Thanks for the history lesson about the Gala priests/priestesses. I'm very happy to learn about them. About the Genesis thing-as a Catholic who has zero problem with there being trans people, there are 4 major groupings of ancient manuscripts of Genesis that have been found, and there are some contradictions. If you're a Christian, one should do at least some minimal study and learn where texts come from, and the different theological positions. Learning some contextual history is a very good thing. I also want to point out that God is also referred to as "they" BY God in scripture, but that seems to get glossed over. This protestant idea that somehow there are "only 66 books of the Bible and that's it" is another show of historical ignorance (which I shared when I was protestant). Catholics accept another 7 books. Again, learning the how/why goes a long way to putting some reason and sense into things. Too many pastors and priests just make sh*t up to suit their political aims, which should not happen
Thank you for your reply. I have spent a fair amount of time studying religions and I’m fascinated by the interweaving syncretism of how different faiths have evolved and informed and shaped each other over time. I’m a firm believer that wisdom does not belong to any one tradition, and I totally get what you mean about Genesis: “If they eat of the Tree of Knowledge they will be like us”—or something to that effect.
I feel, in a way, that monotheism is the great tragedy of history. The world used to be rich in holy traditions and people were eager to share their faiths. I love what archeology is revealing in the sands of Iraq and Turkey and that region of the world. Most of what is in the Bible can actually be traced to Babylon, Akkad, the earliest Sumerians. To learn about those things can actually shed deeper insight on the Christ, who existed in prior cultures as the archetypal Shepherd King, a kind of idealized and just ruler. The kinds of rulers we have today are a corruption of the entire notion of kingship and the burden of holy authority.
Having been raised as an Episcopalian, I was in a community that was very open to the discovery of new gnostic texts and any other faith insights that could shed light on one’s personal connection with the divine. I believe all religions can lead to the same ultimate truths, but some people pervert their faith, and nothing stinks more than spiritual pride, which is kind of why I attacked it so harshly in this article. Nothing is more vile to me than a moral superiority wielded over others in cruel judgment, but perhaps we are all guilty of the same at times. My goal was to weaponize words and attack those who are hurting a community I belong to, by calling them out for their moral flaws or intellectual decrepitude on a topic that is now sacred to me.
It’s a frighteningly creepy thing to just drive through West Virginia and feel the Appalachian inbred vibes there or see the fanatical snake handler cults there…
I very much appreciate your straight forward discussion and arguments supporting the transgender community.
White, black, red, brown, yellow or in between; Native American, Chinese, Armenian, Latin American, Pakistani; male, female, trans; we are all human beings deserving of personal dignity.
Implying that any person who purports to believe in a loving God who would intentionally create a misfit to suffer a lifetime of misery are fools-one way or another-but they worship a hateful God the Creator.
They are also hateful, close-minded individuals who rabidly follow their version of God as red-hatted worshipers commonly referred to as MAGA Trump cult members.
Having said that, may I suggest a more temperate comments concerning Trump and his following.
Your cogent remarks and factual statement are true but off-putting to
many reading your column who might discard reading it to a conclusion.
I understand how this conversational approach between or among friends who share a repugnant hate of Trump such as you and I share might occur. But my wife’s best friend, Mary, voted for Trump and they almost lost a ten year friendship over Trump.
As things have unfolded, especially with Co-President Musk, Mary has accepted my wife, Flo’s, discussion of the ramifications of Trump’s election and Mary now wishes Trump was not elected.
There are other Marys out there who given a chance might also share our opinion that he is incompetent, immoral and a convicted felon who only does what thinks will benefit himself.
I realize that your remarks are entertaining to those of us who wish the bullet had veered a few inches and rendered your comment unnecessary, but it didn’t, raising a question about my need to study the Book of Revelations more closely.
Nonetheless, as I hope I made clear, I smiled in agreement with your descriptive adjectives for the piece of shit named Donald J. Trump.
I will take your words to heart and meditate on them, to see if there is a more strategic tone I could take, so that certain potential readers don’t feel alienated and put off. As a writer, it is my job to interrogate the overall effectiveness of my communications.
But I also want to leave you with some questions to help interrogate your response to this idea.
Why is it my job to convert Republicans, or remind them of the mistakes they are making, when I could be arming my side with an argument that wins?
Why is it my side’s job to be civil, when civility no longer works and the opposition just wants to see how upset they can make me? Should they not be made to fear the hate they’re inciting?
And is it really my job to “entertain” any of this? Please keep in mind the secondary and tertiary definitions of that word “entertain.”
To entertain isn’t just to provide amusement or enjoyment. Some readers will get that from this, I hope, and that was certainly part of my aim.
But to entertain also means to receive as a guest and provide with nourishment.
As far as ideas go, the far right has stormed my and my compatriots intellectual castle. It isn’t up to me whether I receive their ideas or not. They are like unwelcome guests in my consciousness, and viable threats to my personhood. I have made efforts to understand them. I don’t want to take these topics into my brain at all, and spend my precious time writing vitriolic missives at an enemy I didn’t choose. Who would want that? But they suffer from a vast collective Hubris, and in the greatest Greek sense of that theme, if they want Nemesis then let it be my dharma, my rightful action, to answer the fucking call and welcome the battle they so desire.
Now, what I do also feel a response-ability for is to give nourishment to others like me who are hurting, who want their anger and pain expressed, and this bit of text hopefully carves out space for them to breathe through the tears and rage, because they are faced with living in a society that wants to erase them. They feel an impending threat of genocide toward their kind, and it is totally fair to call a nazi and nazi and a religious bigot a fundamentalist piece of shit.
Finally, to entertain also means to give attention or consideration to a thought, suggestion, or feeling. Did you know there was an online forum called Kiwi Farms, that would specifically target autistic and trans individuals and harass them with the joked intent of pushing them to commit suicide? You probably didn’t, but I just forced you, by use of words and language (and of course by your willing participation as a reader to go along with me here), to entertain this uncomfortable fact. And if you start to get a picture from that, an image of what kind of onslaught trans people are under and continue to suffer in this society, perhaps I have done my job as a communicator.
I pray that Trump supporters wake up. They are playing the with the fire of other people’s pain. And if they light a match on people, when we explode it will touch some aspect of their own precious lives. The pain of others is always a collective pain.
Mainly, however, I hope this article made a very strong case for why we need to stop paying any ounce of attention at all to these idiotic fucking people, so that maybe we can stop electing them to positions of authority and control over our society.
I have to suggest that direct confrontation and emotional honesty are more powerful than diplomatic compromise, in this case, if I am being the one asked.
I should also point out, as a 52yo Trans woman who has experienced her fair share of bigotry, most notably at the hands of Christian minded persons.
Many Christians damn near sleepwalk past transgender suffering while clinging to their bulletproof certainties. "God doesn't make mistakes," they parrot, brandishing Genesis like a shield against real human lives. This bull-headed stance ignores the messy truth of gender and the gut-wrenching reality transgender folks face every damn day.
When hit with the heartbreaking stats about transgender suicide, they shrug: "You need Jesus, not affirmation." I have personally been told this more times than I can count, and in ways that many people cannot grasp or understand. Where's that Christ-like compassion they preach about? The same folks singing "love thy neighbor" on Sundays can't be bothered to extend that love when it actually costs something. The doctrine matters more than flesh-and-blood people standing right in front of them, bleeding and hoping for acceptance.
This is reality for many of us in the Trans spectrum. Its a daily reality.
If and when "they" start abiding by the KJV of the 10 Commandments and uphold our Constitution and Laws that they swore to abide by, Only then, we will know they are truly Christians
Thanks for the history lesson about the Gala priests/priestesses. I'm very happy to learn about them. About the Genesis thing-as a Catholic who has zero problem with there being trans people, there are 4 major groupings of ancient manuscripts of Genesis that have been found, and there are some contradictions. If you're a Christian, one should do at least some minimal study and learn where texts come from, and the different theological positions. Learning some contextual history is a very good thing. I also want to point out that God is also referred to as "they" BY God in scripture, but that seems to get glossed over. This protestant idea that somehow there are "only 66 books of the Bible and that's it" is another show of historical ignorance (which I shared when I was protestant). Catholics accept another 7 books. Again, learning the how/why goes a long way to putting some reason and sense into things. Too many pastors and priests just make sh*t up to suit their political aims, which should not happen
Thank you for your reply. I have spent a fair amount of time studying religions and I’m fascinated by the interweaving syncretism of how different faiths have evolved and informed and shaped each other over time. I’m a firm believer that wisdom does not belong to any one tradition, and I totally get what you mean about Genesis: “If they eat of the Tree of Knowledge they will be like us”—or something to that effect.
I feel, in a way, that monotheism is the great tragedy of history. The world used to be rich in holy traditions and people were eager to share their faiths. I love what archeology is revealing in the sands of Iraq and Turkey and that region of the world. Most of what is in the Bible can actually be traced to Babylon, Akkad, the earliest Sumerians. To learn about those things can actually shed deeper insight on the Christ, who existed in prior cultures as the archetypal Shepherd King, a kind of idealized and just ruler. The kinds of rulers we have today are a corruption of the entire notion of kingship and the burden of holy authority.
Having been raised as an Episcopalian, I was in a community that was very open to the discovery of new gnostic texts and any other faith insights that could shed light on one’s personal connection with the divine. I believe all religions can lead to the same ultimate truths, but some people pervert their faith, and nothing stinks more than spiritual pride, which is kind of why I attacked it so harshly in this article. Nothing is more vile to me than a moral superiority wielded over others in cruel judgment, but perhaps we are all guilty of the same at times. My goal was to weaponize words and attack those who are hurting a community I belong to, by calling them out for their moral flaws or intellectual decrepitude on a topic that is now sacred to me.
This is so true! I love what you have to say here.
It’s a frighteningly creepy thing to just drive through West Virginia and feel the Appalachian inbred vibes there or see the fanatical snake handler cults there…
To Wendy;
I very much appreciate your straight forward discussion and arguments supporting the transgender community.
White, black, red, brown, yellow or in between; Native American, Chinese, Armenian, Latin American, Pakistani; male, female, trans; we are all human beings deserving of personal dignity.
Implying that any person who purports to believe in a loving God who would intentionally create a misfit to suffer a lifetime of misery are fools-one way or another-but they worship a hateful God the Creator.
They are also hateful, close-minded individuals who rabidly follow their version of God as red-hatted worshipers commonly referred to as MAGA Trump cult members.
Having said that, may I suggest a more temperate comments concerning Trump and his following.
Your cogent remarks and factual statement are true but off-putting to
many reading your column who might discard reading it to a conclusion.
I understand how this conversational approach between or among friends who share a repugnant hate of Trump such as you and I share might occur. But my wife’s best friend, Mary, voted for Trump and they almost lost a ten year friendship over Trump.
As things have unfolded, especially with Co-President Musk, Mary has accepted my wife, Flo’s, discussion of the ramifications of Trump’s election and Mary now wishes Trump was not elected.
There are other Marys out there who given a chance might also share our opinion that he is incompetent, immoral and a convicted felon who only does what thinks will benefit himself.
I realize that your remarks are entertaining to those of us who wish the bullet had veered a few inches and rendered your comment unnecessary, but it didn’t, raising a question about my need to study the Book of Revelations more closely.
Nonetheless, as I hope I made clear, I smiled in agreement with your descriptive adjectives for the piece of shit named Donald J. Trump.
Thanks, Mick
Hi Michael,
I will take your words to heart and meditate on them, to see if there is a more strategic tone I could take, so that certain potential readers don’t feel alienated and put off. As a writer, it is my job to interrogate the overall effectiveness of my communications.
But I also want to leave you with some questions to help interrogate your response to this idea.
Why is it my job to convert Republicans, or remind them of the mistakes they are making, when I could be arming my side with an argument that wins?
Why is it my side’s job to be civil, when civility no longer works and the opposition just wants to see how upset they can make me? Should they not be made to fear the hate they’re inciting?
And is it really my job to “entertain” any of this? Please keep in mind the secondary and tertiary definitions of that word “entertain.”
To entertain isn’t just to provide amusement or enjoyment. Some readers will get that from this, I hope, and that was certainly part of my aim.
But to entertain also means to receive as a guest and provide with nourishment.
As far as ideas go, the far right has stormed my and my compatriots intellectual castle. It isn’t up to me whether I receive their ideas or not. They are like unwelcome guests in my consciousness, and viable threats to my personhood. I have made efforts to understand them. I don’t want to take these topics into my brain at all, and spend my precious time writing vitriolic missives at an enemy I didn’t choose. Who would want that? But they suffer from a vast collective Hubris, and in the greatest Greek sense of that theme, if they want Nemesis then let it be my dharma, my rightful action, to answer the fucking call and welcome the battle they so desire.
Now, what I do also feel a response-ability for is to give nourishment to others like me who are hurting, who want their anger and pain expressed, and this bit of text hopefully carves out space for them to breathe through the tears and rage, because they are faced with living in a society that wants to erase them. They feel an impending threat of genocide toward their kind, and it is totally fair to call a nazi and nazi and a religious bigot a fundamentalist piece of shit.
Finally, to entertain also means to give attention or consideration to a thought, suggestion, or feeling. Did you know there was an online forum called Kiwi Farms, that would specifically target autistic and trans individuals and harass them with the joked intent of pushing them to commit suicide? You probably didn’t, but I just forced you, by use of words and language (and of course by your willing participation as a reader to go along with me here), to entertain this uncomfortable fact. And if you start to get a picture from that, an image of what kind of onslaught trans people are under and continue to suffer in this society, perhaps I have done my job as a communicator.
I pray that Trump supporters wake up. They are playing the with the fire of other people’s pain. And if they light a match on people, when we explode it will touch some aspect of their own precious lives. The pain of others is always a collective pain.
Mainly, however, I hope this article made a very strong case for why we need to stop paying any ounce of attention at all to these idiotic fucking people, so that maybe we can stop electing them to positions of authority and control over our society.
Sincerely,
J.D. McQuaid
I have to suggest that direct confrontation and emotional honesty are more powerful than diplomatic compromise, in this case, if I am being the one asked.
I should also point out, as a 52yo Trans woman who has experienced her fair share of bigotry, most notably at the hands of Christian minded persons.
Many Christians damn near sleepwalk past transgender suffering while clinging to their bulletproof certainties. "God doesn't make mistakes," they parrot, brandishing Genesis like a shield against real human lives. This bull-headed stance ignores the messy truth of gender and the gut-wrenching reality transgender folks face every damn day.
When hit with the heartbreaking stats about transgender suicide, they shrug: "You need Jesus, not affirmation." I have personally been told this more times than I can count, and in ways that many people cannot grasp or understand. Where's that Christ-like compassion they preach about? The same folks singing "love thy neighbor" on Sundays can't be bothered to extend that love when it actually costs something. The doctrine matters more than flesh-and-blood people standing right in front of them, bleeding and hoping for acceptance.
This is reality for many of us in the Trans spectrum. Its a daily reality.
Michael , you should address my writer with these comments and discuss them. She’s quite approachable , but I’ll send her over this comment
If and when "they" start abiding by the KJV of the 10 Commandments and uphold our Constitution and Laws that they swore to abide by, Only then, we will know they are truly Christians