tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49590979549499401332024-03-14T00:48:16.923-04:00Consciousness RazorSpiritual insights, political and social commentary, food for thought, calls to action, and anything else this newly ordained interspiritual minister feels like writing about. My feminism, veganism, and bisexuality are important to me and are just some of the specific things I like to write about. I also occasionally cuss like a sailor. Consider yourself warned... (updated 6.15.15)<br><br>consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07988291508791331479noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-67238846772941422862016-01-14T15:11:00.001-05:002016-01-14T15:11:28.458-05:00It's the Guns, Stupid...Here's a topic no one expected me to dust off the keyboard for: guns. Where did this come from? I just had a disturbing conversation with someone I love very much. As we were talking on the phone, I brought up an article I had just seen about a father who shot his teenage son and killed him, having mistaken him for an intruder. I'm not sure what I said exactly, but this person started going on about how it's not guns, but stupid people who are using guns wrong (we've never heard that before!) who kill people with guns. She wants her husband to get a gun, because something about it being a crazy world. I asked her to explain to me--rhetoric aside--what purpose having a gun would serve. What actual good would it do? She became incredibly defensive, spouting unlikely scenarios where an intruder breaks in and her husband has time to go the back of his closet or whatever safe place he's safely keeping his gun, put it together, load it, point it at the intruder and scare him away. Wow. Yes, she thinks this is logical. And she's not alone. She also told me, "I'm never going to be on your side on this." Because this is about sides? And because if it were, the side of logic and reason isn't the side you want to be on? You want to be on the side of irrationality and fear? Hence, my feeling disturbed and upset enough to feel like addressing this topic right here, right now.<br />
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First, let's get this out of the way. You owning a gun because you want to own a gun is not a constitutionally protected right. The constitution protected the rights of southern states to use armed slave patrols ("well regulated militia") to keep the slaves from rising up against the barbarians who thought it was their right to own and use and abuse other human beings. Check out <a href="http://law.rwu.edu/story/bogus-slavery-and-2nd-amendment">this article</a>, and <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/how-us-gun-ownership-became-a-right-and-why-it-isnt/article28078752/">this one</a>, too.<br />
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Now, let's get down to it. Why the fuck do you need to own a gun? Really. Do you think you're safer with a gun? You're not. Not at all. Sure, you'll hear stories about the guy who scared away the would-be burglar or convenience store robber. That's what they call "anecdotal evidence," the exception that is always inevitable, but does not disprove the rule--it just gives you a way to rationalize your irrational beliefs. Studies have shown that gun ownership makes you <i>less</i> safe. If you believe having a gun makes your home safer, you are believing a fairytale written to purposely mislead you. Check out this article, which links to a whole bunch of studies brought together to completely debunk <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2015/01/good_guy_with_a_gun_myth_guns_increase_the_risk_of_homicide_accidents_suicide.html">The Myth of the Good Guy with a Gun</a>. So no, you're not safer. Quite the opposite.<br />
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Okay, so... why the fuck to you need to own a gun? Are you protecting yourself from a police state? The government? Aw, that's cute. When's the last time you remember reading about some innocent Joe Citizen winning a shoot out with the police? I'm pretty sure you haven't. I'm also pretty sure nobody in the government is breaking a sweat over those crazy militia guys in the woods with their rifles, ready to take down "the government". Cuz the government's just gonna carpet bomb your ass and call it a day. And speaking of protecting ourselves from the police: Did you know that several far more progressive countries than ours do not have a militarized police force? Yep, in England, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and Iceland, police officers are unarmed and actually see their job to be to protect and serve their fellow citizens. Look it up. And seriously, imagine how much safer for people of color to not have a bunch of racist white guys who literally have a license to kill (aka a badge) seemingly lurking around every corner. <br />
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Maybe you're about to tell me you're a hunter. I'm vegan, and clearly have other feelings about that aside from this issue. Whatever. You hunt for your food. For purposes of this little discussion let's allow hunting rifles for that. There aren't that many people who hunt anyway, and you don't need a handgun or a semiautomatic weapon for that. Moving on.<br />
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Guns make us less safe. Their purpose is to kill. That's it. They're not just like any other weapon. Lots of things can be used in harmful ways, but <i>the one</i> purpose that guns are created for is to harm. A guy with a knife can't do the same kind of damage that a guy with a gun can. And you can't really believe people will just find other weapons to use, like bombs (I actually heard this one today!). A dude gets in a fight with his wife, he's not gonna go build a bomb in a fit of rage (usually). And he's not gonna go for the dirty bomb in his glove box because you cut him off in traffic. But he does go for his gun because it's oh-so easy. Guns are unique in their ease of use and capacity for destruction. (And yes, I'm saying "guy" and "dude" and "his" purposely because on a separate but related topic, it's male violence that's a very real and pervasive problem in our society.)<br />
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Guns make stupid people do even more stupid things. Bad things. Deadly things. Even not-so-stupid, otherwise good and well-intentioned people with guns make way for really bad things to happen. Like little kids accidentally shooting each other. Guns are not good. How does this even need to be said? "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." What a load of crap. When's the last time you heard someone say, "Heroin doesn't kill people, people kill themselves!" Come on now.<br />
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Why do you want a gun? Really. Ask yourself why you want a gun, why you think you need a gun, or deserve a gun. I'm not talking about what I think laws should be or how much regulation there should be or anything like that. I'm asking why a good person would want to own a gun. What makes a good person think they need something that puts themselves and their family at greater risk for homicide and suicide? What makes a good person want to own something created for the sole purpose of doing harm? What or who is making people so fearful for their safety that they think they need to own something that actually makes them less safe? Can we please get a little common sense up in here?consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09855652795801799785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-36592500153318055522015-06-15T16:39:00.000-04:002015-06-15T16:39:42.843-04:00Razor Reboot 2.0<br />
Not so much a reboot as a tweaking. Today I updated my blog description. I'm storing the old one here for posterity... <br />
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"Spiritual insights and political and social commentary from a passionate thirty-something interfaith/interspiritual seminarian, feminist, vegan, magickal, rational, hetero-partnered queer woman whose native tongue is that of a merchant marine. Enter at your own risk."<br />
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consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09855652795801799785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-81787980974002753202015-01-15T12:23:00.000-05:002015-01-15T16:34:45.671-05:00On Jesus...<br>
Oh, Jesus…
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Remember that line in Pretty Woman where Richard Gere’s character says to Julia Roberts’ character, “What’s your name?” and she says, “What do you want it to be?” I think of that when I think of Jesus. Or to put it another way, Reza Aslan, in his book new book, Zealot, says, “Scholars tend to see the Jesus they want to see. Too often they see themselves--their own reflection--in the image of Jesus they have constructed” (p. xxxi). It ain’t just scholars, my friends.
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Over the last month, I read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060609176/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0060609176&linkCode=as2&tag=persspick-20&linkId=Y4BYBX6OC66JTNGJ">Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time by Marcus Borg</a>, as well as about a third of the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812981480/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0812981480&linkCode=as2&tag=persspick-20&linkId=NVBIZG6RR2RHI24J">Zealot</a> which I quoted above, and a few chapters of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1414335636/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1414335636&linkCode=as2&tag=persspick-20&linkId=65AKHWBHVVEGLVAU">Imaginary Jesus</a>, a humorous novel of sorts written by an evangelical Christian pastor. Of course this was not my first, nor my only exposure to Jesus. I grew up with Jesus as “my personal Lord and savior.” I chose to be baptized in a pentecostal church as a teenager. I even went to Bible college for a brief and painful semester. Over the years I’ve read books by esoteric philosopher Richard Smoley and Aramaic scholar Neil Douglas-Klotz, among others. During our month of studying Christianity last year, I watched a Discovery Channel documentary on the historical Jesus several times. Etc. etc. ad nauseam.
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Here’s the thing: Despite the libraries full of books and and movies about him and all the churches and theologians and lay people who devote their lives to Jesus, there’s little, if anything, really, that we can know about this guy around whom one of the largest religions in the world has been created. In fact, there are some scholars who doubt even the existence of such a person at all. Almost all of the biographical information we have for Jesus is not historical in the way we understand history, but is indeed mythological. In fact, most of Jesus’ supposed unique biography existed centuries prior to him in the biographies of pagan gods and sages. And yet, there are those who believe every detail in the Bible about the life of this mythological creature we call Jesus--even those details that contradict each other. These same folks will tell you that Jesus was and is real, that he is God incarnate who existed before the beginning of time, died to forgive our sins, that believing in the the magical details they claim about him is the only way to get to Heaven and avoid eternal torment in a lake of fire… and all that jazz.
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There’s been so much hype built up over a guy who, assuming he did exist, was a poor Jewish peasant living in occupied territory, fed up to the point of being willing to risk his own life over the oppression of his people at the hands of his colonizers and the collusion and corruption among the wealthy and priestly classes within his own religion! And in case you didn’t know, there’s nothing unique about any of this, either. Jesus would have lived during a time of extreme political and social unrest, with revolutionary messengers and “messiahs” popping up all over the place. Was there something unique about the message Jesus shared? Or was the Jesus that got passed down and built up over the centuries a conglomeration of many such preachers, messiahs, and martyrs, becoming over time all that people wanted to hold onto and believe in?
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Ultimately, for most of us, Jesus is whoever it is that we want Jesus to be. I have decided that I want Jesus to be a combination of the Jesus that Marcus Borg and Neil Douglas-Klotz teach about. That’s because they illuminate a Jesus that I aspire to be like--revolutionary, justice-seeking/making, a mystic deeply connected to Source. I can rock on with that Jesus! Douglas-Klotz presents a Jesus who had a non-dual understanding of and relationship with Alaha--Sacred Unity, The One Without Opposite, what we call God--and was a mystic deeply immersed in that Reality. Borg describes Jesus as a spirit person, “a person to whom the sacred is an experiential reality.” He says spirit people are “people who experience the sacred frequently and vividly,” and that “they are delegates of the tribe to another layer of reality, mediators who connect their communities to the Spirit” (p. 32-33). He sums up his understanding of Jesus, describing him as “a spirit person, subversive sage, social prophet, and movement founder who invited his followers and hearers into a transforming relationship with the same Spirit that he himself knew, and into a community whose social vision was shaped by the core value of compassion” (p. 119). Sign me up! I want to be that!
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To be clear, it doesn’t matter to me whether or not this person actually existed in history. The concept of this person is enough. The influence of the concept of this person is enough. I am not tied to historical, matter-of-fact truth as being the only kind of truth. There’s metaphorical and mythological truth that points to a big-”T” Truth, or Wisdom that is transcendent. I can find strength, inspiration, wisdom, and so much more from our modern-day fictional mythologies like The Matrix, Star Wars, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer just as well as from the ancient religions, and I often do. So my essential answer to whether or not Jesus existed, should anyone ask, would be, “Who cares?”
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The Jesus I choose to believe in is one who, if followed, would make me and the world a better place--more loving, compassionate, just, and deeply connected to Source and each other. I’m not sure anything else really matters.
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Persephone's Pick:
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</iframe>consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09855652795801799785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-82849075329188592202014-08-24T12:01:00.001-04:002014-08-24T12:01:57.062-04:00Loving My Neighbor As MyselfThe vast majority of us, Christian or not, are familiar with what Jesus called one of the two greatest commandments: Love your neighbor as yourself. I suspect few people take the time to think about what this really means and how truly difficult it is. The commandment truly is great in that to do so is a great challenge and has great consequences if truly put into practice.
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My heart has been aching in the wake of the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, MO, the John Crawford shooting in Dayton, OH, and so many others, in a way it never has before. I have been aware of racial discrimination and the systemic racism inherent in our systems of governance and "justice" for years now. But it's never felt personal to me like it does now. What has changed? About 8 months ago, this white woman who has lived her entire life in a very white bubble moved into a neighborhood where about 90% of her neighbors are African American. No, I didn't do it on purpose to try to prove how color blind I am or what a good white ally I am. No, I didn't do it as an experiment or for material for a good blog post. I simply wasn't familiar with the city to which I was moving.
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I have had Black friends for most of my adult life. But there is something very different about having Black friends within the framework of your very white bubble where you are still the majority, as opposed to being in a place where you are now the minority, feeling so uncomfortable and so conspicuously white, seeing the funny looks you get as you walk down the street, having teenage boys call you "snowflake" when you walk by... essentially occupying the space of 'other.' And while I may stick out like a sore thumb and be so far outside my comfort zone it's almost comical, I can say that I feel safer in this neighborhood than I have almost anywhere else I've lived in the last 10 years. My neighbors have, for the most part, been kind, friendly, and gracious. My neighbors.
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MY neighbors. This, I believe, is why I feel the pain of what is happening to the Black community at the hands of law enforcement so much more deeply and personally than I ever have felt about racial injustice. Because it's no longer an abstract idea--it's my community and my neighbors. I experience the fact that, despite how nice the neighborhood is, the grocery store doesn't carry a lick of organic produce, and there's an armed security guard in a bullet-proof jacket guarding the entrance/exit. This isn't abstract anymore. It's not academic or even trying to do or say the right thing. It's my community, my neighbors. Once a week I volunteer at the abortion clinic down the street, escorting women into the building, shielding them from protesters. Women of all races and backgrounds come to the clinic, and many of them are African American. But almost all the protesters are white men, hurling racially targeted verbal assaults at them, and I can only imagine the pain and trauma being inflicted. And I am angry. Because these are my sisters. These are my neighbors.
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It's pretty easy to love your neighbor when they look like you and experience the world in relatively the same manner that you do. It's a lot harder when you are a white person living in an inherently racist society, living in a shelter of white privilege (yes, even poor whites have white privilege), to really get the whole "love your neighbor <i>as yourself</i>" thing when it comes to what is happening in Black communities all over the country. I was listening to NPR the other day, and they were interviewing a DJ from the St. Louis/Ferguson area who had opened the airwaves to callers after the Michael Brown shooting. At one point in the interview, he made the observation that so many of the (white) officers who are policing communities like Ferguson are not actually a part of the community. They live somewhere else, presumably in the comfort of their white suburban homes and neighborhoods, then suit up to police communities that are not their own, communities filled with people who look different from them, and whose experience of the world is very different. They come in to enforce the law on those they perceive as "the other," and the other is always lesser-than.
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I feel in my heart, more now than I ever have, what I have known in my head for a long time: We are One. Please understand, that doesn't mean I claim to understand what it's like to be African American. It doesn't mean I'm claiming to be color blind (and please don't tell me you are). It means that <i>I care deeply</i>, in a way I never have before, what happens to people who are different from me. Because even though we look different and have different experiences, we are all human beings. We are neighbors. We are connected to each other through community, and on a deeper level, through the cells in our bodies and the Spirit living through us. We are One. I feel the pain of injustice. I take it personally. Because you belong to me and I belong to you.
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I encourage everyone whose experience is of that of the privileged majority (whether that be white, straight, male, wealthy) to go within and ask how you might move outside your comfort zone to expand your circle of love and compassion on a deeper level, to make "the other" your neighbor, so that we might, one by one, live ourselves into a world where we truly get that everyone is our neighbor, and more fully love and care for all of humanity as ourselves. <br><br/>
consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09855652795801799785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-84855408611796060482014-06-13T12:55:00.000-04:002014-06-13T15:25:22.800-04:00Thoughts On Higher EducationWould you care to guess how many different schools I have attended since high school? Twelve. This includes both two and four-year programs, accredited and not, as well as vocational and specialized training programs. I have an associate's degree from a community college, an unaccredited bachelor's degree in Contemporary Spirituality, an accredited bachelor's degree in Humanities (the most specific major I could come up with when I put together all my earned credits from 5 other colleges/universities), a certificate in Nutrition, Bodycare, and Herbalism, and certification as a Life-Cycle Celebrant. I am currently a student at One Spirit Interfaith Seminary and I will be ordained as an Interfaith/Interspiritual Minister in June 2015.
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You may be wondering why I'm telling you this, and I've probably already lost half of the four people who started reading this post to begin with. (Kudos to the two of you still reading.) I've been thinking a lot about the value of higher education. I only just received my accredited bachelor's degree a year and a half ago at the age of 36. I have friends in their late 30s and early 40s struggling with whether or not to go back to school for a degree. I watch brilliant, successful women struggle with their worth because of their lack of a piece of paper that society tells us is so important. I also watch friends with teenagers struggle with helping their kids make decisions about their futures that I don't believe most teenagers are even close to being able to make. I've watched the cost of attending college increase by 2 and a half times the rate of inflation in this country. I have friends whose every major decision in life seems to be influenced by the fact that they are strapped with student loan payments of multiple hundreds of dollars every month. And recently, my husband who has no more than a technologically outdated associate's degree and a couple of years of liberal arts courses got a promotion at work, where he is happy and thriving and making more per hour than I ever have.
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I come from a family where there is a huge emphasis on higher education. Almost all of the cousins I grew up with have a minimum of a master's degree, and many are now teachers. My sister also has a master's degree and works in a specialized field within public and private schools. Simply by association, I have felt the pressure to conform, to get the pieces of paper that say I'm good enough. And although I consider myself to be pretty intelligent and I love learning, even in the context of traditional academia, I don't jump through hoops well, nor am I good at conforming to the expectations of others or what I perceive to be artificially constructed hierarchical systems of accreditation and approval. In recent years, my struggle to try to fit into somebody else's box has been excruciating.
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The whole point of officially getting my accredited bachelor's degree was because after many years of fighting it or ignoring it, I decided to say "yes" to the call to ministry that I have heard my entire life. I believed the only way to do that was to affiliate with a particular denomination (pick a box) and get a Master of Divinity (M.Div). This degree is the equivalent of about two to three masters of arts degrees combined, costs $60,000 to $100,000, and from the tales I've heard from people who have gone through it (and experiences I've had with ministers who have earned their "proper" credentials), doesn't do a whole hell of a lot to prepare people for actual ministry. When I look back at my time as a young adult attending retreats and conferences with other Unitarian Universalist young adults back in the day, I realize that the most lackluster worship experiences were those led by seminarians. When I finally allowed myself to think outside the box, my life opened up in ways I never would have dreamed. I am now mid-way through a ministerial training program that is taking me on a growth journey I never could have anticipated, and is preparing me better or as well for true ministry as I can imagine anything possibly could. And I will finish this program having accumulated no debt, and paying only a tiny fraction of what that golden M.Div would have cost me.
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Now, I am not opposed to higher education. In fact, all of my college experiences were important in their own ways--some because of what I learned in the classroom, some because of the relationships I formed, others because of all the learning that happened outside the classroom. I do believe that a liberal arts education is incredibly valuable. It opens people's minds and exposes them to new ways of thinking and learning and seeing the world. This is not the kind of value that has a dollar sign attached to it. Higher education is also important for people who have very specific career aspirations. My sister is a Speech and Language Pathologist, a profession which requires a master's for certification and licensure. She knew what she wanted to be, she did what she had to do, and I'm super proud of her. My brother, on the other hand, struggled through a BA in philosophy from an expensive private liberal arts college. Believe me, I think everyone should study philosophy. But I'll never forget the little cartoon hanging on the wall of one of my favorite professors. The cartoon read, "Careers in philosophy:" with a picture of a stick figure in a graduation cap pushing a janitor's broom. My brother went on to learn to fly airplanes and is now a pilot. I'm also super proud of him. The most professionally valuable educational experience and credential I have earned to date is my certification as a Life-Cycle Celebrant. A Specialized 6 month program that cost about $2,200 total.
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So here's what I have to say about higher education for anyone who cares what my opinion is on the subject. College degrees in this day and age are over priced and overrated. Not everyone needs a college degree, and a college degree does not guarantee you a better life or more income in your lifetime. Community colleges are under valued and under utilized. I'm all for kids spending a few years after high school exploring their interests, taking some classes in a variety of subjects, and getting a little life experience under their belts before saddling themselves or their parents with crippling student loan debt for a degree that may or may not amount to much financial value. Non-traditional forms of education are also seriously under utilized and underrated. We need more creative thinkers and people who are finding that sweet spot between what the world needs and what makes their heart sing. We also need people to do the jobs that don't require degrees, jobs that require intelligence and talent and a good personality, but are jobs that people with degrees think themselves to be above doing. We even need people to do the jobs that require little intelligence or training, but they require time and effort, and we should pay people well for their time and effort. To receive specialized training for something you love and are good at is an awesome thing. Think outside the box. Listen to what your heart is telling you, if you can, over the roar of what society tells you you need to do to have worth. Do some research, think for yourself, and challenge systems of authority.
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If education were free in this country (as it is in, for example, the Scandinavian countries), I'd say everyone should get a college education. But just like healthcare in this country, it's turned into quite the racket, keeping Americans bogged down in debt, nose to the grindstone. Because God forbid we weren't strapped with debt, had time to think about what matters most to us and the world, and had time and energy to do something about it.
consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09855652795801799785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-89703581181470626252014-03-30T18:07:00.000-04:002014-03-30T18:07:13.258-04:00Doing Forgiveness<i>The following is an essay I very recently wrote for a project that one of my classmates and dear friends put together as a sort of yearbook for our 1st year class of seminarians at One Spirit...</i><br><br/>
Forgiveness is a fucking bitch, man. It’s also the Holy-Mother-Fucking-Grail. I had always thought of myself as a compassionate person because I’m vegan, I’m passionate about a number of social and environmental justice causes, and I have that super-hero, Leo personality that makes me think I’m destined to do great things in the world. I must be compassionate! Doesn’t having the desire to do the good or right thing and to make the world a better place constitute compassion?<br><br/>
When I really spent some time reflecting on forgiveness and what it takes to be a forgiving person, I realized that compassion and forgiveness go hand-in-hand. And man, was I one wretched, unforgiving son-of-a-bitch. Matthew Fox (one of my favorite theologians ever) says this of compassion: “Compassion is not sentiment but is making justice and doing works of mercy. Compassion is not a moral commandment but a flow and overflow of the fullest human and divine energies.” I got the first part about making justice. I’m not sure I really got the mercy part. And I was certainly living my life according to moral commandments. What I have recently come to understand is something about the “flow and overflow of the fullest human and divine energies.”<br><br/>
A Course in Miracles defines forgiveness as the healing of the belief in separation. I’m not sure I would define compassion much differently. When I truly opened myself to forgiveness, to understanding others as no different from myself, to accept the profound capacity we ALL have for fucking shit up, some profound shifts began taking place in my life. Some of it has involved some pretty intense Cosmic ass-whoopings, which I’m pretty sure were, if not well-deserved, at least necessary for beating the lessons through my thick skull (trust me, it’s thick). Some of it has been mind-blowingly wonderful. It has been healing and gratifying. I’ve seen myself break some pretty unhealthy patterns of behavior--rooted in separation, aka unforgiveness, aka a lack of compassion--that I had been repeating for years.<br><br/>
I’ve taken some scary steps to have some brave conversations that I never would have had before. I would have taken my damn ball and gone home and fuck-you-very-much. This, I’ve done in the past, and I now live with the regret of letting go of some deeply meaningful relationships because, how dare you mistreat me? How dare you not live up to my expectations?? How dare you be a flawed human being… like ME??? I’m learning that this forgiveness thing is not a one-time thing. It’s an attitude, an awareness, a way of being in the world and a way of DOING in the world. It is the way of compassion, and the only way to love. As I’ve started doing the hard work of accepting others in their flawed and beautiful humanity, it has enabled me to begin accepting my own broken, beautiful self. And WOW.<br><br/>
consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09855652795801799785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-17406036162991001652014-03-29T22:37:00.000-04:002014-03-29T23:03:18.664-04:00Razor RebootThis blog is about to get a reboot. It's time to start blogging again and for real. I could have started a new blog, but I like this one. Anything written before 2014 was from Consciousness Razor 1.0 and the blog was described as follows:
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<i>Political, social and spiritual commentary from a passionate thirty-something feminist, vegan, angry, peace-loving, magickal, rational, hetero-partnered queer woman. Enter at your own risk.
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"Feminism is not simply about achieving the power and status typically held by men. It's about protecting and supporting the rights of women of all classes, races, cultures, and beliefs."
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"Veganism is compassion in action. It is a philosophy, diet, and lifestyle."</i>
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I'm proud of the little bit I've written before now, but I have been stepping more fully into who I am, and it's time for that to be reflected in my writing. Don't worry, it'll still be brash and full of profanity and unapologetically opinionated, because that's me. But as my first year of seminary nears completion, it is time for me to start exercising my ministerial writing chops. There will still be lots of feminism, veganism, some politics and other juicy stuff... it's just that the lens will be a little different, or perhaps simply more refined.
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And so it begins...consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09855652795801799785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-58893348412111378842013-02-27T20:11:00.000-05:002013-02-27T20:11:00.583-05:00Feminism and Oscar<br><br>
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DG1VHtuJMQQ/US6uVPAtDFI/AAAAAAAAAGk/uMYHaNCosAk/s1600/Oscar.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DG1VHtuJMQQ/US6uVPAtDFI/AAAAAAAAAGk/uMYHaNCosAk/s320/Oscar.jpg" /></a>
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I love the Oscars. LOVE. I laugh, I cry, I swoon. I start watching the red carpet hoopla at 7pm, the ceremony that runs until midnight, and Jimmy Kimmel's Oscar special after. Not to mention whatever I can find about it the next day. LOVE. I love hearing all the acceptance speeches, from Actor in a Leading Role to Costume Design to Documentary Short... I love it all. I love movies, and I love seeing them honored as an art form. Having spent some time myself working on a couple of films, I know how much work and how many people's time, energy, hearts and souls go into making even a short film. When I go to the movies, I sit through all the credits, long after the rest of the audience has left, out of respect for all the people who contributed to the work of art I just experienced.
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Now you know my love of film and all things Oscar related. And if you've ever read this blog before, or if you've read the description, you already know about my feminism and that I filter pretty much everything through a feminist lens. I've been reading lots of the articles flying around this past week about what a misogynist Seth MacFarlane showed himself to be, or how sexist the Oscars are, etc., and so of course I am weighing in.
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My take? I'm sick to death of all the MacFarlane bashing. I'm tired of reading diatribes by people who don't seem to understand nuance or satire or sarcasm, who take everything literally, and at times distort what actually happened to fit their need for everything to be oppressive and wrong. Here's an example: MacFarlane made a dig at George Clooney and his increasingly inappropriate (in some people's opinions) propensity for younger women by saying in reference to 9 year-old Quvenzhane Wallis, "To give you an idea of how young she is, it'll be 16 years until she's too old for Clooney." Some very twisted and fatigued minds out there turned this into MacFarlane sexualizing a child. A writer for <a href="http://www.vulture.com/2013/02/why-seth-macfarlanes-misogyny-matters.html">Vulture</a> twisted it into being a joke about how "someday Quvenzhané Wallis will be old enough to date George Clooney — <i>because that's what's important about her</i>." Seriously? They're looking so hard for what they think they should see that they're missing what's right in front of their faces. Perspective--George Clooney is only 5 years younger than my father and he's dating a woman the same age as my little sister. So, whether you have an opinion or not about Clooney dating younger women, I get the ick-factor, and I get the fucking joke.
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The boob song. Oh.My.GOD. The entire feminist blog-o-sphere seems to be up in arms about 'I Saw Your Boobs.' Did they watch it in context? It was part of a whole shtick with Captain Kirk coming back from the future to warn MacFarlane not to be an ass and ruin the Oscars, showing him a video of what he does in poor taste that makes everyone hate him. I saw it as MacFarlane openly acknowledging the kind of crass humor people expect from him. More importantly, it seemed to me that he was <i>making fun of himself</i>, which I think is always a good thing. And for fuck sake--it was funny!
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BostonClem commented on the <a href="http://jezebel.com/5987118/sexism-fatigue-when-seth-macfarlane-is-a-complete-ass-and-you-dont-even-notice?post=57809356">Jezebel post</a> and said it much better and less offensively than I have:
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<i>"Here's the problem with Seth Macfarlane: he's critiquing society in a highly ironic, sarcastic way, but most people don't get it-- and those people who don't get it range from misogynists who find his jokes affirming, and feminists who find his jokes infuriating. I genuinely believe he is a man trying to critique sexism (among many other of society's ills) through humor. I don't think every joke he's ever done is acceptable... but you know what? As a feminist and someone who puts a lot of time and effort into analyzing/fighting racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia, and classism in Am. culture, I also don't think every comment I've ever made is acceptable. He's critiquing society through jokes, pushing boundaries, and probing sore spots in the American (historical) psyche. And good for him for being willing to take that risk, even if it sometimes backfires. I'm glad there are feminists who will hold him accountable, but I don't think he should be silenced just because many feminists don't appreciate his deeply sarcastic humor. He ain't perfect, but he's a million percent better than most of the guys I know (especially comedians), and I'll take it-- especially if he's willing to listen to feminist (and other) critiques of his work and take a close look to make sure they're mocking the right thing."</i>
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Now, in my opinion, a much bigger problem with the Oscars--and the movie industry, and American culture, and British culture, etc. etc.--is the fact that there was a whole segment of the Oscars dedicated to 50 years of James Bond movies, movies which continue to blatantly perpetuate objectification and hyper-sexualization of women and overt misogyny. (Did you see Skyfall? Bond helps himself to a shower and a fuck with/to a woman he acknowledges has been living as a sex slave for years. WTF?) I haven't seen this mentioned in any of the blogs proclaiming the awfulness of the sexist Seth MacFarlane as Oscar host. Oh, but you like James Bond? Daniel Craig is sexy? James Bond is based on a character written a long time ago, so it's okay? Whatever.
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I get that a lot of shit is seriously wrong in the world. I do. I get that there's a lot to seriously be pissed off about. But I also get that people--even good and well intentioned ones--are flawed. I get (although some may disagree whether I do) that not everyone sees the world the same way I do, and that doesn't make them bad. And I get that laughter is good, art is important, and that we have to learn not to always take ourselves so seriously. Choose your battles wisely, people.
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You probably either love me or hate me right about now, and that's okay. I really don't have anything else to say except... Argo fuck yourself. ;)
<br><br>consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07988291508791331479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-11539443892908591172012-03-09T15:40:00.003-05:002012-03-09T17:06:04.036-05:00"When they quit killing babies they can have every chicken I've got."Recently, a Republican in the Georgia House of Representatives made a <a href="http://bettergeorgia.com/2012/03/06/video-rep-terry-england-compares-women-to-cows-pigs-chickens/">speech</a> outlining his support for a state-wide abortion ban at 20 weeks (despite the high-risk status of most of these pregnancies). He proceeded to explain how he has helped deliver farm animals, and that it 'broke his heart' to see the ones that didn't make it. He goes on to tell his audience of fellow legislators that a man who opposed a law against cock-fighting once told him, "You tell those folks down there, when they quit killing babies they can have every chicken I've got." Rep. England referred to this man who fights roosters for sport as "salt of the earth people."<br /><br />There is SO much wrong in this minute-and-a-half little verbal diarrhea episode that I hardly know where to begin. How someone with this little brain power and ability to think with any semblance of clarity or rationality could be elected to public office is astounding. Here are the problems with what this man said, as I see them...<br /><br />The business of animal 'agriculture' is rooted in the same kind of mentality of domination and objectification that has allowed men to dominate and oppress women for thousands of years. I guarantee you that this man whose 'heart breaks' when a newborn calf doesn't make it has no problem eating the flesh of cows, pigs, or other animals on a daily basis. He may feel something in that moment of connection through participating in the birth of the animal, but ultimately is more driven by his desire for certain tastes and his belief that he is superior to and justified in using and killing other species for his purposes. He marvels at the birth of a calf--likely the product of his or her mother's forced pregnancy at the hands of humans--only to send it later to a life of servitude as a dairy cow, or slaughter for beef/veal. This doesn't sound a whole lot different from the way Republican politicians want to force women into pregnancy by limiting access to birth control and comprehensive sex education, restricting or banning safe, legal abortion, all while preaching about the sanctity of life... and then eliminating programs and assistance to these children once they're born. It's all connected. It makes sense that Rep. England thinks he has the right to determine what women can and cannot do with their bodies, since he thinks he has that same right over the females of every other species.<br /><br />What saddens me most is that feminists without an understanding of interconnected oppressions, who themselves participate in the oppression of other species, rather than connecting the dots for themselves, more often than not will be driven to separate themselves even more from non-human animals. "I'm not a barnyard animal!" they yell. "Women are not cattle!" And in their attempts to elevate their own status, these women participate in belittling the status of their fellow creatures, creatures who are also sisters, daughters, mothers whose bodies are used and abused and seen as property, who experience physical and emotional pain, desire to live their lives peacefully and to seek pleasure.<br /><br />But I digress. In what universe does helping a cow give birth in a barn qualify you to make decisions about what a woman can do with her own body? How does it make you more qualified than a personal medical physician to determine whether a high-risk pregnancy should be carried to term? <br /><br />Let's move on to this "salt of the earth" man who told Rep. England that, "when they quit killing babies they can have every chicken I've got." First of all, anyone who abuses animals for sport is in no way "salt of the earth." Enough said. But this kind of twisted thinking in no way resembles logic. He forces animals to fight each other for sport and profit. This has nothing to do with his personal freedom and liberty. He is a profiteering sadist. It takes some sick and twisted thinking to equate a man like this with a woman making her personal decision about her own body and what's best for her and her family.<br /><br />When I am challenged on my pro-choice position by those who find it inconsistent with my veganism (as one woman put it, "How come you think it's not okay to kill pigs, but you think it's okay to kill babies?!") My answer is simple: Nobody said anything about killing babies. Pigs, when they are slaughtered, have the intelligence and understanding of a human toddler. Nobody's talking about killing toddlers either. An unborn human fetus does not have its own independent life, or a developed brain capable of understanding its own life or experiences. A pig does. A cow does. Even a chicken does. I don't believe humans have a right to imprison female cows, impregnate them, take away their babies, and steal their milk anymore than I think men have a right to force human women to be pregnant against their will--or against sound medical advice. This seems consistent to me. When the debate is about whether or not we kill human 3-year-olds, if I say that's okay, then you can call my bullshit.<br /><br />"No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her own body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously whether she will or will not be a mother." ~Margaret Sanger, 1920consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07988291508791331479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-60826822244040265512011-12-02T14:24:00.001-05:002011-12-02T14:51:04.181-05:00To Eat, Or Not To Eat... HorsesNPR recently <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/12/01/143017558/to-kill-or-not-to-kill-horses-that-others-may-eat?sc=fb&cc=fp">reported</a> that President Obama signed a bill in November re-opening American slaughterhouses for horses. Many people - meat-eaters and vegetarians alike- are up in arms over this decision. When we think of horses, we think of beautiful, majestic creatures running through open fields, we think of pony rides we took as young children, and of books like Black Beauty that instilled in us a love for horses. How can we possibly kill and <i>EAT</i> them?? Well, if you're a meat-eater, the answer to that question should be simple: "Easy!"
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The only meaningful difference between cows and horses--where eating them is concerned--is that we've been culturally conditioned to see cows as food and horses as pets (and at times tools and vehicles). If you open your heart and let the scales fall from your eyes, it's easy to see that cows are every bit as beautiful and majestic as horses. Cows have emotional lives, they feel pain and pleasure, and they are able to form meaningful relationships with each other, with other animals, AND with humans! Not so different from horses. Cows confined in factory farms SUFFER every single day of their existence. Even cows raised on so-called "humane" farms are met with a terrifying demise, kicking and fighting for their lives until the very end.
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Of course I don't want horses to be slaughtered for food. I don't want <i>any</i> animal to be slaughtered for food. But as I see it, there are only two logically consistent positions to take. If you eat cows and other sentient beings, there's no logical reason for you to have a problem with people killing horses for food. If you do have a problem with people killing horses for food, you must realize that they are not at all meaningfully different from the other animals you consume on a regular basis, and vegetarianism is the only option.consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07988291508791331479noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-65142941663052601652011-05-03T15:25:00.003-04:002011-05-03T16:30:44.741-04:00Religious vs. Ethical Food ChoicesIt occurs to me that there is something very backward about the way our society views individual choices around food. Do you know that in most prisons, if your abstention from certain kinds of foods is based on an established religious practice, it may be honored? But if it is not religious in nature, and simply "moral," your request will not be honored. This mentality seems to merely be a reflection of the way our society at large thinks about food choices. Most people won't show anything but respect for their co-worker's request for a kosher meal at a lunch or conference, but do you think the same courtesy is afforded the ethical vegan who requests a plant-based meal? Experience tells me--not bloody likely. The same may be said of other religiously based food choices.<br /><br />Think about this for just a moment. Choosing not to eat pork because an ancient book tells you that the supernatural being you worship forbids it: respectable and accepted. Choosing not to eat pork because you have come to the rational and compassionate decision that, because pigs are beings who experience pain and pleasure just like us (and our beloved dogs and cats), and possibly for other reasons, like the fact that the production of pigs as a food commodity is extremely damaging to the environment, etc., you believe it to be unethical and immoral to eat them: lunatic fringe of society. <br /><br />In what world does this make sense?! Oh, yeah...this one.<br /><br />Perhaps it is a product of my years as a Unitarian Universalist, with principles that affirm and promote "a free and responsible search for truth and meaning," "the right of conscience," and "respect for the interdependent web of all existence." There is nothing more sacred to me than a person doing the hard work of searching and learning and coming to a difficult and unpopular decision because your conscience tells you it is the right thing to do. And perhaps it is a product of my years of searching and learning (including academic study in areas of religion and spirituality) that leave me with little more than painful toleration of arbitrary and archaic religious beliefs and practices. <br /><br />I certainly respect an individual's right to choose what goes in and out of their own body, whatever their reasoning. But I simply cannot understand the mentality that finds only such decisions acceptable when they are attached to a religious belief. Perhaps it is because people do not feel threatened by a choice based on religious belief the way they do about a choice made for ethical and moral reasons. If the choice is based on religious beliefs, it is easy to say, "That's your religion, and I respect that, but it's not mine, so it doesn't apply to me." But when a person makes a decision based on evidence, reason, a desire to do no harm, a sense of justice, compassion, etc... these are universally applicable ideas. It's harder to blow off. It challenges us to take a good look at our own behavior, whether we want to or not. Because we know they think it's wrong to eat what we're eating, we feel judged, threatened, defensive--even though that is usually the last thing on that person's mind. They're just trying to eat their damn lunch.<br /><br />Other theories or comments on this phenomenon? I welcome your thoughts!consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07988291508791331479noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-54645222620807401552010-07-25T12:33:00.004-04:002010-07-25T13:31:34.239-04:00Where's the Change?Congress didn't pass an energy/climate bill. Not even a wishy-washy Republican half-assed version of anything. We did get health care "reform," but it was basically a mid-1990's Republican version of health care reform, and it still supports greedy private insurance companies. Our long-awaited Democratic president who ran under the auspices of change is now considering off-shore drilling, and when he mentions green energy often speaks of nuclear energy, "clean" coal technology (oxymoron!), and other green-washed forms of energy. We have a Democratic president AND Democratic majority in congress, yet they don't seem to be able to affect much of that change we heard so much about. More and more democrats are becoming fence riding moderates, while the voices of right-wing nut jobs get louder and louder. I could go on for some time.<br /><br />Let this be a lesson to my liberal and progressive-minded friends. What have we learned from the last year and a half?<br /><br />1. Being Black doesn't make someone liberal any more than being a woman makes someone a feminist. (Meaning: Obama is about as moderate a president as we could get. He's no more liberal than Sarah Palin is a feminist.) Our Republican brothers and sisters really need to realize this, because every time they call him a socialist and compare him to historical socialist figures they make themselves look like the ignorant racist hillbillies they are.<br /><br />2. People on the left need to forget about voting for who they think can get elected and start supporting candidates who have a strong record of making real social change. I hope Dennis runs again next time around. Or Al. I love Al. We also need to pay attention to our state and local officials and elect real movers and shakers.<br /><br />3. Lefties need to get off their asses and start being seen and heard just as loudly as the *choke* *gag* *hurl* Tea Baggers and the like (only more intelligently and peacefully). If all they were doing was signing online petitions we'd hardly notice them. Get me?<br /><br />4. We need to BE THE CHANGE. Our elected officials have proven that trickle-down government change is not going to happen. We can hope, we can vote, we can and should speak our minds. But ultimately our lives have to reflect our values. Care about women's reproductive rights? Volunteer at and/or financially support your local Planned Parenthood, independent midwives and local women's centers. Care about the environment? Stop eating animals, grow your own food, reduce~reuse~recycle (in that order!), carpool, ride your bike, etc. You get the picture. And hey, if you're really into politics, run for local office!consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07988291508791331479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-63803376060025875412010-05-10T12:00:00.003-04:002010-05-10T12:32:43.170-04:00Why I Dislike Mother's DayThere are lots of good reasons not to like Mother's Day. Some of them may be found <a href="http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/may_and_mothers_day_and_the_other_side_of_choice">here</a>. The latest issue of Bitch Magazine also has a great article about it. Here are <span style="font-style:italic;">my</span> reasons...<br /><br />I am not a mother. I am not a mother by choice. Many women do not have children because they were not able to have children. It's simply uncomfortable to have this day that makes motherhood out to be the noblest and best thing a woman can ever do. I actually had someone wish me a happy Mother's Day this year, perhaps assuming from my age that of course I am a mother. How could I not be? Who would choose not to have children? Mother's Day reinforces the idea that to be a woman one must bear a child, and there must be something wrong with us if we don't.<br /><br />I don't have a good mother. I have a mother who neglected and abandoned her children. One who allowed her husband to verbally abuse her children, and who herself verbally abused her children. Mother's Day thanks mothers for all the cooking, cleaning, and caring they do for their children throughout the years. My mother laid on the couch reading Harlequin novels while she made her children clean. I was cooking for my family before I was 10. I was rarely cared for by my mother. I remember trying to find my mother a card on several occasions throughout the years, and feeling like all these cards were rubbing my less-than-pleasant childhood in my face. To give my mother any of those cards would have been a lie. I would either leave empty handed, or with some humorous card that masked the truth of the matter, that I had nothing to celebrate or honor.<br /><br />There's nothing inherently noble or saintly about squeezing out a kid. In fact, most female mammals have the ability, and most of those who can do it, do it. Many people do it because it's what they think they're supposed to do, it's what's expected of them. Maybe they are trying to fill a void in their life or save a troubled marriage. Some do it to keep up with their friends or family members. Some women actually do it because they like the attention they get while pregnant.<br /><br />Choosing to bring a life into this world is a responsibility and privilege that too many people think of as a right, and too many others don't think much about at all. It requires real sacrifice and hard work, and you must be willing to put that life ahead of your own. It also means choosing to forgo many other possibilities for your life, some that might bring you more happiness and some that might make the world a better place. <br /><br />And let's not forget that just because a woman CAN have a child, doesn't mean she SHOULD. It is not the defining quality of womanhood. I am a creative, intelligent, passionate woman who has a world of choices in front of me. Choosing to own a business, to be an activist or any other choice I make in lieu of procreating are just as valid, and perhaps moreso, depending on my situation in life and what I have to offer the world.<br /><br />Children need to be loved, cared for, educated, and mentored. Anyone who does these things well should be honored and celebrated, but not because Hallmark says so. Just because you gave birth doesn't mean you have done any of these things, and you do not have to be a biological mother to nurture and love a child.consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07988291508791331479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-8837352029235968692010-03-31T16:15:00.004-04:002010-03-31T16:35:56.291-04:00My Tea Party Douchebaggers RantI've seriously had about all I can take of the Tea Party Douchebaggers. They are the most ignorant and dangerous group of morons I think I've ever seen. Their blatant racism, general lack of any knowledge about anything they're talking about and overall stupidity are astounding. I have a few things I would like to point out and questions I'd like to ask...<br /><br />1. How is it possible that these idiots can show up to peaceful discussions with loaded weapons, threaten to kill people, spout racial slurs, etc. and NOTHING happens to them for it? All of this, when I know peace-loving liberals who have been thrown into jail for making puppets. Yes, making puppets for a parade. Similar peaceful liberal/progressive types have had their homes raided and been arrested for having gray-water next to their toilets. Gray water, as in dishwater being reused to flush the toilet. Puppets and dishwater are grounds for arrest, but threatening people with violence and spouting racial hatred is okay? WTF country is this?!<br /><br />2. The health care reform that passed was pretty much Republican health care reform. As in lame-ass, take away women's rights, support large corporations health care "reform." In fact, what passed is strikingly similar to the <a href="http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2010/February/23/GOP-1993-health-reform-bill.aspx">1993 Republican Health Reform Plan</a>. These morons who don't bother to educate themselves and simply enjoy yelling "fire!" in a crowded building are basically bitching about something their own party sponsored a decade and a half ago. <br /><br />3. The current Tea Party movement has NOTHING to do with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party">Boston Tea Party</a>. The Boston Tea Party was a reaction to being taxed by a government with officials they didn't get to elect and an ocean away. The current Tea Party movement (whose members I like to refer to as "douchebaggers") are protesting the government of their own country that was elected democratically by the people of this country, a government that's trying to put taxpayer dollars to work for the taxpayers. <br /><br />Basically, they're just a bunch of childish, violent, racist sore losers.<br /><br />WHY ISN'T SOMETHING BEING DONE ABOUT THESE CRAZY PEOPLE??<br /><br />End rant.consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07988291508791331479noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-31623097776812570902010-02-17T17:53:00.004-05:002010-02-17T20:17:02.722-05:00Adventures in Bleeding: My Bloody ValentineI'm obsessed with my blood. I'm not sure exactly what brought this about at this particular time. A few weeks ago, I was doing my weekly shopping at a local health food store, and as I passed the little section devoted to reusable menstrual products I had a sudden urge to stop flushing and trashing and start washing and reusing. I dropped a hefty wad of cashola for 3 GladRags pantyliners, 3 day pads, and a Moon Cup.<br /><br />But let's back up: Several years ago I read <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.ingalagringa.com/cunt/index.html">Cunt</a></span> and was mesmerized by just about everything in it, and was specifically affected by the chapter entitled <span style="font-style:italic;">Blood and Cunts</span>. I took to heart the idea of getting my body and my cycle in sync with the moon, and I'm happy to report that I now bleed with the new moon, like clockwork. Other gems were tucked away in the back of mind. Many months these thoughts would pop up, I'd ponder them for a few moments, and tuck them back away, because this month certainly can't be the month... maybe in a few months I'll have the time...<br /><br />For years now I've been using <a href="http://softcup.com/">Instead softcups</a>. They're technically disposable, claiming you need to pitch it and start clean every time you take it out. But I knew there were other cups out there that could be used over and over again, so I split the diff. I would use one cup for one period, washing it thoroughly with soap and water before using again, and when my period was over I'd throw it away. I'd used it for years and was pretty satisfied. I had gotten to know it so well that I figured out little tricks like bearing down on the john so it would dump itself without needing to be removed. Pretty cool, huh? I was still, however, using disposable pantyliners, as these cups are prone to leakage, (if bearing down can dump it, sneezing and coughing understandably pose a problem at times) and a pad or two at the beginning and end of my period. Not a lot of waste, but too much for my taste. I had gotten so comfortable using the softcups that I figured it was time to bite the bullet and get the kind that I could use for a decade or longer.<br /><br />Enter the <a href="http://www.mooncup.com/">Moon Cup</a>. Having a latex allergy, the Moon Cup was the logical choice as it's made of medical grade silicone. It's otherwise identical to the Keeper, a cup I've known friends of mine to use and love. Its shape is obviously different than the type of cup I was accustomed to using, but I figured I'd get the hang of it. Uh... no. It was much more difficult to insert than I thought it would be. Lots of people say it's tricky the first few months, but that you eventually get the hang of it. Okay, I can deal. It took a couple of cycles for me to get the hang of the softcups, too. But the real problem came for me upon removable. As difficult as it was to get in, it was twice as hard to take out. If your vag is of the tight-n-tiny variety, beware! The cups twist and bend and fold to go in, but coming out is another story. No bending or folding--that would defeat the purpose. My husband could hear me two rooms away and rushed to the bathroom door in concern over all the yelping coming from the other side. No amount of convenience is worth that kind of pain and discomfort. Of course, women come in all different sizes, and these cups work just fine for many of them. I've always been of the aforementioned tight-n-tiny variety and I haven't popped any kids out, either. But the makers of the Moon Cup are so confident in their product that they give you 3 months to check it out, and if you just can't hack it, they'll give you a full refund. Nifty!<br /><br />My other new experiment were the <a href="http://www.gladrags.com/c-2-gladrags-cotton-pads.aspx">GladRags</a>. Reusable pads sound too icky for you? Do yourself a huge fave and get over it. I adore mine. They're soft and pretty (I got the the pink ones with dots) and just plain make me feel good. After the ouchy-cup debacle, I was a bit sore and decided to forgo putting anything else inside me for a while. The cool thing about these pads is that they come with two inserts, so you can use one, two, or even three according to your flow. I realized that I was very out of touch with mine, as I'd been using cups for so many years, and only used one insert. Oops. But I was okay with it. There was something about letting myself bleed, and bleeding on fabric that was incredibly freeing. I felt so in touch with my body and my flow, and it felt so good not to be throwing anything away. There's something very fem-zen-ist about taking the time to soak your pads, see your blood, watching the water in the sink turn red... pretty swirls of red in the sink in celebration of V-Day... feeling yourself bleed, letting it flow naturally rather than holding it in until it fits into your very unnatural schedule. In case you couldn't tell, I've also been feeling compelled to live more naturally, in touch with my body, the earth...<br /><br />I currently have 3 day pads with a total of six inserts. I'm planning to get myself 3 more holders, maybe 2 more inserts. I like using the holders by themselves as pantyliners, as my experience so far with the pantyliners is that they tend to slide back, although after a year of saying I need to do it, I'm actually going to buy myself some new underwear, which may remedy the situation. I'll update next month. I've also decided to try <a href="http://www.gladrags.com/p-35-jade-and-pearl-menstrual-sea-sponges.aspx">sea sponge tampons</a>. I've thought about it enough that I think I'm over my original aversion to putting a sea creature in my vag. And after the cup fiasco and my love of all things naturale, I've decided I don't really want to put plastic inside me anymore. As <a href="http://www.ingalagringa.com/">Inga</a> points out, these little creatures once lived in the ocean which, like our blood, is rule by the moon. It sounds pretty cool to me.<br /><br />Stay tuned for more <span style="font-style:italic;">Adventures in Bleeding</span>! Next month's episode: The Spring Sponge Spectacular!consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07988291508791331479noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-81850692652183855152009-11-25T20:33:00.007-05:002012-03-15T18:43:10.343-04:00Goddess Consciousness<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WWU6Q-ltZFo/SxcuZ9-4o-I/AAAAAAAAACI/0BssZ5uO6WM/s1600-h/goddess.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 76px; height: 151px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_WWU6Q-ltZFo/SxcuZ9-4o-I/AAAAAAAAACI/0BssZ5uO6WM/s320/goddess.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410844500978869218" /></a><br /><i>The following is a homily--short sermon--I wrote and delivered to my spiritual community, <a href="http://www.treeoflifedayton.com">TLC</a>, a couple of weeks ago...</i><br /><br />We’ve spent the past couple of weeks attempting to tear down our image of God, to remove any preconceived notions, wipe the slate clean. Opening ourselves to any and all possibilities. Today we’re drawing a new image on that slate. Today you are being challenged to allow Goddess into your consciousness, to begin to embrace Her into your heart and mind and awareness of the Divine in a way that will begin to empower us all, and begin to bring balance to our inner selves, as well as our world. <br /><br />We have lived our entire lives—as did our parents and grandparents and cultural ancestors for thousands of years—with a male God. A God that is “Master,” “King,” “Father,” “Lord,” “He.” Whether raised Christian or not, we live in a culture with a God made in the image and likeness of one half of humanity. We’ve been lied to for so long about the nature of God, and it’s hurt all of us—men as well as women. We’ve been told that God is one set of characteristics, one gender. Women have been left without an image of God that we can relate to. We’ve been denied our basic equality and humanity for thousands of years. We’ve been told that our qualities and characteristics are somehow less desirable than men’s, because men, after all, are the ones truly created in the image of the Divine. While it would be easy for many to simply bypass Goddess in this journey toward greater understanding of God, in favor of an all-encompassing, ‘God is too big and too great and beyond all labels’ kind of view, I don’t believe we can move to that place in an authentic or truly balanced way without giving Goddess at least a moment of her due. What she has to offer us is too great and important for us to overlook.<br /><br />We’ve been living in a culture with religions steeped in patriarchal dualism. Patriarchal dualism refers to a dualistic philosophy that orders the world into antagonistic opposites—Male & Female, Reason & Intuition, Culture & Nature, Body & Mind. Dualism is a very simple, yet powerful strategy for making sense of a complex reality. Instead of a confusing & disturbing Universe of infinite shades, we simplify everything into black & white. Reality is divided into Good & Evil, Us & Them, Masculine & Feminine, and so on.*<br /><br />What happens with these kinds of dualities is that we end up with a self/other split. In every case one half of the pair is identified with the self, & treated as superior, while the other half becomes the 'other', & therefore inferior, unknown & suspect. When we split the world into Nature & Culture, Body & Mind, Intuition & Reason, it is the natural, physical & intuitive world—and the female body and person—that is downgraded, rejected as other, as 'not me'. This deep-seated belief system underpins the monoculture that preaches one Truth, one God, & one 'True Way'. It teaches us that the sacred is elsewhere in a life beyond the illusionary & evil physicality of this world.”*<br /><br />If we are created in God’s image and God is a man, whose image was I created in? Goddess gives women a Divine identity, an image of ourselves made in Her likeness. All of the things that we equate with womanhood and femininity that have been discredited for so long become divine gifts. Starhawk calls the Goddess “the symbol of the inmost self, and the beneficent, nurturing, liberating power within woman…The cosmos is modeled after [our female bodies, which are] sacred… Through Her, we can know the power of our anger and aggression, as well as the power of our love.” All of the things we have been told we cannot be as women, we discover we certainly can be, because she is all of them, and we are made in her image.<br /><br />Now, patriarchal dualism hasn’t been so great for men either. It has kept men from having truly authentic relationships with women. It has put them in a position of power-over that, while it may seem to make some happy, does not lead to real joy and spiritual fulfillment. And it hasn’t allowed men to access those characteristics and qualities in themselves that do not fit the stereotype of the masculine, dominant, powerful god-image we’ve been given. Men, too, have been limited to only certain characteristics for far too long. Goddess for men is the embodiment of all the things society tells you you’re not allowed to be or recognize in yourself. She can help you become more whole and aware of your hidden female self. Because we are all made in the likeness of Goddess, we all have the capacity for power and peace, destruction and creation, disciplining and nurturing.<br /><br />Goddess Consciousness isn’t a mere a turning of the tables, keeping the established dualism and simply elevating the flip side. Female over male, intuition over reason, nature over culture.<br /><br />“Goddess Consciousness emerges from the process of building a relationship with the ecstatic mystical experience, & integrating that into everyday life.”* When we allow Goddess into our consciousness, we begin to break free from the dualisms that have been imposed on us by patriarchal societies and religions. We begin to relate to the Divine in a more visceral way, seeing her everywhere and in all things. The earth is Her flesh, the rivers Her blood, the air Her breath… and we her beloved children, Her creation. She is our Mother, our Sister, our Lover. She is all things.<br /><br />The ground of the sacred is here and now. She is not out there somewhere, she is here. She is present in every moment. “The Goddess is manifest in the food we eat, the people we love, the work we do, the homes in which we live.” Starhawk says “The law of the Goddess is love: passionate sexual love, the warm affection of friends, the fierce protective love of mother for child, the deep comradeship of [sacred spiritual community]. There is nothing amorphous or superficial about love in Goddess religion; it is always specific, directed toward real individuals, not vague concepts of humanity. Love includes animals, plants, the earth itself—‘all beings,’ not just human beings. It includes ourselves and all our fallible human qualities.” She says, “Any act based on love and pleasure is a ritual of the Goddess.”<br /><br />I challenge every one of us to let Her into our minds, our hearts, our senses. Let us expand our understanding of the Divine to allow for our Holy Mother, Divine Lover, Cosmic Birther, Sacred Sister Spirit to empower us, and love us. May she comfort us and sustain us. And may we begin to see Her and love Her in all, treating every person, every animal, every field and flower, as a divine manifestation of Her being. <br /><br /><br /><br /><i>*http://www.thegreenfuse.org/harris/ses.htm<br /><br />Starhawk references from 'The Spiral Dance.'</i>consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07988291508791331479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-48615651408065108382009-11-24T16:35:00.007-05:002009-11-24T20:42:28.207-05:00Happy Turkey Day?Sometimes it's overwhelming, having your consciousness raised, being aware of the despicable atrocities suffered by non-human animals at the hands of human animals--all in the name of tradition and satisfying our palates. Ironically, it's during the holiday season, a time of joy and supposed tidings of peace that living with this consciousness is most painful. We are bombarded with images of dead turkeys everywhere we look, and often on the tables of our family gatherings. It's become acceptable these days to say "Happy Turkey Day" instead of "Happy Thanksgiving." Someone actually wished me a "Happy Turkey Day" today and I nearly choked on my response. I know I once participated unawares, but it's so difficult for me now as I recognize the inconsistency of gathering in a spirit of joy and gratitude and celebration, all while tearing apart the flesh of a being whose life was cut short in a vicious act of murder for the sake of tradition.<br /><br />Vegetarians and vegans often dread the impending holidays, rather than wait in joyful anticipation. As if dead animal flesh wasn't all around us in TV commercials and on billboards and at the stores where we shop and in our co-workers lunches already, we now have to deal with having dead turkeys shoved down our metaphorical throats. I recently had a friend send me the following text message: "Am feeling dead turkey overwhelm! May have to go into hiding til January!" Another broke down in tears having been put on turkey-stocking duty at his otherwise enjoyable job at the grocery store where he works. "They're just packed in boxes and thrown around like they're nothing... but they're not nothing," he said. <br /><br />Few family gatherings don't involve a dead bird as the centerpiece of their holiday celebration. Vegetarians and vegans are forced to make very difficult choices this time of year. Some choose to gather with their families and eat whatever is available without flesh or secretions, or bring some of their own food, living with the discomfort and, for some, emotional pain and trauma of sitting at a table with a carcass as centerpiece. Others choose to forgo the family meal and gather with family after dinner or not at all. Still others decide to take on the job of hosting and preparing the holiday meal for their families to ensure that it meets their standards of compassion and non-violence. I count my blessings that my family doesn't gather for Thanksgiving and my husband's family is going out of town this year. Christmas is another story, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.<br /><br />Saturday night, some friends of ours hosted a vegan Thanksgiving potluck dinner at their yoga center. That was my family Thanksgiving. I am grateful I could gather with friends and meet new like-minded people. The serenity and gratification of gathering around delicious plant-based foods, knowing that all of it was thoughtfully prepared by people who truly strive to embody compassion, peace and a life of non-violence, is almost indescribable. <br /><br />I love my family of origin and my friends, but it's not my job to make them feel good about their choices. I have made the decision to decline any dinner invitations--from family or friends--that involve dead animals as the centerpiece, whether that be turkeys, pigs, chickens or otherwise. We all have to draw the line somewhere, and that is my line. I cannot make their choices for them. I also cannot pretend to be unaffected by their choices. It is painful for me to be exposed to these practices, and so I must choose not to participate. Last year at Christmas I did ask my sister to basically hide the meat she felt she needed to prepare in a dish, rather than make a centerpiece of a carcass, and she did accommodate. I have many friends who are still animal eaters who at least have the courtesy to make our communal meals vegetarian--and often vegan--for the comfort of all. They understand that when the food is plant-based, everyone may enjoy it and feel at ease. These people are very much my family. <br /><br />It can be difficult to find our voice, speak our truth, and care for our own needs when we are so outnumbered and marginalized. I am curious how others navigate the oblivious world around them, especially during this time of year. Where do you draw the line? Has that changed for you over the years? What are your holiday survival strategies? I welcome your responses...consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07988291508791331479noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-11853850584682865022009-08-12T07:33:00.002-04:002009-08-12T07:39:48.191-04:00BiphobiaEven though I have been with my chosen partner for almost 4 and a half years now, there are still people who feel the need to attack my sexuality when given the opportunity. This is because I happened to fall in love with a man during a time in my life when I was identifying as a lesbian. At that time in my life, I truly felt only attracted to women and saw myself being partnered with a woman. It was rather shocking to fall in love with my guy. But some of us do not have the luxury of a sexual orientation/identity that fits neatly into one of society's 'either-or' boxes. It took me a long time to accept that, even for myself. We live in such a deeply biphobic society that my own biphobia was deeply internalized and something I still struggled with into my marriage.<br /><br />Below is a great informational piece I found on biphobia from the Bisexual Resource Center. I've posted the whole thing, but please make special note of the Examples of Biphobia. I cannot tell you how many of these assumptions have been made about me and others I know who do not fall neatly into the hetero or homo categorizations. Ask yourself how many of these assumptions you harbor. Challenge your own biphobia. Be a better person. I know I'm giving it a shot.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">What is Biphobia?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Biphobia</span><br />The fear, hatred or intolerance of bisexual men and women by heterosexuals, gay men, and lesbians, or by bisexuals themselves (internalized biphobia).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Bisexual Relationships</span><br />Bisexuals, like all people, have a wide variety of relationship styles. Contrary to common myth, a bisexual person does not need to be sexually involved with both a man and a woman simultaneously. In fact, some people who identify as bisexual never engage in sexual activity with one or the other (or either) gender. As is the case for heterosexuals and gay men and lesbians, attraction does not involve acting on every desire. Like many heterosexuals and gay people, many bisexuals choose to be sexually active with one partner only and have long-tem, monogamous relationships. It is important to have the freedom to choose the type of sexual and emotional relationships that are right for the people involved whatever their sexual orientation.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Bisexuals and AIDS</span><br />AIDS has had a major effect on the bisexual community. Bisexual men are often scapegoated as the agents of transmission of AIDS from the gay to the heterosexual population, and bisexual women may be scapegoated as transmitters of AIDS to lesbians. However, it is behavior, rather than sexual orientation, that puts people at risk for acquiring the virus that causes AIDS. Activities that involve the exchange of bodily fluids, notably semen, blood, and vaginal fluid, are dangerous. Bisexuals, as well as homosexuals and heterosexuals, must educate themselves about safer sex practices, such as the use of condoms and dental dams. Safer sex guidelines can be obtained from health centers and AIDS education and action groups. Bisexuals are joining with gay people and other affected groups in all effort to fight AIDS by calling for an increase in research and education, better treatments, and an end to discrimination against people with AIDS and those perceived to be at risk for AIDS.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Examples of Biphobia:</span><br />• Assuming that everyone you meet is either heterosexual or lesbian/gay .<br />• Assuming that bisexuals are confused or indecisive about their sexuality.<br />• Assuming that bisexuals are promiscuous or cannot live monogamously.<br />• Assuming that bisexuals are attracted to everyone. Assuming that people who identify as bisexual are "really" lesbian or gay, but are in denial.<br />• Assuming that bisexuals, if given the choice, would prefer to be with someone of a different gender than themselves to gain some of the privileges of being perceived as heterosexual.<br />• Believing that people who are bisexual spread HIV/AIDS.<br />• Automatically assuming that two women together are lesbians, that two men together are gay, or that a man and a woman together are heterosexual.<br />• Not wanting to date someone who is bisexual because you assume that the person will eventually leave you for someone of another gender.<br />• Thinking of people who are bisexual only in terms of their sexuality, rather than as whole, complex persons.<br /><br />Adapted from the Bisexual Resource Center (1998)<span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-style:italic;"></span></span></span>consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09855652795801799785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-35828733930315520012009-08-11T10:59:00.001-04:002009-08-11T11:02:42.683-04:00Bored NowBored now.<br /><br />You know what they call it when you do the same thing over and over, expecting different results?<br /><br />I’m specifically bored with hearing the same old complaints men have about all the annoying, distasteful and unattractive behavior they witness on a weekly, if not nightly, basis—from women. You’re just so over the chicks who can’t hold their liquor.<br /><br />I know, I know… you balk at the bar fights, gag at the puke in the backseat, cringe at the random screaming, and disdain the tit flashing. You equally abhor the ‘Instant Man-Hater: Just Add Beer’ and the ‘Chia-Whore: Sprinkle with Liquor and Watch Me Grow!’<br /><br />Here’s a tip for you: If you stop spending your nights in bars frequented by 22 year old girls who aren’t even close to figuring out who they are yet and need about seven to ten more years to figure it out and/or 40+ year old women who sadly never will figure out who they are because they spent the last 20+ years in a drunken stupor and killed too many brain cells and carry too much baggage to ever be able to… you just might stop running into women who have all those pesky aforementioned problems. And by “bars frequented by [insert the rest of the first sentence in this paragraph here], I pretty much mean bars.<br /><br />Where will you possibly spend your time and how will you ever meet women? You could always start taking yoga classes; find a local church (there are liberal we-won’t-tell-you-what-to-believe-and-it’s-all-good churches) to regularly attend and get involved with; volunteer for something worthwhile like your local animal shelter, library, Food Not Bombs group, or whatever it is you care about; join a book club, foreign film group, or other such gathering of like-minded people (or if you can’t find one that already exists that interests you then start your own); attend local art shows and festivals… need I continue?<br /><br />Of course, there’s nothing inherently wrong with stopping by the local tavern once in a while, knocking back a cold one with the guys, or meeting a friend for cocktails after work. And there’s nothing inherently wrong with alcohol. I’m not suggesting an abstinence only outlook here. I myself prefer passing around a couple of bottles of wine in the backyard with some good friends over good food and good music. But if you think you need alcohol to have a good time and to meet people, and if none of the above suggested alternative activities appeals to you, and if you can’t think of any others that might, then maybe the problem is… you.<br /><br />If you’re the kind of guy that goes out drinking every night and hasn’t an ounce of creativity or ambition for anything more, then you just might have to get used to the idea that your perfect match happens to get drunk, scream at strangers, flash her tits at bartenders, and occasionally vomit in the backseat of your car. May you live happily ever after.<br /><br />And I hope it goes without saying, ladies, that this is one of those instances where the moral of the story is an equal opportunity employer.consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09855652795801799785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-57829271021113828382008-10-24T20:16:00.002-04:002008-10-24T20:28:52.456-04:00Who's Your Daddy?Apparently there are some in our state government who believe that the men we fuck should have more rights to our bodies if we become pregnant than we ourselves have.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">As Introduced<br /><br />127th General Assembly<br />Regular Session<br />2007-2008<br /> <br />H. B. No. 287<br /><br /><br />Representative Adams <br /><br />Cosponsors: Representatives Wagner, Brinkman, Uecker, Huffman, Fessler, Wachtmann, Barrett, Goodwin <br /><br /><br />A BILL<br /><br /> To enact section 2919.124 of the Revised Code relative to requiring paternal consent before an abortion may be performed. <br /><br /><br />BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:<br /><br /> Section 1. That section 2919.124 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows: <br /><br /> Sec. 2919.124. (A) As used in this section, "viable" has the same meaning as in section 2901.01 of the Revised Code. <br /><br /> (B)(1) When the fetus that is the subject of the procedure is viable, no person shall perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman without the written informed consent of the father of the fetus. <br /><br /> (2) When the fetus that is the subject of the procedure is not viable, no person shall perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman without the written informed consent of the father of the fetus. <br /><br /> (C)(1) A pregnant woman seeking to abort her pregnancy shall provide, in writing, the identity of the father of the fetus to the person who is to perform or induce the abortion. <br /><br /> (2) No pregnant woman seeking to abort her pregnancy shall fail to comply with division (B)(1) of this section. <br /><br /> (3) No pregnant woman seeking to abort her pregnancy shall provide to the person who is to perform or induce the abortion the identity of a man as the father of the fetus if the man is not the father of the fetus. <br /><br /> (D) No man shall give a consent pursuant to division (B)(1) or (2) of this section as the father of the fetus if the man knows that he is not the father of the fetus. <br /><br /> (E) No person shall cause a man to believe that the man is the father of a fetus for the purpose of obtaining the consent required by division (B)(1) or (2) of this section, if the person knows that the man is not the father of the fetus. <br /><br /> (F) If, pursuant to division (C)(1) of this section, the pregnant woman identifies two or more men as possible fathers of the fetus, the person who is to perform or induce the abortion shall perform a paternity test, or cause a paternity test to be performed, to determine the father of the fetus prior to accepting any consent required under division (B)(1) or (2) of this section and prior to performing or inducing an abortion of the pregnant woman's pregnancy. No person shall perform or induce an abortion in violation of this division. <br /><br /> (G) It is not a defense to a violation of division (B)(1) or (2) or (C)(2) of this section that the woman does not know the identity of the father of the fetus. <br /><br /> (H)(1) Divisions (B)(1) and (2) of this section do not apply if the pregnant woman provides to the person who is to perform or induce the abortion either of the following: <br /><br /> (a) A copy of a police report or a complaint, indictment, information, or other court document that gives the person who is to perform or induce the abortion reasonable cause to believe that the woman became pregnant as the result of rape or incest. <br /><br /> (b) A copy of a paternity test that gives the person who is to perform or induce the abortion reasonable cause to believe that the woman became pregnant as the result of incest. <br /><br /> (2) This section does not apply if the abortion is necessary, in appropriate medical judgment, to preserve the life or the health of the pregnant woman. <br /><br /> (I) The written consent required under division (B)(1) or (2) of this section and the written identification required in division (C)(1) of this section are confidential, are not public records under section 149.43 of the Revised Code, and shall be viewed only by the pregnant woman, the man claiming to be or the man identified as being the father of the fetus, the person who is to perform or induce the abortion, any law enforcement officer investigating a violation of this section, and a court and jury in a criminal case involving an alleged violation of this section. <br /><br /> (J) Whoever violates this section is guilty of abortion fraud, a misdemeanor of the first degree. If the person previously has pleaded guilty to or has been convicted of a violation of this section, abortion fraud is a felony of the fifth degree. </span>consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09855652795801799785noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-13502385591857942802008-10-20T20:01:00.002-04:002008-10-21T10:02:10.323-04:00"No One is Pro-Abortion"“No one is pro-abortion.” I think I did a happy dance when I heard Barack Obama say these words during the last presidential debate. “Finally!” I said out-loud to the empty room. I’m so tired of hearing so-called pro-lifers calling me and mine “pro-abortion” when I am “pro-choice.” Those who are anti-choice and anti-abortion call their position “pro-life,” as if being against a woman’s right to have an abortion makes up for being pro-death in every other area, which is often the case (pro-war, pro-death penalty, pro-gun, anti-environment, etc.), and call those of us who believe in that right “pro-abortion” because we must be actively and enthusiastically encouraging women to have abortions. If I heard John McCain say “pro-abortion” one more time I was going to reach through that TV and bitch-slap his privileged little straight-white-Christian-male face. <br /><br />Branding us “pro-abortion” instead of “pro-choice” is a significant semantic difference that effectively paints us as a bunch of amoral, soulless, heartless feminazis jumping for joy every time a woman decides to rip her poor defenseless little baby from her uterus and kill it. That’s what “pro-abortion” says on a subconscious level. “Pro-choice” is very different. It says we believe a woman needs to have the right to choose whatever option is best for her, to privately consult with her health care provider, friends, family, faith community (if she has one), and her own conscience. It says that women’s bodies are more than mere vessels to be regulated by the government. It says that your religious beliefs should not govern my body. If you are Catholic and believe that life begins at conception, you should have the right to choose adoption or parenthood. If you believe that at 6 or 7 weeks into development, an embryo is not much more than a clump of tissue and has no feelings or soul, and you feel comfortable having an abortion, that should be your choice to make.<br /><br />As a 13-14 year old girl, I was indoctrinated with some of the most heinous anti-choice literature out there. My step-mother would bring me pamphlets that described how little aborted babies were being thrown alive into buckets, and at the end of the day they sealed the lid on all the little babies and suffocated them. It would keep me awake at night. At just 14 years old, I spent all day on a bus travelling with a bunch of strangers to D.C. to march in a pro-life rally. I remember being 18 years old in my first year at a Christian university and hearing a few senior girls (of course from the Theatre department—they were always the most liberal) talk about being pro-choice, and not being able to fathom a person calling herself a Christian and saying she’s okay with abortion. I couldn’t reconcile that.<br /><br />Somewhere along the way I began to grow up, to learn more, to develop a feminist consciousness. I began to think critically about a number of issues, and recognize complexity and ambiguity where it exists. I realized that belief in souls and whether a fertilized egg has one is based on a religious belief that not all in this country share. I realized that being anti-abortion means means saving embryos and fetuses at the expense of women's lives. Several years later, while attending one of the most liberal colleges in the country—an extreme contrast from my first college experience, to say the least—I heard a young woman speaking with such hatred toward people who are pro-life and I was taken aback. I realized at that point that both extremes are hurtful and lack depth of understanding. I have been fortunate enough not to have ever been personally faced with such a decision, not for lack of irresponsible dumb-ass twenty-something behavior once upon a time, I assure you. I have, however, heard first-hand from a number of friends about their experiences. I can say that all of my friends who have made the decision to have an abortion maintain years later that it was the right decision for them to make.<br /><br />I believe it is possible to be personally pro-life while being politically pro-choice. I believe that beautiful, intelligent, spiritual women can choose abortion and feel good and right about that decision. I believe many women are conflicted about the decision to abort and suffer emotionally and spiritually after having an abortion. I believe it’s never a good thing for a woman (or a girl) to be faced with such a decision, regardless of the outcome. I believe most people who take a pro-life position are well-meaning people with good hearts. I also believe that a woman’s right to choose is fundamental to our freedom and personhood. And I believe that anyone who doesn’t feel just a little bit of ambivalence, regardless of their position, is being overly simplistic, uncritical, and ideologically zealous.consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07988291508791331479noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-26312719145231255452008-10-02T07:48:00.003-04:002008-10-02T07:58:42.668-04:00Biden v. Palin--Name That Supreme Court DecisionThe following video gives us a snapshot of Joe Biden V. Sarah Palin, each answering the same questions asked by Katie Couric regarding Roe v. Wade and other Supreme Court decisions. We give WAY too much energy to Palin, allowing ourselves to be mesmerized by her flagrant ignorance and arrogance. It's almost fun, like watching a trapeze artist at the circus or a tight rope walker, and you can tell they're really bad, but it's okay because there's a net under them for now. But we need to start paying more attention to Joe Biden. Here he clearly demonstrates intelligence, wisdom, concern for the rights of all Americans, and specifically, great concern for the rights of women. Joe Biden has what it takes!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jBt0r9Exv2I&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jBt0r9Exv2I&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09855652795801799785noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-17686070747758420622008-09-28T14:25:00.012-04:002008-09-29T15:03:39.671-04:00PETA says, "Breast Is Best!"PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) recently sent a <a href="http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=11993">letter</a> to Ben & Jerry's urging them to consider using human breast milk instead of cow's milk to make their ice-cream. When I first heard about this, I was reading about it on a number of feminist blogs, and then last night they mentioned it on "Weekend Update" on SNL. Everyone seems to be taking this request very seriously.<br /><br />Now, while I'm a vegan, I've never been a PETA member or supporter. Their campaigns have often been controversial, sometimes sexist, and many times very aggressive and off-putting. I personally affiliate with <a href="http://www.mercyforanimals.org/">MFA</a> (Mercy For Animals), an organization which tends to take a much gentler and more peaceful, educational and less controversial approach. I have deeply ambivalent feelings about some of the campaigns PETA has put forward. However, I do think PETA has done some great work and I'm not willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater. The cause they fight for is real and important. They truly speak for those who are unable to speak for themselves.<br /><br />Anyway, my first reaction when I heard about this request was, "Wow! That's great! Maybe it'll make people think about what they're eating when they eat ice-cream and all the other dairy products they consume everyday." And then, regarding all the hoopla and outrage I thought, "You've got to be kidding--I know PETA couldn't have been serious... could they?" I just simply could not believe that they were making a serious request. It seemed like something completely crazy and out there that was meant to make a point and make people think. And now that I've looked into it a little, I'm even more certain. Of course if this request were meant to be taken seriously it would be very upsetting. It's true that this would disproportionately exploit already economically disadvantaged women. It would take nourishing food from the mouths of the children the milk was produced to feed. Of course. I think that's the whole point.<br /><br />On the <a href="http://blog.peta.org/archives/2008/09/breast_is_best.php">peta blog page</a>, they updated information with Ben and Jerry's response: <span style="font-style:italic;">"In response to our letter, Ben and Jerry's issued the following statement: "We applaud PETA's novel approach to bringing attention to an issue, but we believe a mother's milk is best used for her child." Hey, guys, that's our point: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Cow's milk is for baby cows.</span>"</span> PETA is very clear about their assertion that <a href="http://blog.peta.org/archives/2008/09/breast_is_best.php#comment-349870">using human breast milk to make ice cream is absurd.</a> I'm afraid people have completely missed the satirical quality of this request. Please, read your Swift, people! Remember <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html#hit">A Modest Proposal</a></span>?<br /><br />Cows are sentient beings who feel pain, both physical and emotional. Mothers cry when their babies die or are taken from them. On real farms (which are few and far between) cows will rally to support a mother cow who has lost her calf and is in mourning. Cows are naturally peaceful creatures. But we humans have taken them and imprisoned them in factory farms where they are tortured daily. They are forced to unnaturally produce far more milk than their bodies were made to produce. We take their babies from them and torture them for several weeks, depriving them of their mothers' milk and purposely keeping them malnourished, before killing them to feed them (veal) to privileged people. It's completely sick.<br /><br />Let's please remember that most of the groups that we belong to and/or fight with/for can, to some extent, speak up and fight for themselves. Animals cannot. It's not just the men oppressing the women, the whites oppressing the people of color, the rich oppressing the poor, the straights oppressing the gays... It is <span style="font-weight:bold;">human beings oppressing, exploiting, and torturing billions of animals</span> each year for their own selfish desires. Gandhi said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." We pretty much suck.<br /><br />Nobody is saying that what is currently done to cows should be done to human women and human babies. I think what they're saying is, <span style="font-weight:bold;">"Hey! Cows milk is for baby cows!"</span> Get it? <br /><br />Links:<br /><a href="http://www.smiteme.net/2008/09/24/pork-tits/#more-2931">Smite Me! blog<br /></a><br /><a href="http://www.themeatrix.com/">The Meatrix</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.earthfirstjournal.org/article.php?id=392">Human Diet and Its Effects on Natural Ecosystems<br /></a><br /><a href="http://www.mercyforanimals.org/">Mercy For Animals</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.thenazareneway.com/index_vegetarian.htm">Biblical Vegetarianism</a>consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09855652795801799785noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-67962385765823133852008-09-22T09:47:00.000-04:002008-09-22T10:11:46.225-04:00"My Sister Rocks!" or "Who Would Jesus Vote For?"For a while now, I've had the intention of writing a blog entry entitled "Who Would Jesus Vote For?" No need. My sister laid it all out perfectly in an e-mail to my mother that I'm going to post here. My mom had been sending my sister weird e-mails about Sarah Palin--prophecies about how God wants her to be VP (I'm not kidding you!) and stuff like that. My sister, who is a practicing Christian, but not a religious extremist and who uses her brain to think (imagine that), is voting for Obama. She decided to send my mother some e-mail links regarding McCain and Palin. This included the information about Sarah Palin's town when she was mayor charging women for their rape kits, as well as McCain's sordid past affairs and how he left his first wife. Here was my mother's response:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I'm confused. Since when did you become pro abortion? No one candidate is going to be perfect, but I would rather have the one who is not going to reinstitute partial birth abortion. There is probably more to the story on the rape kits, too. I figured as a Christian you would not be pro Obama given his stance on partial birth abortion and his muslim roots. I guess I was wrong. I won't bother you any longer. But it is clear that God wants Sara Palin in place as VP. It's going to happen.</span><br /><br />Classic. So, my pissed off little sister proceeded to write back to my mother with a response that has never made me prouder. The following e-mail was my sister's response. I added some info and links before she sent it, but it's 95% her. My sister Rocks!<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">To be against Sara Palin and most everything she stands for does not translate into me being pro-abortion. You're much more intelligent than that, Mom. Do you think Jesus would not give a shit about the working class people and would hoard his money so he can live a lavish lifestyle? Do you think Jesus would dump money into huge corporations and not do a thing to help the millions of people who don't have jobs? Do you think Jesus would want high profile people who claim to work for him to blatantly lie over and over (with proof!) showing their true character which does NOT reflect Him? Do you think Jesus would leave his wife because he couldn't handle the fact that she no longer had her beautiful looks following a car accident and then go and marry someone much younger, prettier, and very wealthy? Do you think Jesus would want his people to live carelessly ruining the beautiful earth he created because they were too busy thinking about themselves? Do you think Jesus would make racial comments assuming someone is Muslim because they're black and have a different name? I'm pretty sure my God is compassionate and would help those who have nothing, yet struggle to take care of their families. Yes, God will pass judgment on those who do not follow His commandments and live their lives for him, but that is NOT our job. <a href="http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Matthew+25%3A31-46">Matthew 25:31-46</a><br /><br />As for abortion, if you do the research instead of continuing to think what Republicans want you to think, you will find that Barack does not want women to go out and start having partial-birth or late term abortions. "On an issue like partial birth abortion, I strongly believe that the state can properly restrict late-term abortions. I have said so repeatedly. All I've said is we should have a provision to protect the health of the mother, and many of the bills that came before me didn't have that." So Barack is so bad to think that if complications resulted in my life or the baby's, we should choose the baby and let me die. Hmm... I would hope you would have a different opinion on that. And Joe Biden actually supports a ban on partial-birth abortions. Just because someone leans on the liberal side (I'm independent by the way) doesn't mean they are automatically pro- abortion! (Which, by the way, I've never heard of anyone being... the position is pro-choice. I'm pretty sure nobody is excited when they're faced with the decision whether or not to terminate their pregnancy. People who are pro-choice don't jump for joy whenever someone has an abortion.) What a ridiculous way of thinking!! Abortion is NOT a black and white issue, it needs to stop being treated as such... and it needs to stop being the only reason someone would vote for an individual to run a country! <br /> <br />It's funny that the Republicans reach out to the Christian extremists with ONE issue and hope the people are so stupid they make a decision about whether or not someone can run a country based on that one issue alone. It's obvious it's working. I used to buy into this as well until I realized I had a brain that could see the whole picture and realize that a president needs to be able to do so much more to fix our economy and have the people's best interests in mind...not just spout out that he is a Christian who is against abortion. <br /> <br />Barack Obama and Joe Biden are also Christians (check the facts—Obama belongs to the United Church of Christ and Biden is Catholic), and they use their brains to realize that yes, abortion isn't necessarily the right thing to do, but they realize it's a much more complicated issue than that. They also realize there are OTHER issues that are important for our nation as well. <br /> <br />It amazes me how arrogant so many Christians are. We all have to answer to God, even people who don't believe in Him. Since when did God tell us that as his followers, we are so righteous that we should judge others and "play God" ourselves. I'm pretty sure he is very disappointed in many Christians and the churches who have taken things too far. <br /> <br />Yeah, you never really know if the person we elect can fix our problems, but I'm pretty sure I'm voting for the person who has shown so much more integrity, compassion, and brains during this campaign. </span><br /><br />On Obama being Muslim: <a href="http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp ">http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp <br /></a><br />Palin's record on women's issues: <a href="http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=palins_record_on_violence_against_women">http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=palins_record_on_violence_against_women</a><br /> <br />Evidence of Palin's role in charging rape victims: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-alperinsheriff/sarah-palin-instituted-ra_b_125833.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-alperinsheriff/sarah-palin-instituted-ra_b_125833.html</a><br /><br /></span>consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09855652795801799785noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4959097954949940133.post-38170459956493097872008-09-17T19:36:00.006-04:002008-09-17T19:50:24.621-04:00Speaking of...Oh.<br />My.<br />Holy.<br />Fucking.<br />GOD!<br /><br />Speaking of sexism and racism, get a load of this youtube video that MY DAD SENT TO MY SISTER! Not because he wanted to show her something awful and wrong, but because he thinks it's right on! I think I'm hyperventilating. I'm seriously losing faith in humanity...<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G4XgKGUGKJo&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G4XgKGUGKJo&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Oh yeah... Democrats are women and African Americans who are lazy, looking for handouts, not willing to help themselves and completely stupid. WTF?!consciousness razorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09855652795801799785noreply@blogger.com1