The people who throw around hate in the name of God, do not know God. They do not represent God. They do not pray to God. What they are really praying to, is their own twisted mentality.
They pray for destruction of God's own creation. They might as well be praying for the destruction of all the world. For the destruction of God.
The notion that lesbian, gay, bi, and transgender people are not of God, is insulting to God. The religious right has placed hate where they claim God to be. Indeed, they have become godless in their pursuit of discrimination and judgement. Setting themselves up as the gatekeepers of Heaven. Telling God's own children that there is no place for them in God's love.
It is not God who fails us. It is people who assume the place of God who viscously attack us. Sin, I have heard it said, is putting anything between yourself and God. Perhaps a more egregious sin, is putting anything between God and someone else.
Yet, I must remember, it is not my place to judge them. On the other hand, I am not asking for their civil rights to be taken away. I am not claiming they will burn in hell. I am not saying that God doesn't love them.
I am asking them to stop pushing our LGBT children away from God. To stop pushing our LGBT children into suicide.
The religious right is godless. There is no other explanation. The time is come for the truth to be told.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
If I Won the Lottery
If I won the lottery, what would I do?
Would I buy a house? Yes, a big one.
Would I buy a car? Yes, a minivan or a small bus.
Would I buy new clothes? Yes, lots of them.
What would you do if you won the lottery? Would you spend money on houses, and cars, and clothes?
I would. But there is a little bit more to it than that.
I suppose I should begin at the beginning. After I found Metropolitan Community Church of Topeka, and thereby found myself, I also found that there were a lot of transgender people who need more help than I can provide. But I decided that maybe I could help some by being open about who I am, and trying to educate people about transgender issues.
Then, one day, this amazing lady, named Joyce Jenkins, came into my life. She was the new girlfriend of another amazing lady, Annette Billings. I was there when Joyce and Annette were married, and when Joyce died, far too soon after their blessed day. Joyce came to see me talk in the Topeka/Shawnee County Public library about my book, "My Long Walk Home - A Transexual Journey". She did that four days before she died. That's just the kind of thing that Joyce Jenkins did.
When Joyce and I met, we talked about the work I was doing to try to facilitate change for transgender people. She talked about the work she had done with the City of New York, helping people find solutions. Among the people she helped were the homeless transgender people of New York. She spoke with passion about the need for a place for them to go because the homeless shelters could not or would not properly accommodate them.
So if I win the lottery, I will buy a house. I will buy a bus or a minivan. I will buy clothes and lots of other stuff. I will put all this stuff, I will park my minivan, at the Joyce L. Jenkins Home for Transgender People (if Annette doesn't mind me using Joyce's name).
There are a lot of other things that the money could do as well. Scholarships for surgery. More extensive transgender education. Legal fees, the costs of therapy, name changes, and more.
If I win the lottery, I will buy a house. Maybe two.
Would I buy a house? Yes, a big one.
Would I buy a car? Yes, a minivan or a small bus.
Would I buy new clothes? Yes, lots of them.
What would you do if you won the lottery? Would you spend money on houses, and cars, and clothes?
I would. But there is a little bit more to it than that.
I suppose I should begin at the beginning. After I found Metropolitan Community Church of Topeka, and thereby found myself, I also found that there were a lot of transgender people who need more help than I can provide. But I decided that maybe I could help some by being open about who I am, and trying to educate people about transgender issues.
Then, one day, this amazing lady, named Joyce Jenkins, came into my life. She was the new girlfriend of another amazing lady, Annette Billings. I was there when Joyce and Annette were married, and when Joyce died, far too soon after their blessed day. Joyce came to see me talk in the Topeka/Shawnee County Public library about my book, "My Long Walk Home - A Transexual Journey". She did that four days before she died. That's just the kind of thing that Joyce Jenkins did.
When Joyce and I met, we talked about the work I was doing to try to facilitate change for transgender people. She talked about the work she had done with the City of New York, helping people find solutions. Among the people she helped were the homeless transgender people of New York. She spoke with passion about the need for a place for them to go because the homeless shelters could not or would not properly accommodate them.
So if I win the lottery, I will buy a house. I will buy a bus or a minivan. I will buy clothes and lots of other stuff. I will put all this stuff, I will park my minivan, at the Joyce L. Jenkins Home for Transgender People (if Annette doesn't mind me using Joyce's name).
There are a lot of other things that the money could do as well. Scholarships for surgery. More extensive transgender education. Legal fees, the costs of therapy, name changes, and more.
If I win the lottery, I will buy a house. Maybe two.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
My Road to Feminism
Note: This blog is only my opinion, and is not intended to limit or devalue anyone's right to their own beliefs.
It never crossed my mind as I entered into physical transition, that my views would become so changed. Many of my core beliefs have been cast aside and replaced with completely new ones. In no arena is that more true than in my understanding of how our world is set up to sustain male dominance.
From advertising to the Bible, and from birth, we are programmed to believe this is the natural order of things. It is the ultimate brainwash. It is no more true than the idea that the sun rises in the west.
Let me be clear. I don't think all men believe they are superior to women. I don't even think that a lot of men believe that. I think that most human beings don't realize how significantly the world is set up to promte discrimination against women. The reason I think this, is because I have seen the world from both sides of the fence.
I have watched the value of my opinion become less as I am now seen as a woman. I have heard the words spoken in men's locker rooms and women's restrooms. I have found it necessary to examine the ways in which I participated, unknowingly, before I watched my status decrease in front of my very eyes.
I have become a feminist. Not the "I want to wear the pants" kind of feminist - if there is such a thing. The "I am not less valid today just because I live as a woman" kind of feminist.
My understanding of nearly everything has changed through my transition. My understanding of God is so totally related to my feminism. You see, I was one of those "guys" who frowned when a woman would say (about God), "or she or it", when she heard someone refer to God in the masculine.
It was simply true. The all powerful being just had to be male. In my studies of Social Work, this is called a "mechanism of oppression". Of course men are dominant. Of course men are more worthy. After all, God is a man too.
I simply can not believe in a God that is limited by gender anymore. I have come to understand that gender is a human construct, and a human limitation, neither of which are relevant to God.
Alas, I have become one of those women who say, "or she or it", when I hear someone refer to God in the masculine. And I occassionally see a man frown. How dare I question the natural order of male supremacy in the universe?
How dare I? How dare I? How dare I not?
It never crossed my mind as I entered into physical transition, that my views would become so changed. Many of my core beliefs have been cast aside and replaced with completely new ones. In no arena is that more true than in my understanding of how our world is set up to sustain male dominance.
From advertising to the Bible, and from birth, we are programmed to believe this is the natural order of things. It is the ultimate brainwash. It is no more true than the idea that the sun rises in the west.
Let me be clear. I don't think all men believe they are superior to women. I don't even think that a lot of men believe that. I think that most human beings don't realize how significantly the world is set up to promte discrimination against women. The reason I think this, is because I have seen the world from both sides of the fence.
I have watched the value of my opinion become less as I am now seen as a woman. I have heard the words spoken in men's locker rooms and women's restrooms. I have found it necessary to examine the ways in which I participated, unknowingly, before I watched my status decrease in front of my very eyes.
I have become a feminist. Not the "I want to wear the pants" kind of feminist - if there is such a thing. The "I am not less valid today just because I live as a woman" kind of feminist.
My understanding of nearly everything has changed through my transition. My understanding of God is so totally related to my feminism. You see, I was one of those "guys" who frowned when a woman would say (about God), "or she or it", when she heard someone refer to God in the masculine.
It was simply true. The all powerful being just had to be male. In my studies of Social Work, this is called a "mechanism of oppression". Of course men are dominant. Of course men are more worthy. After all, God is a man too.
I simply can not believe in a God that is limited by gender anymore. I have come to understand that gender is a human construct, and a human limitation, neither of which are relevant to God.
Alas, I have become one of those women who say, "or she or it", when I hear someone refer to God in the masculine. And I occassionally see a man frown. How dare I question the natural order of male supremacy in the universe?
How dare I? How dare I? How dare I not?
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