This morning, I was reading an old issue of Rolling Stone magazine, it was from October 10th of this year, and I was reading about being a gay teen in the bible belt of America. It was really disturbing. Not because I am opposed to anyone being gay or straight, but, by the way that schools in America can kick you out, if you tell them you are gay. These schools are the Christian schools, and the article was talking about schools in Georgia specifically.
Now, for the record, I do not believe in religion. I don't believe that any one of us is better than anyone else and I don't believe that making someone conform to your religious beliefs because of what some book says is an acceptable form of discrimination. Every single person on this planet is a person and deserves to be treated as such, without fear of retaliation due to any preference. I think that every person can teach us something, and if we are too focused on our differences, then we will fail to see how we are all brothers and sisters of this earth. We are all people, we are all mammals, born to parents, under many different circumstances. We have brown, black, white, yellow, red skin and blue, green, hazel, brown, black, violet and dichromatic eyes. Our hair grows out on top of our heads and we speak to one another through our written languages, and songs and poetry, and stories. There is few things greater in life than being in love and having that love returned to us. And all of us want to feel safe and accepted by our families and our friends. And then we are taught about religion.
I think it's one thing to have some sort of faith, yet a totally different thing to practice a religion. It's religion that has rules and regulations that were put forth by MAN to control the masses through fear and guilt. It was MAN who wrote that book that so many cling to like some sort of only word there was. And yes, some will say that it was through the holy spirit that these books were written, but, tell me, why did they need to go through so many edits, over 150, for a book to be put out. If my Anne Rice's books went through that many edits, I am sure that the meaning of it would be lost within the first 10 edits. Why does this book make it seem like all women are evil and should be treated as less than humans? In fact, didn't these edits take out some of the book that were indeed written by females, with only two women's stories that made the edits, Ester and Ruth? Why are all the women, save these two (well, actually three, Naomi is in the book of Ruth and she's not the devil) given roles such as the harlot and the traitor and that prostitute and the one who killed the garden for Adam and the ones who have no will power and the jealous ones? You don't think that men have the ability to have some of the same qualities, but, we can't put that out that men are like this, it would destroy the ploy to have women seem like we are insignificant to man, and only good for our ovaries.
No, I'm not angry over this, and don't really get me going about some of the time line issues that I have with the that book. Many things just do not line up at all with what the time lines are. Back to the issue. I was horrified and saddened to think that people who proclaim to be such great humans are the ones who are assaulting, harassing, and bullying those they don't understand. Way to go, fucking Christians. I have said this more than once, if you're so good and kind and look I'm going to heaven because I'm such a nice person, why do you feel the need to berate someone you don't know/understand? I don't know about you, I was raised going to church, reading the bible, having a great time with the youth group, all that jazz, but, here is what I don't understand. I was told that because of Christ, the old testament would now be considered more like a history part of the book and all the old ways were thrown out and we were to live by the laws set forth in the new testament... I could be totally wrong, but, this is what I remember, and it has been quite a while since I read it... but, in this new testament, it states, Love one another as yourself, God is love, God is a loving God, yet, what is being shown to me by these 'good Christians' is that their god is not like this. If they were to live a life of a good person that they are trying to perceive, then we wouldn't have all these issues.
So why do we have this intolerance of others? I have many friends who are gay or lesbian or transgender and personally, I don't see anything wrong with it. I don't look at them any different than I would my own sister (doesn't matter which sister, but you get the gist). There is NOTHING wrong these people. They are people who are trying to make sense of their lives, just as any other person on this earth is trying to do. What's the problem then? If a couple of men or women want to get married, does that invalidate your marriage? Does it affect you in any way? No and no. I am sickened to think that this is going on, and I am so angry with the ones who think they are better than anyone else because they are straight. How dare you try to pigeon hole anyone into some little square peg because of your own religious convictions!
But the biggest problem that I see with this is these kids are the ones who are suffering and it's been going on for long time, and it will continue to go on as long as we continue to teach hate to our kids. You know what I hate, tomatoes. And button mushrooms. I do not hate a person because of who they are. I love women. They are such soft kissers and they are so much different then men. I could totally sleep with women, but, I have a lot of respect for anyone who dates a woman. We are all crazy! Seriously, fucking nuts here! I have slept with women before and I can honestly say, I enjoyed it. I have a thing for this totally cute girl who works at the grocery store, she is so fucking cute... LOVE HER! I don't get excited over women that much any more. I am pretty much settled, but, every once in a while, I still think about it. Judy, my Princess, my girlfriend. I love her forever and ever. And, yes, I have slept her.
I want to change this for kids. I want to make it a better place for those who think that they have to hide who they truly are because our society is not ready for them. It's not their fault and it's not acceptable to treat them any less than you would treat any other person. So, what can be done? I am unsure, but, when I know, I am there. I support LGBT individuals. I still don't see them as any different than anyone else, and it baffles my mind that it goes on.
When I was in California, I had a roommate, name was Ed. I love Ed to death, but, he was so afraid of gay men. I had to sit him down one night and ask, why. I didn't know any man who was attracted to Ed. And even if they were, they never said anything to him. He was always so paranoid that a man would hit on him. What a nice compliment, to have someone hit on you. Always made me feel so good that another person found me attractive enough to want to do anything with me. Fuck, I mean, it never happened when I was in high school, so to have it happen at all, I was pretty stoked about it. I don't understand the hate that goes into this, really, it makes my head spin. I have found that so many are hurting to be themselves and they are so scared that no one will accept them for it. I can't say that high school was easy, it's not. But to have the level of difficultly exponentially increased because of sexual preference, well, that shouldn't come into play.
Perhaps what needs to start happening here is a school to be opened that doesn't allow redneck idiot motherfuckers in it. Maybe we should have schools that promote being yourself, no matter what that is. I hate to see the whole segregation thing come into play though... This isn't how life should be, but, what else can be done? There will always be bullies in schools who think they are so tough, and there will always be kids who will be picked on for a variety of reasons. Let's stop making sex one of those reasons. Life is what you make of it, but, if that's true, why do so many have to make it so hard on other people? There will always be ups and downs, and there is an ebb and flow to life, but, why do we teach our kids that it's OK to make it miserable for the ones that we don't understand?
This week, I begin to teach Piper meditation. I am hoping that I can somehow instill in her respect for all living things. I am not sure how to go about it, but, I am going to start with breathing. Imagining I am inhaling gratitude and exhaling love. I think that if we could all teach our kids basic respect of all human life, we would be onto something. So that's where I am at. Teaching the one person whom I have to mold and meld breathing, love, tolerance, acceptance, and respect. No, I am not leaving that to school or to church, it's MY job, as a parent to teach her these things. It's MY job to be the example of these things. I hope that I do good job.
To all those who have been bullied and hurt as a child or a teen or an adult, I applaud you. I will be here with you to take a stand against those who will try to oppress you or tell you that you are less than a human because of who you are. We're not going to take it anymore, and I am with you!
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