{"id":3082,"date":"2013-12-16T02:47:06","date_gmt":"2013-12-15T20:47:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/intelligent-torvalds.74-208-171-134.plesk.page\/?p=3082"},"modified":"2023-02-01T10:32:04","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T16:32:04","slug":"my-reasons-and-my-reason-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/?p=3082","title":{"rendered":"My Reasons and My Reason, Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?\u00a0 Do not be deceived!\u00a0 The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, thieves, the greedy, drunkards<\/a>, the verbally abusive, and swindlers will not<\/a> inherit the kingdom of God.[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In an earlier essay<\/a> I wrote that I didn\u2019t want my quotation of Paul\u2019s listing of the unrighteous<\/i> (\u1f04\u03b4\u03b9\u03ba\u03bf\u03b9, a form of \u1f04\u03b4\u03b9\u03ba\u03bf\u03c2)[2]<\/sup><\/a> \u201cto come down disproportionately hard on those who favor the \u2018Side A\u2019 position discussed on the Gay Christian Network website<\/a>.[3]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 My reasons can wait for another essay.\u201d\u00a0 This is that essay, or more likely the beginning of a series of essays.\u00a0 As I think about it now I see my personal reasons falling under two distinct yet related headings: 1) my attempt to find some meaning for \u03c0\u03bf\u03c1\u03bd\u03b5\u03af\u03b1<\/a> apart from the \u201cwhatever you want\u201d imprecision of sexual immorality<\/a><\/i>; and, 2) I am a masochist.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve already written some about \u03c0\u03bf\u03c1\u03bd\u03b5\u03af\u03b1<\/a>, so I\u2019ll begin here with what I mean by masochism<\/i>.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t use the term sado-masochism<\/i> deliberately, though my earliest thoughts on the subject started there.\u00a0 I thought Sadism and Masochism were a continuum associated with dominance and submission respectively (fig. 1<\/em>).<\/p>\n

\"fig.<\/a>

fig. 1 <\/i><\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a>In college I read the commentary included in an edition\u00a0of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch\u2019s<\/a> \u201cVenus in Furs<\/a>.\u201d[4]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 It was a while ago, my notes are gone, so I can\u2019t credit the woman (I think it was a woman) who wrote the commentary.\u00a0 One thing she said resonated with me, something to the effect that a sadist would never be satisfied with a willing masochist.\u00a0 She began to distinguish Sadism from Masochism as she included dominance and submission within both categories.\u00a0 My graphical representation changed immediately (fig. 2<\/em>).<\/p>\n

\"fig.<\/a>

fig. 2<\/i><\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019ve stuck with this graphical representation as I tried to figure out what was on the other axis, what distinguished sadism from masochism.\u00a0 What I came up with is still a bit elusive even to me.\u00a0 I call it Self and Other, but I don\u2019t necessarily mean selfishness and altruism (fig. 3<\/em>).<\/p>\n

\"fig.<\/a>

fig. 3<\/i><\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a>Lisa, the dominatrix in \u201cExit to Eden<\/a>,\u201d[5]<\/sup><\/a> as she mused on the airplane about slaves in a slave market was totally wrapped up in the experience of the submissive.\u00a0 Her mission in life was to give them the submissive experience they craved.\u00a0 It excited her.\u00a0 She was a masochist as I understand it, a dominant masochist.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am in awe of the courage that it must take to submit with willingness and grace,\u201d wrote Lady N in an essay<\/a>[6]<\/sup><\/a> posted online titled Why I Love Male Submissives<\/i>.\u00a0 \u201cIt inspires me to strive for greatness within myself, so that I may remain completely worthy of such a gift.\u00a0 Simultaneously humbled and enobled by pain and passion, he becomes a rare and beautiful creature that defies any simple description.\u201d\u00a0 She, too, is a dominant masochist.<\/p>\n

Conversely, the \u201cpain slut<\/a>\u201d[7]<\/sup><\/a> who latches on to a dominant and berates and humiliates them in order to provoke them to the level of desired violence is a submissive sadist in my opinion.\u00a0 And a second look at even the opening reverie of \u201cVenus in Furs\u201d causes me to suspect that Severin<\/a>,[8]<\/sup><\/a> Sacher-Masoch\u2019s alter-ego, was never a masochist at all, but a submissive sadist who became in the end a dominant one.\u00a0 But this makes the terms submissive<\/i> and dominant<\/i> seem too masochist-centric to be of much use in describing Sadism.\u00a0 Perhaps I should close the loop and describe the \u201cpain slut\u201d as a bottom who tongue-lashes a top to incite the top to lash the bottom\u2019s bottom harder and faster (fig. 4<\/em>).<\/p>\n

\"fig.<\/a>

fig. 4<\/i><\/p><\/div>\n

Sexuality to the non-Sadist and non-Masochist is about pleasure and honor.\u00a0 They assume that a \u201csado-masochist\u201d likes pain and humiliation instead of, or confuses them for, pleasure and honor.\u00a0 I\u2019ve read things online from both dominants\/tops and submissives\/bottoms that seem to support that point of view.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t have any difficulty distinguishing between pleasure, pain, honor and humiliation.\u00a0 I would say (in theory at least) that they are interesting and unique flavors that are enjoyable to combine in different recipes with one\u2019s spouse, willing spouse, that is (I am a masochist).<\/p>\n

It is apparent to me that what I call masochism<\/i> may be nothing more than something called sado-masochism<\/i> filtered through the fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control<\/i>).[9]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 But I\u2019m going to continue as if my masochism has its own existence, something like I have been describing. \u00a0I must face then that it may be nothing more than the fruit<\/i> of being one of those given over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves<\/a><\/i>.[10]<\/sup><\/a> \u00a0Consider Lady N\u2019s ode<\/a> to male submissives again:<\/p>\n

He is John Barleycorn, consort and sacrifice.\u00a0 He is brutally degraded and taken for the most profane of uses, and thus a god worthy of worship and reverence.\u00a0 Crucified in leather, his flesh is violated and sanctified, celebrated and decorated by the bright blood roses of our passion.\u00a0 His body is the altar at which I worship.\u00a0 It is the sacred paradox, and it is the deepest truth and the greatest beauty that I can know in this life.<\/em><\/p>\n

I am the respectful penitent and the savage goddess, and the scourge rises and falls to glorify as much as to humble.\u00a0 I am as deeply reverent as I am merciless to the sacrifice.\u00a0 Dea gratias<\/a>[11]<\/sup><\/a> [\u201cthanks be to God (Deo) Goddess (Dea)\u201d], forever and ever, amen.<\/em><\/p>\n

The sheer intensity of taking a consenting submissive and making him hurt and cry and suffer for me, the power and passion that is as hot and raw as the living hearts the Aztecs once tore from the chest of a willing sacrifice, that is what feeds me and fuels the flames of my desire.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lady N\u2019s reference to John Barleycorn probably has less to do with Jack London\u2019s novel<\/a>[12]<\/sup><\/a> than it does with this quote from Raven Kaldera on Pagan BDSM<\/a>:[13]<\/sup><\/a> \u201cThere’s one other point to make that is uniquely pagan in worldview. \u00a0Each spirit that gets called into a man-made object is a tiny reflection, a snapshot, a splinter, an avatar of a much greater spirit…When someone takes on the archetype of the Owned Slave, they allow into themselves a piece of the greater spirit that is All That Is Sacrificed That We May Live. This Spirit has many faces and names — the Sacred King, John Barleycorn, Iphigenia, Persephone, the Sacrificed Maiden, the Prey Animal, the Bull God and Goat God, Lugh, Baldur, the Corn Dollie, the Wicker Man, and so forth.\u201d \u00a0Here my masochism and my understanding of \u03c0\u03bf\u03c1\u03bd\u03b5\u03af\u03b1 seem to intersect<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The shape of my masochism was pretty much established by about nine or ten years of age, the fourth grade.\u00a0 I truly don\u2019t remember what I was thinking, believing or doing<\/a> that might have made me a fool in God\u2019s eyes who exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles<\/i>.[14]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 And the idea\u2014that the wrath of God<\/i> [was] revealed from heaven against all<\/i> [the] ungodliness and unrighteousness<\/i>[15]<\/sup><\/a> of the nine-year-old (or younger) boy that I was\u2014causes me to recoil some.\u00a0 And that recoil has made it difficult for me to fully embrace my masochism as God\u2019s wrath: Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor their bodies among themselves<\/a><\/i>.[16]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

It gives me some cause, however, beyond the fruit of Christ\u2019s Spirit, to be patient with those whose homosexual desires are so deeply rooted in their childhoods that it seems like an integral part of who they are as human beings.<\/p>\n

\n
My Reasons and My Reason, Part 2<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
Back to Romans, Part 48<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
Back to My Reasons and My Reason, Part 3<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
Back to My Reasons and My Reason, Part 6<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
Back to Who Am I? Part 5<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
Back to My Reasons and My Reason, Part 8<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
Back to Paul in Corinth<\/em><\/a><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n

<\/a>[1]<\/sup> 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10 (NET) Table<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/a>[3]<\/sup> http:\/\/www.gaychristian.net\/greatdebate.php<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/a>[4]<\/sup> http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Venus_in_Furs<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/a>[5]<\/sup> http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Exit_to_Eden<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/a>[6]<\/sup> http:\/\/www.fad-nc.org\/words-of.html<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/a>[7]<\/sup> http:\/\/www.urbandictionary.com\/define.php?term=pain%20slut<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/a>[8]<\/sup> http:\/\/www.fullbooks.com\/Venus-in-Furs.html<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/a>[9]<\/sup> Galatians 5:22, 23 (NET)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/a>[10]<\/sup> Romans 1:24 (NET)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/a>[11]<\/sup> http:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/deo%20gratias<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/a>[12]<\/sup> http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/John_Barleycorn_(novel)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/a>[13]<\/sup> http:\/\/www.paganbdsm.org\/articles\/power-exchange\/slavetraining.html<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/a>[14]<\/sup> Romans 1:23 (NET)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/a>[15]<\/sup> Romans 1:18 (NET)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/a>[16]<\/sup> Romans 1:24 (NET) Table<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?\u00a0 Do not be deceived!\u00a0 The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual partners, practicing homosexuals, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the verbally abusive, and swindlers will not inherit … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2272,2719],"tags":[363,358,761,703],"class_list":["post-3082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-my-reasons-and-my-reason","category-section-three","tag-1-corinthians-69-10","tag-romans-118","tag-romans-123","tag-romans-124"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3082"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20264,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3082\/revisions\/20264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/religiousmind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}