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stella41b -> RE: Religion and D/s (3/10/2008 2:11:53 AM)
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My religious views are based on Theravada Buddhism and therefore over 25 years of daily meditation, prayer, observation of what I perceive to be reality of the world around me and seeking such through my interaction with what many here would call God, other people and listening to the inner voice of my Soul this much I have learned:
BDSM is not a religion, but a classification of hundreds of different human relationships and interactions based on a great many different principles, ideas, rituals, practices, actions, and gestures.
People who prefer to base their life and moral code on a book and not on what they can see in the world around them or have learned from their interactions with others are out of touch with reality, especially with regard to the three main Abrahamic religions - Christianity, Islam, Judaism. These people in being so blinkered and prejudiced tend to misjudge others and cause other people a lot of suffering, persecution and hatred through their false views. However before someone declares a fatwah on me this is not a generalization about Christians, Muslims or Jews and I automatically assume that Christians, Muslims and Jews are all good people who are strong in their faiths and bring a lot of good to the world and have equal right to practise their faiths, hold their principles and have their beliefs as I have mine.
A love of what is known as God is a love of God, the name of that love isn't important.
There is no evidence which supports any truth that the natural order is for a woman or female to submit to a man or male or vice versa. This is often based on another popular misconception based on a story about a man and a woman in a garden which suggests that just because a woman took an apple out of a tree man is equal to God but woman is not. From my observations of the world and people in my life I am convinced that the truth is man is nowhere equal to God and that such people are out of touch with reality. I am also convinced that the strongest influence on any person in this world is their relationship with their mother.
Kink is an essential part of human nature as is a desire for acceptance, understanding and love between themselves and people.
People are made up of matter (their physical bodies) and energy (their Souls) and as such they need to experience energy transfer between other people in the form of intimacy to fulfil psychological, emotional and physical cravings which to me seems to provide an explanation as to why relationships happen.
The power exchange in these interpersonal relationships between human beings tends to occur when one feels the need or desire to submit to another human being or has such a need or desire to assume control over another human being. Some are able to satisfy their needs or desires both from submitting to other human beings and from assuming control over human beings.
This power exchange between people is perfectly natural and is connected directly with a role they assume with regard to another person and is therefore a part of life. However when it is a role which involves a certain degree of intimacy it is what many people perceive to be either D/s or BDSM.
One's role and desire to assume such role in BDSM and D/s is purely individual and is based on any combination of spiritual, psychological, emotional or physical needs and acceptance of oneself as a person and acceptance of those needs and such roles as normal.
However problems tend to occur when people start mixing morality and religion with BDSM as it causes some people to judge the morality of others on the basis of their kink, others to feel persecuted or judged on the basis of them being aware that they have such a kink or feeling a need to share that kink with others, and when people start perceiving BDSM and D/s in the same way as a major religion or philosophy and believing that there is only one true or right way for everyone to follow. This is where misunderstandings can occur.
Perceiving BDSM or D/s as a major philosophy or even religion to determine morality or even to decide what is normal and acceptable is wrong, and is just as misguided and out of touch with reality as preferring to base your life and attitudes about life on a book and not from what goes on around you.
God gave us both life and freedom. Freedom recognizes a person simply for the fact that they are human, and not for any particular or individual characteristic or aspect about them.
Freedom carries with it responsibility, and being responsible for one's own life and manner of living and assuming and trusting others to do the same I feel is a solid basis for tolerance. Freedom to be yourself, freedom to love and be loved as you wish, freedom to develop and build relationships with others on the basis of their and your needs and desires.
This is just my opinion and feeling based on my own beliefs and my perception of the reality of almost 42 years of living. Some of it has been learned from making mistakes, being stupid, failing, unintentionally hurting or deceiving others and being unintentionally (and sometimes intentionally I guess) being hurt and deceived by others. Some of it also has been learned from succeeding, loving, reaching out to others, overcoming illusions and discovering things. I am living and still have a lot to learn. I may be wrong or misguided, but this is what I feel and think today.
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