Airing again on 1001 nights

One of my stories will air again today on http://1001.net.au/ at 3:44 EDT. The story I submitted on Tuesday was not chosen, but Barbara Campbell asked me to submit it again today. I have revised it to reflect today's prompt, "focus of all lenses." She told me she had dreamt about the videotape in my story.

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In other news, I have made reservations for:

1. Voyageur Provincial Park, Ontario, August 9-10, $63.
   
   
2. Kejimkujik National Park, Nova Scotia, August 14-16, $80.
   
   
3. Prince Edward Island National Park, August 17-19, $83.
   
   
4. Hole-in-the-Wall Park and Campground, Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, August 20-21, $50 (uncomfirmed).

I'm still waiting for confirmation from Gary about using his farm on Cape Breton August 11-13, and mulling over the return journey before making reservations for the last two days.

I think I can drive for 14 hours in one day, but 17?

Sexual and religious expression

Recently in my journal I unwittingly raised a comparison between sexual orientation and religion. My point was not that they’re the same; but that religious conservatives, in trying to justify discrimination against homosexuals on the basis of choice and behaviour, forget religion itself is a matter of choice and behaviour. Both sides want the same thing: to exercise limited personal freedom without social interference.

Having a religious history myself, I would not be the first person to compare my coming out as a gay man (at the age of 31) to my born again experience as a new Christian (at the age of 19). Both choices were motivated by complex feelings: the need for better self-acceptance and emotional expression, a search for release from personal demons, and a socio-political imperative to rebel against repressive norms.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu said: “If this sexual orientation were indeed a matter of personal choice, the homosexual persons must be the craziest coots around to choose a way of life that exposes them to so much hostility, discrimination, loss, and suffering.”

I disagree. He, of all people, should realize someone often takes a difficult stance simply because it expresses the truth as he understands it.