Hatred in the Hallways: HRW responds to the bullying of gay American kids. Links to their 2001 report and suicide prevention resources
( Read more... )
Most of the US Born Agains and fundies are Baptists, however, and baptist are non-hierarchical in much the same way as Islam (there is no central hierarchy between congregations, and congregations may differ in doctrine), so confusion about Islam in the US is unlikely to stem from this source. Oddly enough, identifying as Catholic in the US actually makes you *less* likely to be a biblical literalist than an average member of the population
( ... )
Re the non-hierarchical-ness of Protestantism in the US - that's an excellent point, one which I hadn't thought of! Perhaps that Baptist minister is right - it's a theological issue, rather than an organisational one.
This is beautiful, Kate! It's very empowering to know that, even though I'm more or less monogamous and more or less heterosexual, I'm still at least a bit of fern in Inanna's bouquet. More important, though, is the message that there are religions that do not demand sexual conformity, beginning with all of us Wiccans, Neo-Pagans, and generally heathen folk.
I believe, based on a lifetime of observation, that monotheism is the cause of the majority of problems in today's world. If you believe that there can be many gods and goddesses, and a person may worship one or many of them without dishonoring any of them, that creates a very different mind-set than the belief that there is only one true god, with only one correct form of worship, and all other "gods" are demons, and all other forms are heresy. Exclusionary doctrine is inevitable in monotheism... those who are excluded need to know that there's a place that will take them in.
It's interesting that you namecheck Moon here, esp. since she's just posted about suicide in ways that make me very, very tense.
I'm sitting on my hands (er, metaphorically) and trying not to engage while I try to parse whether I think she's just trying to be broadly topical, or if I think she's missing the point in really terrible ways.
OTOH, it was really nice -- and not altogether surprising -- to see one of the groups I'm a part of (Ekklesía Antínoou) get a namecheck in that Wild Hunt article.
Also, somehow (*cough, the media, cough*) I had never learned about the definition of "fatwa." Thanks for that tidbit!
That posting about suicide is odd. I utterly fucked up my honours year in science and my lifelong plans of curing cancer, so I can relate to what she's describing. And yet I'm uncomfortable with the (almost certainly inadvertent) suggestion that outed or harassed gay students who take their own lives have somehow "failed". I'd have liked a word or two more to distinguish the various sorts of catastrophes.
"Jihad" doesn't mean what the media think it does, either. :)
Exactly. She could be talking about suicide as a general thing after one stumbles, or she could be drawing a comparison.
Thing one: a reasonable thing to talk about. Thing two: makes me want to yell "get off my team."
I had a student worker this summer who got all puffed up when he noticed one of our international students had the middle name Talib. I had to tell him, "Uh, you know that means 'student,' right?"
This was brought home to me when I tried to find out whether I could, tongue-in-cheek, call myself a mushrika. Google promptly produced several different definitions of the term and who it could be applied to. (It's clear I'm going to have to hit the books some more over this one!)
When I taught a class on Islamic mysticism, the students asked me at a certain point what religion I was; I responded that I was a Sabian.
I don't think I've encountered the Sabians before! They sound fascinating. (The Mandaeans I do know a smidgeon about - my boss once put on a library exhibition about them, and also, Australia keeps sticking them in detention centres. :P
The Sabians are the other People of the Book, besides Jews and Christians. Their identity is somewhat of a mystery; they are sometimes identified with specific groups like the Mandaeans, but sometimes they have a more ambiguous and, indeed, suggestive status, as one can see from this.
Comments 23
Reply
Reply
Reply
I believe, based on a lifetime of observation, that monotheism is the cause of the majority of problems in today's world. If you believe that there can be many gods and goddesses, and a person may worship one or many of them without dishonoring any of them, that creates a very different mind-set than the belief that there is only one true god, with only one correct form of worship, and all other "gods" are demons, and all other forms are heresy. Exclusionary doctrine is inevitable in monotheism... those who are excluded need to know that there's a place that will take them in.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
I'm sitting on my hands (er, metaphorically) and trying not to engage while I try to parse whether I think she's just trying to be broadly topical, or if I think she's missing the point in really terrible ways.
OTOH, it was really nice -- and not altogether surprising -- to see one of the groups I'm a part of (Ekklesía Antínoou) get a namecheck in that Wild Hunt article.
Also, somehow (*cough, the media, cough*) I had never learned about the definition of "fatwa." Thanks for that tidbit!
Reply
"Jihad" doesn't mean what the media think it does, either. :)
Reply
Thing one: a reasonable thing to talk about.
Thing two: makes me want to yell "get off my team."
I had a student worker this summer who got all puffed up when he noticed one of our international students had the middle name Talib. I had to tell him, "Uh, you know that means 'student,' right?"
Reply
Reply
When I taught a class on Islamic mysticism, the students asked me at a certain point what religion I was; I responded that I was a Sabian.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment