Shirley MacLaine Explains Homosexuality For Us All

[Dan82]

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailym...ey_maclain.php

I just picked up Shirley's latest book, I'm Over All That--And Other Confessions, and lit up when she equated gayness with past lives (which is surely better than linking it to past girlfriends.)

Here's Shirley's rationale:

"One of the explanations for homosexuality and transgenderism could, I believe, be a profound identification with a recent incarnation as a member of the opposite sex.

"I believe each one of us has had both male and female lifetimes.

"As we make our soul's journey through time, I think resistance to reincarnational understanding is because we feel threatened by our sexual identity.

"We just don't like to contemplate seriously that we might have been a member of the opposite sex in a previous incarnation.

"Questions of sex and the spiritual understanding of the soul are intertwined...



http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailym...ey_maclain.php

[NickT]

[MommaFrog]

I had often thought that. Being Wiccan I beleive in the Summerlands and reincarnation. I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has thought that...

[DarkClarity]

I have to admit for a second that just baffled me. Honestly that is the oddest explaination for why people are gay I've ever heard.

[Revan]

I still love her

[Chip]

Amongst spiritual people who believe in reincarnation I've heard that explanation (or a slight variation of it) many times. Where I'm not clear is how that fits in with transgenderism; let's say someone has been female in their last 8 lifetimes and reincarnates as a male this time. What would determine whether that person would be gay or be transgendered? I'd find that an interesting discussion amongst the spiritual crowd.

[Emberstone]

Originally Posted by Chip

Amongst spiritual people who believe in reincarnation I've heard that explanation (or a slight variation of it) many times. Where I'm not clear is how that fits in with transgenderism; let's say someone has been female in their last 8 lifetimes and reincarnates as a male this time. What would determine whether that person would be gay or be transgendered? I'd find that an interesting discussion amongst the spiritual crowd.

might come down to what the life experinces were in the past life.

[Sheyceli]

I have never though of it this way. How intriguing.

[British Lad]

Its original I give it that.

[J Snow]

Originally Posted by Chip

Amongst spiritual people who believe in reincarnation I've heard that explanation (or a slight variation of it) many times. Where I'm not clear is how that fits in with transgenderism; let's say someone has been female in their last 8 lifetimes and reincarnates as a male this time. What would determine whether that person would be gay or be transgendered? I'd find that an interesting discussion amongst the spiritual crowd.

Perhaps it could come from a premature death in your last life. Say in your last life I had died as a female who was just approaching puberty, my soul might have been going through a time of rapid change to female, and that might have effected the transition to going to a male. Of course you could argue this could be the case for almost any time period in the last life. Perhaps it could be because in your last life you died in the womb and never had the time to "use up" the female energy your soul was prepared for.

Of course this is strictly hypothetical. I'm interested in theology and philosophy though. I think its interesting discussion.

[Chip]

It would be really interesting -- and now I'm exposing my airy-fairy nature -- to talk to people who are serious students of reincarnation theory, and/or people who are familiar with channeled teachings (Edgar Cayce, etc) and discuss some of these ideas. I find the premature death or died-in-the-womb correlation to transgenderism particularly interesting/intriguing, and it does make sense.

[Alex19]

kinda bs... so shes saying that i have a female soul but ended up in a male body but because im 'female', i like males? shes almost trying to say that people are innately straight and only gay on accident because of a body mix up. thats re-dick. honey, im a male who likes males. end of story.

[fiddledeedee]

I can understand why someone who believes in reincarnation would think this, though I wonder what determines if you are gay or if you are trans, and what about being bisexual or genderqueer? Plus, wouldn't that make about half of the world LGBT?

[Miss Bubbles]

This thought has always passed through my head. In fact I am almost certain this is the absolute truth. I always feel its been linked to my past lives.

[kiersten]

Somehow I find the idea that I was female in a past life to be comforting. At least nature got it right once before is a little nice to know...

[Drowzee64]

^Maybe they'll get it right in the next life too?

[Chip]

Originally Posted by fiddledeedee

Plus, wouldn't that make about half of the world LGBT?

The way it was explained to me, it's only people that have had a whole bunch of opposite-sex lifetimes in a row before the current lifetime that end up gay, and it's a function of resonating not just to the previous life but a bunch before that, and being very used to being whatever that attraction is.

To me, it makes sense. It also makes sense, from the perspective of reincarnation, that everyone would, at some point experience a life where they are gay, bi, trans, etc because the idea of reincarnation is that the soul have the opportunity to experience things from every perspective.

[Emberstone]

Originally Posted by Chip

The way it was explained to me, it's only people that have had a whole bunch of opposite-sex lifetimes in a row before the current lifetime that end up gay, and it's a function of resonating not just to the previous life but a bunch before that, and being very used to being whatever that attraction is.

To me, it makes sense. It also makes sense, from the perspective of reincarnation, that everyone would, at some point experience a life where they are gay, bi, trans, etc because the idea of reincarnation is that the soul have the opportunity to experience things from every perspective.

that actually does, at least from a theoretical spiritual standpoint, makes sense to me. however, the people who, at least in america, are holding back lgbt equality would never accept the far more established, older view of the afterlife that is reincarnation.

[Chip]

Originally Posted by Emberstone

however, the people who, at least in america, are holding back lgbt equality would never accept the far more established, older view of the afterlife that is reincarnation.

That's for sure. The story goes -- and I'm no theologian -- that there were originally references to reincarnation in the Bible, but King Somebody-or-Another had them removed because he didn't want his subjects to think they had a second chance or something. But apparently most people who rely on the Holy Book don't do their homework.

[Mogget]

There's reincarnation in the Talmud*, and in Kabbalah, but I don't think there's any in the Bible. The ancient Israelites and Judeans didn't have the idea of a soul in their culture, and the closest thing to an afterlife is Sheol with means "grave." The Old Testament is entirely unconcerned with what happens after death.

The New Testament writers for the most part believed that Jesus would come to resurrect the dead next Thursday, as it were, so they would have seen no point to reincarnation.

None of which is to say that reincarnation isn't a valid position for an Jew or Christian to take, but it isn't biblically supported and I highly doubt it ever was. It's not consistent with the general themes regarding death of the Old or New Testaments.

*But the Talmud has everything. It's several centuries' worth of rabbis speculating on absolutely everything. It contradicts itself all over the place, and it's supposed to because it's more of an extended account of several arguments that lasted centuries than a polished book of theology.