Today Ren and I were discussing who gets into Heaven from some Christian points of view; homosexuals were our main example. It occurred to me that this Christian Heaven isn't the kind of place I'd want to end up in. It is hopelessly counter-productive to diminish anyone's existence because their sexual orientation does not conform to some misbegotten bit of scripture. I wouldn't want to spend eternity under an ancient set of assumptions that included that clause—even if it meant roasting elsewhere.
I wondered: what's the point about worrying who gets into Heaven anyway? Heaven is a multiculturall concept with very little agreement as to the entry requirements—and even so it's very existence is far from a certainty. All you can do as a spiritual person is lead the holiest life you can, and hope for the best.
Then I opened a book I bought as a gift at McNally Robinson, and it said this:
The spiritual journey is not about heaven and finally getting into a place that's swell. In fact, that way of looking of things is what keeps us miserable. Thinking that we can find some lasting pleasure and avoid pain is what in Buddhism is called samsara, a hopeless cycle that goes round and round endlessly, and causes us to suffer greatly. The very first noble truth of the Buddha points out that suffering is inevitable for human beings as long as we believe things last—that they don't disintegrate, that they can be counted on to satisfy our hunger for security. When Things Fall Apart
In my view the whole dismissal of homosexuality (among many other equally unjustifiable distinctions) by certain religions is based on the fear of what is different, and a need to define one's community, and by extension one's self, by labeling who are the "others." A true spiritual quest is not about swallowing baseless, barrier-raising assumptions, but rather questioning the reasons for our difference and embracing them.
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