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 Radio1 - The Body
Provided By: Achriel
Composer: Castalia
Title: The Thorn Tree
Radio2 - The Mind
Radio3 - The Soul
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The mark of a true leader is the ability to control without force. And, in fact, wild animals who rely on brute force to maintain their status typically get eliminated from the gene pool because this approach requires so much energy.
-- gythia
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· Using Witchvox – a walkthrough
(Sep 02, 2009)
· Nutritionist Stephen Heuer Arrested in FDA Raid
(Jan 19, 2009)
· Spelling it like it isn't
(Aug 09, 2008)
· Funding the pagans
(Mar 08, 2008)
· Giuliani gets Robertson Endorsement
(Nov 12, 2007)
· The Dangers Of Feminism
(Aug 30, 2007)
· The secrets behind crazy airfare prices
(Aug 27, 2007)
· Petition To Rename Stretch Of 401 'Highway Of Heroes'
(Aug 24, 2007)
· Mummified Toronto child a newborn boy
(Jul 27, 2007)
· Quick Summer Meals without all the heat!
(Jul 18, 2007)
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 Topic: Opinions & Discussions
The new items published under this topic are as follows.
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The origins of religion: evolved adaptation or by-product?
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Posted by: Makarios on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 02:00 PM
54 Reads
By Ilkka Pyysiäinen and Marc Hauser
Considerable debate has surrounded the question of the origins and evolution of religion. One proposal views religion as an adaptation for cooperation, whereas an alternative proposal views religion as a by-product of evolved, non-religious, cognitive functions. We critically evaluate each approach, explore the link between religion and morality in particular, and argue that recent empirical work in moral psychology provides stronger support for the by-product approach. Specifically, despite differences in religious background, individuals show no difference in the pattern of their moral judgments for unfamiliar moral scenarios. These findings suggest that religion evolved from pre-existing cognitive functions, but that it may then have been subject to selection, creating an adaptively designed system for solving the problem of cooperation.
Adaptation or by-product?
Religious beliefs are ubiquitous across cultures and time, and understanding the origins and evolution of religion is a question that has attracted significant attention and debate. Some scholars claim that religion evolved as an adaptation to solve the problem of cooperation among genetically unrelated others. Others propose that religion emerged as a by-product of pre-existing cognitive capacities, but then, through both biological and cultural evolution, might have evolved into a system that is well-designed to solve problems of cooperation. Here, we review these alternative proposals, and then introduce a moral psychological perspective that, we argue, provides novel insight into this debate. Specifically, recent work in moral psychology supports the view that religion evolved as a cognitive by-product of pre-existing capacities that evolved for non-religious functions.
Read the complete article: Trends in Cognitive Sciences
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Regionalism
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Posted by: Makarios on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - 10:00 AM
45 Reads
By Swain Wodening
There has been a lot of talk this past year about regionalism. This is nothing new and has been a topic for most of my Heathen life (which is now in its 23rd year). On the surface it sounds well and good. Organize regional gatherings, form a regional thing, and all will be dandy. Folks will communicate, get together, and do things together. The problem is without a guiding national organization it rarely works out that way. I can name several regional organizations that went the way of the buffalo. All organized with the best of intentions. The Great Plains Ring operated in the Midwest for a couple of years before going belly up, as did the Texas Asatru League, and the Indiana Asatru Council, once one of the most active regional organizations has not seen activity in years. The same can be said of regional lists. The Central States Heathen list was once very active, and even hosted a couple of gatherings. It is now lucky to see twenty posts a month. Regionalism, at least up to now has not worked with a very few exceptions.
I have a theory why and it centers on diversity. With a national organization, all the individuals, kindreds, and fellowships generally share a common interest and common goals. Like attracts like. But with a regional organization, the only common denominator is that of proximity. And more is needed than mere physical proximity for an organization to work. That is why in say, a small area like Dallas-Fort Worth you see more than four fellowships. Beliefs, how rituals are done, customs and traditions, and esp. personalities differ from group to group and do not always mix well. An individual regional group is therefore almost doomed from the start.
Read the complete article: Swain Wodenings Blog
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Update: Wiccan altar an opportunity to enlighten
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Posted by: Copperwoman on Saturday, March 06, 2010 - 09:00 AM
183 Reads
by KAT FATLAND
If Dale Halferty, the Guthrie Center teacher who banned his student from creating a Wiccan altar in shop class, actually believes his own words, that "this witchcraft stuff... is terrible for our kids. It takes kids away from what they know, and leads them to a dark and violent life," then Halferty should not be a teacher.
If Halferty thinks that learning about any valid religion is "terrible," he is thus prohibiting entire fields of knowledge from being accessed. If one reflects on reasons why anything should not be talked about in school, the only reason Halferty has is fear - and nothing is more degrading to knowledge than fear of it. What was he afraid of when he prohibited this student from creating this altar? Was he afraid that other students might be interested? Not only is that a biased response from his own Christian faith, it is an ignorant one as well.
Read the complete article: DesMoines Register
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Death With Dignity
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Posted by: Makarios on Saturday, March 06, 2010 - 08:00 AM
148 Reads
By Laura Anderson
In America, only three states allow physician-assisted suicide: Oregon, Washington and Montana. Keep in mind that physician-assisted suicide is very different from euthanasia. In a physician-assisted suicide, the patient is ultimately responsible for ending his or her own life; the doctor simply gives them the means. In euthanasia, the doctor directly ends the patient’s life. Montana is a recent addition to the list. The ruling came in December of 2009 and was met with mixed feelings. According to USA Today, Steve Johnson, a cancer patient, is glad that suicide is allowed. But organizations such as the Coalition Against Assisted Suicide are protesting.
The British government is altering the laws for Britain and Wales a bit in determining whether a person would face prosecution for assisting a suicide. Currently, it is illegal to assist a person and is punishable by up to 14 years in jail. And the Brits aren’t looking at changing the law; they just want to alter guidelines about whether or not to prosecute.
Read the complete article: Pagan Politics
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An Ecopsychological Alternative to “Maiden, Mother and Crone”
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Posted by: Makarios on Friday, March 05, 2010 - 12:00 PM
165 Reads
By Lupa
I’ve always had issues with the “Maiden, Mother and Crone” triad (which shall be referred to as MMC from here on out) in neopaganism. It stems from Robert Graves filtered through Wicca, but seems to have bled over into generic neopagan lore. While originally it was intended to describe certain supposed trinities of goddesses, it has since been applied erroneously to human women as well. Neither deities nor humans seem to do so well when shoved into archetypal pigeonholes–while I may see totems as archetypal in nature, it’s as representations of all qualities and associations of their given species, not as “Brown Bear is the healer, Grey Wolf is the Teacher”, etc.
It’s the humans in specific I’d like to talk about here. As someone who is deliberately childfree, I already have reason to dislike the MMC’s focus on the uterus and its functions as defining characteristics of what it means to be female. I used to subscribe to that whole concept that “fertility” could be symbolic as well, dealing in creative endeavors like artwork as one’s “children”. But that still limits women to “creative”, “fertile” and “nurturing” roles–as I mentioned to someone on my Twitter account, what about “Little Hellion”, “Hostile Corporate Takeover Organizer” and “Crazy Cat Lady With Attack Bengals” as archetypes? These are pretty limiting, too.
Read the complete article: Therioshamanism
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Love the Earth, Respect the Earth
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Posted by: Copperwoman on Thursday, March 04, 2010 - 11:00 AM
172 Reads
by Nancy Vedder-Shults
<snip>We in the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) are considering changes in the language of our “Principles and Purposes,” the statements that guide our work together as an association of free, but interdependent congregations. Karen was responding on Sunday to the rewording of the seventh principle, a change that would substitute the word reverence for the word respect in the phrase “we covenant to honor and uphold … respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.” She made an effective appeal for retaining the original language –respect — because she believes that to revere something implies a certain passivity — true for our fundamentalist brethren, but not for me and other people on the left hand of God — while respect indicates an active response. Obviously, this is not my experience.
What all Unitarian Universalists want in this rewrite of the seventh principle is language that reflects care for the Earth as a religious imperative, not an optional activity. And for me it’s even more important, because as a Wiccan UU, the seventh principle encapsulates some of the most significant aspects of my combined religion.
Read the complete article: Tikkun Daily
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Thoughts on Pagan Religious Dress
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Posted by: Makarios on Tuesday, March 02, 2010 - 02:00 PM
206 Reads
By Johnny Rapture
Ever since learning about Sailor Mars, I’ve always wanted to be a monk (err, I guess a Nun. . . .). Now, that was at a very impressionable young age, and since then I’ve wanted to be many other things “when I grow up”: Archaeologist, architect, cartoonist, porn star, scholar, revolutionary. But the monastic urge has never left me. Now, I could (and will) write a whole post about what a Pagan monasticism might look like, and what some Pagans have done in order to begin such traditions. All I want to talk about right now, though, is clothing.
You see, one of the aspects of the monastic life that has always appealed to me is the idea of formal dress, dress with a purpose. Dress that comes out of a tradition; dress that others like you have worn before. Dress that is a constant reminder to one’s-self and to one’s community of a commitment to religious life.
Read the complete article: The Great Tininess
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Witch Hunting: Not Just in History Books
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Posted by: Makarios on Tuesday, March 02, 2010 - 12:00 PM
206 Reads
By Rebecca Vernon
Witch hunts conjure images of 17th century Salem, The Crucible and perhaps even Monty Python. They are relics of the past and today are relegated to fiction. But for thousands of women in modern-day India, witch hunts are all too real. Over the last 15 years, an estimated 2,500 Indian women have been killed because they were “witches.” Tons more have been beaten, tortured, forced off their land and driven out of their villages. They are treated brutally: Victims may be beheaded, hacked to death, stoned, buried alive, forced to eat excrement or raped.
Witch hunts are most common among poor rural communities with little access to education and health services, and longstanding beliefs in witchcraft. When an individual gets sick or harm befalls the community, the blame falls not upon a virus or crop disease, but upon an alleged witch. These “witches” are primarily women and are often widows or other marginalized members of society. In many cases, however, claiming that a woman is a witch who has caused some harm is merely a smokescreen. In reality, the witch hunter wishes to punish the victim for a perceived transgression, such as refusing sexual advances or challenging an authority figure. In other instances, a woman (again, often a widow) owns property that someone else wants. Labeling her as a witch and killing her or driving her from the village makes her land available for the taking.
Read the complete article: Cornell Daily Sun
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Feet on the ground
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Posted by: Makarios on Tuesday, March 02, 2010 - 10:00 AM
167 Reads
By Nettle
Kullervo recently referred to the term “earth-based religion” as “bullshit rhetoric.” I think that what he means by that is that it’s a term that gets used thoughtlessly without a whole lot of reflection as to what it might mean. I asked him if that was actually what he meant, and he confirmed that and added the observation that he saw the term used most often as a code-phrase for other practices and beliefs that had no direct connection to being “Earth-based.” This mirrors my comment to Ruby Sara on her post on the same topic, that “people… seem to think it means something like recycling and keeping a compost heap.” One can do those things – or be a vegan, or a pacificist, or an eco-feminist, as Kullervo says – without practicing an Earth-based religion. He is right that none of these things are inherently “Earth-based”, and one can do and be none of them and still practice Earth-based religion. It sometimes leads people to those places, but just as often it doesn’t. Two people could both sincerely and profoundly experience their religion as Earth-based and come to completely different conclusions about pacifism or veganism, but then I could say the same thing about two Christians.
Read the complete article: Druids Apprentice
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The Fight to be Female
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Posted by: Makarios on Sunday, February 28, 2010 - 10:00 AM
264 Reads
By Julia Hughes Jones
“Girls begin to talk and to stand on their feet sooner than boys because weeds always grow up more quickly than good crops” — Martin Luther, 1533.
When I first read the above quotation several decades ago, I wanted to know why anyone would say such a thing. What I discovered is that Martin Luther’s reflection was, and continues to be, the echo of ancient philosophical and theological conjecture about female inferiority. Luther was primed to believe this fallacy by centuries of both great and small minds that came before him.
Not much has changed in the years between Luther’s observation and the present day. The female half of humanity continues to be defined by limitations in politics, religion, and business because an undercurrent of belief in female inferiority persists, sometimes blatantly, oftentimes unthinkingly.
Read the complete article: Daily Times
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HuffPost Tackles Religion and other Pagan News of Note
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Posted by: Copperwoman on Friday, February 26, 2010 - 03:00 PM
238 Reads
by Jason Pitzl-Waters
While traditional media outlets continue to cut back on their coverage of religion, there’s been a slow expansion on the Internet. Beliefnet, one of the first Internet religion-news hubs, continues to reign supreme in terms of size and traffic, but it’s starting to see some competition from sites like Patheos and the Newsweek/Washington Post-supported On Faith. Now, another new-media contender is entering the God(s)-beat, as the left-leaning Huffington Post launches a religion section.
Some of the big-name contributors include Jim Wallis, Deepak Chopra, Sister Joan Chittister, and Eboo Patel. But will HuffPost Religion cover modern Paganism? I’ve received some initial signs from folks working there that they are looking to add Pagan voices to the section, so we’ll see how things play out in the weeks ahead. Patheos, Beliefnet, and On Faith all now include a Pagan perspective (to varying degrees), so I can’t imagine HuffPost Religion will be far behind (especially since they have Pagans writing for them in other sections). I’ll keep you posted on developments.
Read the complete article: Wild Hunt
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An Honest to God (dess) Filter
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Posted by: Makarios on Thursday, February 25, 2010 - 08:00 AM
170 Reads
By Fire Lyte
This article’s purpose is, as I say often, to light a fire under comfortable thinking. Comfortable thinking, to me, is complacency, when we get complacent in our search for knowledge; when we get to the 102 level or the 103 level, or maybe just continue to swirl around the 101 level, and decide that’s good enough. My challenge to you, the readers, is to never accept anything blindly and to continue to learn everything you possibly can, to be captains of your own experience.
Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of one of my favorite books Eat, Pray, Love, said we must “Look for God like a man with his head on fire looks for water.” She also said, “You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestation of your own blessings.” I believe this with my whole heart and being.
This is why, when I am discussing a topic such as the nature of the Divine or the definition of Paganism, I try and stress to you all that the information I present is simply how I’ve come to understand things to be. I know for a fact that my worldview will change several times over the course of my life, and I look forward to each change with the same fervor and invention that Siddhartha did when he was studying the divine. (I recommend you read that book. You’ll never look at a river the same way again. Or, maybe you will.)
Read the complete article: Witchvox
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Earth-Centered: A Theology (Part One)
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Posted by: Makarios on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - 02:00 PM
210 Reads
By Ruby Sara
Someone in the comments area of another blog I was reading (which I have to admit I cannot for the life of me find now) recently asked a question along the lines of: “what does ‘earth-centered’ mean anyway?”
<snip> Of course, it’s important to note that there are plenty of Pagani who don’t identify as earth-centered. Contemporary Paganism more and more seems, to me, to be distancing itself from the chestnut earth-centered definition (though a quick google search of “earth centered spirituality” will still quickly bring up a LOT of sites referencing that exact definition) and moving towards an understanding of itself as an aggregate of sometimes culturally specific (Recons and others) and sometimes inspired/constructed/syncretic (Wicca and others), polytheistic religions (many of which are based on pre-Christian European traditions, but not all). In other words, “polytheist” may be becoming more and more the first thing folks say when confronted with the Herculean and Sisyphian task of defining Paganism to others, rather than “earth-centered.” And that’s fine – in fact, it may be more accurate and encompassing. What it still isn’t, however, is meaningfully descriptive. What I mean is, it still doesn’t solve the problem of the term “Paganism” itself…a term I’ve been questioning a lot lately, specifically in terms of my own identity.
Read the complete article: Pagan Godspell
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The Quandary of the Other
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Posted by: Makarios on Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - 10:00 AM
195 Reads
By Lupa
As I was poking around in my garden today, pulling weeds, turning soil and traumatizing earthworms in preparation for early spring planting, I was thinking about some of the “why” of what it is I’m doing here with this whole shamanic experiment. Because it really is an experiment. I’m testing a whole bunch of concepts, most of which have been tried in varying combinations by other people, but not, to my knowledge, in quite the way I am.
What I was thinking about was an extension of my thoughts in my last column in Rending the Veil, In Defense of the BINABM. Many neopagans and others criticize the fact that Americans (and other Westerners) have a tendency to gravitate toward the Big, Impressive North American Birds and Mammals (BINABM) like Grey Wolf and Brown Bear and Bald Eagle. And even I’ve done the same; hell, a lot of why I wrote DIY Totemism was to help people break out of the idea that those were the only totems with any power.
But I keep finding myself working with these BINABM in my shamanic work, and a large reason is because those are the animals most commonly in our cultural consciousness as being “properly totemic”. Rationally, some of us can realize that other animals have a lot of intense and amazing qualities we can learn from. And we can also realize that we downplay the importance of animals we have domesticated, partly out of guilt, and also out of familiarity. So we don’t really romanticize Domestic Dog, Cow or Pigeon in the same way.
Read the complete article: Therioshamanism
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Thinking about fertility
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Posted by: Makarios on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 - 12:00 PM
224 Reads
By Sannion
Fertility. It’s a beautiful word, isn’t it? It conjures in our minds images of ripe fruit on the vines, golden fields of wheat, baby animals, strapping young lads and beautiful maids with swollen bellies.
Fertility lies at the heart of most ancient religions and is especially prominent within Greco-Egyptian polytheism. It’s easy to understand why this was so for our cultural ancestors when you consider what life was like back then. They lived much closer to the land than we do today, and without our safety-nets. If there was a low Nile flood it spelled disaster: the crops would whither, the animals die, and the bellies of their babies would go empty. But if the flood proved too great it could pose its own set of problems: their fields washed out, their homes destroyed, and many caught unexpectedly in the raging currents would drown. Life was harsh and uncertain. In addition to these concerns there was rampant disease which often lacked effective medical treatment, high infant mortality rates, and frequent wars, rebellions and outbursts of random violence. To these people fertility was not just an abstract concept. It literally meant the difference between life and death.
Read the complete article: The House of Vines
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