False Profits

Yesterday I received a newsletter sent out the previous day by Errol Naidoo of the Family Policy Institute (FPI), a US religious-right-inspired right wing group based in Cape Town, which is trying very hard to impose religious law on the state. 

 

In it, he was careful to mention the dangers of having liberal laws which are "clearly" responsible for "moral corruption" in the country - and which also threaten his religion and of course, "the family" - as if gay people and women are not a part of it. He also made the suggestion that this is the perfect time to take advantage of Zuma's invitation to religious conservatives to "work with government", whatever that means. 

 

I think you know.

Reja Vu - A Hair Of The Dog That's Going To Bite You

The newly elected president of the UN General Assembly has called homosexuality "unacceptable" for his own personal religious reasons. How could such a man with such a negative anti-human rights bias be elected to such a post with such hefty human rights responsibilities? What does this bode for the future of human rights regarding the UN? How will this effect the many rights battles in the UN for women and the pink community around the world - especially in areas directly affected by human rights abuses specifically directed against the pink community?

What's Good For The Goose, Is Good For The Goose

I notice many cis-feminists out there attacking trans-women and berating them as "male pretenders." It makes me mad. After all, what does it take to be a woman? How much must a trans-woman cut off before she isn't considered "male" by these hypocrites? Some are truly hateful in their argument, leading me to believe that they hate anything which is - or was - in any way, shape or form masculine - even in terms of origin, even if no trace at all of that remains.

As one who supports democracy and freedom of conscience, it is my firm belief that cis-feminists are entitled to their erroneous opinion that trans-women are "men" - even if it proves that they are insensitive, blithering idiots.

The 'Nuclear Family' Goes Super-critical

It is scary to notice the ignorance and apathy out there, especially in the pink youth. Notice that I said "notice" and not "see"? After all, everybody sees it - but it has to be said that not many actually "notice".

A flamboyant young gay friend of mine - only 18, is a case in point. I try to make him aware of the dangers out there and the effects of apathy and complacency, but always get the response "oh, you're always so serious!" I have had the same experience with others his age whom I have engaged with socially. They seem utterly uninterested in and detached from current events.

Perhaps I am serious a lot of the time, but I have to say that these are serious times we are living in today.

Reconstruction Time Again

Having seen signs of a worldwide religious fundamentalist web spanning the globe, it is quite easy to start jumping to conclusions and formulating conspiracy theories. It is surprisingly quite easy to do, check a right-wing religious fundie group's website and see whose material they are using or propagating, which groups do they provide links to on their contacts page, who are their leaders and guest speakers and which other groups do they belong to? Who are they affiliated to? Go beyond that and research the ideologies they follow - such us "reconstructionism", "dominionism", "transformation" and see who is active in working for it. Start joining them up and I can promise you, after trying to draw a diagram of this sort, you will run out of space pretty fast!

I am not by nature a conspiracy theorist, but I am reminded by some in whom I have confided, that these are simply "religious groups co-operating with each other" and acting on the basis of similar beliefs - although to me, in my own limited lay-man sensibility, that forms a kind of network, doesn't it?

Storm Clouds Gather

One of my main arguments over the past few years has been that the pink community should involve itself in government, politics, religion etc so that those who act against our equality and human rights cannot make a move without it getting past us first. Few groups could embody or give form to my fears for South Africa than the ubiquitous ACDP.

Another strange (yet unrelated) thing I have noticed is the number of representatives of certain bigot religious groups who seem to want to "meet me for coffee" lately. I suppose they have figured out that threatening letters and hate mail don't work on me.

Beyond The Irony

Is God male?

Does God really belong to a single gender?

Men (the patriarchy) like to claim God as their own and also use “Him” as a tool to demand obedience and submission to them. If God has a sex, should it matter to his followers what that sex is? It’s a bit odd though that some people find the act of wondering if God is a “She” or even if God is without gender, or representing all genders, insulting and blasphemous.

Insulting and blasphemous? Insulting? What does this say about the male perception of women? Perhaps this is more revealing about the insecurity of God’s followers than the nature of God itself?

Does Equality Of One = Oppression Of Another?

Groups such as Focus on the Family are not "family" organizations, even though they certainly claim to be.

 

Without a doubt, they would dispute my statement, but you see, their claim can be proved false simply by analyzing their approach to family life. 

 

Are groups such as these intent on preserving family life as it is - or are they intent on enforcing an unrealistic ideal which happens to suit their personal religious "world view"? Were their claim true, would they not be nurturing the families that happen to exist out there, supporting them, instead of cracking down on family types they happen to dislike, refuse to recognize as families, and drive wedges between family members?

Interesting Times

What an insane little world we live in. Just this past week a few things have popped up in the media that make me think the world is losing touch with reality. Indonesia has passed harsh laws - apparently adulterers can be stoned to death, and gay people face stiff jail sentences. Hmm. I'm surprised those "humanitarians" didn't get it the other way around.

How To 'Mng' Hate Mail

Some of the bigots who make the effort to send me hate mail are really irate before they do so, and the more pissed off they get, usually the less sense they make. 

 

I have previously mentioned that I tend to file my hate mail. Far from being a masochistic tendency, I do this with good reason. I use the amount and veracity of the hate mail I receive as a measurement of how I'm doing in my activism. You see, the more I know those folks hate me, the more I know I am doing the right thing. Apart from that, it is quite entertaining and motivational to occasionally take it all out and read it over a glass or two of good wine. 

Sometimes it is amusing to note the colorfulness of the content, or the rhyme, or even the imagery. The sense of outrage, injustice and paranoia on the part of the writer is often striking and ironic, and if anything the saddest and most surreal part of the whole business. Honestly, though my girlfriend isn't that amused by the things said in there about me, I find it rather amusing. I say it is motivating, because it helps inspire me to work towards a world free of hatred. I also have to admit I keep the compliments I receive too - and it's comforting that there is more than twice as much of that than there is hate mail.

Doing The 'I Told You So' Two-Step

There are people out there, who while being born with the same needs and feelings as everybody else, are not treated the same as everyone else. These are people who always have to fight bigotry and prejudice in order to get ahead and compete with other people on the world stage - just to have the same standing in life as others. There are people out there who want to do what everybody else out there takes for granted - they would like to marry the people they love.

While there are those who are quite happy to take their wedding vows in the dilapidated facilities at the local Home Affairs department, whose tiny wedding chapel (at least in my home town) has only one entrance - which is in the crowded and noisy foyer filled with bored and frustrated people standing in long queues all day (but I have to admit I am not one of them). A wedding is an occasion of personal significance and import, deserving of at least some dignity and respectability. Churches generally ask fees and monies for services rendered, there is no getting away from that - but it seems that no matter how much money you may have available to spend on your wedding - at some churches, if you are gay and want to get married, your money isn't good enough - and it seems, neither are you.

This often causes me to wonder how "Christian", or should I say "Christ-like" some churches really are?

Suffering In The Darkness Of Ignorance

Over the past weekend I received another taste of the hatred and intolerance which people hold against their fellow human beings. That this person sent their hate mail to me via an email address of the organization I represent in my home town, indicates to me that this person must live in the same place - and the timing of this, for various reasons which I will not go into here, even more so. It saddened me that much more, especially at a time while I have already been saddened by the loss of a particularly inspiring mentor and minister, who gave selflessly and worked for the inclusion of all people into the family of God. 

I am also sad to say that I was unsurprised that this hatred came from a person professing Christianity - a faith which holds a loving father-figure God as its tradition and core belief, as well as loving each other selflessly after the pattern set by Christ. This message seems all too rare in modern Christianity, doesn't it? Especially when you face hatred and intimidation such as this on a regular basis.

Bypassing Death

Some might claim that like the secret of flying is missing the ground, the secret to immortality is simply not dying.

While this may seem like an over simplistic way of looking at the subject, it also happens to be true.

Censorship And The Demise Of Personal Liberty

For some time now, religious fundamentalist extremist groups in South Africa have been campaigning to ban various things in this country. Unsurprisingly, these include the usual list of things people of this ilk seem to disapprove of, and work to deprive those around them of access to them as well.

 

A few months ago, a massive crowd - all of 18 actual people - picketed outside the Sexpo in Cape Town, demanding a return to what they called "traditional" and "family values" - oh, and the banning of pornography of course. This transpired, much to the amusement of the 20 odd thousand people drawn to the Sexpo by their very negative press, which unintentionally turned out to be very positive for the event instead. 

 

Such groups have held numerous protests and mounted email campaigns against "soft-porn" on E-TV, so-called "blasphemy" in student "rag" magazines (which now no longer exist, thanks to these idiots with the over-tight underpants) and of course, marches against abortion. 

 

And who can forget the actual thousands who gathered in South Africa some years ago to oppose marriage equality for gay people - because of course, gay people falling in love and getting married is just way too bad for "the family", and will cause our fragile civilization to collapse?

Beating Ploughshares Into Swords

Is religious fundamentalism fascist in nature? 

 

Are religious fundamentalists prone to fascist behavior? I have heard them being called fascists and agreed with it simply because of the general perception - and my own personal experience - that fascists aren’t very nice people either. 

 

I have often drawn comparisons between them myself, in articles, thoughts and conversations - and I find it surprising that I never realized how much they seem to genuinely have in common with our totalitarian friends who like to march under flags sporting propeller-like symbols – and marginalizing and attacking sections of society they don't like very much - whom they delight in pointing out how much "better than" they think they are.

The Cult Of Mud And Dirt

I have often wondered at the clear division between people who see the world as it is, and those who see it from inside a book written by other people.

Last week a person who described herself as a "metaphysical consultant" and I engaged in a stimulating short exchange of personal views. I have to say I liked the views she expressed and the discussion because my blogs and articles always tend to drift towards the religious and esoteric side of things - though "metaphysical consultant" sounds awfully impressive, if not a little intimidating!

The writer referred to Mary Douglas, a renowned anthropologist and her suggestion that "dirt is matter or place." "In other words," the writer explains, "Mud is fine in the garden, but called dirt when the dogs tramp it into the lounge. In other words, human beings consider what is out of place in any particular context dirty or impure."

 

Is that not perfectly in line with the religious trope of Puritanism? Is it not then also ironic that Puritanism is what lies at the root of Western conservatism today?

There is a school of thought that says fundamentalists are "best left to their folly until such times as they see the light or the shift of consciousness leaves them in the same position as the dinosaurs."

Were it not for all the other people around them who they affect negatively through their folly, I would agree with that completely. Also, the comparison of mud being "mud" outside the home and "dirt" inside it, can itself be compared to gay and straight people both being sinners and children of God at the same time - and not necessarily only inside a church - but everywhere all the time.

I suppose you could say it would be an eye-opening experience indeed, to see the carpet or the lounge from the viewpoint of the mud/dirt - or the dog.

Identity Crisis

I read in the papers last Friday that an advocate - Zahir Omar - had publicly criticized a Judge solely on the basis of her sexuality. The title of the article was particularly amusing - "Lesbian judge lashed". This sounds very kinky. Can I join in?

Less amusing however, was the evident antagonism displayed by Omar, who seems to think a Judge unworthy of holding the position in the Constitutional Court simply because of who she loves. Omar is reported to have told the JSC: "Learned Judge Satchwell's unconventional lifestyle is not something that the majority of South Africans can relate to. The majority of South Africans are God-fearing and follow some or other religion. There is no religion that condones homosexuality. Therefore the major portion of the South African people will not be able to identify with the learned judge."

I wonder, who exactly is left in the world today that these "God-fearing South Africans" Mr Omar talks about can identify with?

Caster-gation Of The Rainbow Nation

For those who don't know me, my name is Christina Engela and I am a transwoman - or if you will, a transsexual woman. What does that mean exactly? Now that we have the support-group greeting out of the way, let me explain.

Once upon a time there was a little boy who always felt that - somehow, inside, he was actually a little girl... 

To the world I was a little boy, who liked dolls and girly things and who was awfully confused by the way girls were treated differently to boys - and who clearly did not want to be included with the boys. I learned very early on that little boys who were soft and effeminate were frowned upon - and were given a very hard time. The world didn't understand who I was, and quite honestly, for some time, neither did I. And that is the really sad part - because the subject of gender and transgender is so taboo in conservative society that the only way to find out who you are as a transgender person is to figure it out for yourself. I was 26 before I even really fully understood who and what I was. And when I learned the truth, I grabbed onto it with all that was in me.

A Truth Stranger Than Fiction

On Saturday night I watched District 9 and I am still completely blown away and speechless! 

 

What an amazing, action packed, convincing, serious, poignant, funny, relevant movie! 

 

It is hard to believe it was low-budget - even harder to believe it comes from here - what can I say? For me it was all those things - and for once, it makes me actually proud to be a Souf Efrikin - TREMENDOUSLY enjoyable!

Snatching Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory

If a gay community leader began preaching "reparative therapy" how long would he or she remain a gay community leader? Interesting question.

It seems people choose their leaders because they agree with their own views - or because they feel these leaders have their best interests at heart. Clearly the above example illustrates my point. A gay leader preaching "ex-gay" dogma and "reparative therapy" clearly does not have the best interests of the gay community at heart - but the complete polar opposite. In fact, I would say this person would be ostracized from their community as a traitor - and with good reason.

Likewise, if a woman begins preaching on behalf of the patriarchy - against feminism - for me, all sorts of warning bells and alarms go off.

Hmm. Parrot indeed.

March Hares And April Fools

Since the April 22 Election in which it got its chronometers soundly cleaned, the right wing Christian Democratic Alliance (CDA) has been quiet - dare I say "silent as a tomb"? No press statements since April. No more boisterous squawking in nauseating radio ads about gay people being "enemies of Christianity" and a "threat to the family" or rabid press releases aimed at the government for the folly of including human rights of gay people in the Constitution and "dethroning almighty God" in favor of the rule of mere human law. 

 

In fact, short of one or two blog posts by one of its fearless leaders, Colin Fibiger - obviously on the inseparable issues of religion and politics, and suggestions on training the youth to "know better” next time, there has been no visible activity on their part. I'm thinking they ran out of a lot more than cash at the end of the elections - they ran out of supporters, interest - and credibility as well.

Religion, Deadly Contagion And Other Afflictions

Imagine a pandemic which claims a death toll so high it staggers the mind. Millions upon millions dead, suffering and dying from a plague which knows no cure. Every single human being touched personally by the hand of death, suffering and tragedy. Everyone who survives, perhaps the last remaining member of a large and happy family, standing alone and wondering where to go from here? Far fetched? 

Not really. It already happened at least once in recorded history. In Medieval times, bubonic plague took nearly half the population of Europe, some scholars postulate up to two thirds. And what could medicine do about it at the time? Nothing. They couldn't even ease the suffering of the victims. The contemporary art reflects the ever present um, presence - of death in the conscious and sub-conscious, particularly in portraits and other art of the day. The fabled Dans Macabre is just one example. At the time, the science of medicine was in its infancy. With hardly any contrast at all, the prognosis for such a massive and virulent outbreak of some new or resilient disease today is not much better.

“It” Is For Objects, Not People!

Recently I engaged in a private debate with representatives of international GLBTIQ advocacy groups online. Actually it started out as a call to action, to launch protests to affirm opposition to transphobia and the pathologicization of transsexuality - then one of them launched into a scathing criticism of trans people who wanted to have transgender classification removed from the coming DSM-V manual.

Presumably she would prefer transsexuals to continue to be classified as mentally ill - as they are deemed currently by world health professional groupings. Presumably she likes the stigma attached to being transgender and the rigmarole involved in getting the goodwill of the "gate-keepers" who hold the keys to their future happiness, assuming of course that they jump through all the hoops and barrels like good little freaks should.

The Human Race

The issue of Caster Semenya, the 18 year old female athlete who has won two gold and one silver medal for her country - South Africa - makes me wonder how far we have come in the past 15 years post-Apartheid, and how far we have come since the inclusion in the Constitution of certain phrases which are supposed to guarantee equality for people on the grounds of gender, gender identity and sexual orientation with everyone else.

 

Of course, you'll notice I said 'supposed to'.

Stupidity And Self-Inflicted Ignorance

Isn't it strange that having a dick automatically makes you a man, but having a vagina isn't enough to make you a woman?

 

Equally strangely, the reaction of some to those who don't live up to these somewhat rigid, if not obsessive, perceptions, is to resort to brutality, violence - and homicide.

Death Squads = Genocide

Once upon a time, not very long ago, the world went to war over persecution and genocide of the Jews. Oh yes, there were other reasons for that too, mostly relating to territory, resources and ideologies, but "they" like to let us believe it was a moral issue, and thus a very noble endeavor. 

 

A little while later, economic sanctions and political action were taken against a repressive regime over the persecution of people on the grounds of race to bring down the social system known as Apartheid. Of course, there was also the knotty problem of mineral resources in that particular country as well, but we won't talk about that.

 

It will be very interesting to see what, if anything, gets said or done by the major players sitting around the Monopoly board about the persecution and genocide of gay people around the world today. 

 

Not that I am in favor of war of course, but I am simply drawing a comparison here on the all too apparent variable value of human life.

A Very Gay Agenda Indeed

Who in the pink community hasn't heard stories of the "homosexual agenda"? I know the first time I heard about it, my first thought was "WTF?" - but seriously now, there are some people and groups of people out there who really think it exists. We all know the type, the maniacal wing-nuts who can't even bring themselves to use the word "gay" and use the insulting alternative "homosexual" instead. The whack-jobs and nut-cases that claim gay people are 'sinners' who could just 'choose' to be straight on a whim and stop sinning, that they are 'anti-god' and after "special rights" and that we "recruit" through pedophilia and so on... because as they say "everybody" knows that the real "gay agenda" is that we are after their children. Who among us hasn't heard all the hateful, nasty and paranoid things they say about us?

Let's look at what they say the "homosexual agenda" is:

Mad As A Hater

I know it isn't a fair comparison - and I must apologize to Linux fans for this unintentional sleight - but whenever I see anything that reminds me of Angus Buchan, I immediately think of Red Hat and its Fedora distro. Why? It's because of the hat. That hat has become synonymous to me with that man. In fact, one of these days I think some avid Angus fan may even release - or unleash - a new linux distro on an unsuspecting world and call it "Angus Fedora" Linux or something appropriately lame. Don't get me wrong, I like Linux - and I love that cute penguin - at least a good deal more than I like Angus - or his silly hat. Fortunately most Angus aficionados are clearly not bright enough to be Linux developers - or they would be bright enough to know a scam artist, baloney merchant or snake-oil salesman when they see one.

Flexible Morality

Ever notice how often human rights come under the attack of groups like Christian Action Network and Family Policy Institute lately? 

 

They have a unique name for human rights advocacy, and the notion that all human beings deserve to be treated equally, or with compassion, or justice, these fundamentalist radicals - they call it "secular humanism" and they call it a religion - just as they claim that atheism is also a religion, in spite of an absence of BELIEF or FAITH. How an absence of apples still counts as apples to these cretins is unclear to me, but be that as it may, by their contributions to the rat-infested storehouse of radical fundamentalist barely-literary material, you will see they are certainly not overly fond of the concept.

Indecent Exposure

It is quite cute how some people can glory in being ignorant. Have you ever noticed how they seize upon junk-science they find on the Internet, put there by their equally ignorant compatriots - and claim "I win!" when it is as fake as their faith and their claim to worship and follow a loving God who is supposed to have created - and to therefore love - all of us?

A Change Of Heart

Christianity - the lifestyle choice that elevates one to a position from where you can look down on everyone else, and point out their mistakes - and everyone who disagrees is automatically "evil", "anti-God" and a "heretic", a "deviant" - or a threat to "the family", and somehow less of a human being for it.

This is how a friend of mine put it: "Very true - even of "good" Christians who claim to hate the sin but love the "sinner". "No, you're not evil, but your acts are evil." Evil. Good. Evil. Good. When will people just be able to accept reality as it truly is?"

When people stop fearing the dark as some representation of evil and see it as a shadow, an absence of light, and also a consequence of it.

Going Mental

I know this guy, see? He's a local, claims he's a Christian - belongs to all the "right" clubs and parties - supports the CDA, ACDP, CP, UCDP - in fact any political party in South Africa with a "c" in it - okay, except possibly for THAT one. 

 

This bloke hates gay people and loves to point out all the usual verses in his holy book that support his misogyny. On his more lucid days he claims he doesn't, though you can see it right through the beatific smile on his face. On his worst days he admits to his hate and promotes the death penalty for gay people and then shifts the blame by claiming "it's not my fault - the bible tells me so". 

 

This man is proud of - and even brags about - being a Christian fundamentalist.

Oh... Fundamentalists!

Cameronian Pscience Abounds

Yesterday I found a Facebook group addressing the matter of a pending legal motion to change the legal age of consent for the youth in South Africa. 

 

The group creator doesn't stop at just attacking the suggested move to lower the age of consent for heterosexual children, but differentiates between heterosexual and gay children and then launches into insulting references to fictional anti-gay pseudo-science and propaganda aimed at gay people. 

 

In fact, it seems to me this person and her group are obsessed entirely with gay male sex - as only a small portion of the lengthy rant on its information section concerns heterosexual children at all, so it seems fairly obvious where this individual's intentions lie.

Love Versus Hate

When one looks at hate crimes such as the Tel Aviv Massacre Saturday night in which fifteen gay people were wounded and three young people killed by a masked and cowardly gunman dressed in black who entered a gay center filled with gay kids and began spraying it with automatic weapons fire and then fled - it is quite easy to reciprocate the feelings of hate. 

Broken Logic

Over the last week an "ex-gay" champion engaged me in an email debate over my "leading gay people to destruction" by taking them "further away from the light of God" and "into the ways of the world".

LOL.

I brushed aside images of being a transgender "Moses" (or "Moselina") leading the downtrodden masses across a candy-floss desert in my bright pink cape, imagining various forms of burning bush and grinning annoyingly from behind my false beard. Achoo.

I Know, Therefore I Am

The murder trial of the killers of Eudy Simalane made me realize a few things. 

 

One was that the hatred some people feel for gay and transgender people is alive and well - while a fine and upstanding woman like her is dead because of it - and the other is that up until I read a few articles on her death, I never knew that SA even had a national female soccer team - or that she was their captain. After searching through this muddle of emotion and drama in the circumstances surrounding this tragedy, I now realize why.

It's because of the Patriarchy.

Double Talk Heralds Double Standards

On Tuesday 28 July a letter was published in the EP Herald, a newspaper considered by many, including myself, to be a forward-thinking publication which frequently presents unbiased and fair articles touching on the topic of sexual and gender diversity. 

 

The letter was titled "Flaunting of gay lifestyles offensive" and penned by a certain Mike Jones of Port Elizabeth. In his letter Mr Jones berated the popular TV show "Top Billing" for "ramming gays down our throats every week", "as if their lifestyle is something to be proud of, particularly in a programme of this calibre". He also called gay people "deviates", and elaborated further on his personal prejudice by saying that he did not "regard homosexuality as 'cool'" and intimated how gay people whose homes were featured on the show "got up his nose".

 

The very first thing that popped into my head - after a healthy flush of adrenaline had run its course, and the thought of something a lot more satisfying I could get up Mr Jones's nose flashed through my mind, was the question why a supposedly straight and vehemently anti-gay man so obviously stricken with a case of toxic masculinity would be remotely interested in watching that TV show in the first place? But, brushing such private generalization and stereotyping aside, I decided to look into it.

Mirror Images

I was just thinking the other day about these blatant and militant heterosexuals and their lack of shame or consideration for others, their secret and insidious agenda, and it honestly made me quite mad.

Imagine parading around, shamelessly flaunting their heterosexuality in public - what are we supposed to think, I mean, really - seeing a man and a woman walking around holding hands and kissing? What about the effect on the children, seeing such shameless displays of public affection between two consenting adults? And imagine children growing up in such a home, seeing such shameless perversion! Living in a home with "parents" like that obviously has negative influences on a growing mind. Why, I am sure children from such a home would do badly at school and be underachievers for all their lives! And in the end what would prevent them from becoming heterosexual themselves? Everybody knows it is contagious and you can get it from poor upbringing!

Satan's Package

A Facebook friend left the following comment on my wall the other day:

"My girlfriend is an 'ex-miracle'. Her step family used to parade her around to their circle of churches and proclaimed to anyone that would listen that she was "HEALED" of being a lesbian. I have since been called (by these same family members) "SATANS PACKAGE".  

 

I have to wonder at their arrogance - they proclaim an all powerful God, and yet don't trust him enough to create people as He sees fit. They feel that they need to spend their lives trying to 'fix' what He created so that we all fit into perfect Christian-shaped blocks to make THEM feel acceptable. If God wanted robots he would have created robots... a whole world full of happy-clappy, heterosexual, hymn singing, judgmental pharisees."

Very true, very fitting and very well said.

Stirring The Pot

Many feel it is their duty to meddle in others lives. To them it is "helping others right", "doing good" and doing "the Lord's work". They're called missionaries, whether by themselves or their churches or by their comrades. They see others violating what they themselves consider to be the values and ethos of civilization - most typically their personal concept of what is euphemistically called "Christian civilization" (WTF is that, anyway?) - and cannot resist sticking their pointy little noses into the lives and affairs of others. Whether or not the activities of these other people actually affect them directly - or even indirectly - is of course the entire point of this perpetual debate on morality.

I suppose the very first question that pops into my head at this point is "WTF has my morality got to do with you?".

I could also ask these self-appointed crusaders WTF my sexuality, sex-life, choice of a partner, their gender, and who I choose to marry and what I do with them in the privacy of my bedroom has to do with them?

They meddle in the affairs of others, spreading news nobody needs to hear or cares about - and then act all "persecuted" and offended when their noses get knocked out of joint by the all too predictable slamming of a door.

A Summary Of Straight Privilege In Daily Life

The other day I found online a list of observations made by a class of heterosexual university students in the USA, asked to think about advantages held by heterosexual students over their non-heterosexual counterparts. I think they made a very good effort, and I think doing such an exercise helps to broaden the mind.

It certainly helps to show others how fortunate they are - and highlights the clear advantages straight people have over us - and thereby reveals the inequalities in society we face today. Hopefully this will show people why it is we fight for equal rights - and that we really have a few good reasons to gripe after all.

I thought about it and worked through the original posting, making some additions of my own - and this is what I came up with:

Minding Other People's Business

I always thought religion was something personal and one's own choice. Even the tenets of the Christian faith are based upon freedom of choice and free will. In order to be a Christian, apparently, you need to choose to follow Christ.

It is interesting indeed that some people think they are right to force others into believing what they believe.

Herd Instinct

I was invited to join a Facebook group touting a nationalistic Afrikaner line about independence of the "boerevolk". Offhand though, I honestly couldn't think why. I mean, isn't that a bit like being invited to join a fan group set up to adore the most infamous "little corporal" in history?

 

It was very kind of them to think of me, but I simply had to decline - which I did by leaving a short message which would be my first and last post there.

"Come on guys, quit trying to divide SA even more than it is already - the Boer War ended a hundred years ago - catch a wake up!" I typed.

 

Nevertheless, this baffling and outlandish event served to prompt some deeper thought on the subject.

Sex, Drugs And Diversity

"Gay activists are outraged after Xavier High School, a Catholic school in Albury, Australia published an anti-gay piece by a former student in its alumni newsletter. "Writing in a letter to the editor in the newsletter, former Xavier student Matt Price entreated “a world free from homosexuals”, who he said lived lives devoted to drugs and sex.

His letter called for businesses not to employ homosexuals, with Price revealing that he lobbies CEOs with his message." http://queersunited.blogspot.com/2009/07/australian-high-school-publishes-piece.html

Interesting.

Equality - A Goalpost On Wheels For Every Occasion

In December last year, a man was thrown off a moving commuter train in Johannesburg.  

 

His crime? Carrying a woman's handbag and behaving in a feminine manner.

 

The Metro security didn't come to his aid - because the two men who threw him of the train were Metro security guards.

 

Now, supposedly these security guards are there to protect the passengers from just this sort of thing, which is a most bizarre and disturbing turn of events to say the least. To compound this insult to the victim's person and dignity, when he tried to report the incident at a police station, the policemen refused to take his statement or to lay a charge against his assailants - and chased him away.

What's In A Name?

Homosexual - a word used to describe gay people. 

Note how I said that? I didn't say 'to describe homosexual people'. If you find the difference as interesting as I do, I am sure you feel it warrants a deeper look.

To The Victors...

Recently some people have very publicly claimed that "There is certainly a logical link between homosexuality, pedophilia, incest and beastiality and other deviant behaviour".

Excuse me?

Where on earth do these people get their "facts" from which they proclaim with such absolute certainty?

Christianity - The Fundamentals

Quite a long time ago, in fact more than a thousand years ago, the Christian church was very different. 

 

In some ways, it really was a bit persecuted and outnumbered by other older religions - not at all in the elevated and privileged and powerful position it holds worldwide today. Before it became the state religion of the Roman Empire, it had little power and sway over those who followed it and gathered in their own small independent little community churches. 

 

It was young and still learning the ways of control and mass manipulation. It was not yet in full agreement with itself on the dogma and scriptures it used in those days, in fact, every little church had its own particular favorite gospel - some even used the 'Gospel of Mary Magdalene', who was even viewed as one Christs Apostles - and many of these gospels were not the ones in today's bible. It was not centrally controlled and neither was the book today called the bible. In fact, back then, there was no bible. It was a loose assortment of books - and there were many more of them than those contained in the present bible used today.

In fact, even as recently as one century ago, there were stark differences in the bible and the number and names of books contained in it.

The Dogs Of War

When the new SA Constitution became fact and law back in the early 90's, discrimination in South Africa against gay and transgender people instantly passed into history and lore.

No?

You don't agree?

Why not?

If you are one of the folks who think I have been smoking my underwear and you insist that "of course we have equality now" - let me point out the following: