In the wake of the mass killing in the Atlanta area in March, 2021, the nation is again facing the tragedy in the hands of the twisted mind that has long been simmering. In this case, it is a zealous long time conservative church member with strict rules about sexual and moral behaviors. In NYT articles, the perpetrator is said to be baptized in 2018 and an active church member. The church’s bylaws has lengthy passage on marriage and sexuality. The church leaders preach about even how women should dress. How does one make sense that a deeply religious person finally decided it is ok to kill, but to have sex or perhaps, fornication, is sinful and must be stopped, in this case, by ending other lives.
For a long time, sexuality has been placed on the proximity of sin if not outright being called sinful by some religious zealots. Or in some cases, by someone who has an encased in some form of high moral standards touting sexuality as closely tied to sin. Wrapping sexuality together with sin isn’t confined within the “church” per se, but a shared characteristic in some other religions, groups, societies or schools whether through mass propagation, mind indoctrination or mass media influences…etc. A byproduct, whether intentionally or misguided, is the birth of shame. In churches, religious groups and some organizations the topic of sexuality seems to illicit certain elements of shame and everyone avoids talking about sex, but not some preachers when it seems to be perfectly safe to condemn it publicly like it is some sort of monster.
There you have the ingenious formula in creating and placing shame on one of the most innate biological drive within living organisms — the impulse drive to propagate through sexual intercourse that is both sacred and natural. In creating shame within a natural function, it inevitably creates conflicts within. It creates conflicts between natural draw to come together and the repulsion in fear to commit a shameful act. The confusion thus creates more distortions within the psyche. When the internal conflicts and the fractured understanding of reality cannot come in term or resolved, the mind struggles to make even more desperate attempts to find solutions. However, when a mind loses its foundational grasps on the framework of reality, it will grab hold of any reality being offered even a false one. When unchecked, violent aggressions become the ways to remove the internal conflicts.
In fact, sexuality is as natural as nature itself. Look around the world, from insects to animals, most have two genders and the interplay between sexes is part of the nature function as the cycles of seasons. In truth, a sexual act should be consider sacred — that is of God, to be in love and devotion. Why then, in the human history, that sex suddenly became a sinful act if not carefully performed with the right person under strict conditions. Was it the result when the societies reverted away from the decadences in the past and gone into the other extreme? Was it at some point that the fear to the corruption of decadence in some past eras that pushes the human psyche into the other spectrum of fearing sexuality in general? Perhaps it requires us to look into the definition of “sin.” It’d be clear to many that many meanings from the bible, Christian teachings and ancient languages are somewhat lost in their original intent during numerous translations. One of the most aligned to the real meaning originally of “sin” is — “ignorance.”
Ignorance, in its roots means the state of not knowing, or unaware. Someone who does not know something is considered to be ignorant of that something. It is quite different than an accusatorial label of a “sin.” Sin is defined as an immoral act considered to be a transgression against divine law. The key here is the divine law. In this world, there is the natural law and the man-made law. Natural law is the innate knowing of what is right or wrong, which subjectively depends on one’s own moral standards and consciousness. The man-made law category is essentially the rules of the land created by people in agreement or imposition by force. These laws are also subjective. Therefore, you can almost say that all laws are subjective in one sense or another.
Then why are religions and disciplines such as Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Christianity and Sadhu to name a few that forbid sexual relations? There are some clues left in Taoist and some other esoteric teachings regarding sexuality and health, in particular, male’s reproductive organs and the dissemination of semen. It is believed, and scientifically proven, that semen is of the essence for a biological organism. Frequent semen disseminations depletes the vital force and nutrients from the body. Subsequently the physical body pulls vital energies from other parts of the body to replenish the semen stockpile. As a result, the mind lacks the energy to excel and disturbs the growth of consciousness. It is understood in the ancient religions the original intent in celibacy — that is, to preserve the vital force within in order to achieve higher level of consciousness. Somehow, this intent has been twisted into something completely different.
Throughout history, we have witness many cases that indoctrinations have been wielded under the disguise of religions. And worse yet, the suppression in pushing the natural desire into the dark under the facade of religion has festered the suppressed energy into twisted behaviors. The twisted energies can form into rigid behaviors and thoughts in lessen degrees to full blown degradation behaviors such as violating another life. It is time to discern clearly between sexuality and sin. For that sexuality is innate within nature and is of sacredness as everything in creation. It is the abuse in the acts to satisfy the indulgence that leads to degradation in spiritual growth. It is the attachment to the shame that binds sexuality and sin. And it is time to release the dogma of shame with its binds on humanness.
