Re: [UUPoly-L] UUCA: welcoming congregation

["Earth Father" <earthfather@cfnc.us>]

> -----Original Message-----

>  Okay, I guess we're doing the "Analogy Thing".

I think there is a lot of wisdom in your analogy, Bill.  It seems to me that it
breaks down at points:

>  If someone else drank other tea or drank it at different times or places
> than I do, I wouldn't mind.

Excellent!
 
>  I do like tea, but I don't know that I would say that tea was "inherently
> good". It's just tea. 

Here's my main challenge.  Try these phrases on for size:

"I don't know that I would say that sex was "inherently good". It's just sex."

"I don't know that I would say that intimacy was "inherently good". It's just
intimacy."

"I don't know that I would say that relationships are "inherently good". They
are just relationships."

> But I do feel I'm "tea-positive" -- and I do enjoy tea.
> 
>  I've just read the above over again -- and it pretty well describes my
> relationship with sex, too.
> 
>  Comments?

I appreciate the delightful take you have on this issue, and would normally
have left it without comment.  But since you asked -- 

Sex/intimacy/relationships seem to be fundamentally different for most people
than tea.

I don't know anyone who has moved across country in order to have better access
to their favorite tea.
I don't know anyone who has gotten into fights over tea.
I don't know anyone who has plunged into a serious depression because they
couldn't have their favorite kind of tea.
I don't know anyone who spends hundreds/thousands of hours and dollars trying
different teas, in order to find one that is satisfying.

This all tells me that sex/intimacy/relationships play a fundamentally
different role in many people's lives than tea plays.

Many people consider sex (and intimacy) peak life experiences, even
transformational; not as many consider tea in that same light...

Considering how powerful/ecstatic/transformative/intense sexuality and intimacy
can be, I would see them as fundamental life forces, and as such, inherently a
good thing (among freely consenting individuals).  For me, at least, sex and
intimacy are not neutral, take-it-or-leave-it experiences.  If I never drank
tea again, I would not feel that I was missing a fundamental human experience;
I do experience sex that way.

Michael Rios