Karen Armstrong’s new book The Case For God is billed as a rebuttal to the New Atheists. And a rebuttal it is, although anyone expecting Hitchens-like vitriol will be sorely disappointed. Instead, it’s a reasoned look at how we got to where we are in this fundamentalist shouting match currently going on in the Western world, and why both sides have it wrong. Armstrong begins with a description of the Lascaux caverns and their 15,000 year old shamanistic paintings, using... Read more
In the Denton CUUPS Yule ritual, Dolores (who was coordinating) included a Charge of the God that ended with this line: “Keep this ever full in your mind, it is better to fall upon my sword than to live with fear in your heart.” Though I’m familiar with this line, it struck me as inappropriate for a Yule circle. I started to ask her to use something else, then I decided that if Dolores (who is one of the strongest... Read more
I have a strong interest in prehistory. Part of that is simple curiosity, but another part is a quest for the origins of religion. So, on a recommendation (that I’ve forgotten who or where it came from), I read Before the Dawn by Nicholas Wade on our recent trip. Wade is a science writer for the New York Times, and it shows. He writes better than most scientists, and he isn’t writing to make a name for himself in academic... Read more
The “Old World Elegance” of Bellagio (1998) on the right, the “Urban Sophistication” of City Center (2009) on the left There is perhaps no less spiritual city in the country than Las Vegas. So why did I just get back from a Solstice / Christmas trip there? Well, Cathy loves the slot machines. And after the past couple months at work, all I wanted to do was kick back, read a bit, and forget about things. Las Vegas is good... Read more
The Wandering Druid, Father Winter (Ed Townley), and Mother Winter (Valery Guignon). Photo by Jennifer Walz. The theme of this year’s Winter SolstiCelebration was “joy and wonder”. It was joyous and wonderful. Winter SolstiCelebration is not a Pagan event, though there were plenty of Pagans involved. Amy Martin’s tribe is a smorgasbord of alternative religions. It’s always been an interfaith event – this year it seemed more interfaith than most. Perhaps that’s because it was co-produced by the Center for... Read more
Those of you who know me in the real world – or those of you who’ve been coming to this blog and reading the posts that aren’t there – know that I’ve had a very heavy load of work-related stress for the past eight months in general and the past eight weeks in particular. I’m not to my breaking point, but I can see it from here. In the material world, I tend to favor material action, but this situation... Read more
From the First Amendment Center via WitchVox, here’s a story of Cecil Bothwell, an Asheville, NC city council member who’s an atheist. Apparently, some conservative Christians are threatening to sue the city for seating him, since the North Carolina state constitution prohibits anyone from holding public office “who shall deny the being of Almighty God.” Never mind the fact that Article VI of the US Constitution prohibits any religious test for office holders, and that the application of that article... Read more
Thanks to Kati for making this beautiful banner. Read more
For this year’s Winter SolstiCelebration, Amy Martin asked me to be a roving character – someone in costume who interacts with the people who come. She’s had Father Christmas, Mother Winter, and the Boogeyman for quite some time – I’m honored to be asked to join them as a Wandering Druid. But I felt like I need to do something other than stand there and look pretty [ahem]. Offering blessings seems like a very Druidish thing to do, particularly if... Read more
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