Indigo Incarnates

One of the effects of the Christofascist Prop 8 tragedy is that it serves as a stunning reminder of how Christianity is a wolf in sheep's clothing. In fact, it's an apex super-predator in sheep's clothing. While this religion prides itself as being a standard-bearer and source of light to the world, what it actually does is bring darkness, suffering, division, and misery wherever it operates unopposed. While the Christian faith may stand for goodness and peace, all you have to do is examine its actions to determine what Christianity *really* stands for.

The *real* Christian moral code:
-- All gays are inherently evil, are unforgivable, and shall be damned to burn in hell for all eternity. However, a murderer or rapist need only say "I'm sorry" to be forgiven by God.
-- It's a Hate Crime if a Christian is murdered by someone of a different faith, but when a Christian murders a homosexual, then it is simply God's will being done.
-- God periodically sends hurricanes to the Gulf Coast to punish Christians for not murdering enough gays. If only there could be a ballot initiative permitting Christians to slay homosexuals then bad weather would stop.
-- It's "persecution" when Christians don't get to put Nativity displays on school grounds. But it's not persecution when the Christians file suit to suppress Harry Potter books at school since the Christians think it promotes Wicca.
-- Christians think it's preferable to have a murderer as a next-door neighbor than to have a homosexual neighbor. Christians can understand and forgive murderers fairly easily but gays are abominations.
-- While same-sex couples are abominations in God's eyes, ordained priests who rape 10-year-old boys must be protected at all cost.
-- When covering up the crimes of Christian pedophile-priests, excommunication of the plaintiffs is a morally justifiable tool.
-- Because being an ordained Christian priest is so vital to the survival of the faith, it's a moral good when priests are relocated outside the limits of extradition when the police try to serve arrest warrants for child molestation crimes.
-- Christians believe that the murder of Matthew Shepard was a fine example of God's will being done.
-- Abortion is a sin but it's okay when Christians drown their kids in bath tubs or lock them into a car and then push the car into a lake.
-- Abortion is a sin, so it's okay to excommunicate a 9-year-old incest victim who has an abortion. Since the stepfather/rapist apologized to his priest, he was not excommunicated.
-- It's okay for Christian parents to withhold essential medical treatment for their children as long as they read the Bible and pray regularly. The death of an 11-year-old girl from being denied insulin is apparently God's will.
-- It's a moral imperative to disown one's gay children. It's also doing God's will when Christian parents kick their 14-year-old gay kids out into the streets.
-- Since many Pagan faiths value ecology and environmental responsibility, it's a moral imperative for Christians to destroy the environment as quickly as possible. If the ecology gets sufficiently ruined, then Jesus will come back and kill all the gays and witches.
-- Driving hybrid vehicles is doing the devil's work.
-- Jesus was a rich, white Republican.
-- Voting Republican is part of the Christian statement of faith.
-- It's okay to spread lies, hate, and rumor about unpopular minorities (such as gays and Pagans) if it gets one's theofascist agenda passed.
-- It's God's will that church funds be used to sponsor secular legislation that takes basic human rights away from unpopular minorities.
-- Some Christian sects believe in polygamy. It's a moral good that a 50-year-old man have two or three teen-age "brides in spirit", but it's unacceptable that same-sex couples have access to health insurance.
-- Because Christianity frowns on divorce, it's a wife's duty to tolerate being beaten by her husband since the Bible says she is to be submissive. The Church excommunicates women who divorce even if her husband beats her or her children.

Christianity is such a wonderful religion. Isn't it?

Indigo Incarnates

I suppose that Christians nationwide must be dancing a jig after the California Supreme Court effectively ruled that Christian dogma concerning same-sex unions must be upheld as the law of the land. As of yesterday, California is officially a Christian Theocracy, not a secular democracy.

I find it to be a very dangerous outcome that the Supreme Court upheld. The precident it sets is simple: from now on, the majority of people can decide in what ways members of very small minorities can conduct their lives. The majority now has the power to strip members of unpopular minorities of their civil rights entirely.

Consider this: hatred of homosexuals has become an integrated component in the Christian declaration of faith. According to Christian dogma, homosexuals are forever cut off from Heaven and are hated by the Angry Desert God. The holy book of the Desert War God (aka the Bible) clearly states that God approves of the murder of homosexuals. Thus, how long will it be before Christians take to the ballot box again with more punitive ballot initiatives to cow and humiliate the people they decry as "perverts" and "abominations"?

I foresee the Christian community taking ever greater steps to punish gays. They will likely push for a ballot initiative to criminalize sodomy (for gays only, off course. Sodomy between a lawfully married man aand wife will be excluded from punishment). Once homosexual behavior is criminalized, it's only a matter of time before the Christians present a ballot initiative concerning how we gays should be punished.

They will, of course, recommend nothing less than death. It's in the Bible, therefore they will consider themselves to be failing in their obediance to the Angry Desert God if they don't find a way to craft legislation that will bring gays to the extermination camps.

If you think that can't happen, you should think again. In the 1930s and 1940s, Germany was (and still is) a primarily Christian nation. These family-values Lutherans willingly turned a blind eye when the SS came at 2:00AM to collect all the known homosexuals. Yes, the Christians saw fit to kill off the gays before they went after the Jews. It could so easily happen in this country. The Far Right would declare our destruction as an example of democracy in action. They would pride themselves on doing God's will.

It just terrifies me that people who know nothing about me can, from the secrecy of a ballot box, make laws to hurt me. It's a scary thing to understand that people like me are only two ballot initiatives away from being put in a death camp.

Christianity is a dangerous, hateful religion populated by dangerous, hateful people that serve a dangerous, hateful god.

Indigo Incarnates

It is a really cool visit so far. I am so glad that Doris got her new car so she could drive up to see me. She is such a nice friend. :)

Yesterday was a pretty low-impact day. We did some shoe shopping. We both hate shopping but Doris got lucky and found a pair she liked on the second try. Yay! Then I tortured her with bad cinema. One of my favorite movies is a B-rated sci-fi/horror movie called "Syngenor". It's a movie about killer lizard-men that were cooked up by a military defense contractor seeking to make the "perfect soldier", har har.

Today I made waffles for breakfast, which Doris liked very much. I got my bicycle cleaned up and ready for the summer season. I did 5 miles of bike riding. Doris had a college paper to write, so I played some Sacred II tonight. Yay!

I'm contemplating putting in "The Fog" for tonight's low-budget entertainment. :)

It is so nice having my friend visit. It's a really fun weekend!

I stole this one from Java :)
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1. What is your current obsession?
Hybrid cars. I really want a new car and it's got to be a hybrid. But I can't even think about getting a new car until 2012. I want the Honda Insight-II.

2. What do you see outside your window? 
My office at work is in the basement so I don't have any windows. Bummer!

3. If you could have any super power what would it be? 
I'd like to be able to heal people and cure their injuries and diseases.

4. What is your favorite color?
Indigo (of course!)

5. Who was the last person you hugged?
Doug (my partner), and Scrunchie (my cat).

6. Which animal would you be?
If you could extend a butterfly's life to 80+ years, I'd be a butterfly.

7. What’s for dinner?
Doug, Jeff, and I are going to El Salto's tonight.

8. What’s the last thing you bought?
Some new sheets for the futon upstairs.

9. What are you listening to right now?
“Rocky Road to Dublin”

10. What are your current favorite films?
“Syngenor” and “Support Your Local Sheriff”

11. What’s on your bedside table?
An alarm clock and one of those noise makers from Sharper Image.

12. If you could have a house totally paid for, and fully furnished,
anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Somewhere where I could see the ocean but was never packed with tourists.

13. What would you like to have in your hands right now? 
A stack of non-consecutive, unmarked $100 bills. Hee hee!

14. What is your favorite children’s book?
Does the Thomas Covenant saga count as children’s literature?

15. What is your favorite tea flavor?
Chamomile.

16. What is your favorite article of clothing?
An old wrap-around apron, soft and worn

17. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Kitty Hawk, NC. Then I could go hang gliding.

18. What did you want to become as a child?
I never got to be a child. I came into being when the body was 12 years old.

19. What posters/pictures do you have on your bedroom wall? 
None.

20. What is your plan for tomorrow?
I'll try to get some more housekeeping done before one of my friends visits.

Indigo Incarnates

Since this is our 10th Anniversary weekend, Doug and I went up to New York for a day trip. It was an action-packed day!

We started out with our usual coffee and muffin experience at Dean & Deluca's. I just love their muffins since they have an oddly chewy texture that no other cafe has. Then Doug and I walked *four* miles through Central Park. Doug is doing really well at exercising more. We saw some really pretty trees. There weren't any CHUDs or zombies at the park, so that was good!

We ate at an awesome Cuban restaurant for lunch. For $20 we each got a drink, an appetizer, a main course, and a desert. Not too bad for NY prices!

The play Doug picked out was "Mary Queen of Scots". Mary gets her head chopped off. Nowadays, usurper politicians just get book deals and Talk Radio shows. It was a pretty neat play that had a lot of double-dealing and angst. Nobody was exactly what they appeared to be and the whole plot was chock full o' intrigue and murder. (Yeah, nothing's changed in the modern era -- just ask Vince Foster, har har).

We did some window shopping and also bought some fancy organic soap from a New Age-ish sort of store. It was pretty cool.

Now we just have to endure the 3-hour bus ride home. Aaiiieeeee!!!

All in all, it was a pretty awesome day!

Indigo Incarnates

I am happy to say that as of today Doug and I have been together ten years! There are so many good things to say about Doug. He's kind, funny, and smart. He's a big fan of our three pets. He's good at his job. He lost 12 pounds. He makes nice dinners for us.

Doug has always stood by me even during bad times. He's been with me through episodes of really bad health. He's taken me to the hospital before when things got really bad. He always tries to understand what it's like to have a dissociative disorder.

Doug's really clever too. And he's good at picking out fun vacations (we're paying for our November cruise on Monday because we saved our money for 18 months!) Doug's good at finding fun Broadway shows.

I'm also glad that he understood why I left Christianity in favor of Wicca (Doug has also become disillusioned with the Church since it's become more of a political party than a religion). Doug always comes to the Wiccan services when I officiate. Doug came to my initiation ceremony too.

He has stood by me in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, in prosperity and poverty (right now, we have great health but lousy finances. Can't have everything, eh?)

Doug is very special and I love him very, very much!

Indigo Incarnates

Fortunately I have it on good authority from Doris that some dreams are just random synaptic events and don't neccessarily have to *mean* anything. That's good, since the dream I had last night would throw a therapist for a loop, heh heh.

So... In this dream, the Catholic Church came up with the brilliant idea of having a bunch of highly polished stainless steel robots ordained as Bishops. They still wore Bishop robes and hats, and they each carried a metal staff. But... Wow... These Bishops did *not* look friendly.

So the Church decided to unleash the Bishop-robots against the "sinful" general population (that being pretty much anyone who wasn't of the priesthood, har har). The robots seemed to have the ability shoot lightning bolts from their hands and eyes (so much for laying on hands, ha ha!)

So the dream ended with a bunch of these Bishop-bots all lined up in the hallway of some big cathedral. A floating ball-shaped thing seemed to touch each one in sequence and activate each machine.

Yeah... Talk about randon, eh?

Indigo Incarnates

I got inspired from reading Celtic's blog. She posed the idea that we should consider what we are grateful for in this life. I have to say that there quite a few things I'm grateful for!

-- Doug. My loving partner that has stayed with me through times of health, times of sickness, times of wealth and times of poverty.

-- My faith. I spent many years thinking that God hated me. But since studying the Wiccan path, I've learned that it is possible to commune with deity and feel loved.

-- My four special friends. Doris (aka my quasi-parental entity), Iris, Nancy, and Joan. They also stood by me in times of illness and times of health. They also helped me grow in my faith as well.

-- My alters. Thistle (my allied spirit), Willow (the heart of purity), Halo (who bears the pain that I cannot), and Ashen (the ever-vigilant, usually silent Protector).

-- My spiritual teachers. Reverend Nick (Saint John's), Mav (Turning Circle), and Will (Cedar Light).

-- My job. I absolutely love working for Pretrial Services.

-- My health. Despite that I have some lingering problems from a diving accident and a few car accidents, my overall health is quite good. Huzzah!

-- Creativity. I'm glad that I'm blessed with a spirit of creativity. I like to write fiction, poetry, and Wiccan liturgy.

-- My mom. Although she was absent for most of my life, I am grateful for the past three years in which our relationship has been re-established.

Blessed Be :)

Indigo Incarnates

We had a real treat today at St John's this morning. Rev Nick did the sermon! As most of you know, I attend Christian church services about once a month since Thistle is Christian and we are in handbell choir. Most of the time we get bored to tears with the poorly written sermons of the rector that I nicknamed "The Wooden Priest". The Wooden Priest is also utterly unapproachable and comports herself with an attitude that suggests she believes she is an exalted, more advanced life form and that the congregation are lesser, more primitive beings.

But not Reverend Nick. When it comes to Priests, Nick is the real deal. He writes a real sermon that teaches important spiritual truths in a way that can be easily understood. And yet his sermons are never condescending, nor is the congregation ever talked down to when he preaches. He's a life-affirming, positive, truthful man of faith. I can really respect that.

It's also cool watching him do the communion ritual. It never seems like the Wooden Priest is ever channeling divine energy when she does the rite. But when Reverend Nick does the communion, it seems like real ceremonial magic. Very cool.

I'm a Wiccan and Nick is a Christian, so our ideas on the exact nature of divinity are different. But I am really glad that Saint John's Church has a minister like him who has a real desire to commune with deity in meaningful ways and who tries to help others in their spiritual paths as well.

Indigo Incarnates

We has a group poetry reading last night at Turning Circle. In the Wiccan calendar, we're sort on inbetween High Rites right now, so Patrick led a service that honored the first recorded poet in history (I misplaced the paper, but the spelling's a doozie).

Then we all got a chance to read some of our favorite poetry as well as do a "speed poetry" exercise where we had three minutes to compose a poem from scratch.

All in all, it was a pretty fun night. I can't say it was the most *spiritual* experience I've ever had, but I had a good time.