I’ve been thinking a lot about all this God stuff. I was inspired by LargeTony‘s thoughtful post, “Just as I am”. It’s obviously one of the more hot topics in the world these days. Who’s God is THE God, who has the hotline to God, who’s going to heaven, who’s going to hell, what God wants. It’s like we don’t want to think, just do whatever God says. But no one has any proof of the validity of any of God’s rules. It’s mind boggling when you think about it. Here we have this incredibly violent history, mostly inspired by this God who supposedly “tells” someone or other to go kill as many of some other group of people as possible. Don’t think, just DO it. Or in more peaceful times, one may be encouraged to marginalize and judge whomever doesn’t agree with your God. Yet, no one really knows what this big Guy wants. Who really needs medication here?

I don’t like being told I don’t deserve to love and marry whom I want. Seriously, God knows, it might even help settle gay culture down a bit if marriage were encouraged. I know this has been discussed ad nauseum, but there’s a lot to discuss.

On the sex side of gay culture, I actually agree with some more conservative folks that sex can corrupt, but sex doesn’t discriminate as to whom it corrupts. I happen to think impersonal sex can be incredibly uplifting, too, as long as you don’t think it’s gonna solve all your problems, in other words, don’t expect a call from whoever was “prince charming” last night. I guess impersonal sex is great as long as you don’t read anything into it. It’s its own reward, nothing else. Sex is the most amazing thing in the world… until it’s over.

But the underlying issue of sex is dicey. If sex is only about physical pleasure, it leaves much to be “desired”. We are complex creatures. We create subtle meanings for almost everything we do. That’s how we survive. We create myths and stories and meaning everywhere. Life doesn’t have meaning, it’s given meaning. So if sex means something to you, and you’ve thought about it, and know the risks, go for it. If you’re just doing what everyone else is suggesting, you’re nuts. People make choices. Gay culture may be promiscuous, but gay people are not. There is a difference.

So, back to God. Well, soon. According to David Brooks in his op/ed “Public Hedonism and Private Restraint”, kids behavior is much less promiscuous than a decade ago, despite their embracing a hedonistic pop culture. I thought that was interesting. So people are capable of have fun and not fucking up. It may be tricky to do, but it’s possible. Give freedom a chance. Mr. Brooks credits the growing influence of religion in public life, and I can’t disagree. Learning right and wrong in paramount to a healthy society. I think a loving, moral, spiritual, even religious upbringing can only make the world a better place.

But scapegoating a minority under the guise of “higher morality” is bogus. It smacks of the devil, in my opinion. I may have messed up my life from lack of direction, a few too many forays into “experimental” activity and believing that sex holds the secret to everything, but my behavior, though misguided, is not evil. I can’t imagine a God who would smite me for occasionally choosing poorly in my own life. And I certainly can’t imagine a God who thinks my love for another human, a man, would award me a one way ticket to hell. Nope. Don’t think so. That kind of connection to God has too much static. The line needs to be updated.