Jason's Positive Protest Against Hate Speech & the Westboro Baptist "Church"

Jason Connell, a student at University of Illinois at Chicago, finds a novel way to turn a visit by the Westboro Baptist Church and Fred Phelps into a positive event.

Well done, Jason, and congratulations to all organized, gave to and helped out at this event. Well done, indeed.

Sia

Youtube video: Jason's Protest

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A Solstice Carol: When PC Means Plain Courtesy

Here in the U.S. we have a faux "War on Christmas"; something dreamed up by faux journalists to take out minds off real troubles like war, a tanking economy, and global warming. Meanwhile, our friends on the other side of the pond continue to debate what the Brits call Winterval. Poly Tonnybee wrote an very thoughtful article for the Guardian some years back titled Welcome to Winterval. It's about the appearance of Winterval in secular, multicultural Britain, and the Pagan origins of the Christmas celebrations: She writes that:

"Joseph (is) missing from the crib in many shops - a stable single parent family scene. (Joseph was always a problem. Why is his genealogy traced back to King David, when he was only the step-father? No, no answers on postcards please.) ....the BBC is putting on an alternative nativity play with Jesus as a girl. Birmingham Council calls Christmas "Winterval". Primary schools have introduced Three Wise Women instead of the Kings. Vicars are dropping "gender-biased" hymns such as God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. A Baptist minister has written a carol portraying the Virgin as a "blessed teenage mother". A Greenwich comprehensive chose John Lennon's So This Is Christmas instead of a carol - and an academic has declared the snowman a symbol of masculine dominance.

.....Mithras, the Persian sun god worshipped in the late empire, came from heaven and was born as a man to redeem humanity from its sins. He was also born of a virgin on December 25 and it was shepherds who first learnt of his birth. (He too had a last supper with his disciples and ascended into heaven.) The Egyptian god Horus, whose worshippers filled Rome at the same time, was another saviour of mankind, born to a virgin.

Temples were filled with cribs with the infant Horus watched over by his virgin mother Isis; 1,700 years before Christ, Isis had an annunciation when a spirit descended and she conceived when an "ankh" - symbol of life - was put to her lips. Isis was worshipped with familiar names: Queen of Heaven, Star of the Sea, Our Lady and Immaculate Virgin. What's more Isis and Horus had a flight into lower Egypt from a persecutor called Herrut soon after birth, also protected by a kindly stepfather. Virgin mothers of gods are found in China and Mexico, among Etruscans and Scandinavians.

In Greece, January 6 (later taken as Epiphany by the Christians) was the date the virgin goddess Kore gave birth to Dionysus, whose name was sometimes Ies and sometimes Jesus. Krishna was born of a virgin. Even the birth of Caesar Augustus was described by sycophants of his day (writing at the time of Christ's birth) in words almost identical to that used in the bible: "saviour of the whole human race", destined to bring "peace on earth", his arrival bringing "glad tidings to the world".

As for the star, the birth of Buddha was heralded by one, and wise men were told of his coming. The massacre of innocents, trying to find the newborn child dangerous to a leader, crops up in many religions. Thus endeth the lesson of the secularists.

The universality of the myth makes sense. Rebirth in the dead of winter is a universal (northern hemisphere) cause to celebrate. Whatever stories and romances are woven around mythical infants, the wonder of human birth remains a humanist sentiment: creative primary school teachers are quite free to add and change it as much as they like. If, in the great religious melting pot of Rome, the Christian story eventually won out over the rest, it was St Paul's marketing skill in adding sophisticated populist elements: the child is poor, rich and poor alike bow down to it, worldly wealth not his domain, unlike the royal virgin births of earlier religions. Christianity was nothing if not opportunist."

Michal Bywater dislikes all this PC stuff. Writing for The Humanist he says "For Christ's sake, It's Christmas":

"Surely, if anyone should refer to Christmas as "Christmas", we should: atheists, or secular humanists, or rationalists, even if we can't decide what to call ourselves. Because if one thing is essential to rationalism, it's calling things by their proper names."

But it isn't only Christmas that occurs this time of year, is it?

Here in (mostly white, mostly Christian) Oregon, we hear "Merry Christmas" quite a lot. And I am always happy to say "Merry Christmas" in return. I will often add "and Happy Hanauka" or "Merry Solstice" or "Happy Kwanza to you" as well". Try it, it's fun. Pick a Winter festival - there are lots - I've got a list and I'm checking it twice, just so I don't leave anyone out. Cheerfully wish them a Happy Divali and move on.

I'm all in favor of P.C. behavior. Where I come from we call that Plain Courtesy. (2) It's courteous to honor someone's traditions and I value courtesy very highly. Let us also remember that there is no one, single tradition celebrated this time of year.

As for me, I choose to respect my own traditions and show respect to the traditions of others. Whenever I practice tolerance, I find myself in good company. As Religious Tolerance.org notes in their section on winter celebrations:

E.J. Dionne, Jr wrote a column titled "Peace on Earth?" in the Washington Post for 2004-DEC-21 -- perhaps by coincidence on the Winter Solstice, a date celebrated by Atheists, Wiccans, and many followers of Aboriginal religions. He is a Christian who greets fellow Christians with "Merry Christmas" at this time of year. He greets Jews with a "Happy Hanukah." To those whose religion is unknown to him, he gives a "Happy Holiday" greeting.

He writes:

"Some Christians see the broader culture as unremittingly hostile to their faith and wonder why it's easier to celebrate Santa, Rudolph and the Grinch than to sing praise to Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and nonbelievers, meanwhile, insist that government should not push the faith of the majority into the faces of those who do not share it....."

"What in the world is 'Christian' about insisting on saying 'Merry Christmas' to a devout Jew or Hindu who might reasonably view the statement as a sign of disrespect? At the level of government: Is it really 'Christian' for a religious majority to press its advantage over religious minorities, including nonbelievers? "

"Personally, I am partial to seasonal celebrations that acknowledge our religious diversity by allowing traditions to express themselves in their integrity. This is better than allowing only a commercial Christmas mush that satisfies no one except the retailers. Trying to delete every form of religious expression from the public square leads to foolishness. But one thing is even more foolish: for the religious majority to feel 'oppressed' by a public etiquette designed to honor the rights of those outside its ranks....."

"The great Protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote that 'the chief source of man's inhumanity to man seems to be the tribal limits of his sense of obligation to other men.' I fear that in these Christmas debates, Christians are behaving not as Christians but as a tribe: 'We will pound them if they get in the way of our customs and rituals'.

"Tribal behavior is antithetical to the spirit of peace and good will. In this season, we ought to be taking the most expansive possible view of our obligations to others."

-----------

Indeed.

So, whatever and however you celebrate, may you have a lovely holiday season.

Sia

(1) From A Solstice Carol - Xena Episode

(2) My thanks to Gloria Steinem for the translation

Hate Crimes Towards the Other

Today, the Wild Hunt Blog talks about Hate Crimes Towards the "Other", and Rowan Fairgrove reminds us that today is Transgender Day of Remembrance. It is a day to remember the dead, and to make sure that such crimes find no place in our society.

Rowan writes:

"The Transgender Day of Remembrance was set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice. Today is the 9th annual DoR.

I have had many friends who have transitioned over the years.

My first experience was with a wonderful transwoman I met at the West Coast Lesbian Conference in 1973. I got a taste of the challenges she faced when she was trashed from the stage by author Robin Morgan. We were staying at the same place and were, as far as I could tell, the only people there with any Goddess consciousiness. We became lifelong friends.

I am entirely committed to the idea that people should have control of their identities and the right to adjust their body to match."

Rowan

Thank you, both.

I would also like to take this moment to congratulate Professor Dumbledore for coming out of the closet this year.

Not everyone was happy to hear that, especially here in the U.S., and J.K. Rowling got quite a scare, when a religious fanatic accosted her at a signing.

Edward Rothstein at The New York Times makes this important point:

"There is really a puckish impulse at work in Ms. Rowling’s declaration, a provocation evident in the books themselves. She sets the epic in a British school long associated with landed privilege and wealth. But throughout she undercuts the claims of that old world. Those who believe in the importance of ancestry and inherited powers turn out to be easily corruptible and morally blind — tools for Voldemort.

Her heroes are the hybrids, the misfits, those of mixed blood, all bearing scars of loss and love: the half-giant Hagrid, the mudblood Hermione (whose parents were not wizards), the poverty-stricken Ron, the orphaned Harry. Perhaps speaking of Dumbledore as gay was just a matter of creating another diverse rebel against orthodoxy.

This is the formula for much popular fiction, but Ms. Rowling refuses to be content with simply rejecting the old order and championing a morally vague multiculturalism. The pure-bloods here are blinded by their pride, but Harry and his friends see something more profound, a threat that goes beyond self-interest and identity. This is why Dumbledore’s supposed gayness is ultimately as unimportant as Ron’s shabby clothes. These wounded outsiders recognize the nature of evil, and finally that is what matters."

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We love you, Albus. And you, too, J.K. Hang in there.

Sia

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Gimme That Old Time Religion

Today we have three threads intertwined in one story. The first involves a "Christian" bigot who's argument appalls my Christian friends, one of whom sent this article to me with a note attached that merely said ???...!!!!...#$%!

The second story involves an interfaith sunset ritual, and the third, a song and the lovely man who sings it.

We will start out with our bigot. He wrote a long article recently, which is getting a lot of attention. It starts out well. In fact, in sounds rather like an invocation. (I wonder if he knows what he's done here? One should never invite these energies into the home with disrespect).

Here is where we begin:

Their names are Legion, for they are many; the Romans knew them as Juno, or Diana, or Ops. Freyr, Gerd, Idun, and Jord ruled the Norse, Dziewona and Mokosh were their names to the Slavs. The Hawaiians had Papa, the Aztecs Coatlicue, the Egyptians had Geb and Nut. The Celts had many: Cerunno, Cyhiraet, Druantia, Maeva. The ancient Canaanites had their Baal, who would cause so much trouble for the Israelites.

They are all gods and goddesses of the earth, of nature, the old rulers of the ancient world. Far older than Christianity, older even than Hinduism, worship of nature gods is a cultural element shared by every race and tribe of Man since before recorded history. They are the gods of the worldly, the gods of the Fall. (Emphasis mine)

Their demands have differed, their gifts have traditionally been good fortune, magic and fertility. Often earth gods have doubled as fertility gods, and sex has often been an integral part of Gaia worship. Their rule over the world of Man lasted a long, long time, stretching back into the mists of prehistory.

He comes to his real point here:

"Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live. Any woman using unnatural powers or secret arts is to be put to death." (Exodus 22:18)

It gets stranger. You have to read it to believe it. (Some of my favorite bits are cited in the endnotes below). The article is a heated romp through His-story (and what a long, strange trip it is). He gets a lot of it wrong, of course, but he does it with real authority, and he doesn't let little things like facts stand in the way of his world view. (Stephen Colbert could have a lot of fun skewering this guy on The Word). It's amusing on some levels. Still, one can't help reading this guy without thinking that he'd put an awful lot of us (progressive Christians, Pagans, non-Christians, feminists, lesbians and gays) in camps. For those who lack the time (or the stomach) to read it all, a light hearted summation along with quotes from some of the odder passages, is below:

Folks, don't just get mad about Sillies like this - Get out there and vote.

We will turn to the second part of our story. It serves as both inspiration and antidote:

The August Soulful Sundown Service, held Sunday evening at First Church Unitarian of Littleton presented hymns, chants, songs and teachings from many faiths and belief systems, all with the Golden Rule as their common thread.

The participants included Claudia A. Fox Tree, an Arawak Native American, who performed a call and response drum song, Cerridwen of First Church Unitarian, who taught the congregation a pagan song ritual, the monks of Temple Wat Buddhabhavana of Westford, who chanted a blessing entitled “Radiation of Loving Kindness” and Nancy Laws, cantor of Saint Anne’s Roman Catholic Church of Littleton, who chanted the prayer, “Our Father” in Latin, the “Pater Noster.”

Now the third thread appears:

As for me, I'm going to have a nice long walk in the woo-ids. I will take my Ipod along with me and listen to our third thread in this story, a dear old song by Mr. Pete Seeger, activist, musician, songwriter and humanist:

Give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
It's good enough for me.

We will pray with Aphrodite,
We will pray with Aphrodite,
She wears that see-through nightie,
And it's good enough for me.

We will pray with Zarathustra,
We'll pray just like we use ta,
I'm a Zarathustra booster,
And it's good enough for me.

We will pray with those Egyptians,
Build pyramids to put our crypts in,
Cover subways with inscriptions,
And it's good enough for me.

We will pray with those old druids,
They drink fermented fluids,
Waltzing naked though the woo-ids,
And it's good enough for me.

I'll arise at early morning,
When my Lady gives me warning,
That the solar age is dawning,
And it's good enough for me.

Give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
Give me that old time religion
It's good enough for me.

We love you, Pete

Regards to all here,

Sia

Endnotes:

Summation:

* Pagans Bad (they have too much sex)

* Uppity Women Bad (Implied throughout, and pretty much on general principle. It's because we're tricksy and won't say in our place.)

* Moderism Bad (what with that pesky Enlightenment and the emphasis on humanism, as well as civil and women's rights that followed in it's wake). He also blames Wicca, nature lovers (read environmentalists), Primitivism, Wicca, all that unnecessary sex, and Wicca for the ills of the world

* Fundamentalism (AKA Authoritarianism) is Good because a White, Male, Patriarchal, God is in charge. If you want more information on this view of the divine, I recommend reading Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God by the Rev. Jonathen Edwards, written in 1741.

* Hitler, Stalin and all the terrors of the Modern Era are the fault of Pagans, liberals and feminists. (You may remember that Jerry Falwell blamed us for 9/11 - apparently he did not go far enough. )

* The Green Movement is Bad and Anti-Christian (They obviously want to have sex with all those Wiccans)

* Global Warming doesn't exist and Al Gore is probably a Wiccan. (I must say, my Wiccan friends would do the Happy Dance at the very idea).

* Any Environmental Disaster (don't call it Global Warming!) is God's punishment for sin. (By sin we mean....never mind, you get it)

* Green Evangelicals are really Wiccans in disguise. (They are probably out there having sex at interfaith conferences and hugging trees when they should be engaging in conservative politics and and giving their money to mega-churches)

That about sums it up. Go here to read the rest of it. Take some chocolate and some aspirin in there with you - you're going to need it.

Excerpts:

Environmentalist Christians are in a state of error in that they have placed their trust in the powers of Man rather than the absolute control of God. They rightly believe that we should not despoil nature, but this comes out of an arrogant belief in the divine powers of Man, while ignoring the fact that God is in control of things. The salvation of souls is the purpose of life, not the preservation of the lesser parts of creation, (emphasis mine) and environmentalist Christians have confused the issue, believing they are doing the Will of God when they are ultimately feeding their own egos.

He says this about the Enlightenment:

What the anti-Christian Enlightenment thinkers did was sever human moral restraints from human passions, opening the door to the Beast of the primitive mind -- the fruits of Original Sin. Primitivism led to butchery in France, in Russia, in Germany. It caused the slaughter of millions by Hitler (who, along with Rudolf Hess and other Nazis was a member of the occultic Thule Society), by Stalin, by Pol Pot. This butchery was the blood sacrifice demanded by the nature gods that Western secularism had called forth.

There is so much wrong with the paragraph above, that I can't address it in this small a space. No doubt you've noticed that total lack of logic and reasoning. (See? That Enlightment thinking can come in handy sometimes). Clearly, this author is hoping that we won't remember the atrocities wrought by so called Christians (upon each other and everyone else) that occurred during those long centuries when the Church (both Greek and Roman) had their stranglehold on the western culture. When will we realize that violence and war and the drive for power at any cost are human things and have nothing to do with anyone's faith or lack thereof?

As for those of his own evangelical tradition who would attempt to save the planet, he says this:

.....This Green Evangelical attempt at "relevancy," this tossing of the ecumenical religious salad with a heavy dollop of green goddess dressing is more in line with the old-line liberal churches that long ago shook hands with the devil of Modernism. This is a turning away from the very principles on which Evangelicalism was founded. This is serving the creature over the Creator.

The Books of Daniel and Revelations both make it quite plain that environmental disasters come from the Almighty as punishment for Sin, and Christians are to have faith that God is in control.

Pagans and the War in Iraq: Four Years Later

On March 19th, 2003, we invaded Iraq and began two wars, the one over there and the one over here. On April 5th, 2003 I offered this piece at The Witches Voice:

The Elephant in Our Circles: Pagans, Tolerance and the War in Iraq

I warned back then that we could "win" the war and loose the "peace", and to my horror, that is what we've done. I wrote about the screaming intolerance towards different points of view that came from all sides. Rabid rhetoric is meant to stifle thought and shame us into silence, and in many places, it worked. I noted with concern the lack of any kind of intelligent, informed debate about this war. I knew (as many others knew) that fear mongering, and ignorance would hurt this country, threaten our civil liberties and divide the Pagan community, and that has come to pass. Meanwhile, those in the political center were not being heard, and they soon stopped listening to the screamers. In the last four years many Americans, especially those who had no friends or loved ones serving in this war, stopped listening, and the youth protest never truly materialized. Unlike my own generation during Vietnam, collage age citizens were at no risk of being drafted and what protest there was, was ignored by most of the media. When people feel powerless and overwhelmed by events, they tune out. That has happened as Bill Cusak notes in his provocative article on Bush's God:

People rely on an all powerful combination of corporations and government to run the world and provide them with order and protection. In return for giving up control of our lives to this authority structure we get someone to blame when things go wrong (think Katrina) and an expectation of safety and security so we can pursue happiness. With all the big stuff out of the way we get to be little kids who can afford to get upset when they change Coke's secret formula and when Simon Cowell gets too mean.

What we give up for this dubious warm and fuzzy sense of security is responsibility for our government's actions and for our society's decisions. They overthrow other governments, pardon themselves, meet with energy companies behind closed doors, rig insurance laws and we complain and rarely throw them out of office. Most Americans want health care, gun control and to end the Iraq war now. Fat Chance. Authority doesn't want those changes, and we don't want to give up relying on Authority to give us security. So we take the scandals and call them assholes and move on from O.J. to Anna Nicole to who ever is next.

We no longer get to have it both ways. Authority is no longer taking care of us. Jobs are leaving, cities are dieing, health care is beyond nearly everyone's reach, we can't secure enough energy without being in a constant state of war. Authority's way is failing all around us. Refusing to take responsibility for ourselves is creating too many problems around the world and is stunting our growth as spiritual beings.

Some people emailed us in 2003 to say that The Elephant in Our Circles helped induce a bit of sanity into the mix during a time of crisis, hysteria and pain. If it helped, I'm glad. I have only said what a lot of other people were thinking.

Our job now is to stay active, support positive change, and to help others do the same. This is what I wrote in 2003:

Right now, courageous people in every country are working for the highest good of all. Each will do so in their own way...individuals can and will contribute in different ways while We, The People share a common vision of peace and freedom for all. ...let us honor those men and women who serve during wartime, support free speech and civil liberties here at home, lead by example, gather food and medical supplies for those in need, raise their children with love and tolerance, and work for peace and freedom worldwide. In closing, I will ask that we make our views known to one another in ways that are respectful, truthful, compassionate and honorable.

This is what I say today: Step up or step aside. Do what your heart and spirit compel you to do but do it with integrity and compassion or not at all. And if you do nothing but gripe at the current state of affairs, you can expect nothing from any of us, ever again. You will have lost our respect, our trust and our support.

I have never forgotten the meditation offered by Dr. Randolf Becker just days after we invaded, a meditation which I quoted at the end of my article in 2003. I have kept it in my heart every day of this conflict, and will continue to do so. I would like to share it again here:

Meditation

I am mindful this morning of those among us who hold the lives of the men and women serving our country in their prayers, seeking the safe return of all who have been deployed;

I am mindful this morning of those among us who hold the lives of the civilian women and men and children of Iraq in their prayers, seeking their safety amidst the conflict;

I am mindful this morning of those among us who are filled with emotions - of sadness, of anger, of resolve, of doubt, of uncertainty - which seem to overwhelm them, as they seek a balance of spirit;

I am mindful this morning of those among us who feel disconnected, through their passionate understanding of either support or opposition, but who would welcome inclusive arms to embrace them even in their differences;

I am mindful this morning of our duty as a congregation to hold, in thoughts and prayers and hugs, all those who choose to walk with us along the path of life, not only those with whom we agree but even more so those with whom we differ.

So, this is my prayer for the morning: that in our own community we find the wisdom, the courage, the connection, the acceptance - ah, yes, the all- encompassing love which is the essence and source of peace - that none be afraid.

Amen and Blessed Be.

(from the Rev. Dr. Randolph W.B. Becker of the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists. Written on March 23rd, 2003.)

My thoughts today are with those who grieve, with those who suffer, with those who serve, and with all those working for a better world.

With love, sadness, and hope,

Sia

Off The Shelf:

The Offering (CD) by Mary Youngblood.
Native American Flute

War: The Lethal Custom (The New Edition) and Future - Tense
both books are by Gwynne Dyer (who warned us over 20 years ago that World War III would start in the Middle East)