Machine-kin - Common Misconceptions

"People fear what they don't understand, and they hate what they fear, then they try to destroy what they hate. It is a vicious cycle of hurt that can be alleviated only by peaceful education." 

Perhaps one of the most common issues that machine-kin face with the Otherkin community is false accusations and misconceptions that lead the community to believe machine-kin are invalid for some reason or another. It is my hope to clarify some of these things, to give my perspective on the issue. 

1. "Machines don't have souls." This is the biggest argument people throw at me. My view is that machines are made of the same 98 elements that humans, dogs, trees, etc. are made of. What makes a rock any more worthy of housing a soul than a machine? Being 'organic'? 'Natural'? Think of it this way... everything that machines are made of started out 'natural' by the assumed definition, i.e. coming from the earth. A woman I met once asked me while shoving her Bible in my face, "You tell me where it says God gives souls to machines." I promptly replied, "You tell me where it says He doesn't." 

2. "Humans, elves, dragons, etc. are animate. Machines are not." The dictionary defines the adjective 'animate' as "able to move voluntarily." If that is what constitutes something being animate or not, I know many humans who are completely inanimate, yet are you going to say that these people do not have souls? Just because a machine lacks the ability to express one's livelihood doesn't mean the life is not there. 

3. "Prove it." I have to chuckle to myself when Otherkin tell me to 'prove it'. The idea of Otherkin as a whole is impossible to prove. You can cite all the mythology, dreams, past life regressions, etc. that you want, but it's no less convincing of proof than my own mythology, dreams and past life regressions. When it comes down to it, there is no hard medical proof that Otherkin even exist. It is a subjective belief based upon one's own interpretations of feelings, emotions, and spiritual experiences, no different than religious belief. 

4. "You're just out for attention, and just want to be unique." No, I just want to be myself. I could care less if people paid any attention to me at all. Notice that this blog has no followers, and yet I still write? My only reason for even trying to open the Otherkin community's eyes is for all the machine-kin, otaku-kin, Na'vi, etc. that come after me and have no one to accept them. 

5. "You have no life." If you must get into my offline situation, OK. I am a 21 year old freelance sound engineer, studying for my Masters degree in theology. I have my own apartment, quite a lot of friends, and a healthy social life. I go have a drink now and then with my buddy next door, I go to class five days a week, and I work in the evenings and on weekends. I do not live with my parents, nor do I live in a basement. I am happy, not depressed in the least bit, and have never been committed to a psych ward. If you met me on the street, you likely wouldn't think anything odd of me at all. I am cleanly, dress nicely, and enjoy taking long walks on sunny days.

The spiritual realms are so vast, I don't know how so many can claim to know every corner of the multiverse well enough to write off another's spiritual beliefs. It is impossible. Please, before you ban the 'other' Otherkin, think about that. You don't know what is and is not. 

In Greater Learning,

- Neve