Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jan 19, 2012, 11:26 am
This is going to be a short post.  This is intentional, because I don't want to say much.  I'm reposting the "Transgender Basics" video again, because I think it's worth watching again.  However, this time I want to focus on -- and ask my readers to focus on -- the segment titled "Gender complexi...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jan 17, 2012, 9:23 am
I apologize for not getting a blog post up yesterday.  Extra hours at work and the mental exhaustion caused by a major deadline and other factors prevailed, and I chose to spend much of the last forty-eight hours taking care of myself rather than blogging.  I hope to make time and conserve mental ...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jan 15, 2012, 12:00 pm
After the trans* panel discussion on Thursday night, I talked to Kelly, one of the allies who had spoken.  She suggested I watch and blog about a video as a way to promote ongoing discussion.  The video that she suggested I blog about is called "Transgender Basics," produced by the Lesbian, Gay, B...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jan 14, 2012, 10:43 am
One of the things that I liked about Thursday night's panel discussion is that the organizers included two allies in the list of panelists.  Listening to both women speak on behalf of the trans* people they support in very real ways was inspiring.  All the time I listened, I could not help but thi...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jan 13, 2012, 12:00 pm
Last night, I attended a trans* panel discussion facilitated by the Empire State Pride Agenda and hosted by the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley.  It was attended by approximately fifty people and the presenters were incredible people whose stories were well worth hearing.  What struck me is tha...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jan 11, 2012, 3:06 am
For those of you who missed it, Cardinal George of the Chicago diocese of the Catholic church recently made statements on FOX News comparing the QUILTBAG community to the KKK because pride parade organizers changed the parade's route this year, meaning that the parade would pass by Our Lady of Mount...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jan 9, 2012, 12:00 pm
Note from Jarred:  When I began reading chapter eight of Raised Right:  How I Untangled my Faith from Politics, I was pleasantly surprised to see how much space Ms. Harris devoted to sharing her own experiences with sexism in the Church and how it affected the way she saw others who had a differin...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jan 8, 2012, 12:00 pm
Bert Hummel would totally get today's post. Like racism, sexism, and transphobia, homophobia is something that can be quite subtle, yet persistent.  Some people think that not calling gay people "dykes" and "faggots" and not perpetrating physical violence against gay people means they are free of a...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jan 2, 2012, 12:00 pm
With today's post, I want to take a look at chapter 8 of Alisa Harris's book, "Raised Right:  How I Untangled my Faith from Politics."  Ms. Harris selected "Judge Not" for the chapter's title, almost certainly to bring up Jesus's own injunction against judging as retold in Matthew 7.  I think tha...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jan 1, 2012, 12:00 pm
As is somewhat typical for bloggers, I wanted to consider my past year of blogging today and look forward to my blogging goals and vision for the future. Since I started this blog in 2004, I've been a sporadic blogger at best.  I would have periods of time where I would post regularly -- and even m...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Nov 2, 2011, 12:00 pm
Sunday evening, I went to Wegman's to pick up a salad for Monday's lunch as well as sodas and snacks for the week.  Derek, the cashier who rang me up, inquired about where I had my face painted (I was done up like Tigger), and I told him it was at the annual psychic fair at Psychic's Thyme.  He as...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Oct 31, 2011, 12:00 pm
Given that this is the season to honor and remember loved ones who have passed from this world, I thought I would make today's blog post a more personal one and talk about a beloved relative, my paternal grandmother. I forget my exact age, by Grandma Harris passed away when I was very young, before ...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Oct 30, 2011, 12:00 pm
Image via Wikipedia While I do not consider myself Wiccan and I'm certainly not an Initiate of Gardnerian Wicca or any of it's close relatives, my own understanding of witchcraft has been strongly influenced by the thoughts and writings of various such Initiates, including the public writers of Gera...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Oct 29, 2011, 9:00 am
As Samhain approaches, my thoughts turn to the ancestors and the realms of the underworld.  As a witch whose practice tends to be highly shamanistic in nature, I'm quite familiar with these realms and spend a bit of time exploring them and drawing on the wisdom of their inhabitants. Some of my frie...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Oct 28, 2011, 12:00 pm
While I was attending college at Susquehanna University, I took a class on religious philosophy.  A week of class-time was spent discussing morality.  The first day of that segment of the class, the instructor made it clear that the purpose of moral philosophy -- and morality in general -- was to ...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Oct 26, 2011, 9:00 am
This morning, my "signing off" post went up over at Confessions of a Former Conservative.  I won't post an excerpt here, as there's no notable text in my farewell and expression of gratitude.  I will, however, encourage any of my readers who don't already check out CoaFC on a regular basis to go t...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Oct 25, 2011, 12:16 pm
My final day of guest-blogging at Confessions of a Former Conservative is being met with My enemy's pawn is still just a pawn to me.  Here's the teaser: Of course, I told myself that I didn't hate these Pagan people.  After all, they ultimately were not the enemy, and I was no Jack Chick. ...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Oct 24, 2011, 8:24 pm
My stint over at Confessions of a Former Conservative continues with When losing your religion involves losing more than that.  Here's a snippet to pique your curiosity: Beyond that, you might have no sense of who you are, because everything you based your identity on is now gone.  So in add...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Oct 24, 2011, 2:27 am
While I've lapsed into silence here at my blog (something I hope to remedy soon), I'm spending a few times as a guest-blogger over at Confessions of a Former Conservative.  My first post there talks about fundamentalism as an all consuming identity.  Here's a brief excerpt: Granted, my story is pr...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Oct 13, 2011, 11:06 pm
Recently, a New Jersey teacher posted comments on Facebook that spoke out against teaching about LGBT people of historic significance and denigrated gays.  She went so far as to call homosexuality a cancer.  This has led some people, including Garden State Equality head Steve Goldstein -- to criti...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Oct 11, 2011, 9:23 am
Yesterday, I did a serious post about National Coming Out Day and cominng out of the closet.  Today, I want to share a fun little video I did.  I figure coming out is scary enough, I might as well find humor in it where I can. I do want to take a moment to issue an apology, however.  After I mad...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Oct 10, 2011, 10:17 pm
Image via Wikipedia I'd rather be hated for who I am rather than loved for who I am not. I ran across the above saying on a tee shirt a couple years ago.  It's always stuck with me, and it's a principle I try to keep in mind when I live my life.  It's an important principle when faced...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Oct 7, 2011, 10:17 pm
Check out the video he did, telling about his experiences with his family and his attempt to change his sexual orientation.  (TRIGGER WARNING:  Attempted suicide, extreme "conversion therapy" methods, physical and emotional abuse.) Fortunately, many of us do not have experiences as severe or extr...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Sep 20, 2011, 11:09 pm
Tonight, while reading Confessions of a Former Conservative, I ran across a blog called The Emotions of hdn666.  This blog is apparently a young Christian's attempt to parody liberals, atheists, and apparently anyone else who isn't just like him.  I've read a few posts and I have to say that I'm g...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Sep 17, 2011, 10:56 am
Cover of Carman Harris begins chapter two of Raised Right with a description of a music video made by Christian pop artist Carman.  As I read her description, I found them eerily familiar, but could not place them until she mentioned the artist's name.  I spent my teen years listening to and idoli...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Sep 16, 2011, 10:55 pm
Image via Wikipedia While looking over C.S. Friedman's website as part of writing my blog post about her treatment of religion in her fiction, I ran across her commentary on slash fiction[1] that she included in her FAQ page.  Apparently, Friedman is not a fan of us gay people, and presumably other...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Sep 16, 2011, 8:59 pm
Last night, I finished reading C.S. Friedman's final book in her Magister Trilogy, Legacy of Kings.  It was a compelling and captivating end to a fantastic (pun not intended) series of books.  In many ways, I feel sad leaving behind the world of Souleaters and Magisters and the people (and creatur...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Sep 6, 2011, 10:49 pm
Image by B.S. Wise via Flickr Chapter 1 of Harris's book, Raised Right:  How I Untangled My Faith From Politics, bears the title "Flesh and Blood."  I assume it was chosen for the chapters attempt to show the need to see not issues, but people.  Harris starts the chapter by describing a scene wh...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Sep 6, 2011, 9:43 pm
Image by Amarand Agasi via Flickr Last Thursday, Fred Clark of Slacktivist fame wrote a fantastic review of Raised Right:  How I Untangled My Faith from Politics, a book by Alisa Harris[1] that was released today.  I was fascinated enough by Fred's review and the quotes from the book he selected...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jun 23, 2011, 10:08 am
Image via Wikipedia This morning, I read an article by Michael Gormley about the status of New York legislation that could bring about marriage equality here in the Empire State.  I've been following this story pretty closely in my private time and am excited that my state may soon allow me to marr...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jun 10, 2011, 10:54 am
Tuesday, I blogged about a recent CDC study that suggests that gay teens tend to engage in riskier behaviors than heterosexual teens.  Yesterday, Alvin McEwen drew attention to a blog post by Brian Brown of the National Organization for Marriage of Moralists that mentions this study.  Except that ...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jun 10, 2011, 10:11 am
Image by adam79 via Flickr Last night after I got home from my coven's business meeting, my seventeen year old unofficial godson* sent me a text asking if we could make a run to Dunkin Donuts before school in the morning.  He explained that he had some exciting news he wanted to share with me.  He...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jun 7, 2011, 9:41 am
Image via Wikipedia I ran across an AP article this morning that says that some research suggests that LGB teens* are more likely to engage in risky behavior than their heterosexual counterparts.  According to the article: Investigators asked about dozens of risky behaviors, ranging from not ...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jun 3, 2011, 2:45 pm
A recent article on Medical News Today reports that there's a certain class of young gay men who are particularly susceptible to HIV infection right now: Gay young men in serious relationships are six times more likely to have unprotected sex than those who hook up with casual partners, accord...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jun 3, 2011, 11:11 am
Personal Failure linked to and responded to a post about religious devotion.  Her response understandably focused on the slight the post made against atheists.  I wanted to explore this post a bit more myself though as someone who is also a strong believer in religious devotion* After giving his s...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jun 1, 2011, 9:55 am
Alvin McEwen over at Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters pointed out that Peter Heck, a guest columnist at One News Now is whining about all the gay celebrities that came out recently.  Alvin wrote a wonderful response, explaining (though I hope to add to it) how coming out is not the same as discus...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Apr 3, 2011, 1:53 pm
Quite a few days ago, I got into a discussion about sexual ethics and how people respond to others who have a different (mostly more permissive) sexual ethic than their own.  As the conversation continued, I've considered how my personal sexual ethic has changed over the past year. Pri...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Apr 1, 2011, 12:14 pm
Image via Wikipedia I came out to myself and my best friend at the time on Monday, 1 April 1996. Today, 1 April 2011 marks the fifteenth anniversary of that event. In honor of that, I've decided to do a series of posts on the topic. This is the third one. Given the fact that I came out on 1 April, I...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Apr 1, 2011, 9:49 am
Image via Wikipedia Yesterday, I ran across a Truth Wins Out blog post by Evan Hurst.  Evan dissected an interview between Peter LaBarbera (of the disingenously named Americans For Truth About Homosexuality) and Matt Barber (of Liberty Counsel).  Both men are professional (and by that term, I only...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Mar 31, 2011, 11:29 pm
Image via Wikipedia I came out to myself and my best friend at the time on Monday, 1 April 1996.  Today, 1 April 2011 marks the fifteenth anniversary of that event.  In honor of that, I've decided to do a series of posts on the topic.  This is the second one. As I said in my previous post, the ...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Mar 31, 2011, 12:57 pm
Image via Wikipedia I came out to myself and my best friend at the time on Monday, 1 April 1996.  Tomorrow, 1 April 2011 marks the fifteenth anniversary of that event.  In honor of that, I've decided to do a series of posts on the topic.  This is the first one. My mind floats back fifteen years ...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Mar 30, 2011, 11:27 pm
Back when I was a kid, I thought I had to ask for forgiveness of every little sin in order to be forgiven and get into heaven.  I'm not really sure where I got this idea.  I know when I was a teenager, Harry did introduce me to the idea and explained the theology behind it.  He taught it to his ...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Mar 9, 2011, 10:10 pm
After a long silence, I've decided that it's time to start blogging again.  I'm actually excited about an upcoming post I'm planning to publish, as it involves doing something a bit new for me.  I'm not exactly sure when I'll be posting it, as I'm waiting for it to finish undergoing editorial revi...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jan 24, 2011, 3:34 pm
After much deliberation, I have decided to break the silence on this blog and give my loyal readers (however many of you may be left) an update on my life and the future of this blog. For the past six months, I have been emotionally involved with a young man, D.  (I wrote about D once before...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Nov 14, 2010, 8:20 pm
Image by eqqman via Flickr (This was written at the request of a friend.  May she find them helpful.) Ancient Lord, Receive my loved one who has passed beyond this world.  Guide him to a place of honor in the Land of the Ancestors, so that he may find the peace he deserve...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Nov 14, 2010, 10:49 am
Image via Wikipedia Blessed Lady, I know that all acts of love and pleasure are your worship.  Therefore, please help me this day to be more loving.  Help me to recognize those opportunities to bring smiles the faces of others.  Grant me the wisdom and strength that I might b...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Aug 11, 2010, 8:36 am
The other day, I was listening to the radio while driving, and "Don't Want to Miss a Thing" by Aerosmith came on.  I absolutely love that song and want to include it here.  So thanks to YouTube, enjoy a nice rendition with lyrics, no less: I actually have an emotional history associated with this...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Aug 1, 2010, 10:10 pm
A little over a year ago, I joined efforts with a small group of people to form a new coven.  We came to name our coven The Wick, inspired by the song we play in the background while we prepare ourselves for ritual.  (I hope the songwriter doesn't mind.)  Tonight, we led our first public ritual a...
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jul 30, 2010, 1:59 pm
I wouldn't wear those sunglasses.  But this definitely sounds like something I'd say.
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Jarred Harris posted an article on The Musings of a Confused Man - Jul 24, 2010, 8:36 am
Image by Thomas Hawk via Flickr I'm a couple of different online personals sites, including one dedicated to gay, bisexual, (and even closeted "straight") men.  The sites are often fun and prove to provide me with a lot of interesting experiences, and a few good friendships. Every now and then, tho...
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