Evangelical Christians in a certain great country are busy stopping homosexual marriage from being legalized. They fight very hard to make abortion illegal and at one time, they even voted in a born again Christian president who messed up the world big time. This group of Christians are very responsive if there is a gay singer about to win an idol competition, they will immediately jump into action to rally the crowd to make sure that this singer wouldn’t win the title. If there is a gay man being ordained as a bishop, they will immediately go into action to protest, petition or demonstrate to tell the world that God hates homosexuals. If there’s a female performer “accidentally” dropped her blouse and showed one of her breast, they will instantly rally the public to complain to the organizers of the “indecent” act. They demonstrate in front of abortion clinics to stop women from entering into the clinic and some even throw bombs into the clinics to attempt to demolish the clinic, without considering there are people in the clinic.
However, they allow their government going down the path of corruption and their economy going down the drain (4 or 5 trillion dollars in debt); their education deteriorated to the point where a high percentage of high school graduates cannot read nor write; poverty and gangsterism in the inner cities continues to thrive; drug addiction, alcoholism, rape, racism are rampant and their standing in the world plummet. And yet, none of these evangelical Christians spring into action to say, lets fight poverty in our inner cities; lets rally all the churches to donate money, give their expertise and talent to solve the racial problems in the country; lets us provide proper and objective sex education so that young people in society have healthy understanding of sex and know how to protect themselves from HIV infection. No, 10 years living in that country I had experienced none of those actions by the evangelical churches.
Instead, they blame those “sins” on the liberals, accusing them for their permissiveness that causes the deterioration in society. They say the solution is in the word of God without acknowledging their so called solution is only their school of interpretation of the word of God, not THE word of God. They don’t realize that it was their rigid conservatism, moral repressiveness, and narrow mindedness that started the sexual revolution in the sixties and seventies. They forgot what Jesus, the person whom they so passionately claimed as their Lord, taught about telling our brother to get rid of the saw dust in his eye but failing to see there is a plank in our own eye. These Christians basically forgot how to be the salt in society. All they know is to shove their own brand of faith into everyone’s throat, claiming that is the only truth approved by God.
I received the following from an email and I think Malaysia in going down the same path as the great country I used to live in. The difference is in that great country, the evangelical Christians are missing the point but here in Malaysia, the…I don’t even how to label this group of Muslims…are missing the point.
BLISS
PAS Youth wants to what?!
In their most recent move to annoy me to no end, PAS Youth has set up a program to go undercover as part of their anti-sex campaign.
Just hearing such a thing raised an interesting question in my head.
Will they be wearing drag along Lorong Haji Taib then?
I guess some Muslims would be thankful that someone is so focused on our salvation.
I'm not one of them, in fact, I'm adamantly against it
If sex is what people want and it's consensual and safe, then why not?
It's obviously keeping them off the streets.
Pre-marital sex is not a large morality issue in this nation. Neither are concerts. Rempits, on the other hand, are a huge criminal, social and moral issue. Encouraging people to switch to environmentally friendly policies are a huge social and moral issue as well.
If PAS youth truly wants to help the Muslim community, they should start by doing something more constructive instead of this move to simply prove they are holier-than-thou individuals.
And if PAS wants to win over the federal government in two years time, this idea should be shot down in its birth, or face a backlash of the more moderate and liberal populous of Malaysia.
Hafidz Baharom
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
When a man kisses a man
Adam Lambert's performance in 37th Annual American Music Awards was pleasantly shocking. Then of course the conservatives are crying "disgusting" and "perversion" now but if one is familiar with Madona's videos or concerts, what Adam did was just a "copy" of that type of performances. What created the boo boo baa baa is mainly because, I think, Adam is a man, more specifically, a gay man.
It's perfectly ok to have lesbian sex scenes in the straight porns but you wouldn't find any gay sex scenes in the straight porns (if they are they will be labeled as bi-sexual porns). So it's ok or tolerable for two women to kiss (Madona and Britney, they are straight anyway) but when a man kisses a man in the public, all hell break lose.
That was what Adam did on stage at the performance. I want to yell "BRAVO!" to Adam. He is probably the first male performer I know of who dare to express his sexuality on stage, especially on national TV. I hope he has started a trend that will eventually make men kissing men a mainstream thingy in the public.
However, it's very dangerous for a man to kiss another man. The kiss that changed and turned the world upside down was the kiss between two men in the Garden of Gethsemane about 2000 years ago. Perhaps that's the reason why when a man kisses a man the whole world will tremble.
Bravo! Adam Lamber! Keep it up!
BLISS
Journey
Two men are traveling together along a road. One of them believes that it leads to the Celestial City, the other that it leas nowhere. But since this is the only road there is, both must travel it. Neither has been this way before , therefore neither is able to say what they will find around each corner.During their journey they meet with moments of refreshment and delight, and with moments of hardship and danger.
All the time one of them thinks of his journey as a pilgrimage to the Celestial City.He interprets the pleasant parts as encouragements and the obstacles as trials of his purpose and lessons in endurance, prepared by the king of that city and designed to make him a worthy citizen of the place when at last he arrives.
The other, however, believes none of this, and sees their journey as an unavoidable and aimless ramble. Since he has no choice in the matter, he enjoys the good and endures the bad. For him there is no Celestial City to be reached, no all-encompassing purpose ordaining their journey; there is only the road itself and the luck of the road in good weather and in bad.
They do not entertain different expectations about the coming details of the road but only about its ultimate destination. Yet, when they turn the last corner, it will be apparent that one of them has been right all the time and the other wrong… (John Hick)
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Jesus is a Human Being
Jesus is a human being. Imagine a Nelson Mandela Jesus, a Mother Teresa Jesus, a Dalai Lama Jesus … when we imagine the human Jesus on earth, he could be any of these people.
These people don’t evoke fear. They inspire compassion, justice, equality … and people will have very little hesitation to go up to these people to present their problems, their short comings, their weaknesses and their needs because they know they wouldn’t be rejected or judged.
Imagine a gay person going up to Mother Teresa to tell her that he is gay. What would the mother’s response? “You filthy dirty smelly worthless sinner! Get behind me!”???? I doubt it.
Imagine a transsexual going up to Nelson Mandela to shake his hand. Will he say, “Go away, you rubbish! I shall not shake nor have any fellowship with degenerates like you!”??? I guess not.
Imagine a prostitute going up to the Dalai Lama and say “Bless me, your holy one.” Will he say, “No! You are beyond any kind of blessing.”??? Impossible!
Jesus as a human being is a good human being. He loves sinners. He accepts sinners. He dines with sinners. Jesus in the Gospels loves dinning with people, especially the outcast and the sinners. Having a good meal with people he loved was so important that he instituted the Holy Communion during his last supper for us to remember him. Such is the humanity of Jesus. He loves parties, having a good time, and a good meal with people. He loves people and being with people.
Jesus is a human being and he is a good human being. He is the combination of all the good and great people we know. He is Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, Bishop Tutu, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Vivekananda, and anyone you know who has sacrificed him/herself for the good of humanity.
These people don’t evoke fear. They inspire compassion, justice, equality …
Jesus is a good human being who accepts and loves the sexual minorities. Christianity may have rejected non-heterosexuals but Christ hasn’t.
BLISS
These people don’t evoke fear. They inspire compassion, justice, equality … and people will have very little hesitation to go up to these people to present their problems, their short comings, their weaknesses and their needs because they know they wouldn’t be rejected or judged.
Imagine a gay person going up to Mother Teresa to tell her that he is gay. What would the mother’s response? “You filthy dirty smelly worthless sinner! Get behind me!”???? I doubt it.
Imagine a transsexual going up to Nelson Mandela to shake his hand. Will he say, “Go away, you rubbish! I shall not shake nor have any fellowship with degenerates like you!”??? I guess not.
Imagine a prostitute going up to the Dalai Lama and say “Bless me, your holy one.” Will he say, “No! You are beyond any kind of blessing.”??? Impossible!
Jesus as a human being is a good human being. He loves sinners. He accepts sinners. He dines with sinners. Jesus in the Gospels loves dinning with people, especially the outcast and the sinners. Having a good meal with people he loved was so important that he instituted the Holy Communion during his last supper for us to remember him. Such is the humanity of Jesus. He loves parties, having a good time, and a good meal with people. He loves people and being with people.
Jesus is a human being and he is a good human being. He is the combination of all the good and great people we know. He is Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama, Bishop Tutu, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Vivekananda, and anyone you know who has sacrificed him/herself for the good of humanity.
These people don’t evoke fear. They inspire compassion, justice, equality …
Jesus is a good human being who accepts and loves the sexual minorities. Christianity may have rejected non-heterosexuals but Christ hasn’t.
BLISS
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Sex with Animals
November 20, 2009 (2 am, Fri)
Just done reading Rev Dr Yap Kim Hao's, a Singaporean pastor, "Reflections on Sexual Ethics". It is a working paper he has written to stimulate discussion. So far no response on the web group he posted the paper, I wonder why. However I do like to say something about sexual ethics, especially on human animal sex.
I remember few weeks ago I attended a counselor training session and there was a sexologist from Singapore (yes, Singapore again) talking about sex. One of the issues discussed which I responded strongly was sex with animals. Many argued there was nothing wrong with having sex with animals because it was an individual taste and being liberal and tolerant people, we should respect the individual's freedom to choose. (I was pleasantly surprised how progressive we Malaysians are).
But what about the animals? Do those animals have their rights to choose? I'm a liberal person and even agree that incest is kind of ok if it happens between two consenting adults. Yes, the key word here is consent. How do we know or get the animal to consent to have sex with us? Up till now I haven't watched a single human and animal porn. According to what I was told, the animals in the porn seem to enjoy the sex. They may have consented. However, just the thought of human having sex with animals has really disgusted me. This is why I refused to watch any human and animal porn.
If the question of consent is answered by seeing the animals are actually enjoying the sex with human then there is nothing wrong with having sex with animals. No one gets harm and everyone have fun, including the animals.
For the longest time I believe that if two consenting adults (over 18) agree to have sex with each other and derive joy and fulfillment from the sex act, it is ok. However they want to do it is none of my concern as long as they are adults, consented to do it and there is no physical harm or danger and practice safer sex, then that's fine. That's why I even grudgingly accept that incest can be ok if it happens between two consenting, matured adults.
However, this human and animal sex thing really put my liberalism to the test. I am absolutely disgusted and sickened by the idea but I don't want to let that compromised my objective ethical judgment. Perhaps, I may use mutuality to argue against human and animal sex. You see, sex should also be mutual. If one party has coerced and manipulated the other party to have sex then even the sex can be enjoyable during the process, it is not mutual. Animals have no freedom of choice like humans therefore the sex they have with humans are not mutual. They may have enjoyed the sex but they are coerced or manipulated into doing it with humans.
Therefore I now declare, having sex with animals is wrong. It is a sin in the eye of God!! But I'll still love you if you are having sex with your dog because we should love the sinners and hate the sin. I will pray for you and your dog.
The good Rev has listed guidelines for ethical sexual behavior. I now list them here for reference for anyone who is making an ethical sexual decision.
1. Do no unjust harm. 2. Free consent of partners. 3. Mutuality. 4. Equality. 5. Commitment. 6. Fruitfulness.
7. Social justice.
BLISS
Just done reading Rev Dr Yap Kim Hao's, a Singaporean pastor, "Reflections on Sexual Ethics". It is a working paper he has written to stimulate discussion. So far no response on the web group he posted the paper, I wonder why. However I do like to say something about sexual ethics, especially on human animal sex.
I remember few weeks ago I attended a counselor training session and there was a sexologist from Singapore (yes, Singapore again) talking about sex. One of the issues discussed which I responded strongly was sex with animals. Many argued there was nothing wrong with having sex with animals because it was an individual taste and being liberal and tolerant people, we should respect the individual's freedom to choose. (I was pleasantly surprised how progressive we Malaysians are).
But what about the animals? Do those animals have their rights to choose? I'm a liberal person and even agree that incest is kind of ok if it happens between two consenting adults. Yes, the key word here is consent. How do we know or get the animal to consent to have sex with us? Up till now I haven't watched a single human and animal porn. According to what I was told, the animals in the porn seem to enjoy the sex. They may have consented. However, just the thought of human having sex with animals has really disgusted me. This is why I refused to watch any human and animal porn.
If the question of consent is answered by seeing the animals are actually enjoying the sex with human then there is nothing wrong with having sex with animals. No one gets harm and everyone have fun, including the animals.
For the longest time I believe that if two consenting adults (over 18) agree to have sex with each other and derive joy and fulfillment from the sex act, it is ok. However they want to do it is none of my concern as long as they are adults, consented to do it and there is no physical harm or danger and practice safer sex, then that's fine. That's why I even grudgingly accept that incest can be ok if it happens between two consenting, matured adults.
However, this human and animal sex thing really put my liberalism to the test. I am absolutely disgusted and sickened by the idea but I don't want to let that compromised my objective ethical judgment. Perhaps, I may use mutuality to argue against human and animal sex. You see, sex should also be mutual. If one party has coerced and manipulated the other party to have sex then even the sex can be enjoyable during the process, it is not mutual. Animals have no freedom of choice like humans therefore the sex they have with humans are not mutual. They may have enjoyed the sex but they are coerced or manipulated into doing it with humans.
Therefore I now declare, having sex with animals is wrong. It is a sin in the eye of God!! But I'll still love you if you are having sex with your dog because we should love the sinners and hate the sin. I will pray for you and your dog.
The good Rev has listed guidelines for ethical sexual behavior. I now list them here for reference for anyone who is making an ethical sexual decision.
1. Do no unjust harm. 2. Free consent of partners. 3. Mutuality. 4. Equality. 5. Commitment. 6. Fruitfulness.
7. Social justice.
BLISS
Friday, November 20, 2009
I'm married!
Nov 20, 2009 (Fri, 1.40am)
Yes! Finally I created my first blog, ever! Why? Because I got married. Yes! I'm married on November 14, 2009. Something I thought I never would do but I did it!
Still remember the morning I got the sms from him, "why don't we just get married?" And I answered, "why not?" And the rest was history.
The preparation of the ceremony prompted a few ferocious fights; one was before a good friend of his. I wonder what he thought of me or our relationship after that frightening experience. But he showed up in the ceremony, happily helping us and congratulating us. Guess his confidence in our relationship had returned when he saw after all the fights and heartaches, we still wanted to marry to each other.
I finally came out to my family, all because of the wedding. And the response..."we already knew, just waiting for you to tell us." Majority of them showed up at the ceremony. Those who didn't show were because of prior engagement; all had to do with work. It was a pleasant surprise for me. I knew they will be ok with my gender preference but I had never expected such support from them.
As for my darling, none of his family had shown. He told me to say that his family was very conservative so it was better that they didn't show. And it didn't seem to bother him at all seeing 90% of my family members were there but none of his shown. He cried right before the ceremony start, not because of the no showing of his family but he was so excited to marry me.
Some asked, can get married meh in our country like that? Well, depends on how you define marriage. My darling kept saying to people before the ceremony, "we are already married but we just want a ceremony to share with friends and family." To us, being married is an attitude. It's in our hearts, not on a piece of paper.
Marriage basically consists of two people who are deeply in love with each other and couldn't live without each other therefore they don't really have a choice but to be with each other.
Besides the bad English and the unromantic expression, I think I have basically defined what the spirit of marriage is. Anything out of that definition is not a marriage even though society and law recognize it as a marriage, it's just a zombie marriage, without the soul.
I do have to say after the ceremony, both of us feel different for each other. My darling says we love each other more deeply which I think he is right. I also feel free. No longer I need to "hide" from my family. In fact, they have accepted him as part of the family and my sister was talking about us giving ang pao during this coming Chinese New Year...oh well....
BLISS
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