AN EXPERIMENTAL LIFE
The general Protestantism of the culture (whether you're atheist or whatever, you're still essentially Protestant if you drink deep of it) is perhaps nowhere more visible than in its marketing: At Valspar, we believe there is power in color. I believe in keeping guns out of our inner cities... (the President) I believe we're all equal... Belief, statements of belief, belief systems are … [Read more...]
Today on NPR, they read Anne Boleyn's last letter to Henry VIII, on the anniversary of her arrest. I think if I had been Henry's successor, and were I a Western Christian, I would have first restored the Church to Rome, and then ordered Henry's body exhumed, beheaded, burned, and the ashes cast into the sea. And lastly, I would have asked the rightful Patriarch in the Church of Rome to pronounce … [Read more...]
PART ONE: ANCIENT TECHNOLOGY I was looking at Celtic armor work tonight: Parade Helmet 350BC, Gold Torque 400BC, Waterloo Helmet 100BC (would originally have been golden w. red glass studs) and I remembered a conversation with a colleague last year or so on ancient machinery and ship sizes. Here are a few of those items: The Nemi Ships, The Antikythera Mechanism, Hero's steam and wind … [Read more...]
Revisiting an old hymn from my Anglican days, "Be Thou My Vision", I find it full of depth and meaning. But I realized that it uses some of the special language that grow from all religions, and that all cultures, tribes, and lovers develop, and it won't mean much to a lot of people. I'm fine with that. It's not for them, it's for us. But as I go through the coffee shop today, I hear the continual … [Read more...]
A writer's job is to tell the truth. It may be murky, slightly off the mark, or distorted, but it's still the truth. You can tell when it happens because nearly everyone breathes a bit of relief, as though something pent up and trapped has been let go. A joke about pedophile Roman Catholic priests is an admixture of truth and cynicism, truth and dishonesty. The collective breathe easier, … [Read more...]
I think it's a regional disease. Even people with skin tones and facial features that indicate their parents or grandparents definitely weren't born in the Midwest sound just like everyone else. Constantly doling out approval or disapproval based on lifestyle. "She buys all this stuff that..." and "She just lets him do whatever he..." and "She actually likes that kind of sex. She likes..." Farking … [Read more...]
Stop it! Stop naming your kids Ashley and Amber. There are enough of them already. It's not cool - it's redundant. It's not like they're Apostles or something. What, do you really want to keep portraying girls as interchangeable? I've got a "don't cry" Susie, and she's got a "bed wetting" Amy, and they've got both the Amber and the Ashley. Stop it. They're not dolls. It's elitist, but I agree with … [Read more...]
I don't take the census of what people think where I live about koran burning. I fully expect to hear "Awl bern one them KO-rans rat now." But I've tried to think of what one could do to fundamentalist neoconservatism that would have the same impact. Not because I'd advocate it - that would make me an idiot as well. But because if you needed to convey how it would feel to people who possess no … [Read more...]
There are three historical certainties - all of them negative. 1) Jesus did not found a religion of fundamentalist evangelicals nor ever suggest such a thing. 2) History is not a blank where nothing meaningful happened from St. Constantine to Martin Luther. 3) Neoconservatives had nothing to do with the founding of the United States of America or, as they contrive it, "America", let alone the … [Read more...]
I was at dinner the other night, and a woman at the table behind me was saying, "I get tired of being told we have to sugar coat our history so as not to offend some group." Add to this a way of talking that probably couldn't tell you in what century the French Revolution occurred. I think that pretty much says it all - who she thinks "we/our" is. Who she thinks "some group" is. And what she … [Read more...]
"West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette: In a 6-to-3 decision, the Court overruled its decision in Minersville School District v. Gobitis and held that compelling public schoolchildren to salute the flag was unconstitutional. The Court found that salutes of the type mandated by the West Virginia State Board of Education were forms of utterance and thus were a means of communicating … [Read more...]
I break politically minded people down into two categories - liars and idiots. I'm not talking about politicians, which are either paid, professional liars or ideologically sponsored fools. I mean ordinary people who consume political news and either believe what they hear or see it as the arena for their ideological battle. The idiot is the true believer - the person who, for example, says we … [Read more...]
It's Thistle & Shamrock night, and Folk Salad night. I'm always surprised that people seem surprised, sometimes, because I listen to Celtic or Appalachian folk. Likewise, I have a straw hat I wore when I ran a company based on working outdoors. Normally I come off as either a bit Breaking Benjamin or just Wagner, though my secret passion is lesbian music. I'm a diehard Sarah Maclachlan fan, … [Read more...]
When some people ask about my religion and, and I mention our traditions, they express surprise because I wasn't raised in it. Their point is that, if you didn't grow up in the Faith, speaking of "my people" or "our tradition" seems false or contrived. It has taken me some years to realize that, because they are inundated with fundamentalist 'messages' from every megaphone the world offers, they … [Read more...]
We live in an age of AntiChrist. I don't mean a fundamentalist theory that plays "who's the devil". I mean in principle, politically, and ethically, it's one of the ages of AntiChrist, of which there have been many - perhaps (as is my attitude) all of them. There are several core principles of AntiChrist or of an antiChristian ethos, many of which are supported fervently and even rabidly by the … [Read more...]
I've always thought atheists should be consistent. Don't bow your head when someone says grace. Don't close your eyes and pretend to go along. Don't go through the motions in your parents' church. Just be what you are. It's really impossible for atheism to be fully consistent - nihilism is the theoretical outcome, but if implemented, they would simply make arbitrary decisions. To step in front of … [Read more...]
Every movement driven by ideology of any kind will eventually massacre, maim, murder, torture, and terrorize in the name of its ideals, if it can get the means, acquire enough support, and evade eradication. It could be a movement for peace and lollipops led by Bambi and Mother Theresa, and it would shoot your family in the back of the head to hold onto power if it ever even accidentally got … [Read more...]
Those for whom education consists of conversance in other people's ideas have missed the point that that familiarity is merely a jumping off place not an end goal. Education, rightly, cannot be a hobby - that's trivial pursuit. Education delivers tools for developing something new, something with one's own brand on it, in the world, not in an academic ghetto. What widely passes for education, … [Read more...]
Every major election, the dictated media focus is on "the undecided", usually in rural areas of Kansas and Iowa, where interaction with the larger world really is a quadrennial phenomenon. These folks are a source of interest to other voters merely because most of the rest of the country has their minds made up already. It really drives home that there are two kinds of people participating in … [Read more...]