Crossdressing and sin.

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A post on www.crossdressing.com about how a crossdresser who attends a pretty open-minded congregation en femme mentioned this in passing in explaining how she gets confused sometimes about her male and female sides. As a side tangent to her post, people responded about the fact that she was in church at all dressed that way. It led to many responses on both sides of the fence about it.

A couple of the posts really got me irritated, and I felt compelled to respond. As this touches on something that I have been thinking about anyway, I thought I'd re post my response here.

Quote:

I haven't went to church enfem. i have always felt that is GOD'S house and Deuteronomy 22:5 " A woman must not ware men's clothing . nor a man ware woman's clothing. for the LORD your GOD detests anyone who does this" I hear it coming i know we are all sinners, but this is me O.K.

This, I think is the VERY quote that my BITCH of a mother felt inspired to quote in an effort to shame a 4 year-old boy playing dress-up.

Quote:

Dressing and acting like a woman in church is a direct ticket to Hell, at least according to the bible. Do you really believe?

I'm assuming sarcasm here. Just because people misuse religion for any number of reason like personal gain and enrichment, power, control, hiding their own insecurities doesn't mean in and of itself that the underlying principles are invalid.

Quote:

I hope your cloak has a tassel on every corner, and that you are abiding by the regulations regarding your daughters' indentured servitude. Reality check: This is not the nation of Israel anymore. And are the ladies who wear pants or the ladies who wear skirts, the ones who are going to Hell? The ones with short hair, or long hair?

Exactly. My faith, (as many other Christian sects) holds that with Christ, all the old laws were done away with. Old Testament rules were an attempt to codify all the rights and wrongs so that a person could in theory live their whole life if they followed all the rules and not offend God, thereby achieving their own salvation. Perfection is of course impossible. With the atonement, the point was strive for perfection and Christ (who wore a dress and sandals and had long hair) makes up the difference.

The religion of my parents, (and mine and my children's now) is SUPPOSED to be based on the God's love and acceptance. My parents not just on this issue but many others used shame and intimidation and even violence to enforce their own version of this faith. For them it was all about how well behaved their seven children appeared in a prominent pew at church on Sunday. (Even if that took threats whispered through clenched smiles while digging fingernails into young flesh).

I was under dressed in a pair of pantyhose one Sunday morning a month or so before my planned coming out to my SO. I was getting dressed for church and decided on a whim to leave them on. I felt more honest and a greater access to God's love dressed. I do think culturally and out of a sense of respect I won't make a practice of dressing for church, but It really resolved some feelings and guilt for me do it.

Since this post I found this reference online from a student of the Torah. He points out that the passage about a mans item not being on a women was most likely related to religious observance items such as prayer shawls, the point being that men alone use these in their observances that are held away from the women. The passages that relate to men must not wear womens garments are so that they can not go among women undetected. At that time men wore white, women wore colors. At that time men and women did not fraternize at all, the point being if one never associates with those of the opposite gender had little to know opportunity to commit adultery.