Posts by Lilith __
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I think fright easily translates into rage -- having a near-miss as a pedestrian is very shocking. So I wouldn't beat yourself up too much!
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Hard News: Belief Media, in reply to Chris Waugh,
Chris, what you say about allegory and traditional knowledge resonates with me.
And perhaps I can say something which is different but not unrelated.
I think it is possible to see religious ritual as a meaningful personal and cultural practice without believing in the cosmology that’s supposed to go with it.
I’ve attended rituals with a Jewish friend who has a non-religious interpretation of the Jewish festivals as an opportunity to connect with her culture and history, and to also to evaluate/discuss/debate the issues they raise. Also to sing songs and prepare and eat delicious food with people she loves.
I feel a little that way about the Christian festivals that are my own heritage. Although I’m determinedly atheistic, I feel an attachment to the stories and the music and the art and the architecture, and the history of religious observance in my ancestry.
For me, Christmas is all about connecting with people, writing and sending cards and emails, especially to people I value but don’t often communicate with; spending time with my family; counting my blessings. Also greeting anyone, “Happy Christmas!”, even though they are probably no more Christian than I am. It’s a way of expressing friendliness.
Similarly, I don’t at all mind being prayed for, unless it’s for my conversion (anyone who prays for my conversion to anything doesn’t respect my free will and can bite me). If someone tells me they’re praying for my safety, happiness or wellbeing, I take that as a gesture of love and caring, and thank them for it.
I’ve attended pagan rituals that were enjoyable and empowering theatre. And again, an opportunity to connect with other people at their best. (also to sing and eat – hard to go wrong with singing and sharing food :-)
I guess what I’m saying is that religious observance has to do with a lot of other things than belief in a god or gods, and some of those other things I really want to keep.
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Completing the panel is the former Dean of Holy Trinity Church in Auckland, the Reverend Richard Randerson, who is often seen as the moderate, liberal voice of the church in the media and was somewhat inaccurately seen as doubting his own faith in a controversial Herald interview (his meaning was more nuanced, in that he really said he regarded parts of the Bible as allegorical and poetic, rather than factual).
Surely it's only Fundamentalists who believe the Bible is literally true? (and even Fundamentalists are selective about which bits they pay attention to!) I would expect the leader of any mainstream church to treat the Bible as allegory and fable and poetry more than as historical truth or unalterable law.
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Um. In the Anglican tradition I grew up in, godbotherer was an affectionate term meaning “churchgoer”, as opposed to nominal or non-practicing Christian. This forum is the first place I’ve heard it used pejoratively.
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Are you all feeling calm and relaxed? If not, try this….
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Hard News: One man’s Meat Puppets is…, in reply to Joe Wylie,
Lou Reed is a legend
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Hard News: One man’s Meat Puppets is…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
John Barrowman gets more excited by Carol Burnett than you'd think possible
<3 them both. In very different ways.
Just as well JB didn't follow the advice of his singing teachers and become an opera singer, eh?
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I used to love this song:
But that was before I saw the original, which is beyond compare:
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Ultravox. Still got no idea what this song is about, but.
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Hard News: One man’s Meat Puppets is…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Cheers for the Blackpool, Craig.
Raise you some John Barrowman. :-)