June 20, 2008
Solstice?
Today is the Summer Solstice. I thought it was tomorrow. I'm completely at a loss. And Aidan seems to be sick.
I just ran to the store and bought ingredients for a pineapple upside-down cake. That's a little festivity, anyway.
Don't miss today's Astronomy Picture of the Day - Solstice Moonrise at the Temple of Poseidon, otherwise known as my new background screen.
Posted by lynx at 3:01 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
October 8, 2005
Organized Religion and Bible Stories
Another quote from Nock, from his autobiography:
The history of organised Christianity is the most depressing study I ever undertook, and also one of the most interesting. I came away from it with the firm conviction that the prodigious evils which spot this record can all be traced to the attempt to organise and institutionalise something which is in its nature incapable of beling successfully either organised or institutionalised. I can find no respectable evidence that Jesus ever contemplated either; the sort of things commonly alleged as evidence would not be substantial enough to send a pickpocket to gaol. By all that is known of Jesus, He appears to have been as sound and simon-pure an individualist as Lao-Tsze. His teaching seems to have been purely individualistic in its intent. One would say He had no idea whatever of its being formulated into an institutional charter, or a doctrinal hurdle to be go over by those desirous of being called by His Name.
I'm not a Biblical scholar by any means, so feel free to toss points of scripture at me to show me where this idea might be wrong. One of the biggest problems I have with Christianity is that it doesn't seem to be what Jesus intended. From what I have read of the Bible, I always got the impression that Jesus himself would be very surprised to head back to our planet and find that the religion was centered on him.
In following with my commitment to teaching classical studies, I've been reading Bible stories to the kids. Or rather, trying to. I was hesitant to start in the first place, but several friends advised me to just do it, and treat it as I would a Greek myth. Good advice, I thought. Why be afraid? Let's just do it.
Ah, but Bible stories are not written like Greek myths. Greek myths name the gods. They are treated as characters in a story. In Bible stories, God is not named. He's "God," and that's the end of it. Or "Our Lord." I know that many Christians do not refer to God by any name, but I never before realized just how powerful the act of not naming him is. It is extremely difficult to read these stories to the kids, without feeling that I need to stop, explain, reword, and in some places, vent. The Garden of Eden? That was rough. Cain and Abel? We haven't read any Bible stories since that one. Mom had to take time to recuperate.
The venting is not good. The kids don't need this from Mom, not at their ages. I want them to know the Bible, because it is such an important, foundational work. I want them to understand it through my teaching, but not through my baggage. This is a tough one.
I often run across Christians who worry about reading Greek myths to their kids, because they don't want them exposed to, and perhaps become enamored of, false gods before knowing their true god. I've been reading Greek myths to my little Pagan kids for months now, and their reactions have been very interesting. They are not becoming enamored of the Greek gods; they see them as capricious, vengeful, sometimes outright mean. They see clearly that in these stories the gods are playing with humans, directing them for their own aims. I didn't teach them that, they understood it on their own.
Pretty smart, these kids are. And pretty unnerving, when, to be honest, Mom doesn't have this whole god thing worked out herself.
If you're wondering, we're not raising them to a specific religion. We're raising them with our values of right and wrong, and with our basic Pagan outlook, but beyond that we want them to use their brains and their hearts and decide for themselves. (We are, however, deliberately raising them to a specific political philosophy. Heh.)
Posted by lynx at 9:39 AM | Comments (23) | TrackBack
May 27, 2005
Stupid Judge Update
The Wild Hunt has a roundup of opinions on the judge vs. Wicca case in IN, including a statement from the father in question.
My prayers will go toward helping that judge find alternative means of employment. Fast.
Posted by lynx at 8:19 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
May 26, 2005
I have no words.
And it doesn't matter. Jeff will have enough words for both of us.
Think about this carefully, folks. Very carefully. How would you feel if a judge told you that you were under a court order forbidding you to expose your children to your religious beliefs?
Hopefully this will be overturned quickly, and the judge disbarred or whatever it is they do to throw judges out on their nether parts. Maybe he can be replaced with a judge who has heard of that First Amendment thing.
I never drink during the day (unless someone invites me out to a nice lunch, and someone else keeps my kids ... sound good, anyone?), but this might have to be a beer lunch.
Hat tip to Chris.
Posted by lynx at 12:04 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack