[Sca-cooks] Fw: ***A Message From Bish. I'm O.K.

[Laura C. Minnick]

At 05:09 PM 12/27/02 EST, you wrote:
>--
>Well, you've met another gay/bi who has a clerical persona. :D Although i'm
>still developing him now as we speak. He'll probably be a Dominican or a
>Franciscan, althought it would be interesting to put him into one of the
>heretical orders, such as the Gnostics or the Albigenses :D.

Oh Misha...

The Gnostics and the Albigensians (Cathars) and all the other heretical
sects are not _Orders_. They aren't even Catholic. (Oh *nuts*- as usual my
best reference is 180 miles south). And _please_ don't go for the Bogomils,
Albigensians/Cathars, Manichean, or other dualist sects becasue of an idea
that they are more likely to be gay-friendly. The notion that they were
gay, bi, or deviant of some sort as part of their doctrine is propaganda-
remember I was talking about 'other-ness' the other day? How we accuse the
'other' of the crimes we hate/fear the most, be it cannibalism, incest,
bestiality, etc. The doctrinal accounts of the dualist sects show no
evidence of sexual deviancy, in fact quite the opposite. (And before
someone starts hopping up and down about LaDurie's _Montaillou_, I will
point out that it covers a period of time about a century after the Cathars
flourished, *and* the records LaDurie used as sources for the book were
written by the Inquisitors. They are likely to write what they want to
record, and those being interviewed are likely to say exactly what they
think the Inquisitor wants to hear- a situation not likely to result in the
most accurate of records.)

I would strongly suggest that you read a great deal about teh heretical
sects *before* you consider basing a persona of one. I would suggest you
start with a book by Wakefield and Evans. I think the title is something
like _Heresies of the High Middle Ages_.

Also, I would think about this- need you sexual orientation be the primary
basis for your persona? I would think that more important than that you
should look at interests, etc., and resist the urge to 'be about' your
orientation. There's so much more to life than sex...

My two livres,
'Lainie
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Sometimes Life makes drastic changes without our permission...