It's the one question that can topple the monolith of pretenses. Forget every axiom, every convention, everything "normal", look yourself in the eye and ask yourself this. Dig deep into the depths of your soul... Cleave through the undergrowth of conditioning... Hack those dead stumps... clear the field... because you are about to sow the seeds of your essence.
Every answer to the question "Why?" is a seed sown. Every confirmation of that answer from your interaction with the world around is fertilizer. Every action taken on the basis of that idea is water.
Some answers will not be very appealing... some will threaten to tear you apart with grief or anger... some might deflate that image you have of yourself... What matters is that you know it is the truth. What matters is that you aren't fueling your own facade by sowing dead seeds.
The only reason to do this is to run your fingers through that golden harvest even if it is just once before winter sets in.
Showing posts with label sex. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sex. Show all posts
Friday, 25 January 2008
Saturday, 8 December 2007
Bible studies 1 - Sexual Relations
I was privileged to be given the holy bible a few months ago. Untouched books make me itch and as a result, i chose to begin my excursion through these crisp pages written thousands of years ago by a bunch of people who have, to a large extent, steered the social currents of the world.
The copy that I own has a very handy list of subjects at the end that gives the reader the exact location of the Bible's take on a whole array of issues. Oh yeah! God was extremely opinionated!
"Homosexuality" caught my eye. You can blame it on my proclivity for the provocative.
Anyway, as my eyes were hovering over the all the "Do not's" indoctrinated in Leviticus, Ch. 18 caught my eye. "Unlawful Sexual Relations", speaks about everything you must not do with regard to the cravings of your genitals.
I would rather title this passage as the "Beginners guide Incest and more". I definitely admire the guy's creativity at placing a "Do not" before every possible variation of a sexual relation. Son with mother, Father with daughter, nephew and aunt, daughter-in-law with father-in-law, man with man, neighbors wife, sister-in-law and brother-in-law, animals and humans, amongst others. He seems to have brainstormed this issue thoroughly! It makes me wonder about where the Porn industry might have got most of their brilliant ideas... Interesting!
Those who do experience attraction for someone from within the family or for the same sex is bound to look at these doctrines and say, "God says it is wrong. So, my desire at this point is wrong. That makes me a sinner!". A more pragmatic approach for this person would be, "Great! God says it is wrong. Firstly, why should I trust Leviticus with knowing God's will and secondly, God doesn't bother giving any explanations other than death threats and a very handy reassurance that he is my God".
The first person will land up prostrate in a church begging for forgiveness. The second guy will probably shut the bible and meet a psychologist who will probably tell him that sexual desires are human and natural. However, consider the social system and the biological and psychological impact of an action based on such an instinct before indulging in it.
Homosexuality, for instance, is one of those acts that draws the rage of God. In Leviticus 20:13, it is written "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."
A gruesome end to any inappropriate romance for sure! This death threat has been given profusely through most of this chapter sometimes explicitly mentioning method of inflicting this death as well. Burning these folk and stoning them to death are apparently God's favorite techniques.
In the Romans 1:18-32, I find a logical fallacy culminating to the same damnation of those who give in to their "impure" thoughts. The passage says that in the beginning God made himself quite clearly known to mankind. He damns those who understand and have the opportunity to understand but try to cover it up with their "wickedness". It goes one by asserting that it is God who "gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another." "God gave them over to shameful lusts." "he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done".
This makes God sound like an extremely obsessive and substantially retarded bigot. Why?
Firstly, this entire theory is based on the assumption that God made himself adequately clear to mankind. So one has to be either stupid or wicked not to understand his magnificence. Either way, you end up being burnt or stoned for some "shameful" sexual act. If one thinks about it in a little more detail, this sexual act was not done of the victims free will... it was the divine will of God that "gave them over to shameful lusts".
So what have I learned today from the holy gospel?
If I do not recognize God's infinite powers, he will give me over to my base desires leading me to being sexually attracted to one of the many people and animals listed in the Bible after which I should be either burnt to death or pelted with stones until the life drains out of me. Going by this leather bound holy book, this guy (I've always wondered about why God can't be a woman!) called God is a perverted freak! Reminds me of those sadists in some of those porn videos that revolted me as a teenager.
There was more written about Sexual relations in the Bible, but, I've lost my appetite!
Next time, I'll try looking for something less gruesome.
The copy that I own has a very handy list of subjects at the end that gives the reader the exact location of the Bible's take on a whole array of issues. Oh yeah! God was extremely opinionated!
"Homosexuality" caught my eye. You can blame it on my proclivity for the provocative.
Anyway, as my eyes were hovering over the all the "Do not's" indoctrinated in Leviticus, Ch. 18 caught my eye. "Unlawful Sexual Relations", speaks about everything you must not do with regard to the cravings of your genitals.
I would rather title this passage as the "Beginners guide Incest and more". I definitely admire the guy's creativity at placing a "Do not" before every possible variation of a sexual relation. Son with mother, Father with daughter, nephew and aunt, daughter-in-law with father-in-law, man with man, neighbors wife, sister-in-law and brother-in-law, animals and humans, amongst others. He seems to have brainstormed this issue thoroughly! It makes me wonder about where the Porn industry might have got most of their brilliant ideas... Interesting!
Those who do experience attraction for someone from within the family or for the same sex is bound to look at these doctrines and say, "God says it is wrong. So, my desire at this point is wrong. That makes me a sinner!". A more pragmatic approach for this person would be, "Great! God says it is wrong. Firstly, why should I trust Leviticus with knowing God's will and secondly, God doesn't bother giving any explanations other than death threats and a very handy reassurance that he is my God".
The first person will land up prostrate in a church begging for forgiveness. The second guy will probably shut the bible and meet a psychologist who will probably tell him that sexual desires are human and natural. However, consider the social system and the biological and psychological impact of an action based on such an instinct before indulging in it.
Homosexuality, for instance, is one of those acts that draws the rage of God. In Leviticus 20:13, it is written "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."
A gruesome end to any inappropriate romance for sure! This death threat has been given profusely through most of this chapter sometimes explicitly mentioning method of inflicting this death as well. Burning these folk and stoning them to death are apparently God's favorite techniques.
In the Romans 1:18-32, I find a logical fallacy culminating to the same damnation of those who give in to their "impure" thoughts. The passage says that in the beginning God made himself quite clearly known to mankind. He damns those who understand and have the opportunity to understand but try to cover it up with their "wickedness". It goes one by asserting that it is God who "gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another." "God gave them over to shameful lusts." "he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done".
This makes God sound like an extremely obsessive and substantially retarded bigot. Why?
Firstly, this entire theory is based on the assumption that God made himself adequately clear to mankind. So one has to be either stupid or wicked not to understand his magnificence. Either way, you end up being burnt or stoned for some "shameful" sexual act. If one thinks about it in a little more detail, this sexual act was not done of the victims free will... it was the divine will of God that "gave them over to shameful lusts".
So what have I learned today from the holy gospel?
If I do not recognize God's infinite powers, he will give me over to my base desires leading me to being sexually attracted to one of the many people and animals listed in the Bible after which I should be either burnt to death or pelted with stones until the life drains out of me. Going by this leather bound holy book, this guy (I've always wondered about why God can't be a woman!) called God is a perverted freak! Reminds me of those sadists in some of those porn videos that revolted me as a teenager.
There was more written about Sexual relations in the Bible, but, I've lost my appetite!
Next time, I'll try looking for something less gruesome.
Sunday, 1 April 2007
Sex sells
For a 'base' emotion, it's surprising to note the emphasis on sex in our lives. Equally surprising is the bias towards satisfying the male audience. Right from the nubile women featuring in after-shave ads to the many allusions to male dominance in our film industry.
Moving back to my original statement about the stress on sex, I mean to point out that it is quite a critical driver amongst the masses. The media uses this tool quite efficiently. From exposing sex scandals to propagation of safe sex, we have a range of sexual issues being tackled by the media. It would remind one of the sexual revolution that swept through America through the '60s prior to which sex was as much a taboo as it was in India a short while ago. The media played a pivotal role in the mass proclivity for a more libertarian way of life. The American masses were swept by movies, art and music that titillated those 'base' emotions. We know the present scenario in the US where issues relating sex are concerned.
The '60s in the US remind me of the phase we are going through now. After a period of conservatism and 'mouth-shut' policies regarding anything effecting mass libido, the new generation in India seems more aware and ready to experiment. This time, in addition to the traditional media, we have the Internet. Blogging is obviously not the only thing people come online to do. Look at the membership rates in any online community concerning sex. What's again amazing is the male turnout! Every male member is keen on 'getting laid' and tries whatever he can to transform those pretty pixels to a real life encounter.
Is it just an age that people go through? Maybe.. considering the phenomenal number of youth in India, that doesn't soften the situation at all. This seems to be a phase that won't fizz out in the near future. The future could be similar to what America has at present or another potpourri considering our cultural diversity.
However, in all the sex-drive, people seem to stop worrying about relationships anymore. By relationships, I mean sharing more than a night in bed. Humans then become instruments with a primary function of sexual gratification. This is happening quite blatantly across the media especially for the benefit of the male again. Think of music albums or bollywood movies, the camera always seems to have a strong voyeuristic tendency pausing suggestively at breasts that seem eager to break free from the shreds of cloth that hide them, then at gyrating hips and lucious lips... It doesn't take much analysis to catch the flow here.
I'm by no means denunciating the state-of-affairs here. All i'm saying is that behind that beautiful body, there exists a mind that is mostly ignored.
Moving back to my original statement about the stress on sex, I mean to point out that it is quite a critical driver amongst the masses. The media uses this tool quite efficiently. From exposing sex scandals to propagation of safe sex, we have a range of sexual issues being tackled by the media. It would remind one of the sexual revolution that swept through America through the '60s prior to which sex was as much a taboo as it was in India a short while ago. The media played a pivotal role in the mass proclivity for a more libertarian way of life. The American masses were swept by movies, art and music that titillated those 'base' emotions. We know the present scenario in the US where issues relating sex are concerned.
The '60s in the US remind me of the phase we are going through now. After a period of conservatism and 'mouth-shut' policies regarding anything effecting mass libido, the new generation in India seems more aware and ready to experiment. This time, in addition to the traditional media, we have the Internet. Blogging is obviously not the only thing people come online to do. Look at the membership rates in any online community concerning sex. What's again amazing is the male turnout! Every male member is keen on 'getting laid' and tries whatever he can to transform those pretty pixels to a real life encounter.
Is it just an age that people go through? Maybe.. considering the phenomenal number of youth in India, that doesn't soften the situation at all. This seems to be a phase that won't fizz out in the near future. The future could be similar to what America has at present or another potpourri considering our cultural diversity.
However, in all the sex-drive, people seem to stop worrying about relationships anymore. By relationships, I mean sharing more than a night in bed. Humans then become instruments with a primary function of sexual gratification. This is happening quite blatantly across the media especially for the benefit of the male again. Think of music albums or bollywood movies, the camera always seems to have a strong voyeuristic tendency pausing suggestively at breasts that seem eager to break free from the shreds of cloth that hide them, then at gyrating hips and lucious lips... It doesn't take much analysis to catch the flow here.
I'm by no means denunciating the state-of-affairs here. All i'm saying is that behind that beautiful body, there exists a mind that is mostly ignored.
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