The Gaiety of Diversity
By R. Paul Waits
I am a homo sapien who is not a homosexual, but I have friends who do prefer to have their intimate relationship(s) with those of the same birth-given gender. Although it is not something I quite understand or can identify with, I have come to a place of acceptance and tolerance of others' unique needs and proclivities in this regard.
There is, however, among the God-fearin', war-mongering tribe of so-called Christian activists, a strong current of homophobia that is symptomatic of an anti-Christian intolerance -- intolerance of anything that conflicts with the strident stances of the reactionary pulpits, purveyors of their own form of idolatry.
Let's call it Bible-idolatry, or a belief that some string of words, regardless of how inspired, or obscure, which have been printed in a Biblical translation, can themselves be worshiped, like so many other physical creations of man, such as money, sex, power, etc. The point is that the words can point to God/Truth; they cannot themselves be God/Truth.
For those who find solace in conformity, I must aver that Jesus did not preach conformity. Quite the contrary, and for his non-conformity he was nailed to a cross. He taught by example, and the example of his life is that the Way is a way of being and becoming, not an exclusive set of beliefs. But alas, I digress from the topic of Eureka and gayness. Maybe.
We are new to the town of Eureka Springs, having bought a second home here recently, and are not much affected by the bigots who assert Eureka is just a bunch of gay weirdos. We look forward to our time here, to be among people of diversity, among people not all cut from the conformists' homogenous cloth of Protestant materialism.
One may have to get outside Northwest Arkansas or Oklahoma to really appreciate what Eureka's potential is as a Mecca for art, music, ideas and the diversity and richness of what it is to be a homo sapien, to be a human. People all over this nation are hungry for authenticity, hungry for meaning amid the mind-numbing, non-issues that dominate Fox News, amid the manipulation of mass opinion by the mass media oligopoly.
Frankly, I am much more concerned about the town's reputation as a haven for craven bikers, Hells Angels or look-a-likes and wannabes, with muffler-less Harleys, mounted with middle-aged paunches, fu-man-chu mustaches, confederate do-rags, and chrome-studded black leather, day-tripping the narrow historic streets, polluting the air with attitudinous noise ... blather blather bam brrrrraamm!
Sorry dudes, I just don't get it. My last bike was a Honda 750 Four, when those were new. Back then the sign of a good bike was one that was reliable, smooth and quiet.
Now my personal prejudices are beginning to protrude.
Ah, the personae we each strap on in search of our uniqueness: the leather, the big loud bike, the tattoos, the body piercings, the billowing pants below the buttocks, the grillz, the green-and-red hair, the seething and self-righteous hatred for the heathen homos, etc.
The irony is that our individuality is truly found amid an awareness of our sameness, our common ground.
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I am a homo sapien who is not a homosexual, but I have friends who do prefer to have their intimate relationship(s) with those of the same birth-given gender. Although it is not something I quite understand or can identify with, I have come to a place of acceptance and tolerance of others' unique needs and proclivities in this regard.
There is, however, among the God-fearin', war-mongering tribe of so-called Christian activists, a strong current of homophobia that is symptomatic of an anti-Christian intolerance -- intolerance of anything that conflicts with the strident stances of the reactionary pulpits, purveyors of their own form of idolatry.
Let's call it Bible-idolatry, or a belief that some string of words, regardless of how inspired, or obscure, which have been printed in a Biblical translation, can themselves be worshiped, like so many other physical creations of man, such as money, sex, power, etc. The point is that the words can point to God/Truth; they cannot themselves be God/Truth.
For those who find solace in conformity, I must aver that Jesus did not preach conformity. Quite the contrary, and for his non-conformity he was nailed to a cross. He taught by example, and the example of his life is that the Way is a way of being and becoming, not an exclusive set of beliefs. But alas, I digress from the topic of Eureka and gayness. Maybe.
We are new to the town of Eureka Springs, having bought a second home here recently, and are not much affected by the bigots who assert Eureka is just a bunch of gay weirdos. We look forward to our time here, to be among people of diversity, among people not all cut from the conformists' homogenous cloth of Protestant materialism.
One may have to get outside Northwest Arkansas or Oklahoma to really appreciate what Eureka's potential is as a Mecca for art, music, ideas and the diversity and richness of what it is to be a homo sapien, to be a human. People all over this nation are hungry for authenticity, hungry for meaning amid the mind-numbing, non-issues that dominate Fox News, amid the manipulation of mass opinion by the mass media oligopoly.
Frankly, I am much more concerned about the town's reputation as a haven for craven bikers, Hells Angels or look-a-likes and wannabes, with muffler-less Harleys, mounted with middle-aged paunches, fu-man-chu mustaches, confederate do-rags, and chrome-studded black leather, day-tripping the narrow historic streets, polluting the air with attitudinous noise ... blather blather bam brrrrraamm!
Sorry dudes, I just don't get it. My last bike was a Honda 750 Four, when those were new. Back then the sign of a good bike was one that was reliable, smooth and quiet.
Now my personal prejudices are beginning to protrude.
Ah, the personae we each strap on in search of our uniqueness: the leather, the big loud bike, the tattoos, the body piercings, the billowing pants below the buttocks, the grillz, the green-and-red hair, the seething and self-righteous hatred for the heathen homos, etc.
The irony is that our individuality is truly found amid an awareness of our sameness, our common ground.
full article
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