"The fact is that more people have been slaughtered in the name of religion than for any other single reason.
That, THAT my friends, is true perversion."
Harvey Milk, who spoke the above words at the 1978 Gay Freedom Day Rally. He was killed later that year by a fanatic.
My spirituality is based on the belief that all of creation (every living creature and everything else in our environment) deserves to be treated with the greatest respect possible. There is no spiritual (or other) excuse for discrimination based on gender, race, sexuality, economic class, ethnic origin, spirituality, size, age, species, or any of the other categories we use to divide ourselves from others and from creation. Ever.
Like many people who's own spiritual tradition has abused and rejected them, I have chosen to look beyond christianity (or "christo-fascism" as Dorothee Solle calls it) for a deeper, more universal, healthier (and less manipulative, controlling and punitive) spiritual path. I devoted many, many years to trying to work within and reform the christian church (as a pastor for ten years, a church musician for 25 years, and many other capacities). While I have met many wonderful people who have been able to grow beyond the limitations of a sick institution, I have come to terms with the fact that I believe the patient is sick enough that it a matter of spiritual survival to just leave it behind and move on to something else.
I have found such depth and beauty in such a variety of spiritualities (as well as problems which occur when spiritualities become "religions" or institutionalized) that I have devoted considerable time and energy to learning about a variety of different spiritual traditions and looking for the healthy (for me) common themes which run through so many. I come from a long-time personal interest (and considerable graduate work) in Jungian depth psychology and believe that many of these common themes are related to the Jungian concept of the collective unconscious.
I have been most attracted to the earth/nature centered spiritualities which have a much healthier (in my not-so-humble opinion) notion of our relationship with all the other parts of creation. For me in particular, this has included strong interest in Native American, many pagan and wiccan, and some Yorube Diaspora spiritualities. I have tried to provide just a few links below to encourage you on your own spiritual path of discovery. There are many, many more which could be included.
Many of the resources below contain more information to help you further your journey. Not all of the links below are to specifically lesbian/gay sites (but many of the pagan links are). If you know of any good LesBiGay spirituality resources which are missing from this list, please send me e-mail and let me know about it. Thanks!
OrishaWeb
PostFundamentalist Press Home Page
Reconciling Congregation Program
The Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA)
Ifa Foundation of North America
Links to Orisha Resources Online
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Copyright 1996-99 © Rick Schlosser