Happily Ever After

With the majority of the population, estimated at 90% in the U.S., being oriented with some form of a religious belief system, there should be no doubt about whether spirituality plays a part in our everyday lives. Even those people who have turned away from their prior beliefs make urgent decisions based on the belief system that is embedded into the sub-conscious.

Choices that are made through life, ethical, spiritual and physical, is the texture we weave our life into. Every individual's reality affects the reality of another, this is easily proven by going up to a sad stranger with your bright smile and telling them to have a blessed day. Now imagine going up to a smiling person and verbally abusing them because they are suffering from a disease.

The acknowledgment of the first scenario as good and the second as bad was the practicality of your moral ethics working for you, but are you using it faithfully when it matters?

According to the director of the CDC, obesity is a chronic disease of epidemic proportions, with a conservative estimate of nearly one-third of the population being obese. The ASBP, American Society of Bariatric Physicians, estimates that 33 to 40 percent of woman and 20 to 24 percent of men are trying to lose weight at any given time.

Obesity is a chronic disease that wins second place in the preventable death category.

Given the two variables, the percentage rate of obesity and the percentage of those that have a religious orientation, we can assume that around ninety percent of those that are overweight are centered with a belief system. Yet, the two topics are like mixing oil and water in a boiling pot.

That is not to say that the belief system of an individual is an unimportant factor in the subject of weight loss. It is a well known fact that health is tied to positive thinking, the very thing that is sought for by followers of all religions and belief systems. There have been well documented cases of miracles and healings of different diseases on those of various faiths.

Within the catch all net of the Web, lies gems of online support groups for those trying to lose weight., with some of which are meant for pre- or post- weight loss surgery patients and their supporters. Wise words from others trekking the tedious journey of weight loss lightens the burden of stress, and caring messages massage the sore muscles that kink the back of courage.

There is a deluge of weight loss sites that welcome all that register, although some are specific to gender, age, region or religion. For almost every condition known to man, there is at least one support group that defines the role of the broken body or spirit. Psychologically, this can be very beneficial to members that have little or no family support, or those that have closed their selves off from society.

While many seek comfort within an open online weight loss community, sometimes their comfort is fleeting. By making the careless mistake of offending someone else's sensibility with an off-handed remark of the Divine, they become the new target for displaced anger. In some cases, communities have set the rule of "Do not mention God, Buddha or any other topics not directly related to weight loss." By setting the rules of the playing field, questions on mind, body and spirit can be put to rest, and more action focused on the physical goal.

This form of religious discrimination is designed to help and support the members without the distraction of arguments and passionate theological debates. The catch 22 is the fact that most people will tell you, except for Atheists, that the Divine is not an invisible part of them, but rather an indistinguishable part.

As a morbidly obese person, the resulting health and mental problems faced are multiplied since there is much discrimination directed at them from the public. Stereotypes of what a fat person is, or isn't, is generally degrading and cruel. Labels like lazy, weak willed, stupid and worthless hang over the heads of sufferers. Even in the knowledgeable medical field, including Bariatric professionals, health care workers hold true to the biased belief that it is an ethical disease that dieting and exercise would cure.

Unfortunately, there is also prejudice against weight problems by the religious community. As one Christian lady so bluntly phrased it, "But then that is the way of the world- people are cruelly judged when they are overweight and the religious community does not tend to be gentler in that regard." With that in mind, does it surprise you that suicides contributed to the factor of obesity and the stigma thereof is as high as five times that of other factors?

Christianity seems to be set apart from other belief systems with their perspective of Obesity being a sin against God. Although nearly all, if not precisely all, spiritual groups do recommend being healthy in body and soul, the lone system of Christianity is filled with possible sins that could be a downfall to Hell.

Gluttony is only one of the major sins in this religion. Many obese Christians have had to wait out sermons given by pastors that used the sin of Gluttony as an example time and time again. Weight troubles are seen as self-imposed problems, the result of sin. If the sin was gone, so would the weight be.

A Christian is very likely have feelings of guilt due to their inability to rid themselves of the sin. Phrases like "you should pray more" or "you should take better care of God's temple" make more rounds than a door-to-door salesman, and adds to the sore feeling of failure.

Generally, the Christian-based weight loss groups can be split into two types. The logical weight loss programs that combine common sense and medicine with support from faith, and the 'God will heal me' programs that doesn't realistically deal with solutions.

As you can see, the logical program would produce more and faster results than the faith only program. It is these faith only groups that can become detrimental to the health and mental well being of the obese Christian. These programs are out of sync with the 'God helps those that help their selves' philosophy, and is silently killing those who cannot muster up the faith to beat morbid obesity.

Within the internet however, a new tree of life is growing, one that has its roots in medical solutions, a trunk made of faith, strong branches of common sense and painted leaves of joy. It is the logical, faith groups for support of pre-or-post weight loss surgery patients that is blazing this new frontier.

Once again, Christianity has set itself apart from other mainstream religions and belief systems. While all belief codes essentially want the best for the believer, the sin of vanity is assumed to have befallen the obese person that considers weight loss surgery. Biased views of what God wants, and doesn't want, becomes an integral part of the discrimination of obese people, even by individuals that don't consider themselves to be practicing Christians.

Judgment also befalls patients when others think the money would be better spent on charity than a vanity surgery. The grouping of weight loss surgery with plastic surgery such as face lifts and breast implants is an unfair viewpoint, mostly made by those that are ignorantly prejudice.

However, these same discriminators is agreeable with plastic surgeries that are corrective in nature, such as for burn victims or birth defects. There is no requirement that the patients had not caused their predicament. Nor is there any perceived sin in deciding to have surgery.

The matter of organ transplants have been in debate for yours. Questions of what God wants is not assuredly answered with Bible scriptures since there seems to be points for both sides of the do or don't situation. However, the large percentage of Christians that fully support the organ transplant surgeries do not consider whether the organ receiver has caused the damage that needs fixed, such as a liver diseased due to alcoholism or lungs diseased from chain smoking.

Ironically, some formerly-overweight church members participate in the mental torture of those that are overweight and those that choose surgery. More insanely, what they perceive as 'taking the easy way out' is honestly a viable life threatening process that demands and requires the near absence of both vanity and gluttony.

The high level of discrimination might be a contributing factor to the low frequency of Christian WLS support group meetings in the U.S. Therefore, being that the online Christian WLS community is of like minded peers, the e-mail groups have become more than friendly words, but have become the safe haven where everyone is family, and where discrimination is being kept to a minimum.

But why is there so much discrimination against obesity? It affects millions of people from all walks of life. It is almost impossible for a person not to be able to name at least three obese people that they know well. Obesity is not an indicator of maliciousness, criminal activity, mental illness or retardation. It is not contagious.

So generally speaking, the discrimination is without a logical sturdy foundation. Yet, it thrives and bears many fruits of hate and anger.

Or is there a foundation? One might consider in their pondering of the situation, that the problem of obesity is not a soul's dilemma, but a problem of the physical body we live in, that we survive in.

Our minds still hold the same instinctive nature that mankind's ancestors depended on to survive. We still subconsciously evict the people, plants and animals that are different from what we know, so that we don't receive physical harm through them. It's not only obesity, it's anything that we instinctively coil from (disfigurements, handicaps, growling dogs, weird looking fungus'), but also dangerous situations, such as burning houses and flying bullets.

'Equal children play best' because they feel safe, physically and mentally. Is that to say it's excusable behavior? No. There is never excusable discrimination. But it does provide a valid link to understanding the biased human mind, and more specifically the Christian human mind. The basis of ignorant discrimination in the 'raw' human mind's fight for survival is subconsciously transferred to maintaining the high ethical code for the soul's survival into heaven.

To die is to lose the physical problems and ailments of this life. Since reincarnation is suggested in various other mainstream religions, the pressure to live right is tempered by the assumed knowledge of doing better in the next life around.

Christianity has no such law of try and try again. The finish line is the end of the chance to prove oneself. The final judgment decides the soul's eternal rightful residence. With the perceived sin of gluttony and other variable ignorant ideas, the survival instinct perceptively kicks in and protects the soul from outer sources.

So, with the coupling of mind and soul protective instincts, there arises an unfortunate amount of fear. Knowledge can overcome fear, and love of the fellow man can overcome discrimination. Love and caring for neighbors and enemies is a tenet of the Christian faith. The chances are good that with facts and correct guidance, discrimination will be replaced with Divine love for all.

In what way can the religious community be de-programmed? First of all, it takes more than one person to change the discriminatory habits of a multitude. And it cannot be overcome in a matter of hours or days.

The embarrassed or ashamed obese individual may not be willing to point out to others the misconceptions of obesity. Yet, this is one of the requirements to bringing about change.

Scientific and medical data should be cited to others, so that pointing out their conception of a lazy and weak willed individual is not received as a rationalism from the obese person. Information should not be given only to the selected few that are tolerant, but to those that are cruel with their intolerance.

The authorities within the church should be confronted with the problem. Once again, medical data should be gone over with a calm mind and a loving and forgiving heart. For every scripture that defines the discriminator's perspective, a variety of scriptures can define what God says is the ultimate truth.

History has taught that major changes don't happen overnight, so patience and commitment must become an integral part of the war on discrimination.

A pre-made sermon to speak with your clergy and church members could follow the following model of presentation:

2 Kings 7: 3,5- focus on the fact that God uses everyone to do his work.

Galatians 5: 22-23- focus on these fruits as fruits of God

Romans 8: 26- focus on that God knows we are of physical bodies and are prone to sin even when the spirit doesn't want to. This goes for every sin, every temptation, including prejudice.

John 15:17- how God wants us to treat each other, in love

Galatians 6: 7- everyone reaps what they have sown. And each person only answers for their sin, not the sin of others

2 Corinthians 10: 3- the bible says our enemies are not flesh and blood, we war with Satan, the real enemy.

Ephesians 6: 12- who is our real enemy? Satan and darkness.

Isaiah 54:17- those that are being used as a weapon of the Devil will not prosper

James 3: 2-8- tame the tongue

Mathew 12: 34-35- what treasure does tongues come from

James 3: 13-16- let them show themselves

1 Corinthians 13: 11-13- as you grow spiritually, so should you grow out of worldly acts and things. charity is charity of the soul, such as love, mercy, acceptance, tolerance and forgiveness.

copyright 2005, Rights retained by Rose Hunt