I see a lot of people ask about the Christmas traditions we recognize in modern society. Generally, they're pretty sarcastic, in a way that implies they don't really know the origin, so it seems like an arbitrary and ridiculous thing to them. Generally, it's something along the lines of "how did the birth of Jesus turn into a fat man flying around, dropping down chimneys and giving kids toys?"
The short answer: it didn't. Read More »
I posted this on my personal blog on election day and have been wanting to post it here, since I know I'd have a wider audience, but I wanted to wait a little bit until there had been a few posts on other topics. I figure now's a good a time as any to post my thoughts (edited a little because I referenced ProU and it would look weird to refer to the site the blog is hosted on). Read More »
There was a post a while back that talked about Christians being persecuted. It goes into the whole "we're just trying to do what's right in a world that's so wrong," and how hard it is to be Christian and so on (though, for the purposes of this blog, I must note that the closest to an example of persecution that was reached was "words against Christ are being dropped"). A few weeks later, I found another article at another site regarding the topic of persecution, but with two main differences from the first post: the writer was Pagan instead of Christian, and she was a direct victim of a physical (and later emotional) attack because of her faith. Read More »
I have a number of posts in mind that have been inspired by the Pagan reading I've done lately (The Witch's Voice has been my friend), so religion will most likely be the predominating theme for me for a while, particularly comparisons between Paganism and Christianity, considering my current spiritual path at the moment.
One of the things I had found, and found very disturbing, was a legislation entitled Recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith. Read More »
I've seen a number of blogs and comments in general regarding the growing use of the Internet and how we're being watched and whatnot. There's a number and variety of generally negative sentiments regarding the Internet, privacy, and whatnot, and while it's valid to a point, I feel it's mostly ignorance rearing its ugly head yet again. So, I figured I'd work to debunk the myths and tame some of the fears people have. Read More »
In a country dominated by Christianity there lies a relatively small, though growing, religious group known as Pagans. The group consists of a number of sub groups that each have their own voice. Such groups include Wiccans, Druids, Asatru, Shamans, and many others. These people, as viewed by the Christian community, are the classic example of "devil worshippers." But are they really? Read More »
So a while back I was given a challenge to read more about the religion of Islam. The original challenge was to read the Hadiths, or traditions started or approved by Muhammad. In the process, I found an interestng book that I've felt worthwhile to use as a basis for my explanation of Islam and how it's used - and abused - the way I understand and view it. Read More »
With the 2008 elections just around the corner, I've been watching the candidates dwindle down. If you work in a place like mine, you'd swear there were only two candidates left (Clinton and Obama). Read More »
