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Warning: the following blog talks about religion. As that is a sensitive subject with some people, please read with care, and if you comment, keep it friendly.
I was talking with Kylie about my belief in God the other day, and I tried my best to show that I don't think such a belief shows that I am delusional. Not sure if I succeeded, but it got me thinking about being Dorothy, and how some people who have no trouble believing in God have great trouble accepting that someone like me could be a woman.
In both cases - being a trans woman and being a person of faith, while you might be able to present some reasonable arguments for them, in the end there is a subjective quality that can only be accepted or rejected.
So am I delusional for believing in God? For believing I'm a woman? Or is it possible to accept both?
While I have my belief that both make sense, only you as an individual can decide if you agree with me ...
Comments
opinions
First let me say that your beliefs are yours and no one else should even try to change them . however, I think I must agree that God is God &b there is no doubt in my mind you are of the female persuasion. how can any one question that?
Don't sweat the little things Kitten ,HUGS and warm snuggles
Papa
thanks, Papa.
warm little kitten-huggles back.
No how no way
Are you delusional, Yes you can be both at the same time. The universe is not built all on right angles and strait lines that is a man made contrivance. "THIS is not a plug" But this is part of what I am exploring in my writing is that the universe is so large and convoluted that it can not be rationally expanded. In HS I am trying to enplane a probable way to understand how both Pagans and other religious understanding can all be describing the same thing but in different words.
Each one of us has or does not have a belief system that works for us. That is how the big guy in the clouds meant it to be.
Huggles
Your sister
Michele
If we are crazy we are crazy together. He He HE
With those with open eyes the world reads like a book
I've often heard the example of spirituality being a mountain
That everyone climbs in their own way. Despite the differences in technique, or how long or slow or easy or hard the climb might be, a straight path or one that meanders and explores... it's all a journey to the same mountaintop. I personally believe this; there are too many similarities between world religions for me to see it in any other light. Scott Cunningham uses almost this exact same analogy in "Wicca for the Solitary Practitioner," and it really is something I've seen with slight variations from many many people.
As for you, Dot, I believe that you're perfectly fine :) While I haven't read the entirety of Katie's "Transsexual and the Cross," the bits I've caught while checking out a dissertation on it, with the preacher/scholar actually pointing out that Katie sometimes didn't interpret things LIBERAL enough, do make it sound like something that might help you come to terms with things.
Melanie E.
I can't speak to...
I can't speak to whether or not you're delusional for believing you're a woman,that's something you and a therapist need to work out; however, I can speak to your believe in God... I've seen too much evidence in my life that there is a God and that He is interested in our little puny lives enough to take a hand in them when we let him to deny His existence.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
But why?
You are not delusional for believing in God.
However, what difference does it make who agrees or disagrees with you? If the whole world tells you that there is no God is that going to change the facts one bit.
If you are struggling with your relationship with God and the fact that you are transsexual, then I suggest study and finding the truth out for yourself. There are reference books out there that answer the question about christianity and transsexualism, I know, because I wrote one (The Transsexual and the Cross for any of those interested - it's been feature in two doctoral thesis).
It is post like this that make me worry. Christians can't live their faith by popular opinion. There is only one God and He is not a gallop poll.
Also, for anyone who can't afford to buy The Transsexual and the Cross, PM me, this is one work I never withhold.
Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)
Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life
faith/belief vs. relegion
I can not say one way or the other. All I know is that ones faith and ones relegion are two deferent things. I grew up in a extermly devout Russian Catholic house hold in the old Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. A place where relegion was greatly surpressed. This was just one of the many reasons i defected when I did. Another was the fact that being trans, homosexuial or any other deveint and to be found was one of two things life in prisson or death. It was not relegion that drove me to find my way to the U.S. but faith. The reason I say this is the relegion of my would have had me stoned in the public square, while the law would have placed me in prison for life. When I first came here I found that while 'relegion' was a driving force in the way people believe it was not their faith. That is something totally deferint. So no you are not delusional for believing in God and in believing your are a woman. For some who can not understand this all you can do is have faith in the Universe, God, Goddess, however you beleive to show them the way. Most see the 'light' and take the hint. However there are those few who will cling blindly to preconceved concepts that are based on what is another persons believes. When faced with this all one can do is remember that 'You can't fix stupid not even with duct tape'
May the peace and happiness of the Goddess keep and protect you
as always your humble outlaw
Jessie Wolf
Not even with duct tape ???
America is still suffering from the remnants of the Judeao/Christian ethic and somewhere along the line, religion for many has become a twisted philosophy which dwells upon the fears of sinful people and not on the faith of our God. The guilty imagine bizarre punishment. The faithful but imperfect have hope for understanding and tolerance.
I insist that this T thing is not an affliction, but a giftedness if used correctly.
G
Your post got me to think
Your post got me to think about the nature of both god and gender ID.
God requires faith. There is not one shred of evidence that God exists other than the fact that we exist. God requires faith in something that is unseeable and unprovable.
Gender ID is something that comes from within. Over time a person starts to believe that their genetics and actual gender are in opposition. That doesn't happen without proof in the for form of thoughts and actions. No one wakes up one day and decides to go through something like HRT without prior evidence that they are the opposite gender. Even if they did the doctors that control the process wouldn't allow it. You have to 'prove' it.
Religion and gender ID are alike in the fact that outsiders have very clear opinions as to the 'truth' of both subjects. That is because it is their minds are made up and there is little that can be said or done to change minds on the subject. A Bible verse says it best: 'Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not'
I shall say what I believe
And damned the torpedoes. :)
I am firmly convinced that something is orchestrating life in the Universe. Think about the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of OZ. As to whether he exercises the degree of care and control that many believe, I do not know. It is possible that human welfare is secondary to his primary goals. Having said that, I am a practicing Muslim/Mormon and if that confuses you, and you care to know, then study both belief systems full stop.
As to the reality of the Transgender thing, I think there are many facets to it. I do not feel that many T folk try as hard as I do to be the perfect woman. Of course, medical tests show that I am Intersex so may never have been Transgendered.
I have a number of friends who are Aspergers, and have discovered that there are a number of "Aspies" here on BCTS, and some of them are the better authors. There is also an element of stress and trauma that triggers some expressions of T'ness. T folk have been around as long as humans have. There is a tribe in Southern Iraq (or used to be) that is at least 3000 years old, and they allow boys to express themselves as girls and visa versa, but there is no switching back and forth. If you choose it you stay that way.
There are a number of us here who are in love with the idea of being a woman, but do not attempt to bring that into reality the way I did. My own gender expression has so many facets and causations that it boggles my mind.
It is my hope that in coming years, people will just be what they are and the religious homophobes will be resigned to mumbling in some dark ruins.
Gwendolyn
As others have said
you are entitled to believe what you wish, whether that makes you delusional, I can't answer.
As many of you know, I don't believe in sky fairies nor see any need for them to exist. The second law of thermodynamics explains the mechanism for life on this lovely planet, evolution explains its variations. I find some the ways life has evolved quite exquisite although I'm also aware of the cruelty of existence for many creatures.
If your faith makes your life better or helps the way you live, enjoy it but don't let it constrain you like it does those who worship fear and hatred and who seem to dominate religions in some places - and thus the lives of those who appear under their influence. Slavery takes many forms, religion and money seem to drive most of them.
Angharad