spirituality

[kristopin]

gone

[kristopin]

gone

[maddplotter]

Can't wait to see those controversial bus ads. "There probably isn't a God. So enjoy your life" I'll be looking for them on my next ride on the TTC.

[kristopin]

mmmm

igone

[Lani]

Kristopin


I will try threading and walking on a very thin line discussing a delicate subject i.e. my religious and/or spiritual belief as a person born in a Catholic Family.

I was 24 when I had my first sex. Why? coz, I made a promise to people who I respected a lot and in some way help and formed me as a good human being. Priest and Nuns who became a part of my growing years. They accepted me as a Parishioner, a Christian entity and embraced me and love me as a Friend. Even I for them is a male, dressed up in female clothing and with make-up attending bible studies and vigil worships and still, they all made me feel welcome.

And with that acceptance I made a promise that I'll never commit the act of homosexuality, vis-a-vis having sex with the same sex, which in religious and devoted Catholic belief is a MORTAL SIN, and no techinicalities excuses like, "Oh I havent broken my religions law 'coz, I only give the guy a blow job or I just allowed them to titti fuck me" or he is my boyfriend anyway so I didn't commit a sin or there is no genital or anal intercourse anyway. Please! do not use Bill Clinton's acquittal defense, this is religion and not Congress.
If you are a religious person and devoted in your faith, you know that it is a sin and you have no excuses.

I know I have sinned. I am no longer a pious, no longer a devoted and not a fanatic follower of the religion or congregation that I was born with anymore. But I still believe in the supreme force that have been guiding us all and I still believe in the good doctrines inculcated in my brains. I no longer believe in most of the Catholics outdated belief or their opposition to Divorce - Birth Control - Common Law relationships - Pre-Marital affairs - Same Sex Marriages - Stem Cell Research. I am still however against Abortion without a valid or moral reason.

I had a lowliest and saddest spiritual moment, when one Christmas eve mass in our parish here in Canada, with an Archbishops as guest priest doing the Homily, and as he talks about the environment existing in our community, about gays and other sexual deviant in the gay community, and when he said that just being a homosexual is Immoral and an outcast of the society and people who are trying to change their genders which is designed by god are committing a grave and mortal sin and as I was seated there in the presence of my entire family and friends and in what supposed to be a joyous and spiritual event for the entire world, after hearing those words, I felt like there's a heavy clouds that fell on my shoulder. I didn't feel anger, I felt like I'm a melting candle right there in my seat, family nor friends tried their best not to look at my direction, so as not to make me uncomfortable and so I won't feel awkward nor embarass, but I know and I felt in my heart they don't agree and doesn't like what this Archbishop said.

I have never step inside our church for several years and many Christmas eve since that event. I was deeply hurt and also maybe shamed by him.

Until last Christmas day 2008 , when I decided to comeback to visit our church, to confront not it's leaders, but myself and my beliefs and not letting even the Pope, Cardinals, Archbishops, Priest and Nuns hinder in my relationships with my God whom I believe in or allowing them to take control of my faith and sprituality, for it is only to him that I am answerable to.

Many experts and non religious people believe that all religion are just a cult and the Bible, Koran etc.etc. are just written not by God but by a good writer.

Almost all religion:
Catholic
Protestant
Judaism
Presbyterian
Angelican
Hindu
Muslim
etc. Doesn't accept this alternative lifestyle and for them we are all sinner, but to hell! with them, we know what evil and inhumanity their leaders and their ardous followers are capable of.

I know I have been a good human being, a loving member of my family, a caring person to my neighbors and friends, and I will only accept judgement and punishment from my supreme maker and in the day of reckoning I will accept and honor his divine will. I was born a Catholic and I will die a Catholic. And I believe in my God and I know he is a loving and understanding God, who gives an unconditional love for mankind and I hope and still Praying that he believe in me and I will have a place in his blessed heart and will continue begging for his forgiveness for the sins I have committed, for my human frailties, failures, weaknesses and shortcomings.

[kristopin]

wow so open and honest

gone

[Lani]

OPEN, HONEST and Very Long LOL!


Kristopin,this thread is a good topic on other medium or forum, but this isn't the proper site ( especially in a sexually charged atmosphere like this and with members who might be uncomfortable 'coz, this is their 'space' separate from their real world and this is our 'ghetto'). I applaud your intentions and though reluctantly, I decided to add a T-girl input on this delicate and controversial subject. I just want to give your thread a chance.

But religion is something we have to keep to ourselves and to whatever gods and beliefs we have. I am saying this 'coz, I am planning to edit/delete my post on this thread and to apologize as well. Let's keep religion all to ourselves.


You are a very nice and kind person ( though you've told me your real name ) I'll just call you Kristopin here and I hope you'll have many many more years of your God given life to spend with your love ones.




jenllani

that took an amazing amount of strength to open up like that. i am glad to see you have become settled with your beliefs. i sometimes think that it really doesnt matter what we believe as long as we are descent to toher humans and our world. i think as adult we have all seen evil at some point and know what it is and hopefully what we are not.

truly open honest post thanks so much.

[kristopin]

applaud

i applaud your intentions however i think that perhaps even in this sexually charged site we also have to be open enough to explore all of our feelings and thoughts. i had hoped to get more input from many others and even asked for PM's if they wanted. i think what i am trying to find out is what is the relationship of spirituality, our religions if you want, and transeuxality and how it is perceived by those outside the cummunity and those inside the community. i am wondering if the choice of sexual identity has adversely affected a persons spirituality.

i know they tell us not to talk about politics, sex and religion because that causes lots of fights but doesn't mean we dont need to know.

thanks jenllani i really do appreciate all your threads/posts and you thoughts and feelings that you share with us. makes our dreary not quite so lonely.

[Lani]

This Is A Good One! I Promise. And It's For You!


I can understand how much you want to dwell on this topic, with your life frightening episodes. I wish you well and hope you'll continue to get better. But for most people here, spirituality is the last thing they wanna talk about in this forum. Kristopin, they're here to see who's butt is shining and whos' dick is glowing lol! sorry! but that's what it is. And we are the only people here who's gonna go back and forth in this thread, believe me and you will know what I mean. (I am here for 2 years and 3 months now, and I know).

Anyway, for a little levity, this is somewhat relevant to your thread, and it's for you. It's a good one.


An Atheist in the Woods...

An atheist was walking thru the woods.

'What a majestic trees'!

'What a powerful rivers'!

'What a beautiful animals'!

He said to himself.

As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned to look. He saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charge towards him.

He ran as fast as he could up the path.. He looked over his shoulder & saw the bear was closing in on him.

He looked over his shoulder again, & the bear was even closer. He tripped & fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw that the bear was right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw & raising his right paw to strike him.

At that instant the Atheist cried out, 'Oh my God!'

Time stopped.

The bear froze.

The forest was silent.

As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky. 'You deny my existence for all these years, teach others I don't exist and even credit creation to cosmic accident.' 'Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer'?

The atheist looked directly into the light, 'It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps you could make the BEAR a Christian'?

'Very Well,' said the voice

The light went out. the sounds of the forest resumed. And the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed his head & spoke:

'Lord bless this food, which I am about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord, Amen.'

i applaud your intentions however i think that perhaps even in this sexually charged site we also have to be open enough to explore all of our feelings and thoughts. i had hoped to get more input from many others and even asked for PM's if they wanted. i think what i am trying to find out is what is the relationship of spirituality, our religions if you want, and transeuxality and how it is perceived by those outside the cummunity and those inside the community. i am wondering if the choice of sexual identity has adversely affected a persons spirituality.

i know they tell us not to talk about politics, sex and religion because that causes lots of fights but doesn't mean we dont need to know.

thanks jenllani i really do appreciate all your threads/posts and you thoughts and feelings that you share with us. makes our dreary not quite so lonely.

[Lani]

Post For This Lenten Season

Anyway, for a little levity, this is somewhat relevant to your thread,
It's a good one.


An Atheist in the Woods...

An atheist was walking thru the woods.

'What a majestic trees'!

'What a powerful rivers'!

'What a beautiful animals'!

He said to himself.

As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned to look. He saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charge towards him.

He ran as fast as he could up the path.. He looked over his shoulder & saw the bear was closing in on him.

He looked over his shoulder again, & the bear was even closer. He tripped & fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw that the bear was right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw & raising his right paw to strike him.

At that instant the Atheist cried out, 'Oh my God!'

Time stopped.

The bear froze.

The forest was silent.

As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky. 'You deny my existence for all these years, teach others I don't exist and even credit creation to cosmic accident.' 'Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer'?

The atheist looked directly into the light, 'It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now, but perhaps you could make the BEAR a Christian'?

'Very Well,' said the voice

The light went out. the sounds of the forest resumed. And the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed his head & spoke:

'Lord bless this food, which I am about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord, Amen.'







And for an inspirational story


The SON

Take my Son

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great work of art.

When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.

About a month later, just before Christmas,

there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands..

He said, 'Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art.' The young man held out this package. 'I know this isn't much. I'm not really a great artist, But I think your son would have wanted you to have this.'

The father

opened the package. It was a portrait of his son painted by the young man.
He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up in tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture.'Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift.'

The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.

The man died a few months later.
There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for their collection.


On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. 'We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?'

There was silence.

Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, 'We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one.'

But the auctioneer persisted, 'Will somebody bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?'

Another voice angrily. 'We didn't come to see this painting. We came to to see the Van Gogh's, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids!'

But still the auctioneer continued.
'The son! The son! Who'll take the son?'

Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. 'I'll give $10 for the painting..' Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.

'We have $10, who will bid for $20?'

'Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters.'

The crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son.

They wanted the more worthy investments for their collection.


The auctioneer pounded the gavel.
'Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!'

A man sitting on the second row shouted, 'Now let's get on with the collection!'


The auctioneer laid down his gavel. 'I'm sorry, the auction is over.'

'What about the paintings?'

'I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned, Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings.


The man who took the son gets everything!'


God gave his son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today for this week: 'The son, the son, who'll take the son?'

Because, you see, whoever takes the son gets everything.

FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, WHO SO EVER BELIEVETH, SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE...THAT'S LOVE.


And just for one time of this year I posted this for this solemn celebration.

And whatever denomination you are in... PLEASE PRAY FOR THE PEOPLE OF ITALY, ESPECIALLY THE CHILDREN WHO WERE PERISHED IN THE EARTHQUAKE.

[Salvador]

Religulous

Religulous

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0815241/

Please guys, all these fairytale are too ridiculous !

Check out Bill Maher's film. Particularly the very end of the flick when he tells us just how important it is to get rid of all these religions. Religion is about as evil as it gets if you're trying to define it. According to the church, this forum is evil.

There is no invisible man in the sky, so please !
There is no god. Only we can make things right. But not through religion.

I'm so disappointed to read all this stuff here .

[Lani]

I respect and understand your opinion

Religulous

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0815241/

Please guys, all these fairytale are too ridiculous !

Check out Bill Maher's film. Particularly the very end of the flick when he tells us just how important it is to get rid of all these religions. Religion is about as evil as it gets if you're trying to define it. According to the church, this forum is evil.

There is no invisible man in the sky, so please !
There is no god. Only we can make things right. But not through religion.

I'm so disappointed to read all this stuff here .

I actually seen this documentary and I'm not a bit offended nor disappointed, coz, I like Bill Maher and his political views and his views in life in general, in fact I laugh heavily in some of the revelations in this documentary, coz, most of it are true. There are really extreme religious beliefs and traditions that's been practicing until now by a lot of a die hard fanatics. I've even watched one movie from my homeland shown in the Toronto film festival two years ago, where a pickpocketers is praying inside a church before he went on his daily routine slashing handbags of unsuspicious victims lol! And I know it's true.

My point to your post is this; We people who were born with religion inculcated in our brain since we were born, (or you can say brainwashed) has still some degree of beliefs in some almighty power (whoever he or what that might be). And we cannot just extinguish that from our lives. If you don't believe in god I respect that belief and I won't take it against you. As I said I'm no longer an avid and fanatic believer of all things Catholic, I have nothing against all my church would consider evil (except for some, like abortion without a valid or medical reason).

You mentioned this forum would be consider as evil by any religion or churches, and that is true, and so is smoking, drinking, gambling, womanizing, t-girlizing and so on and so forth.

But you will still see millions of religious people who goes to Casino's, bars, stripclubs and millions still smoke, gosh! I personally known a priest who gambles.

And are this people consider evil by any definitions, of course not! Unless if because of gambling you rob and kills people, unless because of drinking you mauled and physically abuse people, unless because of being a womanizer/t-girlizing will cause you to rape and sodomized unwilling people.

As long as you are a loving and caring human being and respect for your fellowmen, NO religion could dictate what you need and have to believe. But you also need and have to respect people who do.

People all over the world even non- Christians celebrates Christmas, celebrate Valentines Day (which are both have a religious undertone).

Salvador, I do respect your opinion and sorry for a little bit of digression from the usual topics that you loved reading here, I wish I could post a warning first before a member like you could read prior to clicking to my post, so you don't need to be disappointed in the future. But now you know, all you have to do (all other members who are skeptics on what I'm gonna post next) is skip any of my thread or post and go along your usual favorite topic here. (coz, I don't know if you'll believe this, but I do skip a lot of post, which I already know won't interest me). Last time I checked, this forum is open for any topics, from any members.

And I and my family been to a lot of trials and tribulations in life and without Faith and Love from people, we would not be as strong as we are now.

Miracles can be common if we have the right heart and the sensitivity to find them in the trivial and the common.

Between an Atheist and a Man of faith
there is a big difference, the former rebels against human condition, while the latter is grateful and knows how to marvel no matter what....

[toban]

Evil is as evil does

. . . . . But you will still see millions of religious people who goes to Casino's, bars, stripclubs and millions still smoke, gosh! I personally known a priest who gambles.

Good heavens, I'll go one step further than Jenllani - I am aware that some churches even host their own evil gambling "Bingo" nights right in the church basement. How evil is that!

[toban]

Religion, God, or an almighty power

. . . . . We people who were born with religion inculcated in our brain since we were born, (or you can say brainwashed) has still some degree of beliefs in some almighty power (whoever he or what that might be). And we cannot just extinguish that from our lives.

I was brought up to "believe", but I too have had a problem with trying to dispel that notion from my mind.

When I see how, when two cells (sperm & egg) combine to produce another living organism, be it a human being, a tomato plant, a damned mosquito or a lowly garden slug, I wonder how was the controlling master plan devised?


There has to be a plan that decides how that one new cell divides and why some daughter cells will divide to produce entirely different cells than they themselves e.g. in the human, some cells will divide to produce a nervous system, some a brain, others a kidney, some a lung, a skeleton etc.


Surely something that complex cannot happen solely by chance! There must be an almighty power guiding these processes!


What is this almighty power though! This is where I and religion drift apart - some see their "Almighty" as being "God". They see God almost as their own personal assistant, an almost human-like being who oversees every aspect of their own individual life, as well as being responsible for, and taking care of, every other living and non-living thing on this earth. I see this concept of the almighty power as being a total impossibility.


I can see however, that somehow, this planet, in fact this whole universe operates on, or under some mysterious "Master Plan", but not by a "god".


So now I need a label that takes my belief into account. I believe in a "Almighty Power" but not in a personal "God".


What am I? I sincerely hope that I am not seen as an atheist, for I do believe in a guiding power or a guiding force.

[tslisaparadise]

[quote=toban;186534] religeon is a bad bad thing expecially the catholics and the dickheads who show up at my door what do we call them harry christioners who i scare the hell out of whenever they show up lol ya i get alittle violent when it comes to this subject,both relgeons are a joke and the ones who practice it are nothin but hipacrits and the pope hes just an old piece of shit who needs to be shot period.imagine the nerve of these people telling us we dont belong in a world where only the straight can survive?just give me 5 mins face to face with this asshole and i bet her grabs his chest and drops like a pilon.