This hit hard for Lance and me. We go to a UU church in a conservative area, and Lance is even on the coordinating council. Lance has personally been to this congregation when he was in graduate school at Univ of TN.

While obviously I think that this was a desperate act by a deranged man, this story reflects a deeper concern for me, one which fuels the political climate today. The last 8 years of President Bush’s conservative, Republican administration has lead to an increased intolerance of people who are not of the main stream religion, Christianity, which includes Lance and I. If you’ve been keeping up with the news, the Bush administration has even gone so far as to stack what are supposed to be non-partisan offices of government with a majority of employees that believe in his conservative agenda.

Report Says Partisanship Reigned in Justice Department Hiring Program

Believe what you will from the media, but the truth is that Lance and I actively refrain from mentioning our spiritual and political beliefs frequently, because we are aware of the negative repercussions this will have and the confrontations that could ensue. I have the seen the look of disbelief and disgust on people’s faces when I tell them that I am not Christian; God forbid I mention the word “pagan” to them. One acquaintance has not spoken to me again, although I have seen him on several occasions, after I told him some of my spiritual beliefs. I will not wear shirts with certain logos, obvious pendants, or put political or religious bumper stickers on my car–all these things could out me as a liberal, non-christian at an inopportune time. I will continue going to UU services, supporting liberal groups, and attending public pagan rituals and celebrations. To alter my activities in the slightest out of fear would undermine my person creed and allow the other side to win the ongoing and not-so-subconscious battle of wills.

I am a good person. I deserve to have the same rights and freedoms as any other person, which includes being able to choose and actively participate in the religion that works best for me. This not a new principle; it was one on which our country was founded, but is conveniently forgotten today. Unfortunately, some of the loudest Washington proponents would utterly disagree with my assertion of my rights. I think it is seen most notably with Islam, but believe me it doesn’t end there. It’s only a jumping off point for the intolerance that is sweeping this nation. I believe, whether consciously or not, conservative Republicans are encouraging and increasing the religious hostility prevalent today. My point in writing all of this is to implore you to fight for tolerance with your actions, words, and votes.

While I am nuanced enough to realize that there are always more than one issue to consider when choosing a candidate, I would ask you to consider my above words in your decision for President. I do not trust the Republican National Committee or John McCain to improve the religious and political schism in this country and restore tolerance. I believe that they will continue to cater to conservative religious groups and further divide this country. I do not believe that the right or left should win, or one should have more power than the other. Rather, I believe that balance between the two would more justly serve the needs of all instead of some, and the only real chance for this, however slim, lies with the Democratic party. More importantly, maybe I wouldn’t be worried that I’d get that look of disgust and loathing or worse if, for instance, I’d slip and say something “liberal” in a gas station in the middle of no where in the bible belt when my car’s broken down and I am in need of assistance, or perhaps in some similar but wholly likely situation.

Please do not see this as an over reaction to an obviously sad and troubling event. This tragedy merely served as a source of inspiration to relay the realities that I am faced with everyday as a religious minority in this country. This is my life. My fear and concern are as real as the words on this page, and my desire to see change as strong.

If you’re still on the fence, I hope this pushes you left.

A Scientific American article talks about scientists being able to
provoke feelings of the presence of God in test subjects using a helmet
that stimulates certain parts of the brain:

The key, Ramachandran speculates, may be the limbic system, which
comprises interior regions of the brain that govern emotion and
emotional memory, such as the amygdala and hypothalamus. By
strengthening the connection between the temporal lobe and these
emotional centers, epileptic electrical activity may spark religious
feeling.

To seal the case for the temporal lobe’s involvement, Michael
Persinger of Laurentian University in Ontario sought to artificially
re-create religious feelings by electrically stimulating that large
subdivision of the brain. So Persinger created the “God helmet,”
which generates weak electromagnetic fields and focuses them on
particular regions of the brain’s surface.

In a series of studies conducted over the past several decades,
Persinger and his team have trained their device on the temporal
lobes of hundreds of people. In doing so, the researchers induced in
most of them the experience of a sensed presence—a feeling that
someone (or a spirit) is in the room when no one, in fact, is—or of a
profound state of cosmic bliss that reveals a universal truth. During
the three-minute bursts of stimulation, the affected subjects
translated this perception of the divine.

I’m not at all surprised at this, but I don’t know if it will impact my feelings about divinity and sacredness.  I’m betting that a lot of fundamentialist religous types are going to get the knickers in a twist, though.

God speaks to me when I suddenly tear up “for no reason.” The message is, “Pay attention. This is important. Find out why you are moved by this.” And when I realize that I am important enough for these special messages of awareness, I cry a bit more.

These touches come to me at the expected times: weddings, funerals, birthdays, and other celebrations and memorials of life events., but very often recently, they come during seemingly mundane events: watching a movie I’ve seen many times before, or reading a book that is faded and worn from multiple readings. My heart beats with a sudden thud in my chest and my eyes well up as I’m filled with a renewed connection to Divinity. Sometimes just a flash and it is gone, other times it consumes my attention. Always, as Louise said, I’m led to find out why, and find a new lesson or insight.

I see now that Mama G has left a comment and said what I’m trying to say here much better.

Is God still speaking? Absolutely. Her voice is loud and clear for any and all who want to hear His voice.