She is Who She is Who She is........

I heard it said once that "...sometimes what you'll learn will conflict with what you know". I've often found that to be true in everything from religion to motherhood, friendship & finances. Our view of the world is typically shaped by what we're told when we're young. I grew up in church like many of my friends and somehow I came to a different conclusion than most of them on a lot of things people term as "issues" such as abortion, sexual preference, equality and even capital punishment. My parents very seldom told us how to feel about things. We were introduced to ideas more than we were opinions. For instance: When I was around four or five years old a man named Ross, who was a friend of my parents came to our home for Thanksgiving. He came over for parties and sometimes by himself to socialize. This went on for many years and when I was around eight years old I asked my dad why Ross never had a girlfriend? My father cackled a bit and said "Well Heather baby, that's because Ross is gay." I asked what that meant and he said that Ross liked men and that he hadn't had anyone special in his life for a while and that's why he never had a "date" with him. I accepted this information quite easily and pranced on with my life never really having an opinion about other people's sexual preferences. I was given information by my parent rather than his opinion. I try not to worry about what other people do with their lives or their bodies. It is of no consequence to me and even religous preference can be a hot debate. Personally, I could care less about affiliation. I like some more than others and have been to MANY different churches and found people of faith in all of them. We all "buy into" different things, different ideas, different ways of doing things. Religion is no different. It's like choosing a home, a mate, or even a job. You like it, it makes you feel safe and/or comfortable and so you move in, you buy into it. You trust that this is what you're meant to be or do or be a part of. You believe what you're told and move forward in the procession.


I can't say unequivically that the way my parents did things was any better or worse than the way anyone else's parents did things. I know a lot of people who were raised Baptist and now raise their children as Baptists and they go to church every Sunday and Wednesday and they're pro-life, anti same-sex marriage and staunch Republicans. They're no better or worse off than I am for feeling the way I do. I can't pick a church and stick with it to save my life, I don't care who people want to have sex with as long as it's not kids or animals and I think women have a right to decide what to do with their own bodies. Big woop! From here to eternity we won't find out who's right until we get there...