Good Days that Hurt...

For the most part, I love life.

Life is such a wonderful gift from God, if you believe in He/She/It/Is, and for those that don't it's an amazing trick of entropy that I could spend several eternities thanking random chance since it is obvious that I won that lottery. (We'll talk about California Lotto later)

But there are days, strangely, they are the days that I truly become convinced that there has to be something behind it, something greater and apparently far wiser than I could ever hope to be behind it all.

Is it God? Is it a super-intelligent being that actually knows the purpose for all that is happening and is either taking one hell of a crap-shoot with creation or has the great hope that since it came from perfection that it must eventually (that can be an awfully long time) return to the source from which it came, perfection.

In the Sanatana-dharma, or as most westerners call it: Hinduism, there is a story of Mother Maya. Mother Maya is the manifestation of creation and she loves her children, us. She feels for us because she knows the pain that she must inflict upon her children so that they may learn and eventually grow beyond her. As with all parents, that is her hope, that her children should surpass her.

The interesting part of days like this for me is that though my heart aches to see the pain that we create for ourselves and for others. I weep to feel the hardness of the hearts of men and I sometimes wonder if I wish to continue on my path towards whatever it is I and everyone else truly is.

There is an old adage that says "ignorance is bliss" and I can agree with that at times, the bliss of sleep is something I sometimes wish for, if only for a moment. But then I awaken to the fact that unless I wish to condemn myself to that sleep of illusion and lies, I have to be willing to awaken and go through the pain.

The pain is an illusion as much as everything else, it's an illusion we create by denying the truth of who and what we are. Because part of our awakening is to become intimately aware that we are all part of the whole, without any part, no matter how small, the whole is not whole, how could it be.

So today my heart is open, my soul is free and I feel the pain that my fellow students are going through. As much as I want to shake them awake, I know that I can only help those who want to be awakened, many are not ready or willing, to them I will wish peace and joy in whatever measure they can handle.

So today is a good day and strangely, it is a day that is likely to hurt, but it is in the depth of that pain, that compassion for my friends, family and the rest of creation, that I know that I have Spirit and that I am getting closer to truly being in Spirit at every moment.

Free Speech vs Hate Speech

The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is where one will find the guarantee of Freedom of Speech . In recent years, the question has been raised as to what roll and to what extent the government should play in it's legislation of "Hate Speech" laws. Let's use a recent example.

Oklahoma State Representative Sally Kern originally became known to me a year or so ago when she declared "I honestly think it's [homosexuality] the biggest threat our nation has, even more so than terrorism or Islam..."

Well the other day she was at it again when she made the following declaration as part of her new signature drive on the "Oklahoma Citizen's Proclamation for Morality".

WHEREAS, this nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion, pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse, and many other forms of debauchery; and

WHEREAS, deeply disturbed that the Office of the president of these United States disregards the biblical admonitions to live clean and pure lives by proclaiming an entire month [June 2009 as 'LGBT Pride Month'] to an immoral behavior;

The proclamation also declares the federal government "is forsaking the rich Christian heritage upon which this nation was built."

As would be expected, a crowd of less than happy protesters made themselves heard shouting things like "shame on you" and "hypocrite." She felt that the protest was "...a wonderful demonstration of intolerance." All I can ask is did she READ what she was proclaiming?

My favorite was the response of Pastor Paul Blair of the Fairview Baptist Church who said:

They don't feel like we should get involved and interfere in what they are trying to say, we had hoped they would show us the same respect.

Are they kidding? These pronouncements were made in the Oklahoma State Capitol and they expected what, humble silence?

When was the last time you had an LGBT protest show up at a church picnic or a funeral? Does the LGBT community stage protests in front of their Churches and decry the perversion of Jesus' teaching or the hatred spewing forth from many pulpits in America? Maybe they should... Hmmm...

I was taught, by Southern Baptist parents, that to stand by and say or do nothing was to lend my support and sadly most churches say nothing about the insensitive, little less the absurd, that is carried out in the name of Jesus.

Chuck S. Thornton, the Deputy Director of the ACLU Chapter of Oklahoma responded:

I think it's very unfortunate, frankly, I haven't seen scapegoating like this since pre-World War II Germany. She blames all these things upon a great moral crisis...but nowhere in this parade of horribles does [she] mention greedy Wall Street executives or government regulators who were asleep at the switch.

Now I expect that comparison to Germany and the term "scapegoating" to be taken poorly by her and those who think like her. So let's ask if such a statement would be justified or an overly dramatic one.

Scapegoating can be defined as a practice by which angry feelings and feelings of hostility may be projected, via inappropriate accusation, towards others. Another description would be the creation of an "us" versus "them" mentality where the "them" are the cause for all the woes that the "us" are blighted with, the "us" tend to be beyond reproach and have little to no fault in the situation.

...[They have] achieved... the ability to control and manipulate the mass media to their own advantage.

LGBT school children were openly ridiculed by teachers and the bullying of LGBT in the playground by other pupils went unpunished.

Oh wait a moment, that first quote wasn't Rep. Kern, it was Adolph Hitler from "Mein Kampf" and the second was taken directly out of an article on Jews in Germany during the rise of Hitler between 1933, when the Jews had become the "Untermenschen" - the sub-humans, and before the Krystalnacht of 1938, I just replaced the words "Jews" and "Jewish" with "LGBT". If you watch and listen, you hear many LGBT students reporting this exact behavior today.

There will always be those who cannot see the difference between disagreeing on something and using Hate Speech.

Pat Robertson and other "religious" leaders are perfectly welcome to say that they do not agree with the LGBT community, Same-Sex Marriage or abortion but when you instill hatred and incite people to violence against another then you have crossed the line from Free Speech into the realm of Hate Speech.

I disagree completely with the "traditional" interpretation of Jesus' teachings that have come down to us from Catholicism and into the assorted Protestant movements, but I would never deny those who believe it the benefits of society or suggest in any way that violence of any kind be directed towards them.

Hate Crimes are the fruit of Hate Speech and those in positions of influence need to be specifically careful to make sure that when they disagree with any group or idea that they take care so as not to incite those looking for an excuse into rash and deplorable behaviors toward those that are on the other side of the argument.

I think Eric Holder, the U.S. Attorney General, summed it up beautifully before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week when he said;

One has to look at the unfortunate history of our nation. There are groups that have been singled out, that have been targets of violence. We have to face and confront that reality.

and

Hate Crimes victimize not only individuals but entire communities, perpatrators of Hate Crimes seek to deny the humanity that we all share regardless of the color of our skin, the God to whom we pray or the person we choose to love.

The 2 Best and Worst Things for Your Sex Life

If I had known that it was that easy to get your attention, I would have started writing about sex ages ago... ;-)

I have been thinking about sex a fair amount lately. Partially since my dance card has been so empty, but partially because I really haven't found what I'm looking for. Let me explain...

I recently discovered the two greatest things that happen to your sex life (no, it is not a little purple pill or topical ointment).

1. Finding someone on the same "frequency"
   
   For those who have never experienced this, boy are you in for a pleasant surprise...
   
   The physical act of sex is immensely pleasurable and all, but the first time you meet someone that you are able to connect with on a higher level, a compatible vibe, a harmonic spiritual frequency, you'll know when it happens.
   
   In my practice I have had many people who have wondered what I was talking about until they experience it.
   
   It is because this seems to be rarer that I realized that I no longer judge people that get labeled as promiscuous (my favorite quote on this goes like this... Promiscuous is anyone getting laid more than you.).
   
   
2. Finding the above is not just a single individual
   
   As much as I am a romantic at heart and am searching for the one that I wish to share the rest of my life with who feels the same way about me, I eventually realized the was not much point in being a depressed involuntary celibate.
   
   I have been fortunate to meet a few people that I could connect with in this way. Not only have I apparently been very lucky, but it opened my mind to the fact that there may be one soul-mate, but many soul-friends and some of them want it to be friends-with-benefits.

We, as humans, seem to be instinctively aware of something greater than our daily existences and while some are just looking for pleasure in the short term, I have begun to wonder if many people either have not been so fortunate or were once and are trying to recapture the high, kinda like drugs, as much as one may seek to numb the pain, the subsequent highs never quite match the original.

Many of the teachers would likely comment that this was due to looking in the wrong place, hunting pretty faces and nice bodies when what you are actually looking for is a favorable and harmonic soul. This would also explain why so many of us fall in love with someone completely outside what we thought we were looking for.

In the gay community of Los Angeles in general and West Hollywood in particular, the sexual culture seems to be to sift people by sex and if you find someone remotely harmonic, date them after the fact. Fine, but not something I am personally comfortable with for reasons that are about to become clear.

Now the other side of the coin, the two worst things for your sex life:

1. Finding someone on the same "frequency"
   
   
2. Finding the above is not just a single individual

So how can they be both the best and the worst? It is because once you taste something better, the old stuff just doesn't really cut it any more, it pales so much in comparison that it makes the other seem like a waste of time. It ceases to be satisfying. BUMMER!!!!!

Some would say that it is growing up; to which I say, "Do I have to?!?"

It makes me think of the line from the New Testament;

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

1 Corinthians 13:11 (KJV)
There are times that I would like to tell the Apostle Paul where to stick it...

Happy Independence Day!!!

After the last 8 years of the previous administration and what some are referring to as a somewhat stilted if not shaky start to the new administration, maybe it would be a good idea to have a slight High School Civics refresher.

Let's start with the purpose of today, it is the celebration of the July 4^th, 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence which formalized the resolution of Independence that had been approved two days earlier.

This document was a synthesis of some current documents as well as based upon the 1689 document called "An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown" and later shortened to "The Short Titles Act 1689" and commonly called the English Bill of Rights.

While the American Declaration of Independence was not the first such declaration ever made, it was to signal the start of the systemic failure of European Colonialism in many aspects.

On this day, most American think of fireworks, bar-b-ques and if you are a little older, John Phillips Sousa marches. I tend to think of the fact that this day was the beginning of a long and sometime excruciatingly bloody trek that would eventually bring us to where we are today.

So on this day where we celebrate our Independence and many also think of their freedoms, enjoy and take just a moment to ponder this great experiment in history called Democracy and appreciate it before it disappears through neglect.

One of my co-workers has a bumper sticker that sums it up so nicely (even though it refers to the Constitution instead)

I would rather have someone burn the flag and wrap themselves in the Constitution, than to burn the Constitution and wrap themselves in the flag.

Think about it...