Somehow I got on a FaceBook mailing list yesterday for a campaign headed by Fox "News" Republitard Mike Huckabee, the failed and potential future presidential candidate, asking me to contribute to a the GOP effort to defend DOMA in two pending cases that are working their way to the Supreme Court. You can check it out here and please share your views on this hateful campaign.House Speaker John "Snooki" Boehner said this week that it's up to congress to defend this unconstitutional law, since the president has chosen not to. Things are about to get very ugly.
Anyway, I went to the fundraising page and started sharing my thoughts on the subject and shared the link with my FB friends and encouraged them to share their views with Huckster and Co. It's been a lot of fun. I think these people are disgusting and despicable. Their actions prove that they are more devoted to their bigoted church doctrine than they are to the actual message Jesus shared. That's what the word "Christianist" means. I like that word because it describes the right wingers perfectly. Also, because it pisses them off.
As for my own spiritual beliefs, I haven't really gone into a lot of detail about them here, but since I am a nonpracticing ordained minister, I should probably elaborate a little.
I was raised in the Catholic Church, but became very disillusioned with it in my teens. I had a lot of questions that they couldn't answer. The standard Catholic response when they don't know something is, "That's one of the mysteries of faith." Blind faith is a dangerous thing.
It wasn't until I left home that I was able to get away from its psychologically and spiritually destructive influence that I started my on spiritual journey. It's not that I reject the teachings of Jesus Christ, he was a great spiritual teacher. It's just that there are too many holes in the story. It doesn't make sense on any rational level. I have come to believe over the years that it is more important to learn the lesson than it is to worship the teacher.
There have been many spiritual leaders throughout history that I've been influenced by that have helped me shape my spiritual philosophy. One that shaped my early years was Khalil Gibran, author of "The Prophet". He once wrote, "Be patient, for it is from doubt that knowledge is born."
Having grown up in the 60's and 70's, I was also influenced by Martin Luther King, Gandhi and the hippie movement, which gave me my favorite quote ever, "Question Authority". It's become a personal motto of mine, which I have put into practice as often as possible in my life, much to the displeasure of my mother and most of my employers over the years.
Any way, the reason I went off on this tangent is to give you some insight about where I'm coming from with my approach to LGBT equality, politics and spirituality in general as it relates to all this Mike Huckabee hate speech. He's a minister too and believes that it enhances his credibility. People listen to him because of his ordination. It gives his words more power in certain circles.
My message is this: Temper your spirituality with some common sense. If your preacher is telling you to believe something or act in a certain way ~ like voting to restrict the civil rights of people they disapprove of ~ and it doesn't make sense to you or goes against your own personal values, you need to find another preacher.
The reason there are so many different religions and denominations in the world is that there is no consensus on the truth. If religious leaders can't agree with each other about what the truth is, they have no credibility with me. They question the authority and validity of what came before them, but don't want you to. How hypocritical! If they can seek their own spiritual truth, so can you.
Think outside the spiritual box. Question authority.
The word "Christianist" is -ok- but I prefer to use "kristianist" because of the subtle association with another group. And I think "The Profit" sounds more like a title the Koch bros would have written. You might want to check your bookshelf.
ReplyDeleteTwiga, Thanks for pointing out my typo! Consider it corrected. Obviously the book I referred to is The Prophet, by Khalil Gibran. Chalk it up to a senior moment. Getting old sucks. Don't do it if you can help it.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prophet_%28book%29