process. I had to really look within and start being honest with myself. I had to release all of the internal homophobia I learned from society, religion and family and then start living my life from love. This was a struggle and continues to be a struggle but it in the end – it had to happen.
No one can tell you that you must love a certain person. Love and attraction just happens naturally. It is something that you can’t choose – I didn’t choose my sexuality, it was chosen for me. As I said above, I was forced to assimilate to what was considered to be ‘normal’ and was stripped of an authentic part of who I was.
I love who I am today. I love that I found a path that is in line of who I was meant to be. I love being an individual with my own thoughts and ideas and I love that I no longer have to hide who I love. I gained emotional scars throughout my journey but I have learned to love and cherish those beautiful scars because they have shaped me in becoming the person I am today – and I LOVE that person.
Don’t conform to what others tell you – look within and listen to the authenticity that lives within you, that authenticity should guide you in all the endeavors your life’s path will take you on.
Together, we can make the world a more positive one!
According to a 2014 poll conducted by The Washington Post and ABC News, 50 percent of Americans say that the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection gives gays the right to marry – outside of the constitutional question, 59 percent say they support same-sex marriage. With all this support and acceptance, why is it that some feel it is okay to discriminate against a group of people based on religious freedom?
Indiana Senate Bill 101, titled the Religions Freedom Restoration Act, is a law in the U.S. state of Indiana, which allows individuals and companies to assert that their exercise of religion has been, or is likely to be, substantially burdened as a defense in legal proceedings. This allows businesses to refuse potential customers based on their religious beliefs. Personally, I believe that an individuals right to practice religion should not impede on that individuals choice to service the public. That individual made a decision to be a business owner not a preacher, minister or pastor. Their religious beliefs should not give them a right to discriminate against anyone.
This type of legislation is dangerous and is reminiscent of the days before the civil rights movement when people of colour couldn’t use the same rest rooms as white people. Whose to say that the discrimination will end with gays and lesbians? What if someone is uncomfortable doing business with someone who belongs to another religion? Legislation like this protects individuals who have a certain belief system and there are so many people who don’t fit into that category. Do atheist business owners deny business to those who belong to individuals that prescribe to religious ideologies? Do Catholic business owners serve only Catholics?
By signing this bill into law, Governor Mike Pence, has created something I believe to be good. Firstly, he has opened the eyes of many that discrimination is alive and well in the United States of America. It’s quite unsettling that those who believe their religious freedoms are being threatened are exercising their God-given right to fundamentally go against the basic teachings of Jesus Christ or God. Doesn’t that seem hypocritical to you? Secondly, this legislation is creating dialogue. People are talking about this and bringing to light the simple notion that religion is a choice and should not determine legislation. Ask yourself – who really is the victim, the business or the people who have gone to that specific business to buy their service or product only to be denied that service or product?
I was brought up in a Catholic household. My parents then decided to ‘test drive’ a new religious ideology by practicing the Jehovah’s Witness religion – which my siblings and I had to go along with. My high school was composed of mostly kids from a Jewish faith. So what did I learn from religion? Confusion, anger, depression, fear, anxiety, hypocrisy and hate. I learned that most religions don’t accept you if you are born gay. You are not as appreciated if you are a woman. Slavery is okay. Killing is okay. I learned that there is much more violence and separation of people in religion than there is love.
For me, religious freedom legislation isn’t something that brings people together. It creates more negativity and divides people. Religious freedom legislation doesn’t serve the benefits of all, it only serves the benefits of a few and that does not create positive change in our world.
Together, we can make the world a more positive one!
Spring is a time of renewal, rebirth and the resurrection of our mother earth. This time of year is also known (to many Christians) as the resurrection of Jesus Christ. My views on religion have changed significantly since I was a kid – my beliefs are more agnostic, I know that there is something much bigger than all of us but I don’t think that it is the traditional Christian belief of what God is. I don’t have anything against the choices people make in regards to their religion, as long as their religion doesn’t infringe on the rights of those who don’t have the same beliefs.
I wrote a blog a few years ago about the relationship between astrology and religion and the similarities of some of the most well-known prophets, here are the highlights:
Horus (Egyptian Sun God) 3000B.C.
Born on December 25th of the virgin Isis-Meri
Birth accompanied by a star in the east, which 3 kings followed
At 12, Horus was a prodigal child teacher
At 30, he was baptized by a figure known as Anup and began his ministry
Horus was also known by other names such as; The Truth, The Light, God’s Anointed Son, The Good Shepard, The Lamb of God, etc.
12 disciples
Was betrayed by Typhon
Crucified
Buried for 3 days and then resurrected
Performed miracles (healed the sick, the blind, cast out demons and walked on water)
Mithra (Persian God Of Mithra) 1200B.C.
Born if virgin on December 25th
Known as; The Lamb, The Way, The Truth and The Light
Performed miracles
Resurrected on the 3rd day
Attis (Greece) 1200B.C.
Born of a virgin on December 25th
Crucified
Dead for 3 days
Resurrected
Krishna (Second person of the Hindu Trinity) 1000B.C.
Born of a virgin on December 25th
Called ‘God’ and ‘The Son of God’
Was a carpenter
Baptized in a river
Upon his death, he was resurrected
Dionysus (Greece) 500B.C.
Born of virgin on December 25th
Performed miracles
Known as; The King of Kings, Alpha and Omega
Resurrected upon death
And finally – the most recent of the solar Messiah’s…..
Jesus Christ
Also known as Yeshua of Nazareth
“Christ” is not his last name; it is simply the Greek word for “Messiah” or “Anointed One”
Born on December 25th of the virgin Mary in Bethlehem
Birth announced by a star in the east which 3 kings followed
Was a child teacher at 12
Was baptized by ‘John the Baptist’ at 30 thus beginning his ministry
Also knows as; King of Kings, Son of God, Light of The World, Alpha and Omega, Lamb of God etc.
Betrayed by his disciple Judas
Was crucified and placed in a tomb
Resurrected after 3 days and ascended to Heaven
Jesus is a plagiarized version of the Egyptian Sun-God, Horus. All these saviours have derived from the ancient civilizations belief and worship of the sun. Like all other Pagan gods, Jesus was simply a mythical figure however, it was the Roman political establishment that sought to give life to the Jesus figure for social control: The Roman emperor, Constantine convened the Council of Nicea (325 A.D.) at which the Christian Doctrines were established and thus began a long history of Christian bloodshed and spiritual fraud.
The birth sequence of Jesus and other religious saviours is completely astrological. The star in the east (Sirius) is the brightest star in the night sky. On December 24th it aligns with the 3 brightest stars in Orion’s belt – which are called ‘The Three Kings’. All point to the place of sunrise on December 25th, the birth of “God’s Sun” at winter solstice. The sun is personified as the unseen creator or God, God’s son, The Light of The World, The Saviour of Human Kind. The 12 constellations represented the places of travel for God’s sun. The sun stops moving south (at least it seems to stop) for 3 days and during this 3-day pause, the sun resides in the vicinity of the Southern Cross Constellation (Crux). After this time, on December 25th, the sun moves one degree north foreshadowing longer days, warmth and spring – a rebirth. This is precisely the same sequence s the various ‘Saviours’ (Jesus, Krishna, Mithra, Dionysus, Attis, Horus).
The celebration of the sun’s resurrection wasn’t celebrated until Easter or the Spring Equinox – when the sun overpowers the night with longer days and the revitalization that spring brings.
What are people celebrating at this time of year (Easter) – is it the resurrection of their God, is it the Easter Bunny (the connection between the Easter Bunny and religion is unknown to me) or is it the celebration of chocolate. What is the significance of this time of year? As I said in my old blog post:
So what is it that we are celebrating during this time of year? Are we celebrating the birth of these mythical characters, the spiritual fraud and Christian bloodshed, astrology or are we celebrating the beginnings of social control? Does anyone even really care or is the modern-day commercialization of Christmas/Easter just another attempt to keep all of us distracted. A distracted civilization is an ignorant civilization and the more distracted and ignorant we become, the more controllable we are.
What makes one religion the authority of all? Shouldn’t we just instill compassion and love into our world? Should we not be helping those who need help the most? Should we not be proactive in healing our planet and having compassion for all that live within in? Isn’t that what people did since the beginning of civilization? We didn’t worship a God – we worshipped the planet. The planet is what gives us the air to breathe, the water we drink and the food that we eat. It keeps us alive and how do we repay the earth’s generosity? We deplete its resources by cutting down the trees of our forests – that help give us the air we breathe, we poison the lakes that provide us with clean drinking water and we instill cruelty on animals that fear and try to avoid us.
LOVE should be our religion and with LOVE, we can create so much positive change in the world.
Together, we can make the world a more positive one!
I declare the following and stand strongly behind these declarations as they come from a positive place and they come from LOVE:
A person’s CHOICE to believe in religion should not impede on the rights of those who don’t follow any religious doctrine.
MARRIAGE is just a word – the process of being or becoming married is NOT solely based and afforded to heterosexual couples. Individuals who are in loving and in committed same-sex relationships also have the right to be married and call it a marriage because that is what it is!
There is no difference between physical abuse towards an animal or a person. Abuse is abuse. All sentient beings should be treated with respect, compassion and love.
Don’t ever apologize for wanting to spread love and positive energy into the world. Stand behind what you believe with conviction and with passion and people will respect your views.
Religious beliefs SHOULD NEVER influence legislation – religious views are choices people make in what they believe and should never be used to deny civil liberties of others. Leave religion OUT of politics.
Money should never influence a decision for a person, organization or government to do something that will have a positive impact on society. Isn’t the positive impact worth the money? Example: Climate Change – spending money to make our planet more sustainable and moving towards more renewable sources of energy is a good thing whether or not you believe that climate change is happening.
LOVE is my religion – I know that I am here on this planet to create positive change in the world.
Finally…if you believe in “GOD” – He/She/It made us in His/Her/Their own image. We are a reflection of Him/Her/It. So ‘GOD’ is gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, black, white, yellow, red, Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, Christian, man, woman, child. GOD is everyone and everything so when you are judging someone else, you are judging GOD.
Together, we can make the world a more positive one!
Many believe me to be very harsh against people who have Christian beliefs and values. I don’t. What I am against is what some religions teach.
Many of us have been told that God is always watching and that we should fear him. Why fear a God that apparently loves and ALL of His children? Is God a voyeur? If he is always watching, how come he hasn’t interfered in helping the homeless or punishing the greedy? Many people have claimed that God caused many of the environmental catastrophe’s today because of gay marriage. To them, I say: “Why is God only interested in causing devastation in order to drive YOUR point?” These “rule’s” weren’t God’s rules, they were the rules of men who felt uncomfortable or threatened by things they didn’t understand or fear.
In my world, women can practice religion, they can vote, they can decide not to be with their spouses without any recourse of death, they can drive cars, they can voice their opinions if they disagree with their spouses and they can do whatever they want with their bodies without feeling shamed or ridiculed.
In my world, people who are struggling to buy food, eat healthy, get an education and have access to health care should not be told that it is their own fault they are in this predicament. They should be supported and given a chance to create a better life for themselves and their children.
In my world, people should not be denied to love someone of the same-sex. Shouldn’t we be encouraging love to flourish and grow so that society can flourish and grow.
In my world, wars would not be a means of showing my disagreement with policies of another country. I would engage in conversation and dialogue not wave my military might around in order to instil my own countries beliefs.
So what has religion taught me? It has taught me that there are many people who are puppets and who are afraid to ask questions. Religion has taught me that there are many followers. Religion has taught me that there are those who use it to secure their place in the world through politics. Religion has taught me that you only win through violence and obedience. Religion has taught me that there is much hate in the world. Religion has taught me that there is much ignorance in the world. Religion has taught me that there is much divide and separation in the world. Where is the love? Where is the compassion? Where is the tolerance?
All of the above sounds very anti-love and anti-religion, doesn’t it? To that I say, “Why is it that what you believe outweigh what I believe?” I may not believe in what is written in a ‘holy book’. I certainly do not believe what religious doctrine has preached as the word of whatever God or prophet or idol others believe in but this doesn’t make me any better than those who believe this.
What if there was a religion that made no judgements on others? It’s okay to be a woman and have a voice. It’s okay to help others. It’s okay to be different. It’s okay that you have a tattoo. It’s okay that you are Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, Christian, Rastafarian, pagan, atheist or whatever. What is not okay is to judge, oppress, divide, conquer and hate.
So I ask, which world would you rather live in? A world that dictates everything you should believe or a world that allows you to ask questions and not be a follower?
Together, we can make the world a more positive one!
I have heard many religious leaders indicating that allowing same-sex couples to marry would be the downfall of civilizations. People have even gone as far as blaming environment catastrophe’s due to states grating same-sex marriage. Okay….let’s look at some statistics and facts surrounding the implementation and recognition of same-sex marriages around the world, here are some timelines:
Netherlands was the first country to extend marriage laws to include same-sex couples. A same-sex marriage bill passed the House of Representatives and the Senate in 2000, taking effect on 1 April, 2001.
Belgium became the second country in the world to legally recognize same-sex marriages.
The provinces of Ontario and British Columbia in Canada legally recognized same-sex marriages in 2003 – Ontario (June) and British Columbia (July).
In 2004 – The Canadian provinces of Quebec (March), Yukon (July), Manitoba (September), Nova Scotia (September), Saskatchewan (November) and Newfoundland (December) legally recognized same-sex marriages. Nationally, Canada (July) legally recognized same-sex marriage as of July 20, 2005 – becoming the 4th country to do so. Sandoval County, New Mexico, USA (February; discontinued, reinstated by statewide legalization in December), New Paltz, New York, USA (February; discontinued, reinstated by statewide legalization in July, 2011), Massachusetts, USA (May)
On July 3, 2005 – Spain became the 3rd country to officially recognize same-sex marriage legally.
2006 – South Africa (November) recognizes same-sex marriage.
2008 – California, USA (June, discontinued November and reinstated June (2013) and Connecticut, USA (November) recognize same-sex marriage.
2009 – Norway (January) and Sweden (May) and in the USA, Iowa (January) and Vermont (September).
2010 – The US States of New Hampshire (January) and District of Columbia (March) along with Portugal (June), Iceland (June) and Argentina (July) begin recognizing same-sex marriage.
2011 – New York, statewide (July).
2012 – Denmark (June) and the US states of Washington (December) and Maine (December).
2013 – The US states of Maryland (January), Delaware (July), Minnesota (August), Rhode Island (August), New Jersey (October), Hawaii (December), New Mexico (statewide) (December) and Utah (December, discontinued in January and reinstated in October, 2014) along with the countries; Brazil (May), France (May), Uruguay (August) and New Zealand (August).
2014 – In the USA; Oregon (May), Pennsylvania (May), Illinois (statewide) (June), Wisconsin (June, discontinued 13 June and reinstated October), Indiana (June, discontinued 27 June and reinstated in October), Oklahoma (October), Virginia (October), Colorado (October), West Virginia (October), Nevada (October), North Carolina (October), Alaska (October), Idaho (October), Arizona (October), Wyoming (October), Montana (November), South Carolina (November) along with England of Wales (March) and Scotland (December).
2015 – Luxembourg (January) and the US States; Florida (January) and Alabama (February).
So what has happened since the all these countries and many states have legalizes same-sex marriages? Have economies collapsed? Did civil war break out in these countries and states? For those who are religious and God-fearing – has God caused biblical floods of epic proportions or burned cities to the ground for granting same-sex marriages? I can confidently say – that, with the introduction of same-sex marriages, unions, partnerships (whatever you want to call them), nothing drastic has changed for any heterosexuals couple that have opposed this in the past. The only thing that has changed is for those individuals in same-sex unions. Same-sex couples have the same benefits and rights that are afforded to heterosexual married couples and are treated equally under the law.
Let’s look at Canada – Canada has been grating same-sex marriages since 2003 (in 2 provinces – Ontario and British Columbia). Ontario is my home province and nothing significant has happened in the province since allowing same-sex marriages. As a matter-of-fact, nothing has happened anywhere in which same-sex marriages have been granted. Same-sex unions/marriages are not to blame for the huge spikes in the divorce rates between heterosexual couples. Instead of focusing their dissent on couples who are in loving and committed relationships, why don’t those who are so opposed to same-sex marriages focus their rage and dissention on the increasing divorce rates, homelessness, poverty, violence towards women, and other more pressing social issues?
My spouse and I have been together for over 20 years and married for 7….our relationship or marriage hasn’t infringed on the rights and responsibilities of anyone we know. We made the decision to marry to ensure we were treated equally in the eyes of the law (not to mention the fact that we love one another). My marriage is as equally meaningful as my parents, my sisters or my brother’s marriage. That is all.
As I mentioned above, if people would just focus their energies on the real social issues that need our attention, this world would be a much brighter and positive one! Let’s make that happen.
Together, we can make the world a more positive one!
Religion should not dictate or influence policies on social issues. Belonging and believing in religious doctrine is a choice and should remain in people’s homes. When individuals try to influence their beliefs in order to deny others privileges and rights that everyone is entitled to is absolutely wrong.
I support everyone’s right to express their ideas and to voice their opinions but when you try to instill your personal religious beliefs to preach hate – I draw the line. Many preacher’s or religious leaders from various religions continue to discriminate against the LGBT community and they continue to spread outrageous claims based on their religious beliefs. Here are some examples – with my rebuttals in red:
“As a mother, I know that homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children; therefore, they must recruit our children.” – Anita Bryant
Homosexuals everywhere are devising plans to kidnap as many children as we can to teach and force them to become gay so we can build our armies and take over the world. As a mother, Ms. Bryant should have been more concerned about teaching her children how to spread love, compassion and kindness into the world – not hate and intolerance.
“If the world accepts homosexuality as its norm and if it moves the entire world in that regard, the whole world is then going to be sitting like Sodom and Gomorrah before a Holy God.” – Pat Robertson
Mr. Robertson’s beliefs are not the same as everyone else’s beliefs. I know many ‘straight’ people who accept ALL people for who they are. There are great kind, generous and loving people who happen to be gay…and then there are ignorant, hateful and judgemental people who claim to be Christian. If Pat Robertson (and so many other religious leaders, preachers, pastors, etc) believe their religious ideologies/doctrine, then they should stay silent regarding their obsession with homosexuality and let their God make His judgement Himself.
“Don’t misunderstand. I am not here bashing people who are homosexuals, who are lesbians, who are bisexual, who are transgender. We need to have profound compassion for people who are dealing with the very real issue of sexual dysfunction in their life and sexual identity disorders.” – Senator Michele Bachmann
When you make a generalized statement that homosexuals, lesbians, bisexual and transgender individuals have a sexual dysfunction and sexual identity disorders – you are bashing them. I didn’t wake up one morning and decide, “I think I’ll have an emotional and sexual relationship with a man today.”, because if I did – then that would suggest that anyone can make that same decision. I wasn’t born with a disorder, I didn’t decide to become gay, I wasn’t influenced to become gay – I was born as is.
“Let’s say we discover the gene that says the kid’s gonna be gay. How many parents, if they knew before the kid was gonna be born, [that he] was gonna be gay, they would take the pregnancy to term? Well, you don’t know but let’s say half of them said, “Oh, no, I don’t wanna do that to a kid.” [Then the] gay community finds out about this. The gay community would do the fastest 180 and become pro-life faster than anybody you’ve ever seen. They’d be so against abortion if it was discovered that you could abort what you knew were gonna be gay babies.” – Rush Limbaugh
I wonder if Rush Limbaugh would feel the same way if they discovered a gene that would suggest a child would be born sexist, racist, homophobic and ignorant. Mr. Limbaugh has made countless and offensive remarks about women, minorities and homosexuals and justified them by saying he’s a comedian….I don’t think comedians become comedians to justify and spread their hate.
“Everything is blurred on what’s right and what’s wrong. Sin becomes fine,” he later added. “Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men. Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers — they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.” – Phil Robertson (Duck Dynasty)
Comparing homosexuality with bestiality….why do these God-fearing men and women always make this comparison. As I proud gay man – I have no desire to have sexual inter-course with any animal and I don’t know any other gay person who feels the same. Why the obsession with homosexuality, bestiality and adultery Phil? Creating controversy that instills hate in order to increase viewership and financially benefit is irresponsible and not very Christian, is it?
If these so-called “Christians” like Pat Robertson, Maggie Gallagher, Brian Brown, Phil Robertson, Michele Bachmann, Bryan Fischer and so many other judgemental individuals focused on issues that would promote love, kindness and compassion into the world, imagine how much more supportive, inclusive, loving and kind people would be? If organizations such as the American Family Association or National Organization for Marriage tackled issues of homelessness and poverty imagine the lives that would be changed. Religious leaders need to re-focus and declare war on human rights violations, income inequality, domestic abuse, destruction of the environment, greed, gang violence, sexual eduction, rape and so many other issues of importance that will ensure positive outcomes. From my understanding, God’s message is to support love, compassion and kindness – His message wasn’t to spread ignorance, hate and incite violence on those who are different or have different belief systems.
Larry Tomczak, anti-gay pastor, has recently made comments about the film, Foxcatcher, directed by Bennett Miller and starring Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum as well as the Ellen Degeneres show, American Idol, Glee and Two And A Half Men of being part of Hollywood’s gay agenda. He also said professional NFL football athlete Michael Sam was a “castaway” for coming out. Tomczak also suggested that gay advocacy groups were trying to push their gay agenda on children. Ellen Degeneres addresses Larry’s ignorant views in a very eloquent and humorous way:
You may ask yourself why I’m writing a blog that has seems to be somewhat negative…my intention in writing this blog is to create awareness of those who may instill their ignorant views on others. This blog is a means of providing a different view-point – and considering the subject – who do you believe has the most knowledge of the subject of homosexuality, those who make ignorant and biased statements or a homosexual? Creating positive change in the world won’t happen with hate, ignorance and judgement – it comes from love, compassion and truth.
Together, we can make the world a more positive one!
The holiday season is somewhat of a bitter-sweet time of year for me. For me, this time of year represents a time of camaraderie, sharing, joy, laughter, love and family. I don’t really participate in the anxiety filled ‘corporate driven’ side of the holidays because I really don’t believe that the ‘holiday spirit’ is about purchasing needless items that only bring you temporary joy and happiness. The holiday season should be about teaching those who are fortunate to help those who are not as fortunate. Instead of buying endless toys, trinkets, electronics and so many other items that will end up in landfills and polluting our earth, why not feed the homeless, provide clothing to women’s shelters, saving a pet from a shelter, donating to organizations that protect our planet, food, water and forests? Isn’t that what the holiday spirit is all about?
More and more – this time of year becomes about all the wrong things, buying, buying, buying and more buying. Companies step up their marketing game to endlessly promote their products with no regard to earth’s natural resources – Imagine the deforestation that takes place to ensure flyers are distributed to all those potential consumers? Consumers go into overdrive (and debt) to ensure they purchase the latest fashions, electronics, toys and all the other things that make them feel loved, needed, wanted and important but never think about the working conditions of the individuals that made those products or the impact to the environment these products will have in the future.
I don’t know when I have denounced my attachment to materialistic goods at this time of year – but I do know that I am much happier that I don’t support corporate greed and the unneccessary destruction of our planet. Don’t get me wrong, I am not perfect and I am certainly not saying that I am better than everyone else because of my beliefs of the holiday season. One year – I handed out Christmas cards to various strangers on the street…I wrote a positive inscription in the card, basically wishing health and happiness to whomever took the card…..for me, the joy of brightening someone else’s day gave me much more gratification than buying a present for a family member. I love my materialistic detachment to this time of year and find myself committing more and more to giving joy to strangers or donating to those who fight for the future of our planet, animals and humanity.
I hope that whomever reads this finds compassion in their hearts and gives back to those who are less fortunate, or saves an animal from certain death, be it by reducing their meat intake or visiting a local shelter or by donating money to organizations that really make a difference in the world by fighting for humanity’s survival.
I wish you all much love, health and happiness and hope that this year brings you much positive energy.
Together, we can make the world a more positive one!
We all know that there are many religious ‘wing nuts’ that vilify homosexuality by saying that “it’s a choice” and that “if God didn’t want homosexuals, he wouldn’t create them.” Well – I can tell you (as a homosexual man), I did notmake the choice to be gay, I have always known I was attracted to the same-sex and (if there is a God), I am proof that He did want homosexuals because I exist.
Let’s take a look at some quotes made by those who hide their bigotry and hate against gays behind their religion:
“We will see a breakdown of the family and family values if we decide to approve same-sex marriage, and if we decide to establish homosexuality as an acceptable alternative lifestyle with all the benefits that go with equating it with the heterosexual lifestyle.” – Jerry Falwell
“Homosexuality is against nature. Sexual expression is permitted only within marriage, between man and woman, male and female. Anything else is an abnormality and is against nature.” – Pope Shenouda III
“I just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family, and I don’t want them brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option – it isn’t.” – Carl Paladino
“But the Bible speaks against it, and because the Bible speaks against it, we allow rampant sin including homosexuality and lying, and to me lying is just as bad as homosexuality, and we’ve allowed this sin to run rampant in our nation.” – Reggie White
“You know, those who are homosexual will die out because they don’t reproduce. You know, you have to have heterosexual sex to reproduce. Same thing with that church, it’s doomed, it’s going to die out because it’s the most nonsensical thing I’ve heard in a long time.” – Pat Robertson
“In fact, it’s the greatest threat to liberty of all kinds, whether it is freedom of religion, whether it is freedom of speech, whether it is freedom of the press, whether it is freedom of association, all of the rights that are enshrined in the First Amendment are threatened by the active, aggressive homosexual lobby and the homosexual agenda.” – Bryan Fischer
Now, let’s take a look a some quotes that are not exclusive, biased and filled with hate and fear. These are sensible (and sometimes funny) and intellectual quotes regarding homosexuality:
“Like a majority of Americans in recent years, I came to understand that fear of homosexuality was leading our governments – including the one I ran as Governor of Mississippi – to deny the equal rights to an entire segment of our population that are afforded all of us under the Constitution.” – Ronnie Musgrove
“I think people feel threatened by homosexuality. The problem isn’t about gay people, the problem is about the attitude towards gay people. People think that all gays are Hannibal Lecters. But gay people are sons and daughters, politicians and doctors, American heroes and daughters of American heroes.” – Hollis Stacy
“I don’t think homosexuality is a choice. Society forces you to think it’s a choice, but in fact, it’s in one’s nature. The choice is whether one expresses one’s nature truthfully or spends the rest of one’s life lying about it.” – Marlo Thomas
“Jesus never said a word about homosexuality. In all of his teachings about multiple things – he never said that gay people should be condemned. I personally think it is very fine for gay people to be married.” – Jimmy Carter
“Homosexuality in Russia is a crime and the punishment is seven years in prison, locked up with the other men. There is a three-year waiting list.” – Yakov Smirnoff
“What do you mean you don’t believe in homosexuality? It’s not like the Easter Bunny, your belief isn’t necessary.” – Lea DeLaria
“Homosexuality is like the weather. It just is.” – Andrew Sullivan
“I have no problem with it (homosexuality). I don’t look on homosexuality as an aberration. It’s just the way they’re born, and how could any relationship between two people in a committed relationship be wrong, regardless of gender?” – Andrea Thompson
“Heterosexuality is not normal, it’s just common.” – Dorothy Parker
“If religion is against homosexuality, then it is against the will and happiness of people.” – M. F. Moonzajer
That last quote is very profound because it suggests that many who believe the religious assertion about homosexuality is against their happiness as they were created that way in the eyes of God. How can you condemn someone from birth? You can’t judge someone based on their genetic make-up – it would be like condemning someone for being born with blue eyes, darker skin or without eyesight. People need to stop interpreting religious doctrine to serve their own hateful and judgemental purposes. They also need to stop trying to divide people based on their unique differences and accept people for those differences.
Together, we can make the world a more positive one!
I am not a very religious person. Does this make me a bad person? I don’t think so. I was raised Catholic but had no real idea of what that meant. I only knew that Heaven was good and Hell was bad – if you were good you would go to Heaven and if you were bad, you would go to Hell. There were various degrees of goodness and various degrees of being bad. My parents really didn’t enforce going to church or praying – we didn’t really do anything religious until we became practicing Jehovah’s Witnesses.
My parents decided to practice the teachings of the Jehovah’s Witness faith and things briefly changed in our house for a few years. I really can’t remember the extent of that change but do know that we began at home bible study groups and were all of a sudden going to church every week. Being a teenager at the time, I was not happy about these study groups or going to church regularly. I can’t remember how strict our family was in terms of birthday/holiday celebrations – as Jehovah’s Witnesses, we were not allowed to partake in these festivities. This phase lasted a few years and as we become older we were given the opportunity to continue these studies or not, most of us didn’t.
So, to recap….I grew up knowing little about the religious denomination my parents instilled onto their children – which was Catholic. We then began practicing the teachings of Jehovah’s Witnesses – during this time, I attended a school that had a huge Jewish student body. In any event – religion didn’t really become something I took seriously. I came to the conclusion that religion was the cause of much bloodshed and was invented to keep society under tight control. Do I believe the same thing today?
Today – religious ideologies have reinforced my beliefs that religion is a means of control. Much of the negative news stories on television or in the news revolve around wars, death and destruction based on different religious views. In North America, many people vote based on the religious beliefs of their members of parliament, which in turn can dictate policy based on those religious beliefs. I believe that religious beliefs should not intervene with government/political policies. I also believe that religion isn’t all bad – the only time I have a problem with religion is when it is used to incite hate and persecute those who don’t fit to the specifications of the various religious denominations. Religion has enforced that we are all sinners but that some sins are much more serious than others. To me, ostracizing women for wanting to preach the word of God is not really inclusive. Eating shellfish shouldn’t be grounds for putting someone to death (even though I don’t support eating any meat what-so-ever). The rules in the bible don’t give any clear definition as to why those rules exist – in my mind, they were written by men who wanted to have complete control of those who may have thought differently.
How can I function without any faith in a higher power? I truly don’t know. Whenever I think of giving myself a label in reference to whether or not I believe in God, I can only think of Agnostic. I don’t really believe that there has been substantial evidence the supports the existence of God – the stories were fantastic and inspiring but very sensationalistic and meant to instill fear in people. In the same breath – I am uncomfortable in saying that a God-like energy doesn’t exist. There is much that is unexplained that leads me to believe that there is definitely something much bigger than all of us. Call it God, call it Allah, call it Jehovah, the Divine, Energy, Ra, Universe, etc., whatever it is, it is all-loving, supportive, non-judgemental, compassion, kind and caring which is definitely not what most of today’s modern preacher’s are telling their parishioner’s.
My religion is based out of the simple teaching that we should treat others how we want to be treated, with LOVE. LOVE is my religion and with love, we can definitely become beacons of positive change.
Together, we can make the world a more positive one!
COALITION OF POSITIVE ENERGY 