I couldn't believe the news today. You're not just anti-gay marriage anymore. It's gone way past that.

All the cool scientists are talking about it. What's the big deal?

Our planet's climate has cooled and warmed for millions of years. It happens on a regular basis, such is the testament of the fossil record. It's a cyclical occurence, like the seasons.

Why are scientists so worried? Since the industrial revolution mankind has awoken to the fact that we greatly change our local environments by pollution and wiping out entire species of plants and animals. Now scientists are worried that our environmental impact has global impact. Examine the facts: we have increased our human population six-fold in the past one hundred fifty years. Our appetite for natural resources like land, water, and petroleum is consequently much bigger now than it used to be. And because of sheer numbers and our technology, as a species we pollute a lot more than we used to.

So is humanity collectively responsible for bringing about a possible climactic shift in the very near future? Possible. But so what? Even if global warming happens in the near future, what's all the fuss? The earth will continue to spin, the Sun and the Moon will stick around, the vast water oceans will continue to boil and teem with life.

Basically we're worried about impending disaster. Climactic change may dramatically alter the coasts (where most people in the world live) and increase the occurence and severity of storms like tropical cyclones and monsoons. Local climates would shift dramatically. Forrests become desert; desert become grassland, etc. This would all have happened anyway, whether had people ever lived or not.

But we do live, and we live here. It's all about survival at this point in the game. With global warming definitely happening in our front yard. Can we survive the vast environmental and social changes that will occur? Water shortage, famine, plague, mass migration, and war are knocking on our door. Can we adapt to a brand new world?

One day the Messiah's gonna come and everything's gonna be great!
Jesus is coming back and everything's gonna be great!
The Age of Aquarius is coming and everything's gonna be great!

a lot of religions depend on some mythical future in which everything will be set right. Evil will be punished and good rewarded. Do these promises make up for the lack of justice in the world? The seeming chaos and meaninglessness we float in?

There is a longing in every human heart for a better tomorrow. And it cannot be satisfied. Ever. Do religious institutions tap into that desire to create fanatical devotion and obedience? I cannot believe that the beginnings of most religions and especially the ancient wisdom traditions are so wicked.

We can never understand what it is that has made out universe. Our minds are cups too small to hold all that invigorating knowledge. So we must talk about the supernatural and metaphysical with metaphors. We place our experiences on the universe and the gods in order to understand them. Maybe these religious promises are just projections of that primal feeling.

You were right.



Joe, I love my new mac. it's helping me out of a bad relationship i had with my pc laptop. Thank you for steering me to this amazing and wonderful thing :-)

An article in the Denver Post today

My heart goes out to this pastor and his family. I want to hold him and his family in my arms. It's not easy. A life full of self doubt and devoid of mercy is not worth living. But i'm happy for them because the truth allows us to live our lives out loud, like we mean it, like we are made to do. That is, the truth sets us free - a really neat guy told me that.

Contrary to Pastor Barnes, I believe that people are born with a sort of pre-sexual orientation already in place. I believe that the time is right for the Christian churches to accept that being gay is okay. I also believe it's about time for the gay community to do some soul-searching and reach out to their Christian brothers and sisters.

Draw us in the Spirit's tether
For when humbly in thy name
Two or three are met together
Thou art in the midst of them
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Touch we now thy garment's hem

Joe asked me to make a post about a most unlikely question. "Do you think all effeminate men are gay?" Oh boy. Well, i'll give it my best shot.
Short answer: no. It's a free country and you can play with gender roles how you like. A lot of my straight-male friends are very effeminate, a là 'ohmigod that dog is soooo cute'. Even more of them act effeminately to make jokes with me and others.

Don't get me wrong - the thought has crossed my mind many times when i meet a guy who is impeccably groomed and speaks with an unmistakeably gay lisp, or talks about his male friends with female pronouns. What's up with that?
My theory is that effeminate behavior is an old left-over in the gay subculture's freezer. Before the coming out movement, there was a way to tell someone you were, you know, *different* without actually saying it. A flick of the wrist, an affected vowel here and there, you get the idea. At least i'm pretty sure that's how it happened in the cities. Feedback would be welcome.
And of course there were the bars, where men and women seeking a different sort of excitement found eachother. Before the solidarity of gay pride realized in the Stonewall Riots, a subculture had already formed in these bars. Part of being in the club was acting like the other members. All the cool gays and lesbians were breaking gender norms, so the rest followed suit. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Then again, it could just be a giant extended middle finger to a society that rejects them. It was and is an unwritten rule that only and all men shall act masculine and pursue females, likewise only and all women shall act feminine and pursue males. What better way to poo-poo some silly rule than to mock it?
And in true post-modern fashion effeminate straight guys and masculine gay guys are pretty much accepted. It's a much more ambiguous world, but more mature in my opinion. We're so serious all day using gender roles properly... but we can play with them, too.