


The discussion was on a Polyweekly show where she had a christian who made the case for polyamory. And I remember from when listened to that particular show and it seemed that his argument was


1) Jesus is cool


3) Polyamory is cool

QED Jesus is cool with poly


And not to jump immediately into the “all christians make logical fallacies all the time" pool but there seemed a lot of (for lack of a better term) cramming a logical square peg into an irrational round hole. There
was an interview with a man from Portland
who was talking a lot about spirituality and “healing touch” and other woo buzz
words. It was almost to the point where I had trouble listening.


The nice thing about Polyweekly is that there are a VERY wide variety of people on the show that range as much of the spiritual spectrum from the christian and magic hands guy to wonderful people like Joreth who is
an atheist and poly. If you get the chance to listen to the shows she is on
they are really good.


So..long story short, what has been your experience within poly pertaining to either religion or other spiritual woo?

Views: 60

Replies to This Discussion

Fascinating question. I'm a reformed Southern Baptist, and wondered if there were people in the Christian world bringing polyamory into the fold. I assumed there were, but hadn't taken the time to find out. At the heart of it, though, I don't have that much trouble with people trying to figure out how their belief systems entangle, and there are probably as many reasons to share in polyamory as there are to believe or not believe in Jesus, Buddha or the Staypuffed Marshmallow Man. The shame of it, to me, is that these focal points almost always end in distraction, and had Mr. "Jesus is cool, poly is cool" taken a second to wonder why Jesus even needed to be in the picture, he may have come to some more affirming conclusions about himself and his mortality/morality.

Still, I think Jesus was probably involved in a number of relationships during his 3-year trek. If you've ever read "The Gospel of Thomas", the way he took his disciples aside and had special time with them is inspiring. It may not have been sex, but there was definitely connection and, why couldn't it have been sex? Just b/c of the 4th-century priests. . .but now I've stepped too far into silly history, and reprised your question. Add me to the list, I guess:)
was an interview with a man from Portland

I also find myself tuning-out when people go on and on about spearitchooowlity, and I see that happening a lot in poly circles. It's one of the reasons I'm glad this group is here.

I'll have to pass on the podcast though... I don't have the time.

My experience within poly pertaining to religion or other spiritual woo is that many people assume because they are a bi poly kinky pagan, that I am too.
The pagan bias is so unbelievably widespread in poly circles sometimes, it's about like the Christian bias anywhere else. It's a kind of unintentional proselytizing. It's also amazing how many people there are who fit into the bi poly pagan kinky mold--like there's a nonconformity factory churning them out.

In my pagan experimentation days I went to festivals where there were workshops on polyamory. A lot of times pagans came off like they were promoting polyamory as a superior type of relationship. There's even a book called Pagan Polyamory. As if it's any different from regular polyamory. I do remember an older pagan couple where the man had some other girlfriend and I guess his wife wasn't so thrilled...apparently she told him that "if I see that woman at our Lammas celebration, she's going to be looking down the barrell of a shotgun". So evolved! Even the most dysfunctional poly non-pagan couple I know never threatened a gun on each other.
like there's a nonconformity factory churning them out.

I love this image.
When we talk about spirituality, aren't we talking about a basic human function/need to explain oneself and our surroundings?  It could just as easily be called "emotionality" but for the fact that we often feel that our emotions run us instead of them being grounds for seeking understanding.  The "woo"-factor comes in with organized spiritual practices, right?  Which I've assumed that this site is trying to avoid, yet, in a way, ethical non-monogamy is a (if super loose) organized spiritual practice:  a way of positioning oneself to experience the world, and a codified practice (again, if loosely) to follow.  I've been more impressed with how much people have struggled against the poly concept based on their other faith practices, and interested in which parts of their faith practices they harness to present opposition, yet, most of the non-poly folk I've chatted to about it believe, I think, that the concept makes a super huge amount of sense.  I've not been a part of the non-conformity machine (alas, I'm one within the conformed circles who pushes out), but am a little sorry to have not been thus far. . .and am most curious about the Pagan's notion of "Pagan".

Each person who identifies as pagan has a different notion of what it is. Sometimes not even agreeing about what to call themselves.


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