ROMANA'S PROCESS THEOLOGY
A TRANSWOMAN'S VIEW
Preface
This set of pages will be part of my work for
the rest of my life, since my understanding of Process Theology, and even
the definition of Process Theology, will always be in work.
I will do this from a transwoman's transgendered (T) point of view, with reference
to the impact on gay (G), lesbian (L), and bisexual (B) persons as well. This
is philosophy, which is opinion, not fact. Science is about facts; however, too
much of our science suffers from conclusions that are philosophically biased.
Despite the overwhelmingly numerous evidence of instances of gay, lesbian, bisexual,
and transgendered animals in Nature, the scientific community has not done much
to use all this information to further the civil rights of GLBT persons.
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MY PERSONAL INFORMATION
Based on my upbringing and on my personality, one might find it strange the
way I live my life. I am married (to my wife) and I am a Viet Nam veteran.
I am a conservative, shy, introverted techie, but I fearlessly express
myself as a woman, a transwoman to be more exact, way more than the majority
of the time.
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WHAT IS PROCESS THEOLOGY?
Process Philosophy is a philosophy of faith and belief. It says that we do
not live in a static universe, that all of reality, including us, is in motion
and transformation, as a process or as a set of relational processes. There
are many schools of modern philosophy that deal with these concepts, and not
all label themselves as teaching Process Philosophy. Unfortunately, since philosophy
has never been taught much in our public schools,
much of this may seem too intellectual, but it can be quite relevant.
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WHY PROCESS THEOLOGY?
Many postmodern philosophers have misinterpreted scientific knowledge and become
extremely materialistic, going so far as to say that there is really no use
for philosophy in our modern, scientific age. However, if our identities, emotions,
our internal belief systems, and our quests to find meaning in our lives are
not considered important, we can end up feeling lost, and our culture can be
self-destructive.
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WHERE DOES THIS COME FROM?
Progressive theologians
and scholars have long recognized that traditional texts of scripture
were not based on sound philosophical values, especially since they were
increasingly at odds with scientific discoveries. Following the American
Revolution, and in keeping with the enlightened ideas so prevalent at
that time, there was a great surge of philosophical movements, many of
which were also faith-based.
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WHERE IS PROCESS THEOLOGY FOUND?
The Center for Process Studies in
the United States is located at the Claremont
School of Theology in California. These kind of philosophical studies are
taken quite seriously.
Process Theology can be found throughout the world, though mostly in progressive
churches, especially those free of rigid dogma. There are Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist,
and Islamic Process Theologians, in addition to Christian Process Theologians.
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PROCESS THEOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
Process Theology is about the processes of
lifeforms and matter, including the creation of additional
and new processes from these objects. A modified version of Darwin's Theory
of Evolution fits this philosophical scheme so well, that neither exists
well without the other. This might even be the basic plan
of all creation.
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WHAT ABOUT EVIL, MORALITY, SUFFERING?
In Process Theology, God has given us the tools to lead long moral lives,
to avoid doing evil deeds, and to avoid as much suffering as possible. These
are philosophical principles, not scientific facts. Of course, this can all
be highly subjective and relativistic.
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HOW DOES THIS HELP GLBT PERSONS?
Based on
previous versions of these pages, I have discovered that people can be quite
hostile to any concepts of philosophy. While I believe in the scientific method,
I have come to the conclusion that science cannot be used to counter the negative
philosophy of extreme Fundamentalism. Our lives need to be based on sound philosophical
principles, especially when we have to withstand so much negative propaganda.
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