tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298095302024-03-13T19:11:03.544-01:00The Stroppy Rabbit"I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the
better for it." ~ Abraham LincolnYewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.comBlogger297125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-29506948875989563462014-07-21T09:01:00.000-01:002014-07-21T09:01:00.484-01:00Gaza<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: trebuchet ms,sans-serif;">
<b>Letter to my MP:
Israeli bombardmen</b><wbr></wbr><b>t of Palestine
</b></div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: trebuchet ms,sans-serif;">
</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: trebuchet ms,sans-serif;">
I
am very disturbed by recent events in Gaza, including the bombing of a
hospital, and the fact that one-fifth of those killed by Israel's
bombardment of Gaza were children.</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: trebuchet ms,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family: trebuchet ms,sans-serif;">
<div id="stcpDiv">
<span style="color: black;">Once
again Gaza is under massive aerial bombardment from Israeli warplanes
and drones, and</span><span style="color: black;"> Gaza is under Israeli occupation and siege.</span><br />
<br style="color: black;" />
<span style="color: black;">Israel is bombing a refugee population –
Palestinians who were made refugees when they were forced from their
land in 1948 in order to create Israel.</span><br />
<br style="color: black;" />
<span style="color: black;">Repeated posturing by western governments that Hamas are terrorists,
used to "justify" the bombardment and oppression of the Palestinians, is totally unacceptable. Gaza has no army, air force, or navy,
while Israel possess one of the strongest militaries in the world.</span><br />
<br style="color: black;" />
T<span style="color: black;">hese events flow from the displacement of the overwhelming
majority of the Palestinian people from their homes and communities,
with millions now corralled as refugees in the Gaza Strip. That initial
injustice was compounded and continues with the ongoing occupation and
siege.</span><br />
<br style="color: black;" />
<span style="color: black;">Resistance to occupation is a
right under international law. Israel’s occupation, siege and collective punishment of Gaza is not.</span><br />
<br />
I wish to state that any support, whether military or political, from the UK government, towards the state of Israel, is not in my name.<br />
<br />
I
would like to see the UK government calling for an immediate ceasefire,
and meaningful talks between Israel and the Palestinians. This would
mean restoring the water sources, land, and other resources taken away
from the Palestinians, and an end to the oppressive policies towards
them, restricting their human rights and freedom of movement.<br />
Many Palestinians and Israelis are tired of fighting and want to live in peace with each other. This bloody conflict must end.<br />
<br />
Please do everything in your power to persuade the government to broker a ceasefire and talks.</div>
</div>
Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-80913571068834498772014-04-11T11:09:00.003-01:002014-04-11T11:09:45.703-01:00Belief-O-Matic updateSo I did the Belief-O-Matic again...<br />
<br />
For goodness' sake, I ticked polytheist. This can't be right. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td width="90"><img alt="Unitarian Universalism" border="0" height="90" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEi1MJB_gliEgzQocuuervBdxPOzwRfA9givD844TKFRGeGp3HKhEllEQRV5yapcW12wKDI7SUXEZZ6xGi-pRtyuuQa5fVeE9GoAb-Y_V5sI5FXhwAEdGF5HqqBQjt_CkLXSeGHhHZZAdjZBDqchI0TFQWqlteQPZadTDPN69cuKszc=s0-d-e1-ft" style="display: block;" width="90" />
</td>
<td style="color: #760708; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 14px;" valign="top">
<span style="color: #0f3978; font-size: 36px; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Unitarian Universalism</span>
<br />
You have Unitarian Universalism beliefs (100%)
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<img height="33" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEh4aviwPlvMvqKL1uCKuybx4yMduxuzgPtZXLK2KKR7tb1EwL8RQqZGoxNX40po_lCs-XmrYpkGKcekbJS2gVBjmPDPeeIBmJGqMLDrxvDLNrqi5I5UPK9qipa4OvjeaPVYUR80GpgrS-T2O0My8hXdZDXWv72WaUQrq3FnVSQyoPVeMgIhs57F=s0-d-e1-ft" style="display: block;" width="420" />
Click on any religion below for more information on different beliefs and faiths.<br />
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 100%px;"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top" width="193">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 193px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=secular" target="_blank"><img alt="Secular Humanism" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhTPAUbyNqRAsXRy5ry51Evs5tFKWBTOOC8oh2v4QIz-SMxf6CJj-ObTNcowHZ2vRJGCTwKLzL1nOz9WWd7EDrNBgAYHjr7xZBgBWrt7o4bvU8s-sTvtKF5Bzr5IdpHJVL2Q-H46BlIdCPahQQpJ9MUercSTlj1-7jHoXFtL4Mo7pA=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(94%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=neopagan" target="_blank"><img alt="Neo-Paganism" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEisWlhD3HzgcAAB9xxonVBlDPo5C9Lh37-6Oitr9MIqtB6N-BL_uKVJMUubeF_3xqcvUgjLk4wq9kKcm3qJoquscS6RnMROWXCcB7dJZE_uZDyrb3aKjM66s_s5PBMcMXYdOF_geOQsoDZGjRmqBRlDXdiCDPgLdOi61c1EhM8Ikm4=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(83%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=lquaker" target="_blank"><img alt="Liberal Quakerism" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEiGLtVNedlTZTxnS5CLIRcl2yxuRLM1Ghxz1iyx5Rg1Dz0tvK5QGlG9apWbkZbd1OLLfnNZvQ-JPO_lxiAbp42W-R73QdPFobu5BjFoZjbIekXtj-GN8EO96Ejyg0lgsZjrVm3vErlY5Xh6VHu4A8uo3xktwJGbXL4iy8ZYMvNspSg=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(80%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=newage" target="_blank"><img alt="New Age" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgQQw2NTD6gK8xMIe6cHo3byjP-timM7iyEL_qVBZMZTh5CpsW6I922KFHATSOW5Vet_JeEETFfQ4tuFckz2Suxay2rOoateXGiQRjqbT-1IQogMdzfvz4ZwGCuL18Tb6AdL0BuOkIzWPqyKu9qLu-10MbekJQE1FHAXZ4IU1Mu4Mc=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(74%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=mbuddhism" target="_blank"><img alt="Mahayana Buddhism" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhMrhttDRT1R3vpaQW95FB5NZIzNjRuXuwxCfbqVSi4X_ykZZ1ayYjkcEddFVmYIeb-GQIUN_5KDBZalDgUdU94HmooBgjg1c3AKWBmiSwKsnfgCQb6sbn4q4kdEuhyz7kC_JjWenOJQG4GddkRYb_iof6t241vXUpCxWbllMNyU6Y=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(69%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=taoism" target="_blank"><img alt="Taoism" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEj6_0SZtNZAmVYMuGjrtmnUCX6dD-qxy2nmNJIDBNuYsbwrF8cwILAEW9Tshc41A45PRQbfKhlQnLIrYNHXpMSJGxrGwAfeBNfl39yELua8bbRNnUeUpYoDCiYTby67SkevnS1MfrmSy3Ht-WU2KpACwS7VcLPwc8fW7rh9rrccJpY=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(69%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=nontheist" target="_blank"><img alt="Atheism" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEihmiEkaj_AENFv6jBpp2qjPR8YR29QXe19-fd8utDSJFQXpfLQWfolMaRQlbVIyNHnA8PwMY-JKvl9_jiHBjMDv0x5iuxgaiZuqNI_yjbR3MAKcBdsXjd7SLGcpO7OabU6RY3kb0mD4DGVreFztiWTeSI8xSsM617eXMdJ6fhUMzU=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(67%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=lprotestant" target="_blank"><img alt="Liberal Christian Protestantism" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjX37JI_ao2yU4Sm9Qy9apx7g4J3oq4AuuxGnq668tRz4o1YwFjfaobDW3UimFfpimOPKcoXNRMEcimhERjvU36ZdpaDsYMsCyhNjgGP2g0MP50UcxxjXhyphenhyphenA67iQkqCrGDq-swiRoysdzfM4ZsZ2aOqppkgNeZ1ZIuXTTQ7m3UvYJM=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(65%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=tbuddhism" target="_blank"><img alt="Theravada Buddhism" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEg2ExthssEcJ7ge54smIW-mbFPcdnMsWqUUqFnHMFA6ZezRUEIbc9b7B_fUwd7xcvqVjAL8STbFRd2lxa7RjXB9y8Nrb_lNiYJLnO4F432UeavXi-D7TNlL0dv5Z_IumDhPxfdxY9EOF-3ju4H_yCqBNTfIURz1pfVBNUVFDrMKe7Y=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(63%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=rjew" target="_blank"><img alt="Reformed Judaism" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjwJfQ9BJzK5mDyVrvWvGVm5OCYTI7gkDqc_wLaCLilxhKFAaMVH3_zAGMrsBiM4UqIIUmuKFPXN9ysfmAZ7fyonbLqc-ZpRppSbSE0EBeAqOUHX5PN9HpDeYCuqHyklrxZW1jrFITppiusyeHMgVMRzKdSJ0jjlg7hmBeX7XPsRfg=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(60%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=catholic" target="_blank"><img alt="Roman Catholicism" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEj5IuTh9ODsO7LBRI9ynkFkkJaD7GUm0y0aZmSmJH4SSHz81LJj2762EKeI6odoyxxpH5IJVMainHxFCgu0DDIQLUO2IGzpFCoPU5-uikMYElVSMoOdH-T9J4VgAfA4EObw67HGJWMRQQK53YsRyBARhC_Hz14psxLx78QLrJ4gL9c=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(6%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=easternorthodox" target="_blank"><img alt="Eastern Orthodox Christianity" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgz6rz562ocYRzUWcZ99C52NEPUL0Wl54Jf09sz63xKprr8L2ZX2a3j-ZdyPcJMifvXh-vK_r0zVENP8D6ah1KCnbUv634dQdiS9IkJlgpOChsnwmoTMnkZsHBbVvsE60GPruoy3_iUsz63hEjNGX7PgAi5bXAc73xbwQpuC9lBSGQ=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(6%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=newthought" target="_blank"><img alt="New Thought" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEi0jZXwYMiFzmGfUlLG_WJtCeQrYxXi3HKhnXYKGwSVdGC_R9lYbTOkEXgH8Ecty_DnfrmkHLtngblol1EjapETJKQnM_YaTt5RT9LGqPgbAvhmobwFRg6oiDouITR55U1IK3P-1HKv2ZqPJciRE6fIbw1Zvk3LhI7AQ5y3OD9x_rQ=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(59%)
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
<td>
</td><td valign="top" width="193">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 193px;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=scientology" target="_blank"><img alt="Scientology" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhBDbKbTyMtbFwcf4-UvhS75qSD6GhYg5bnsBgos2UtWqB1ezfkMeEeFR9mAjUf-dOKPh4DojF8V4LUU4aia6CW7BMQM0azVpM0uec24RHDDlI5cWYKam0RjASWJ5TysJSp2vN7ueASGNUlJKJf5p_lO5FdSSTgEReNLvae_ypmxVQ=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(54%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=sikhism" target="_blank"><img alt="Sikhism" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhv9NHQGg56ZjSUo9jckh-HgZUHwyOW9n4VuaNiWzMI_iGVilDEDx1L6Kkl9_5t1yiYvs8BMf4rDpmoLvIH9xEYCyOVikWo-ggWxelQWwPzmwlYP0teC8Deltw0jESTmctbnwWbAAEolq2W03jKULRCfMO5jt3wqoj6WT_JVNPI90I=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(54%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=christianscience" target="_blank"><img alt="Church of Christ, Scientist" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEj5lqrswGZDpqazZjYfAUrZYFFhyVqelwMSARaMCo7Rivx5-m5vXW8FzMOXxtr22PDToFQ8QouqGeH61atR1uXaUseJbqecwav7VhAkTNNqKabK72eu1hYKdpCm_6qL1T0FKV8QQM9wFLcH9z3cJI3z8bd-Hibk696WVoRhF-7fHHA=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(46%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=jainism" target="_blank"><img alt="Jainism" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEi81JsjwmOhSEkAGjzHve7xuh0hucGtOgIzXBdbBEtcrKttADf83-nlcOQlos5BsXDpBVkG4t6zRRINYCRDV-H_KaqlzB-OIsu4F5uFlQWVZ-09BXt8_u4jEmljmws-iPjcNVmQMRdm-BaRf76_0lWu0JFhGhL41ai1h1bZg9QYKJc=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(41%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=bahai" target="_blank"><img alt="Bahá'í Faith" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgLsnalNJkaha_-CNHmlqEvu34R1xzYvs3iTghltlr4-txA-qYGYqnZGRru8ylJaB1_dbdY3p-JWalcZpgncA9l95-yoZF1fXjTx6z-TKsszaE-HzUNfFP91fNZcNGXH2IGmbV2UjhcEGcIYgkCWd2IBwUdvFBZTicy9byUtH3LVQY=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(32%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=hindu" target="_blank"><img alt="Hinduism" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEh6y_xStXhmqI7MBlso4BnZu9KY9WRXTdCTR25B4P3VfDrgvbD-PJHtXOIodwbk4uLGYoeQA1vCpNobtY1Dsu-yLPb8p6U9CbkxjF40Fx02A8qD4qUqAq5cr9IlXcXFTEs35BUMh6mYiJY1BHRxklSRFy9xaNevUqYcE47olWigFns=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(31%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=oquaker" target="_blank"><img alt="Orthodox Quakerism" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjfFXymUGmRtAq0MweoCZmK20ISDtYJTXLEMJe_7o3y9xKBG0fvHNXL7TNHEY0hwz9KN1nZrpykEtQUTOVDN7s7MeUZw2X0FwfVRY9wLsnaw18iQV3WZJKe6Qlu4bsl0KNvd1pz2-TrI4FMx-O0dino8tbtBMxeFAth95cYdFeN85M=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(28%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=cprotestant" target="_blank"><img alt="Conservative Christian Protestant" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEi2teF_yU7J68WukRBnEIBGSAOn6XMvaCzhvRbo3dZiOZuJ2onEE_WaZlopWL1V9s388YQ-rNy0-zTG-IkvJOZ7ddlVuf3N3o_togAXUHMM2YUrj0aU_16n3-XRAL6gE_tl6IW-3w4c5lgSiHpZmXFAq5zCYIUSh6nexXm8TV5Lq_s=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(22%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=mormon" target="_blank"><img alt="Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEihwX9msH1uRhTifG989UrUBpIqKjtdYWr-8tJbFGD6kdrmKRfB1ejKynqA1sGEk18jJXqkt79qHz05jQ31mwPtW4KHY7RyTaki7p7qt3ptVQOX7X54-J5HDwtF7jMXXqr9Ix4eMD48sJM-y8a9VTCZ_2AcNq8A3vPO5wcNDMqdgdE=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(22%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=adventist" target="_blank"><img alt="Seventh-day Adventists" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhSe7piJCyyZUF_4w77K82i0-Xni0zFxAFc7MAfXMy_4uAaJUy8HPWSn3RMbNRVZa9eraeTMXkc7cMqSeICREAOtoCgO-QEMSxLsAR3pFAJLQdjKGKAc-AwZc36uBlhOR1gfUl-CKjV7mWFAaTbuqaephQTcuk2mxFArO4zefhinTI=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(2%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=islam" target="_blank"><img alt="Islam" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjLhzlI23I7_6Trrn7N7dJplJro75DBIZN73kgxK8bRk5S2GGdrVplGBl8XVavOzDsNHqnylmM9QWgNHgCAVJS254pu_7AojYZVCSHxGhj-2tHxlm9CcCo4XT2tEbIQIpgc1i7R2yIlzOxaRh-l4f1Wm9Pr7Bv1JW6YEJftpMx5grk=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(17%)
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=ojew" target="_blank"><img alt="Orthodox Judaism" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEifa6r4Jv3hoo9zJsiXQpTcidSMrIFMkPKSICVz3n6qqzBI2AOvucat1eS7KnhKV4F5mAZJm3nfWEO2DAPzzMUXIKo4oWcAhzCd5HDQUWMfcoBzzyjh-rK2gbgNuIarQj-PYLaRdKNuBHl6aEIR4CDVPdu9oGQ2G6wYhxxvTJW9-GI=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(13%)
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<td><a href="http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx?QID=7ad09d18-f311-4354-8757-1867275f42bb&RID=witness" target="_blank"><img alt="Jehovah's Witnesses" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgWU3KBq4KsmnFjZ4RzvlVJQOb8x2B_pBYA5TGlsU51NlD1LhAVq33KiwjfgxUang5ZY1vByhvT5S1_Si1UlnaeEHMCtIs3GdZo9Llktf-uC1cuBEijLfr-ktlmI9kfaARWRXHGDygsNU_IraColoKpKtEatbsziFYA0m7xRl5nqfc=s0-d-e1-ft" /></a>(0%)
</td></tr>
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</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-26452755001599957902014-03-26T14:28:00.001-01:002014-03-26T14:28:34.680-01:00A Pagan perspective on EasterMy own view is that the Easter story is one of many stories of dying and resurrecting deities. In these stories, the hero dies, descends to the underworld, and returns to the mortal world bringing some blessing or new knowledge. Persephone is taken to the Underworld by force, but returns every six months; Gilgamesh goes to rescue his friend Enkidu from death; Orpheus goes to rescue Eurydice. Jesus goes there to rescue the souls of those trapped in Gehenna (this is referenced in the only letter of the Apostle Peter). In Christus Victor theology, which is prevalent among the Eastern Orthodox churches, Jesus “tramples down death by death” and because he is God, cannot be contained by death, and so transcends it. He then returns transformed into a being who can manifest as he chooses — by the Sea of Galilee, or on the road to Emmaus. The mythical journey undergone by all these heroes and heroines is a descent into death and the underworld, returning transformed into something greater, and bringing back a gift for humanity. The hymn <i>Now the green blade rises</i> references this mythological and transformational aspect of the Easter story.<br />
<br />
The spiritual journey involves the same transformation — the death of the ego, the descent into the dark night of the soul, and the resurrection as the True Self. In Orthodox Christian theology, this transformation is called theosis, literally deification, making us divine. It’s not too hard to see an analogy with the Buddhist concept of enlightenment. As James Martineau, the 19th century Unitarian theologian, said, “The Incarnation is true, not of Christ exclusively, but of Man universally, and God everlastingly. Humanity is the susceptible organ of the Divine, and he bends into it to dwell there.”<br />
<br />
In Orthodox churches, Easter is celebrated as a unified event, and is regarded as being in the present, the eternal Now. So on Easter Sunday, people greet each other with “<i>Christos Anesti</i>” (Christ is risen) - because he is risen in their hearts and in the church which is his mystical body (and they presumably believe it literally as well).<br />
<br />
In the Eleusinian Mysteries, people witnessed the unfolding drama of the story of Persephone’s descent into the Underworld, and underwent a profound transformation or initiation as a result.<br />
<br />
You can enjoy Easter on a mythical and mystical level. There’s no need to take it literally to enjoy the unfolding drama of the Mystery. We can witness the many stories of death and resurrection and experience transformation ourselves, like participants in a mystery tradition. Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-10060201133840028292014-03-18T08:53:00.000-01:002014-03-18T09:18:05.669-01:00What happens when the oil runs out?<a href="http://transitionculture.org/2007/01/30/why-life-after-oil-will-be-better-from-the-western-mail/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Vegetable gardens in Slovenia (photo by Simon)" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1612" src="http://wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com/blogs/sermonsfromthemound/files/2014/03/simonslovenia-224x300.jpg" height="300" title="Vegetable gardens in Slovenia (photo by Simon)" width="224" /></a>I am currently reading the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emberverse_series">Emberverse series by S M Stirling</a>, in which electronics, guns, the internal combustion engine, and gunpowder all stop working overnight. The laws of physics have been tampered with by some unknown power. The books explore the consequences of this strange event, known as the <a href="http://emberverse.wikia.com/wiki/Change">Change</a>. Part of the story follows a small group of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_Wicca">Georgian Wiccans</a> who take to the hills; another part deals with a man who decides to set up a feudal Norman-style state. The people who do best are those with some skills in farming, making things, but also, the ones who are rich in stories that help make sense of the world, which help them to build just and cohesive societies.<br />
<br />
I think that the Change is shorthand, or a metaphor, for what happens <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil">when the oil runs out</a>. It won't happen overnight, and if we are lucky, it will be <a href="http://transitionculture.org/2007/01/30/why-life-after-oil-will-be-better-from-the-western-mail/" target="_blank" title="Why Life After Oil Will Be Better – from the Western Mail">managed sensibly</a>. But all the current indications are that it will not be managed sensibly. Instead of reducing our dependency on fossil fuels, companies are inventing ever more destructive ways of wresting them from the ground, the worst of these being fracking. We are also not investing in sustainable power sources, or taxing carbon consumption, or anywhere near enough of the things we should be doing. The warning signs of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-change">climate change</a> are being ignored.<br />
<br />
Rhyd Wildermuth's story, <i>What we built from ruins</i> (<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/asenseofplace/2014/03/what-we-built-from-ruins/">part 1</a> and <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/asenseofplace/2014/03/what-we-built-from-ruins-part-two/">part 2</a>), in response to the question, <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/agora/2014/03/as-pagans-what-do-we-hope-to-build/">what will Paganism look like in fifty years' time?</a> got me thinking, as well. I realised that <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/sermonsfromthemound/2014/03/if-you-build-it-they-will-come/" title="If you build it, they will come">my response</a> completely ignored the question of what will happen when the oil runs out.<br />
<br />
I also recently attended a ritual in my local area that was part of a <a href="http://www.examiner.com/article/worldwide-pagan-event-against-fracking">global magical working to protect the waters of the world</a> from <a href="http://www.dangersoffracking.com/">fracking</a>, which is about the most irresponsible and damaging thing anyone could possibly do to the environment. It was a very moving and beautiful ritual, and it brought together eco-activists, Pagans, shamans, and others.<br />
<br />
So what can Pagans and other ecologically-minded people be doing to prepare for the eventual crash, or shift?<br />
<br />
We can reduce our own dependence on fossil fuels; campaign for investment in sustainable energy sources; campaign for environmental and social justice. But in addition to these, we can do <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/sermonsfromthemound/2013/04/what-is-magic/" target="_blank" title="What is magic and how does it work?">magic (the art of changing consciousness in accordance with Will)</a> to heal and protect the Earth and other living beings, and we can learn skills such as building roundhouses and coracles and boats, raising livestock, weaving, growing our own food, and so on. We can get involved with the <a href="http://www.transitionnetwork.org/">transition towns movement</a> and other sustainability initiatives, support <a href="https://www.soilassociation.org/whatisorganic/organicfarming">organic farming</a>, and check our own <a href="http://www.myfootprint.org/">ecological footprint</a>. We can build strong communities - not only of Pagans, but including others of good will. And we can engage with stories that show how to build just, cohesive, and inclusive societies. We are already doing all this to a certain extent - we just need to do it more.Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-67198213225777317262014-01-03T06:10:00.001-01:002014-01-03T06:15:56.134-01:00The old lie, dulce et decorum est...<p style="margin: 0px; font-size: 12px; font-family: Helvetica;">I have no words apart from "A la lanterne!" for this. Apparently Michael Gove has had a go at historians and TV for the "Blackadder myths" about the First World War, saying it was not really that bad. (I won't share the link because it is from the <i>Daily Mail</i>.) No, Gove, the First World War really was that bad. The mud that sucked men down to their deaths, the trench-foot, the lice that made men's clothes move on their own, the endless pounding of the shells, the gas ("if in dreams you too could pace behind the wagon that we flung him in, and watch him guttering, choking drowning"), the death and maiming of comrades, the utter waste of life, the incomprehensible slaughter of thousands in a single day for a tiny piece of land. The horrific carnage of Gallipoli. So do NOT repeat to us the old lie, "Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori". It is neither sweet nor meet, it is death, too early, and in horrific ways that an idiot like Gove probably can't even imagine. </p>Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-26666910754031358232013-12-02T15:17:00.000-01:002013-12-02T15:17:24.103-01:00Camp<blockquote>
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."
<br />
~ <a href="http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0003786/quotes">Inigo Montoya</a></blockquote>
It has come to my attention that straight people frequently misuse the word "camp" to mean "excessively effeminate", more or less.<br />
<br />
Now, in case you don't know this, heterosexuals, that word does not mean what you think it means.<br />
<br />
The word camp comes from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari">Polari</a>, the argot used by gay people from the late 19th to the mid-20th century. When I first encountered the word (some time in the early 1980s), it meant something like <a href="http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/arch_3">arch</a>, <a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/wry">wry</a>, cheeky, or slightly over-decorated (hence the expression "as camp as Christmas"). It is possibly derived from Italian <i>campare </i>"to exaggerate, make stand out".<br />
<br />
It did <i>not </i>mean "excessively effeminate" - that was covered by the expression "screaming queen" (but please do not attempt to use that phrase either, straight people).<br />
<br />
Kenneth Williams was camp because of the style of humour that he used, not because of any other factor about him.<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-85210813519693602502013-10-08T09:20:00.000-01:002013-10-08T09:23:46.174-01:00Women's history 101People often ask, why are there so few famous women writers, artists, scientists, and intellectuals?<br />
<br />
They seem to be forgetting that, in previous centuries, it was rare for women to be educated. Women also often died younger due to infections contracted in childbirth.<br />
<br />
Women were not allowed to attend university until the 1870s, and even then they were not allowed to graduate.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
At the beginning of the 20th century it was very difficult for women to obtain a university education. In 1870 <a href="http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wdavies.htm" style="text-decoration: none;">Emily Davies</a> and <a href="http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wbodichon.htm" style="text-decoration: none;">Barbara Bodichon</a> helped to set up Girton College, the first university college for women, but it was not recognised by the university authorities. In 1880 Newnham College was established at <a href="http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/ITcambridge.htm" style="text-decoration: none;">Cambridge University</a>. By 1910 there were just over a thousand women students at Oxford and Cambridge. However, they had to obtain permission to attend lectures and were not allowed to take degrees. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Without a university degree it was very difficult for women to enter the professions. After a long struggle the medical profession had allowed women to become doctors. Even so, by 1900 there were only 200 women doctors. It was not until 1910 that women were allowed to become accountants and bankers. However, there were still no women diplomats, barristers or judges.
(<a href="http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Wuniversity.htm">John Simkin</a>)</blockquote>
The first social groups to routinely educate their daughters were the Unitarians and the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), starting in the 1840s.<br />
<br />
When women did succeed in producing literature or scientific research, quite often someone else got the credit for it, or their contribution or achievement was minimised. Even now, there are people who dispute that Ada Lovelace wrote programs for Babbage's calculating engine, and want to impute authorship of the Brontë sisters novels' to their brother Branwell. The scientific achievements of Lise Meitner, Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin, Hedy Lamarr, Dorothy Hodgkin, Rosalind Franklin, Katherine Jones, Jocelyn Bell-Burnell, Caroline Herschel, and many others, are forgotten or sidelined. I did not learn about any of these women at school - I found out about them by researching on the internet, and reading blogposts from the Finding Ada project.<br />
<br />
Many nineteenth-century female scientists and mathematicians were told that their scientific and mathematical activities were bad for their womb. Many were prevented from attending university, or not allowed to graduate, or made to work in a separate laboratory from the men.<br />
<br />
The work of female writers, poets, artists, composers, and playwrights suffered a similar fate. Artemisia Gentileschi's paintings were attributed to her father. The Nobel Prize for Jocelyn Bell Burnell's discovery of pulsars went to her male PhD supervisor. The work of the women Pre-Raphaelite and Impressionist artists is largely forgotten.<br />
<br />
A similar fate happens to Black & minority ethnic (BME) and LGBT scientists, authors, and heroes. And if you are a woman and BME and LGBT, then you are doubly or triply doomed to be sidelined. Just look at the marginalisation of Mary Seacole, Edward Carpenter, Goldsworthy Lowes Dickinson, and many another BME and/or LGBT person.<br />
<br />
Even today, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/may/09/coverflip-maureen-johnson-gender-book">women's novels are marketed as less serious than novels by men</a>. They also <a href="http://www.vidaweb.org/the-count-2012">receive less reviews in serious journals</a>. The novels of white male authors are taught on English literature courses; the novels of female authors are taught on courses of women's studies or women's literature. <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maureen-johnson/gender-coverup_b_3231484.html">Maureen Johnson writes</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">For much of history, women read the works of men. Every once in a while we see a woman cracking through, maybe changing her name, maybe hiding her work, or maybe breaking through the strength of her genius or good luck or both. Then we see a huge break in the early 20th century, a flux of brilliant women. Women start to climb into the bestseller charts, but not so much into the reading lists.</span></blockquote>
There is no doubt that women (despite massive disadvantages) have achieved great things in every field of artistic, literary, and scientific endeavour, but all too often, they are forgotten, sidelined, their achievements dismissed or diminished, their work not taught in schools or universities. The corpus of literature that is considered "the canon" is overwhelmingly by white men (usually <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_white_men">dead white men</a>, usually heterosexual). No-one is saying that these authors should no longer be taught; just that "the canon" should include women, BME people, and LGBT people.Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-2173539263571942552013-09-23T08:49:00.000-01:002013-09-23T08:49:26.368-01:00William Adam and Rammohun Roy<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
William Adam was born in 1796 in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, and began his ministry as a Baptist missionary in India. Whilst in India, he met Rammohun Roy, who converted him to Unitarianism.</div>
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The story of William Adam represents in microcosm the conflict between the universalising view of religion and the particular and cultural view of religion.<br />
<br />
The view that there are universal and perennial themes in religion is usually viewed as a good and liberal view – it can allow for interfaith dialogue, and promote tolerance.<br />
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However, there is a darker side to this universalising tendency – the idea that one faith is universally the right faith for everyone. Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism have all claimed that they are religions for the whole of humanity.<br />
<br />
Particularism is often derided as a narrow and sectarian view that one’s own tradition is the one true way; but in fact, particularism at its best can involve engaging deeply and faithfully with one’s own tradition, whilst recognizing that others’ particular traditions are right for them. Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Paganism (as well as many liberal Christians) all recognize that they are embedded in a particular culture and mythology, and derive meaning and depth from their particularity.<br />
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William Adam sincerely believed that Christianity was the one true faith, and that the lives of the people of India would be improved if they adopted it. Rammohun Roy succeeded in converting him to the doctrine of the Unity of God, rather than the Trinity, and thereafter, Adam was an enthusiastic advocate of the Unitarian Christianity of his day.<br />
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Rammohun Roy, on the other hand, never relinquished his Hindu faith, despite being a Hindu Unitarian. When he came to England, he brought his Brahmin cook, and continued to wear the red cord of his Brahmin status, and was eventually buried in a Vedic tomb constructed by Hindu stonemasons. Roy wished to reform Hinduism by purging it of superstitious practices – especially widow-burning.<br />
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Both Adam and Roy wrote to American Unitarians to enlist support for missionary efforts in Bengal; however, Roy never expressed support for conversion of the people to Christianity; he emphasized the importance of education. Adam, on the other hand, wanted to convert Hindus and Muslims to Christianity, and thought that Unitarian doctrines were more rational than Trinitarian ones, and therefore had more chance of succeeding.<br />
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So Roy, in continuing to be a Hindu, effectively supported the particular tradition of Hinduism, which was embedded in Indian culture and philosophy. In a letter to Henry Ware, an American Unitarian, Roy wrote:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iZPy3JiLneE/Ujxva4E6qCI/AAAAAAAAERw/DXajMY-JD-I/s1600/RRR-letter-toWare.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="99" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iZPy3JiLneE/Ujxva4E6qCI/AAAAAAAAERw/DXajMY-JD-I/s320/RRR-letter-toWare.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<img src="file:///C:/DOCUME~1/Yvonne/LOCALS~1/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.jpg" /><br />
Adam, on the other hand, wanted to convert people of other religions to Christianity, taking the view that it was universally true for everyone, regardless of their cultural context.<br />
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He did not get much support for his efforts at evangelism from Unitarians in Britain and America, however, either because they were disorganized and preoccupied with their own affairs, or perhaps because they shared Rammohun Roy’s view that every nation had its own form of worship, and all those forms were acceptable to God.<br />
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Eventually Adam gave up trying to spread Christianity in India, and turned his efforts to the abolition of slavery instead. Here I find myself much more in sympathy with his efforts, especially as he insisted that women should be allowed to fully participate in the meetings of the World Anti-Slavery Convention in June,1840, in London. He had first got involved in the anti-slavery cause in 1838, and subsequently joined the abolitionist cause in America, too.<br />
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He became a Unitarian minister in America and then Canada, where he was Toronto’s first Unitarian minister, but financial difficulties made his position there untenable as he fell out with the congregation. He then moved to Chicago and became a minister there.<br />
<br />
He returned to England without his family around 1855, and by 1861, had renounced Unitarianism and ceased his involvement with it. Instead he was writing a book criticizing Auguste Comte, who had attempted to create his own universal religion, a sort of precursor of Alain de Botton’s religion for atheists.<br />
<br />
William Adam died in 1881, and left his money to Dumfermline Grammar School for University scholarships, stipulating that the funds should be distributed "irrespective of sex or creed or no creed, parentage, colour or caste, nationality or political allegiance". <br />
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He was clearly a complex man, fairly typical of the Victorian period, believing in the superiority of Christianity, but also embracing equality for women, the abolition of slavery, and the importance of education. He is also noteworthy for having been converted to Unitarianism by Rammohun Roy, a Hindu, who persuaded him that the Unitarian interpretation of the gospels was the correct one.<br />
<br />
Andrew Hill writes:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Roy convinced Adam that the meaning of the Greek preposition dia required that John 1:3, a verse of the prologue to John's Gospel, be translated as the Bengali equivalent of the English words, 'All things were made through the Word. . .' not 'by the Word'. Translators of New Testament Greek in later generations would come to agree, but in 1821 the view of nature of Christ, supported by this translation and espoused by Adam and Rammohun, was rejected by orthodox Christians as the Arian heresy (named for the 4th century CE dissident, Arius). For this reason colleagues nicknamed him 'the second fallen Adam'. </blockquote>
Unitarians have been chortling at this joke ever since; but poor William Adam brought his evangelical zeal across intact from his Baptist faith, and was met with lukewarm enthusiasm by his new Unitarian colleagues. <br />
<br />
Ultimately he was disappointed in Unitarianism and turned his considerable energies towards other causes, mainly education and the abolition of slavery. By all accounts he was a bit of a difficult man to get along with; but he was clearly intelligent and enthusiastic, having learnt Sanskrit and Bengali in preparation for his time in India, and having committed himself to his chosen causes with dedication and zeal; even being prepared to stick his neck out on behalf of the women excluded from the anti-slavery convention of 1840.<br />
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It is also likely that without his efforts, the fledgling Brahmo Samaj would not have gained such widespread support as it did.<br />
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William Adam was an interesting character and an illustration of the many conflicting currents of Victorian activism, moving as he did from evangelical circles to abolitionism; a minor character in the drama of Rammohun Roy, but worthy of study nevertheless.<br />
<br />
Yvonne Aburrow<br />
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<br />
<br />
<b>Sources:</b><br />
<br />
Abidullah Al-Ansari Ghazi (2010), <i>Raja Rammohun Roy: Encounter with Islam and Christianity and the Articulation of Hindu Self-Consciousness</i>. Google eBook.<br />
<div>
<br />
Andrew M Hill, <i>William Adam</i>. (in <i>Dictionary of Unitarian & Universalist Biography</i>) <a href="http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/williamadam.html">http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/williamadam.html</a><br />
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Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-28572028256123627942013-02-20T11:12:00.001-01:002013-02-20T11:28:27.687-01:00Fat is a social issueThere was an excellent article in <i>The Guardian</i> yesterday on obesity by <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/rae-earl">Rae Earl</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>» <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/18/obese-britain-food-addiction">Obesity epidemic: as a lifelong comfort eater, I understand the emotional pull of food</a></b><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Some of the comments on it were idiotic. People said things like losing weight is just a matter of willpower, and all you have to do is to eat less and exercise more. If that were the case, there wouldn't be an obesity epidemic.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<b>My weight loss</b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
At the beginning of 2009, I was 18 stone, and lost four stone on <a href="http://www.slimmingworld.com/">Slimming World</a>, which focuses on eating healthy and filling food, and still losing weight. It worked well for me until I became a vegetarian. I then maintained more or less the same weight for two years, but wanted to lose more.<br />
<br />
I have recently lost another four stone on <a href="http://www.lighterlife.com/">Lighter Life</a>, which is a very low calorie diet. This works by switching the body into ketosis, which means that after the first 3 days, you are just not hungry; and weight loss is rapid. The programme includes counselling and techniques to help overcome the issues which caused you to overeat. It also switches you to food packs, which provide the right nutrition and are different to normal food, and on the Total programme, you abstain from normal food altogether and just eat packs. I found this really helpful for breaking the cycle of food addiction.<br />
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I find it almost impossible to lose weight without being on some kind of programme where there is an expectation that you will turn up every week and have lost some weight. Paying for the group sessions is also a big motivator. Also, Lighter Life and Slimming World were developed by former fat people, who actually understand what it's like to be overweight or obese. <br />
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Many weight-loss programmes don't offer support or techniques for maintaining your weight when you have finished your diet; Lighter Life offers maintenance help, continued access to packs when you need them, and continued counselling sessions.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
<b>Food addiction</b></div>
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<div>
Fattening food is addictive, but unlike other addictive substances, you can't just stop eating. We need food to keep us alive - you don't <i>need </i>alcohol, drugs, or nicotine (though of course they can be really hard to give up, too).</div>
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<div>
Eating food with a high glycaemic index (which means that the calories in it are released rapidly and used rapidly) produces a spike in the level of blood sugar, followed by a trough. Most people respond to the drop in blood sugar by eating again, probably something else that is high-GI. This is addictive behaviour.</div>
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This diagram from <a href="http://www.sja.org.uk/sja/support-us/fundraise/running-events/nutritional-advice/carbohydrates.aspx">St John's Ambulance advice page on optimal nutrition for runners</a> explains why:</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rB6CSLRWauU/USSu8CZFGmI/AAAAAAAAEKc/cSiSrAjSEjE/s1600/carbohydrates_v_Variation_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rB6CSLRWauU/USSu8CZFGmI/AAAAAAAAEKc/cSiSrAjSEjE/s1600/carbohydrates_v_Variation_1.jpg" /></a></div>
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If you are going for a run, then a high-GI spike may be good to give you the energy to get going; but it is not good if you are sitting at your desk. The aim of someone with a sedentary lifestyle should be to keep their blood sugar levels within the dotted lines on the graph, so as not to experience a trough which leads to eating high-GI food.</div>
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If you are addicted to tobacco, alcohol, drugs, etc., it is easier to remove yourself from environments where those things are available; and they are not necessary to life, unlike eating. Yes, one can switch to healthier eating, but that will probably only allow you to maintain weight; it is hard to lose weight by healthy eating alone.<br />
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The Weight Loss Resources site has a <a href="http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/diet/gi_diet/glycaemic_index_tables.htm">list of low GI foods</a>.</div>
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<b>Emotional stress</b></div>
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Most overeating is in response to emotional stress. I made a chart of my weight gains and losses over the years, and all of my overeating and subsequent weight gains were due to some trauma in my life. It is only by dealing with the underlying issues that I think I <i>may </i>have cracked it this time. (Only time will tell - but I am determined not to get so overweight again.)</div>
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Also, it can be a vicious circle - high weight leads to low self-esteem, so people self-medicate by eating more to make themselves feel better. That is not logical, but human emotions rarely are. This <a href="http://discussion.guardian.co.uk/comment-permalink/21421888">comment by Rickylicious</a> on the Guardian article describes the vicious cycle of overeating and low self-esteem really well. Here's an excerpt; please do read the <a href="http://discussion.guardian.co.uk/comment-permalink/21421888">whole comment</a>:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I hate being fat. I can't stop eating. I can't pull myself up by my bootstraps. I keep trying. I'm sick of being told by everyone I meet that I need to diet or exercise more. That much is self evident. Even to a stupid, ignorant fatty like me. I just get through each day as it comes as best I can. Then at the end of it all I eat, and eat again. Then I feel disgusted with myself. Worthless.</blockquote>
The Lighter Life programme includes techniques from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transactional_analysis">transactional analysis</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_behavioral_therapy">cognitive behavioural therapy</a> to help people to understand why they overeat, and develop other coping mechanisms for emotional trauma, feelings of emptiness, and unhappiness. Even so, I still struggle with the temptation to respond to any little feeling of stress with a binge. I am still learning to manage my new lower weight, as I have only recently finished Lighter Life.<br />
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<b>Social pressure</b></div>
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Just about every social occasion involves some pressure to eat fattening foods, or drink highly calorific alcoholic drinks. "Oh go on, have another one, it can't hurt". We call these people "feeders". Often they are people who have never had an issue with weight themselves, and so just don't understand which foods are fattening and which are not. The pressure to eat fattening foods is immense, especially at weddings and family gatherings, Christmas, work outings, coffee with colleagues, and so on. And it's hard to go to the pub and have soda water, especially if there are people who insist on offering you alcohol and think you are some kind of Puritan if you decline (fortunately my friends don't do this).</div>
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<b>Car culture</b></div>
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I now live in Oxford, one of the most cycling-friendly cities in the UK (and even then it's sometimes scary) which also has excellent public transport, and is small enough to walk from one place to another. However, if you live in London, which is downright dangerous to cycle in, then that's just not going to be a good place to get exercise, or if you live somewhere hilly, it's difficult to cycle up those hills when you first start trying to get fit. The culture of driving everywhere (and constructing roads and other infrastructure so you have to drive to out-of-town shopping centres) is surely a major contributor to the rise in obesity.</div>
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<b>Unhealthy food</b></div>
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Healthy food is harder to obtain, and more expensive. So many foods are packed full of processed starch, sugar, and fat; vegetables are more expensive. When I was doing the <a href="http://www.thecandidadiet.com/">candida diet</a>, which cuts out sugar and yeast completely, I had to visit three different supermarkets to get the products I needed. Most products are full of sugar. Loads of things are labelled "low-fat" but hardly any are sugar-free. Unhealthy food is widely available. Restaurants have now started offering calorie-counted meals, which is helpful, but it is hard not to indulge in fattening things when everyone around you is doing so.<br />
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<b>Other health issues</b><br />
<br />
Many people are overweight or obese due to other conditions such as diabetes, thyroid conditions and so on. It is not well-understood how some people stay thin despite eating all sorts of fattening foods, whereas others only have to look at a biscuit to put on several pounds.<br />
<br />
I am not diabetic or anything, but being obese caused me considerable joint pain, and my legs are still not straight as a result of this. Walking long distances is really painful when you are obese. Cycling and swimming are good because they do not put stress on the joints, but they are not available to everyone.<br />
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<b>Exercise</b><br />
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Why are there more food shops than swimming pools? Why are gyms so expensive to join? Why do they play awful pounding music? What overweight or obese person would want to go to a gym full of skinny athletic people, when we are convinced they are looking down on us for being fat?<br />
<br />
And the <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/making-sport-more-competitive-pe-lessons-already-embarrass-and-alienate-some-students-8496883.html">sheer awfulness of physical education in this country</a> must be a major contributor to the lack of exercise of many overweight people. I hated PE at school - I have no hand-eye co-ordination so could not play ball games, I hated the picking of teams because I was always left till last (how humiliating), I was not very fit and already slightly podgy according to some (though I now know that I actually had a healthy BMI). I hated the competitive atmosphere, and the gendering of sport, and the way the bullies picked on me and my friends for being crap at sport, and were allowed to get away with it. Nowadays, I am told, there is the ritual humiliation of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-stage_fitness_test">the bleep test</a>, which is inflicted on pupils of PE, and sounds like a cruel and unusual punishment. I can honestly say that my experience of PE put me off all sport for decades. Nowadays I do yoga, cycling and swimming, but I do not see any of these as "sport". </div>
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<b>Unhelpful comments</b><br />
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The self-righteous, unsympathetic and generally unhelpful comments from others, such as "Should you be eating that?" or "Every time I see you, you are eating" (yes, because it's lunchtime!) or suggestions on how to lose weight, or comments that obese people die earlier and have heart conditions and diabetes and stressed joints, or that losing weight is just a matter of will-power, or eating less and exercising more, are really really unhelpful. </div>
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Do the people making these comments not think that the obese person spends a considerable portion of their day mentally beating themselves up for being obese? They do not need you to add to the chorus of internal self-criticism. It just makes avoidance of the issue more likely, because the response of the obese person is to think, sod you, you don't know how it feels to be me, you don't understand nutrition or diet or metabolism, and so avoid the issue by creating a defense mechanism around the whole issue.<br />
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People don't feel they have the right to comment on other behaviour or appearance issues, so why do they think they have a right to comment on people's weight? You should never comment on someone's weight unless they themselves ask your opinion. If you have never been overweight, you can't understand the vicious cycles involved.<br />
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On the other hand, when I was losing weight, it was nice to get positive feedback from people in the form of compliments on my new slim appearance. And many people approached it tactfully by saying, "You're looking well". As some people prefer not to get comments on their weight loss, this is probably a good idea if you don't know the person very well.</div>
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<b>Personal choice</b><br />
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Nothing in this article is intended to be detrimental to people who are happy with their shape and size. If you are big and happy with it, good for you. It's completely rubbish that societal norms are geared towards being a stick-insect, and it's a fact that being underweight is more unhealthy than being obese.<br />
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I chose to lose weight because I found it physically painful carrying around the extra weight, and because I am genderqueer, I didn't like being curvy and buxom.</div>
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Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-81285277262626299742013-02-14T15:02:00.002-01:002013-02-14T15:02:56.404-01:00An interesting conversationI had an interesting conversation the other day. I got chatting to a woman in a shop, and the conversation ranged over a number of topics, until it settled on same-sex marriage.<br />
<br />
So this woman had loads of gay friends (so she said), and she was OK with civil partnerships, and yet she was opposed to same-sex marriage. Her reason was "but it says in the Bible..."<br />
<br />
So I said, "But what about <a href="http://jesusinlove.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/david-and-jonathan-biblical-men-who.html">David and Jonathan</a>? The Bible says that David's love for Jonathan surpassed his love for women". Oh yes, said the woman.<br />
<br />
Then I said, "And what about Ruth and Naomi? The vow that Ruth made to Naomi is used in wedding ceremonies." And I talked about how amazing Ruth's love for Naomi was, that she was prepared to go to another country and risk being sold into slavery because she loved her so much. (<a href="http://jesusinlove.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/ruth-and-naomi-whither-thou-goest-i.html">Thanks to Kittredge Cherry for wising me up to the story of Ruth and Naomi</a>.)<br />
<br />
And then I said, "God is Love, right? And LGBT people love each other, so that must be godly."<br />
<br />
And it seemed that I had succeeded in changing her mind.<br />
<br />
Now, if I had called her a "bigot" at the outset of the conversation, that would have been it - end of conversation. And I don't think she <i>was </i>a bigot; she wanted to understand, and she seemed genuinely pleased to be offered a different interpretation of the Bible.<br />
<br />
So, be careful before you jump to calling someone a bigot before you have found out what their <i>real </i>views are, under a possibly very thin veneer of religious conformity. <br />
<br />
Also, it helps if you know how to do liberal Biblical interpretation.Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-57568530489569989092013-01-16T09:29:00.000-01:002013-01-16T12:27:53.054-01:00Adjectives, not nounsThe <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/lifestyle/2013/01/everything-youve-always-wanted-know-about-trans-issues-were-afraid-ask">trans* community</a> are not the only ones to point out that "transsexual" is not a noun, it's an adjective. There are many other groups who have made the same point. It's rude to refer to someone as "a dyslexic", "a spastic", "a gay", "a black", "a Chinese", "a Malay", "a ginger".<br />
<br />
Why is that? Well, for one thing, the characteristic being referred to is not the only significant thing about them; it's not a defining characteristic. They may also write poetry, drive a vehicle, tap-dance, sing, be a great lover, and so on.<br />
<br />
There are plenty of alternatives to using these adjectives as nouns. A transsexual person (who could be male or female - the term transsexual does not signify gender); a gay person; a person with ginger hair / a ginger-haired person; a person with dyslexia / a dyslexic person; a person with cerebral palsy; a Black person; a person of colour; a Chinese person; a Malaysian person. Of course, their ethnicity is only relevant in the context of a conversation about ethnicity. (Though several Black people have pointed out recently that the whole colour-blindness trope is actually really unhelpful and assimilationist.)Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-34129214253457981162013-01-15T14:42:00.000-01:002014-03-15T10:22:13.122-01:00Structural inequality of an invisible minorityI am part of a persecuted minority. OK, we are not <i>very</i> persecuted (people don't refuse us mortgages, or call for us to be executed, and we are allowed to get married), but we are persecuted, and our inequality is built into the environment - especially in America. Like <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/15/gingerism-prejudice-bullying">people with ginger hair</a>, we are regarded as legitimate targets for abuse.<br />
<br />
What group am I referring to? Left-handed people.<br />
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In America, there's an <a href="http://handedness.org/action/fairdesks.html">epidemic of right-handed desk-chairs</a>. Whenever I have had to sit at one of these, I either get two and flip the desk of the other one over so I can have it on my left, or just use it as a normal chair, because it is completely useless as a desk. However, right-handed desks are only the most extreme example of the environment being structured for right-handed people. Cameras are right-handed, scissors are right-handed (and are really painful for a left-handed person to use because the grips are sculpted for right-handed use, and the blades are the wrong way round), musical instruments and sporting bats, clubs etc are made for right-handed use. Computer mice are set by default for right-handed use, and often sculpted to cup nicely into the palm of your right hand. Bread knives, cake forks, kitchen knives - they are all made for optimum use by right-handed people (because the blades are sharp only on one side). When I was at school (admittedly over 30 years ago; things may have got better now), a teacher gave up trying to teach me to sew because I started a seam at the "wrong" end.<br />
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If you are right-handed, you are probably completely unaware of these issues. The world is quite literally structured to fit your grasp. You're probably thinking right now that I am just whingeing, and I could adapt to the right-handed environment (after all, it's not that hard), or <a href="http://www.anythinglefthanded.co.uk/">buy left-handed implements</a> (which, incidentally, are more expensive because they are produced in smaller numbers - and once you've learnt to compensate for the blades being the wrong way round on right-handed scissors, it's hard to cut straight with left-handed ones). Well folks, that's privilege, and being completely unaware of your privilege.<br />
<br />
I bet you use words like "cack-handed", "gauche", "sinister" (or if you are Spanish, <i>zurdo</i>, which means clumsy or left-handed) -- all of which are insults meaning "left-handed". Even the word "left" means "surplus to requirements". in English, there are no less than seventeen different dialect words for left-handed, all of which mean "the hand you wipe your arse with" (including "cack-handed", which is regarded as a synonym for clumsy). People used to say stuff like "oh it looks weird when you do stuff with your left hand - it's all cack-handed".<br />
<br />
I am raising this issue, not to claim equality with other forms of persecution and exclusion (after all, left-handed people are not in danger of our lives), but to point out that, unless you bump up against it every day of your life (as disabled people, minority ethnic people, LGBT people do every day), structural inequality is largely invisible - because you take the way the world fits your hand like a glove completely and utterly for granted.Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-46169036009741967992012-12-12T08:56:00.001-01:002012-12-12T22:55:07.179-01:00We are rising!<br />
No-one outside Paganism seems to have noticed that the number of out and proud Pagans has doubled since the last census.<br />
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<b>Census 2011</b><br />
Animism 541<br />
Occult 502<br />
Druid 4,189<br />
Heathen 1,958<br />
Pagan 56,620<br />
Pantheism 2,216<br />
Reconstructionist 251<br />
Shamanism 650<br />
Thelemite 184<br />
Wicca 11,766<br />
Witchcraft 1,276<br />
______________________<br />
Total = 80,153<br />
<br />
Not included in the above total: Traditional African Religion 588, Vodun 208, Taoism 4144, Shinto, 1075, New Age 698, Native American Church 127, Chinese Religion 182, Satanists 1,893.<br />
<br />
Here's the <a href="http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?newquery=%2A&newoffset=25&pageSize=25&edition=tcm%3A77-286262">Office of National Statistics page with the spreadsheets</a> if you want to download a copy and play with the numbers yourself.<br />
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<b>Census 2001</b><br />
Pagan 30,569<br />
Wiccan 7,227<br />
Druid 1,657<br />
Pantheist 1,603<br />
Heathen 278<br />
Asatru 92<br />
Animism 401<br />
Ancestor Worship 101<br />
Celtic Pagan 508<br />
______________________<br />
Total 42,436Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-64348579272915913252012-12-11T11:24:00.002-01:002012-12-11T15:52:58.237-01:00The complexity of marriage law - update<b style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Legal (permitted by law and recognised by the state)</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">:</span><br />
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Opposite-sex church weddings (couple legally married and registered)</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Same-sex civil partnerships in a register office / registered premises for weddings</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Opposite-sex marriages in a register office / registered premises for weddings</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Religious civil partnerships (civil partnership ceremonies in a religious building)</li>
</ul>
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<span style="color: #656565; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Being made legal soon:</b><br />
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Same-sex weddings in register offices and those churches & synagogues that want to do them (couple legally married and registered)</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">A transsexual person married to a person of the opposite sex to their original sex wanting to change their birth certificate to reflect their new sex will no longer have to divorce their partner (because when same sex marriage is legal, they can stay married).</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">A transsexual person civilly partnered to a person of the same sex will be able to change / "upgrade" to a marriage (8.5 on page 27 of the <a href="http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/consultations/equal-civil-marriage/consultation-response?view=Binary">consultation outcome document</a>)</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Pagan same-sex handfastings in Scotland</li>
</ul>
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<span style="color: #656565; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #656565; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><a href="http://blog.plain-sense.co.uk/2012/03/till-political-convenience-do-us-part.html">The new arrangements for trans people are still not very satisfactory</a>, as the conversion from one type of legal recognition to another will cost them money. This is particularly annoying for people who have already had to change their relationship status under the previous arrangements.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #656565; font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Not forbidden by law, but not recognised by the state</b><br />
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">same-sex blessings in a church / synagogue</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Pagan handfastings (weddings) in England & Wales</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Blessings of polyamorous relationships</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Humanist weddings - both same and opposite sex</li>
</ul>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">Illegal (not permitted by law)</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">:</span><br />
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Opposite-sex civil partnerships in a register office / registered premises for weddings</li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Marrying more than one person</li>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;">
<b>Legal (permitted by law and recognised by the state) in Scotland only:</b></div>
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #656565; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.paganhandfastingscotland.co.uk/" style="color: #a3d848;">Pagan opposite-sex handfastings where the celebrant says the required form of words</a> (the same as for all other legal weddings)</li>
</ul>
Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-18750776037133338972012-11-28T10:38:00.000-01:002012-11-28T12:05:13.963-01:00Gerald Gardner and homophobiaWas Gerald Gardner homophobic?<br />
<br />
— Very probably, yes. (See Lois Bourne's memoirs.)<br />
<br />
Does this matter for practitioners of modern Wicca?<br />
<br />
— No.<br />
<br />
Why not?<br />
<br />
— Because whilst Gardner is respected as the founder of modern Wicca, his views on many issues are seen as a product of his time. in the 1950s and 60s, not being homophobic was the exception, not the rule. I can remember as recently as 25 years ago, it was rare to find a heterosexual man who was not homophobic. Now, thankfully, it is regarded as abnormal to be homophobic (at least in the circles that I move in).<br />
<br />
Gardner does not have the same status in Wicca as Jesus does in Christianity. He is not believed to be some kind of messiah figure. Wiccan practice and tradition is not about Gardner, it's about magic and Nature.<br />
<br />
There are some practices in Wicca that are heterocentric, but people are changing these to be more inclusive of LGBT people. If the coven you are in is not changing to include you, there are other covens that might be more flexible. There's also the option to start your own coven.<br />
<br />
These heterocentric practices may have been started because of Gardner's homophobia, so in that sense it is still relevant, but for heavens' sake, Wicca is less than a century old, so it's perfectly possible to change things. Tradition is not set in stone; it evolves.<br />
<br />
A good place to start is the excellent book, <i>Cassell's Encyclopaedia of queer myth, symbol and spirit</i>.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://pagantheologies.pbworks.com/w/page/13622267/Sexuality#FurtherreadingLGBT">Further reading on LGBT sexuality and Paganism</a>.Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-9802465355049719612012-11-09T10:39:00.002-01:002012-11-09T10:39:38.016-01:00Liberal Christianity made me a better WiccanI am not a Christian, but I highly value the liberal Christian strand in Unitarianism, as its alternative interpretations of the new testament in particular have helped to liberate me from the oppressive and painful interpretations I received from my fundamentalist and evangelical upbringing. People who do not have that particular painful experience perhaps can't know the fear - and actual physical pain - that it induces. I am very grateful to liberal Christianity for liberating me from that fear. Despite being a Pagan since the age of 17, I still had that fear (of hell, basically) lurking at the bottom of my psyche, encased in a volcano of anger. Once the anger had gone, the fear was still there, and it is liberal Christian interpretations of the Bible that have liberated me from that fear.<br />
<br />
On a more positive note, I also value the fact that I can find a lot of common ground with liberal Christians, on values, shared appreciation of the beauty of Nature, and frequently shared understandings of the nature of the Divine as immanent and loving and including both genders as well as transcending gender.<br />
<br />
If we have travelled by very different paths and still arrived at a similar understanding, that suggests we might be onto something. I met an ex-Franciscan who has a remarkably similar apophatic understanding of the Divine. I have met Unitarian Christians with a deep appreciation of the Divine immanence in Nature.<br />
<br />
As a dear liberal Christian friend remarked approvingly, "Ah, so liberal Christianity made you a better Wiccan?" To which I replied, "Yes."<br />
<br />
Liberal Christianity liberated me from my fear so that I could concentrate on my spiritual path of joyous communion with the Divine in Nature, with spirits of place, and with the land.Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-73098122366023509972012-10-23T12:03:00.001-01:002012-10-23T12:03:25.942-01:00Tackling homophobic bullyingI have just written to my old school to ask them how they are tackling homophobic bullying.<br />
<br />
To: info@bitterneparkschool.org.uk <br />
<br />
Dear Ms Trigger,<br />
<br />
As a former student at Bitterne Park Comprehensive School, I’d like to
raise an issue that’s very important to me. This will be the third time I
have written to the school to ask about this. I was very disappointed
that I did not receive a reply to my previous emails, but perhaps this
time it will be different.<br />
<br />
I recently read Stonewall’s School
Report, research conducted by the University of Cambridge into the
experience of 1,600 lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) young
people in Britain’s schools. I was concerned to discover that more than
half of LGBT young people are still experiencing homophobic bullying in
schools, and almost all of them regularly hear the use of homophobic
language. The study also found that this bullying not only negatively
impacts on young people’s happiness and attainment at school, but can
also have severe consequences for their mental health and well-being.<br />
<br />
I remember that when I was a student at Bitterne Park, Section 28 was
still in force, and a close friend was on the receiving end of
homophobic bullying, and the teachers could not do anything to stop it. I
myself was also on the receiving end of homophobic bullying, and found
it demoralising.<br />
<br />
Thankfully, the University of Cambridge
research showed that in those schools that take simple steps to tackle
homophobia, for instance by challenging homophobic language, levels of
homophobic bullying decrease markedly and young people report feeling
happier and more welcome in their schools.<br />
<br />
In light of
Anti-Bullying Week, which is coming up on 19-23 November, I thought you
might like to know about Stonewall’s School Champions programme, which
has been specifically designed to help schools develop strategies for
tackling homophobic bullying. The programme is already working with
schools across Britain and if you’d like to find out how to become one
of them just visit: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stonewall.org.uk%2Fschoolchampions&h=cAQGNlAjjAQEN9KoZYqPPbDfHoze1mz4Zylt3QmnDB0UAcg&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">www.stonewall.org.uk/schoolchampions</a>.
Stonewall also has a wide range of education resources available on
their website to help teachers reduce and tackle homophobic bullying –
available at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stonewall.org.uk%2Fresources&h=LAQHqFenDAQH14RgzolpOBoh22Fd41-C6RFUbRYn6v30BkA&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">www.stonewall.org.uk/resources</a>.<br />
<br />
Thank you for taking my concerns into consideration and I look forward
to hearing back from you. If you’d like more details about what
Stonewall is doing during Anti-Bullying Week, you can visit <a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stonewall.org.uk%2Fantibullying&h=AAQFUQ6D0AQGQ-nSmpkObPFKcbRQsd0cnC-CZZvZYLwqOFQ&s=1" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">www.stonewall.org.uk/antibullying</a><br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.stonewall.org.uk/at_school/antibullying_week/default.asp" rel="nofollow nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.stonewall.org.uk/at_school/antibullying_week/default.asp</a>
Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-33430952662844771152012-10-04T08:34:00.001-01:002012-10-04T08:34:44.498-01:00Charitable givingI think we need to move away from a human-centric view of the world towards a deep ecology view, that is what has got our species into so much trouble. Social and environmental justice are part and parcel of the same thing. If you care for the environment, you are also caring for its inhabitants, which include people. And animals are people, in my book. They are sentient, they feel compassion and love, they have distinct personalities. Yet another reason why I am a Pagan. <br />
<br />
I know some people who only give to charities that help people in the UK, because they seem unable to see that we are all part of the same world, and that if people in other countries are suffering, then it will eventually have an impact on us - indeed, already is, what with the number of asylum seekers (who are very welcome as far as I am concerned).<br />
<br />
Other species' suffering, because it impacts the ecosystem, will eventually have an impact on humans anyway. Not that I think giving to animal and environment charities needs justifying on the grounds of the effect on humans, any more than I think giving to non-UK-helping charities needs justifying on the grounds of how it will help people in the UK.<br />
<br />
My regular charitable giving goes to Survival International, RSPCA, Friends of the Earth, Oxfam, Stonewall, and Sight Savers. I also buy the Big Issue and shop in charity shops. I used to give to Greenpeace but recently I have become concerned about their campaigning methods.<br />
<br />
I need to do a charity audit and decide which charities I will donate to, and why. I think I need to increase my giving to animal and environmental ones.Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-4331443943516529332012-09-28T14:15:00.000-01:002012-09-28T14:27:52.692-01:00What is a Christian?Unitarian Christians (and others) have been trying to broaden the
definition of Christianity since the 1830s, when the publication of
Rammohun Roy's <i>The Precepts of Jesus</i> caused a furore among conventional Christians of the day. Rammohun
Roy could not accept the doctrines of mainstream Christianity.
He also called into question what is meant by Christianity in his
writings, which were published in England by the Unitarian Society.
Roy's story also raises the issue of what religion is – is it the
original form or impulse, or the "accretions" which subsequently
accumulate, or a combination of these? Is it about values, beliefs, or
practices, or a combination of these? All of these issues were raised by
Roy and his contemporaries over his views and those of the Unitarians,
and the issues are still being debated today in many contexts. There was
considerable dispute (between the Baptist missionaries of Serampore and
the Unitarian Thomas Aspland) over whether Unitarians were Christians,
and whether Roy himself was one; this depended on whether Christianity
was defined according to values and monotheism, or by belief in the
divinity of Christ. In declaring Roy to be a Christian, early nineteenth
century Unitarians perhaps sought to broaden the definition of
Christianity to include themselves. Roy used the same techniques and
sources as the Unitarians to answer his critics: German biblical
criticism, the history of the Arian controversy, the discourse of
radical dissenters, and rational scepticism.<br />
<br />
In the 1950s, apparently, it looked for a while as if Christianity was going to be defined as a broad movement of people who subscribe to the values of Jesus - but then two things happened: an upsurge of secularism, and an upsurge of evangelicalism. After that, it became increasingly difficult to define Christianity as anything other than conservative evangelical fundamentalism, belief in Jeeesus as your Personal Savior<sup>TM</sup>, and belief in penal substitution theology (the idea that he died for your sins).<br />
<br />
James Martineau once famously wrote that he didn't want to describe himself as a Unitarian, because that was the name of a doctrine; instead, he wanted to be called a Free Christian.<br />
<br />
This is at the root of the reason why the full name of the Unitarian tradition in the UK is the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches. A bit of a mouthful, isn't it?<br />
<br />
But what is a Free Christian, or a liberal Christian? They are usually people who are working out their theology for themselves, and consider Jesus' moral example, and his teachings, to be more important than doctrines about him as a Saviour who died for people's sins. (I am sure there are more complicated explanations than that, but that will suffice.) They are also usually inclusive of LGBT people and tolerant of other religions, seeing them as equally valid paths to God / the Divine.<br />
<br />
A Unitarian Christian is a slightly different critter, as this is someone who is both Unitarian and Christian. Again, they are working out their own theology, inclusive towards LGBTs and consider other religions equally valid; but they are also likely to hold Unitarian views of God, meaning that Jesus is not viewed as the second person of the Trinity.<br />
<br />
But the name "Christian" does encapsulate a doctrine: it expresses the view that Jesus was Christ.<br />
<br />
But it depends what you think a "Christ" is, and whether you think he was the only Christ, or whether there are more of them. The word Christ just means "Anointed One" and is a Greek translation of the Jewish word <a href="http://heartofflame.blogspot.co.uk/2009/03/what-is-messiah.html">Messiah</a>, also meaning "Anointed One". Some Jewish thinkers have suggested that there may be a messiah in every generation.<br />
<br />
James Martineau also famously said:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The incarnation is true, not of Christ exclusively, but of Man
universally, and God everlastingly. He bends into the human to dwell
there; and humanity is the susceptible organ of the divine”</blockquote>
Buddhism is a project to make more Buddhas. Buddhism does not claim that Buddha was the incarnation of a deity.<br />
<br />
What if Christianity was a project to make more Christs? Well, funnily enough, there is a very ancient form of Christianity that is exactly that. In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox">Eastern Orthodox Christianity</a>, the rite of baptism is called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrismation">chrismation</a> (anointing), and the aim of the Christian life is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosis_%28Eastern_Orthodox_theology%29">theosis</a> (becoming divine).<br />
<br />
Many, if not most, liberal Christians, Unitarian Christians, and Free Christians reject the notion that Jesus was "<a href="http://www.creeds.net/ancient/nicene.htm">Very God of very God</a>" and emphasise the human Jesus, his moral example, and his teachings.<br />
<br />
But what if, as Martineau said, the Incarnation was true of humans universally? In Judaism, Isaac Luria taught that we all contain a divine spark; and Judaism has always taught that people are made in the image of God.<br />
<br />
If the Incarnation is true of humans universally, then we must all develop our inner Christ (or Buddha, or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aradia">Aradia</a>).<br />
<br />
If Christianity was a project to make more Christs, that might be interesting.<br />
<br />
Further reading on liberal Christianity:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://andrewjbrown.blogspot.co.uk/">Caute</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.ukunitarians.org.uk/christian/herald.htm">The Herald</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.ukunitarians.org.uk/christian/publications.htm#one"><i>The Man they called the Christ</i> by David Doel</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.pcnbritain.org.uk/">The Progressive Christianity Network</a></li>
<li><a href="http://inclusive-church.org.uk/tags/lgbt-0">Inclusive Church</a></li>
<li><a href="http://changingattitude.org.uk/">Changing Attitude </a></li>
<li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_atheism">Atheist Christians</a> </li>
</ul>
I am not a Christian and I never will be one (Wicca is my <i>dharma</i>, my <i>sangha</i>, and my tribe), but I am delighted that there is a strong liberal movement within Christianity. It provides an alternative to those who don't embrace exclusivism, homophobia, and intolerance of other faiths, and shows that another way is possible.<br />
<br />
it would make a lot more sense if people talked about Christianities instead of Christianity. (And what about all those <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Chalcedonianism">Christian churches</a> that dissented at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Chalcedon">Council of Chalcedon</a>?) Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-77437589853520374402012-09-14T14:20:00.000-01:002012-09-14T14:20:07.133-01:00Science fiction religionsThere have been several new religious movements based on science fictional religions.
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_religions">Wikipedia has a list of fictional religions</a>, not all of which come from science fiction.
The most famous example of a real-world recreation of a science fiction religion is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jediism">Jedi</a> from <i>Star Wars</i>, but there is also the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_All_Worlds">Church of All Worlds</a> from Heinlein's <i>Stranger in a Strange Land</i>, <a href="http://catvincent.wordpress.com/2009/04/03/cullenism-every-generation-gets-the-religion-it-deserves/">Cullenism</a>, based on <i>Twilight</i>.
Recently I came across a recreation of the Bene Gesserit from <i>Dune</i> with its own <a href="http://tau.solahpmo.com/assets/BGManual.pdf">training manual</a> (PDF). I have no idea how serious this actually is but it looks as if it is an attempt to create a serious BG order.
I think what all these new religious movements have in common (apart from the Church of All Worlds) is that they try to be too prescriptive about what people should practice and/or believe.
On the other hand, the Bene Gesserit manual admonishes its readers:
<br />
<blockquote>
Beware of manuals! Manuals create habits!<br />
<br />
Except for the preliminary teachings tailored to the acolytes and postulants, we try to
avoid admonitory sayings, but since this is our first edition and we must break the virgin soil, you will forgive the many errors inherent in this work. Someone had to do the
plowing. Do not argue over the possible meanings of the contents of this manual. Words
are dead things. Truth changes. Facts are fragile. Be Warned. Understand nothing. All
comprehension is temporary. We realize, however, that a foundation is necessary, no
matter how impermanent it may be. This is a real manual for real Bene Gesserit. It is not
a guide book for children and their role-playing games. This is a guidebook for strong
women to do great things.<br />
<br />
Why do we have manuals? Answer: To disprove them.</blockquote>
Yes indeed - but then why write a manual at all?Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-25560092854332753492012-09-08T17:48:00.000-01:002012-09-08T22:13:02.138-01:00Some thoughts on IslamIslam, like all religions, is a highly complex cultural phenomenon. People try to lump all Muslims together and assume they all think the same thing, as if they were some vast lumpen mass. If they actually took the trouble to get to know some Muslims, and get to know a bit about Muslim culture, it would help.<br />
<br />
There are lots of things to admire about Islam. The <a href="http://www.arabacademy.com/en/downloads/Learn-Arabic-English-translation-of-99-names-of-Allah">99 names of Allah</a> reflect different aspects of the Divine, such as compassion, peace, forgiveness, and subtlety. Muslims recognise other religions of the book as worshipping the same deity. The coming of Islam brought peace and stability and prosperity to the warring Arabian peninsula.<br />
<br />
The Muslim world (<i>Dar al-Islam</i>) has traditionally been much more tolerant towards religious minorities within it than was true of Christendom (which either expelled or forcibly converted Jews and Muslims, and then tortured them and burnt them if they reverted to their previous religions). Under the Ottoman Empire, and in al-Andalus (Muslim Spain before the <i>reconquista</i>), religious minorities were tolerated - they may have had certain restrictions, but they could practice their religions. When the Crusaders took over Jerusalem, they slaughtered most of the inhabitants, including Christians, Jews and Muslims, so that the streets were running knee-deep in blood. When <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saladin">Saladin</a> (Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb) took over Jerusalem, anyone who wished to leave was allowed to do so without let or hindrance. Saladin's noble and chivalrous behavior was noted by Christian chroniclers, and he became a celebrated exponent of the principles of chivalry.<br />
<br />
The Renaissance in Europe happened because of the art, culture and science that came from the Muslim world. Muslim scholars had been gathered together in a group called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Wisdom">House of Wisdom</a> under the Abbasid Empire to translate classical texts into Arabic. Muslim scholars not only translated texts but also wrote treatises on science, astronomy, astrology, medicine, mathematics, the arts, and so on. The names of many scientific instruments and areas of knowledge come from Arabic. Alchemy, chemistry, algorithm, alcohol, almagest, and so on. Many <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Arabic_star_names">star-names are Arabic</a>, or come from Arabic, and very beautiful they are too. The poetry and literature of the Arabs was also outstanding. There are still many Muslim scientists today. And also, Ibn Battutah, a medieval Muslim traveller from Morocco went all the way to China and wrote down what he saw on the way - he travelled much further and more widely than Marco Polo, and stayed longer in the places he visited.<br />
<br />
The Arab world also had very advanced ceramic techniques - probably because of the emphasis on geometric designs in mosques, because of the ban on graven images.<br />
<br />
Fairly early on in the history of Islam, there developed a difference in emphasis between two groups: the Sufis, whose emphasis was more mystical; and those who preferred the more legalistic side of Islam. Indeed, Islamic jurisprudence is complex and subtle. There are several different forms of Islamic law - so it would actually be very difficult to impose sharia on Muslim communities in the UK, because they all come from different places where Islamic law has developed differently.<br />
<br />
Two major groups in Islam are the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunni_Islam">Sunni</a> and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shia_Islam">Shia</a>. The Sunni derive all authority from the Prophet Mohammed; the Shia recognise a line of holy men who are descended from the Prophet.<br />
<br />
The word "Sunni" comes from the term Sunnah, which refers to the sayings and actions of Muhammad that are recorded in <i>hadiths</i> (collections of oral testimony regarding Muhammad, collected not long after his death).<br />
<br />
"Shia" is the short form of the historic phrase Shīʻatu ʻAlī, meaning "followers", "faction", or "party" of Muhammad's son-in-law Ali, whom the Shia believe to be Muhammad's successor.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sufism">Sufism</a> or <i>taṣawwuf</i> is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a ṣūfī. Sufis believe they are practicing <i>Ihsan </i>(perfection of worship) as revealed by Gabriel to Muhammad. The Sufis have produced a lot of really amazing mystic poetry, such as the poetry of Rumi and Hafiz; and many inspiring saints, such as Al Hallaj and Rabia. Their worship services (<i>zikr </i>or <i>dikr</i>, meaning remembering the name of Allah) are very beautiful.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahhabi">Wahhabism</a> is a conservative and fundamentalism form of Sunni Islam. It is particularly strong in Saudi Arabia. It has gained <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahhabi#Explanation_for_influence">influence</a> for various reasons over the rest of the Muslim world, partly because its adherents are very wealthy, and partly because of the rising hostility between the West and Islam, which creates a vicious downward spiral. Wahhabis also distribute a version of the Holy Qu'ran annotated with their interpretations of it.<br />
<br />
There are aspects of Islamic practice which don't appeal to me. I believe the body is sacred, and sexuality is sacred, so the idea of modesty does not appeal to me. I support the right of Muslims to wear <i>hijab </i>(modest dress for both men and women; although in many Islamic countries it has been the modesty of women that has been the most policed and commented on). I disagree with extra emphasis being placed on <i>hijab </i>for women, which is the case in some Islamic countries, especially Saudi Arabia; but there are <i>hijab </i>codes for both men and women. If people want to indicate their devotion to their deity, good for them. I don't think it qualifies them for <i>extra </i>respect, but they should be accorded as much respect as anyone else, and I absolutely and unequivocally condemn violence against people observing <i>hijab </i>codes.<br />
<br />
I also dislike the anti-gay rhetoric coming from some Muslims - but I also dislike the anti-gay rhetoric coming from senior figures in Christianity, which is currently considerably louder, or at least getting more media attention. I abhor the fact that in many Islamic countries, being gay carries the death penalty, and sincerely hope that this will change.<br />
<br />
[Update: There are also advocacy groups for LGBT Muslims, and a prominent Muslim spokesperson who stands up for LGBT rights.]<br />
<br />
As a vegetarian, I can't say I particularly like the slaughter of animals for festivals in some Islamic countries; but that's not really a core part of Islam. If you insist on eating meat, then I think <i>dhabihah </i>(the correct method of slaughtering meat so that it conforms with <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halal">halal</a></i>) is more humane. It says that you should bless the animal with the name of God before killing it, and the killing should be swift and humane. Muslims are taught throughout the Qur'an that all animals should be treated with respect and well cared for. <br />
<br />
One of the interesting things about Islam is that it is all about the consensus of the <i>ummah</i> (the community); there is no Pope and no Archbishops. There is more than one imam. If you don't like the interpretation of the Qu'ran (a <i>fatwa </i>is an interpretation of the Qu'ran) that you get from one imam, you can go to a different one.<br />
<br />
Just like any other holy book, the Qu'ran contains contradictory passages and bits that are confusing. There are many passages advocating peace, compassion and tolerance; there are also exhortations to violence. The same is true of the Bible. That is why exegesis is a delicate art and these books should be taken as a whole, not just quoted in bits taken out of context, and above all they should not be taken literally.<br />
<br />
Like all other religions, there are fundamentalists in Islam. I don't like fundamentalism in <i>any</i> religion; but I have to say that Christian fundamentalists are just as dangerous as Islamic fundamentalists, if not more dangerous, because they have access to power and influence and money in one of the most powerful countries in the world, i.e. America.<br />
<br />
Most Muslims just want to live in peace with their neighbours. They are mostly peace-loving and compassionate people - something that <a href="http://moansar.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/cabal-on-broadcasting-bias.html">news programmes consistently ignore</a>.<br />
<br />
So, for goodness' sake, people, get educated about Islam. I have only skimmed the surface here, but it is a very complicated topic, just like all other religions.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-66541344299042885692012-09-07T08:37:00.000-01:002012-09-07T10:27:44.682-01:00What's wrong with the Incarnation?Many Christians think that other religions don't like the idea of the Incarnation because they're offended by the idea of God becoming human.<br /><br />
The thing that is specifically offensive about the idea that Jesus is the only way to God is the idea that stems from it that all other religions are wrong, and that unless you have "accepted Jesus as your personal Saviour" you will go to hell. So according to this insane and offensive theology, that means Gandhi and other great luminaries are in hell. (Then there's <a href="http://heartofflame.blogspot.co.uk/2008/05/one-more-reason-why-im-pagan.html">penal substitution theology, which is also offensive</a>, but that is a separate issue.)<br />
<br />
I don't have a problem with the idea of Jesus being divine. I <i>do </i>have a problem with the idea of his being the one and only incarnation of the godhead. As far as I'm concerned, we are all divine.<br />
<br />
In polytheist religions, the idea of humans becoming divine, or the divine becoming human, crops up frequently. There's Krishna, who is an incarnation of Vishnu. There's Oðinn, who is either a deified human or a god who became human. There's Aradia, who was Diana's daughter and came to earth to teach Tuscan witches their craft, and how to resist oppression. There are many, many deities who became human, and humans who became deities. So the idea that other religions have a problem with the Incarnation because they don't like the idea of God becoming human is laughably ignorant.<br />
<br />
In Judaism, the soul has three components - the <i>nefesh </i>(the animal soul, which disperses at death), the <i>neshamah </i>(the divine part, which returns to God at death), and the <i>ruach </i>(the breath of God, which gives life). The more spiritually developed you are, the greater the <i>neshamah </i>becomes. When Jesus told his disciples that he would send his <i>ruach </i>(his Holy Spirit) to be with the disciples at death, he meant he would send that component of his soul to be with them. This insight must have got lost in the early centuries of Christianity when the Judaic elements were eradicated from Christianity by opponents of "Judaizing". Anyway, the point here is, that in Judaism, everyone is a child of God, and has God within them. (For more on this, see my earlier post, <a href="http://heartofflame.blogspot.co.uk/2007/09/trinity-and-jewish-theology.html">The Trinity and Jewish theology</a>).<br />
<br />
In the Religious Society of Friends (the Quakers), they say that everyone has "that of God" within them, and refer to the Inner Christ or the Inner Light. The idea is to uncover that light (not hiding it under a bushel) and let it shine.<br />
<br />
In Unitarianism, which rejected the doctrine of the Trinity back in the 16th century, the view is usually that everyone has the Divine within them, too. James Martineau, a great 19th century member of the tradition (who actually identified as a Free Christian), said:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The incarnation is true, not of Christ exclusively, but of Man
universally, and God everlastingly. He bends into the human to dwell
there; and humanity is the susceptible organ of the divine.</blockquote>
What a truly great concept - the incarnation is true of all humans. Or as Shakespeare (religious beliefs unknown) so memorably put it:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how
like a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals<br />
<br />
<i>Hamlet</i>, Act II, Scene II </blockquote>
In Buddhism, we all contain the potential to become enlightened, to become a Buddha, to become divine. We are all Future Buddhas.<br />
<br />
In Eastern Orthodox Christianity, although they believe that Jesus is the one and only divine incarnation, they also have the concept of <i>theosis</i>, which means that because Jesus opened the way between the human and the divine, we can all become divine. Indeed, Jesus himself said, "I have said, ye are gods."<br />
<br />
So, no, the thing that annoys people about the Incarnation is not the idea that God became human - it's the idea that it only happened once.<br />
<br />
Everyone has "that of God" within them - the <i>neshamah</i>, the <i>ruach</i>, the seed of a Future Buddha, the potential for theosis.<br />
<br />
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Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-41800725205967310292012-09-05T15:14:00.000-01:002012-09-05T15:14:12.235-01:00Belief-O-Matic updateI noticed that I haven't done the Belief-O-Matic questionnaire since 2010 - so here's an update. It's a pity they don't have a category for Wicca.<br />
<br />
Unitarian Universalism 100%<br />
Secular Humanism 98%<br />
Liberal Quakerism 84%<br />
Atheism 67%<br />
Taoism 66%<br />
Liberal Christian Protestantism 64%<br />
New Age 62%<br />
Theravada Buddhism 59%<br />
Mahayana Buddhism 58%<br />
Neo-Paganism 58%<br />
Reformed Judaism 53%<br />
Scientology 50%<br />
Sikhism 48%<br />
Jainism 47%<br />
New Thought 47%<br />
Church of Christ, Scientist 41%<br />
Orthodox Quakerism 34%<br />
Bahá'í Faith 28%<br />
Hinduism 26%<br />
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints 15%<br />
Conservative Christian Protestant 14%<br />
Islam 12%<br />
Seventh-day Adventists 8%<br />
Jehovah's Witnesses 5%<br />
Orthodox Judaism 3%<br />
Roman Catholicism 0%<br />
Eastern Orthodox Christianity 0%
Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-81563527780214042392012-08-24T13:55:00.000-01:002012-08-24T14:02:57.146-01:00Letter to the book-burnersDear <a href="http://www.wearsidewomeninneed.org.uk/index.php?option=com_contact&Itemid=18">Wearside Women in Need</a>,<br />
<br />
I am dismayed by the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-19354560">article that appeared on the BBC website today, describing how your charity plans to burn copies of <i>Fifty Shades of Grey</i></a>.<br />
<br />
I am not planning to read <i>Fifty Shades of Grey</i>, and I agree that the character of Edward Grey is a stalker and potentially abusive. (Also, it is a very badly written book.)<br />
<br />
However, Edward Grey is not abusive because he is into BDSM. He is abusive because he is a stalker who denies Anastasia's autonomy and consistently ignores her boundaries.<br />
<br />
The book does not describe BDSM as it is practised by the majority of the BDSM community. BDSM practitioners generally abide by the ethos of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe,_sane_and_consensual">"safe, sane and consensual"</a>.<br />
<br />
There may be abusers who try to hide in the BDSM community, but they are no more numerous than abusers who engage in vanilla sex.<br />
<br />
BDSM is not abuse. Please do not conflate the two.<br />
<br />
May I refer you to a couple of articles and books which may help to clarify the difference for you:<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.therapytoday.net/article/show/1984/">"A kink in the process" by Su Connan, in <i>Therapy Today</i> </a></li>
<li><a href="http://heresycorner.blogspot.com/2012/07/fifty-shades-of-grr.html">"Fifty Shades of Grr" by Adele Haze </a></li>
<li>"<a href="http://clarissethorn.com/blog/2010/09/19/the-sm-feminist/">The SM feminist" by Clarisse Thorn</a> </li>
</ul>
<br />
Furthermore, book-burning is what fundamentalists do. It is profoundly against democracy and the free dissemination of ideas.
I do not like <i>Fifty Shades of Grey</i> because it is a gross distortion of BDSM, but at least it has enabled a conversation in the public square about what BDSM is actually about.<br />
<br />Yewtreehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02028699564003381058noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29809530.post-16086028975204724442012-08-22T12:05:00.000-01:002012-08-23T09:44:40.534-01:00The Endless Knot<div class="product-information">
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