Sunday Sermon [Ignorance and Hate]

This is ugly…

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-=[ Hate ]=-

Hatred is never anything but fear -- if you feared no one, you would hate no one.

-- Hugh Downs

The only sin is ignorance.

A gay man was tortured in a house on a quiet block in the Bronx set on a steep hill in the Bronx. He was lured there because he was told there would be a party. He showed up last Sunday night as instructed, with cans of malt liquor. What he walked into was not a party at all, but a night of torture -- he was sodomized, burned and whipped.

Before setting upon their 30-year-old victim, the nine attackers, ranging from 16 to 23 years old and calling themselves the Latin King Goonies, had snatched up two teenage boys whom they beat, one of whom was sodomized with a plunger, until they admitted having sex with the man. All punishment for being gay.

The greatest evil is that good people do nothing… I have to admit outright that I am ashamed to say these animals call themselves Latino. They bring shame to every Latino/a -- every human being. Hate kills, and if you stand by and do nothing while something like this happens, if this doesn’t at least make you vote for asshole politician who at a sane outlook on sexual orientation, they you’re part of this crime. You’re part of every crime committed against people who’s only perceived transgression is having been born with a different sexual orientation than yours.

I have a friend who was once almost beaten to death. After she was beaten and brutally gang raped, her tormentors laughed as they urinated on her and left on a road like discarded trash. As a result of this beating, she lost sight in one eye, suffered broken facial bones, and had to go through months of a painful recovery process. As extensive as her physical injuries were, they paled in comparison to the psychological and emotional damage she endures to this day.

Why? What did this sweet and beautiful young woman do that warranted such treatment, I asked myself as I looked at her lying there in the hospital, her swollen, deformed face barely recognizable. The answer was quite simple: she was brutalized because she was perceived as being different by a group of predators. She had the audacity to be different. I couldn't understand and my mind could not grasp the degree of inhumanity evident in this act.

Hate and fear...

But even if I hadn't had a loved one brutalized in this manner, I would still fight against this blind hate. It affects all of us regardless of whether we're aware of our connection to it. The simple truth is that the things we often hate most about “other” people are reflected within our selves. Homophobes attack homosexuals because they fear their own inner insecurities about their own sexuality. Repression is never morality and what happens is that when we push our fears into the dark, they acquire power over us.

I have seen and witnessed this hate all my life. I am Puerto Rican, but my features could be considered European and as a result, I have heard many comments about Latino/as or blacks not normally uttered by whites in public. It works the other way around too: I remember once two Latinas making comments about me in Spanish, thinking I was white. The comments were very suggestive and as we were getting off the elevator, I wished them a nice day in Spanish and they freaked.

I have heard Blacks talk about “spics” and “whitey,” Latino/as talk about “niggers,” and whites talk about everybody. I learned early that this whole deal was screwed up. I learned early that people fear difference... and what they really fear and hate is themselves.

I bring this up because what these ignorant animals did shouldn’t be allowed to happen in any civil society. And if you really think this has nothing to do with you, think again: who will speak for you if you’re ever targeted for being perceived as different? I think about my friend lying broken on a hospital bed and I shudder at the thought that as a society haven’t truly progressed all that much. Because it was this same indifference by some, and outright hate by others, that contributed to that crime that night long ago.

Someone somewhere said that the greatest evil one can do is to do nothing, or something like that, and I have to agree.

Love,

Eddie

Sunday Sermon [Stages of Moral Development]

¡Hola! Everybody... I had a great day yesterday again with close friends. We ate brunch and then walked around Lower Manhattan, hitting a few cafes. I laughed so much, my face hurts today... LOL I is good and a blessing to be with people you love and love you unconditionally and trust implicitly.

Hope everybody has had a great weekend!

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-=[ Stages of Development ]=-

“One can have a great degree of realization, very authentic, very deep, but not actually be or express that realization in one’s humanness. You can have great realization but a rotten embodiment.”

-- Adyashanti

Going to watch the excellent biopic, Milk, and listening to people who otherwise consider themselves compassionate religious individuals, made me think about the development of moral reasoning and how that development (or lack thereof) affects how we worship, how we love, and how we come to view and create our world. I follow a spiritual path that is not exclusive of psychological development. In fact, I don’t see a separation between psychological and spiritual development.

My perspective is that psychology and spirituality address a continuum of human development. One can have spiritual development at the expense of psychological growth and vice-versa. I see the development of human potential as a psycho-spiritual endeavor. That’s why I enjoy A Course in Miracles so much because I feel that that’s what Christianity would look like without the entrenched dogma.

I’ve been listening to quite a few Christians who use their dogma to adopt bigoted and intolerant attitudes against our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. The question begging to be asked is how could people who claim to embrace a religion based on compassion and tolerance be so intolerant to a group of human beings, in the process actively working to deny that group the human dignity of the same freedoms they enjoy.

I have asked that question many times and I think I know the answer. The answer lies in that many so-called religious people are stuck on a level of moral reasoning that’s not very evolved. They may know scripture and I don’t doubt their commitment to their religious beliefs, or that that they are good people, but I believe their psychological development has been arrested somewhere along the way.

We stand at the cusp of a major human evolutionary period. I think we will make leaps into the vast human potential or kill ourselves. There’s no turning back.

Abraham Maslow was one the first to investigate these higher stages of human potential. He found that in addition to the basic human needs -- physiological needs, safety needs, belonging needs, and self-esteem needs -- there are higher stages of self-actualization and self-transcendence needs. He called these latter stages, being needs, in contrast to deficiency needs. These higher stages represent an inherent potential all human beings possess, although not everyone lives up to them.

Before Maslow, Lawrence Kolhberg came up with stages of moral reasoning, which Carol Gilligan would later expand upon. (And this is the core of my position today, so pay close attention. LOL!) In her book, In a Different Voice, Gilligan outlined four major stages of female moral development, which she called selfish, care, universal care, and integrated. Another way of articulating these stages might be egocentric -- I care only for myself; ethnocentric -- I care only for my tribe, my country, my nation; worldcentric -- I care for all human beings, regardless of race, color, gender, sexual orientation, or creed; and finally what can be called kosmocentric -- where I integrate the masculine and feminine in myself, and, I would add, extend care to all sentient beings without exception.

Like all development, the evolution from egocentric to ethnocentric top worldcentric to kosmocentric is a movement of increasing consciousness, adopting and building on the previous stages. What the human potential movement has discovered is that this embrace goes all the way to infinity. The farther reaches of human nature people find themselves being one with a Ground of Being, one with Sprit, one with infinity, a radiant riot of the all-encompassing -- whatever you want to call it.

My point is that your can have powerful states of consciousness -- a powerful feeling of unity with Jesus Christ, for example. However, this is the thing states are temporary while stages of development are permanent. So you can have powerful altered states of consciousness or peak experiences and still not manage to grow or change. I think we’ve all experienced peak experiences of some type. I described several in my recent posts on recovery.

I learned personally that states alone don’t work. If you’re at an ethnocentric developmental stage, then having a peak experience will only make you more ethnocentric. Not a good thing.

The common example is that if you’re at an ethnocentric stage of development and you have peak experiences of being one with everything, you might interpret that as an experience of oneness with Jesus and therefore conclude that nobody can be saved unless they accept Jesus as their personal savior. In other words, a peak spiritual experience for an ethnocentric Christian will be interpreted as having to belong to this group in order to be saved. To further elaborate, if you’re at an egocentric stage of development and have the same experience, you might interpret that as a belief that you are Jesus Christ. Using the same reasoning, if you are at a kosmocentric or integral stage and have that same spiritual peak experience, you will likely conclude that you and all sentient beings without exception are one with Spirit in the eternal here and now.

Do you see where I’m going with this?

If you’re truly committed to the core tenets of your spiritual path, then you’re evolving and expanding to include all beings within your heart of hearts. In this world, dogma falls to the wayside and Love -- big “L” love -- takes precedence over your need to belong to an exclusive club.

How does love manifest itself in the life of someone at an egocentric stage of development versus someone who’s at the worldcentric level? How do different levels or stages of moral reasoning affect relationships?

What I see are too many Christians and people in general stuck in their ethnocentric cocoons. I refuse to believe that such a highly realized being as Jesus would have been as intolerant and unyielding... The greatest danger we face today is not from terrorists, it is from the fundamentalist mindset that sits rigid and immobile at the center of a reality whose nature is essentially always changing. Wake up people!

Love,

Eddie

Sunday Sermon [Homophobia & Religion]

¡Hola! Everybody…
I have a post on the Bible -- something positive. I wrote it a while back, but every time I think it’s cool to post, I’m deeply disappointed by The Christian wave. I can’t post it for fear it will encourage more evangelicals… I wrote most of the following four years ago. Since then, Americans have moved closer to recognizing rights for all.

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-=[ Homophobia & The Christian Right ]=-

“Civil unions are about civil rights.”

I’ll just put it out there from the get-go: African Americans and Latino/as in CaliforniaOverwhelming, Blacks voted for the measure, Latino/as were divided. made me feel ashamed with regard to how they voted on Proposition 8, the referendum banning same sex marriage, last week.

Put simply, that vote was bigoted and hypocritical.

How is banning gays from marrying different from similar laws that banned interracial marriage?!!

The same arguments used today about gays are the same arguments used against Blacks not that long ago!

You would think people of color would be able to empathize. That seven out of eight blacks voted to support segregation and bigotry, and that Latino/as were “divided” on this issue is a fuckin’ shame. I am embarrassed today to say that I am aligned with the motherfuckers that voted for this crap. You should be ashamed as well, because if you voted for this, then these are the people you’re aligned with:

Opposition to same-sex marriage, especially in the Bible Belt and among religious conservatives, has been fierce, religion being used as the weapon of choice against homosexuality. Of equal importance, in terms of the national polity, has been the issue of religious extremism, or religious fundamentalism. Unfortunately, we have our own homegrown extremism right here in the states.

Nothing has been more effective in uncovering the dark side of homophobia than the work of researchers. One researcher, who interviewed over 400 men incarcerated for gay-bashing noted that the gay bashers generally saw nothing wrong in what they did, and more often than not, stated that their religious leaders and traditions condoned their behavior. One particular adolescent stated that the pastor of his church had said, “Homosexuals represent the devil, Satan,” and that the Rev. Jerry Falwell had echoed that charge.

Such Christians opposed to equality for homosexuals usually appeal to the moral imperatives of the Bible, claiming that Scripture is very clear on the matter, often citing verses that support their opinion. If others disagree, they accuse them of perverting and distorting texts contrary to their “clear” meaning. However, investigate further and they are not so coherent when it comes to economic conduct (the so-called “free market”), the responsibilities of wealth, and the consequences of greed.

According to my own research there are basically nine biblical citations usually invoked as relating to homosexuality. Four (Deuteronomy 23:17, I Kings 14:24, I Kings 22:46, and II Kings 23:7) simply forbid prostitution, by men and women.

Two others (Leviticus 18:19-23 and Leviticus 20:10-16) are part of what some biblical scholars call the Holiness Code. The code explicitly bans homosexual acts. However, it also prohibits eating raw meat, planting two different kinds of seed in the same field and wearing garments with two different kinds of yarn. In addition, tattoos, adultery, and sexual intercourse during a woman’s menstrual period are also expressly prohibited -- outlawed, actually.

Now, get this: there is no mention of homosexuality in the four Gospels of the New Testament! The moral teachings of Jesus are not concerned with the subject.

In addition to the above, three references from St. Paul are frequently cited (Romans 1:26-2:I, I Corinthians 6:9-11, and Timothy 1:10).But Paul was concerned with homosexuality only because in Greco-Roman culture it represented to him a sensuality that conflicted with his own Jewish/ Christian spiritual upbringing. He was actually against lust and sensuality in anyone, including heterosexuals. To say that homosexuality is bad because homosexuals are tempted to commit morally doubtful acts is to also say that heterosexuality is bad because heterosexuals are like-wise tempted (I delve a little more into this in my second installment on the history of love).

For Paul, anyone who places his or her interest ahead of God’s is condemned, a verdict that falls equally on everyone, gay or straight.

Let’s take Sodom and Gomorrah and recall that the story is not about sexual perversion and homosexual practice. It is about inhospitability, according to Luke 10:10-13, and failure to care for the poor, according to Ezekiel 16:49-50: “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.”

The reason why fundamentalism is so dangerous is that, in the hands of religious conservatives and nut jobs like the Christian Right, Scripture is used to incite otherwise good people to act from an attitude of fear and hate rather than love and compassion.

Fortunately, the religious right does not speak for all U.S. Christians. In fact, in survey after survey, the vast majority of Americans actually disagree with the Kook Kristian Koalition. I would suppose that a good many Christians are included in that group. I would also like to state right here and now that if I am judging any Christian for whatever reason, then I am no better than the very people I am critiquing. Who am I to say who is a good, or “real,” Christian or not? Moreover, isn’t that very same fundamentalism we pretend to abhor -- just another form of self-righteousness?

In any case, advocates of slavery used the bible for justification, for example. Modern conservatives have actually used the very same bible (very convincingly, I might add) to protect their own demented economic self-interests.

Ultimately, the same bible that, on the basis of some archaic (and now useless) social code of ancient Israel and a tortured reading of Paul is used to condemn all homosexuals and homosexual behavior, also includes metaphors of redemption, renewal, inclusion, and love. These are principles that invite homosexuals to accept themselves and take responsibility for their freedom and demands that their fellow Christians accept them as well!

Love,

Eddie

Resources (aka the “Educate Yourselves You dumb Muthafuckas” section)

Anti-miscegenation laws overturned on 12 June 1967 by Loving v. Virginia

State	First law passed	Races banned	Note
Alabama	1822	Blacks	Repealed during Reconstruction, law later reinstated
Arkansas	1838	Blacks	Repealed during Reconstruction, law later reinstated
Delaware	1721	Blacks
Florida	1832	Blacks	Repealed during Reconstruction, law later reinstated
Georgia	1750	All non-whites
Kentucky	1792	Blacks
Louisiana	1724	Blacks	Repealed during Reconstruction, law later reinstated
Mississippi	1822	Blacks, Asians	Repealed during Reconstruction, law later reinstated
Missouri	1835	Blacks, Asians
North Carolina	1715	Blacks, Native Americans
Oklahoma	1897	Blacks
South Carolina	1717	All non-whites	Repealed during Reconstruction, law later reinstated
Tennessee	1741	Blacks, Native Americans
Texas	1837	Blacks, Filipinos
Virginia	1691	All non-whites	Previous anti-miscegenation law made more severe by Racial Integrity Act of 1924
West Virginia	1863	Blacks

Homophobia

¡Hola! Everybody,
When I came to work today (I’m usually the first one in), there was a huge flood -- the result of a busted pipe in our upstairs cafeteria. The rest of my day will be spent dealing with canceling appointments and rescheduling meetings. My morning “blog time” was subsumed by the flood, so it’s another repost. Most of you haven’t read this and those that do read me, don’t read everything, so it may be worthwhile.

On another note, I plan to be in Phillie on the 21^st of this month. If any of my readers live there (or near there), let me know, I’ll stay an extra day and we’ll dinner or something. I’ll be attending more conferences this year, so I may be coming to a city near you.

* * *

-=[ Homophobia and Religious Fundamentalism ]=-

The issue of gay marriage is always a hot button topic (which is really a civil rights issue!). Opposition, especially in the Bible Belt and among religious conservatives, has been fierce, religion being used as the weapon of choice against homosexuality. Of equal importance, in terms of the national polity, has been the issue of religious extremism, or religious fundamentalism. Unfortunately, we have our own homegrown extremism right here in the states, though you wouldn't be able to tell.

Nothing has been more effective in uncovering the dark side of homophobia than the work of researchers. One researcher, who interviewed over 400 men incarcerated for gay-bashing noted that the gay bashers generally saw nothing wrong in what they did, and more often than not, stated that their religious leaders and traditions condoned their behavior. One particular adolescent stated that the pastor of his church had said, “Homosexuals represent the devil, Satan,” and that the Rev. Jerry Falwell had echoed that charge.

Such Christians opposed to equality for homosexuals almost always appeal to the moral imperatives of the Bible, claiming that Scripture is very clear on the matter, often citing verses that support their opinion. If others disagree, they accuse them of perverting and distorting texts contrary to their “clear” meaning. However, if one were to investigate further they are not so clear when it comes to economic conduct (the so-called “free market”), the responsibilities of wealth, and greed.

I have seen that there are basically nine biblical citations usually invoked as relating to homosexuality. Four (Deuteronomy 23:17, I Kings 14:24, I Kings 22:46, and II Kings 23:7) simply forbid prostitution, by men and women.

Two others (Leviticus 18:19-23 and Leviticus 20:10-16) are part of what some biblical scholars call the Holiness Code. The code explicitly bans homosexual acts. However, it also prohibits eating raw meat, planting two different kinds of seed in the same field and wearing garments with two different kinds of yarn. In addition, tattoos, adultery, and sexual intercourse during a woman’s menstrual period are also expressly prohibited -- outlawed, actually.

Now, get this: there is no mention of homosexuality in the four Gospels of the New Testament! The moral teachings of Jesus are not concerned with the subject.

In addition to the above, three references from St. Paul are frequently cited (Romans 1:26-2:I, I Corinthians 6:9-11, and Timothy 1:10).But Paul was concerned with homosexuality only because in Greco-Roman culture it represented to him a sensuality that conflicted with his own Jewish/ Christian spiritual upbringing. He was actually against lust and sensuality in anyone, including heterosexuals. To say that homosexuality is bad because homosexuals are tempted to commit morally doubtful acts is to also say that heterosexuality is bad because heterosexuals are like-wise tempted (I delve a little more into this in my second installment on the history of love).

For Paul, anyone who places his or her interest ahead of God’s is condemned, a verdict that falls equally on everyone, gay or straight.

Let’s take Sodom and Gomorrah and recall that the story is not about sexual perversion and homosexual practice. It is about inhospitability, according to Luke 10:10-13, and failure to care for the poor, according to Ezekiel 16:49-50: “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.”

The reason why fundamentalism is so dangerous is that, in the hands of religious conservatives and nut jobs like the Revs. Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, as well as the hundreds of lesser-known, but just as dangerous clerics, preachers, and pundits, is they use Scripture to incite otherwise good people to act from an attitude of fear rather than their virtues.

Fortunately, the religious right does not speak for all US Christians. In fact, in survey after survey, the vast majority of Americans actually disagree with the likes of Falwell and Robertson. I would suppose that a good many Christians are included in that group. I would also like to state right here and now that if I am judging any Christian for whatever reason, then I am no better than the very people I am critiquing. Who am I to say who is a good, or “real,” Christian or not? Moreover, isn’t that very same fundamentalism we pretend to abhor -- just another form of self-righteousness?

In any case, the bible is not for Christians alone to interpret. Advocates of slavery, for example, actually used the very same bible (very convincingly, I might add) to protect their own demented economic self-interests. On the other hand, it was this very same Bible that inspired slaves to revolt and liberate themselves.

Get this: they same Bible that was used to keep churches segregated is the source of inspiration of the Rev. Martin Luther King, jr. and the civil liberties movements of the 1960s.

The same bible that anti-feminists use to keep women silent in churches, is the very same Bible that preaches liberation and says that in Christ there is neither male nor female, slave nor free.

Similarly, the same bible that on the basis of some archaic (and now useless) social code of ancient Israel and a tortured reading of Paul is used to condemn all homosexuals and homosexual behavior, also includes metaphors of redemption, renewal, inclusion, and love. These are principles that invite homosexuals to accept themselves and take responsibility for their freedom and demands that their fellow Christians accept them as well.

Love,

Eddie