Stellar wrote:If it's normal for people to be different in todays society then is everyone outside the realm of this normality the different ones?
Not necessarily, no. If by different, they stray away from what others commonly do, or have commonly done, then those not wanting to be different are probably clinging to traditions and doctrines, and other such things, which, if you take into account the amount of time anyone has been practicing them, makes them a normal part of human behavior. So, all of those people would be normal. The different ones, I'd say, are the people that you probably won't hear about, or the very few with ideas that actually differ to a significant extent from all common rules and trends of thought, regardless if they're considered crazy (but not crazy in the literal sense).
Do you think there would be more transgendered, crossdressers, and everyone in between if religions, governments, and society didn't seem to shun us?
Not too much more, I'd think. For one, there are plenty, if not in practice then in mind, whether or not they hide either fact. However, if there was an environment where, instead of just being accepted, there were venues of encouragement for any of those things... Well, then I'd say that there would be more. Generally, the biggest difference would be in how many people hide those personal traits. There'd be more if the attitude, in general, were relaxed, but I don't think there'd be a significant increase without there being something more than just acceptance.
Do you think the structure of governments and society would be different if "in the beginning" man wrote the Bible so no one was singled out or said to be acting against 'God'?
If I understand this correctly, you're saying that everyone knows that their ancestors wrote the bible? If so, I don't really think that there'd be that much of a difference. Perhaps as far as the when and why of how things develop, but I'm sure it'd all come down to the fact that people will abuse anything that they have because, well... They made it up. When we make our own toys, we can get away with doing all sorts of things with them, if what someone (or some people) intends to do is done right. Government is just another one of human's toys, regardless if they admitted that the bible was one of their toys as well. It all comes down to who's in power, who has what amount of influence, what their ambitions are, and if they have the knowledge and resources to be successful (barring that some chance-derived factor doesn't come into play and botch things up).
The biggest change that I can imagine, in society, would probably have to do with the development of the female half of the species. Many major religions place them in inferior positions, but, if people believed that it was due to the ideas of men rather than a higher force, I'm not exactly sure that things would develop the same or not. I mean, either women would be seen as equals sooner in history, or males would have to be more forceful and elaborate in their ways of convincing females that they are inferior, and that their calling is to be the slaves of the males' whims. Which I can easily imagine happening, looking back on history, and even in the present, in a world where people think that the bible was written by a God through people.
I think it's funny, though... I"ve seen where the bible was "inspired by God", and people seem to overlook the fact that inspiration, at best, is an influence, not an all-guiding force...
Which do you think is 'better' (for lack of better words) and why? And how do you think that a religion structured around fear of Hell became more common then those that don't use fear to teach someone just morals?
Personally, I favor enlightenment, and think that's better, out of those choices. However, how you attain enlightenment, can vary. The reason why something like that isn't as effective, is because using fear and repentance is decisive and leaves out doubt over what to do. Plus, people are, in general, guided by their emotions, and using fear is not only a good way to connect to a common trait that nearly everyone shares, but it also impacts our extinctual drive to stay alive and reproduce another day. I think that enlightenment is better because it focuses on self-improvement rather than just laying down the rules and expecting people to follow them, but it's just not poignant enough.
However, the reason why I think that a religion like Christianity works, is because it's a very useful human toy. You can control and manipulate people, especially those that don't really think for themselves. Even today, while their lives may be complicated, many people still have a simple mind-set to get through their day to day activities. And you can't really expect that much more out of them, because they have too many problems and concerns to really have time to think outside of that.
The person who can probably best explain what I think, is George Carlin. When you get right down to it, there are certain people that want power and control, and enlightenment just doesn't work for them. Why? Because it's not exactly a notion that would easily allow wars. With the fear and sin of major religion, is borne a God that lives up to those two things: a God that elicits fear in its people to do what he says (or supposedly says), and giving them a motive by declaring who the sinners are (and thus deserving of whatever is planned) and simultaneously making those that send judgement to said sinners feel righteous.
And that's another thing... Feeling righteous is like catnip to a cat, for many people. So, not only do they have justification for having nothing to fear in their actions (and thus getting that fear off of their backs, which is a nice relief for them that many probably wouldn't pass up), but they get a nice ego stroke out of it. Which is something that the path to enlightenment doesn't offer. ^_^;
I could probably say more, but I'd be getting more off-topic. <.<
Guendolen wrote:Okay, I've just thought up a little question for you. You and I share an affinity towards fae things. So what was it that first drew you to the faerie realm, and when? Call me a little curious.
You know, I don't rightly know. I think that I only really got into them when I was exposed to them, and, as it often happens, I just felt attracted to them without any way to really explain it. Well, I'm sure that the female aspect of them is a given, but there was always something more... I mean, as you know, I prefer to be au naturel, if not physically then also in other ways. Which is something that slowly developed, although I have no idea why. I have no idea why I am the person that I am, when I can imagine more likely incarnations of myself with the kind of experiences that I've had. It kind of feels like I feel reminded of something if I get the right amount of exposure to it, or a certain kind of exposure. It was the same with feeling female: I didn't even consciously recognize myself as thinking of myself as female until a decade had gone and passed... Despite all of the daydreams/fantasies, cross-dressing, interests in Ranma 1/2 and other media that I found transgender stuff in, spending two or three years reading any Ranma 1/2 fanfiction where Ranma plays a major role as a girl/gets stuck as a girl, or even after
a little more than a year of reading stories at Fictionmania. It was during the time that I was reading one of those stories that I suddenly stopped, out of the blue, and told myself that I was transgendered (or whatever amounts to what I am).
Anyway, back to the faery stuff... ^_^; I'm not sure about the reason I was drawn toward the fae, but I've been speculating that I think more subconsciously than I do consciously, and, in the spiritual realms that I'm familiar with, I seem to have some unconscious connection to my spirit, or another spiritual source for inspiration. Which I can't personally debunk since I do know that I have actively tried to escape reality in the past, to bear with said reality. Although I could also say that I may have had a connection in some spiritual sense from the start, because I've always been "extra aware" in my life. The only problem is that, while I'm aware, it doesn't really filter into my consciousness... However, I know that it does because of the ridiculous amount of coincidences I experience. But that's usually the extent that I receive... So long as I don't think and act deliberately, I can just do things with little effort. The problem with that, is that most things that I do requires premeditated interest in doing them. ^_^; Which usually isn't the case when I good around MSF...
Right... Anyway, what I'm trying to say, is that it's possible for me to have had a previous life, or had made a spiritual choice to be, a faery-like entity. When I get an interest in something, it usually just clicks, with no rhyme or reason involved. When I'm consciously aware of it is a different matter... But, thank goodness for retrospection. As well as making sure that, when I look back on memories, I make sure that I don't let my imagination touch them... Which can distort memories and make truths that are false. Even if I don't really have a good mental image of something, I'd rather keep it like that than fill it in with stuff that I can't trust to be right.
So, let's see... I probably got a real exposure to faeries in '98 or so, because it also coincided with the same time frame where I got involved with the spiritual things, such as seeing and feeling spirits, going to places that were haunted, spellwork, and all that. I never got too involved with anyone, and I probably didn't think that I had to, to prove that it felt right to me. I just wished that it didn't take until an exposure, and then a conscious realization... Which often takes a while. ^_^;
And, well... If you know me well enough, you can probably identify a lot of traits and similarities that I share with many a fae. Probably not all of them, though... I don't think anyone's willing to make a full comparison. <.<;
