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PERSONAL PERSPECTIVES
Shokti Lovestar We
live at a time of profound spiritual change - transformation is
happening on this planet at much deeper levels than the economic and
political story the media is fascinated by. gay men - queer women -
pioneering transexuals may have a much larger part to play in this time
of global change than has been realised.
There is more in
common between religions than there are differences, yet the differences
are always in the spotlight. The irrationality of people of faith
competing and fighting over the details of their differences fuels the
rise of atheism and discourages deep exploration of the mysteries of
spirit. Mysteries which humans have been exploring for millennia... a
science of the inner world of soul that can not be forgotten just
because the outer world of scientific discovery has become so powerful.
Religions could be united in their vision of love,
brother-sisterhood of humanity, crucial need for us to live in harmony
with our planet home etc... but actually the one thing most religions
can agree on is the rejection of same sex love, and especially the
physical, sexual expression of that. This leads the majority of queer
people to reject spirituality all together and assimilate into the
worship of the material world and ego that modern society cultivates but
for some of us the spirit will not go away, and gays are busy exploring
spirituality in ways of our own choosing.... within or without
religious communities. We live at the point in human history where for
the first time all of humanity's attempts to understand and describe the
spiritual aspect of life are available to us. We can study, practise,
learn compare and discover in ways that have never been possible before.
Our
sexual freedom is a direct result of the decline of religion and the
rise of reason and the secular society... by bringing spirituality to
the forefront of the conversation we do not need to create a new
theocracy on earth... we need instead to combine the rational
philosophical principles of reason, equality, tolerance with an
enlightened spiritual understanding that speaks of the future of our
race. Religions do not have a good track record on those principles.
Amongst
same-sex loving and transfolk are the differences between religions of
any importance at all? Perhaps it is only us outsiders who can hold up a
mirror to the religious establishments to reveal their hypocrisy,
ignorance and shame. Only us outsiders who can highlight the common
source and purpose in all paths of spirit (i might define this as a
knowledge of and relationship with the source and sustaining force of
all existence, with ensuing positive relationship with the creation we
are part of). Only us outsiders who can reveal that is possible for
humans to love one another whatever our colour, sexuality or creed.
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