To`na Wanagi

See? I told you some of us need reminders! And even if you took them back in a time machine to prove what one says, they still would not listen.... I'm with you dear brother!

"What Child is This?".....It makes me ponder what SPIRIT it is that all of us are creating and procreating in this world....

But dear friend, sometimes we all need reminders....especially when we reach a "certain age"....if ya know what I mean?..But know this, I would never, ever, throw you to the lions!!!.But even if someone else did, I know you would be just like Daniel!.

Do you really think there are any in the glbt community who have not been described as freaks and much worse? Why? Simply because they are different....and that is the nature of the human condition, to deride any who do not follow after their specific doctrines, prejudices, are the "wrong" color, "wrong" sex, or "wrong" orientation according to their judgments. Why would you think that would change if the roles were reversed after generations of persecution from the religious right? It is not unusual for the "liberators" to become the oppressors. Everyone wants their pound of flesh so they can feel righteous....... don't they?

The grandfather watched as the young boy/man was obviously restless to experience more than what his village had offered him, so he asked him "Grandson, what is it that bothers you?" The boy/man said, "Grandfather, I think I am now a man and I wish to go out into the world and discover the mysteries of life. Can you tell me grandfather, where I will find these things?" Grandfather said to him, "Go into the forest, down in the valley near the river. There you will find all the answers to your questions. But take care to watch all things around you for within them you will learn many lessons." The boy/man hurriedly gathered his things together and set off on his vision quest. He walked for several days until he reached a high place overlooking the valley below with the broad river winding through it. He could not contain his excitement and rushed down into the valley where he came upon a huge tree blocking his path. The boy was gone for a long time and grandfather waited patiently for his return. When finally the boy/man came around the lodge and saw his grandfather sitting there motioning to him to come and sit beside him. "Grandson, you have been gone a long time. tell me what you have experienced and learned." The boy/man related all he had seen on his way to the great forest and told his grandfather of the great tree that stood in his path. Grandfather asked him, "What did you do?" The boy/man declared, "I took out my hatchet and cut it down!" Grandfather asked, "And what did you find?" The boy/man said, "I found another tree beyond it so that I still could not see past the tree. So I cut that down too! And every time I cut down a tree, another one stood in my way. So I cut, and cut, and cut, until I came through to the other side." Grandfather asked, "And what did you see?" The boy said angrily, "Nothing! I could not see the forest anywhere! I could not see the forest because of those trees!" Grandfather shook his head slowly, his eyes full of sorrow, stood and walked away. For he had hoped his grandson would have opened his eyes to the truth that the answers to his questions were within him all along and he did not have to take such long journeys to discover what was always right there. He looked at his granson and said, "You are not yet a man. Hear these words...."Swa di'e syok, neh kuh, swa ya do waht; swihsaak', neh kuh, na swa'gah; swah ho'ah e'syooh, neh kuh, neh da swa'de ho'on dyahs." His grandson asked, "What do these words mean?" To which grandfather replied, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." And judge no tree unworthy for it too is just a part of the forest."

What did Jesus have to say about all this? Ohhhhhh......Nothing? Well then, I must assume He had no problems with those who were born differently. He did have a lot to say about heterosexuals though.... And those of you who do have a problem? You should probably get used to it, because we are not going away. No. In fact, because of pollution of our water supplies there are more and more of us born every day. Soon the earth will be filled with androgynous individuals created by the will of man and his foolish enterprises. Perhaps in that day heterosexuals will be deemed the "freaks"?. .....Just sayin'....

That does not alter the fact that each of us enters the air-breathing world exactly as we were formed in the womb. Any "flaws", as you call them, are still the result of being born exactly the way we were designed in the womb and from the moment of conception onward.

So you are challenging the medical evidence of several of my own physicians proving beyond a doubt my own physiological anomalies which basically made me a two- gendered person? You are denying the existence of hermaphrodism? You are denying the proven medical fact of a male body possessing a female brain? Based on what? Religious indoctrination which states otherwise based on 6 thousand year old prejudices before the age of modern medicine? Come on Songster, I really don't think even you believe that... My people even recognized and respected glbt members of their own tribes for over a few thousand years and appreciated the gifts and talents they shared with their communities.

I very much appreciate this topic and both posts. I am one of "those" creatures. And while I tried so earnestly, so honestly, so passionately to be what the world expected me to be, the six words pounding and resounding in my heart, my head, my spirit were; "To thine own self be true." Which is why I live by those words while exhorting to the rest of the world, "Just because the world thinks/says it's so, does not make it so." If there is such a thing as sin, then those who perpetuate and promote hostility toward those of us who have had no part in our own procreation and are anamolies of nature, have surely sinned against the very God they claim to follow. We are all children of God....or...none of us are. And for those who do not believe in a god, their prejudicial bigotries are no less than those they despise. Thank you dear sister for your eloquence and beautiful spirit of love for one another. And thank you dear brother for your understanding heart. I have told many a soul that maybe, just maybe, God made people like me so that people like they could learn to understand people like me. ...God's Peace....To`na Wanagi

Who is advocating eugenics in the scientific community right now? Neo-eugenics perhaps, which I support myself, but not likely eugenics. Eugenics has too many problems, particularly when it comes to genetic diversity. It would run the risk of driving us extinct more easily. The manipulation of our food sources, the human genome project, all these are leading to what you apparently aspire to. "Play god" is such an insipid, worthless, and utterly idiotic phrase. What god? No god exists? So which of humanities fictionalized gods are we playing at? The Abrahamic jealous, spiteful, vindictive god that condones and commands rape, torture, and murder? The Hellenic gods with their womanizing and petty grudges? One thing that never seems to change is that humanity has the potential to be infinitely more moral than the gods it dreams up and out of some well of stupidity draws forth the desire to worship these imaginings of barbaric and horrible times. No, no god exists to play as, and being a creature of conscience, I doubt most would choose to play as one anyway. Whether you wish to admit it or not, those same "god-delusions of grandiosity" are not reserved to only religious gods, but also to the ones some have made up in their minds about themselves. Those whose condescension toward others who do not meet with their approval or intellectual standards such as you have illustrated by your own words. The suggestion of manipulating the human brain to eliminate certain aspects of its natural functioning interferes with the natural evolution of our species. By this action, those who attempt this are of the belief they know what is best for humankind and are therefore qualified to alter the entire species to their own liking, taking that action, you deny others their most basic rights to life, liberty and their own personal pursuit of happiness. No one is qualified or authorized to take this away from another human being. Humans learn and apply that learning to our surroundings to survive and thrive. That is the animal we are. It is the animal we've evolved to be. Then allow our species to evolve at its own rate not to be determined by another fallible human....You do consider yourself fallible, don't you? The human race has done quite enough damage by those who believe in the insane ramblings of Bronze Age desert tribesmen as written by Iron Age politicians. As well as modern day chemists and scientists. The extinction of species in the last 100 years surpasses those of the bronze or iron ages. And today's politicians are still quite adept at insane ramblings. Would you call the elimination of a mental illness genocide? I wouldn't. That has not been accomplished and is still a far way off. Are you suggesting we return to continuing to use human Guinea Pigs as they did in the days of old thorazine and lobotomizing and radical ECT? Oh yeah, they are anyway! Removing the disease of superstition and theism is a good thing. Is a healthy man superior to a sick one? No, he is just in better health. I don't think I am your superior, just in a better state of health. That is your opinion, of which I strongly disagree. I don't think that sentence means what you think it means. Eschew means to avoid. So you're telling me I avoid "the very same mentality" when I believe you're attempting to accuse me of having it. No. I stand by the word which means "to shun something unworthy or injurious". As you declare you do, you are unable to admit you are of that same mind which you shun. However, I do not. I have no faith, nore any need of a faith. I think that humans should indeed alter the human condition, it is what we are evolved to do and we stand to eliminate a great deal of suffering if we do so with care. Again, this is nothing more than a conjecture and opinion...a dangerous one (emboldened above). And, more importantly, I am not suggesting anyone be lobotomized. Connection to the prefrontal cortex would remain and functionality would not be diminished. Removing or destroying parts of the brain can certainly be called a lobotomy. And functionality would be diminished because that aspect of the human brain would cease to exist and function. And just because a person may not be cognizant of this fact does not make it any less so. It is still gone. And who are you to say what that specific part of the brain might evolve into naturally? Do you presume to know how those folds and wrinkles will eventually move and migrate as our species evolves? There are some enjoyable, even useful, effects in phenomena associated with "religious" experience. Again, as a result of these experiences, will the human condition evolve by te experience? And yet you would put an end to the natural process and phenomenon which is still hypthetical and conjecture of those who have some gripe/beef with religiosity/faith? Coming from a woman who cannot separate her imagination from reality, that means less than nothing to me. That is a great assumption on your part. Because I protect the right of others to believe as they will does not mean I endorse those beliefs. I accept the natural order of things and have no desire to interfere with those processes as this creation evolves. I have no fears of death, or extermination, and am not subject to superstition. I feel no need to play god and change the course of evolution on any plane. I contend that whatever a person experiences is real to them and it must be they who come to the terms of those natural conditions. I also contend that no one has the right to take away those rights or experiences. My best expression of love is to live and let live...not to think I have cornered the market on truth or that my way is the only way. Have you ever wondered why humankind is on such a fast pace to its own demise and destruction? Why is it only we humans have to hurry things up, change our environments, believe we have the right to eliminate specific species, and now to manipulate the very core of our identity through demagoguery? (the process of leading the populace by pandering prejudices and passions, unprincipled and unbridled.)IMO, people who plant these kinds of seeds in the minds of others depend upon both, their approval and their ignorance. I provide neither to anyone. But I do endorse the right for them to believe as they wish and will be there to issue my objections to foolishness.

These are the things of which you state nick, which scare the hell out of me. These are the very instruments and thoughts of people the likes of Dr. Mengele and the newest mad scientists who advocate eugenics and want to play god. I think the human race has done quite enough damage to this earth and to our own species by those who think they are superior to others and are entitled to commit genocide. While you criticize those who have a faith/belief in a higher power and the instruments of those faiths, you eschew the very same mentality by suggesting human demi-gods alter the human condition through a lobotomizing of the brain. IMO, that is an indication of a very troubled mind.

I know some humans who are already "married" to their machines. They prefer it to the real thing.

As I have said many times, this world suffers from a soul-sickness which is caused by a spiritual blight, an absence of spirit. But as many of our world sages have prophesied it would be, so it is. Why are we surprised? And their end will also come, as will ours. May the Will of the Great Spirit be revealed, be known, and be done....God's Peace.....To`na Wanagi

Uhhhhhh....Hex? Where we goin' with this? Remember, we are dealing with Bp Corey! LOL!!!

Al, I share your grief and offer you and yours up in the MW. And as we exprience tragedies in our lives, we begin to appreciate even more those "little things" which have now become precious pearls....God's Peace to all of you.....To`na Wanagi

The two weddings I did perform in IL required my signature as the officiant on the license. ..IL did not provide me wth any official certificate but I provided my own for the couples. And before the gay marriage law was passed this past summer, domestic partnership laws were in place in certain municipalities in the state of IL, but not in most, parts of Chicago, but not all of Chicago, and Champaign-Urbana were two that I know of.

I never fill out the license until the deed is done. There arer times when people will resche3dule events, times when one or the other gets cold feet. No. I wait until all the vows are said and done. And usually the couple likes to gewt a photo of them signing their license. I treat the certificate in the same way. It is only a souvenir for the couple and has no legal power. For states which now have same sex marriage, the same basic procedure will take place. The two of them need to go to the county clerk, purchase their license and provide all the pertinent information and then the clerk will issue the license with some of the information on one side of the license. Both the married couple and the witnesses must sign the document for it to be legal.. Hope this helps.

I had a pack "reserved" in my dresser for almost a year. Then I made up my mind to get rid of the reservation. I know Murphzlaw was sticking to it from the posts....but....reservations....

Sooooo....Murphzlaw....Today is the Great American Smoke Out. ...no time like the present to throw the smokes all away! C'mon! I know you can do it! Stop making those reservations and be like a Nike....just do it! I got you in my thoughts today.

While I see the military as a necessary evil in a very disturbed world and respect the decisions of those who choose to participate....I await the day when those weapons are turned into plowshares.

No....you may indulge in ONE kosher pickle!....

Now, will you continue the story and tell us how they were "married"?.....Pleeaasse?..

Armageddon. ....tennis match! ......

"Light of the world, in grace and beauty, mirror of God's eternal face, Transparent flame of love's free duty, you bring salvation to our race. Now as the light of the evening approaches, we raise our voices in songs of praise; Worthy are you of endless blessing, Sun of our nights and Lamp of our days." - The Phos Hlaron May you find peace in all things joyful and tragic and may remorse not touch your heart....God's Peace....To`na Wanagi

Beans, Beans, the musical fruit, the more you eat the more you toot. The more you toot the better you feel ....so eat your beans at every meal!