Homophobia - the strangest thing

Homophobia really is the strangest thing. I can barely wrap my head around it.

With all the education, information and first-hand testimonial, some people still believe homosexuality is a choice. That doesn’t even make sense unless they believe heterosexuals make the same choice. Are boys in their bedrooms thinking, I’m 13 now, I guess I should pick a side. And how do they make this choice? When I have to make a tricky decision, I create a list of pros and cons. Is that how we pick our sexuality? Under the homosexual list, potential persecution and rejection but excellent sense of style, on the heterosexual side, being able to show affection in public but never really understanding where your partner’s coming from.

Some Homophobes quote scripture to justify their stand point hitching their argument on one highly interpretable passage from Leviticus. Not only have biblical passages been amended over the last 3,000 years (shocked gasp) but entire books have been added and removed to suit the current thinking so excuse us if we take the good book with a pillar of salt. As far as I’m aware, Jesus said nothing on homosexuality. He did however say a lot about loving thy neighbour and treating others as you’d wish to be treated which should supersede everything else or, if you quote the Bible, are you permitted to pick and choose the aspects of it you live by in your own life?

“It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve” Heard that one? How about this, perhaps Adam and Eve are not real people! Perhaps their story is an allegorical one representing man’s fall from oneness with God to the ego-based consciousness we now have and has nothing to do with how man came into being. Try it on. It fits a lot better with ALL OTHER EVIDENCE and means that neither religion nor science negate each other. What an interesting idea. (another shocked gasp)

There are so many nonsensical arguments people use to justify homophobia. “It makes me uncomfortable". Really? Your homophobia makes me uncomfortable. I mean, I don’t mind you being homophobic, as long as you do it in your own home.

All prejudiced views are ridiculous because of one basic reason, it’s always based on something people can’t change about themselves i.e. sexuality, race, gender etc.

It’s so funny that people use so much energy directing hatred towards a particular group. Are they thinking they can abuse a black man, white? Disrespect a woman so much, out of frustration she'll grow a beard and a penis? It’s such a waste of energy. They're things that cannot be changed.

I just get so dumbfounded with humanity sometimes. Through the ages, consciousness and human understanding has constantly grown and developed and we are well overdue moving on and up to the next level and yet here we are stumbling at just being able to permit others the enjoyment of basic human rights and equality. 

That the church still cannot agree on ordaining female bishops, that we are still grappling with gay marriage, that there is still prejudice towards people of different races, social classes, cultures and sexuality is such a shocking waste of our abundance of energy.

Imagine if all the energy currently being used to maintain the status quo was redirected. Imagine if the intention that goes into keeping people subjugated and scared went into cancer research or obliterating poverty, finding and creating renewable energy sources, education, scientific advancements, fairer distribution of wealth and free health care for all. The possibilities available to us are infinite if we could only redirect this misappropriated effort.

The problem is that the ego state that we’re still in produces a particular type of thinking where we reference off the notion we are all separate individuals and therefore should care the most for ourselves, including protecting and maintaining the thoughts we have about the world around us. The ego is never, ever interested in change. The ego requires the safety and protection of sameness. In 60's America, when white adults screamed at a 6 year old black child for entering a school, that didn’t see a child, they saw change and if you live from the ego, this is terrifying. Same as, if the homophobe sees two men kiss at a chapel, your ego screams out that it doesn’t want things to change.

But are we just our egos? Hopefully you have a sense that you are more and greater than that (otherwise we’re in trouble!).

There is a higher us which lives with the quiet assurance that we are indeed one, change cannot hurt us and we have the capacity to accept and love everything.

I don’t mean this in a hippy dippy, floaty skirt kind of way. I’m not talking Hallmark love. I’m talking about MLK love that means that you perceive your humanity in relation to everything and everyone else and that everything must be dealt with with total love or change is not possible.

Yes, folks. Sadly, if you fight against something you are not transcending the problem you are adding to it. Not fighting shouldn’t be misinterpreted as inaction. You can still call and act for change but when you fight, you become one half of the two-sided coin with anger and lack of understanding on both sides. 

An old African saying is that a herd can only move as fast as its slowest members. So whilst there are great minds that are teaching us and leading the way in creating a new breed of empathetic, connected, accepting and loving humans, there’s still a long way to go in many places around the world and within all our communities. As tempting as it is to fight them, hate them and vilify them, the only way to really transcend outdated attitudes is to throw love at them. That’s how real change occurs.

Mother Teresa said, “I was once asked why I don't participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I'll be there.” Such a small distinction but it makes all the difference and why I would never attend an anti-fascism demonstration to attack the EDL (English Defence League). These two warring factions have become energetic partnerships which effectively cancel each other out.

When Ghandi and MLK used passive resistance, they presented the establishment with an opposition their consciousness could barely comprehend. Because violence was the establishment's way of dealing with the situation, peaceful, loving determination and a love of black people and equal rights rather than a hatred of white people, was always going to win in the end. Perhaps this is because human beings, given enough time, will always respond more favourably to love than to hatred (or what it most likely actually is – fear). I believe this is because, at our elemental level, this is what we are all constituted of, pure love.

So as for our homophobia and other ridiculous prejudices, can we all just get over ourselves and stop being pricks (I say this with total love) and move on to what’s next?

Ahead of us we have an exciting journey into the unknown, a consciousness we can only speculate as to what it consists of, but even though we’re definitely in the car, at the moment, it’s like we’re still squabbling over the seatbelts. Just buckle up and let’s go!

Strangely, and paradoxically, everything is as it should be. Based on everything we’ve been through there’s no way we could be anywhere other than where we are and actually things are hopeful. More and more people, famous or not, come out every week, and it’s less and less of a drama (One day, people will come out and the standard response will be, “and?”). 

Equality is a powerful, inevitable wave that is very slowly sweeping over us but just as waves of the sea crash, they don’t crash uniformly or with the same strength but eventually, because of their inherent and undeniable power they do take in everything – that day will come.  

Other posts which may be of interest: A Thought The Other Day, Let The Cat Sleep On The Bed: Power of The Ego and Yes and Know

Also, on the right-hand side bar are links to funny, interested, insightful things I've seen on the net this week. Check it out :)