Now for some queer controversy

Homo's, fags, queers, dykes, lesbo's, fudge-packers, you name the slur.

Just about as bad as kyke, honky, spic, jew-boy, negra, etc.

(Now you can see what we are in for today... Controversy and imagined slights - here we come.)

Once we've seen what real empathy is, then we can start examining where and why it's not apparently present everywhere and in everyone around us.

Basic principles that drive this examination:

• We are all connected, all Self.
• For each of us, individually and collectively, the world is what we think it is.
• Mental patterns of thought are just that - habits.
• Nothing is set in stone, all is possible to be changed - including these statements. Change is our only constant, part of evolution.

So now I'll take up what I understand at this point about homosexual/queer/gay phenomenon.

There are physical differences between the two sexes. And interaction has to occur in order to continue any species. It's this yin-yang thing. There are subtle physiological differences with glands which make different responses. So there has been some hard-wired differences.

(That of course doesn't affect empathy, it just makes the practice more interesting.)

Two people of the same sex can get along better because there's more predictable response. It doesn't mean they'll all like football or art the same way. But guys and gals tend to have different responses according to gender. So it's sometimes easier to get along with those of the same sex.

But there is no - and can be no - definite proof that queers and straights are only wired that way. There's enough shifting back and forth to observe that it's a matter of choice.

Once again: queer or straight is a matter of choice.

Anyone has patterns they were brought up with. They model their lives on the basis of some set of patterns or another they observed or were taught. And by either severe interruption (like a dire illness or catastrophic event) or simply continuous work over a long period of time, any pattern can be remodeled.  And like the "brain-washing" in WWII, that newly-remodeled pattern can be changed back.

But queers don't inspire trust. Because you have a person who looks one way and acts another. People think in patterns and it throws them off when their assumed patterns aren't followed.

This "queers in the military" conversation is an interesting one. If you look up "Book of 5 Rings", by one of the greatest samurai's of all time, there is a section about homosexual samurai which were commonly accepted during that ancient century in Japan. And a lot of advice there on how to get along. One of the funnier anecdotes I'd heard in this modern review of this ancient subject was that a forward combat company had a queer in with them and he was trusted implicitly. Because he was big and tough and killed people without a qualm when he was supposed to do it.

That meant he fit the pattern and job requirements. To be sure, he didn't "hit on" others around him when he was on the job. Such action would destroy that trust.

Once you live with a person for awhile, you can figure out generally what they are going to do and how and when, so it gets easier. And the more people work to be empathic with others, it gets better.

What doesn't help is all this "minority rights" stuff. Because that is counter-empathic. In order to champion rights for a "repressed" minority, you have to maintain your individuality, your separateness. And so you won't be able to understand where others are coming from. Because you can't be them.

This is, of course, why the "Civil Rights" movement is dying off - and why these "reverends without congregations" seem the biggest bigots around. They don't want to understand that people can get along. They make their living in fact from the imagined continuing existence of non-empathic rugged individualism.  But the more people co-exist with each other, the more they "work out" their differences. Sure, there are still some racists and sexists (particularly in government jobs and government-supported academia). Thank God they are all a dying breed. They make for poor entertainment.

You can also see why extremists on both sides (particularly the liberal left) are dying off. Same logic. Unsustainable viewpoint. Politicians only get elected from the center. And government intervention always eventually just screws things up. Take the EPA and IRS - way out of bounds these days.

That said, you also then know that the majority of the mainstream media are also bigots. Because they make their living by leading their audience along by their little individualistic noses with their penchant for and addiction to extreme emotionalism. If they can't get someone crying, or furious, or pathetic on TV, then it's not much of a story. And if they can't fill these addictions, then they don't sell advertising which keeps them afloat.

Emotions and feelings are all created, all arbitrary. Sure, they are entertaining. But when they are mixed up with actual facts and logic, the whole smorgasboard gets pretty unworkable.

And people trust movies more than they trust the news. Neither news programs nor politicians can get regularly above about 30% believabiliity according to survey (which is why perhaps they are such solid bedfellows.)

As a person (speaking as an individual here) I don't care whether a guy or gal is straight or queer. But I don't like having it thrown in my face because they are insecure in their own skin. Makes them unpredictable. Can't be trusted.

And as far as being a repressed minority, try being a white male for awhile. You're blamed for everything that is "wrong", yet are expected just to suck it up and take it.

If you want government hand-outs and special treatment, claim your minority status (except for white males). But don't expect it to get anywhere except more isolated and alone. Handouts never made anyone happy.

To get real peace in your life, get out of this trap of being special and separate and unique. Quit listening to any "individual" around you and start listening with your heart.

Just let it all go.

Now all that doesn't mean diversity (or sex) isn't fun, and it doesn't negate the apparent fact that all this individuality is present due to separate purposes we each have to accomplish while we're here.

The overall point is that life can be incredibly fascinating and amazing and a heckuva lot of fun.

And the next time you meet a bigot, just smile and nod and try to understand their narrow view. Realize it's just you looking back at yourself.