After the November 2004 Elections

Also on this website: Toby Johnson's books: GAY SPIRITUALITY: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness GAY PERSPECTIVE: Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us about the Nature of God and the Universe SECRET MATTER, GETTING LIFE IN PERSPECTIVE PLAGUE: A NOVEL ABOUT HEALING.     Articles and Excerpts: The Simple Answer to the Gay Marriage Debate  The cause of homosexuality "It's Always About You" The myth of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara You're Not A Wave Curious Bodies What Toby Johnson Believes The Joseph Campbell Connection,     "The Evolution of Gay Identity" "St. John of the Cross & the Dark Night of the Soul." Avalokiteshvara at the Baths.  Eckhart's Eye   Teenage Prostitution and the Nature of Evil   Adam and Steve Gay retirement and the "freelance monastery" Seeing with Different Eyes  The mystical experience   The Techniques Of The World Saviors Part 1: Brer Rabbit and the Tar-Baby Part 2: The Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara Part 3: Jesus and the Resurrection Part 4: A Course in Miracles   The Secret of the Clear Light Mobius Strip Finding Your Tiger Face How Gay Souls Get Reincarnated The D.A.F.O.D.I.L. Alliance Toby's friend and nicknamesake Toby Marotta. The Gay Spirituality Summit in May 2004 and the  "Statement of Spirituality"

I wrote the following statement after the November 2004 elections when George W. Bush was re-“elected” President because many Americans voted for him when they were drawn to the polls to vote AGAINST gay marriage. In November 2008, the public had the GREAT GOOD SENSE to elect Barack Obama President of the U.S. and to usher in a new era in American history. But, particularly in California--where it "really mattered"--the electorate, influenced by negative campaigning (and lies) paid for by the Mormon Church and the Catholic Church, voted to overturn a California Sureme Court decision allowing same-sex marriage as part of extending equal rights to all U.S. citizens. I cannot help but wonder if the Mormons weren't really most concerned about appearing anti-polygamist. They were likely more concerned with the ONE man, ONE woman part of the law than the MAN-WOMAN part, if only because the big cable TV hit last year BIG LOVE portrayed Mormons as polygamists. And there apparently are polygamist Mormons in reality as well as TV. Just like the Catholic Church--full of homosexuals--but denying reality, the Mormons oppose same-sex marriage in order to protect their own secret. Gay people are so frequently the "shadow projections" of what people don't want to admit to. We get blamed for the gay priests and we get made wrong because opf the Mormon attitudes about marriage. Shame on the Conservative Christians:    An Open Letter to the Voters    We asked for marriage rights for same-sex couples because we saw this as a way to solve some of the problems that beset gay men and lesbians-- including the very things straight society so disapproves of about homosexuality: promiscuity, venereal disease, relationship instability, neurosis, unhappiness and internalized homophobia.    We wanted to make our relationships as honored as we honored straight marriage to alleviate suffering and unnecessary hardships among our people, like losing visitation rights to your hospitalized partner or to your children by a previous straight marriage.     And to make it all the more galling, you overwhelmingly denied our request to solve problems internal to our community by invoking the name of Jesus Christ who taught love and generosity. Who said if your neighbor asks for your shirt, give him your cloak also. Who said turn the other cheek, love your enemies--love your neighbors.     We’re your neighbors!     Jesus's central message was that the Law shouldn't be used to cause suffering to people. He preached against the rule about walking on the Sabbath if you needed to get help because your donkey fell in a hole. He preached against the rules about gleaning crops. He certainly preached against the rules for draconian punishments for sexual sins (like stoning women).    What Jesus got arrested for was an act of civil disobedience in the Temple when he overturned the tables of the money-changers in an act of righteous vandalism against the rule about not bringing coins with graven images into the Temple precincts.    Jesus spent His whole ministry preaching against literal--and oppressive--interpretation of the Old Testament Law. He was executed as a heretic for violating the rule against blasphemy, i.e. preaching against the Bible.    Shame on you for letting your dirty little prejudices against gay people because it makes you sexually uncomfortable cause you to forsake everything Christianity is really about.    What could be more "conservative" than upholding individual liberty to choose how one lives one's life without government interference? How incredibly "unconservative" it is for government to pass laws restricting individual choices and meddling in people's personal lives? BESIDES: Jesus said: "Homosexuals are born that way from their mother's womb" The Simple Answers to the Gay Marriage Debate & What the Bible Says What is homosexuality in metaphysical terms? What's the Purpose of Homosexuality? More about the elections of 2004: Take a look at this, it's quite sobering: Personally, I think the election was rigged. I think the voting machines were programmed to give Bush a victory whether the people voted for him or not.  I think we have just seen an historic coup d'etat occur in the United States. Lovers of democracy, the Constitution, and freedom should be very concerned.

Toby Johnson, PhD is author of eight books: three non-fiction books that apply the wisdom of his teacher and "wise old man," Joseph Campbell to modern-day social and religious problems, three gay genre novels that dramatize spiritual issues at the heart of gay identity, and two books on gay men's spiritualities and the mystical experience of homosexuality. In addition to the novels featured elsewhere in this web site, Johnson is author of IN SEARCH OF GOD IN THE SEXUAL UNDERWORLD and THE MYTH OF THE GREAT SECRET (Revised edition): AN APPRECIATION OF JOSEPH CAMPBELL.

Johnson's Lammy Award winning book GAY SPIRITUALITY: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of Human Consciousness was published in 2000.

His newest book is GAY PERSPECTIVE: Things Our Homosexuality Tells Us about the Nature of God and the Universe.

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