Domination & submission _ the BDSM relationship handbook ( PDFDrive )

when the major point of contention between these two religious viewpoints
becomes D/s or BDSM itself. Fortunately, this isn’t terribly common, but it
does happen.
A devout Buddhist, for example, may be profoundly uncomfortable with the
thought of even simulating an activity that, in reality, would be considered to be
harmful to others or might cause them pain. Examples might include spanking,
paddling, bondage, torture, and a host of other traditional BDSM activities. The
Buddhist practice of avoiding performances could make BDSM scenes, even as
a spectator, taboo. If the Buddhist distaste for being elevated above others
applies even to chairs and beds, it’s a pretty safe bet that aspiring to become a
Dominatrix would probably be frowned upon. Many people are perfectly willing
to ignore or overlook what their religion thinks of their BDSM activities, but it
certainly becomes a lot harder to do that when it’s your relationship partner who
is doing all the frowning.
If the only potential religious problems for D/s couples simply involved religious
differences that could arise within the relationship, life would be pretty simple.
Unfortunately, life in a D/s relationship is never quite so simple. Let’s consider,
for example, what happens in a hypothetically scenario where a D/s relationship
develops into a personality cult with a Lesser God Dominant at the helm and an
assortment of acolyte submissives worshipping at his feet. In essence, a private,
insular religion has been formed, with its own unique beliefs, doctrines, and
practices. You or I might view this scenario with some bemusement or even
fascination but, even so, our first instinct as members of this lifestyle is typically
to tolerate and respect the informed consensual choices of others. But what if
you were not a member of the D/s lifestyle? What if you were, instead, an
influential member of the community who was profoundly vanilla and devoutly
religious, and your eighteen-year-old daughter just became one of those
acolytes? It’s hard to see a hypothetical scenario like this one developing into
anything other than a train wreck for everyone concerned.
The point of this story is to illustrate the fact that, once you adopt an alternative
lifestyle or become part of a non-traditional relationship, you run the very real
risk of having religion used as a club against you by people outside the
relationship who may, for whatever reason, believe they have a stake in the
outcome. Those people are typically going to be family members, or concerned
friends and associates. But there may even be times when your neighbors, your