Earth Talk: Sex As A Choice Pt 1: The Homosexual Debate
Note: This article is intended to investigate a controversial subject in today's society. It is doing so in the spirit of this magazine, by referring to the traditional perspective of the Kemetic societal system as well as investigating the history of the homosexual lifestyle. In no way is this article intended to judge anyone for their lifestyle choices or decision-making nor is it to give anyone reasons or ammunition to judge others rather on either side of this modern day "debate". Our readers should understand that the staff of the Rising Firefly is presenting only a strong recommendation for all human beings to re-learn the Original Code of Human Behaviour and apply it to their lives for a more harmonious planet. No matter what decisions another person is making, the Code of Human Behaviour leaves a human being no room to judge, use violence or demonize others. We ask our readers, as always, to read with an open mind and let our words inspire research, education, unity and a deeper investigation into our common origins.
In a world controlled by profit margins and political aspirations, it is hard to know what is "right" or "wrong" or if these concepts truly exist at all outside subjective opinions. One recent debate that continues to receive a lot of attention around the world within this "right/wrong" arena is about homosexuality. Last October, United States President Barack Obama addressed the Human Rights Campaign which is fighting hard for equal rights and legislation for homosexuals in the United States. Oliver Stone also recently released a movie entitled Milk about a LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender) rights activist who was the first openly homosexual person to be elected to political office. At the close of last year, Texas became the largest state to elect an openly gay mayor in Allison Houston. These events are evidence of a wide-spread and growing tolerance or even acceptance of homosexuality. The LGBT rights movement for homosexual liberation did a lot to change the perception in the United States in the 1970's, but now this rise in open homosexuality and activism for gay-marriage and legislation is being seen all over the globe.
The homosexual debate suffers from religious fanatics and emotional arguments, like any other debate in the colonial world. This emotional response presents a huge social danger because without reasonable objective arguments from both sides, today's youth are not given the proper information with which to orient themselves on what may or may not be socially, philosophically or spiritually correct. The homosexual debate is carried on by mainly two extreme schools of thought: on one side, a hateful, emotional, religious condemnation to hell for contradicting modern religious texts (which in most cases even contradict themselves) as seen in the Catholic, Christian and Islamic Faiths; and on the other side, an emotional refusal of consideration for all facts and arguments by the LGBT community and its supporters as an emotional backlash to the violent, fanatical persecution for the lifestyle choice they defend.
When facing any dilemma such as this, especially when it has such profound effects on our human social fabric, the wisest path to take is the one that consults the experience and wisdom of those who have come before us. The Schools of Kebtah (Kemetic Schools teaching the M’TAM education, the oldest form of refined, spiritual education in the world) teach that to see clearly and to avoid hazy judgments when forced to make important life decisions, an individual must ask himself/herself three simple questions: herself three simple questions:
Has this been done before?
What was the outcome for those who did it?
Is this outcome the destiny I wish for myself?
Has making homosexuality taboo been done before?
Following a lecture at Columbia University in 2007, Iranian President Ahmadinejad was asked whether homosexuals were being executed in his country. He replied: "What is [a homosexual]?" Given the nature of politics, it is hard to determine how genuine the political leader's answer was, but the truth is that before globalisation spread Euro-American culture across the globe, within many cultures, homosexuality had always been so extreme a taboo that it was almost completely non-existent as an open lifestyle choice. This reality can be traced to one clear reason. In the original Code of Human Behaviour, the Tenth Divine Ordinance states: "Thou Shall Not Sin Against Nature With One's Own Kind". Those cultures which opened their eyes to the path of enlightenment that leads towards the World of the Gods (also known as the study and practise of spirituality) built their societies and customs through observing the restrictions demanded of human society by the original 77 Commandments. Ordinances of Kemet in the papyri entitled Nw, Insa & Nebseni. For these cultures, homosexuality remains a forbidden territory where the individual refuses to enter even when their refusal means not just the loss of his or her unfulfilled personal preferences, desires or fantasies but the loss of his or her whole life.
Scientists continue to debate whether homosexuality is a genetic or a learnt behaviour. However, considering that Kemet (Ancient Egyptian/ Pharaonic Africa) is the predecessor to those societies which strictly forbid sodomy and homosexual behaviour, we must offer a wider perspective on human identity and life influences. The Kemetic schools of M'TAM have for over 70,000 years studied the energy pathways of the human being from birth through life and through death to the path of reincarnation which returns one to birth again. Within these societies, reincarnation is understood in detail in its many stages; and the path of the human spirit is studied fervently in order to guarantee the human being's survival of this process. If one understands that during the process of reincarnation there are no borders between species or genders, then the idea of an individual being born influenced by the comforts, desires and/or preferences of the opposite gender becomes quite clear and acceptable. Given this wider perspective on what influences on a soul, one can see how a person who was born and died as a man in one life but was reborn as a woman in the next life may retain some tendencies or characteristics of a man.
This wider perspective, in fact, explains the importance of traditional gender specific initiations into the customs and responsibilities each society assigns to each gender. How societies assign these gender roles differs across the globe, reflecting the location and forces which influence the family clan, ethnic group, or political unit. What is clearly understood across all Kemetic-descendant cultures is that the spirit has been born into his/her present life with a clear gender identity. From the position defined by that identity the individual must build his/her qualities in the face of the challenges specific to that identity/position. In traditional societies, each gender comes with its obligations, responsibilities and restrictions. Such is the importance of gender roles, division and sub-societies within the greater society as seen in traditional areas. These social structures ensure a healthy evolution into the realities of the identity each individual must come to grips with in the present lifetime.
What happened to societies which made homosexuality taboo?
Kemetic society survived under the authority of the Pharaohs for over 70,000 years before it was forced to transform its appearance and expression under the cloak of secrecy. Still, it should be noted that Kemetic society has indeed survived and been maintained (though influenced and corrupt at various levels) by its descendant, dialect cultures all around the world. It should also be noted that it has survived intact in specific parts of Africa in an extreme secrecy that is only today being partially exposed. Many of these Kemetic and Kemetic-descendant cultures are now erroneously being called "indigenous" by modern society. Any objective investigation/comparison will show the superiority of these cultures in maintaining social harmony and morale. Divorce rates are far lower than in modern societies; and harmony is drastically higher among family members, in the minds of individuals, between humans and neighbouring species, and between each society and its environment.
Has open homosexuality been practised before?
On the other hand, the history of accepted or open homosexuality on the social level can be traced most clearly to the Greek, Roman & Athenian cultures. The Greek Pantheon of Gods, though inspired by the original Kemetic pantheon of Gods, was strongly influenced and altered by the political aspirations of Greek philosophers. Homosexuality became an important part of Greek life because, as is the case with all human cultures, Greek culture was directly inspired by its cosmogonies. The stories and experiences of the Greek Gods written by Greek philosophers created the boundaries and guidelines along which Greeks, Romans and Athenians would pattern their lives. The Great Gods of the Greek Pantheon had homosexual experiences. The God Zeus chose the young Ganymede as the object of his physical attraction. Ganymede was known as a servant of the table of heaven; he was known as the dispenser of the cup of immortality; but he was not worshiped as a God by the Greeks. However, as anyone who has had any exposure to the Greek myths knows, Zeus was highly revered. Choosing male youths as love interests and subjugating them became prevalent among the Greek Gods and within Greek societies.
The Greek God Apollo was the son of Zeus. He personified the male citizen youth, and embodied certain high ideals according to ancient Greek society. He was associated with the Greek ideas of human intellect, musical harmony, religious purity and male beauty. He was connected to the concept of purification of sins or redemption--a concept that would later influence the Christian socio-political movement. Apollo is known as the first of the Greek Gods to love a man. He fell in love with his student Hyacinth, a young Spartan man, but had many other male and female lovers. He was the God of Palaestra which was a part of the public gymnasiums at which sporting events took place, where all males participated naked. The most common sporting event was wrestling, but the palaestra also contained bath houses, changing rooms; and areas for ball playing, socialising and instruction.
These two Gods have a profound influence on Greek culture. As just outlined above, the characteristics of these Gods expose some interesting aspects of Greek culture and the fundamental philosophical differences between the Greek perspective on sex and the perspective of its predecessor Kemet. In Greek culture, sex was valued foremost for pleasure. It was also very important in the social hierarchy as a power game to be won or lost which proved one's strength or weakness, dominance over or inferiority to another individual. Domination over youth equaled a higher status in society for the Romans, as seen in the stories of the Gods mentioned above. This perspective was widely accepted and changed the focus of the sexual acts from gender important (male on female) to power important (dominant on submissive). Defeated soldiers and criminals were sodomized to show their place in their respective hierarchies.
Sodomy also became routine in the initiation of male youth into society, so much so that the male and male youth relationships were even praised as the highest form of love in Athens and Rome. People were not considered citizens of Athens or Rome until they reached the age at which they could fight on the battlefield; and as they approached that age, the sexual desire of their teachers and elders rose. Soldiers even fought side by side with their lovers on the battlefield, and homosexuality became a taste of the Greek upper class. Plato, the famous Greek Philosopher, glorified homosexuality in the Symposium as a search for truth and beauty. He, like many others, thought of it as a more highly evolved form of love than male-female love. The homosexual relationship was further classified by the motivation for the desire with the idea that a desire that evolved past the sexual act towards a desire for beauty itself was the most evolved. This provided the basis for which Christian philosophers later coined the term Platonic relationship. Because Christian doctrines oppose homosexuality, platonic relationships were taken out of the realm of homosexuality and transferred to heterosexual relationships that had evolved past sexual desire. In time, the term referred to heterosexual relationships of friendship that do not include sexual desires or intimacy.
It should be noted that our contemporary understanding of the platonic relationship is also solely a product of the descendant cultures of Greek societies because the concept directly contradicts the strict gender separation and roles that are emphasised in Kemetic culture. There. "friendship" does not exist between men and women because their differences are too great to leave them enough bases on which to relate. This is not to say that one cannot enjoy a person of the opposite gender on a social level; but one finds comfort and friendship in those who can relate to oneself fully. Although complementary, the two genders are totally different; but it is their complementarities that allows the perpetuation of life.
On the other hand, the procreative aspect of sex was, to Greeks, a heavy obligation which stood in the way of the pleasure and ecstasy that could be found in the sexual act. This pleasure-based use of sex was even supported by the Greek Gods Liber, Dionysus and Anti- nous. These Gods permitted human beings to riotously abandon the obligations which birth and existence had assigned them and pursue in- stead just their uninhibited desires through sex, drunkenness and carelessness. These Gods are still worshiped today by sects in the US and European countries.
For clarity, we are aware of claims that some Indian American cultures allot a spiritual position to those who practise homosexuality. However, traditional priests from Maanu (North and South America) inform The Earth Center that their unadulterated, ancestral traditions do not allot any such position to practitioners of homosexuality. A well known Mayan priest explains: "I have nothing against them. It is who they are and what they want to be. I respect them as humans/people, [but if they want to learn the red road,] they cannot; the path requires living and respecting the traditions of the old ones." It is well-known that various American Indian tribes have been influenced by Greek descendant cultures that emphasize domination and subjugation.
What happened to societies which accepted homosexuality?
Though "ancient" Greek and Roman culture is referred to as if it was a highlight of human history that has come and gone, its continuing influence makes clear that this culture has not died. In contrast with the Kemetic civilisation, Greek culture, even with its descendant cultures in today's colonies, is very young. It is also very aggressive and war-centered; however, its key features cannot be attributed to the allowance of homosexuality. In fact, as a social status marker, homosexuality owes origin to an authority-driven culture that invented its Gods and religions to give itself political power.
Within the family, marriage success rates, population growth, and overall physical health are much higher in Kemetic societies. Before the modern colonial influence on Kemet's descendant cultures, plagues or epidemics were virtually non-existent in Kemetic territories. The plagues of history can be traced to the cultures either belonging directly to or parented by Greek and Roman cultures. History has taught us that forsaking knowledge and experience for desire and pleasure is dangerous in all arenas of our life. Having adopted ancient Greek philosophies and perspectives on sex, today's colonial culture is now battling sexually transmitted diseases which are non-existent within its contemporary Kemetic counterparts across the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean seas. Sex as entertainment has become one of the biggest and most profitable industries in the United States and Europe. In societies where marriages are arranged, for the well being of procreation and family stability, divorce rates are nowhere near those in the modern societies where we seek relationships based on our desires for transient beauty, excitement, pleasure and fun.
Which outcome do I want?
This article will not attempt to answer this question which is for each reader to answer who faces choices that will alter the destiny he/she will meet and that will affect an entire species and planet. This article seeks only to clarify the question in order to expose the history behind an issue being reduced today to just our individual "freedom" to choose before or without consulting history.
It is clear that for millennia, political tyrants have put all their efforts into controlling whatever humans can or should perceive. Control of mind, of society, and of the context in which a human being perceives are studied and practised all over the world. This observable behaviour involves no conspiracy theory. This is a fact to see in politics, advertising, and right down to every human interaction.
The Great Book of Divine Ordinances offers sincere individuals a life-saver for determining what is correct in relationships between the identity of human beings and the surrounding universe. The problem we now face is that the society in which the human being finds himself is from a script written by the politician, without consideration for the original human code, the survival of either the human being or his/her environment. This politician focuses solely on his/her personal interests and those of the small communities he/she identifies with.
