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!

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Posted by keg at 1:26 PM

April 14, 2007

Kurt Vonnegut

By now, you probably have heard that Kurt Vonnegut has died.




While I was not a big fan of his writing style, he did influence a lot of people and was regarded as one of the greatest contemporary American novelists.

Here is a link to one of his award-winning short stories, "Harrison Bergeron".

Also, he had a great quote when interviewed by In These Times:

That said, do you have any ideas for a really scary reality TV show?

"C students from Yale." It would stand your hair on end.

Posted by keg at 12:18 PM

January 24, 2007

From a Sleepy Town

Lynchburg is normally a sleepy town, except for the occasional tirade, slander, or plea for money by the local evangelical imam. And so I was quite surprised to find that another Lynchburg attraction, the tiny, all-girl's Sweet Briar College sported a Writer-in-Residence program. Moreover, the current writer-in-residence, J.C. Hallman, has written a new book: The Devil Is a Gentleman: Exploring America's Religious Fringe. While it is an interesting counterpoint to the previously-mentioned Lynchburg Imam, maybe this book will serve as a step towards fostering the Founding Fathers' notion of religious pluralism in this country?


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Posted by keg at 10:33 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.

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Posted by keg at 12:47 AM