Hey all, I'm back after so long and I gotta say it feels better. I think blogging is a nice practice for building confidence. I already feel like I'm being lifted from this funk I've been in for the past year.
Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk about.
As you may or may not know, Obama has announced that he supports same-sex marriage. Bravo!
Now anybody that has the had the pleasure, or displeasure, of making my acquaintance knows that I'm not into politics, I don't enjoy speaking about religion, nor do I like to debate on pretty much any heated topic known to man i.e. abortion, gay rights, Harry Potter vs. Twilight (my answer... neither. but I digress)
However, I think I have to speak up on my views on same-sex marriage. I know writing this may not sway anybody in favor of or against same-sex marriage. I don't even know who reads this blog daily, especially since I don't have a set updating schedule, but I'm writing this for me. It's a fact that if I have something in my head, it doesn't go away until I write it... so that's what I'm doing.
I don't follow politics at all, maybe that's a good thing, maybe it's a bad thing. Maybe that just points out how ignorant I am. It just doesn't interest me. So, how I heard about this was during tonight's episode of 'Conan'. When it was announced, I mentally clapped in my head and said out loud, "That's good news." to which my mother, a 50 something Christian, looked at me with unamused eyes and a raised eyebrow that I had only seen in my younger days when I "accidentally" flipped her the bird for telling me to clean my room instead of playing video games all day.
She said to me, "No, it's not a good thing... it's wrong." I tried not to cringe at her patronizing voice but just retaliated with, "Everybody should have the right to get married."
Then she said, "No, it's wrong," and turned her head back to Conan, cutting off eye contact with me. "God didn't create Adán y Pedro" or Adam and Steve as our pastor once said -- which people think is so clever but it's not. I just scoff and say, "The Bible was translated, how do you know that it wasn't mistranslated. The only way for you to know what it really said was to be present back then." Which, in retrospect, probably wasn't a good idea since she just turned to me again and said, with her serious 'mom-mode' look, "Same-sex marriage and acts are wrong according to the Bible... and YOU know that, so don't say that."
Needless to say, I backed off at that point. I really hate debating, it gives me a headache because my brain goes a mile a minute with so many ideas passing through while I stumble on my words, saying things that often times don't make sense and those debating with me give me the dreaded, "What are you saying?" or "Are you serious?" look. Not pleasant.
I couldn't even enjoy the rest of the show because I kept thinking about Christianity and homosexuality. I love my mom, and we're a lot alike, but homosexuality is one of the many things we don't agree on. Another being the evolution and creationism (in which I believe both, where, surprise surprise, she's an adamant creationist.) For four years, I was a good Christian just like her, believing in heterosexuality as being right and homosexuality being frowned upon. However, recent events, and the revelation that many Christians at our church are judgmental hypocrites who think they're better than anyone because they preach or help out in the church the most, thus are closer to God, made me think differently.
If Christianity preached to always love your neighbor, that God held an unconditional love for everyone on Earth, AND that homosexuals would go to Hell -- maybe not in those words -- then I couldn't love my neighbor who just happened to be gay and instead should throw a Bible at him and tell him he'd burn in Hell?
I was conflicted and I started hating going to church. Not only was it the longest three hours of my life and seriously cutting into my video game day, but my head hurt with it's contrasting messages.
The next few incidents all played out like the previous, where my mother and I would watch TV, someone would mention something about homosexuality or two members of the same sex would kiss on TV and my mother would say some comment contra the homosexual act and I would try and defend it in my own way. This ended the same with me just rolling my eyes and burying myself in my laptop. We wouldn't speak the rest of the day, which luckily was two or three hours until she fell asleep.
I can't figuratively bash my mother though. There was a point where I was staunchly against homosexuality, but early on in life, I was turned away from that thinking. At this point, I didn't know what I believed in, but I knew that homosexuality was something I didn't want to think of.
The last incident, or second chronologically speaking, was when I witnessed a woman practically applauding her son on showing hostility toward openly gay men who hit on him. Granted, she also said they were obnoxious, but she used that particular story to point out that her son was a raging heterosexual and -- in her words -- had no patience for gays.
Um... maybe they were just obnoxious... I'd definitely lose my patience for annoying folk too and I get how he wouldn't appreciate the attention being a heterosexual. That got me thinking though, why should homosexuals be treated any different from heterosexuals?
I'm not homosexual, but I have had homosexual friends at different points in my life and many of my favorite actors and actresses are homosexual. Everybody has been speaking about this, so why not me?
The biggest thing I'm told whenever I try to say something pro same-sex marriage is simply that it's wrong according to the Bible. Okay... fine. But as I tried to tell my mother -- and what I garnered from a documentary about the Bible on the history channel -- is that the bible isn't the complete word of God. I know that's what it is technically, but the documentary showed that Jewish and Christian leaders at the time decided what books would make it into the Bible. Unless you dig deep into the history of the Bible, you wouldn't know about Lilith, Adam's first wife.
According to the documentary, there were different versions of the creationism story. Why? Because of the different leaders adding things or taking things out. Apparently Lilith was to strong of a woman, and some leader who feared a woman with a mind, decided to edit her out.
I thought it was fascinating. What I got from it was that the Bible isn't exactly a pure representation of God's word and Jesus' teachings. Mistranslations take place, books get lost either intentionally or rather shady-like, and humans who can't deal with something conveniently change the story, kind of like a comic book. (I'm not comparing the Bible to a comic book so people who would get offended easily, know this... I'm not trying to offend anybody. Just stating my own view, hence the title.)
As for the phrase "God didn't create Adam and Steve" well, if He wanted His new creation to be the father of a new civilization, then it was an easy choice to choose a woman to create next. You don't hear that he created artificial insemination and the like. Though, provided that the first man had the reproductive organs needed to have a child then he very well could have made Adam's mate Steve.
What's to say that Eve isn't just a mutated man with breasts, no penis, a smaller frame (maybe... we only have pictures drawn hundred years after the supposed event) and a uterus? Or that Adam was a mutated WOMAN with some thing between his legs... OK now I'm just being facetious. But no, we're told that God doesn't make mistakes.
The Bible says God created man in His image, what exactly do we know about God though. What did He or She look like? How did God know the difference between man and woman if the world was just a clean slate and there was no such thing? I think everything goes back to Him and Adam and Eve... and Lilith if you want to add her.
Next time, when saying that marriage is just between a man and a woman think about the above statement. Or, for something less ridiculous sounding, think of equality and the unconditional love of Jesus or whichever deity you pray to if applicable. Know that what one feels comfortable with, whether it's a man loving a man or a woman loving a man, or something in between -- sometimes one has no choice in their preferences or whom their heart chooses to love -- it doesn't matter what others say and think. All that matters is that you're happy. More people should be like that.
Or don't think that... who am I to tell you what to think, but I darn well will tell people my opinion from now on -- hopefully not as long as this. There's a sense of freedom and euphoria in doing so.
Phew... how's that for a comeback. I really do enjoy blogging about random things. Maybe I'll come back tomorrow.
Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk about.
As you may or may not know, Obama has announced that he supports same-sex marriage. Bravo!
Now anybody that has the had the pleasure, or displeasure, of making my acquaintance knows that I'm not into politics, I don't enjoy speaking about religion, nor do I like to debate on pretty much any heated topic known to man i.e. abortion, gay rights, Harry Potter vs. Twilight (my answer... neither. but I digress)
However, I think I have to speak up on my views on same-sex marriage. I know writing this may not sway anybody in favor of or against same-sex marriage. I don't even know who reads this blog daily, especially since I don't have a set updating schedule, but I'm writing this for me. It's a fact that if I have something in my head, it doesn't go away until I write it... so that's what I'm doing.
I don't follow politics at all, maybe that's a good thing, maybe it's a bad thing. Maybe that just points out how ignorant I am. It just doesn't interest me. So, how I heard about this was during tonight's episode of 'Conan'. When it was announced, I mentally clapped in my head and said out loud, "That's good news." to which my mother, a 50 something Christian, looked at me with unamused eyes and a raised eyebrow that I had only seen in my younger days when I "accidentally" flipped her the bird for telling me to clean my room instead of playing video games all day.
She said to me, "No, it's not a good thing... it's wrong." I tried not to cringe at her patronizing voice but just retaliated with, "Everybody should have the right to get married."
Then she said, "No, it's wrong," and turned her head back to Conan, cutting off eye contact with me. "God didn't create Adán y Pedro" or Adam and Steve as our pastor once said -- which people think is so clever but it's not. I just scoff and say, "The Bible was translated, how do you know that it wasn't mistranslated. The only way for you to know what it really said was to be present back then." Which, in retrospect, probably wasn't a good idea since she just turned to me again and said, with her serious 'mom-mode' look, "Same-sex marriage and acts are wrong according to the Bible... and YOU know that, so don't say that."
Needless to say, I backed off at that point. I really hate debating, it gives me a headache because my brain goes a mile a minute with so many ideas passing through while I stumble on my words, saying things that often times don't make sense and those debating with me give me the dreaded, "What are you saying?" or "Are you serious?" look. Not pleasant.
I couldn't even enjoy the rest of the show because I kept thinking about Christianity and homosexuality. I love my mom, and we're a lot alike, but homosexuality is one of the many things we don't agree on. Another being the evolution and creationism (in which I believe both, where, surprise surprise, she's an adamant creationist.) For four years, I was a good Christian just like her, believing in heterosexuality as being right and homosexuality being frowned upon. However, recent events, and the revelation that many Christians at our church are judgmental hypocrites who think they're better than anyone because they preach or help out in the church the most, thus are closer to God, made me think differently.
If Christianity preached to always love your neighbor, that God held an unconditional love for everyone on Earth, AND that homosexuals would go to Hell -- maybe not in those words -- then I couldn't love my neighbor who just happened to be gay and instead should throw a Bible at him and tell him he'd burn in Hell?
I was conflicted and I started hating going to church. Not only was it the longest three hours of my life and seriously cutting into my video game day, but my head hurt with it's contrasting messages.
The next few incidents all played out like the previous, where my mother and I would watch TV, someone would mention something about homosexuality or two members of the same sex would kiss on TV and my mother would say some comment contra the homosexual act and I would try and defend it in my own way. This ended the same with me just rolling my eyes and burying myself in my laptop. We wouldn't speak the rest of the day, which luckily was two or three hours until she fell asleep.
I can't figuratively bash my mother though. There was a point where I was staunchly against homosexuality, but early on in life, I was turned away from that thinking. At this point, I didn't know what I believed in, but I knew that homosexuality was something I didn't want to think of.
The last incident, or second chronologically speaking, was when I witnessed a woman practically applauding her son on showing hostility toward openly gay men who hit on him. Granted, she also said they were obnoxious, but she used that particular story to point out that her son was a raging heterosexual and -- in her words -- had no patience for gays.
Um... maybe they were just obnoxious... I'd definitely lose my patience for annoying folk too and I get how he wouldn't appreciate the attention being a heterosexual. That got me thinking though, why should homosexuals be treated any different from heterosexuals?
I'm not homosexual, but I have had homosexual friends at different points in my life and many of my favorite actors and actresses are homosexual. Everybody has been speaking about this, so why not me?
The biggest thing I'm told whenever I try to say something pro same-sex marriage is simply that it's wrong according to the Bible. Okay... fine. But as I tried to tell my mother -- and what I garnered from a documentary about the Bible on the history channel -- is that the bible isn't the complete word of God. I know that's what it is technically, but the documentary showed that Jewish and Christian leaders at the time decided what books would make it into the Bible. Unless you dig deep into the history of the Bible, you wouldn't know about Lilith, Adam's first wife.
According to the documentary, there were different versions of the creationism story. Why? Because of the different leaders adding things or taking things out. Apparently Lilith was to strong of a woman, and some leader who feared a woman with a mind, decided to edit her out.
I thought it was fascinating. What I got from it was that the Bible isn't exactly a pure representation of God's word and Jesus' teachings. Mistranslations take place, books get lost either intentionally or rather shady-like, and humans who can't deal with something conveniently change the story, kind of like a comic book. (I'm not comparing the Bible to a comic book so people who would get offended easily, know this... I'm not trying to offend anybody. Just stating my own view, hence the title.)
As for the phrase "God didn't create Adam and Steve" well, if He wanted His new creation to be the father of a new civilization, then it was an easy choice to choose a woman to create next. You don't hear that he created artificial insemination and the like. Though, provided that the first man had the reproductive organs needed to have a child then he very well could have made Adam's mate Steve.
What's to say that Eve isn't just a mutated man with breasts, no penis, a smaller frame (maybe... we only have pictures drawn hundred years after the supposed event) and a uterus? Or that Adam was a mutated WOMAN with some thing between his legs... OK now I'm just being facetious. But no, we're told that God doesn't make mistakes.
The Bible says God created man in His image, what exactly do we know about God though. What did He or She look like? How did God know the difference between man and woman if the world was just a clean slate and there was no such thing? I think everything goes back to Him and Adam and Eve... and Lilith if you want to add her.
Next time, when saying that marriage is just between a man and a woman think about the above statement. Or, for something less ridiculous sounding, think of equality and the unconditional love of Jesus or whichever deity you pray to if applicable. Know that what one feels comfortable with, whether it's a man loving a man or a woman loving a man, or something in between -- sometimes one has no choice in their preferences or whom their heart chooses to love -- it doesn't matter what others say and think. All that matters is that you're happy. More people should be like that.
Or don't think that... who am I to tell you what to think, but I darn well will tell people my opinion from now on -- hopefully not as long as this. There's a sense of freedom and euphoria in doing so.
Phew... how's that for a comeback. I really do enjoy blogging about random things. Maybe I'll come back tomorrow.
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