Conversation with Emily continued...

I have a new installment of my ongoing conversation with my cousin Emily, Enjoy!


Here is Em's response to my last reply to her,

I know it's taken me a long time to reply to this, but It's taken me a while to formulate a response. lol, it was such a long message, I still can't take it all in, so I just want to address a few things. Ezekiel does say that gluttony was one of their sins, but there are many other verses in the Bible, such as Jude 7. (I put all of it below, just to keep the context right.)
(Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.)
That clearly states that the sin they were punished for was sexual immorality and unnatural desire.

The next thing I want to address is your view of Jesus. Yes, He was a great man, a loving, kind teacher, and he taught wonderful lessons, like you said. But, He said some very shocking things, such as claiming to be God. Now, either He was a good teacher, or He wasn't. If a teacher teaches a lie, that's not a good teacher. So in order to agree that He was a good teacher, we must agree with what He taught, specifically His deity. Also, I would argue that you have rejected God, though you say different. God has revealed Himself to us as fully as we can know Him in the Bible, and if you reject parts of the Bible, you reject parts of God. I think you have made a version of God that agrees with your lifestyle and beliefs rather than conforming your life and beliefs to God's unchanging truth.

Yes, many Christians have missed the point of Christianity, and what God commanded them to do, but that doesn't give anyone license to ignore it.

Homosexuality is sin. The Bible says it plainly. I agree with the popular idea that people can be born homosexual, but I don't think that gives them the freedom to indluge. Many people inherit the sin of alchoholism, but just because it's in their genes doens' tmean they should indulge. Again, people can actually be born with a "killer" gene that gives them a desire to murder people for enjoyment, but that doens't mean they should, and it doesn't make it legal. If you love Jesus, like you've said, if you have a close relationship with God like you said, you must take the Bible at face value, you must believe what it says, regardless of how much you like it or how nicely it fits into your life.

Sorry about the name slip, you've been Susie in my head for so long, lol. I didn't hear that you preffered Susanna. I'll try very hard to keep that in mind.


Now here is my response :)
This is kind of scattered and really long(I'm probably going to have to break it up into two messages). I don't mean to overwhelm you, I just have a lot to say on this subject:)

The problem with taking the Bible at face value is that it means different things to different people. To the Amish, it means living a life apart, wearing dark austere clothing, allowing no dolls with faces, no movies, no cars, no electricity in their homes and much more. To a liberal Christian, it means that they accept that the Bible was written by men and is in many ways a reflection of the times it was written in and, while there are divine truths within one should live by, God did not mean for every word to be considered inerrant truth.

But even among those Christians who consider it inerrant truth, there are thousands upon thousands of different interpretations of the bible by people claiming they are taking the Bible at "face value". There are around 38,000 denominations of Christianity. They all feel they are taking the Bible at face value yet in doing that have come up with thousands of different interpretations as to what exactly that means. Who is "right"? Is it Baptists? Catholics? Lutherans? Unitarian Universalists? It is the Charismatics, the Pentecostals, the Mormons, the Church of God, the Presbyterians, the Old German Baptists, the Mennonites, the Quakers or the Amish? Who is right? They all claim they are right and they claim they are taking the Bible at face value yet they have come to very very different conclusions.

You said
"I think you have made a version of God that agrees with your lifestyle and beliefs rather than conforming your life and beliefs to God's unchanging truth."

This is what everyone, including yourself, does. You interpret the bible in such a way that you can live the lifestyle you do, movies, music, being politically involved, going to college. Have you ever talked about the sermon or biblical teachings in church with males? That is wrong according to the bible, women are supposed to remain silent in church. Do you ever wear pants? It's an abomination to wear clothing of the opposite sex. Do you keep your head covered when you pray? Failure to do so is a sin according to the Bible. Have you ever had short hair? Do you ever braid your hair? There are biblical verses against those things as well. You know your Christmas Tree? There is a verse in Jeremiah(I quoted it on facebook) that says not to bring trees inside and decorate them with silver and gold like the heathens. But you manage just fine to wear pants, discuss sermons in church with males, pray without head coverings, have braided hair and sit around Christmas trees and you still feel like you are following "God's unchanging truth". You've chosen to believe in a version of God that agrees with your lifestyle and beliefs rather then conforming to (what you believe is) God's unchanging truth. If you truly want to live by "God's unchanging truth" you would be living a life very much like the Amish. But you don't, you enjoy your lifestyle so you conform your God to that rather then truly following everything in the New Testament. To mirror your words back to you, if you truly believed that the Bible is the inerrant truth it seems you would be living it no matter how much you like it or how nicely it fits into your life. If you were to do what Jesus said to do to truly follow him, you would reject your family(even your fiancee) give away all your belongings and go live a life of service to the poor. But you aren't going to do that, you wouldn't even consider rejecting your family and your fiancee to go and serve the poor. So like me, you pick and choose what parts of Gods words to apply to your life and which to ignore because it's inconvenient and does not fit into your chosen lifestyle. The difference is I don't consider it the inerrant truth I consider it an ancient work written by man that has divine truth within. I don't think I'm meant to live by the social structure of biblical times that are reflected in many "sins" in the Bible. I think many edicts of the bible are reflections of the men who wrote them and the times they were written in. I don't believe God intended women never to speak in church or to never cut or braid their hair or people to be homosexual as it exists today. I especially don't believe that God intended his followers to ever make laws regarding their personal morality for the masses to follow.

You were right that Jesus said some really shocking things. Jesus was in fact a liberal. Nothing conservative about him. He came to upset the conservatives of his day and to shake up the old ways. He ate with tax collectors and prostitutes, he broke the laws and he threw the moneychangers out of the temple. He did indeed say he was God, but he also said we are all God and Children of God just like he is.

I do take the Bible at face value and I don't deny that there are Divine truths within and I don't think Jesus was lying when he said he was Divine. But I don't think that Jesus telling the truth about his divinity means I have to accept every single word of the Bible as divine truth. And I don't see why anyone has to accept other peoples interpretations of the scriptures. With so many to choose from it's next to impossible to say "this is the ONE CORRECT interpretation" about any of them so one has to listen to the voice of God that they hear and decide for themselves what they feel God means.

As for the sexual immorality and unnatural desires Sodom and Gomorrah was punished for perhaps that was sex with multiple partners, incest, or having relations with an unwilling partner or chidren. It does not say that the sexual immorality is monogamous relationship between two people of the same sex. As for being unnatural, homosexuality has existed in some form in every culture and in every era of history. It exists in the animal kingdom as well. Seems pretty natural to me. In the end I suspect we'll have to agree to disagree on this subject.

I have to say it bothers me greatly to have homosexuality as a inborn trait being compared to being a natural born killer(which there are out there). When we look at the "sin" of homosexuality we have a sin that involves two consenting adults. When we look at people killing others we have violence and people who cannot consent involved. We have people being violently robbed of their lives verses someone only engaging with consenting others. I don't see the fact that some people are born with a killing gene as evidence that people born gay should live a celibate life.

But considering it's a belief, we have the fact that it's not fair for one man to be forced by another man's chosen belief. Do you believe in freedom, or freedom for yourself and those who believe as you do only? Would you want to be forced to follow another religions moral beliefs? If not why is it okay to force the gay people to live by your moral code? You believe they are immoral, but they don't believe they are. Should it not be up to each person to decide their own moral code outside of harm caused to others and their things? Also, think about this, on the day you are married, there will be gay people exchanging vows, in America, in Canada, in Brittan, will the fact that that's happening have any effect on the vows you exchange with your beloved? Will it undermine or lessen the feeling and devotion you and Gary feel for each other?

As for my name, yeah, I don't care for Susie at all anymore :P I never was thrilled with it as a nickname, but once I became an adult I knew it had to go! Tad is the name I go by, but for those who don't find that suitable I would rather them call me Susanna and me feel uncomfortable then to insist they call me the name all my friends and almost all of my family call me. I don't particularly understand why Tad is unsuitable as a nickname, but that's neither here nor there. The only ones I don't insist change what they call me are my grandparents and aunts and uncles(I gave my parents the choice as well but they both graciously opted to call me by what I feel most comfortable being called). They are the only ones I'm OK with calling me Susie. There is a story behind the nickname, when I went backpacking on the Appalachian Trail at age 21 I went by the trail name Tadpole. Some of the other hikers called me Tad and it really clicked, when I came home I spread the word I wanted to go by the nickname Tad and it's stuck tight. The people who have only known me as Tad tell me "I can't imagine you being a Susie, it doesn't fit you at all, Tad suits you perfectly". It's been ten years now so you'll have to excuse me that it feels odd for people to call me by my formal name.

I'd like to say I'm enjoying our exchange, I don't mind being told I'm wrong, I'm always willing to re examine things. I can't promise I'll come to the same conclusions the person I'm discussing things with wants me too, but I will always try my best to be respectful of other peoples deeply held beliefs.

How are your wedding plans coming along? It's so much fun, I had a blast picking out everything and finding things that fit in my theme and the budget. You will be such a beautiful bride!

Bright Blessings Emily,
Love,
Tad

I am finding this conversation extremely enjoyable. I love talking to people about religion. I think religion practiced personally is a beautiful thing, but I think when people try to make laws that others must live by based on their religion it's a very bad thing. The standard of laws being based on harm done to others and their property is one that America should strive for and one can live by their beliefs without supporting legislation that restricts the freedom of others.

Happy Holidays vs Merry Christmas

So the battle cry of the holidays is heard and it's over wishing people well. Ironic no? People are all up in arms, "We aren't allowed to wish anyone MERRY CHRISTMAS anymore!!! We have to say HAPPY HOLIDAYS now, it's a travesty, Political Correctness gone amuk!!eleventyone!1!". I say Balderdash! There is no need for this to be a divisive issue.


So you may be asking, "well Tadpole, why should I stop wishing people a Merry Christmas?". My answer is that you shouldn't with the qualifier of there are times where Happy Holidays is the more considerate and polite greeting. Are you going to church? Wish everyone there Merry Christmas with plenty of joy. Are you at your families Christmas gathering? Greet everyone a bright and robust Merry Christmas. Are you going to a party that was called a Christmas Party, it's a pretty safe bet you can wish people there jovial Merry Christmas. Did you meet friends who celebrate Christmas on the street? They will appreciate and return your cheery greeting of Merry Christmas.

So now you may be asking "Well then smarty frog pants, why do we need Happy Holidays at all then?". My answer to this is simple, when you are wishing a stranger well at this time, unless they are wearing something that indicates their religious beliefs, by wishing them Merry Christmas you are making the assumption that they celebrate the same holiday you do and frankly, making assumptions is rude. They may be of any number of religious beliefs, including sects of Christians who don't believe in celebrating Christmas. It makes no sense to wish people a Merry Christmas if they don't celebrate Christmas.

So here's a quick guide to who to wish what :)

People who you know celebrate Christmas: Merry Christmas!

People who you know are other beliefs, wish them happy whatever they celebrate: Happy Hanukkah or Blessed Yule or whatever greeting goes with their holiday!

People you don't know well enough to know their religious beliefs: Happy Holidays!

So we see that Merry Christmas is not on the verge of being abolished, it should be alive and well within groups that celebrate the holiday. Being considerate, kind and not making assumptions are a part of basic manners so it has nothing to do with being "Politically Correct". It has everything to do with being polite and not making assumptions.

So it's been a little while...

but I'm back with more froggy thoughts. Life has been going well enough. Mr. Tadpole has been enjoying his new job. It's work he really enjoys doing and he hasn't had a bad day yet:). It would be nice if they would have him go full time, but I'm just grateful it's working out so well.

I've been thinking a lot about how some people get worked up over the names for things. Call a Christmas tree a Yule tree or Holiday tree and watch the heads spin. That apparently is a very bad thing and (somehow) anti-Christian even though there is nothing particularly Christian about decorating trees to begin with . And the fact that many people who celebrate the midwinter holiday season are not Christian also is selectively ignored.

I'm not upset that people are Christian. Everyone has a right to their dearly held beliefs. Christians have every right to their beliefs and to have them respected. But so do Pagans as well, and Jews, and Atheists and Muslims and Buddhists and everyone else. I don't think it's fair for anyone to expect their world or society to be centric to their personally chosen belief system. It's a shame we can't seem to find a happy medium. Where we are free to shape our lives to our personal beliefs but we recognize that there are lots of other people with lots of other beliefs that deserve the same respect ours do.

That's what this season is supposed to be about, goodwill, respect, generosity and kindness of heart. It's supposed to be about love and warmth and togetherness, with families, with friends, as people sharing common celebrations. Does it really matter that the Christians are celebrating Christmas, the Neo Pagans are celebrating the Solstice and Yule and the Jews are celebrating Hanukkah? I can't think of one reason why it should.

Words, wordy wordy words....

Words are amazing things. We do so much with them. We name things with them, we communicate concepts with them, we use them in art, in school, in play, we use them to tell stories, to make confessions, to accuse people. We use them to lie, to convince, to persuade. We use them to incite religious devotion and we use them to try to try to "enlighten" people as to why what they believe is wrong. We use them to unite and divide, to love and to hate, for good and for bad. Words are magic. When we use them, we are weaving a reality that will take on a life of it's own. For some words, their lifespan will be short. They will have a neutral effect upon their environment. The life of some words reach thousands or hundreds of thousands or millions or billions of people. Some words turn into actions. This works equally for the good and the bad. Some words incite genocide, some result in lives saved. It is up to us to use our words wisely and to use them as tools to connect, not weapons to destroy others.

I am also surprised at the people who say one thing, but they don't really mean what they say. Like all the people who say America is a free country when what they really mean is that everybody who believes like they do should be free to do things they approve of. Like gay marriage. How many people against gay marriage are married themselves? They want to have the freedom to marry, and to marry who they want, but only people who make the same choice as they do (to marry someone of the opposite sex) should be free to do that. It's a little disingenuous I think to say one believes in freedom when what really means is "freedom for me and those like me". That's not freedom, that's one faction of a society being forced to live by the religious beliefs chosen by another. How is that right or fair? For someone to truly believe in freedom I think they should support their neighbors right to live as they choose as long as there are no non consenting others who are harmed. When harm is done to others is where freedom ends. But sadly, many think that it's not enough to live by their beliefs and to let their lives be their witness. For many, they feel they have the right to dictate what others can and cannot do.

I think of Conservative Christian America that is trying to keep gay marriage illegal just as I think of those who fought tooth and nail trying to keep civil rights from African Americans and women. They think they have the right to keep rights they enjoy away from other people and it's wrong. Not maybe wrong, or a little wrong, but dead wrong, period, end of story. To those who argue "but my morals object to it" I say, then don't marry someone of your own sex. It's that easy. If you feel the need to keep a right you enjoy away from someone else based on what you would call a moral choice on your part, then you are wrong and I can only pray you can realize this instead of getting angry at being called wrong. But if you're going to be angry, go ahead and be angry and with my blessing. There's nothing I can do about it, it's your anger. And in the enlightened tomorrow that lies ahead, people will look back and say "Isn't it shocking that anyone supported equal rights being kept away from them" just as people look back now and say that about those who fought against previous equal civil rights for other disenfranchised groups.

Thankfulness

Thankfulness is my lifestyle. I want my life to be a prayer of thanks to the divine, to the Goddess and the God. I want to follow the way and to try to live in a state of constant thankfulness and appreciation. Out of the thankfulness I want to spring kindness, compassion, love, tolerance and patience. I also want to be practice living with awareness, awareness of myself, of others, of the situations I am in and the courage to face up to the reality's about life and myself that I'd rather just ignore. I pray for the wisdom to do what is best, to see when my instincts are leading me wrong and how to implement the change that I need. I pray for perseverance, to be able to have the sight to see that today's tragedy can become tomorrows opportunity. I pray for the strength to do what I need to do today, tomorrow and for all time. I thank the divine for everything, the good, the bad, everything, for it has helped shape me into to who I am and what I am. I thank the divine for my intellect, for with out that mass of gray cells residing within my cranium, where would I be? Thank you for this mass of flesh and bone I am, with all it's faults and imperfections, thank you for setting into motion the story of my life for me to live.

My prayer of the evening,
I thank thee God for this night,
And for the blessings of the day
Bless all who reside within my heart(list loved ones here)
and shine upon them each day
I thank thee for thy blessings, and for thy guidance true
and may the love that shines through me always be from you

Bright Blessings all:)

Joe Froggers Recipe

I had a request for the recipe here so I'm going to make it a post

• 3/4 cup hot water
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon dark rum
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 cups unsulphured dark molasses
• 6 to 7 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1-1/2 teaspoons ginger
• 1 teaspoon cloves
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Combine hot water and rum in small bowl. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. In a third bowl, combine soda and molasses. In a fourth bowl, combine 6 cups flour with salt and spices. Blend water and rum into creamed mixture in large bowl. Add molasses and dry ingredients alternately; blend. (If dough is too stiff, add a little water; if not stiff enough, add more flour.) Divide dough into three balls, cover with plastic wrap, and chill thoroughly. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Sprinkle board with remaining flour. Roll out dough and cut with 2-inch cookie cutter or rim of glass. Bake on greased cookie sheet 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

Continuation of last post:)

After that exchange on Facebook, Emily messaged me because obviously it was getting pretty long for an exchange on the wall.

Here is what she said
I thought I'd move this here so we're not cluttering up your wall anymore. :) So, on with the discussion!


I can't agree with you on the point you made. Like I said earlier, God created mankind to reproduce, to "be fruitful and multiply". You said in your first post that happy productive children can come out of a gay/lesbian relationship, but unfortunately that's not right. A gay or lesbian couple can't produce children at all. Of course they can adopt, or have children by other means, and they can raise them to be decent people, but at the very core of their relationship they are disobeying God's very first command. He didn't say "Be Happy.". He didn't suggest that we devlop relationships based on personal pleasure. The first words a Holy Infinite God spoke to man were "Be fruitful and multiply." (Genesis 1.28) Entirely aside from the blatant commands in scripture that say not to engage in same sex relationships, and ignoring the judgement of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (which were destroyed because of homosexuality), I have to say that gay and lesbian relationships are wrong simply because they disobey God.

You're mostly right in saying that personal sin doesn't affect others. I agree with you. But it does affect yourself. The Bible calls disobedience sin. Romans 6:23 says that "The wages of sin is death" I'm sure you understand the words, but I think as humans, we often forget that our sins are earning us an eternal "paycheck". Because God is Holy, He requires a payment for sin. Because God is Infinite, our sin against Him is infinite, and being finite, even through an eternity in hell, we can't pay Him back for all our sin.

Luckily, Jesus, who is God, came to earth and died for us. I Corinthinans 15 says "I declare to you the gospel... that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, was buried and rose again on the third day, according to the scriptures." Because Jesus was perfect, His death is able to pay for all of our sins. Ephesians 2:8-9 says "If we confess with our mouth, He is faithful and JUST to forgive our sins and cleanse us from our unrighteousness."

I'm sure you've heard this before. And I'm sure you're reading this all very skeptically, planning your reply. I know that on your page you say your religious views are "Agnostic Pagan". As I understand it, Agnostic means you don't know if theres a God, but you acknowledge the possibility. And I'm sure this won't mean a lick to you until you "meet God". Susie, What would it take for you to see God? How can He prove Himself to you? Would you give Him a chance to?

Your Cousin,
Emily

Now, we have my response to her message.

I'm fine with in on the wall, but I'm good with moving it to messages as well:) You've made a lot of points here and I'm going to try to address them as best I can.

First, Gods commandment to "be fruitful and multiply". That only works if one equally condemns marriage between opposite sex partners who cannot or choose not to have children also. If it's okay for elderly people, infertile people and people who just plain choose not to have children to marry then using Gods command to multiply to keep gay people from marrying falls kind of flat. Then there is the fact that some gay people do multiply. The child may not biologically be related to both it's parents, but gay people do reproduce and they do it using the same equation (sperm+egg+incubation=baby) as straight people. Also I think it deserves mentioning that when God gave that commandment, there were two people on Earth. If they had not been fruitful and multiplied humanity would have died out. With over six billion people on the planet I think it's worked and I don't think God is nearly so concerned about that now like he was then.

I'm afraid I must correct you on Sodom and Gomorrah, their sin was not homosexuality, it was cruelty and lack of hospitality. Ezekiel 16:49-50 clearly states says; 49 " 'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen" Now I guess you could theorize that part of the "detestable things" was homosexuality, but it's not like the homosexuality that is practiced by those wanting to get married today and even in the list, it's at the bottom of the list, arrogance, greed, not being concerned for the poor and needy and haughtiness all are listed above the "detestable" things. Then we come to the fact that in the example of Sodom's homosexuality, the mob of men outside of Lots house demanding he turn them over so they could gang rape them, is not representative of a consenting homosexual relationship between two people that is being discussed in the context of gay marriage. Even when I was a church going Bible thumping Christian I never understood how consensual homosexual sex was the sin when the example given is a group of people determined to violently gang rape two strangers. I still thought being gay was wrong, but I didn't understand how that example was supposed to show that. It also never made sense to me that Lot offered his two virgin daughters to that mob and that was seemingly OK for him to do that. Then otherwise we have Leviticus, which does plainly state that lying with a man as one would with a woman is a sin, but it also lists eating shellfish and pork, wearing clothing made of two materials and shaving and cutting one's hair as sins as well. It's also worthy to note that the things that are allowed in Leviticus, specifically keeping slaves and stoning of disobedient children. It's even acceptable to beat a slave severely, as long as they get back up within a day or two.

Then we have Paul, but the problem is there is that "homosexual" in the context of two adults in a committed relationship is a word that didn't exist until fairly recently. There are many who believe that his addressing to homosexuality was in reference to common practices of the day, idolatrous orgies, male prostitutes at the temple and the practice of pederasty, young boys being used as sexual playthings by older men.

Then we come to Jesus :) Yay Jesus! I may be an agnostic pagan but I do love him. What an incredible message he brought the world. Love, tolerance, redemption and healing. Love your neighbor as yourself, remove the speck from your own eye before trying to remove the one from your neighbors eye, those without sin should cast the first stones and many many other lessons on non-judgment and compassion. Amazing world and life changing concepts there. Sadly, ones that are often ignored by Christians today in favor of judgment of others and legalistic application of their beliefs. They favor "Prosperity" gospel over the gospel of feeding the poor. They judge homosexuals and use legalistic means to control them because of that judgment instead of having compassion and tolerance. They would rather legislate their beliefs for everyone to live by rather then focus on their own lives. When a persons heart is filled with judgment, there is no room left for love. You are correct that our sins do affect us. But the problem I have is that the relationship I have with my God and what I feel I have to do to be obedient to it is different then what your God tells you you have to do to be obedient and both of those are different then the relationship the fellow down the street has with God and what he thinks he has to do to be obedient. Who is correct? Is it Grandpa who feels going to a Baptist college(oh the horrors!) is going to cost you and Sophie going in the rapture? Is it the Amish who believe total separation from society(or as much as it is possible) is what is required to be "obedient" to God? Who is correct about what God requires as "obedience"?

As for death, death on earth is inevitable for all, Christian and sinner alike. As for what comes after? It's why I say I am agnostic, because while I recognize that many do claim they definitively "know", there is no solid proof of any one theistic dogma. My personal belief is that God created us, mankind whom he created in his image, to be equipped with everything we need to connect with Him and have a personal relationship with Him at the moment of our birth. It doesn't make sense to me any other way. I cannot fathom that God would create man, but require he come across a specific holy text as a requirement of being "saved". He saved ALL of mankind, not just the ones the missionary's have reached.

You are correct that have heard it all before, I have actually argued on the side you are on (and gave many of the same reasonings you've given) many times. I was raised in the world you live in all through my formative years. My Mom homeschooled us in a Christ centered household. I might very well hold similar beliefs to yours today if I had not been given an opportunity to reexamine all the things that I had been spoon fed and had accepted as truth simply because a pastor or youth leader or some other authority said it was in the bible. What I believe now is what I feel in my heart is truth, what the voice of God tells me is truth. I was saved and baptized as a child and the same love, peace and God I felt then is the same love and peace and God that I feel now. So the answer to "what would it take for me to see God" is I already have. I have a close relationship with God and I feel He has revealed himself to me. I have never rejected God, I rejected what man has said God is. I am living in accordance with Gods laws as God has revealed Himself to me.

I know you reject this and must feel I'm being deceived as I do not call myself a "Christian" and I do not regard the Bible as Gods inerrant words. But I'm not out to change your mind or even to convince you my personal views are "right". I believe that we all have a "right" path, I don't believe that Christianity is the right path for every person, but it is the right path for some, I know you disagree because that's what you have been taught. Hell is defined as a separation from God. Sin separates us from God specifically. In my view the sins that separate us from God are judgment and hatefulness and unkindness. This includes ourselves, if we cannot love ourselves, we have separated ourselves from God. And the thing about the sinners prayer is that it is words. People say words all the time they do not mean. God does not look at the words people say, he looks at their heart. In the end who can judge the heart of man but God? If I were to die today, I not fear being in the presence of God.

But all of that is totally beside the point when it comes to the subject of legalizing gay marriage. What matters is that here in America we should all have the right to make our own choices. As long as we are hurting no one outside of ourselves, that it is a sin should not be a reason used to make laws against something. It's un-Christian, it's un-American, and it's just plain wrong in my humble opinion. It's trying to remove a speck in your neighbors eye whilst you have a plank in yours. A true Christian should mind their own life that they are as free of sin as they can be, they should focus on living a life of loving their neighbor as themselves and feeding and clothing the needy and indigent and until they are free of sin, they should not try to legislate against their neighbor because of his sin.

This has wandered everywhere and gotten book length in the process. My real dog in the fight is that people fight so hard to keep rights away from other people and they do it in the name of Jesus and the Bible and Morals and I think that's wrong. They did it with slavery and civil rights, they did it keeping the vote and equal civil rights from women and they are doing it with equal civil rights for homosexuals as well. You can believe it's a sin and wrong and there isn't a thing "wrong" with that. There will be no one forcing you to get into a gay relationship or even approve of them. But if people follow Jesus admonition to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" if they want the right to marry the person whom they love and raise their family the way they choose, they ought to support that for their gay neighbors rights to do so as well, even if they personally disagree with their beliefs and choices.

This is the end of the exchange as it stands. I was really proud of the points I made in the last letter, but I wanted to flesh out the exchange better for the blog. I brought Emily's words here with her permission (Thanks Em!). As this discussion continues, I will keep my eager public updated. Thanks for reading and bright blessings to all!

It started out innocently enough

On facebook, inspired to by the state of Maine voting against gay marriage, I wrote this:

Just like in the Civil Rights Era, there are many opposed to equal rights for all. They have their reasons they use to justify their bigotry, most use the excuse of "it's immoral" or "it'll be bad for the children". My question is since when is the law about imposing one mans morality upon another?

First I want to start with the obvious comparison, interracial marriage. There are many people today who still say interracial marriage is wrong. Up 1967, it was illegal to marry someone of a different race.

Just eleven short years before I was born was when Loving v. Virginia changed that. There are still people today who feel mixing races is immoral. They feel it's immoral and it's bad for the children. But there are many happy well adjusted children who come out of mixed race marriages. Just like there are happy and well adjusted children who come out of gay marriages and partnerships. For the people who want it kept criminalized because they personally feel it's immoral I ask why is it your business to keep your neighbor from being immoral? Why do you want to force your neighbor to live by your personal standard of morality? Do you want your neighbors to try to force you to live by their moral compass? Perhaps they feel large families are immoral as they use up a lot of resources. Perhaps they feel morally, all children should attend a school outside the home. ... Read More

No one wants to have to live by his neighbors beliefs. Yet many who fight it most passionately when it comes to wanting to live as they choose, fight vehemently to dictate what their neighbor is allowed to do. I think this is extremely hypocritical and patently un-American.

My cousin Emily responded with
Our grandpa still thinks it's a sin, actually.

I replied
I know, I remember when I was ten and at their house and he had a spirited discussion with a member of his church and he was very insistent that God loves white people more then he loves black people. If this person would just do some deep study in Leviticus they would see this for themselves. I love grandpa but he does have some very bigoted... Read More opinions.

The thing for me is I don't think everyone should agree with me. We all have brains and we all get to use them to make our own conclusions. I will never tell someone they are wrong for thinking a certain thing is immoral(whatever it may be) and for choosing not to do that thing. But I do have a big problem when they want to make it illegal(or keep it illegal) for other people. If it harms others or their property, then it should be illegal. But otherwise, as long as all parties are adults and mentally capable of consenting, who the neighbor sleeps with and marries does not effect me.

Em responded
I agree with you mostly, except I definitely believe that there are absolute truths. Our society's post modern mindset doesn't work anymore, philosophers realized this at least ten years ago and it's only starting to trickle down to us "commoners". There must be absolutes, there must be right and wrong in some situations. However, I don't believe ... Read More that marry across races falls into wrong, lol. People are people. God said creatures could only multiply "after their own kind". A dog can't get a cat pregnant. They're not the same kind. Therefore, if a black man can get a white woman pregnant, they are obviously the same kind, and are logically under God's law to marry. (whether it's God's will or not for that specific couple to marry is a whole other matter, lol)

And then I responded to her
I do believe there are absolute truths. Some things will always be wrong and some things will always be right. Physically harming an innocent person will always be wrong for example. But there are far more things that don't fall into the solid "always right" and "always wrong" categories. These things fall in the "right for some people" and "wrong for some people" areas and as such people should be able to choose for themselves and not be denied a right given to everyone else because of their neighbors choice of religious beliefs say they are wrong.

For example, I have tattoos. Many people think they are immoral and wrong. But should they have the right to tell me I cannot get one? They get to make that choice for themselves and no one else. Unfortunately, for many people, they feel like they have the right to keep the choice to marry the person they love away from people based on gender. They have every right to feel it's wrong and to not take part in same sex relationships, but I don't think they have the right to tell them they cannot legally commit themselves to one another.

I'm going to continue this in the next post......

The Cookies and the Interview...

Here's my Joe Frogger! It's one hell of a cookie! I made them last night and let me tell you they are wonderful! I particularly loved them because they didn't have Cinnamon in them. I've always loved gingerbread cookies but these were really great. They were soft, molassassy, gingery and kind of chewy on the edges! I made a big one to be authentic, then I made little ones too.

I'm all nervous right now because Mr. Tadpole is at a job interview. He lost his job last week(no fault of his own, long story:( and he has an interview at this place that would be really good for him to work. So I'm praying and hoping. In the meantime I'm just going to eat my Joe Froggers and be thankful for my blessings.

My morning prayer

I thank thee Goddess for this day
I thank thee for the one it washed away
I thank thee with every breath and step I take
I thank thee as I sleep and as I wake
I thank thee with all my heart and soul
And I pray thee guide my heart,
my mind, my hands, my feet and my mouth
(that my feet do not wind up in my mouth)
And as it is willed so shall it be

Bright Blessings

Bigotry, the cancer of the soul

I heard this phrase on the news lately and it struck me as particularly profound. When one is obsessed with other people, what they are doing wrong, how bad they are, how to keep them "in their place", it is as if they are eaten up inside by a malignant growth.

The only things that will kill bigotry are love and enlightenment. One must have those two things working in accordance with one another to effectively kill the malignancy. For the people who are having to become enlightened though, it seems as frightening as chemotherapy. They have to decide that things they previously thought were bad, evil, sinful, wrong are not anymore and that can shake the foundations of almost everything they were taught. It's frightening to face up to being wrong. This is not an easy task to melt a frozen heart, to soften one hardened for so many years, to admit how one previously felt was wrong.

Bigotry ironically is not prejudiced in whom it infects. It infects all colors, sexes, races, religions, creeds, choices and lifestyles. You could meet bigots of every race, creed, sexual orientation and culture on earth if you walked around long enough and met enough people.

Bigotry's favorite tool is the "us vs them" mentality. I'm not one of them, I'm different, they are bad because of, the have made the choice to be gay, they have made the choice to be Muslim, they are out of a culture or race that they can't help but to be bad people.

There is more that humanity has in common then what makes up different. There is more that connects us then what tears us apart. We each have a choice we get to make, and not just once, but over and over again. Humanity is most inspiring when it realizes it was wrong and it changes. It always fights itself, it can never be totally free of it's cancer, but in the end it triumphs enough to give us continued hope that people will continue on the path of recognizing bigotry where it lay and not letting it hide behind a facade of religious rightness or morality or any other thing that justifies it's continued existence.

Bright Blessings

Joe Froggers Stoch Tape and Jelly beans...

After yesterdays post I'm moving on to lighter topics for a day:) I've got a recipe for some cookies called Joe Froggers I'm dying to try out and I'm wanting some Jelly Belly's. I've got a Scotch Magic Tape and a Jelly Belly addiction. The signs of the addictions are as follows for the Tape addiction: there are used pieces of scotch tape everywhere, whenever I come across a sticky tape, I have to touch it, finding tape stuck odd places (like on my butt, or my husbands butt), always always finding scotch tape in the washer and dryer, a constant need to know where my tape is exactly and the compulsion to play with it when stressed or bored. The Jelly Belly addiction signs: little containers with Jelly Belly's stashed here and there, a craving for flavors like caramel corn, toasted marshmallow, coconut, and red apple, but only in jelly bean form, the inability to walk past a Jelly Belly display without buying some. I could try to fight these addictions, but I am weak(and lack the wanting to fight them).

Now the Joe Froggers, they are a gingerbread molasses type of cookie, but with dark rum in them. They were made by these folks called Old Black Joe and Auntie Crese who lived in Marblehead Massachusetts in the early 1800's. They made these cookies the size of dinner plates and they were really popular with the fishermen. Originally they were called Joe's Froggers, but the "s" on Joe's got dropped and now they are just called Joe Froggers. I'm planning to make them today, I'll post tomorrow with my thoughts one these cookies with the awesomely cool name (for any who don't know, My hubby's name is Joe and I go by Tad or Tadpole mostly and love frogs).

Bright Blessings

Heavy thoughts

My best friend Cassandra yesterday asked me to be her power of attorney. That's some heavy stuff right there. I said yes immediately, I had already made my mind up before she asked me honestly. She said she didn't want to be a burden on me, my reply was that it would be more of a burden if I didn't have it. She doesn't have anyone in her family trustworthy enough, who cares enough and is close enough geographically to her to do it, and I would worry myself sick about her care if a stranger had POA for her.

She has Huntington's Disease, a degenerative neurological disorder that comes from a repeating strand of protein in her DNA. She was born with this faulty gene, this has been her destiny since birth. The repeats make the protein fold up wrong, not neatly as they should, and in the transmission of these proteins along her nerves kills them off slowly. I have been watching her slowly lose her ability to do things and it breaks my heart. Then, it makes me proud of her. She handles her situation with grace and strength. When she can't do one thing any more, she is sad for it, but she quickly moves on to focusing on what abilities she does have and how she can change and adapt to make the most out of those. She has a ten year old son and she is a wonderful mother to him, she plans crafts, experiments, baking and cooking projects and movies for her time with him. He is a fine boy, sweet, compassionate and wise beyond his years.

I might be angry at God or the Universe or whatever for her having to deal with this but for her attitude. She regards it as a gift, she does not ask "why" she ask's "what can I learn from this?", she does not curse God for it, she thanks God for giving her a beautiful life, her beautiful son, friends and loved ones and everything she has.

She is a constant inspiration and one of my forever hero's.

Welcome to the Frog Pond...

Hello all and welcome to the Frog Pond! Where else would a Tadpole live I ask? Anyway, pull up a lily pad, grab a cuppa tea and I'll give you a little verbal walkabout of the pond :)

First, the residents! There are four of us here, my hubby and myself, Mr and Mrs Tadpole and our two cats, Bubba and Squeak. Mr Tadpole and I are newlyweds, said our "I do's" in October of this year. Bubba enjoys looking out of windows, lying on plastic bags and meal time. Squeak(the newcomer to the family) enjoys lying on soft blankets, sleeping in sunbeams and fresh water. Mr Tadpole enjoys programming games for the original NES system, cooking awesome stuff petting the cats. I enjoy playing with Scotch Magic Tape, cooking, baking and candy making, and finding new ways to think about stuff and making other people think.

Next we have our surroundings, we live in a duplex in a big city, there is the ninth hole of a golf course across the street from our porch. It has one bedroom and a nice kitchen and living room. It's got a basement where the computer is. There's a couch and chairs down there too and we hang out down here a lot. The washer and dryer are down there as well.

Right now I have Yule/Christmas/Solstice on the brain. I want to get our tree up but the holiday purist in me cringes at the thought of putting it up before Thanksgiving, which I love, because Thanksgiving always gets shorted at the holidays. On the other hand the little kid in me is sorely disappointed at the thought of waiting almost three weeks to put it up! I'm thinking I'll put it up in a week, let it fluff out for a week or two, then decorating it after Thanksgiving.

I think I hear Mr Tadpole stirring about upstairs, so I'm going to end this first entry of my froggie thoughts.

Bright Blessings