This is one of the most cufusing times I have ever seen when it comes to sexuality!
I guess by not knowing GLB (Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual) and being from Atlanta, it shows I was raised a preacher's kid. In a few words above is an expose of how man wants to play with what God gave us and manipulate a body made female into one with broad shoulders and a telephone pole!
Such stuff is hardly the kind of conversation we have at the Bath Store!!
Years ago I was doing research in the Medical School Library at Emory. Having tired of the statistical research on psychosomatic illness, I picked up the "Anals of Plastic Surgery." In it was contained step-by-step procedures to alter the human body with case studies and pictures. Being 21, my research was immediately drawn to breast augmentation. A magic surgeon could take oversize ones and make them smaller. Through the magic of silicone, they could now take tiny ones and make them into basketballs. Most interesting!!!
They had to excise the nipple and place it into a nutrient bowl for a while. They would remove fatty tissue or borrow some from the butt and insert it pre-silicone. Put rulers and surgical markings on it so that when sewn back together with ever so fine micro-stitching the viewer could not detect it was man-made. HOWEVER, they had problems with that beautiful new boob having its nerves cut and never quite being as sensitive as it was before. There was also a problem that it could not now nourish a baby because the milk ducts had been cut as well! Complications could also occur where it could become hard or tissue did not heal properly and the downward cut became a valley instead of the rounded curves of the pre-surgical breast! God made it right, but man can't quite get the same result!
There was a segment on Androgyny as well. That is the situation where the baby has 3 chromosomes instead of 2. "It" is both male and female or female / male (so the ladies don't think I always put men first). This situation was a great mystery of which I had never heard. In fact, even medicine keeps it hush-hush. How do you tell a parent they have a he/she????
Did God mess things up in his creation of something odd? We must now rush to make a "gender assignment" because we can't have a male-female. According to the fundies, we are either male or female, but never both. Life must be just as the Bible describes and homosexuals are an "abomination." Sodom and Gomorra prove it! REALLY????
This single oddity of sexuality blows away a simple view that one is either male or female, but cannot make it both or "the opposite" of how I was born. "God made them male or female created He them!" In a way, it is the same as it saying: created in 6 days (24X6) hours / having 2 accounts of creation few want to admit / a cracker floating beneath the heavens and beneath it water off of which one will fall into nothingness.
If we grow up and face facts, we discover that "yam" translates "indefinite period of time" / earth revolves around the sun and is not the center the Bible depicts nor a cracker / the 2 accounts of creation are not identical = the Bible is a witness to "why things are as they are with the leap of faith that 'God did it!'"
The account of mankind eating fruit from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is another important one. Satan tempted Eve with the statement that "God is just fooling you and wanting to keep his special knowledge to himself---if you just eat, you will know what God knows!"
REALLY?????
When micro-biology and endocrinology are added to the picture, we discover that all humans have both estrogen and testosterone balancing one another in the system. All humans have both. Further, embryology show us step-by-step how the sperm and egg unite in a single cell. Depending on the X (male) and Y (female) chromosome combination (XX / YY / XY / YX) that chemical combination directs that cell to form a being where the genitals either become an indention for the female or an extrusion for a male. The same tissue with forms testicles producing sperm---form ovaries producing eggs. At one stage of fetus development there is a tail and gills which give us an evolutionary clue as to our origins--none of these mentioned in the Bible!
So here we are arguing about sexuality and whether homos are going to hell when we hardly understand God's creative process. What we know for sure is that religious people seldom can handle complexity nor can they admit God does things we don't understand. We would rather destroy a queer or gender-assign a new baby which is androgynous by the hand of the Creator. We have a hard time with things not simple as we think the Bible is.
Now, in Baptistland, NC, we have decided that a church ministering to homosexuals is not worthy of having its money accepted. In GA a female-pastored church must be excluded from fellowship because BF&M 2000 (Baptist Faith and Message = a creedal statement) states women must be submissive to men and are not worthy of ordination. Other denominations do it different, but the majority rules among Baptists---now taken over by the Fundamentalist Mindset. Something in this reminds me of "Planet of the Apes."
In current politics, the same seems to be the case = "Don't ask / don't tell." It is the next reason for Democrats to hate Republicans. It is just another diversion from the fact that non-enforcement of financial policies has led us to economic ruin. We are spending $10 for every $1 taken in with taxes. Every citizen has the right to plenty of food / work as they please / live in a fancy house with 2 cars / 2-5 TV's / go on exotic vacations paid by a credit card charging 18-23% interest / having the most exotic military destruction toys costing billions just to produce in Texas / etc.
Diversions are good. They keep us fighting which translates to billions spent on election campaigns producing a media-sensitive candidate who never tells us anything about his real position of taxation / honesty / service to his electorate / producing more laws so lawyers can fight and the judicial system can set OJ (and others like him) free to kill again!
This one thing I can safely conclude: We love being stupid / prejudiced / simple so we can bask in the sun on a desert isle and sip our beers in comfort without having to work.
Sound anything like the Garden of Eden from which we were cast for eating of the fruit of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil???
Gene,
ReplyDeleteI'd like to open a discussion about "don't ask, don't tell." Some of the things I heard about the problems that would come up if that law is repealed agree with things I've heard in general about the military. I would like to know if any of that info is false. (I have caught one of the persons who gave the info in quite a number of lies, and I do not know if some of what he told me about the military is a lie, too.)
I heard that what they call "friendly fire" is actually a person on our side shooting at or killing someone on our side intensionally because they don't like them or don't like something they did. I do not know how often this happens, and am concerned that it would happen more freqently if people knew that certain people are homosexual. It could happen on either side. If a heterosexual teased or bullied a homosexual, the homosexual could retaliate with gunfire. If the heterosexual didn't like gays, he/she could decide to kill them.
And what about those times when 2 men have to be in fox holes together. Would a heterosexual man feel safe with a homosexual man? Or would a homosexual man feel safe with another homoesexual man in whom he had no interest, but who kept coming on to him? And what if homosexuals came onto heterosexual ones, making things awkward and not safe? Or what if heterosexuals got jealous because homosexuals can be sexually active within their own unit, but heterosexuals cannot?
The impression I get of the military currently, is that they work & sleep as a same-sex group who are not sexually active. Except those who visit the women's quarters, date women who are in the military but do not share living/sleeping quarters, or are sexually active among civilians. Allowing homosexuals to divulge their orientation would/could bring sexual activity into the same-sex sleeping quarters, which could disturb the sleep of others, or cause agravation for a host of reasons.
While heterosexual and homosexual people should be able to work/fight together ideally, real life often is far less than ideal.
I read a source that said the recent speech by Gates (? I think that was his name) was not very accurate. If I recall, 2 groups were very opposed to repealing the law, and those were those at the very top and those who do active combat--again, if I recall correctly. Those at the top have the most power in one way, and those with the guns have the most power in another way. It would seem to me to be foolish to mess with either group.
Also, a source I read stated that repealing DADT would require some folks to agree to something that is against their conscience, and would result in a fairly large number of people quitting, or never joining the military. This does make sense to me, since there have been a number of lawsuits, firings, suspensions against folks who say anything against homosexual or lesbian behavior or lifestyle. In other words, our country is denying freedom of speech for those who think/believe homosexual behavior is sin.
I've never been in the military, and may not have heard every side to the issue. Would there be more "friendly fire" less trust in their comrades if the law was repealed? Would the homosexuals end up being raped and gang raped, and/or the recipients of other nasty behavior if they divulge who they are?
Continued:
ReplyDeleteThe above is intended as food for thought. A side note about me. I do have a lesbian friend, and have noticed that the Bible does not speak as negatively against lesbian behavior as it does against homosexual behavior. I do think homosexual behavior is sin, yet I remain courteous and kind to homosexuals & lesbians. At the same time, I dislike society trying to force me to put my stamp of approval on same-sex sexual relationships--including airing many movies with at least 1 same-sex person/couple. Frankly, there are NOT that many same-sex folks in real life.
My daughter has experienced a number of lesbians and bisexual people trying to get her to do their lifestyle. The same-sex community does practice evangelism, and would sue if the Christian community evangelized with the same pushiness.
At one time I was friends with a woman who used to be a man. She told me about feeling she was a woman trapped in a male body, about her surgeries, etc. As soon as her dates found out she used to be a man, they dumped her. She was hurt by people who dumped her over and over again. On the other hand, after knowing her for quite a while and being her friend, she accused me of treating her like a dumb-blond-bimbo on one occasion. We went on a church campout together and to save her time, I told her exactly where I had stacked the kindling firewood so she didn't have to hunt for it, and she seemed to think that meant I thought she was stupid. The thought hadn't entered my head, but after her accusation, it did. I mean, come on! She used to be a man, I saw her as someone who had muscle and the knowledge of things mechanical, etc that are normal in a man's world. (at least they had been in my family) She couldn't totally cover up that she'd had a male body and face, so I didn't see her as a person who'd been born female and not taught things that men are taught. She moved away shortly after that accusation, and stopped communication.
I thought these experiences may be helpful to the discussion.
Waneta--
ReplyDeleteI think you are asking some relavant questions and making accurate observations. I have a good friend who is a retired USAF Chaplain and he has tried to fill me in on something I don't really fully understand.
The friendly fire incidents are real and it is a way some military people deal with something they don't like. I live within 100 miles of Seymour-Johnson AFB / Fort Bragg / Camp Lejune / Cherry Point so I am literally surrounded by large military installations. Their people are in the news over domestic issues mainly of a heterosexual nature. Several missing persons and buried wives who were killed have been in the news.
However, I can't remember a homosexual issue at all, but have every idea there are such.
My Chaplain friend indicates DADT is about privacy issues even though he dealt with some troubled homosexuals. There is a simple medical discharge with no questions asked available as a Chaplain's recommendation to one who cannot deal with homosexual leanings. He indicates there is great pressure on any individual to keep an abnormal sexuality hidden.
Your friend who became a transexual represents a sad, but real issue. One of the terms for it is sexual displasia. A friend from my growing up days has recently told me of his classmate who was a guy during school and is now a gal. He has wisely remained her friend when most people are judgemental and critical of something she could not help.
The basic problem, I believe, is too much concentration on sex these days. With sex education kids know the facts, but don't seem to have a very mature approach to keeping sex in its place.
I met a mother some years ago who was talking about her very normal teenage daughter. She just wanted to hang out with other teens. Her girl friends were accusing her of being a lesbian because she was not engaging in sex with boys. It troubled this mother greatly to see the pressure being put on her daughter by friends who were not really friends at all.
Whatever happened to the "good old days" when you could just grow up without all the pressure and wierd stuff?????
Waneta--
ReplyDeleteI think you are asking some relavant questions and making accurate observations. I have a good friend who is a retired USAF Chaplain and he has tried to fill me in on something I don't really fully understand.
The friendly fire incidents are real and it is a way some military people deal with something they don't like. I live within 100 miles of Seymour-Johnson AFB / Fort Bragg / Camp Lejune / Cherry Point so I am literally surrounded by large military installations. Their people are in the news over domestic issues mainly of a heterosexual nature. Several missing persons and buried wives who were killed have been in the news.
However, I can't remember a homosexual issue at all, but have every idea there are such.
My Chaplain friend indicates DADT is about privacy issues even though he dealt with some troubled homosexuals. There is a simple medical discharge with no questions asked available as a Chaplain's recommendation to one who cannot deal with homosexual leanings. He indicates there is great pressure on any individual to keep an abnormal sexuality hidden.
Your friend who became a transexual represents a sad, but real issue. One of the terms for it is sexual displasia. A friend from my growing up days has recently told me of his classmate who was a guy during school and is now a gal. He has wisely remained her friend when most people are judgemental and critical of something she could not help.
The basic problem, I believe, is too much concentration on sex these days. With sex education kids know the facts, but don't seem to have a very mature approach to keeping sex in its place.
I met a mother some years ago who was talking about her very normal teenage daughter. She just wanted to hang out with other teens. Her girl friends were accusing her of being a lesbian because she was not engaging in sex with boys. It troubled this mother greatly to see the pressure being put on her daughter by friends who were not really friends at all.
Whatever happened to the "good old days" when you could just grow up without all the pressure and wierd stuff?????
Waneta--
ReplyDeleteI think you are asking some relavant questions and making accurate observations. I have a good friend who is a retired USAF Chaplain and he has tried to fill me in on something I don't really fully understand.
The friendly fire incidents are real and it is a way some military people deal with something they don't like. I live within 100 miles of Seymour-Johnson AFB / Fort Bragg / Camp Lejune / Cherry Point so I am literally surrounded by large military installations. Their people are in the news over domestic issues mainly of a heterosexual nature. Several missing persons and buried wives who were killed have been in the news.
However, I can't remember a homosexual issue at all, but have every idea there are such.
My Chaplain friend indicates DADT is about privacy issues even though he dealt with some troubled homosexuals. There is a simple medical discharge with no questions asked available as a Chaplain's recommendation to one who cannot deal with homosexual leanings. He indicates there is great pressure on any individual to keep an abnormal sexuality hidden.
Your friend who became a transexual represents a sad, but real issue. One of the terms for it is sexual displasia. A friend from my growing up days has recently told me of his classmate who was a guy during school and is now a gal. He has wisely remained her friend when most people are judgemental and critical of something she could not help.
The basic problem, I believe, is too much concentration on sex these days. With sex education kids know the facts, but don't seem to have a very mature approach to keeping sex in its place.
I met a mother some years ago who was talking about her very normal teenage daughter. She just wanted to hang out with other teens. Her girl friends were accusing her of being a lesbian because she was not engaging in sex with boys. It troubled this mother greatly to see the pressure being put on her daughter by friends who were not really friends at all.
Whatever happened to the "good old days" when you could just grow up without all the pressure and wierd stuff?????
Waneta--
ReplyDeleteI think you are asking some relavant questions and making accurate observations. I have a good friend who is a retired USAF Chaplain and he has tried to fill me in on something I don't really fully understand.
The friendly fire incidents are real and it is a way some military people deal with something they don't like. I live within 100 miles of Seymour-Johnson AFB / Fort Bragg / Camp Lejune / Cherry Point so I am literally surrounded by large military installations. Their people are in the news over domestic issues mainly of a heterosexual nature. Several missing persons and buried wives who were killed have been in the news.
However, I can't remember a homosexual issue at all, but have every idea there are such.
My Chaplain friend indicates DADT is about privacy issues even though he dealt with some troubled homosexuals. There is a simple medical discharge with no questions asked available as a Chaplain's recommendation to one who cannot deal with homosexual leanings. He indicates there is great pressure on any individual to keep an abnormal sexuality hidden.
Your friend who became a transexual represents a sad, but real issue. One of the terms for it is sexual displasia. A friend from my growing up days has recently told me of his classmate who was a guy during school and is now a gal. He has wisely remained her friend when most people are judgemental and critical of something she could not help.
The basic problem, I believe, is too much concentration on sex these days. With sex education kids know the facts, but don't seem to have a very mature approach to keeping sex in its place.
I met a mother some years ago who was talking about her very normal teenage daughter. She just wanted to hang out with other teens. Her girl friends were accusing her of being a lesbian because she was not engaging in sex with boys. It troubled this mother greatly to see the pressure being put on her daughter by friends who were not really friends at all.
Whatever happened to the "good old days" when you could just grow up without all the pressure and wierd stuff?????
Sorry about the wierd triple posting = have no clue when computers and internet do their own thing!
ReplyDeleteWhat is your opinion of Christian Financial Seminars?
ReplyDeleteI think they are good, as a rule. With the economy as it is, some basic understandings would help most people.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure why it should necessarily be "Christian." I'm not aware of those I know and a "Christian" one being too different.
Here is the best Financial Seminar in a few words from the Kingfisher of "Amos 'n Andy" fame:
"If yo out go exceeds yo in come----
Yo up keep will be yo down fall!!!"