October 24, 2007

The Runestone Journal

Look for a great new journal for Asatruar!

runestone journal

Technorati Tags: , ,

Posted by keg at 7:18 PM

September 28, 2007

Future of Asatru

Here is a video excerpt from an Aegir's Feast panel discussion on the future of Asatru (the panel discussion was 45 minutes, the video is only 16):

the future of Asatru

Technorati Tags: , ,

Posted by keg at 1:34 AM

September 25, 2007

Revival of Asatru

From a recent article in the University of South Alabama newspaper The Vanguard describing the revival of Asatru:

Within the last 30 years, a lot of people have been trying to get back to their roots, to reconnect with what their ancestors believed and how they lived. One of the faiths that has sought to re-establish itself is Asatru.

Asatru can best be defined as the revival of the ways, beliefs and customs of the ancient Germanic tribes of northern Europe which inhabited, at differing times in history, the modern nations of England, Germany, Ireland, Iceland, Scotland, Wales, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, West Poland, Northern Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. These countries are currently seeing a revival of this very ancient pre-Christian faith.

Read the article for a few more paragraphs. Short, but nice intro to Asatru.

Technorati Tags: , ,

Posted by keg at 6:07 PM

July 4, 2007

The Vikings are on the Move: A Religious Rights Rally

As I mentioned earlier, there will be a religious rights rally today in Lafayette Square Park in our nation's capital.

With the backing of our Founding Fathers, Guest Voice to the Washington Post's On Faith column, noted author, and Steerswoman of the Troth Diana L. Paxson says:

America has always been noted for creativity, in religion as in all else. Each new faith, whether immigrant or homegrown, enriches our culture. Today, when Buddhist temples and Islamic mosques may be found in many parts of the U.S., one might wonder why the VA denied a Wiccan veteran the right to have a pentacle on his headstone for ten years, and the Army has still not hired a Pagan chaplain. Paganism does not seek to replace other religions, but Pagan perspectives can revitalize the ways in which we relate to our history, our ancestors, and especially, in this time of climate crisis, to the environment. Rather than resisting, America should welcome the Pagan contribution to our cultural diversity.

Diana Paxson will be speaking, in addition to representatives from Asatru Folk Assembly, Circle Sanctuary, The Troth, The Military Pagan Network, The ADF, Sacred Well Congregation, and the Rev. Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.


Have a Happy 4th of July!

Technorati Tags: , , , , , ,

Posted by keg at 1:26 PM

May 22, 2007

The Pope and the Imposition of Foreign Culture

Jason at Wildhunt talks about Pope Benedict XVI's recent tour through South America. While there, the Pope made some disturbing comments about converting the indigenous people there to Christianity:

Speaking to Latin American bishops in Brazil on May 13, the Pope cited the 'rich religious traditions' of Indian people but added that their ancestors were 'silently longing' for Christ and seeking God 'without realizing it.' Pope Benedict further demonstrated his misunderstanding of history and the forced conversions of natives in North, Central and South America and of massacres and 'just wars' when he suggested that the Church did not impose itself on indigenous peoples and that Christianity had not been detrimental to them and their cultures. 'In effect, the proclamation of Jesus and of His Gospel did not at any point involve an alienation of the pre-Columbus cultures, nor was it the imposition of a foreign culture.' Benedict also added that a return to indigenous religions 'would be a step back.'

This is the same Pope who said that Hitler was not a Christian and that the Catholic Church did not have a hand in the Holocaust. In fact, Christianity had the same impact on the indigenous cultures and religions of Europe as in South America, with forced conversions, massacres, and "just wars".
And as with the South Americans, Christianity is not the native belief system of Europeans.

Technorati Tags: , ,

Posted by keg at 10:47 AM

May 21, 2007

Religious Rights Rally at the White House


Recently I wrote about the struggle with the Veterans Affairs Office to get the Wiccan religious symbol approved for the cemetery headstones of veterans.

With that victory complete, it is now time to muster support for getting more religious symbols approved - a rally for such is being organized:



Celebrate Our Historic Victory with the Veterans' Pentacle Quest!

Advocate a Pagan Chaplain in the U.S. Armed Forces!

Keep the focus on the VA to accept Thor's Hammer of the Asatruar and the 
Druids' Awen symbol!

Join us in front of The White House for a Pagan Religious Rights Rally and Ritual!



Wednesday, July 4th, 2007!

Lafayette Square Park

Outside the White House and the Department of Veterans Affairs

Washington, DC

Set-up between 10am and Noon

Speakers begin at Noon

Ritual begins at 2pm and transitions to Spirit Drum Circle until 5pm

Event ends at 5pm


Technorati Tags: , ,

Posted by keg at 11:11 AM

April 17, 2007

Virginia Tech: Guns and Defense

While details are still emerging from yesterday's tragic events on campus, there have been a variety of reactions in the news and articles expressed in the media.

According to Steve Pavlina, there are several common reactions to these types of events:

Interpretations and reactions to such events are heavily culture-bound. In the USA the popular media typically encourages us to react roughly as follows:

* Drop into a fear-based state of consciousness. "Oh my goodness. Would you look at that!"

* Feel shock, disgust, or outrage. "Somebody ought to do something about that."

* Experience reassurance the situation is being handled. "I see cars with flashing lights and people in uniformed clothing."

* Do nothing. "Glad that's over. What's on TV next?"

And I have already seen news articles from other countries saying that these types of events only happen in America, because of America's glorification of violence.

Even yahoos in this country have started coming out of the woodwork with finger pointing:

* Dr. Phil blames video games.

* Ken Hamm blames evolution and atheism for the school shooting.

* And some, of course, are questioning Virginia's "lax" gun control laws.

Unlike the first two, the gun control argument is not a joke. There are many people who feel that if there are no guns, then we will all be safe. In fact, it is now somewhat ironic, and very unfortunate, that Virginia Tech itself recently successfully lobbied to prevent the licensed concealed-carry of firearms on public college campuses in Virginia.

Virginia Tech alumni Aaron quotes Tech University spokesman Larry Hincker on the bill's defeat:

I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus.

I wonder if Larry now realizes the tragic and foolish consequences of defeating that bill. By not allowing citizens to lawfully be able to defend themselves against killers like Cho Seung-hui, events like Virginia Tech and Columbine will only proliferate, since the killers will have the weapons and know that their victims do not. Note that these mass-killing events occur in "gun-free" zones, such as schools and universities. In fact, reports say that Cho chained shut the doors of Norris Hall at Virginia Tech so that the students and faculty could not escape. Since he knew that no one else would have a gun, and thereby fight back, he could leisurely have his way with the victims.

From an editorial after last summer's shooting at Virginia Tech, graduate student Bradford Wiles comments in an editorial "Unarmed and Vulnerable" on not being armed during such an event:

On Aug. 21 at about 9:20 a.m., my graduate-level class was evacuated from the Squires Student Center. We were interrupted in class and not informed of anything other than the following words: "You need to get out of the building."

Upon exiting the classroom, we were met at the doors leading outside by two armor-clad policemen with fully automatic weapons, plus their side arms. Once outside, there were several more officers with either fully automatic rifles and pump shotguns, and policemen running down the street, pistols drawn.

It was at this time that I realized that I had no viable means of protecting myself.

Finally, here is a great episode of Penn and Teller on Gun Control. Pay particular attention to the issue of gun-free zones at about 19 minutes.

There is also a segment of the community who says that you should not have guns also because if you need help, just call the police. After all, the police are there to help you. You also hear this sort of advice from "experts" about car-jackers ("just give them your keys"), hijackers ("just sit in your seat"), and rapists ("just lie there"). In other words, don't fight back.

Forensic psychologist Helen Smith comments on this phenomenon:

Have you noticed that most of the tips you get in recent years for how to survive a violent crime involve an accompanying psychological maneuver of first trying to make you feel impotent? And instead of suggesting remedies to overcome this impotence, these survival tips usually just tell you to give the criminal what they want. But what they typically don't say is that you can get killed using that approach also.

And as we saw with 9/11, and with the students and faculty at Virginia Tech, depending on "someone else" to show up and help you does not always work.

We cannot know what would have happened if someone had tried to fight back against Cho. But we see the result when we prevent the possibility of anyone fighting back. Draconian gun control will only remove the guns from the hands of law-abiding citizens---it will not prevent the Cho's of the world from having them and using them. Moreover, as we have seen at Virginia Tech, the results of preventing citizens from defending themselves and their loved ones will only be tragic.

Technorati Tags: , , , ,

Posted by keg at 4:15 PM

March 14, 2007

Happy Pi Day

March 14 --> 3/14 --> 3.14... get it?

Some links of interest:

http://www.exploratorium.edu/pi/index.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Celebrate-Pi-Day

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20070311-103835-2325r.htm

http://www.piday.org/

Technorati Tags:

Posted by keg at 8:56 AM

March 10, 2007

Being Fake

The path to succeed often leads people to show their true nature.

Take Laura L. Callahan. She was hired in 2003 as the Department of Homeland Security's deputy Chief Information Officer. However, her degrees were fake:

Laura L. Callahan was very proud of her Ph.D. When she received it a few years ago, she promptly rewrote her official biography to highlight the academic accomplishment, referring to it not once or twice but nine times in a single-page summary of her career. And she never let her employees at the Labor Department, where she served as deputy chief information officer, forget it, even demanding that they call her "Doctor."

Callahan's management style had always been heavy-handed. Once, while working in a previous supervisory role at the Clinton White House, she reportedly warned computer workers to keep quiet about an embarrassing server glitch that led to the loss of thousands of archived e-mails covered by federal subpoena. But with her newly minted Ph.D., Callahan became intolerable, several employees say, belittling and even firing subordinates who did not understand the technical jargon she apparently picked up while studying for her doctorate in computer information systems.

One employee was skeptical of Callahan's qualifications, however, and began quietly asking questions. The answers worried him, especially after Callahan was hired in 2003 as the Department of Homeland Security's deputy chief information officer. His concerns and the resulting investigation ultimately revealed a troubling pattern of résumé fraud at federal agencies, including several charged with protecting Americans from terrorism. The scandal raises serious doubts about the government's ability to vet the qualifications of public employees on whom the nation's security depends.

Wikipedia also had a recent debacle with one of their editors---a professor of religion who published and edited Wikipedia pages, turned out to be a 24 year-old kid:

Internet site Wikipedia has been hit by controversy after the disclosure that a prominent editor had assumed a false identity complete with fake PhD.

The editor, known as Essjay, had described himself as a professor of religion at a private university.

But he was in fact Ryan Jordan, 24, a college student from Kentucky who used texts such as Catholicism for Dummies to help him work.

And a report from the General Accounting Office found 463 government employees who received degrees from three unaccredited schools, in "Diploma Mills: Federal Employees Have Obtained Degrees from Diploma Mills and Other Unaccredited Schools, Some at Goverment Expense."

But do not think such activity is limited to the US. Even members of the U.N. pad their resumes in order to be given top posts:

The United Nations fired a staff member in November because his academic degrees turned out to have been bought from a well-known Internet-based agency, not earned at an accredited university, a U.N. official said.

The incident was especially embarrassing because Trinity College and University is on a list of universities and colleges offering degrees for life experiences rather than formal education that had been circulated at the United Nations, U.N. staff members said Friday.

Jonathan Blankson, chief of the Human Resources Information Technology Section, had been suspended for 11 months before he was terminated, the staff members said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

And a candidate for Israel's tourism minister, Esterina Tartman, tried faking her degrees. The amazing thing is the response these people give when caught:

"She acknowledged that her claims to a master's degree were wrong but suggested that was a minor issue because she had studied for an MA."

Even Arnold is affected by fake people:

In another recent example, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced March 1 that he had appointed Jack Corrie to a high-level information technology position in the state's Department of Motor Vehicles.

But Corrie's credentials include a bachelor's and a master's from the University of Palmers Green, which is a fake university, according to John Bear, an expert on online learning and diploma mills.

Just remember, trust, but verify---the US Department of Education maintains a searchable online database that includes the names and addresses of all schools accredited by organizations recognized by the federal government.

And, we are our deeds.

Technorati Tags:

Posted by keg at 3:58 PM

August 8, 2006

The Library of Alexandria

The Royal Library of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt, was once the largest library in the world. The library was a major research center, and contained many priceless works on mathematics, science, culture, history, literature, and religion.

The history of the library was featured on Daily Kos's Science Friday feature:

In 2004, a team of Polish and Egyption archeologists found the remains of what is believed to be the Great Library. It is, if anything, larger than legend. Among the impressive ruins are thirteen sweeping lecture halls with raised podiums, estimated to be able to accomodate over 5,000 students. The last great bastion of early scientific thought it now seems was indeed a reality, the flicker of knowledge it preserved once burned brightly in the ancient city of Alexandria.

However, the library was burned by a Christian mob, then invading Muslims in 646 CE destroyed the remainder, reportedly even burning the books to heat bathwater. Europe soon fell into the Dark Ages.

What would the world have been like had these great works of the Library of Alexandria remained? Jason Pitzl-Waters of The Wild Hunt wonders too:

The "ghost" hiding in this story is one of religious tolerance and the shifting from a "pagan" empire to a Christian one under Constantine. The order of tolerance for all faiths under his Edict of Milan soon evolved into favored status for Christians, repressions of Jewish and pagan religious expression, and finally the outlawing of all non-Christian faiths under Flavius Theodosius in 392. This edict from Theodosius lead to the eventual destruction of the library.

In the end power corrupts. No faith pagan or otherwise can avoid atrocity when married to the needs of empire. While some like to speculate on how much "better" or "worse" our present would be if the Roman Empire had not turned Christian in the end I prefer the option of the Deist freethinkers who founded our nation. The separation of Church and State.

Indeed, science is working hard to restore another example of previous knowledge carelessly destroyed by the misguided faith of a major religion - the writings of one of the greatest mathematicians of the world, Archimedes, was erased after a Christian monk scrubbed the text and overwrote the manuscript with prayers.

After all:

The good Christian should beware the mathematician and all those who make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that the mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine man in the bonds of hell. -- Saint Augustine

One can wonder what the world would be like had the indigenous religions of the different tribes of people were not replaced by the imports of "modern" religions like Christianity, Islam, or Buddhism. Indigenous or native beliefs and faiths were born and shaped by specific groups of peoples early in the evolutionary growth of humanity, and so have a certain purity and essence that the major imports cannot ever capture or evoke.

While it is extremely regrettable about the loss of the Library of Alexandria and Archimedes' writings, let us hope that similar book-burnings do not happen again. (Though, sadly, I discovered quite an extensive list of book burnings that have occurred throughout history, including, if you can believe it, Harry Potter books).

Finally, below are some links to indigeneous religions (thanks Tina!). If you know of others, let me know and I'll update the list.

, , ,,

Posted by keg at 12:47 AM

July 15, 2006

The Government's Right to Tap

The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA, is a 1994 law that requires telecommunications companies to provide special access to their data by government officials -- the usual requirement is to gather evidence for criminal investigations:

To amend title 18, United States Code, to make clear a telecommunications carrier's duty to cooperate in the interception of communications for Law Enforcement purposes, and for other purposes.

However, with the tremendous growth of the Internet, the government has long been trying to apply CALEA laws to Internet service providers too. It was pointed out that network traffic is different from telephone calls, that it would place an undue burden on often small ISPs to fund out of their own pockets the overhauling of their networks to provide network taps for government triffic sniffers and collectors, and many other concerns. However, last year the FCC issued regulations to apply the law to Internet networks.

There is an article at Inside Higher Ed that discusses the dilemma posed for colleges and universities:

Because colleges have taken numerous steps in recent years to make their networks more secure, making changes throughout their networks to make it easier for the government to monitor activities could have been hugely expensive. Colleges were particularly frustrated because they only rarely get requests (with warrants) from the government for such monitoring, and there has been no instance in which a college has been unable to comply promptly. The ACE sued the FCC over the regulations and a federal appeals court last month rejected the suit and said that the rules could be enforced. But the appeals court carved out an exception for "private networks," whose definition colleges have been trying to pin down.

Note that there are two perspectives to consider in this debate, as there are two sides of the network connection (collector and collectee).

,

Posted by keg at 2:42 PM