Existential Punk

Ted Haggard's Conflict

Even though i do not always agree with Andrew Sullivan, i still love his writing and perspective. He often challenges me, which is a good thing, even if i don’t rightly admit it! Today i found a beautiful commentary by him on the Ted Haggard saga and really resonated with what he said. i experienced a lot of what Sullivan communicates and my prayer is that we will lift our brother in Christ, Ted, and his family up in prayer. Let’s not treat him in kind as to how his church and others have treated him. i think Ted is in major denial about his sexuality and really conflicted in reconciling his faith and his sexuality. i think many of us can identify with him on that alone.

Ray Boltz’s ex-wife, Carol, is an ardent supporter of our community and maybe one day can reach out to Haggard’s wife. She blogs at My heart goes out . . . and has come full circle in her journey as a once married woman whose husband came out.Ray Boltz was once a very successful Contemporary Christian singer back in the 1990’s. i have corresponded with Carol via email and she is a lovely woman!

Here is Andrew Sullivan’s thoughts:

“I watched the whole thing. I feel for Haggard - because he is trapped between who he is and his internalized belief that God cannot love him for who he is. But God can love him for being gay. And does love him for being gay. This is hard, I know. Accepting God’s unconditional love for me was the hardest part of keeping hold of my Christian faith. My childhood and adolescence were difficult to the point of agony, an agony my own church told me was my just desert. But I saw in my own life and those of countless others that the suppression of these core emotions and the denial of their resolution in love always always leads to personal distortion and compulsion and loss of perspective. Forcing gay people into molds they do not fit helps no one. It robs them of dignity and self-worth and the capacity for healthy relationships. It wrecks family, twists Christianity, violates humanity. It must end.

Haggard’s betrayal, his lies, his compulsions, his deceits are the excruciating function of this human dead end. What we have to do as Christians is open up this always-closing door, to find a way past the abstractions and neuroses of fundamentalism to a more honest and more human acceptance of gay people as God-like. Gay people, like all people, need love. We need family. And yet we are uniquely and cruelly denied these things. And no love and no family can be genuinely based on the deceit or self-hatred that are the alternatives.

That is why I am so insistent on marriage. It alone heals this deep wound and brings gay men and women into the human family where they can finally be allowed to flourish for who they are, rather than to become the contorted, distorted shapes the rest of the world is comfortable with. Anything else actually sustains the wound, because it imprints the indignity and perpetuates the pain.”

An Evangelical's Apology

To the LGBTQ Community,

I know I don't speak for all evangelicals when I write this, but I hope I speak for more than you might think, as I offer this sincere apology on behalf of myself and my community.

I'm sorry for not speaking up when people taunted you and made obscene jokes about you in school and at work.

I'm sorry that I have tolerated stereotypes and generalities.

I'm sorry that I did not protest when my church put signs in its yard in support of anti-gay legislation.

I'm sorry that I did not stand with you when my town's leaders passed a resolution to try and ban you from living in our community.

I'm sorry that evangelicals have made church an unsafe place for you, that we have stigmatized that which we do not understand, that we have inadvertently forced so many young people to keep secrets about their sexuality, and that we have made the Christian subculture the worst one in which to come out.

I'm sorry for our hypocrisy. I'm sorry that we say gay marriage is the biggest threat to the sanctity of an institution we ourselves do not honor half of the time. I'm sorry that we've spent millions of dollars trying to restrict your civil liberties when that money could have been used for better things. I'm sorry that we don't focus on our own families first.

I'm sorry that we leave you with no good options. I'm sorry for criticizing you for being promiscuous, but then denying you the opportunity to form committed, monogamous relationships. I'm sorry that we act like celibacy would be easy, as if you do not desire companionship and intimacy as much as we do.

I'm sorry that we talk about you more than we listen to you. I'm sorry that we form opinions about things we don't understand. I'm sorry that we think we can write a prescription to make you just like us.

I'm sorry that we treat your sexuality as a disease and that we offer dangerous "cures," like encouraging you to marry someone of the opposite sex. I'm sorry that these tactics often result in nothing but shame and secrets and more broken families.

I'm sorry that we have used the Bible as a weapon.

I'm sorry that we have used religion to shame.

I'm sorry that we have assumed we speak for God.

Most of all, I am sorry that we haven't been Jesus to you. Jesus, who associated with the marginalized of his society—women, Samaritans, tax collectors, and prostitutes—Jesus, who forgave when others wanted to stone, who gave freely when others wanted to charge, who welcomed when others wanted to shun. I'm sorry that we call ourselves Christians, or "little Christs," when we look nothing like our Lord.

I know that this letter does not excuse me from the mistakes of my past, and I know it does not represent the position of many in my community. But I hope you see it as at least one hand reaching out. I am hopeful that there will be more, and that one day we will worship together in spirit and in truth without hate or shame.

May God bless you all richly.

- Rachel

Rachel Held Evans lives in Dayton, Tennessee (where public officially really did try to ban gays and lesbians from living in the community, although the measure was eventually overturned after public outcry). Rachel blogs at www.rachelheldevans.com.

Left My Heart in San Francisco!

Ok, so we were in Sacramento and San Francisco last week and i had very limited internet access as we were constantly busy. We accomplished quite a lot in our 10 day journey to the west coast. San Francisco is my FAVORITE USA city, with Los Angeles and NYC tied in second place! i always feel at home and truly myself whenever i am in California, whether it's in Sacramento, SF, or LA.

We have decided, due to the economic downturn, that we will move to Sacramento for a year, save money, and then move to SF. We researched and got rental price info so we can plot and plan our budget. We know the neighborhoods we will look in when we move back to CA this summer.

We stayed with our wonderful friends, James and Bo, who lent us one of their cars all week. It was great to spend quality time with them. Bo is half Thai and half Chinese. His mom lives right around the corner from them and made us AUTHENTIC Thai twice! It was AWESOME!

i was able to complete my confined water dive skills at Dolphin Scuba in Sacramento where Katryna used to work. i was proud i did quite well. i need to work in my open water dives a little more on my ascents and descents as a 9 foot pool does not give much room to accomplish these very well.

We got our hair done with Josey, our great Sacramento hairdresser who knows our hair very well. i also got a massage for Christmas with Katryna's facial/massage guy, Cisco, who gives one hell of a massage!

We went to SF early in the week and stayed at the really cool Hotel Tomo, which has an anime theme. Very modern, hip, reasonably priced and centrally located in Japan Town. We did the touristy things like ride the cable car, drove around the city to see what neighborhoods we would like to live in when we do eventually move to SF, and hung out in the Castro.

The main reason we went to SF was to see a Lyme Disease specialist. We had a good appointment and really liked the doctor. Yet, we walked away with mixed emotions. We both feel she is a very competent doctor and that fresh eyes to see me with is a refreshing thing and i feel confident about switching doctors and protocols. Then she told us something that was a bit of a wake up call and shocking - She can and will treat me but i may need to realize i may not get any better than where i am now currently. It was good to hear this but also hard as my VA doctor has hopes for a full recovery for me. The SF doctor said i have had it for a very long time and Lyme is very difficult to treat the longer it is in your body. She is still optomistic for me but weanted to be honest as well. So, we are still processing all of this.

The last weekend we went back to SF to meet up with our good friend, John, from LA. James and Bo drove up separately to meet us and we had a fantastic time together despite my being really sick. John, Katryna and i went to a BRAND NEW and recently opened museum in the Castro, which chronicles the history of the gay community, which includes momentous and horrific occassions in our community's history. The most compelling thing to me was seeing encased Harvey Milk's suit and shoes he was murdered in from 1978, especially in light of recently seeing the film, Milk, with Sean Penn, which i HIGHLY recommend.

So, i have left my heart in San Franciso, the beautiful city on the bay! Ahhh,until next time then!

Lessons In Evandalism Tour

Pete Rollins is returning to the USA for his upcoming tour entitled 'Lessons In Evandalism', which will include a visit to Richmond, VA the end of February. He describes the tour as:

The current religious landscape is cluttered with various expressions of faith that claim to rethink Christianity at the dawn of a new cultural epoch. However such groups often accomplish little more than the repackaging and redistribution of faith as we currently understand it. A repackaging that involves flashing lights, video projectors and ‘culturally sensitive’ leaders who can talk about the latest mediocre pop sensation.

Throughout his Spring 09 tour Peter will be arguing that, in the midst of this arid landscape, there exist small but fertile sites of resistance. Groups who offer a way of thinking that not only challenges the way we express faith but fundamentally ruptures the way we understand it. He will argue that these pockets of resistance represent a growing, organic movement that are proclaiming the death of God, church and religion as we know them in preparation for their resurrection in a radically different form.

Through a mix of parables, philosophy and discussion Peter will be exploring the theoretical kernel of this emerging movement and addressing its dangerous, revolutionary and transformative potential.

For more, read here.

PADI Open Water Chapter 4

Chapter Four is divided into five sections:

1. Dive Accessories
2. Health for Diving
3. Breathing Air at Depth
4. Dive Tables and Dive Computers (Introduction)
5. Confined Water Dive Preview

Here are Summary Points from Chapter Four on Dive Accessories:
* You use a surface float to support your dive flag, for resting and to carry accessories.
* Use an appropriate dive flag when diving where boats may be present and according to local law.
* Don't attach a full collecting bag to your gear.
* Underwater lights have both day and night uses.
* A spare-parts kit can help you from missing a dive.
* Start and maintain a log of all your dive adventures.
* To communicate with an underwater slate, you have to have one.

Here are Summary Points from Chapter Four on Health for Diving:
* Don't drink, smoke or take drugs before diving.
* Don't dive when you don't feel well.
* Stay in good health.
* Have a physical examination at least every two years.
* Keep tetanus and typhoid immunizations current.
* Pregnant women should NOT dive.
* Review your dive skills and knowledge after a period of inactivity.

Here are Summary Points from Chapter Four on Breathing Air at Depth:
* Air is 79 % nitrogen and 21 % oxygen.
* Contaminated air symptoms include headaches, nausea, dizziness, unconsciousness, and cherry red lips and nail beds.
* Don't have your tank filled with oxygen, and don't use enriched air unless certified in its use.
* To avoid nitrogen narcosis, avoid deep dives.
* Decompression sickness is caused by excess nitrogen forming bubbles in the body after a dive.
* Stay well within dive table and dive computer limits, especially if secondary factors apply to you.
* Signs & symptoms of DCS include limb & joint pain, tingling, numbness, paralysis, shock, weakness, dizziness, difficulty breathing, unconsciousness and death.
* Decompression Illness (DCI) is a clinical term for BOTH decompression sickness and lung over expansion injuries.
* A diver with DCI should receive emergency oxygen, rescue breathing and CPR if necessary, and will require treatment in a decompression chamber.

Here are Summary Points from Chapter Four on Dive Tables& Dive Computers Introduction:
* Dive tables& dive computers use mathematical models to estimate the theoretical nitrogen in your body before, during and after a dive.
* People vary in their susceptibility to DCS, so no computer or table can guarantee you'll never get DCS, even within its limits. So, dive well within table/computer limits.
* A dive computer has some use advantages and disadvantages compared to tables, but it is neither more nor less valid.
* Recreational divers only make no decompression (no stop) dives.
* The RDP is the most popular recreational dive table, and it is the first one developed and tested exclusively for recreational diving.
* The wheel and dive computers offer you more no decompression dive time when making multilevel dives.
* You must account for nitrogen you absorb on a dive if you make a repetitive dive before your nitrogen levels return to normal.
* Stay within the depth limit of your training and/or experience. Generally: Scuba Divers - 12m/40 ft.;Open Water Divers - 18m/60 ft; General Recreational limit - 30m/100 ft.; Max. limit - 40m/130 ft.
* Be a SAFE Diver: Slowly Ascend From Every Dive.

Confined Water Dive Four Skill Requirements:

Skin Diving Skills

1.Demonstrate the use of proper hyperventilation when skin diving.
2.Dive vertically headfirst from the surface in water too deep to stand up in (without excessive splashing or arm movement).
3.Clear and breathe from a snorkel upon ascent.

Scuba Skills

4. Swim underwater without a mask for a distance of not less than 15 metres/50 feet, and replace and clear the mask underwater.
5. Using buoyancy control only, hover without kicking or sculling for at least 30 seconds.
6. Buddy breathe sharing a single air source for a distance of at least 15 metres/50 feet underwater both as a donor and a receiver. (optional skill)

Queermergent

 

i just created a new blog called Queermergent. It's a play on the words Queer and Emergent. Here's the very first post:

i have been a part of the Emergent conversation both in the UK and the USA for the past 6 years. After years of white-knuckling and repressing my sexuality through a Religious Right conservatism, charismatic, fundamentalist Christianity that lived by literal interpretations of the Bible in dogmatic ways, Reparative Therapy and ex-gay ministries, where the mantra became, “Pray Away the Gay”, and years of depression and suicidal tendencies, i FINALLY came to terms with my sexuality and G-D. Through a very long journey with many peaks and valleys, i decided, through much counsel and prayer that reconciling my same-sex attractions and my Christian faith was a reality where i could exist.

Here is a brief summary of my journey:

Twenty years ago this month I had a ‘born-again’ experience at a charismatic church where an American missionary to S. Africa was speaking. Hell was one of the topics being preached, so at the end of the evening I went forward for the altar call to ‘receive’ Jesus into my heart. I did this because I was afraid of going to hell. Thus, I was purchasing my ‘fire insurance’. I attended Pat Robertson’s graduate school in Virginia Beach, Regent University, to obtain an M.Div so I could be a youth pastor. I began to seriously look at my life-long struggle of same-sex attractions. The school and my therapist along with my charismatic church back home always communicated that being gay was a sin, a choice, and those who actively pursue it will go to hell. I was shell-shocked and confused. I attempted suicide and spent a month at two different times in a psychiatric hospital. I even did reparative therapy and attended ex-gay ministries to pray away the gay, which never worked. In 1997 I moved to Los Angeles and began living a double life as a Christian and as a gay woman. I began to read Brian McLaren and found him writing things I had felt inside but was very afraid to express outwardly to anyone. In 2002 I went to Northern Ireland to do a DTS with YWAM. I met the great Peter Rollins and we developed a great friendship. His teachings and writings on postmodernism and Christianity radically shaped how I viewed my faith. I could no longer hang onto certainty with regards to interpreting scripture. There were more important things in kingdom living than where we go after we pass from this world to the next, like poverty, AIDS, the environment, etc. About 2.5 years ago I FINALLY came to terms with my sexuality. I found peace with myself and with God. Coming out was fairly painless with the exception of a few people who still think I am in sin and going to hell. I no longer hold this view and I am ok if people think that about me. I hate labels as they are so limiting, but are sometimes a necessary evil. After being a right wing Republican most of my voting life, I now consider myself an independent that leans more liberal than moderate.

Queermergent was created today in order to create a safe space for those Christ-followers who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, and Queer to partake in mature discussions regarding the LGBTQ community of faith within a 21st Century, postmodern, emergent/emerging church context. Queermergent is also a space for those that are not from the LGBTQ community but desire to understand us more, ask questions, and contribute to the queer conversation in a life-affirming way. As we journey along together we will hopefully be changed for the better. Thanks be to G-D!

'Mohammed Made Me An Atheist'

i have looked into other religions before but have always come back to Christianity, though i no longer hold onto dogmatic beliefs and interpretations. Sometimes i consider myself, in the term Pete Rollins uses, an A/theist in that i no longer hold my beliefs so tightly that i think i have all the answers figured out. Faith is what it is, which means belief in G-D takes faith in something not seen or felt in this life. i deeply resonate with what Rollins says about A/theism, in his book, 'How (Not) To Speak Of God':

'Not only is Christianity atheistic insomuch as it rejects ideas of God which stand opposed to those found in its own tradition (the early Christians were called atheists because of their rejection of those deities worshipped by the Romans), but also there is a sense in which Christianity is atheistic because it rejects its own understanding of God. For a Christian who does not simultaneously reject the idea of God that he or she affirms implicitly claims that the one he or she worships can be held within his or her systems of belief.

This does not mean that Christianity teaches us to reject our religious beliefs but rather reminds us that we must engage in a process of 'de-naming' God every time we name God, acknowledging that God's name  is above every name that we could ever ascribe . . .This process (of naming God) reminds us that God transcends all earthly names and, as such, escapes our attempts at absolute understanding. God is nominated and then de-nominated, reminding us  that our understanding of the term 'Father' is profoundly affected by our background.

In opposition to the fundamentalist, wh can be defined as one who believes what they believe, the Christian can be said to operate with an a/theistic discourse , which makes claims about God, while simultaneously acknowledging that these claims are provisional, uncertain and insufficient. This a/theistic approach is one that understands how our questioning of God is never really a questioning of God but only a means of questioning our understanding of God. It is a discourse not unlike that of the original cynics, who, in opposition to the common caricature, were deeply moral individuals who questioned truth as presented by society precisely because of their deep love of truth. An a'theistic faith thus acknowledges the importance of both theism and atheism in faith.

This approach does not stand above faith, nor does it undermine it; rather this a/theistic approach is born from, and subservient to, faith. it allows us to maintain an unflinching belief in God 9as one believes in a person one trusts) while maintaining humility when attempting to describe what exactly God is. This is summed up powerfully by Augustine when he wrote, "What do I love when I love my God?" - a phrase that captures a profound passion for God amidst doubt and unknowing. By exploring how fidelity to God requires an acknowledgement of the provisional nature of our beliefs, "a/theism" was designed to offer us a greater appreciation of God's greatness, a renewed openness to learning from other people's understanding of God and a deeper commitment to a faith that is enhanced, rather than enslaved, by a particular Christian tradition.' (pp. 97-98)

HT Andrew Sullivan for this riveting article from Douglas Murray, a former Anglican from England.

'Douglas Murray says that he stopped being an Anglican after analysing Muslim texts and deciding that no book — of any religion — could claim infallibility'

'Many people hold on to belief as an unquestioned part of their make-up. They never have to confront the source of their belief, and as long as nothing actively pushes them into addressing it, they keep it as something which rarely does much harm and might actually do some good. I have been an Anglican since birth — and not just a cultural Anglican but at times (rarest of things) a real, worshipping, believing Anglican. Like a lot of believers, I knew that there were parts of my belief that wouldn’t stand up to analysis. But that was fine. I didn’t need to analyse them. I only lost faith when I was forced to . . .

Some years ago I started studying Islam. It didn’t take long to recognise the problems of that religion’s texts — the repetitions, contradictions and absurdities. Unlike Christianity, scholarship on these problems in Islam has barely begun. But they are manifest for anyone to see. For a holy book which in its opening lines boasts ‘that is the book, wherein is no doubt’, plenty of doubt emerges. Not least in recognising demonstrable plagiarisms from the Torah and the Christian Bible. If God spoke through an archangel to one illiterate tradesman in 7th-century Arabia, then — just for starters — why was he stealing material? Or was he just repeating himself?

Gradually, scepticism of the claims made by one religion was joined by scepticism of all such claims. Incredulity that anybody thought an archangel dictated a book to Mohammed produced a strange contradiction. I found myself still clinging to belief in Christianity. I was trying to believe — though rarely arguing — ‘Well, your guy didn’t hear voices: but I know a man who did.’ This last, shortest and sharpest, phase pulled down the whole thing. In the end Mohammed made me an atheist.'

Your thoughts?

Richmond Into Sustainability? Yea, Right!

  After living in Los Angeles, California for 5.5 years and Sacramento, CA for a few months, i grew to see how EASY recycling was. i was a HUGE recycler at Xavier University in Cincinnati during the early '90's but fell away until my move to Los Angeles in 1997, where recycling was just a smidgeon effort. When Katryna and i first met she was living in Sacramento and I in Richmond, Virginia. She was a BIG recycler and i had begun using my WMA recycle bins. Sacramento's Waste Management is SUPER progressive in that it takes MOST recycleable materials. Central Virgina's, which includes Richmond, Waste Management, on the other hand, is a real joke in recycling and sustainability!

CVWMA has limited things it chooses to recycle versus Sacramento's things it recycles. Sacramento has information here, here and here. Richmod ONLY recycles yard waste by you loading it up in YOUR car and taking it YOURSELF to a location to be determined by calling them. How asinine and inconvenient is that?! VERY in my opinion. We found out that if we put our Christmas tree out on the road for pickup that they will pick it up, but put it in a LANDFILL rather than recycle it! If we want to recycle it WE have to load it up and take it to a designated location, which is on the other side of town. So, we have to decide which hurts the environment less, a tree in a landfill or driving the car to take the tree to the other side of town. i really do not know the answer is but we are putting the tree out at the curb.

We pay taxes and i think Richmond and other places like it need to join the rest of us in the 21st Century and upgrade its recycling facilities and STOP being so picky in what and how they recycle. When i moved into my home in 2005, one of the trash bins had a yellow sticker saying "YARD WASTE ONLY" but my neighbors kindly informed me that program had been discontinued and to use the bin for trash now. That is going backwards and ass backwards at that!

Each year they have two pickups for leaf removal if we put them at our curbs. Once in November and once in January. Their communication SUCKS on when those dates are and which neighborhoods. i called last year and told them my address and neighborhood, and of course, they told me the wrong date. Luckily we got the leaves out in time. This year though, they extended the pick up date and reduced it to one pickup, which will be sometime in January.

Shit like this does not encourage people to recycle. When recycling is limited and made into too much work, then people are LESS LIKELY to take the time and energy to recycle.

What do you think? What is recycling like in your area where you reside?

Christ and Christianity From Moby's Perspective

HT Blake Huggins for Moby's very insightful thoughts on Christ and Christianity:

i actually think that the teachings of christ accomodate most of the new ways in which we perceive ourselves and our world.
the problem is that although the teachings of christ accomodate this, contemporary christianity does not.
here’s more seriousness dressed up as flippancy:
christ: acknowledging quantum realities.
christiantiy: depressingly newtonian.
does that make any sense?
well, to me it does.
and to some of you it might make sense, also.

Moby always blows me away. What are your thoughts?

PADI Open Water Chapter 3

Chapter Three is divided into seven sections:

1. The Dive Environment
2. Dive Planning
3. Boat Diving
4. Problem Management
5. Confined Water Dive Preview
6. General Open Water Skills
7. Open Water Dives 1 & 2

Here are Summary Points from Chapter Three on The Dive Environment:
* Temperature, visibility, water movement, bottom composition, aquatic life and sunlight affect dive conditions.
* A thermocline is an abrupt transition to colder water.
* Plan your dive accounting for the water temperature at your planned depth.
* When possible, use a visual reference for descending and ascending.
* When diving with a current present, HEAD INTO the current during the dive.
* IF caught in a current, DO NOT fight it. Swim ACROSS the current, OR establish buoyancy and signal for assistance.
* AVOID bottom contact by staying neutrally buoyant.
* MOST aquatic life injuries RESULT from carelessness - watch where you put your habds, feet and knees
* Wear gloves and an exposure suit to reduce likelihood of aquatic life stings and cuts.
* Sunburn IS entirely avoidable.
* Surf diving requires special training and techniques.
* IF you get caught in a RIP CURRENT, swim PARALLEL TO SHORE until you're out of it.

Here are Summary Points from Chapter Three on Dive Planning and Boat Diving:
* Planning your dive plans your fun.
* A dive plan doesn't have to be complex, nor take a lot of time, nor be inflexible, BUT you do NEED to follow it.
* Boat diving has many benefits that make it popular.
* Inspect and pack gear appropriately before a boat dive.
* Different parts and areas on a boat have nautical terms you should know.
* Be careful when moving around on a rolling boat with your gear on.
* Listen to crew briefings about procedures, where to enter and exit water, and other techniques and emergency considerations.
* Don't get under another divers who's climbing the boat ladder.
* You may choose to avoid seasickness by taking seasickness medication.

Here are Summary Points from Chapter Three on Problem Management:
* MOST problems occur at the SURFACE.
* You PREVENT most problems by staying relaxed and diving within your limits.
* If you have a problem at the surface, ESTABLISH positive buoyancy and call for help IF you NEED it.
* A diver with a problem who is IN CONTROL tends to respond to instructions, and to establish buoyancy
* A PANICKED DIVER tends to spit out the regulator, push off the mask and to not establish buoyancy.
* When assisting another diver, establish buoyancy, calm the diver, help the diver reestablish breathing control, and IF necessary help the diver back to the boat or shore.
* IF you watch your SPG, it's HIGHLY UNLIKELY you'll run out of air.
* Using an alternate air source is your BEST all-around option when you're out of air.
* You can breathe from a free-flowing regulator by NOT sealing your lips on the mouthpiece.
* Entanglement is not a big deal IF you react calmly and carefully7 untangle yourself.
* Bring an unresponsive diver IMMEDIATELY to the SURFACE, CHECK for BREATHING & PULSE, and BEGIN RESCUE BREATHING and /or CPR as NECESSARY.
* Ask for help when you NEED it.

Confined Water Dive Three Skill Requirements:

1. Independently establish neutral buoyancy under water by pivoting on the fin tips, or, when appropriate, another point of contact (both oral and low-pressure inflation).
2. Swim at least 10metres/yards underwater while maintaining neutral buoyancy.
3. Demonstrate the cramp removal technique.
4. At the surface in water too deep to stand in, perform a tired diver tow for 25 metres/yards.
5. React to air depletion by signaling out of air, then securing and breathing from an alternate air source supplied by a buddy for at least ONE MINUTE while swimming UNDERWATER.
6. Breathe effectively from a free-flowing regulator for NOT LESS THAN 30 SECONDS.
7. Stimulate a controlled emergency swimming ascent by swimming HORIZONTALLY UNDERWATER for AT LEAST 9 metres/30 feet while continuously exhaling by emitting a continuous sound.