Posted by Katherine (207.121.233.3) on July 19, 2001 at 12:07:52:
In Reply to: Creatures of Light and Darkness posted by Dragan Horsten on July 19, 2001 at 02:53:45:
Ok....
Where to start on this rant... let's see...
When a acquaintance of mine who is born again found out that I was a CH sufferer and it was adequately described to him he said, "Me and my wife will pray for you the next week."
My response: "Thank you! Thank you! I need all the help I can get."
When my coven found out that my headaches started up again they prayed to the goddess and the god, and whipped up a magic spell to find a solution to the problem and make the pain stop.
My response: "Thank you! Thank you! I need all the help I can get."
I do not deserve this pain because I am a practicing pagan. Mike B does not deserve this pain because he is a practicing Christian, and neither do you, Dragan. Nobody deserves this pain. It is tantamount to blaming the rape victim for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
What we deserve is help. What we deserve is peace. What we deserve is compassion. And if that compassion can be found in the bible for you, then wha-hoo! And if it can be found the the Prophet for Flash, then I am happy for Flash that he found something that gives him comfort.
But just as Zomig works for some people and oxygen works for others and imitrex or cocktails of drugs work for others to combat CH's, so do different approaches to religions work better for others. I would never tell Harold to get off his Butalbital if it is working for him, or Carla's son to get off Verapamil. I am not qualified to do that and it would be extreemly rude and even life threatening. It is morally wrong to tell them to get off of those drugs and get onto oxygen, and that oxygen is THE ONE TRUE cure, because that is what is working for me.
To tell me that the way that you view the world is the "true reality" (your quote) is sheerest arrogance. To suggest that I am reading the wrong books and practicing the wrong religion, and that if I just switch to the one that you are using that your God will grant me respite from pain is as bad as the belly oil that somebody is spamming us all with.
Look, I am not trying to be a pain... and I am no longer certain where I am going with this. I started off reading your letter and being mad as heck, and now that I have gotten to this point I am just sad and tired. I do not believe that longsuffering is spiritual fruit, I think in my case it is a spiritual distraction. I have a hard time connecting to the universe and godhead, or being at peace and accepting my fate when I am clutching my eye and pounding my head against the floor. I am almost certain that we might be able to agree that there is nothing holy in that.
Dude, if you want to suggest the bible because that is what works for you, I will accept that with the same good grace as when someone suggests topomax or 'shrooms: Hey man, whatever works, I'll try anything. But please please please don't start down the "this is the only way" road. This is not the place for it. We have all come from different paths to get to these headaches, and it may be that we will all take different paths to finally sign off this BBS for good. The same goes true for our spirituality or lack thereof. What we all need is compassion and understanding from each other, it seems to be in short supply out there. Let's not make it in short supply in here.
Peace
Katherine
PS> Would you be offended if I put in a good word for you with the Goddess?