Sunday Favorite: Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday. I only mention this because my mother mentioned it while I was visiting my parents today. There was a time when today meant something and church services revolved around the retelling of the story of Christ's entry into Jerusalem. I've gotten out of the habit but I used to watch Jesus Christ Superstar sometime during this weekend sort of to get me into the mindset for the upcoming week. Now if I watch it, I view it for entertainment value.

I know many gay men follow a path of agnosticism or atheism. I can understand that. However, as I've grown older and grown farther away from the religiosity mindset in which I was raised, I admit to there being a tad uncomfortableness. It's not that I don't believe, I do. I used to study the scriptures and try to decipher what they meant and if they had any applicable meaning to my life. I believe that the Bible is the Word of God as interpreted by man. That last part is important. With the stories of the Old Testament being handed down for hundreds of generations before they were committed to writing you know that things were left out and things were put in and exaggeration was incorporated. Add to that the many "translations" and you get contradictions, additions, deletions, and just bad interpretations.

I understand the fundamentalists wanting to ban gay marriage. I understand it from a religious standpoint. But I also understand it from a social standpoint, from an economic standpoint. While I don't believe I'll ever be in the position to get married, I believe that my friends should be able to get married. So what if they have two dicks? The argument of Leviticus and Romans do not make sense these days. During the time of the Torah, there was a need for procreation to strengthen the number of Israelites needed to retake the land promised to them. In the time of Romans, well...Paul was a Roman named Saul before his conversion and I suspect his admonitions were more self-reflective than damning of others. The book of Leviticus was written for the Israelites. The book of Romans was written to the Romans. Were these books exclusionary to the groups to whom and for whom they were written? I tend to lean toward the "yes" answer. That's not to say that the rest of us shouldn't pay heed to some of the things written but I don't think they were written as a blanket for all of mankind. Maybe I just try to justify it so I can have sex with men.

But what about love? Neither book discusses the emotion of love. Perhaps the books are more anti-promiscuity than anti-love between same sex couples. And most GLBT members argue that Christ himself never said a word for or against same sex love. At least not in the written records we have.

All I know is that faith - the belief in things unseen - is a strong foundation for how many people conduct themselves. Some take it too far by trying to impose their faith and beliefs on others. This is our struggle today especially in the U.S. I do not know what the answer is. I do believe, personally, that one day all will be revealed and that the truth will be known throughout the world. What that truth is, no man knows for certain. My belief is that if two people love each other - regardless of whether they are an opposite sex or a same sex couple - that is not a bad thing.

Sorry for the sermon. But these are my thoughts today and something I've wanted to share for a while. There will be those who do not agree; there will be those whose comments will be bitter or contradictory or even inflammatory. And that's okay because we all have our own beliefs, opinions, and understanding of the bigger picture. No one is right. And no one is wrong. Simply because we do not know.

Oops, there I go again, with the sermon. My apologies. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend; I did. Let's all have a good week as well. BEHR HUGS!!