DOMA: One Christian Speaks

Another one worth reblogging. This is one of the most balanced views I’ve seen in the same-sex marriage debate, though I’m sure there are people on both sides of the issue who will have a problem with what Beth wrote here. Do all of us a favour and read the whole thing, several times, before you start writing scathing comments.

And while this specifically pertains to recent legal developments in the US, I think the arguments here apply to any free democratic country, including mine.

In Case of Fire, Use Stairs

With the DOMA decision hot off the presses this week, my Facebook news feed has been fascinating. I just sit and watch the screen refresh with anticipation; waiting for the gloves to come off.

One minute: OMGRAINBOWTEARSOFJOY.

The next: OMGWORLDCRASHINGDOWN.

And about every half hour: Something about Jesus, churches or the Bible, and how they feel about “The Gays” getting married.

As an Orthodox Christian, I view marriage [which my Church defines as being a physical and spiritual union between a man and a woman] as a Sacrament. Something spiritual and supernatural happens during a wedding for an Orthodox Christian: Christ is the Celebrant, He joins the couple together. And in a Mystery, they become one person. Because of this, sex is meant for marriage because it is a participation in that oneness. It is meant to be experienced within the context. So, taken together: having a wedding…

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On vacation (me)

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Here’s a novella about my vacation so far.

On the way here we passed through one of my favourite places in SA – the Meiringspoort pass. This pass is on the road between Beaufort-West and Oudtshoorn and is the main passage between the Great Karoo and the Little Karoo. In times of heavy rainfall the entire valley fills up with water. I once passed through here on a school tour shortly after a flood while they were busy repairing the road. Boulders the size of our school bus had lain scattered along the road. Now, however, it’s a beautiful road with regular rest stops, this one also at a tourist centre a short hike away from the Prince Albert waterfall. Imagine five kilometres with these cliffs towering above you. At times it feels like they’re going to close up over your car.

Oh, and the Afrikaans author, C.J. Langenhoven, wrote a story of how he and his family once travelled through this pass in an old railway car pulled by their tame pet elephant, Herrie. Naturally they got stranded in the middle of the pass due to a flood for several weeks. The boys from a nearby village supposedly climbed down the cliffs on ropes to visit his daughters while they were there. Your guess is as good as mine whether the story was true. He was one of those authors where you could never be completely certain. He also wrote a story of how he and his one daughter visited the moon in a Venusian spaceship shaped like a golden egg. I’m pretty sure that one was made up. Continue reading “On vacation (me)” →

Tag! You’re it!

I remember playing tag. You had to run around and avoid one person touching you. If he touched you, you had to chase the others. If you touched a certain object you couldn’t be tagged. We called it “Touchers”.

I reckon my last game of tag was around twenty years ago. That is, until today. Thanks, Nerd Enchanted, for helping me rediscover my youth.

Tag rules:
1. Post a picture of yourself with 11 facts
2. Answer the questions posted by the tagger
3. Create 11 new random questions
4. Tag people!

A picture of me: Continue reading “Tag! You’re it!” →

On speaking out

On Monday the Reader delivered this post by 23thorns about a high ranking police officer who brought in a sangoma* to investigate a break-in at his office. Just in case you think 23thorns is making this up, here’s the link to the actual news report.

But that’s not what I want to talk about. Someone asked in the comments whether something like this will hold up in court. I jokingly replied whether he really wanted to know and got the following reply:

“I think someone else mentioned it, but this is a dangerous stand…. I hope you are flying under the radar.”

There was another comment on the post asking whether it was “safe to wax political in SA”.

I don’t know what upset me most about these comments – whether it was the fact that this is the view these people have of South Africa, or whether they are cautioning us to be careful about what we say. Continue reading “On speaking out” →

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On self-doubt

I enjoy a good pity-party as much as the next guy, but some days merely feeling sorry for myself simply don’t cut it. On those days I decide to step it up and start questioning my entire existence.

Today was one of those days. It started out quite well – hot filter coffee while watching the sun rise over the ocean (feeling jealous yet?) and I was all set to plant myself behind the computer and break that writing block that had been vexing me lately.

As they tend to do, some distractions got in the way, but I dealt with them and watched a movie. Then I finally warmed up the laptop (some days it’s like an old diesel engine – have to let it idle a bit before I can start working) and started to write…or tried to. Continue reading “On self-doubt” →