I hope I can find my soap...

[rootofnewt]

Ooof. I've been super achy. My neck and shoulders are killing me. It seems that they're so tight, they should spring loose, like a watch that's overwound. Of course, that would offer some relief, so my body's not about to do it.

I'm going to shower soon. It's been a few days, which is not a good thing in summer. My hair looks gross. Then I'll go buy some mailing envelopes and a CD mailer.

I suddenly smell bleach. How odd.

I'm really frustrated by the homophobia on a list I run. What's the balance between allowing someone to express an opinion yet still providing a safe space for queer members? The list in question is not a queer-issues list of any sort.

And is it wrong that I feel those who have religious objections to homosexuality are narrow-minded? It seems that *I* am being narrow-minded by feeling that... Of course, I also feel they're being hypocrites for being judgmental. Since I don't follow a faith where I'm not supposed to be judgmental, I don't have any qualms judging them as such, except I *DO* feel bad for being judgmental like that. Where the hell did this guilty conscience come from, anyhow?

Comments

I had the same feeling...

[bbick.livejournal.com]

I posed the same question to myself a few weeks ago (http://www.livejournal.com/users/bbick/27182.html) on my journal...is it okay to be unaccepting of intolerance?

It's really a tough question. But I think it's okay to voice your objections to these religions' stance on homosexuality as long as you're not assuming that everyone who practices that religion is intolerant. Does that make any sense? For instance, I disagree with a lot of what Catholicism teaches. But I know many Catholics who are very open-minded about homosexuality.

You may not approve of the way that women are treated in much of the Muslim world, but do you hate all Muslims? You may not approve of female circumcision, but do you hate people of African cultures that practice it? That's the difference I think.

I'd love to hear your (and others') thoughts on this!

Re: I had the same feeling...

[briskpepper.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's pretty much my assessment of it all too. In just about every religious dogma (dunno if that's the right word, so i'll just pretend it is) i can usually find a handful of things i detest COMPLETELY, but i don't like the idea of saying "i hate -whatever-"... It sortof raises the question "does the action or belief define the man?" I tend to think it does.

So, i think part of the confusing maybe is in that the muslim analogy is very different from the african analogy. Yes i disapprove of the poor treatment of women, no i don't dislike all muslims. Not all Muslims mistreat women. The african analogy is about people who are certainly practicing something that is assumed to be distasteful... they're different scope i think.

lol, and i have NO idea what female circumcision is.

I think its okay to voice objection to anything if you feel it truly beneficial. I think that's how progress is made. a bunch of people talking about what they think needs to change to make things better.

hahahaha i'm so conflicted sometimes. It's a tough line to negotiate!

[bbick.livejournal.com]

Boy did I open up a can of worms here. Female circumcision is the removal of part or all of the clitoris. It's still practiced in some African cultures today. A lot of people, especially in the West, see it as barbaric and oppressive to women. It is also indisputably painful, and for many circumcised women sex is less pleasurable and often quite painful as well.

The topic came up a lot in my anthropology classes. I've read a lot of arguments against it, and some are very logical, while others smack of obvious ethnocentrism. It's a touchy issue. What I was saying is that I don't agree with the ritual itself, but I don't hate the people who practice it or see the entire culture as backwards, ignorant, or "primitive" (god I hate that word when applied to cultures).

You can search for more info on Google, but like I said, a lot of the literature out there is very, very biased. I did find one article (http://www.africa2000.com/SNDX/circum.html) that I thought was very insightful.

krasota, sorry to go off on this tangent in your journal here...