02 May 2012
Why Jesus Died
The story of Jesus is not about logic, or following a plot, or character conflict. It is about love.
I only believe in god a few days out of every week but when I do believe, I know that it is not all about the crucifixion (no matter what certain filmmakers would have people believe). It is about the fact that the story, the myth, brings god down on earth to live with people and to die with them. God walked the path we all have to walk. Jesus could have lived to be an old man and he would still die as we die.
God dies with us to show us god's love and that we are not alone, even on the scariest journey. The sacrifice was made at incarnation, not at crucifixion.
(Originally written in 2004)
25 March 2012
Make up
I was reading Beauty Tips for Ministers and found the comments on the linked article to be a very interesting range on the discussion of wearing makeup as part of a professional role-- looking at Martina Navratilova as an example given her recent appearance on "Dancing with the Stars."
As usual, I had my own thoughts on the matter that ended up being longer than I felt was a fair comment, so here it is on my own blog.
The thing that interested me about the discussion was the range of 'appropriate' levels of makeup and cosmetics use depending on the culture one is embedded in.
I work from home but love doing costuming as a hobby. Other than sporadic eye-shadow use in my day-to-day life, about the only time I ever wear make-up is as part of a costume, to finish off the look.
My personal experience with foundation makeup has been very negative (sensitive skin combined with a weird skin tone). Over the years I've tried various products, but none actually improve the look of my skin. Some of us just look better & feel more confident sans makeup; some people both look and feel better with it on.
I did like the comment in the article from Ms Navratilova: "when asked about her glammed up appearance? “It’s great — you have to do it. It’s part of the role.”
When does a role in life require make-up? Where is the balance between personal preference (and frankly allergies & other issues that go even deeper) and social perception? If more women stopped wearing make-up, stopped feeling like it was a requirement of their 'role' what would happen? Is there any way to get there from here?
I think make-up is fun. I think it is critical in some industries like the theater, but I also worry about the pressures the beauty industry puts on people to be 'better'.
The most beautiful people that I know all share one thing: their personalities and their love of life shine through. Some of them use make-up every day and some go bare-faced into the world. It is not the make-up that makes them beautiful, it is their confidence and inner light.
As usual, I had my own thoughts on the matter that ended up being longer than I felt was a fair comment, so here it is on my own blog.
The thing that interested me about the discussion was the range of 'appropriate' levels of makeup and cosmetics use depending on the culture one is embedded in.
I work from home but love doing costuming as a hobby. Other than sporadic eye-shadow use in my day-to-day life, about the only time I ever wear make-up is as part of a costume, to finish off the look.
My personal experience with foundation makeup has been very negative (sensitive skin combined with a weird skin tone). Over the years I've tried various products, but none actually improve the look of my skin. Some of us just look better & feel more confident sans makeup; some people both look and feel better with it on.
I did like the comment in the article from Ms Navratilova: "when asked about her glammed up appearance? “It’s great — you have to do it. It’s part of the role.”
When does a role in life require make-up? Where is the balance between personal preference (and frankly allergies & other issues that go even deeper) and social perception? If more women stopped wearing make-up, stopped feeling like it was a requirement of their 'role' what would happen? Is there any way to get there from here?
I think make-up is fun. I think it is critical in some industries like the theater, but I also worry about the pressures the beauty industry puts on people to be 'better'.
The most beautiful people that I know all share one thing: their personalities and their love of life shine through. Some of them use make-up every day and some go bare-faced into the world. It is not the make-up that makes them beautiful, it is their confidence and inner light.
23 March 2012
College Choices
I was reading an off-hand remark in someone else's journal that said that the Evergreen State College (from which I graduated twenty years ago) is a fun but not a practical school and it didn't attract employers.
I started to respond... and then I realized that I had a lot more to say than I thought. So rather than clutter up another person's journal I decided to clutter up my own with my thoughts on the college experience generally and the Evergreen Experience specifically. I originally wrote this in 2004, but it is still relevant today.
As a counter-example to the Evergreen doesn't attract employers statement, my husband was hired right out of Evergreen, the company paid our moving expenses and he ended up flying back to Olympia for graduation.
All three of the adults in my household are graduates of Evergreen. We are all employed and have done quite well for ourselves. That does not mean we all got dream jobs right out of school but our educations have served us well in our various endeavors.
One of the women I went to school with trained in computers, worked in that field for several years and has now started her own landscaping business. Not what she trained for, but what she found a passion for a little later in her life.
Regardless of the school attended, you get out of it what you put in, getting a job at the end is a nice bonus, but is not guaranteed. Neither is getting a job in whatever field you train for. Luck and timing play a large role in that.
Two other stories. My middle brother went to school on the east coast and settled there. He studied his passion, the Middle East and learned two languages along the way. His hobby was computers. When he graduated school he worked for several different firms doing different things. None of it directly related to his major in school. Currently he works for an internet based company as a lead techie. He met his (now) wife there and seems to be settled in for the long haul.
My youngest brother went to Evergreen. He studied all manner of things (one of the nice things about Evergreen, it doesn't lock you into a major). He's been steadily employed since graduating, not always at jobs he wanted to do, but he has been a passionate fringe theater director and has since moved on to freelance technical writing.
College doesn't prepare you for a specific job, if it did there would be too many square pegs and not enough square holes. Instead it gives you tools to build your life. Finding the right school, one that fits your needs and matches your learning style is important. Sometimes an ideal match is not possible, or sometimes a range of schools with work for a particular person.
One of the many things I liked about Evergreen was that they were willing to make exceptions. Part of their model was the idea that some folks might do well at Evergreen who hadn't done well in other, more 'traditional' schools.
Was Evergreen fun? Yes, but only because I met some really wonderful people who helped me make it though. It was very challenging academically. I cried buckets of tears, I tore my hair out over deadlines, I learned a lot in four years there, and one of the most valuable things, was how to keep learning without the benefit of teachers or the structure of the classroom.
If you go to school and expect that someone will hand you a job along with the diploma at the end, you will be sorely disappointed. The diploma might help you rise a little in the resume pile, since it shows that the applicant can follow though with a project, but it will not guarantee you a job. This is true regardless of what school you attend. So if you go to college, study what interests you at the time, don't try to predict what you will be doing ten years from now and study for that-- let the person you are now, study the things that interest them now.
College is your chance to do the work you want to do. You'll have enough of doing jobs you don't like or that you have no control over once you leave school (or even while you are in school). Education should be fun, and agonizing, and powerful, and stimulating, and exhausting.
I started to respond... and then I realized that I had a lot more to say than I thought. So rather than clutter up another person's journal I decided to clutter up my own with my thoughts on the college experience generally and the Evergreen Experience specifically. I originally wrote this in 2004, but it is still relevant today.
As a counter-example to the Evergreen doesn't attract employers statement, my husband was hired right out of Evergreen, the company paid our moving expenses and he ended up flying back to Olympia for graduation.
All three of the adults in my household are graduates of Evergreen. We are all employed and have done quite well for ourselves. That does not mean we all got dream jobs right out of school but our educations have served us well in our various endeavors.
One of the women I went to school with trained in computers, worked in that field for several years and has now started her own landscaping business. Not what she trained for, but what she found a passion for a little later in her life.
Regardless of the school attended, you get out of it what you put in, getting a job at the end is a nice bonus, but is not guaranteed. Neither is getting a job in whatever field you train for. Luck and timing play a large role in that.
Two other stories. My middle brother went to school on the east coast and settled there. He studied his passion, the Middle East and learned two languages along the way. His hobby was computers. When he graduated school he worked for several different firms doing different things. None of it directly related to his major in school. Currently he works for an internet based company as a lead techie. He met his (now) wife there and seems to be settled in for the long haul.
My youngest brother went to Evergreen. He studied all manner of things (one of the nice things about Evergreen, it doesn't lock you into a major). He's been steadily employed since graduating, not always at jobs he wanted to do, but he has been a passionate fringe theater director and has since moved on to freelance technical writing.
College doesn't prepare you for a specific job, if it did there would be too many square pegs and not enough square holes. Instead it gives you tools to build your life. Finding the right school, one that fits your needs and matches your learning style is important. Sometimes an ideal match is not possible, or sometimes a range of schools with work for a particular person.
One of the many things I liked about Evergreen was that they were willing to make exceptions. Part of their model was the idea that some folks might do well at Evergreen who hadn't done well in other, more 'traditional' schools.
Was Evergreen fun? Yes, but only because I met some really wonderful people who helped me make it though. It was very challenging academically. I cried buckets of tears, I tore my hair out over deadlines, I learned a lot in four years there, and one of the most valuable things, was how to keep learning without the benefit of teachers or the structure of the classroom.
If you go to school and expect that someone will hand you a job along with the diploma at the end, you will be sorely disappointed. The diploma might help you rise a little in the resume pile, since it shows that the applicant can follow though with a project, but it will not guarantee you a job. This is true regardless of what school you attend. So if you go to college, study what interests you at the time, don't try to predict what you will be doing ten years from now and study for that-- let the person you are now, study the things that interest them now.
College is your chance to do the work you want to do. You'll have enough of doing jobs you don't like or that you have no control over once you leave school (or even while you are in school). Education should be fun, and agonizing, and powerful, and stimulating, and exhausting.
22 March 2012
Rambling thoughts on the 2nd Amendment
I was going to post this as a comment in reaction to a "keep & bear arms" meme going around Facebook, but since it ended up being longer than the original post, I'm putting it here.
Some rambling thoughts on the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution:
I'd be more sympathetic to people promoting 'the right to bear arms' if we hadn't had 3 gun incidents in the Seattle area in the past few months.
A 3-year old killed himself with a gun while his parents were stopped for gas (the gun was apparently under the seat), a 9 year old was shot when a classmate brought a loaded gun to school and it went off, & another young person brought an unloaded gun to school.
I have a lot of family members who are very responsible with guns, but I wish the 'well-regulated' part of the 2nd amendment was more respected by society at large.
I also don't think the Framers had any idea the type of urban density we would be dealing with. I understand the history behind the 2nd Amendment & just wish that all people who insist on the right to bear arms would also insist (and enforce in their own families) on proper training and rigorous safe storage when the gun is not in use. In an urban environment, there are a lot more innocent bystanders to get hurt if even a few people don't exercise sense in gun ownership.
I've never owned a gun, don't want one, & the only shooting I have done was in school as part of gym class (ah, Wyoming & your interesting gym classes in the 80's). I'm not opposed to gun ownership. I know many people who own & use guns responsibly. I just wish more people in the pro-gun camp would come out with some sympathy for victims of the gun-owning-free-for-all that seems to be encouraged at times.
Guns do kill people, and unlike cars (which also kill people in accidents) the only purpose for a gun is to put a hole in something & break it (be it a target, skeet, or a person). I also think, that a patchwork of random gun ownership does not really provide for the common defense in an age when we have a standing army and a police force. We are no longer the wild west and our founding documents might benefit from being updated to reflect that fact.
Some rambling thoughts on the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution:
I'd be more sympathetic to people promoting 'the right to bear arms' if we hadn't had 3 gun incidents in the Seattle area in the past few months.
A 3-year old killed himself with a gun while his parents were stopped for gas (the gun was apparently under the seat), a 9 year old was shot when a classmate brought a loaded gun to school and it went off, & another young person brought an unloaded gun to school.
I have a lot of family members who are very responsible with guns, but I wish the 'well-regulated' part of the 2nd amendment was more respected by society at large.
I also don't think the Framers had any idea the type of urban density we would be dealing with. I understand the history behind the 2nd Amendment & just wish that all people who insist on the right to bear arms would also insist (and enforce in their own families) on proper training and rigorous safe storage when the gun is not in use. In an urban environment, there are a lot more innocent bystanders to get hurt if even a few people don't exercise sense in gun ownership.
I've never owned a gun, don't want one, & the only shooting I have done was in school as part of gym class (ah, Wyoming & your interesting gym classes in the 80's). I'm not opposed to gun ownership. I know many people who own & use guns responsibly. I just wish more people in the pro-gun camp would come out with some sympathy for victims of the gun-owning-free-for-all that seems to be encouraged at times.
Guns do kill people, and unlike cars (which also kill people in accidents) the only purpose for a gun is to put a hole in something & break it (be it a target, skeet, or a person). I also think, that a patchwork of random gun ownership does not really provide for the common defense in an age when we have a standing army and a police force. We are no longer the wild west and our founding documents might benefit from being updated to reflect that fact.
21 March 2012
Music a must
My son asked me the other day why I require that he take music lessons through the end of 8th grade. My off-the-cuff answer was: "It's a long list, are you sure you want to hear it?" He answered by immediately getting back to work on one of his violin pieces.
I decided to write up my reasons, regardless of his lack of interest in them. So here are 10 of my reasons why my son must take music lessons (and why I require that he practice as close to every day as we can manage). In no particular order:
1. It is much easier to learn an instrument when one is young-- the brain is flexible and is in learning mode.
2. If one learns something as a youngster it is much easier to come back to it later in life.
3. Music training has been linked to enhanced ability in other skills such as verbal communication and mathematics.
4. Learning an instrument gives one greater appreciation for all types of music and the skill that it takes to play at the professional level.
5. Music is good for the soul. (Really this is number one & underlies all of my other reasons).
6. Knowing how to play an instrument & read music is a form of emergency preparedness. If all the power goes out, at least someone in the family will be able to provide music.
7. Music is incredibly diverse. Learning how to play an instrument & read music gives one access to all kinds of music.
8. Learning how to play an instrument requires practice and learning how to practice is a skill that will be useful in many areas of life.
9. Learning how to play an instrument takes time & patience, see above.
10. Doing something that one is not naturally good at is good for the brain and allows one to learn the important lesson that, as someone said: "Hard work beats talent if talent doesn't work." Just because one is not naturally good at something does not mean that one should give up on it. Very few people are 'naturally good' at anything.
I decided to write up my reasons, regardless of his lack of interest in them. So here are 10 of my reasons why my son must take music lessons (and why I require that he practice as close to every day as we can manage). In no particular order:
1. It is much easier to learn an instrument when one is young-- the brain is flexible and is in learning mode.
2. If one learns something as a youngster it is much easier to come back to it later in life.
3. Music training has been linked to enhanced ability in other skills such as verbal communication and mathematics.
4. Learning an instrument gives one greater appreciation for all types of music and the skill that it takes to play at the professional level.
5. Music is good for the soul. (Really this is number one & underlies all of my other reasons).
6. Knowing how to play an instrument & read music is a form of emergency preparedness. If all the power goes out, at least someone in the family will be able to provide music.
7. Music is incredibly diverse. Learning how to play an instrument & read music gives one access to all kinds of music.
8. Learning how to play an instrument requires practice and learning how to practice is a skill that will be useful in many areas of life.
9. Learning how to play an instrument takes time & patience, see above.
10. Doing something that one is not naturally good at is good for the brain and allows one to learn the important lesson that, as someone said: "Hard work beats talent if talent doesn't work." Just because one is not naturally good at something does not mean that one should give up on it. Very few people are 'naturally good' at anything.
27 February 2012
Home-churching
Inspired by the post on "Home Churching" at the Episcopal Cafe
I'm chiming in as one of the family (Matt & I are siblings). I really like the idea of home-churching, what we do is not even as organized as what has been written about here.
I am very firmly an Episcopalian, raised in the faith, my husband was baptized and confirmed before we were married (but after we were engaged) because he wanted to be.
We have gone through 4 home churches since our marriage. The first we were married in, but we never really felt fully at home-- it was our college church and we were not as settled as most of the rest of the congregation.
The 2nd church was in Texas after my husband got his first job out of college. There were nice people there but the priest stood up and said in a sermon that AIDS was God's punishment against "the gays". I was devastated by that and ended up confronting him about what it meant to me when he did that, but that confrontation pretty much made me not want to invest much emotionally in that church.
Our 3rd church also had nice people in it, but they'd been struggling for years with how to pay the bills. My husband and I both spent a lot of time serving on the vestry and on a long-term planning committee only to see nothing change. After my son was born I gradually stopped going, the stress of being in a congregation that wouldn't change, but also was scraping by made going to church stressful. We supported the church financially for years even while we were not active members. The final straw came when I stopped pledging because we were going through a bit of a financial rough spot and there was no response from the church.
We were church-home-less for a few years, when the organist from our previous church invited us to her new church (she was also a refugee from church #3). We took her up on her invitation and now my husband and son go semi-regularly (husband is a lector and son is an acolyte) and I go about 3 times a year. For various reasons (being an extreme night owl & and extreme introvert among them) corporate worship is not something I can sustain in a healthy way. Maybe that will change in the future.
This leads back to home churching. Ever since my son was born, I have wanted him to have a sense of the spiritual paths available to him and in particular his Episcopalian heritage. In that sense I am a tribal Episcopalian. However, I can't duplicate my childhood. We had a great Sunday School program growing up. We spent an entire year when I was in Junior High just studying the book of John. However, a lot of my faith formation also came from my own interests. I read the entire King James version of the bible (including the genealogies) when I was a teenager, because I felt like it. I took "Bible as Literature" in High School and wrote papers on 2 of the major stories of the bible that feature women because I wanted to.
Just last week my son and I went to the Ash Wednesday service. Ash Wednesday is my favorite holy day in the church calendar and I was talking to my son on the drive home about repentance and forgiveness and what they mean to me and how my concepts of them have grown out of my faith. He quoted Terry Pratchett back in response (there is a lot of theology skimming along the surface of Terry Pratchett's fantasy-satire) in a way that made it clear to me that he precisely understood what I was talking about. I won't quote it here as it has major spoilers for the end of the book, but if you get a chance, read Terry Pratchett's "The Truth".
All this boils down to my husband and I doing our best to try to live our faith in front of our son. To share what we get from having faith and to answer his questions as best we can and help him grow into a person of faith. We are not as organized about it as families that set aside a special day, or a special meal, heck if two of us eat together at a time that is worthy of celebration. I don't know if it is the world, or me that has changed since I went to Sunday school all those years ago, but the people who the most important to me are not the same as the people who go to my church. If my church closed its doors and disbanded, I wouldn't miss it. I suspect that sounds dreadful to some folks, but the fact of the matter is that my friends are the center of my life, and the communal 'worship' we do is gather together, share meals, and talk about our lives. My friends are a mix of atheists, pagans, taoists, and a few Christians of other denominations—some of them are deeply spiritual and some are very private about their faith, or lack-there-of.
I liked the comment that was made about home-churching being "... a missionary orientation in a part of the world where church-going and Christian practice is considered strange. Missionary families have been doing this for centuries..."
I don't know why I don't feel that going to church needs to be central to my faith. I do know that I had way too many years in a row where going to church left me feeling guilty and worn out and that is not something I need in my life. I feel the power of the holy spirit when I talk to my son about matters of faith: from why we give to the church and other charities, to the story behind the nativities I set up at Christmas. We try to get him to church often enough that, if in the future he wants to attend more regularly, he will not feel like a stranger.
I don't have any answers, but I have learned that what worked for my parents when I was growing up does not work for me now that I am the parent. I want the church to survive and thrive and I've put a lot of time, talent, and treasure into the traditional bricks and mortar church without ever feeling like it was my home.
I have found a way through by bringing my faith to my own hearth and that is the best I can do.
I'm chiming in as one of the family (Matt & I are siblings). I really like the idea of home-churching, what we do is not even as organized as what has been written about here.
I am very firmly an Episcopalian, raised in the faith, my husband was baptized and confirmed before we were married (but after we were engaged) because he wanted to be.
We have gone through 4 home churches since our marriage. The first we were married in, but we never really felt fully at home-- it was our college church and we were not as settled as most of the rest of the congregation.
The 2nd church was in Texas after my husband got his first job out of college. There were nice people there but the priest stood up and said in a sermon that AIDS was God's punishment against "the gays". I was devastated by that and ended up confronting him about what it meant to me when he did that, but that confrontation pretty much made me not want to invest much emotionally in that church.
Our 3rd church also had nice people in it, but they'd been struggling for years with how to pay the bills. My husband and I both spent a lot of time serving on the vestry and on a long-term planning committee only to see nothing change. After my son was born I gradually stopped going, the stress of being in a congregation that wouldn't change, but also was scraping by made going to church stressful. We supported the church financially for years even while we were not active members. The final straw came when I stopped pledging because we were going through a bit of a financial rough spot and there was no response from the church.
We were church-home-less for a few years, when the organist from our previous church invited us to her new church (she was also a refugee from church #3). We took her up on her invitation and now my husband and son go semi-regularly (husband is a lector and son is an acolyte) and I go about 3 times a year. For various reasons (being an extreme night owl & and extreme introvert among them) corporate worship is not something I can sustain in a healthy way. Maybe that will change in the future.
This leads back to home churching. Ever since my son was born, I have wanted him to have a sense of the spiritual paths available to him and in particular his Episcopalian heritage. In that sense I am a tribal Episcopalian. However, I can't duplicate my childhood. We had a great Sunday School program growing up. We spent an entire year when I was in Junior High just studying the book of John. However, a lot of my faith formation also came from my own interests. I read the entire King James version of the bible (including the genealogies) when I was a teenager, because I felt like it. I took "Bible as Literature" in High School and wrote papers on 2 of the major stories of the bible that feature women because I wanted to.
Just last week my son and I went to the Ash Wednesday service. Ash Wednesday is my favorite holy day in the church calendar and I was talking to my son on the drive home about repentance and forgiveness and what they mean to me and how my concepts of them have grown out of my faith. He quoted Terry Pratchett back in response (there is a lot of theology skimming along the surface of Terry Pratchett's fantasy-satire) in a way that made it clear to me that he precisely understood what I was talking about. I won't quote it here as it has major spoilers for the end of the book, but if you get a chance, read Terry Pratchett's "The Truth".
All this boils down to my husband and I doing our best to try to live our faith in front of our son. To share what we get from having faith and to answer his questions as best we can and help him grow into a person of faith. We are not as organized about it as families that set aside a special day, or a special meal, heck if two of us eat together at a time that is worthy of celebration. I don't know if it is the world, or me that has changed since I went to Sunday school all those years ago, but the people who the most important to me are not the same as the people who go to my church. If my church closed its doors and disbanded, I wouldn't miss it. I suspect that sounds dreadful to some folks, but the fact of the matter is that my friends are the center of my life, and the communal 'worship' we do is gather together, share meals, and talk about our lives. My friends are a mix of atheists, pagans, taoists, and a few Christians of other denominations—some of them are deeply spiritual and some are very private about their faith, or lack-there-of.
I liked the comment that was made about home-churching being "... a missionary orientation in a part of the world where church-going and Christian practice is considered strange. Missionary families have been doing this for centuries..."
I don't know why I don't feel that going to church needs to be central to my faith. I do know that I had way too many years in a row where going to church left me feeling guilty and worn out and that is not something I need in my life. I feel the power of the holy spirit when I talk to my son about matters of faith: from why we give to the church and other charities, to the story behind the nativities I set up at Christmas. We try to get him to church often enough that, if in the future he wants to attend more regularly, he will not feel like a stranger.
I don't have any answers, but I have learned that what worked for my parents when I was growing up does not work for me now that I am the parent. I want the church to survive and thrive and I've put a lot of time, talent, and treasure into the traditional bricks and mortar church without ever feeling like it was my home.
I have found a way through by bringing my faith to my own hearth and that is the best I can do.
23 February 2012
Progressive Faith
I was watching the interview of Mr Franklin Graham (son of Billy Graham) where he discusses the Christian Credentials of the presidential candidates. He says that any of the Republican candidates who profess to be Christian are (though he waffles a bit on Mitt Romney as a Mormon). However, he questions that Obama is sincere in his faith, apparently because he doesn't agree with Obama's polices.
By Mr Graham's standards I wouldn't be a Christian, as I only go to church about 3 times a year. However, I pledge financial support, pray for those who wish it, and make decisions based on my faith and my understanding of the scripture, reason, and tradition of the Episcopal Church. Showing up on Sunday is not the only mark of a faithful person.
It drives me crazy when people like Mr Graham equate conservative values with the Christianity and progressive values with godless heathenism.
I believe that Jesus called us to radical hospitality and inclusion of all people. He brought the outcasts of his society to him and treated them as deserving of love and respect. He boiled all of the law and prophets down two 2 rules that can cover pretty much any situation.
Conservatives conveniently forget that one of the big parts of Jesus's message was that he was making a new covenant with his followers that does not require faith and adherence to the Old Testament. It also makes me wonder if they have ever actually read the bible, or only just been told what it says.
By Mr Graham's standards I wouldn't be a Christian, as I only go to church about 3 times a year. However, I pledge financial support, pray for those who wish it, and make decisions based on my faith and my understanding of the scripture, reason, and tradition of the Episcopal Church. Showing up on Sunday is not the only mark of a faithful person.
It drives me crazy when people like Mr Graham equate conservative values with the Christianity and progressive values with godless heathenism.
I believe that Jesus called us to radical hospitality and inclusion of all people. He brought the outcasts of his society to him and treated them as deserving of love and respect. He boiled all of the law and prophets down two 2 rules that can cover pretty much any situation.
Conservatives conveniently forget that one of the big parts of Jesus's message was that he was making a new covenant with his followers that does not require faith and adherence to the Old Testament. It also makes me wonder if they have ever actually read the bible, or only just been told what it says.
19 February 2012
Pro-love, pro-faith, pro-choice
People of many nations and faiths have documented their search for safe, reliable contraception that protects women from unintended pregnancy and protects everyone from STD's since 2000 years before the birth of Christ.
The fact that we as a species finally figured out (mostly) safe and very effective ways to prevent the transmission of disease, save women from having too many children too close together, save women from dying of dangerous pregnancies, and help people actually manage their fertility is an amazing feat. The solutions we have come up with so far have their risks and imperfections, and I hope we continue to work in creating safer options that give us even finer control, but we all benefit from individuals having control of their own fertility and being able to make their own choice-- a choice borne out of their particular health issues, family history, personal situation, and desire for children.
For me is is a religious issue in that I thank God for giving us the brains and scientific inclination to figure ourselves out and to choose how we want to live. God gave us free will and we chose the world and all its puzzles and mess. Choice and living into the consequences of choice is God's gift to us-- and God seems to have a 'no take backs' policy. Choice is not limited to issues of fertility, but fertility/sexuality/gender expression (and which members of society control expression of those aspects of personhood) seem to me to be the most passionate and personal battlegrounds for choice.
The fact that we as a species finally figured out (mostly) safe and very effective ways to prevent the transmission of disease, save women from having too many children too close together, save women from dying of dangerous pregnancies, and help people actually manage their fertility is an amazing feat. The solutions we have come up with so far have their risks and imperfections, and I hope we continue to work in creating safer options that give us even finer control, but we all benefit from individuals having control of their own fertility and being able to make their own choice-- a choice borne out of their particular health issues, family history, personal situation, and desire for children.
For me is is a religious issue in that I thank God for giving us the brains and scientific inclination to figure ourselves out and to choose how we want to live. God gave us free will and we chose the world and all its puzzles and mess. Choice and living into the consequences of choice is God's gift to us-- and God seems to have a 'no take backs' policy. Choice is not limited to issues of fertility, but fertility/sexuality/gender expression (and which members of society control expression of those aspects of personhood) seem to me to be the most passionate and personal battlegrounds for choice.
11 February 2012
On (trying to be) fit and fat
This post was inspired by Beauty Tips for Ministers: At the Weight Watchers Meeting
I've been working on this issue as well-- trying to be healthy enough to do the things I want to be physically able to do. Here are the two things I have come up with (after reading and watching way too much about the issue of weight in America).
1. Shaming people who are not thin and who don't look wonderful in an ab-revealing shirt just encourages said people to hide out in their houses and be inactive. If I feel like I have to lose 50 pounds before I am fit to be seen in public, then I'm not going to be out doing the types of things that will help get and keep me fit.
2. People fixate on the weight loss rather than the fitness (maybe because it is easier to measure) but our bodies change weight and shape all the time given stress levels, hormones, and other factors that we might not even understand yet. I would rather be fit and look overweight than try to force my body into a shape all the photos of my great-grandmothers say is just not in my DNA.
3. We don't do a good job of teaching injury management in our fitness programs. If you are going to be active, you are going to get hurt and having a plan for how to stay active while you recover from normal sports injuries will help keep you active (and should help you recover faster). Learning how to successfully recover from sports injury should be just as important as learning the sport itself.
I've been working on this issue as well-- trying to be healthy enough to do the things I want to be physically able to do. Here are the two things I have come up with (after reading and watching way too much about the issue of weight in America).
1. Shaming people who are not thin and who don't look wonderful in an ab-revealing shirt just encourages said people to hide out in their houses and be inactive. If I feel like I have to lose 50 pounds before I am fit to be seen in public, then I'm not going to be out doing the types of things that will help get and keep me fit.
2. People fixate on the weight loss rather than the fitness (maybe because it is easier to measure) but our bodies change weight and shape all the time given stress levels, hormones, and other factors that we might not even understand yet. I would rather be fit and look overweight than try to force my body into a shape all the photos of my great-grandmothers say is just not in my DNA.
3. We don't do a good job of teaching injury management in our fitness programs. If you are going to be active, you are going to get hurt and having a plan for how to stay active while you recover from normal sports injuries will help keep you active (and should help you recover faster). Learning how to successfully recover from sports injury should be just as important as learning the sport itself.
02 February 2012
More on being pro-choice:
Pro-choice isn't just about the abortion debate for me. Being pro-choice means, to me, being pro-choice for everyone and creating the largest range of options for people to choose from. As result I support gay marriage (freedom to marry ones chosen spouse), but am against the death penalty (putting a convicted criminal to death ends any hope of that person redeeming themselves). For me being pro-choice is being pro-freedom.
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