March 15, 2004
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Well, I have to say I didn’t expect airing my cross-gender fantasies would generate that much response that quickly. Today, I’m hovering between two things about which to post: one serious, one lighthearted. I normally don’t mention anything even semi-serious here, so feel free to skip the latter section if you wish.
Birthdays and Bottomless Pits
Happy Birthday to both Mona and Cheryl! They had their birthdays last week; Cheryl invited quite a few over to her place (right near the university) also, where there was some quite good food involved. Those of you back at GW who were in any of my classes will know that I consume a generous amount of food throughout the day… this was no exception {^^}.
Afterwards, again, karaoke–but it was Cheryl’s first time in Japan doing so. And, as luck would have it, the same expensive karaoke place near Kawana (cf. last post) had a —«@/@’j« voice-changing button. I must say, it was another very liberating experience. Though hearing someone sing in the ƒIƒJƒ} (transvestite) voice is about as disturbing as you could imagine.
A Question of Faith
This isn’t the least bit easy to explain, but I’ll try. I’ve mentioned the mosque I attend each Friday for prayers here–or, at least, the one I used to attend. I began going to the other one across town (on the Nagoya Station side).
I should probably explain why I switched from the beginning. About a couple weeks ago, the imam of the other masjid lent me one book. Reading through it was interesting enough, but there was some mention about the Messiah (al-Masih) having come in Pakistan of the late 1800s. I paid it no attention initially, but then I recalled hearing vaguely about a small group of Muslims–messianic Muslims, as best you could describe–called Ahmadis, apart from the mainstream Sunni/Shia sects (which comprise about 99% of those who call themselves Muslim). The mosque which I attended was called Ahmadiyyah Muslim Center.
Then it made sense.
One thing little-known about Islam (regarding non-Muslims’ knowledge of it) is that we likewise believe in the return of Jesus (Arabic ‘Isa), similar to Christians. Depending on your definition of messiah, we also believe that he was the prophesized messiah–but, most importantly, he was a prophet and messenger, not a divine part of God. Now, where Ahmadis differ is that they believe Jesus was supposed to return in spirit, not in person; and they believe that both Jesus and the Imam Mahdi (who’s said to arrive before Jesus–though I’m not certain if this is a Shia belief or one general to Islam) came in the form of a man named Ahmad in late 1800s Pakistan.
I can’t agree with that for a number of reasons… The easiest to explain is that I find Muhammed (pbuh) being the last prophet an extremely important belief: it means that no one can come by, claim prophethood, and expect everyone to follow him blindly–as opposed to following someone with a divine revelation (e.g., Muhammed, Jesus, Moses, David, Abraham (pbut)). You can debate over the meaning of scripture, and moreover some prophets were even corrected on occasion; but when a contemporary figure comes by and claims divine guidance, what he says is supposed to go without question.
Please keep in mind, I still maintain that everyone I met at the Ahmadiyyah mosque was very nice. That still hasn’t changed. But, there was just an unfortunate misunderstanding that took place–that, frankly, I’m a little embarassed about as I should have noticed sooner so as to avoid confusion. I believe, though, that our beliefs differ enough to where I feel much more comfortable praying at the other (mainstream) mosque. That Muhammed (pbuh) was the last prophet is a fundamental belief, and though I don’t remotely mind being close friends with those who differ in belief, to pray with them every week for the obligatory Friday prayer doesn’t feel well. The closest comparison I can find is to expect a Jew to feel comfortable celebrating Yom Kippur with Jews for Jesus, but perhaps not so… odd. Though that comparison doesn’t carry over to most other religions, I hope (if you’ve actually read this far) that you can get a general idea of what led me to my decision.
Only caveat is that the prayer here is at 12:30, not 1:00. So, I’m going to have to work out with my professors if I can miss the last ten minutes of class each Friday (that should get me there by 12:40–which is better than 12:55 like right now). This running to take a 15-minute distance in half the time just ain’t cutting it. KF
Comments (4)
Okama refers to homosexual, although in Japan most transvestites are homosexual… Hmm, first it was lingerie and now the voice. What’s next? Anyway, while these are interesting topics you bring up, I think the bottom half was the most interesting post you’ve written. I don’t mind serious, maybe not all the time, but that’s how you develop serious readershipl…
Interesting…..and well explained. I learned something today, yay! Don’t be embarassed, everything is a learning experience, isn’t it?
Now there is something I never knew. Perhaps better than Jews For Jesus… is something like the difference between Lutherans and Catholics. No the Lutherans don’t have another Jesus but they follow a second completely different set of rules and us Catholics have the Pope… 2 pieces that make us pretty different though we still read the same Bible. Or Jehova’s Witness to a protestant.. same thing except one says that the lord has already returned (perhaps a better example) both might seem to think similar things but one piece of info can really keep you from wanting to pray in their churches. Hmm. Interesting things you know. Not all Large Organized Religions are as unified as you think.
I still need to try that microphone. It would cut out all the effort of me trying so hard to sound feminine. I also dont claim to know much about any religion, but that was explained wonderfully for layman like me.