ROMANA'S PROCESS THEOLOGY
A TRANSWOMAN'S VIEW
My Factors
The following list of factors gives an idea of my mind set and the focus
of my version of Process Theology. They are presented in alphabetical order
for
convenience.
I am not telling people to abandon any current belief system; I want to
describe
tools to deal with particular beliefs that are adverse to the well-being of
GLBT persons.
I like to use the word structures a lot, instead of calling everything processes.
However, in Process Theology, all structures are composed of processes, conglomerations
of processes, or associations of processes. A process
can be any instance of a lifeform or matter that is not
an abstraction. An abstraction is a story about or a description of a process
or a set of processes.
ABSTRACT REASONING
We have the gift of abstract reasoning, and we are likely the most advanced
species on the planet possessing this mental enhancement. Our ability to perform
abstract reasoning is a natural process; however, the product of this reasoning
can be an imagined or theoretical process, or a description of an actual process,
but not an actual process itself. While there is a difference between reality
and imagination or fantasy, we do blur the distinctions, and we do spend a
considerable amount of energy arguing about these distinctions.
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ACCEPTANCE, SUPPORT, AND TOLERANCE
The measures of societal acceptance, support, and tolerance impact the
lives of GLBT persons far more than any other subgroup. In terms of diversity,
GLBT persons are part of the random subgroup that occurs within all other subgroups
of human beings. When our culture and our institutions deny the validity of our
existence, we attain outlaw status.
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ATHEISM
When I speak about atheism, I am speaking about an orthodox nihilism, a supposed
polar opposite of extreme Fundamentalism (which itself may be a form of atheism,)
which (atheism) preaches that there are no qualities or values of life that
cannot be deconstructed to lifeless matter. In this view, the flow of energy
and information, as well as all the relationships, are ignored, thus implying
that there is really no point to anything, and no sense of wonder. Also, identity
ends up being pointless too, which is bad for GLBT persons.
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BELIEF
We all have our own natural internal system of belief.
We are not mechanical
machines, and we feel many things that cannot be proven. Our internal belief
system can be in conflict with our external belief system, which is often
forced upon us by societal customs, religious beliefs, and even by defensive
reaction to attempted indoctrination. This can lead to a kind of schizophrenia,
which most GLBT persons have experienced, when we know, quite well, that we
are not who we are supposed to be, but we act out the external identity anyway.
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BIRTH AND DEATH
Birth and death mark the beginning and the
end of our lives. These are hot-buttons, due to all the pro-birth (anti-abortion)
and anti-right-to-die (anti-euthanasia) rhetoric, which ignores the importance
of the stretch of actual life in between these two boundary events.
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BUDDHISM
In Buddhism, mind and matter go (inextricably) together.
Western culture marvels at all of creation, but then it puzzles over living organisms,
labeling them as an extra, almost miraculous feature. Once lifeforms are set
apart from everything else, convoluted explanations must be devised to account
for them.
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COMMITTEE EFFECT
The Universe looks very much to have been
devised by a committee. This is very disconcerting, making a cohesive theory
that links the sub-atomic realm with the macro realm of stars and galaxies
seem very elusive.
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CREATION
There is no doubt that some kind of creation has occurred, since the universe
and all its contents, including us, are visual proof. Physicists talk of
a Big Bang that created the universe about 14 billion years ago. Process
Theology describes creation arising out of absolute chaos. Buddhism describes
it a
series
of conditioned states that arise cyclically, out of an unconditioned
state, such as Nirvana. Nirvana has no motion, change, or any other
features, except a kind of intelligent possibility.
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CRITICALITY
Criticality determines the structures and processes
that must function within a narrow set of specifications, or else an organism
will fail to survive, or it will be in some way disabled. The heart, the lungs,
and the liver are examples. The reproductive organs can have more variance than
regular organs and are not critical to individual survival.
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DECONSTRUCTIONISM
Deconstructionism is a fallacy that that
animate lifeforms can be simply reduced, and therefore totally explained, by
their constituent atoms and molecules, without any loss of information. Our
lives can be difficult enough, without being reduced to total despair and
hopelessness.
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DNA
DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid,
is the structure of life as we know it, the only known molecular recipe that
has the power of self-replication, so necessary to life. DNA maps the realm
of atoms and molecules to the macro realm of animals and other lifeforms.
While DNA fully follows all the rules of quantum mechanics, physics, and chemistry,
it itself is totally non-deterministic, meaning that there is no possible predictive
analysis as to what kind of lifeforms any particular strain of DNA will eventually
evolve to produce.
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ENJOYMENT
Enjoyment is an essential part of subjective
reality. Too often, enjoyment is viewed as frivolous
and nonessential. It can detract from a work ethic, and may even be devilish
and sinister. Process Theology views enjoyment as an essential feature of
existence for all advanced lifeforms. There is satisfaction with being in
the moment, and an eager anticipation of the future.
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EVIL
Though it may contain evil, all of creation, including ourselves, is inherently
good, not evil.
The presence of evil presents a problem for an authoritarian, all powerful
God, in that S/He is not powerful enough to prevent evil. An additional deity,
the
devil, has been devised to account for all the evil, but that compounds the
powerlessness of God, and means that
the universe is divided
against itself. Also, our lives can be so complex that the difference
between good and evil can be relative and subjective.
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EVOLUTION
Evolution is one of the best proven theories in all of science, especially since
DNA, the molecular component of our genes, was discovered, which allows
the taxonomic relationship of all lifeforms to be categorized separately
from physical
appearance.
The evolution of animate and inanimate structures into different and more
complex structures is the great epic adventure in which we are all immersed.
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EXISTENCE
Existence is the conditioned state we share with all the lifeforms and matter around us. We are bound through activity and motion to a finite interval
of time, during which we experience birth, pleasure, pain, exploration, creative
activity, sexuality, a certain amount of adventure, and finally death. Our
lives have free will (within natural bounds) and self-identity. While God
does not interfere with our lives, lifeforms and matter in motion
around us can and do interact and interfere.
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FEMINISM
We live in a society where those who have external sex organs are considered
more important than those who do not.
This is not to say there are not significant
differences between men and women; however, those differences were originally
meant to enhance our lives, not to become a source of discrimination.
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FUNDAMENTALISM, EXTREME
It is unfortunate that I have to discuss any concept of extreme
Fundamentalism, since I feel that it dangerously encourages people to disregard
their internal feelings, that it is contrary to observation, that it is contrary
to any actual plan of the Universe, that it discriminates against minorities
and minority points of view, that it unnecessarily detracts from the real issues
facing us in this culture, and that much of it is atheism masquerading as religion.
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GENDER AND SEX
Most people think that gender and sex are
the same thing. For instance, when filling in forms, one is just as likely
to find gender (male or female) as sex (male or female.) Strictly speaking,
gender is man or woman, not male or female. This is an attempt to force a
binary system upon everyone, based on the mistaken belief that society would
otherwise cease to function correctly. Extreme Fundamentalists do not like
defining gender differently from sex, because part their belief system is
based on the two being identical.
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GENETICS
Genetics is all about our underlying bio-molecular structure. This is not something
we are usually conscious about, especially in relation to our personal identities.
We do not walk around referencing our internal structure. There is also no
one-to-one correlation between our physical structure and our genetic codes,
which are actually a recipe, rather than a true blueprint.
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GOD
I am not going to urge anyone to believe in God, especially an externally located
God. If there is something
like God, S/He is part of the fabric of creation. In this case, if one trusts
their internal feelings, believing in God is redundant, and it is
better to simply believe God.
No one has ever been able, nor will it likely ever be possible, to prove
whether or not there is a God, since any nature of God is a topic of subjective
reality. We are likely talking about concepts beyond our current, primitive
reasoning, so descriptors such as exists or does not exist may
not even be relevant.
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HEAVEN AND HELL
Too often, people who think they are righteous enough to go to heaven want to
condemn the rest of us to hell. We end up being inconvenient, disposable people.
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IDENTITY
While basic identity is a process, it is not something that is easily examined
as a simple object. Since behavior is a process too, it can be difficult to
distinguish between what is identity and what is learned behavior.
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INTELLIGENCE
Often, intelligence is only thought to apply to lifeforms, and especially
to self-aware organisms such as ourselves. Applied to God, it usually means
omniscience and omnipotence. Remember, in Buddhism, mind and matter go together,
which implies there is a kind of natal intelligence.
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INTELLIGENT DESIGN
The premise of Intelligent Design is that, though evolution occurs just as we
see it, it is flawed enough to require divine intervention every so often.
We know that divine intervention means meddling by God. If we admit there
may be such a God, we also have to say that this God devised the original
system that
drives evolution. Therefore, God's own design is mysteriously flawed.
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JESUS CHRIST
Traditional Christian doctrine says that one must believe in Jesus Christ
as their personal and only savior. Others say that this twists the words of Jesus
to give them a meaning that he never intended. As with God, I would never urge
people to believe in Jesus; rather, I would urge people to believe Jesus.
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LIFE AFTER DEATH
Most religious scenarios of life after death are strictly anthropomorphic,
which should raise a red flag about unrealistic bias. Too many people view
life just as a staging ground for an afterlife.
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MARRIAGE
Marriage is just a way to officially document what we are going to do anyway.
I like being married. As with my gender identity, it was something I tried to
resist when I was young. The desire to pair off is not something that can be
turned off. I characterize myself as ultra-monogamous, which is not uncommon
for transgendered males. While marriage is not a suitable way of life for a
lot of people, it is definitely my preferable lifestyle.
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MESSINESS AND WASTEFULNESS
The unpredictability, irrationality, and variation of subjective reality
cannot be objectified, so those aspects that make us uncomfortable earn the messy
and wasteful label. Notions Survival of the Fittest have lead people
to construct non-scientific models of Nature. This kind of reductionism
often leaves a lot of things left over that do not fit simplistic models, so
these things too are labeled as messy and wasteful. Evolution
is all about variety, variation, and diversity, which disturbs people who want
a simple, especially a binary, model for all of reality. Nature cannot
be constrained by materialistic, prejudicial filters.
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METAPHYSICS
Metaphysics is a word used a lot without
very good explanation. It has to do with mystical connection through our internal
belief system, rather than through our normal senses. This can be an exploration
of ultimate reality, or may be an attempt to discover the true relation between
mind and matter.
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MORAL RELATIVISM
Objective reality has no moral values and
cannot be used to establish moral values. We exist and function in subjective
reality, which is usually over-defined because of variation and diversity.
Since we live in an interactive and interrelated environment, filled with many
polar opposites, decisions must by necessity be based upon an often-conflicting
subset of a near infinite number of possibilities.
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MYTHOLOGY
Process Theology tries to avoid using any mythology as
the basis for any of its constructs.
Mythology has to do with the earliest literature of a culture. Originally oral,
much of it was eventually written down as tales that gave instruction, explained
things, or supplied entertainment. Some of it dealt with religion and rites,
some of it represented an extremely abstracted view of reality, some of it was
created after the fact as urban legend, and some it it was in the form of sagas,
which were embellished history.
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NATURAL
As a species, we have long been moving away from our natural roots. Fundamentalism
supports this growing separation from Nature by declaring that human beings
have been independently designed from the rest of creation by God. While science
does not support such a notion, this prevalent philosophy in our culture often
takes precedence over all scientific deductions.
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OBJECTIVE REALITY
Objective reality, itself wondrous, is important for the existence all a things,
inanimate and animate, in the Universe. Objective reality provides the consistent
framework for the existence and operation of all processes over very long periods
of time. Denial of objective reality can lead to a very warped kind of moral
relativism.
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OMNISCIENCE
Omniscience is usually a term applied
to God, as knowing all there is possible to know, both currently and throughout
all of the future. In Process Theology, it is sufficient for God to know all
that has happened, but it is problematical for God to know the distant future.
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ORIENTATION, BIOLOGICAL
We all have various orientations, and
many of them are social hot-buttons. We all
have a gender orientation and a sexual orientation, whether we want one or
not. Since an orientation would be classified as non-critical, it has
the potential for greater diversity.
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PANENTHEISM
Panentheism is
another philosophical movement, whose views are so similar to the views of
Process Theology, that many Process Theologians have incorporated it in their
body of works. Like Process Theology itself, Panentheism is not absolutely
defined, but is being argued and developed all the time.
For some, Panentheism is viewed as the ideal vehicle to integrate our divergent
scientific, religious, and philosophical doctrines. It deals with the unitary
force or principle, whom we might call God, and how this God can be both transcendent
and immanent at the same time.
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PASSION
Passion is about the enjoyment of subjective
reality, thus it is often labeled as messy and wasteful. Passion
can be described as intense, driving, or enthusiastic feelings or convictions,
coming from an emotional rather than a logical level. Sexual expression is
a primary passion, in which most of the higher animals, including us, like
to participate in. However, here I am speaking of passion in the Buddhist
sense, which describes our penchant doing enjoyable things, which may be
irrational or goalless.
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PLAN,THE
If there is any plan of creation, it cannot be anthropocentric,
so describing it in human terms is inappropriate.
I think the plan, or God's plan if one feels internally connected
to a God, is to continually create new and maybe more interesting animate and
inanimate structures out of previous structures, including species and interspecies
relationships
and social structures.
This
maximizes
the
pleasure
and
the novelty of all experiences, often revealing new states or qualities never
seen
before.
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PHILOSOPHY
Our culture has poor philosophical foundations; instead,
it is mostly about the status quo, sound bites, militarism, sexism, greed,
intolerance, special-interest groups, short-sightedness, and the bottom line.
Too many people feel they are disposable, and nearly everyone has some issues
with self-esteem and insecurity. In a climate like this, diversity can be threatening,
while religion can claim to have all the answers.
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POLARITY
Polarity is about necessary relationships between paired or groups of interdependent
opposites. These polarities drive our identities and are likely are key component
in the evolution of all species. We waste time trying to eliminate all the
tensions caused by polarity, despite the fact that true polarity creates situations
that can only be managed or enjoyed, not solved.
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PRAYER AND HEALING
Studies have shown the prayer, mediation, and healing arts do work to help our
well-being, and that they are independent of particular religious beliefs.
We have far more influence over what is happening inside our bodies than
we are usually led to believe.
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REALITY
The world and the universe around us do not really exist as we see them; it
is all just an approximation generated by our senses. Actual reality is an
assortment of intersecting waves and their patterns, possibly driven by underlying
vibrating strings of energy, as expounded in (super-) string theory.. This
is all subject to a great deal of probability and randomness; rather than specific,
concrete particles and events.
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ROLE OF THE CHURCH
Despite being a religious outlaw, I still
recommend that all people get involved with one or more faith, spiritual,
or religious groups. These groups are
the only hope for GLBT people and for dealing with all the ills of our
society. Do not expect much from the government or elected officials, who
often abandon ethics, courage, and common sense, due to their indebtedness
to special interest groups and the agendas of these groups.
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SCIENCE VERSUS RELIGION
Science is about (objective) facts; religion is about
(subjective) beliefs. Our internal and external belief systems can blur our distinctions
of what we consider to be fact and what what we consider to be belief.
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SEXISM
Sexism hurts both men and women. It hurts
women when they are devalued and relegated to second-class status. It hurts
men when they are told to do everything without sharing power, to save face
at all costs, to never be vulnerable or admit mistakes, to follow orders,
and
comply with a rigid cultural image at the risk of ridicule and reprisal from
the male power structure.
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SEXUALITY AND GENDER
Sexuality is about one's reproductive structures and how one uses them. With
many higher animals, including human beings, sexuality is used for a lot of
other functions, such as pair-bonding and promoting relationships and order,
rather than just for reproduction. Gender is about identity, who one is. These
are not critical processes; that is, they can have a lot of variation without
being fatal.
SIN
We are punished by our sins, not for our sins or those of our ancestors.
A sin is just a mistake. A sin can be minor and inconsequential, or it can be
monumental, such as the actions instigated by Adolf Hitler. Too often, concepts
of sin are part of people's prejudices, and so things get labeled as sin that
in themselves have nothing to do with a choice between good an evil. Sexuality
is often labeled as a sin, as well as just being GLBT.
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STRING AND SUPERSTRING THEORY
String and superstring theory is an attempt to solve the big dilemma of modern
theoretical physics: quantum mechanics superbly describes the micro-world of
atoms and their constituents, while ignoring the macro-world of gravity and
general relativity; conversely, the theory of general relativity accurately
describes massive cosmology, while conveniently ignoring the micro-world of
quantum mechanics. The two theories do not combine, thus thwarting attempts
to create a unified objective model of all things.
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SUBJECTIVE REALITY
Subjective reality takes the wonder of creation to spectacular heights. However,
subjective reality cannot exist without objective reality; it is like layers
of harmonics applied to portions of objective reality. Subjective reality
is an envelope effect, driven by energy, information, and relationships.
The very nature of subjective reality makes it impossible to deconstruct
it to its objective components without the loss of all the subjectivity.
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TIME TRAVEL
The potential for paradoxes in
time travel, as explored in science fiction and speculative science, is well-known.
While it cannot be proven if time travel is even possible, Process Theology adds
even more limitations to such an undertaking.
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TRANSGENDERISM
Even though transgenderism occurs naturally throughout
the animal kingdom, it is often labeled messy and wasteful. It is an extra diversity found in structures not critical
to individual survival. It can
occur because it is evolutionarily favorable, because of recoverable errors
in fetal development, because the recipe contained in our DNA randomly allows
it, and because our initial fetal form is female,
before sexual differentiation is added, which leads to corresponding and
overlapping structures and features in men and women.
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TRANSSEXUALISM
Transsexualism is a subset of transgenderism.
It happens occasionally in nature, and in a very small portion
of the human population. It is not a plot; it is just an instance of fantastic
diversity of all life.
Due to the extreme sexism in our society, and due to the stubborn belief that
transsexualism should not occur, it can evoke unreasonable
anger and even physical violence.
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WHAT DO WE REALLY KNOW?
I find it amazing that people can be so sure about the nature of things, considering
that the modern version of our species appeared no more than 40,000 years
ago, which corresponded to the advent of art and music. The earliest writings
are no more than 6,000 years old, with some scientists saying that a useful
maximum of 3,500 years old is more likely. There has even been speculation
that our
mental capacity has been slowly growing, which could make it difficult to
compare our capacity for intellectual and abstract reasoning with that of
our ancient ancestors.
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WHY?
Some think that there is a knowable ultimate
reality, and therefore they believe that the ultimate question can be answered.
This is closely linked to knowledge of a paradoxically predetermined future
controlled by a totally-omniscient God.
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