RE: religion, or lack there of? (Full Version)

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PONYSEEKER -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 11:02:16 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: bellanotte


I have been studying comparative religion, and evolving in my spiritual beliefs, but have not yet found a good way to completely integrate my current beliefs with my BDSM activities. Some things interact relatively well and others don't.
It's a topic I have been interested in for several years.
Good luck with the responses; I will be watching too!



If you dont mind me asking could you email the ones that dont .... would love to take a stab at that one.



bearincuffs -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 11:04:23 AM)

I don't consdier myself religious but am spiritual. My upbringing did include religion but had turned away as a yound adult and found my sprituality elsewhere. I think my sprituality(Pagan/Wiccan) has had an influence on my path into BDSM, but just in a general sense. Being Pagan has taught me a great tolerance towards other humans and wanting to understand their uniqueness. Using this mindset, compels me to actually understand myself better and in turn, my transistion into becoming someone else's slave.
From my spirituality, I believe we all have a destiny set out before us and part of our growth is to walk this path where ever it leads us.
I don't think my spirituality gives me a stronger connection to my lifestyle, it merely helps me make the intergration to the lifestyle easier and more smoothly. The one issue I will not allow to happen is for someone else determine my belief system. I have been lucky in this sense as my Master has no desire to change my spirituality to his own. His thought is, though I am his slave, he wants me to have a spiritual belief and  he doesn't want to alter this.



ferryman777 -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 11:07:08 AM)

Pardon me again, but I should add.

As religon belief systems effect BD/SM ; guilt is the underlying factor of the person's mindset. BD/SM gives one the outlet to 'pay for the guilt'; pay physically and mentally for imagined or real transgressions. Religon's foremost basic is a person's unworthiness to be human, a failure of sorts, of being created in sin. Christians offer up the Virgin Mary as the fem - god; and you seek her consolation for being an inferior being, thus wanting punishment thusly; the aftermath brings on a type of satifaction and peace through suffering, as you attempt to suffer as much as her son did, to win her approval.

Now, the Catholics have perfected this to an absolute science, and I believe this has great bearing on a persons outlook toward BD/SM; making a person more prone to it's acceptance. The ritualistic practices, the spirit context of it all, just intensifies the process.

The Jews do it as well, where BD/SM is more prevelent in these two belief systems, it is less so in other cultures, where slavery, mastering, is of a commercial insitution.



mixielicous -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 11:07:21 AM)

http://boston.sexspirit.net/

"A group of people in the Boston area interested in exploring connections between sexuality and spirituality. We welcome people of all spiritual paths, sexual orientations, and genders to be present in our group. We share a desire to build community where integration of sex and spirit is possible -- where we may reconnect with both our bodies and our spirits in a safe space."

2006-2007
Dates and topics for the year.
Saturday, September 9: Sacred Sexual Rituals
Saturday, September 30: Tantra 101 (With Dan Murphy)
Saturday, October 14: Finding Your Lovestyle: Polyamory and Monogamy
Tuesday, October 24: Sex-Spirit 101
Saturday, November 11: Tantra for One
Saturday, December 9: Sacred and Erotic Touch 101
Saturday, January 13: Erotic Massage
Saturday, January 27: Tantra 101 (With Rich and Lisa Zafran)
Saturday, February 10: Energy Work and Sexuality
Saturday, March 10: Secrets, Shame and Sexuality
Saturday, April 14: Sacred Prostitution (With Temple of Aphrodite)
Saturday, May 12: Using Sexual Energies to Heal
Saturday, June 9: BDSM, Power Exchange and Spirituality
Saturday, July 14: BASSN Community Potluck
Date TBD: Talk to and Listening To Kids About Sexuality (for parents)



interesting, none the less



MasterFireMaam -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 11:26:22 AM)

What I do and how I live are integral parts of my spirituality. BDSM and sex are tools sometimes and being a Master is a calling for me.

Master Fire



LaTigresse -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 12:06:30 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: FukinTroll

Not religious. Very spiritual.


Ditto



littlesarbonn -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 12:08:58 PM)

I know this response may sound like a cop out, but I'm going to offer it anyway.

If you are unable to answer these questions yourself, as you state in the OP, my advice is to first seek out what makes you most comfortable concerning your spirituality, regardless of where it leads or where it comes from. Then seek out how to fit that into your bdsm beliefs, attitudes and desires. The point is: What you eventually find will already have a notch to fit your bdsm desires already and not be something you have to search to fit through some kind of loophole like some religions will require, or force you into suppression of either desire or religious/spiritual belief.

I came at this from the same angle you are right now some years back. I even went one step further. I was going to find the perfect Mistress, and then I would learn to love whatever religion/sprituality that SHE enjoyed. When I did find the right person back then, I discovered after some time that she was just as confused about how to fit in spirituality as I was; I only discovered later through conversation that she kind of figured out what to believe by intellectual discussion with me (because I'd actually studied religion and philosophy at length in my search many years before finding her).

So, I found my religious/spiritual foundation that matches everything else I believe in. It doesn't match any particular dogmatic religion out there, but that's because what I believed didn't fit anything that others believed in. What I have become very tired about is those that call me either atheistic or agnostic because I don't believe in something they understand. But in the end, it completely fits in with my desires to be a submissive. It also fits into my entire political philosophy of wanting equality for everyone while still allowing myself to pursue a personal life of slavery. Believe it or not, without the right philosphical foundation, it's pretty hard to justify that last one because even the easy "you have the freedom to submit" does not pass inalienable rights muster, so you have to really dig deep philosophically (and spiritually) to place that into a foundation that does not leave you thinking that you still haven't found the right path to enlightenment.



Vendaval -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 12:11:45 PM)

I cannot qualify whether or not my spiritual beliefs make a stronger
connection as compared to someone else's beliefs.  I can say that sex
and spirit are intertwined energies, not separate, in my belief system.


quote:

ORIGINAL: mixielicous
if you are not "religious" but more spiritual [agnostic, atheist, wicca etc] do you feel that celebrating your spirituality through mother earth gives you a stronger connection to the spiritual side of BDSM by not having someone elses beliefs chosen as your own?



Darkhaven80 -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 12:12:11 PM)

I'm religious, and so far it hasn't encountered an issue except that I don't wish to sleep with other women because of my religious views on it. Sure, I'd LIKE to experiment and do enjoy thinking about it, but it does hold me back on that one. It can be hard for the guy to accept too. [:@]



StellaByStarlite -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 12:20:27 PM)

Hello. =)


Religious? No, not at all? Spiritual? Ah, well... that depends on how one would define spirituality.

If one defined spiritual as having a belief is unseen "realities", be they gods, spirits, crystal energy rays, or whatever.... then no, I am not spiritual. But if you look at spiritual as the emotion you feel when you realize something both elating and humbling at the same time, yes, I've felt that before.


Watching a seed I planted grow into a beautiful flower is spiritual. Listening to a live symphony is spiritual. Feeling that deep sense of awe when I'm seeing the million year old light from a distant star is spiritual. Knowing that at one point, bonobo chimps and us had the same ancestor is spiritual.

I can honestly find spirituality in the natural world every day. =)


Cheers,
Stella



juliaoceania -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 12:20:55 PM)

I am spiritual, not religious, and not agnostic. I am not a Christian either. I do not know how it would impact me to be religious, I think some people are very D/s about their submission to their god



Viridana -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 12:56:36 PM)

I'm not religious nor spiritual. I don't see how that fact (or if I were religious) would make any difference on how I "embrace" the lifestyle. I don't connect bdsm with the term "spiritual" and I really don't see the "spiritual side" of bdsm. 



junecleaver -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 1:27:05 PM)

I am a Christian.  I was taught since birth that women are to be submissive to men, so I don't feel uncomfortable being submissive to my Dominant.  I went to a private christian school that drilled us on their doctrine and told us what to believe.  I have no doubt that this experience has deeply effected me in ways that I don't even understand yet.  As I've gotten older my definitions have broadened and some people say I've 'grown away' from the things I was taught as a child, but I still consider myself a Christian and worship God/Yahweh/Jesus however you want to refer to Him.  My first thoughts of 'holy crap it is cool to be bossed around' were centered around God.  I think I was the only kid in middle school to find the 10 commandments erotic?  For instance, the dialouge between Job and Yahweh is unbelievably hot to me.  I hope to eventually create a romantic relationship that is somewhat of a mirror of man's relationship to God according to the Bible.

Sexuality has always been somewhat spiritual for me.  I've had a friend tell me that BDSM is all about sex.  But for me sex is all about connecting with someone in a way that is far deeper than just the physical.  If my partner and I were not both spiritual I feel like we would hit a wall in our BDSM activities.  I would want more from the exchange spiritually than he would be able to give me.  It's all very difficult for me to explain 



velvetears -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 2:04:01 PM)

Most everyone is born into a particular religion (except atheists), as you grow up and experience life and connect with it you develop your spiritual side.  Religion can give comfort, it can give solice, it can make one feel safe - there are many rules and obligations to be met in "religion"  i think we all have an inner voice that pulls us in a direction we are meant to follow - this is our spirituality..... it may not coincide iwth our religion or it may - Just because one is born a methodist doesn't mean when you are old enough to think for yourself you should stay a methodist - listen to that inner voice and have the courage to follow it.  i personally found my religious upbringing and experiences helpful in creating the person i am today and have no regrets - but as i grew and evolved in my thinking about the world and my place in it, and my connection to everything around me i pulled away from my birh religion and was drawn down a more spiritual path...... As for the connection to bdsm - there is a spiritual connection in it because i can't seperate that part of me from anything i do....



BRNaughtyAngel -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 2:20:43 PM)

I am a Christian (protestant) and was raised as such.  I haven't been what would be considered religious for a long time, but I still hold true to my beliefs.  I'd say I was more spiritual at this point in my life.

As to how it relates to or affects my being in this lifestyle - it doesn't.  I am who/what I am, and God knows that.... whether I live it or not.



mixielicous -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 2:27:21 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: velvetears

Most everyone is born into a particular religion (except atheists),

and hippie by-products [like me]!! my mother was confirmed as a catholic, but i was never baptized [thank God?] and never was passed along catholic teachings that my mother was taught as a child. She literally had me tree hugging and trying to hear them [trees] talk. hehehe, fostered quite a tree fetish [prolly have 20 photos hugging various trees] [;)]



servicewithsmile -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 2:29:14 PM)

Raised Mormon.
Now lapsed for some time.
The best lecture I ever heard about submitting to a man, I heard at church.  The woman was on quite a rant.
The current Mormon dogma does not approve of degradation/humiliation/objectification as a sexual interest.
I find very little spirituality in my bdsm, mostly comfort and sex.



mixielicous -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 2:34:22 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: servicewithsmile

The best lecture I ever heard about submitting to a man, I heard at church. The woman was on quite a rant.



this is not surprising to me at all, and i am under the impression that if i had been raised within the confines of a church, my submission would have been MUCH easier to accept, being the norm for man to be HOH, but being raised by a free spirited catholic who i assume denounced her faith, submission was given a bad light in my childhood. i was to believe it was weak and wrong, but highly doubt i would have thought these things while trying to accept my place in life had i been given any kind of religious teaching where male dominance is embraced, and still considered norm by a majority



hisannabelle -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 2:34:44 PM)

well, i typed out a long reply but it wouldn't let me put it in. :( here we go again (slightly more abbreviated this time):

i am a mix of celtic pagan (mainly druid) and tibetan buddhist, he is a theravada buddhist. i was raised southern baptist with heavy catholic influence, he was raised catholic.

i don't think our religious upbringing or background has hindered or helped our practice of bdsm, really. we do incorporate some things into our play that are spiritual, and our connection to one another is definitely very spiritual, and our religion is an integral part of both of our lives, but i don't think that religion and bdsm have influenced each other that much in our relationship.



mixielicous -> RE: religion, or lack there of? (3/12/2007 2:36:31 PM)

unfortunate the thread was moved to off topic, since i am trying to connect it to BDSM



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