Not Because He And I Are One, But Because We Are Opposites, I Take To Me The Services Which Thou Hast

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.

Edmund Burke (via anamorphosis-and-isolate)

This is more of an issue directed towards the Catholic church than towards you, but i feel like your insight might be able to clear it up for me, at least somewhat. So. Why is it that homosexuality is such a prevalent issue now, and why is it still so strongly enforced that it is wrong and a sin when there were SO many other things in the bible like eating pork or talking to a woman who was menstruating which were equally as wrong. Times have changed, why is the church denying human rights?

I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to answer you! I have been…how shall I put it? Emotionally unstable as of late, teehee ;) And as a general rule, I try not to do anything of much importance during times of emotional instability. :P If I can help it. And your questions are very important to me.

I’m also flattered that you value my insight so highly, and will do my best to give you some clarity.

First off, I beg of you to appreciate how difficult this issue is for Orthodox Christians. That is, Christians who believe the whole bible. I am one of those. And when I try to sort out the homosexuality issue in my head, I end up with a sort of temporary split-personality disorder.

Katherine 1 says that obviously, you can’t blame someone for something they can’t help.

Katherine 2 wonders why the bible would say it’s wrong if it can’t be helped.

Katherine 3 says to shut up both of you, because there’s no condemnation for sin anyway through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Katherine 3 always wins and that’s usually the end of the discussion. But you see, some people ONLY have a Katherine 2. Now even with that as our starting point, we’ve still got flawed logic because there’s all this other crap, like you mentioned, such as eating pork and talking to women who are menstruating.

On a sidenote, avoiding women who are menstruating is not only an Old Testament law, it’s also just good sense!

Anyway…the point is that those things are Old Testament laws. They’re the kind of stuff you would find in Leviticus, where it also says stuff like “don’t sit on a beaver while wearing red horizontal stripes on the third Tuesday of the month if it’s raining…because aliens don’t wear hats.” That is, obviously, hyperbole meant to illustrate the sheer ludicrousness of some of the laws in the OT. They had all these random laws because that was back before Jesus died so they legitimately had to be perfect. And if they messed up, they had to sacrifice animals to pay for their sins. This whole cosmic consequences thing is no joke. Our actions have earthly and spiritual repercussions, and we owe a blood debt. Thankfully, Jesus paid that debt. But before that, they had to kill firstborn lambs and crap like that. So that’s where the pork and period stuff comes from. All that stuff became obsolete after Jesus died. The old laws don’t hold us captive anymore because the blood of Christ covers all our sins.

UNFORTUNATELY, homosexuality is also mentioned in the New Testament, by Paul, who lived years after Jesus’ death. He also says it’s wrong. So now we’re back to square one.

The way I see it, there are at least three reasons why the church sees itself as capable of condemning homosexuality:

They can distance themselves from it. All other sins, cheating, sexual deviance, drugs, lying, pride, have all infiltrated our pews and made themselves at home. We can’t judge any of those sins because we commit them. So we preach forgiveness, redemption and freedom for all those sins, but not for homosexuality. You know, sometimes I think that the church just wants a way to make themselves feel better, like they’re not as bad as everybody else. I dunno, I might be making that up. Bottom line is that we forget that all sin is equal.

The church is very fond of behavior modification. Obviously, the bottom line is a relationship with Jesus. That is the number one most basic, most primary need of every human being. But on top of that, the church likes to fix people and work out strategies to get them to stop doing the “sin” instead of focussing on what really matters: the incredible saving grace of the gospel. And homosexuality…cannot be modified. Gay people don’t want our “help”. They don’t want to change, and can’t even if they wanted to. In a way, I think that infuriates us.

The government and structures of society, until recently, have supported our intolerance. It only started not so long ago that amendments were being made to legislature to allow gay people to marry. Being supported by the law can make anyone feel secure in a position of hate. I read Huck Finn last year, and the poor confused boy thought he was going to hell for freeing a slave, because that was what he had been taught. Church and government have often been hand in hand, and racism seemed to have been condoned by Christians at one point too. Which is just as atrocious as our current predicament. You would think we would learn that people are people, loved by God no matter what!

Finally, it’s such a prevalent issue NOW because it’s relevant now. When racism was abundant and black people were confined to separate bathrooms, busses and hospitals, I wouldn’t be a tad bit surprised if there weren’t churchgoers protesting the eradication of colour segregation. All one has to do is read The Help by Kathryn Stockett to get a good picture of that. But that’s history and now it seems foolish that black people and white people were ever separated at all.

That being said, the bible doesn’t say that being black is wrong. And yeah, times have changed, but whether you think it should or not, the bible doesn’t change. I’m not going to compromise my beliefs to be relevant, but I sure as heck am not gonna judge or condemn someone for being gay. Neither will I deny them basic human rights. I believe that gay people should have the right to marry each other. Who are we straight people to say what they can and cannot do? That’s just foolish. We are all people, equal, and worthy of love and respect. And, I might add, all needing Jesus.

Look, I don’t mean to bash on the institution of organized religion. The church is meant to be a body of believers, Christ’s bride. I love the church. I love the family, the community, and, despite my sarcastic comments, the genuine love and acceptance. We’re not all bad. Some of us get confused. Katherine 1 and 2 may never settle their differences, and I just have to live with my split personality. And from confusion can stem misguidedness, good intentions, and mistakes. We are still learning, and trying our very best to make sense of conflicting information from the world and the bible.

This post was just an analysis of the attitude of the modern church. And it’s just my opinion. I could have made all this stuff up. I’m not saying that all Christians think and act like the ones I described in my 3 reasons for condemnation. And I’m not saying that kind of behaviour is right. I’m just saying.

But I do believe that we’ll get better. We will get more tolerant. There’s a bright future for the church and homosexuality, I’m sure of it. God’s love is a powerful, all-consuming force. And his love for all His children is fierce. He’s reminding us of that right now. Keep your hopes up. :)

Peace and love! -Katherine

For Anyone Contemplating Suicide

I am with you. I am for you. I am sorry. I love you. I want to help.

“When you turn your face away from the young lady with severe boils and dry scabs covering every inch of her skin do you feel yourself grow? Do you feel new, with shedding snake skin peeling off of your body, making you vibrant and bright? Do you feel beautiful when you turn the ugly away? When you talk to the twenty six year old man with moderate autism like he is five years old, do you feel grown? When he cannot write the word garbage correctly, do you treat him like trash - discarded and forgotten? Do you feel intelligent with the world on your side, only seeking to understand the average and the normal? When you knock your child around, do you feel big? Do you feel the power coursing through your veins? Do you feel the adrenaline pumping through your body? When he cowers in fear at your words of “USELESS” and “WORTHLESS” do you feel worthy of his attention, of his affection, of his love? When you stand on the other side of homosexuality and send your acid laced words claiming biblical truth to burn their sin away, do you feel righteous? When your hate filled phrases make someone want to kill themselves to “get rid of the gay” do you feel loving? When you split marriage to be between one man and one woman do you feel like an earthquake, dividing the world to fit your standard and letting those you don’t understand fall to the core of the world, so you can walk all over them again? When you send a man to his death, do you feel like God? Do you feel the way mountains long to be moved and women scream to be heard and little boys cry at night because they know they are girls and everyone tells them that they are confused? Tell me, do you feel like God? You are no God, you of weak and little love, your hands did not build ribcages of protection and skeletons of structure. Your back did not bear his burdens when they threatened to crush him. You did not pick the larva out of the wounds of the divine and beg to bathe him. You did not care for her when she had next to nothing, but you cared for yourself when you took her everything. Your hands are not dirty from digging him out of the mud, but clean because you were the one who pushed him in. You did not pick up your cross and crucify yourself with him, you were the one in the crowd shouting, “KILL HIM” Depart from me. Depart from him. Go and find love.”

— Amanda Helm, Depart from Me (via amandaspoetry)

Thinkin' 'bout International Women's Day

I think it's super cool that we have a day to celebrate women, because any time there is time set aside and designated for a topic, it brings the topic to the forefront of people's minds. And I love celebrating International Women's Day by listening to Nicki and Bey and talking about feminism. A lot of the content I see is rather american-centric, i.e. It deals with feminism in the context of a western society. On *International* Women's Day, I think it's suuuuuuper important to also discuss a broader spectrum of feminism. There are still parts of the world where Female Genital Mutilation is a thing. There are parts of the world where girls are married off to middle aged men in their preteen and early teen years. There are parts of the world where women have chemical burns from acid thrown on them by abusive husbands. There are parts of the world where women cannot go to school. To me, that's what feminism is about. That's what International Women's Day is about. Check out The Girl Effect for more info. They're a cool crowd.

What is your opinion on purity rings?

Teehee, guess what…I wear a purity ring. 

I wear it on my wedding finger and everything. It says “Purity” on one side and “Matthew 5:8” on the other. I ordered it online from c28.com. 

I’ve heard a lot of differing opinions on the topic of purity rings. Some people think it’s really corny and stupid and seem to associate it with the image of a really sheltered, socially inept, uber-religious freak. One woman wrote a blog post that I read about how she stopped wearing hers because it said “True Love Waits” and she felt that it was indicative of her attitude of expectancy. Like she kept asking God to send her a husband and she realized that she was too hung up on it and wanted to find her worth and fulfillment in God instead of waiting for a man. 

I would like to think that I don’t belong to either of those categories. I KNOW for certain that I’m not pining away for a man. I can barely last 4 months in a relationship; I just love being single. And I have a whole bunch of plans for my life that don’t really require a husband. So I’m fairly secure in the knowledge that that’s not the reason I wear it. And although my decision to remain celibate until marriage is old-fashioned and prudish to a lot of people, I don’t think I’m out of touch with reality or brainwashed or crazy or anything. So the ring doesn’t have to be tied to that image. 

The reason that I wear it is that I like to wear my heart on my sleeve. I love outward expressions of my convictions. I have tshirts that advertise everything from my identity as a newfoundlander to my religious beliefs to my opinions on human trafficking and dating. And I like the idea of a tangible symbol of my decision to save sex for marriage. That’s all there is to it. 

Purity rings are generally harmless and innocent in and of themselves. Whether you decide to wear one or not is a personal decision and, I would venture to say, not even a very important one. It has no bearing on the validity of your decision, and it has no control over your actions. It’s just a symbol. Also, it is not, as one of my friends thought, a promise ring. No one gave me my purity ring and said “save yourself for me”. That’d be weird. 

Okay, that’s all I have to say! hahaThanks for the question :)Peace and love! -Katherine 

My Personal Exodus

I've invited some wonderful women to share their experiences on evolutions and revolutions in life for our series "The View From Here :: On a Life in Transition". I hope you appreciate their words ...

Hey guys! This is a monumental occasion! My friend Leigha, whom I admire tremendously for her fearless activism, independence and heartbreakingly beautiful writing talent, asked me to be a guest writer on her blog!! :D Above you'll find the link to my post :) Also, while you're there, poke around and check out some of her stuff. If you like what you read here, you definitely won't be disappointed!  Love y'all!  Peace! -Katherine

Video Rant #2: Feminism is In A Relationship with Modesty and It's Complicated.  *The little ding you hear in the background is my phone, sorry guys! haha :P 

"We are all meant to be mothers of God. What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly, but does not take place within myself? And, what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace if I am not also full of grace? What good is it to me for the Creator to give birth to his Son if I do not also give birth to him in my time and my culture? This, then, is the fullness of time: When the Son of Man is begotten in us."

Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)