NOVEMBER 2012
Section 1: News & Politics
ACCESSline Page 7
Religion of Anger by Tony E. Hansen It is frequently claimed that there is at least one item that you should shy away from discussing when in civil company: religion. Assuredly, someone will offend someone else’s different religious belief or opinion. Yet, the reason that people make this claim is that religion tends to be deeply personal. The lightest comment by one person can be an instant insult to another. The world seems ever more leaning toward finding the insult than light conversation. Considering how easy it is to offend someone in America on the topic of religion, no one should be surprised that a video insulting Islam would be met with violence. When recent riots in the Mideast were provoked by extremist Christian elements, I could only think of how angry religion has become. There is always someone who wants to push the boundaries of what is acceptable and make others look bad. The extreme religious factions in America have made business more difficult and tourism more dangerous for all Americans. Foreigners have to be wondering how America will insult someone today instead of being that “beacon of light” and hope. Yet, there is something similar of both the crazies in Florida who promoted the crap that provoked the radical violence in the Islamic world as well as the crazies who sought violence as the primary reaction to it. Both follow an almost “demonic” kind of reasoning that insults all modern religions. Both disregard any sense of security and justice for others. Despite teachings of compassion and
love as the basis for modern world religions, or even their foundations in the Golden Rule, we see instantly angry reactions from religious folks of all stripes. Religion has turned first to anger, “firing first and then asking questions later.” These people are rejecting their own fundamental teachings and, instead, worshipping their anger and hatreds. The promotion of this hateful spirit is a sacrilege and a rejection of the teachings of Jesus Christ, the Prophet Mohammed, the Buddha, and the many other reverences around the world. The merits of organized religion are lost when people (extreme or mainstream) disregard the basic tenets of their religious doctrines. Instead of promoting the compassion and tolerance of those peaceful doctrines, these people focus efforts to incite riots, destruction, and violence at everyone’s expense, regardless of reason. Such people disregard facts and any notion of tolerance. They become fodder for spewing hate and more anger within the extreme elements that promote the worst of humanity (those anti-Christ-like ways.) Unfortunately, these people will also wallow in the misery of their hatred and anger. They will not find peace regardless of how many are killed or how many lives are ruined. They are exhibiting actual “gluttony” and “greed” to have all people believe in their perspective of God and religion. They can be guaranteed to turn blind eyes to genocide and even actively participate in the holocausts.
These elements of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and others welcome shallow showmanship with a disregard of others using the loudest inconsiderate boasts. The Buddha teaches, “The shallow is easy to embrace, but the profound is difficult; that to discard the shallow and seek the profound is the way of courage.” I am not saying that all showmanship, like Tim Tebow, is destructive, because seeing those who believe in their convictions clearly lets people know what they believe. Yet, showmanship, especially the extreme kind, is clearly at odds with Matthew 6:5, the Buddha and the Qur’an because real faith is within the self that can help guide one’s actions. Further, consider James 1, “You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness.” The Qu’ran (3:134) suggests that those, “… who restrain anger and who pardon the people - and Allah loves the doers of good…” The quick, knee-jerk anger is denounced both in the Bible and the Qur’an, but you would never know that from Robertson’s CBN, Fox, or Al-Jazeera reports. It is almost as if these guys are helping to incite the violence in order to have something to report. “One tin soldier” cannot compete with the constant baiting these shallow “news” outlets and the extreme religious people project. As Dave Mustaine sings, “Ask the sheep for their beliefs, ‘do you kill on God’s command?’” The majority of all people do not hold these extreme views or the anger that has been on display. What we need is to reject the religion of anger and be each other’s keeper. To respect each other means not to force others to believe one way, but to allow people to believe. That is the essence of “freedom of religion.” To have faith is
Dr. Olson, With so much more in the media about gay men and women, isn’t it much easier to come out now than it was in the past? The simple answer is “No,” but it’s more complicated than that. From the perspective of society as a whole, it may be easier, but on an individual basis it is not. While it is true that we magnify potential losses and minimize potential gains, the reality is that some people feel they risk losing too much by coming out. One young man believes it may be harder for young people today than it was in the past. The instantaneous distribution of information has converted a “process” to an “event.” If a teen tells her friend she thinks she may be gay, her entire school and community may be aware of it by the next morning. Once labeled, it cannot be undone. Confessing ambivalence or confusion about sexual orientation transforms a feeling into a fact. A study at the University of California, San Francisco, found that self-identified gay men have considered suicide at three times
the rate of heterosexual men. Another study published in Pediatrics found that the rate of suicide in gay teens was much higher in communities where there is less acceptance of homosexuality. In China, 35% of gay men have seriously considered suicide and 70% of them eventually marry because of strong social pressure. A 55 year old friend in San Francisco, a gay Mecca, struggles a decision about coming out. A young African American from Birmingham told me that although he knows he’s gay, he is certain that if he came out he would be killed. I recently heard something similar from an older gay man in Iowa. Much of my own research has been with mature men who are caught in a purgatory of indecision. Too gay to be straight but too straight to be gay, they feel their lives are coming apart. This hidden group of men–I have not studied women–are overlooked in research because they resist being labeled gay. A lack of exposure to the diverse community of gay men reinforces their internal stereotypes of what it means to be gay, perpetuating their shame and
self-hatred. Rarely are characters on TV and in the movies portrayed as real people. Their roles are often built on exaggerated, stereotypical characteristics. When I was young, our celebrity role models were Liberace and Paul Lynd; today it is “Cam” on “Modern Family” and “Curt” on “Glee.” While both of the latter shows have produced very enlightened stories of the lives of gay relationships, it is easy for someone who is uncertain of their sexual orientation to say, “I can’t be gay! I’m not like them.” Coming out does not have to be all or nothing; it is possible to come out in limited ways and only to a few trusted friends. Being a part of a gay community even in very limited ways erases many of the internalized stereotypes we all have struggled with whether gay, bi or straight. But whenever a person says to another, “I think I might be gay,” he or she has lost control of the message. Some losses are real, even though frequently less than anticipated; however, the peace that comes with finally being one with oneself is unimaginable. Questions for Loren A Olson can be sent courtesy of ACCESSline, PO Box 396 Des Moines, IA 50302-0396.
Religion has turned first to anger, “firing first and then asking questions later.” These people are rejecting their own fundamental teachings and, instead, worshipping their anger and hatreds.
Shrink Rap by Loren A Olson MD
Coming out does not have to be all or nothing; it is possible to come out in limited ways and only to a few trusted friends.
Tony E Hansen is a web developer, organizer, researcher, writer, martial artist, and vocalist from Des Moines. For more information go to tigersndragons.com. to let go of perceptions of truth, to not be idolatrous to that perception, and to let the truth reveal itself. If we base our faith and beliefs in anger, then our religion is anger, hatred, and negativity. The religion becomes nothing of what the good people have taught us. If we are more concerned about others’ beliefs, we are foregoing growth in our own. Be willing to speak about your religion and how it enables you, but also be mindful that religion is deeply personal and can be easily insulted. Steer discussion away from heated anger and into how we share common interests, both in the spiritual and the physical realms. Maybe then we can live in each other’s neighborhoods, and maybe then we can walk in other countries without fear some jerk at home is going to create more religion-based anger. Peace be unto you.
Loren A. Olson MD, DLFAPA is a board certified psychiatrist who has been engaged in the clinical practice of psychiatry for over 35 years. Dr. Olson has conducted independent research on mature gay men, and presented the initial results of this research at the World Congress in Psychiatry in Prague in September 2008 and throughout the United States. He writes for his own blog, MagneticFire.com, which has a strong following among mature gay men. He is the author of Finally Out: Letting Go of Living Straight, for more information go to FinallyOutBook.com or Facebook.com.