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I have previously shared on the religion board of the forum that my personal spiritual belief system might be broadly categorized as de-mythologized Platonic-Christian Gnosticism. My wife has not given the subject as much thought as I have.
![]() So my daughter and I went to church this morning - as my wife was out of town with her boyfriend - and with me knowing that she would be getting shagged at the same time we were sitting in a pew - adding a touch of irony to the whole experience. (In case anyone is wondering.... she called to say good morning to our daughter on our way to church - and told me she would be back on the road after a "goodbye moment", with both of us understanding what that meant). But back to the story - we were sitting in the rear of the church - and in the pew in front of us were three ladies sitting next to each other - who were almost certainly in a Lesbian triad (or possibly V - with the hinge in the middle). I had met the middle lady and the one to her left before - and they are an open, committed Lesbian couple. The lady in the middle was engaged in affectionate touches with both of the other ladies, holding hands, touches, etc. And at the "peace point" - they had a wonderful group hug. Of course, nothing is certain - an it really doesn't matter, of course - but it made me smile, especially given what my wife was up to right about then. ![]() I did ask the pastor what he thought about polyamory once (which required explaining what poly is - and relating that we have a lady friend with two husbands - more or less true) - which he thought was completely different than the gay marriage issues - and he is about as liberal as they come in a mainline protestant church. I did give him a friendly warning that I had read some about it - and had learned that it was a small but growing movement, and that he should probably be prepared to see it, given the liberal reputation of the church...... and here we have it - on the third row from the back. (Not to mention the closeted guy on the next row back, sitting next to his young daughter) ![]()
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Dramatis Personae: Me: Al99, poly, heterosexual male, 50's Becky: married to Al99, poly, heterosexual female, late 30's Bouncingbetty: ldr girlfriend to Al99, poly, pansexual female, early 30's Ben: Becky's medium-ldr bf, heterosexual male, 40's _________________________________________ My Introductory Post - An Unexpected Introduction to Poly. Last edited by Al99; 07-24-2017 at 02:42 AM. |
#2
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Now that's my kind of church service,
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Love means never having to say, "Put down that meat cleaver!" |
#3
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As I've shared before, I am also kind of a gnostic, but I am allergic to church.
I dunno. I'd feel weird having to hip my pastor to my kind of relationship. And it might feel ... titillating to see those 3 lesbians and imagine their sexual formations, watching them hug while you're sitting there in your pew. In full view of Yahweh/Ialdabaoth and Christ and Buddha and Vishnu and holy Moses and Aphrodite and Kwan Yin and Gaia and the Green Man and baby Jesus and all. But many poly people can't be "out," in church, in school, at work, in their families, without severe repercussions. Loss of family, jobs, even a home if your landlord is a dick. So many gay and trans and queer folk are killed or commit suicide every day. I don't think poly people are getting murdered or killing themselves nearly as much. We can hide behind a mono and often hetero veil so easily. I'm rambling here, but there was something about your post that made me feel uneasy.
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Love withers under constraint; its very essence is liberty. It is compatible neither with envy, jealousy or fear. It is there most pure, perfect and unlimited when its votaries live in confidence, equality and unreserve. -- Shelley Mags (poly, F, 63) Pixi (poly, F, 41) my nesting partner since January 2009 Master, (mono, M, 37), Pixi's bf since April 2013 BigGuy (poly, M, married, 43, dating me since June 2018) |
#4
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Even though I do not subscribe to the official theology of our church, I find that I can enjoy the service in a general sense (although this would not be true in an evangelical setting). Quote:
![]() And, on a more serious note - yes, it is very unfortunate that most poly folks must remain closeted for fear of repercussions. It certainly would be quite unfortunate if my wife and I were somehow outed. Hope everyone has a great week! Al
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Dramatis Personae: Me: Al99, poly, heterosexual male, 50's Becky: married to Al99, poly, heterosexual female, late 30's Bouncingbetty: ldr girlfriend to Al99, poly, pansexual female, early 30's Ben: Becky's medium-ldr bf, heterosexual male, 40's _________________________________________ My Introductory Post - An Unexpected Introduction to Poly. |
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I guess it's tangential to the discussion, but this is poignant.
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~ Karen |
#6
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Even though I am an Atheist, I think it's fantastic that they have a place they can go worship whatever and feel free to be themselves. The way most church people deal with homosexuality makes me sick. What I don't get is why people want to belong to a church that doesn't want them as a member? That has to be an awful thing to go through. |
#7
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There were parts of church that I loved, the music, the rituals, the candles, being able to sing (in my off-key way) out loud (I love hymns! - especially the old ones). I can't argue that the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament don't warm my soul/conscious - be a good person, help your fellow man, don't judge - how are those lessons wrong? I love the ideas whether they come from Jesus or Buddha! (Or fucking Heinlein for that matter, "thou are god!") But the parts that I was most drawn too, the parts that I felt mattered, were the parts that focused on "service" to our fellow man. Working in the soup kitchen, collecting clothes for the homeless, donating my pumpkin-selling money to Unicef to get poor kids immunized against fatal yet preventable disease. Today? I don't need to attend church to do these things, I do them every day. I think that a lot of people would like to believe that there is "more" to our existence than our limited lifespan on this planet. So the church's "promises" on that account are reassuring. I'm not convinced that there is actually anything beyond our "now" - so i have to do the best that i can in the time I have. To make the world a better/happier place.
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JaneQ(Me): poly bi female, in an "open-but-not-always-looking" V-plus with - MrS: hetero polyflexible male, live-in husband (26+ yrs) Dude: hetero poly male, live-in boyfriend (8+ yrs) and MrS's BFF SLeW: platonic hetero girlfriend and BFF + "others" = FBs, FWBs, lover-friends, platonic G/BFs, boytoys, etc. My poly blogs here: The Journey of JaneQSmythe The Notebook of JaneQSmythe |
#8
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![]() Although I came into the poly world quite unexpectedly and with serious reservations, encountering all the Heinlein fans in the poly community has definitely been one of the positives. Aquafraternally yours, Al ![]()
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Dramatis Personae: Me: Al99, poly, heterosexual male, 50's Becky: married to Al99, poly, heterosexual female, late 30's Bouncingbetty: ldr girlfriend to Al99, poly, pansexual female, early 30's Ben: Becky's medium-ldr bf, heterosexual male, 40's _________________________________________ My Introductory Post - An Unexpected Introduction to Poly. Last edited by Al99; 09-26-2017 at 01:43 PM. |
#9
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#10
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I remember once when a door-to-door hawker of a "Christian Cookbook", first, assumed that I was agnostic because I had never "heard the word" and then, upon clarification, assumed that that I had been "driven out" by "those kind" of Christians (presumably not "real" Christians like him). The idea that someone could be familiar with the bible and various doctrines and have fond fellowship memories of church-going could "choose" to "turn away" from religion was seemingly unfathomable.
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JaneQ(Me): poly bi female, in an "open-but-not-always-looking" V-plus with - MrS: hetero polyflexible male, live-in husband (26+ yrs) Dude: hetero poly male, live-in boyfriend (8+ yrs) and MrS's BFF SLeW: platonic hetero girlfriend and BFF + "others" = FBs, FWBs, lover-friends, platonic G/BFs, boytoys, etc. My poly blogs here: The Journey of JaneQSmythe The Notebook of JaneQSmythe |
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