Why am I on Gor?

     I came here as a result of a curiousity that started in my teenage years with the very first book of Gor. It excited me, made me dream and live dreams of fantasy..., for me it was much better that the worlds of John Carter or Mars, Conan or Heinlein. As I matured the Gor books stuck deeper into my way of life, then I put Gor aside to live the life of husband, father and provider. But one thing I could not shake was the memories, what they meant to me, what it caused me to take into my life. As a teenager I did not understand the relationship of men to men until I entered the armed forces, and most importantly when I went into combat. There I found that any consideration of upbringing, wealth or social status dissapeared when on the line, in the jungle.....in other words when your life depended on how well your 'comrades' handled themselves...and in turn you having their lives as part of your responsibility. With this I saw or interpreted for my own purposes why Norman wrote of the Warriors and what made them stand apart from the Gorean world, why a Warrior shared a bond with another Warrior whether they were friend or enemy. I must admit that after leaving the service I had little use for anyone who had 'stayed' home, in other words I only wanted the company of those who had shared the same experiences as myself, that thankfully went away as the years flowed by....Fortunately for me...:)

     My concept of Honor came as a result of my experiences.....For myself the word Honor is a simple sentence....Treat others as you yourself would want to be treated. Respect, Consideration and allowing oneself to walk in their shoes for a moment to better understand them has been my guidelines I have carried into my life. In the books of Gor this is what 'I' saw repeated time and again.

     Sexually, the books excited me, I investigated and discovered the world of BDSM. Now did Gor introduce me to BDSM, yes it did, Did Gor make me a follower of BDSM? No, I decided that on my own as my sexual choice. Did the Books of Gor influence me.....Yes they did, for as I explored the world of BDSM I saw many things that I had first read about in the Gor books. But the difference was I also found a series of guidelines if you will, on how to live, not just sexually but in all aspects of life.

     Now Gor is not Earth, and Earth is not Gor, but there is a commonality, both worlds are HUMAN. Throw out the fantasy of PriestKings, Kur and whatever and what do you find? Humans, with all the same weaknesses and strengths that you see in everyday life.

     When I left the world of Gor of the books I had only read up through book 13. In the last year I have read the remainder of the series and found many things not described in the first 13 books about lifestyle and thoughts that I find amazing. Because a considerable number of these thoughts I have found and lived in the world of Earth.

     Now do you have to be a BDSMer to be of Gor? No, I don't belive that, but I do see that those who practice it and know Gor tend to come together in the world of IRCGor. Can a nonBDSMer be of Gor? Sure they can, and I welcome them to the world of IRCGor.

     Does the BDSM aspects of Gor attract those who cannot live this type of sexuality in their Real lives? Yes indeed it does. Do I feel anger to those who use IRCGor for sexual fantasy? No, but if their actions lead to damage of others whether mentally or physically I will not and can not tolerate that.

Food for thought Friends, I enjoy the open forum.

Atheas

Pantheus ponders...

     It seems to me, lately, that there is a lot of carping, flaming, in-fighting... and general disagreements, among the gorean community. And this disturbs me.

     Which causes me to wonder, again, ...why ??? In spite of the other reasons we are here (irc-gor), is to have fun, meet with friends, of like minds, and to talk with them, hopefully about things, of the Gorean lifestyle, and ways, and to communicate about that. And more and more, I hear or read, of another good gorean, leaving irc, entirely, because of all this.

     But instead, we seem to be having a war of channels, not necessarily, the gorean-type wars... but the wars of how *many* channels, there are.... last I bothered to count, on austnet alone, were over 120 registered channels, with Gor in either the topic, or in the name, or clearly of gor, in nature...... and assuming that with 1,000 - 1200 average users, on austnet, (1700 peak users), that 8-10% of them are of the Master/slave, or free-person realm..... therefore, it seems we each have one channel, for an average of one person per channel.

     Are we so fragmented, and so diverse, in our goals/interpretations, that we each need our own channel? Or would the Gorean community.... and yes, we are a community... be stronger, with less channels, therefore, larger gatherings to share in, for the same number of people?

     With that in mind, it also seems, that we are having a war of "Newspapers" as well. Last I looked, was FOUR ! One of long standing, a voice, speaking for all goreans, of all nets (that report in), and in which all may have a fair, and equal opportunity to express, whatever opinions, and thoughts, they have, and every opportunity for ALL to respond, in the same manner. But instead, it seems, that some felt, the job could be done better by them, and therefore a new , but fragmented voice, appears.... not with muchly new ideas, but in one, two, three or in one case, now, four issues, largely arguing, with, and disputing, (or as a few have said, copyKATing) the earlier published one. I wonder, why it takes two, three or four web sites, to spread the word, share ideas, have discussions, of a Gorean nature and to talk with each other, especially across channel, and net borders.?

     Is it the same thing as having so many channels, ...I know more than you ?...or I can do it better than you ?...or my way is more right than yours ? Is this a pure ego thing, in which Gor gets fragmented, again, because, we just can't get together ?...on anything ?

     The editor of one paper, told me, that its paper was started, because a contributor of another paper said unkind, but true, things about another, thus "flamed"... but spent the first four issues, flaming ......, hiding behind "anonymous" columns, and "un-named" causes of issues. I wonder , if by not naming the person, or writing anonymously, makes it less than flaming ?

     I have heard far more than a few times, in last couple weeks, " I have quit reading ALL the papers, because they only bash each other, or flame each other, and other goreans". This is not healthy;. Gor loses; we all get upset, and nothing is gained; by losing readership, thus sharing of ideas, one place, where we all can express, by freedom of speech our thoughts. Therefore I believe that having multiple "papers" is causing the loss of readership, of all papers, not the other way around..

     As long as I'm pondering, (if anyone has bothered to read this far, and not already writing their flame of me) ... is there anyone, who can enlighten me, as to where in the basis of John Norman's Chronicles of Gor writings, the castles / kastles on Gor are?

I wish you well; may you always have water, may your waterbags, never be empty.

Pantheus