You Don't Need A Label To Believe That Everyone Is Equal And Should Be Treated Equally. We Should Not

are you allowed to wear clothes above the knee?

Yes, I suppose I am "allowed" haha :P the are no rules for what I should or should not wear. It's basically a judgment call for everything I wear. I have personal preferences: I don't like to show off my boobs, belly or butt so my clothes cover those essentials. My shorts usually come about halfway down my thighs and my tank tops have straps that are like two finger-widths thick, for example :P Yeah, that's all!Peace and love! -Katherine

Your opinions on polygamy?

Hmm..I have to say that I am not so much a fan of polygamy. 

By way of explanation, I would have to say that it’s because I’m a big believer in the idea of “One Love”. That is to say, I’m not going to have sex until I’m married, and ideally, I plan to be married “until death do us part”. So I personally am not open to the idea of divorce except in the case of abuse or infidelity or some other such extreme circumstances. “Irreconcilable differences”, to me, is not an option. So that being said, my vision for my life is being in love with, being married to, and having sex with, only one person. I want to be so close to someone that I know them inside and out. I want to know all their strengths and all their weaknesses and love them for both equally, because that’s what makes them who they are. I want to be totally open and vulnerable about myself with someone and have them accept me for who I am. I want to have the irrefutable confidence that I want to spend every day until the end of my days with this person. I want to whether the storms of life with this person. I want to fight like crazy with this person. I want a life-partner. Like me and him against the world, you know? And to me, such an intimate experience with only one person makes it all the more valuable and precious. Especially with the sex thing, especially for me. 

But that’s just the romantic in me. Let’s talk about what the bible has to say on the topic of polygamy. 

In the bible, there are many examples of man who had more than one wife. Sure, King Soloman had 700 wives and 300 concubines on top of that! (1 Kings 11:2-3) [Sidenote: what the heck are you gonna do with that many women? I mean even if you slept with a different woman every day, it would take you more almost three years to get through them all! I bet he didn’t know most of their names.] That being said, most theological scholars seem to think that the polygamy was a cultural thing and only tolerated, if not condoned by God.

In Genesis, after God takes one of Adam’s ribs to make Eve, it says “This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” (Genesis 2:24) That seems pretty clear. It even says that two become one, so that seems to support the monogamy argument. 

Later on in the New Testament, Paul (who was a pretty funny guy) is talking about how he’s a bachelor because it allows him to focus more on his evangelical mission, but that it’s better to get married than to “burn in lust”. Because, for some reason, the members of the early church in Corinth seemed to think that sex is bad. This is completely false! Sex was created by God and it is a beautiful thing. So Paul is basically saying that sex is not a bad thing, but you shouldn’t really be sleeping around, because that’s not the way God intended it. Paul’s point is that trying to avoid sex completely is almost impossible, painful, frustrating for everyone involved, and a really good way to disappoint yourself. So marriage is the ideal situation here. Paul says, “But because of the temptation of sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.” (1 Corinthians 7:2) [Sidenote: The verse after that talks about how husband and wife should fulfill each other’s sexual needs. Well-known pastor and author Rick Warren tweeted that verse, which I think has got to be the most awkward scripture tweet ever. Its awkwardness is surpassed only by Christian comedian Tim Hawkins who mistakenly told someone that his favourite verse is Psalm 38:7, which says “I have a painful disease in my loins”.] 

So anyway, it would seem that the bible supports the idea of monogamy. I personally think that the way God designed sex was for one man and one woman within the bonds of God-consecrated, holy matrimony. (This is a discussion on polygamy. I’ve already talked about homosexuality at length here, here and here.) Therefore, my seemingly romantic “One Love” idea is actually firmly grounded in my religious beliefs. 

In conclusion: Polygamy is not a lifestyle that I would choose, based on my beliefs and personal moral code, but like anything else, I will not condemn another person for choosing that lifestyle. These are the choices I’ve made for my life and will not be arrogant enough to try to extend them into yours. 

Thanks for the question :) Love chatting with you guys! Peace and love! -Katherine 

Okay so. I'm what one might call an evangelical christian. God is my reality - the foundation upon which my life and my identity is built. And it's pure love and joy.

But sometimes, being a christian really sucks. I feel guilty, like all the time. I feel guilty for stuff i do. For stuff i don't do. For stuff i've done. For stuff i haven't done. For who i am. For who i'm not. Sometimes i just feel guilty, just like, in general? No reason. I'm just chillin and feeling guilty without any idea why. I think that is due, in no small part, to my christian upbringing.

And it really fuckin sucks. the story of God's love for humanity is all about redemption and freedom and perfect unity with God themself. but humans' interpretation of that story is like, "wow, we are shitty. we are all so shitty. we're, like, the worst. we have to feel very bad about this and hate ourselves and punish ourselves for this until we die." Like, way to miss the point!?

And then, kids like me grow up in that environment and end up feeling guilty all the time for no reason! It fuckin sucks!!

My Personal Exodus

I've invited some wonderful women to share their experiences on evolutions and revolutions in life for our series "The View From Here :: On a Life in Transition". I hope you appreciate their words ...

Hey guys! This is a monumental occasion! My friend Leigha, whom I admire tremendously for her fearless activism, independence and heartbreakingly beautiful writing talent, asked me to be a guest writer on her blog!! :D Above you'll find the link to my post :) Also, while you're there, poke around and check out some of her stuff. If you like what you read here, you definitely won't be disappointed!  Love y'all!  Peace! -Katherine

Okay I'm real salty here tonight. I AM SO NOT HERE for that weird form of judgment that sounds like pity. You know the one I'm talking about? "Oh, that poor 16 year old girl out drinking with her friends on a Wednesday night. So sad." Yeah, it's freaking heartbreaking. But not when you say it like that! When you say it like that it sounds self-righteous and preachy. It's the same tone you use for those black-baby-poverty-porn commercials. "Tsk tsk, so sad." And you shake your head and go back to your obviously perfect life. My friend, I'm not about that. You know people could have said about me? "Oh that poor girl failed all her courses this semester. So sad." "Oh that poor girl has hooked up with three guys in the span of a month. So sad." And sure, I was going through it. But that superiority-complex pity you're dishing was not gonna help me one bit. That's a way to separate yourself from the person. GRACE DOES NOT ALLOW US TO SEPARATE OURSELVES FROM PEOPLE. Grace puts us face to face with our fellow man and says, "this could be you." And when we see our brothers and sisters stumbling, our reaction should not be "so sad." It should be "hey, how's it going?" Because we have to be there for each other. We have to recognize that when our girls are out drinking and partying and having sex, it's because they feel empty and unloved. It's because no one cared enough about them to tell that they're worth more than that! It's because they don't know that feeling numb isn't actually better than feeling their emotions. Guess who could have told them that? We could have! When our children are struggling, it is because of our failure as a community to care for them. And it is our responsibility to be there for them in whatever they're going through, and to offer them a hand when they trip. Not to stand back and say "so sad."

My stance on...

gender identity

labels

pronouns

gender expression

clothes, piercings, tattoos, medications, therapy, hormones, surgeries, accomodations

sexual orientation

relationships between consenting adults

You can do whatever you want forever.

This applies to...

me

you

everyone

Don't understand someone's identity/orientation/labels? Doesn't matter.

Don't "agree" with someone's pronouns or their interpretation/description of their own identity? Fuck off. Who do you think you are? Your opinion is neither desired nor relevant.

Kill the cop inside your mind. Don't be a dick.

Layin' some truth on ya...

Jesus loves everyone. I mean everyone. Every single person on this planet.

“But what about ga..”

“What about divor…”

“Are you sure he likes trans…”

“Hey! What about prosti…”

“You can’t mean musl…”

And if you dare to call yourself a Christian you better love the crap out of EVERYONE too! No matter what.

hey if you're trans in the us i love you. hey if you're queer in the us i love you. hey if you're a person of color in the us i love you. hey if you're a woman in the us i love you. hey if you're disabled in the us i love you. i love you i love you i love you

i don't know what else to tell you except to be brave and to be kind. take it day by day. go outside and watch the clouds paint the sky. call a friend.

we are still here, and furious. you are still here, and that matters. you can still do and make and be something important. i promise. stay alive. it matters, and you matter. i know it is easy to succumb to anxiety and exhaustion and defeat.

communities can start with tiny ideas. google "dnd meeting near me" or whatever your interest might be. google "volunteering near me." google "support groups near me." start journalling. start a discord. start a book club.

when you close your eyes and hear hamlet, answer his prayer: it's better still to be.

please reblog the fundraisers you see on your dash. please. if you claim to care about palestine, NOW is the time to prove it. everyone said gaza will be worse off if trump wins - well, now he has. the least anyone can do now is reblog and share and DONATE to as many fundraisers as possible. especially if you're american. you want harm reduction? this is harm reduction. help gazan families.

you can't decide where to start?

gazafunds

mohammad, nawal, and baby roaa

yousef, khadija, and baby majd

ahmed, his family, and their cat soso

nairuz and hussein's spreadsheet | gazavetters' spreadsheet | the butterfly effect spreadsheet

fundraisers linked on my blog

esims

pick a name. any name. read their story. realize that what you feel now, they feel everyday, a thousandfold. donate whatever you can. at the very least, reblog if you can't.

there is no excuse not to.