John Beckett

Being an engineer is more than how I make my living – it’s part of who I am.  I’m never satisfied with simply knowing that something does work, I want to know how it works.  I read owners manuals and technical specifications.  I take things apart and put them back together.  For me the greatest [Read More...]

The Pantheon blog on the Patheos Pagan Portal has a new essay by Laura Patsouris titled “Restoring Our Pre-Conquest Mind.” It blames the ills of the contemporary Western world on the conquest of tribal societies by Christians. This, she says, replaced sustainable tribal values and practices with the values of conquest and empire. Her solution [Read More...]

Seven books. Eight movies. Now it’s over – now I’ve read and seen them all. I first heard of Harry Potter when a young woman who worked for me said she was going to a release party for a children’s book. The young woman was quite immature and totally unprepared for the business world – [Read More...]

How much of our religion should we share? When should we talk about our spiritual practices and when should we keep silent? What is helpful to discuss and what is not? Via Chas Clifton’s Letter From Hardscrabble Creek comes this from Sarah Lawless, the “Witch of Forest Grove” who complains about “Oversharing Witches.” Recalling a [Read More...]

Here’s a link to an excellent essay on Huffington Post by Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism. Here is the gist of the piece: Americans are disenchanted with liberal religion because they crave religious passion, because they yearn for moments of religious ecstasy, and because they are disenchanted with religious [Read More...]

I remember the thrill of finding money as a kid: on a sidewalk, in a parking lot, and in that little slice of the Otherworld – between the cushions of the couch. It was a surprise, it was fun, and for a kid whose piggybank (actually, a small red box with a tiny lock) usually [Read More...]

The picture shown here is from an internet church sign generator, not a real church sign. But it was made by a real Unitarian Universalist and it expresses the feelings of many religious liberals: there is no such thing as Original Sin. I was born right the first time, thankyouverymuch. Anna Snoeyenbos, a UU living [Read More...]

If you’re in the North Texas area, please join us on Saturday, July 16 from 1:00 till 5:00 for our “Introduction to Modern Pagan Religion” class.  We’ll cover the beliefs and practices of our ancient ancestors, the origins of Wicca and other modern Pagan religions (and the differences between them), basic concepts shared by most [Read More...]