Christianity’s Decline Has Not Ushered In A Scientific Utopia But Why Has Prof. Dawkins Come Out As A Cultural Christian.

 When his best selling non - fiction book 'The God Delusion' was causing multiple sensationalist responses in print and broadcast mediaalmost 20 years ago Richard Dawkins was for a time the star of the New Atheism movement. Now, his having spoken of being a cultural Christian is is causing consternation amongst militant atheists, progressives and The Church of Scientism cult.

Dawkins latest position should surprise nobody, he has spoken of his “cultural Christianity” before, without defining how he, as an individual, defines this Cultural Christianity. I can give you my take on the question because like many people who have passed their seventieth year, I was baptized in the Christian religion (though even if anybody had asked if it was what I wanted, at around six weeks old I was not capable of giving informed consent,) began my education at the age of five in a Church of England school, the only school available in a small Shropshire village. So no matter whTat direction any of my generation took when able to make our own choices we are all Cultural Christians in an allegedly Christian nation and the formation of our mopral compass was influence by what are wrongly called Judeo - Christian values. Throughout our lives, people of my genertation have witnessed the decline of Christianity as societies became more open and liberal and the questioning of Christian dogma became socially accepatable. Thus when I referred above to England (Britain if you like, though Scotland and Wales are culturally different from we English,) it was because even as late as the early 1960s there was a social stigma attached to openly rejecting Christianity, so it could never be known how many people truly believed in the Christian faith and how many simply paid lip service to the beliefs of their inherited religion. New Atheism, a fashionable ideology in the fin - de - siecle madness of the 1990s was wrong in crucial respects, but was a predictable reaction to the nonsensical religious philosophy of Christian churches, a mish mash of myths and parables from a variety of belief systems and cults from the middle east and scross Europe. Where New Atheism was mistaken was that it failed to understand the role and importance of some kind of common belief system in human communities. In predicting that following religion's decline the developed world would transform into some kind of enlightened utopia in which, as one boy scientist on a site I was involved in phrased his vision, "Humanity would abandon superstition and magical thinking and we would all live scientifically." And though people who thought like that, science has taken on many aspects of a religious cult, particularly in its approach to vaccination and climate change. New Atheism assumed that, as people abandoned Christianity they would embrace a secular position and line up behind the kind of philosophical position described by Dawkins in "The God Delusion." It is not surprising then that many are shocked to read or hear of Dawkins himself saying that maybe the Christian belief system (as opposed to the many Christian religions,) had something going for it, but when we see the zel with which many people have embraced 'net zero', BLM, The Green New Deal, Globalism and Transgenderism, it is easy to see why the professor might have changed his punlic position on secular (Cultural) Christianity.

I understand what Richard Dawkins is saying but his self description as a cultural Christian has no more meaning than my describing myself as a 'paganistic humanist - and no, you can't join because I haven't worked out what, if anything, it means.

Christianity might have a chance of survival if it could get rid of the Jesus fairy tales (or at least did not require grown ups to profess belief in them,) and admit it's 'Judeo - Christian' values are just borrowings from the Greeks, North - European pagans, Zoroasdtrians, and Hinduism / Buddhism.

The purpose of tribal religions to our neolithic and Bronze Age ancestors was to hold the tribes or clans together through common values and a shared moral compass. Unfortunately the Abrahamic religions killed that aspect of religion because the sole aim was to focus power and wealth in the hands of the priesthood.

Many people will disagree with that statement, some saying that the purpose of the Abrahamic relions is to reconcile humanity to the ways of God the Creator while others will reminds me that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and the puropse of whorship is to redemm our souls. To any of them, and others I say just take a look at the lavish splendour of the medieval cathedrals in Europe, built at enormous cost while ordinary people were living in squalour and starving. Christianity cannot wipe out its brutal and amoral past with pious platitudes.

Then there are the Creationists. I enjoy a good debate and would always be willing to consider a well argued case for Intellihent Design, but if one tries to engage on the topic the opposing premise will be, "But surely you must see that all thw wonders of our world and the Universe xould not have come about by accident, they could only have been created.

Time is a human construct, the universe has always been here doing what it does. Big Bang theory was created by theoretical physicists who believed the secrets of the universe could be found in mathematics explanations when they discovered their mathematical explanations needed a point from which to start calculating. That is speculation of course, with no more had evidence to support it than any creation myth. Where creationists fall down is in floating the idea that an imaginary god could have created anything real.

I have long been aware of the pointlessness of trying to discuss the supernatural claims of the religious as logic tends to go out the window. Even the simple question: ‘Why are you a Christian? ‘ poses a major problem because like myself the vast majority did not become Christians having evaluated all other religions. Needless to say, this applies to the other Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Islam, because the vast majority of their followers were born into them and stay in the faith for reasons which though valid, family, community etc.) are nothing to do with a literal belief in the god or the scriptures. Hinduism is somwhat different, although Hindus are born into the system their concept of the divine does not require them to have absolute faith in imaginaty spirits.

Another point to reflect on is that the belief systems of these religions can be poles apart though the priestly caste claim they worship the same god. For example in Christianity Jesus is seen as the son of God and only through him can you enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In contrast Judaism and Islam just see him as just another human prophet. Even within Christianity itself, opposite and incompatible ideas exist. While Roman Cathloics and European Protestants belive Jesus is the actual son of God, the Eastern ortodoc churches take a different view, while Coptic, Ethiopian and Sycriac Christians have a different belief again. As Christian belief has to be absolute, they can't all be right. But they can all be wrong.

Moreover, all the sacred scriptures of major religions were based on oral traditions passed down over centuries and are highly questionable, for example the Christian gospels were written years after the death of Jesus death, and not by the Aramaic speaking disciples of Jesus as many believe, but by Greek speaking educated scribes.

While highlighting these points I still understand why a religious belief is important to many as it serves as ‘something to hold onto’ or provides a comforting feeling that there is some stabilising force, in a tough and troubled world and so I respect peoples' right to their faith. But if it is the faith rather than the name of the god or the content of the creed that is important surely then we have to respect paganism, Sikhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism and Shamanistic Animism as equals and drop claims to be 'The one true Church'.

LIBRARY OF POSTS ON RELIGION, FAITH and SCIENCE

[ Philo and Sophia ] ... [ Religion, faith, belef ] ... [ Humanitas ] ... [ science and religion at war? ]

The Source of Wisdom
“The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.”- Nikola Tesla

Is Human Consciousness More than 3,000 Years Old?
Biologists are archaeologists have argued for decades about when humans first became true humans, creatures that we would recognise as our direct ancestors. The point at which men first stood erect (oops, pardon) was when we ceased to be hairless apes (or hairy -arsed knuckle draggers) but it still took a while for the self awareness and development of complex languages which enable us to communicate ideas and language are still not clear ... MORE>

Have You Committed Your Three Thought Crimes Today?
You're a criminal. So am I. We all are, according to some legal experts there are now so many crimes, a lot of them loosely defined, it is impossible to get through the day without committing at least three crimes. In fac it is often the case that by obeying one law you are breaking another.

The Charge Of The Anti-enlightenment Brigade
I don’t know if many of you remember London's Atheist Bus a few years ago. It toured the city bearing adverts that read: ‘There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.’ and was a great success[ ... ] this demonstrates the Sheeple - like tendencies of those who claim they have reason on their side: the religious propagandist with the sandwich board saying ‘repent, the end is nigh' was always the subject of jokes. Why do the opposing side now feel the need to parade high tech sandwich boards saying, "no need to repent, the end isn't nigh'?

Social Science Degrees Make Great Leaders? More Junk Science.
We've had junk science on climate change, genetically modified seeds, many types of medicines and social engineering. The junkiest of junk science however is always commissioned by public service organisations and is aimed at convincing the public that our public servants are doing a good job. Fortunately the public are not as gullible as our leaders suppose.

Reasons Why This Pagan Will Not Vote Labour, Conservative Or Liberal Democrat.
As we prepare to vote in a General Election that we are told will change British Politics forever, Ian looks at a choice of three main parties that basically offer the same set of globalist, multiculturalist policies and consideres which way a pagan should vote.

Cultural Marxism Curriculum: The Frankfurt School
Western civilization at the present day is in a crisis different from anything that has been previously experienced. Other societies have changed their social or cultural values under the influence of external forces or by gradual development. But none, like our own, has ever consciously faced the prospect of a fundamental alteration of the beliefs and institutions on which the whole fabric of social life rests being imposed ...

TThe Idea Of An Infinite Universe Is Fashionable Again
The now little discussed (due to the witch hunt tactics employed by the scientific consensus gangsters) idea of an infinite, eternal, self renewing universe makes a lot more sense than a point at which everything suddenly materialises out of nothing.

To Infinity And Beyond - Big Bang Theory Trashed?
One 'scientific fact' Little Nicky has challenged in the past is Big Bang Theory. I have lost count of the times that having offered proof that Big Bang is not a fact, the universe is in reality infinite I have become involved in thousand - comment threads in which the arguments of the Big Bang sceptics were contradicted by science tits screeching, "It is a fact because we say it is."

The Source of Wisdom
“The day science begins to study non-physical phenomena, it will make more progress in one decade than in all the previous centuries of its existence.”- Nikola Tesla

Is Human Consciousness More than 3,000 Years Old?
Biologists are archaeologists have argued for decades about when humans first became true humans, creatures that we would recognise as our direct ancestors. The point at which men first stood erect (oops, pardon) was when we ceased to be hairless apes (or hairy -arsed knuckle draggers) but it still took a while for the self awareness and development of complex languages which enable us to communicate ideas and language are still not clear ... MORE>

Have You Committed Your Three Thought Crimes Today?
You're a criminal. So am I. We all are, according to some legal experts there are now so many crimes, a lot of them loosely defined, it is impossible to get through the day without committing at least three crimes. In fac it is often the case that by obeying one law you are breaking another.

The Charge Of The Anti-enlightenment Brigade
I don’t know if many of you remember London's Atheist Bus a few years ago. It toured the city bearing adverts that read: ‘There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.’ and was a great success[ ... ] this demonstrates the Sheeple - like tendencies of those who claim they have reason on their side: the religious propagandist with the sandwich board saying ‘repent, the end is nigh' was always the subject of jokes. Why do the opposing side now feel the need to parade high tech sandwich boards saying, "no need to repent, the end isn't nigh'?

Social Science Degrees Make Great Leaders? More Junk Science.
We've had junk science on climate change, genetically modified seeds, many types of medicines and social engineering. The junkiest of junk science however is always commissioned by public service organisations and is aimed at convincing the public that our public servants are doing a good job. Fortunately the public are not as gullible as our leaders suppose.

Electoral Reform in Britain - Is It Time for True Proportional Representation?
After every British election, when around a quarter of voters find the party they voted for is hardly represented in the House Of Commons (In 2015, 8 per cent of the votes equals just 8 of the 650 members, while a party with 13% has just one), people who believe in democracy try to start a debate about reforming the voting system. And as ever, supporters of the two main parties, which benefit most from the current undemocratic system, try to stifle debate.

Reasons Why This Pagan Will Not Vote Labour, Conservative Or Liberal Democrat.
As we prepare to vote in a General Election that we are told will change British Politics forever, Ian looks at a choice of three main parties that basically offer the same set of globalist, multiculturalist policies and consideres which way a pagan should vote.

Elderly face NHS discrimination as new United Nations plan defines death targets for nations
Leaders of the western powers, anxious it seems to divest themselves of responsibility while extending and tightening their grip on power, are happy to promote the United Nations as a de facto World Government. The problem is the United Nations employs as advisers and bureaucrats many people whose authoritarian and racist political position makes Herr Hitler look positively liberal.

Cultural Marxism Curriculum: The Frankfurt School
Western civilization at the present day is in a crisis different from anything that has been previously experienced. Other societies have changed their social or cultural values under the influence of external forces or by gradual development. But none, like our own, has ever consciously faced the prospect of a fundamental alteration of the beliefs and institutions on which the whole fabric of social life rests being imposed ...

TThe Idea Of An Infinite Universe Is Fashionable Again
The now little discussed (due to the witch hunt tactics employed by the scientific consensus gangsters) idea of an infinite, eternal, self renewing universe makes a lot more sense than a point at which everything suddenly materialises out of nothing.

To Infinity And Beyond - Big Bang Theory Trashed?
One 'scientific fact' Little Nicky has challenged in the past is Big Bang Theory. I have lost count of the times that having offered proof that Big Bang is not a fact, the universe is in reality infinite I have become involved in thousand - comment threads in which the arguments of the Big Bang sceptics were contradicted by science tits screeching, "It is a fact because we say it is."

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Phew! I'm Glad That's Over - For Another Year At Least

As someone who when asked about religion describes himself as a paganistic humanist it seems redundant to say that as I've grown older, the whole Christmas and New Year thing has become more of a pain in the arse than a holiday. My wife, always one for a traditional Christmas, passed away three years ago, our two children are in the first flush of middle age and one of them has children of his own who will soon be wanting to abandon the family celebration and do their own thing. Thus Christmas is hardly relevant and  my ‘new year’ comes into being from March 21st (the vernal equinox,) onwards. The promise of new beginnings in Spring fills people with hope for the future (theoretically at least,) but the blossom blooming and leaves emerging does tend to lift our spirits and energise us.

 January however, can be quite depressing after all the Christmas hype and festivities. Back on the treadmill, another year of unfulfilled expectations beckons, and all the usual miserableists emerge from their hiding places to tell us how important it is we do 'dry January', adopt a vegan lifestyle, swear a vow of celibacy, and give up happiness … January is nearly unbearable for many people, a dead month, filled with doom and gloom and I look forward to the calendar turning to February and then, because February is only a short month to endure, to the first signs of spring.

Why this downer on post Christmas period? 

Even today, with all our technology for making life more convenient, our heated and insulated homes, televisions and recorded music to fill the boredom of long, dark winter nights, January has a hard edge to it perhaps due to its short days, cold and wet, and the shock of returning to reality after the Christmas build-up, plus the prospect of dystopian future that is being planned for us by certain billionaire psychopaths.

And with continuing war in Ukraine and the high fuel prices and food shortages that we're told will accompany it, there does not seem to be much to look forward to. The promise of more pandemics (the genetically modified organisms that will deliver then are already being developed in laboratories funded by the aforementioned billionaire psychopaths,) according to some alt_news organisations, the World Economic Forum's pledge that in the future we will own nothing and we will be happy, and their plan to ban meat in order to 'save the planet' and supply us with endless helpings of mashed bugs to replace our steaks, burgers, pork chops and chicken, do not paint a rosy picture of the future.  

I am looking forward to the Spring this year but since I have to be aware that it is January, it is cold and dark but maybe I can recommend we use the dark days as a time for reflection , for taking a step back from the daily stream of propaganda to consider the ay in which the ruling elites are taking us.

Does anyone besides myself have the impression that instead of reading history we will actually be living through a pivotal historical era (Interesting Times?) over the next few years? As well as escalation of the local war in Ukraine, which some of us have always said is really a proxy war waged by the USA against Russia, further emryonic conflicts between east and west are this year likely to become a global conflict between uni-polar American hegemony world…..and the contesting multi-polar world led by China, Russia and the Brics nations, and also on a lower level to all out war whed by the ruling elites on 'We The People' with the aim of stripping us of the rights, liberties and the prosperity out forebears fought for. I can'r recall in my lifetime ever being more convinced that that the elites, system and Governments are ‘out to get us’…and that they are doing it quite openly now.

Who can be trusted in any position of power anymore? How do we, the people, get that power back?

Further evidence..as if we need it…that open corruption is now the norm…….

https://www.uncoverdc.com/2022/12/30/congressional-report-fda-inappropriately-collaborated-with-biogen/

A US House of Representatives investigation concluded that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “collaborated” with biotechnology company Biogen on the approval of its Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm. Indeed, as 2022 comes to a close, American taxpayers are reminded yet again of the inappropriate and dishonest manner in which the FDA—the agency funded by taxpayers to ensure the safety and efficacy of the medications they take—collaborates with Big Pharma.

A group of UK doctors has called for an immediate halt to mRNA vaccinations pending a government investigation of serious concerns about their safety and lack of effectiveness.

And as if all that were not depressing enough this January, it looks as if a world governed by unelected technocrats and run by artificial intelligence will draw inexorably nearer in 2023. With that new pantheon of mini-gods – the scientists – sitting smugly pretty, it’s hardly surprising. Ostensibly the key question is who will exploit AI to the fullest. There are only two contenders: the US and China.

The stakes couldn’t be higher: for the victor, lasting technological, economic and military dominance. It’s an international Battle of the Boffins, engagingly analysed by American businessman Handel Jones in a new book, When AI Rules the World: China, the US, and the Race to Control a Smart Planet.

It really depends on us as individuals. Are we prepared to take the path of least resistance and surrender ourselves to servitude , or are we willing to say to ourselves, " I will not take orders from a smart phone, not will I surrender to the siren voices telling me how wonderful a system of social credit scores and 'heath passports' will be. I will not drive a car that has a government controlled kill switch should I exceed my permitted mileage, not will I give up using cash because to do so gives authorities the ability to deny us the right to purchase certain goods and services if we have not earned enough 'credits' by compliance with policies for social control.

Its our choice. Think on it through these dark days and come the first day of spring decide wich side you are on. And so we begin 2023, who knows what kind of world we will live in by next New Year.

Phew! I'm Glad That's Over - For Another Year At Least
January however, can be quite depressing after all the Christmas hype and festivities. Back on the treadmill, another year of unfulfilled expectations beckons, and all the usual miserableists emerge from their hiding places to tell us how important it is we do 'dry January', adopt a vegan lifestyle, swear a vow of celibacy, and give up happiness …

Killjoymas - the favourite festival of The Bansturbators
But Christmas is approaching again so perhaps it is time to give it a revamp. It is interesting to note how the Politically Correct Thought Police have progressed from banning Christmas festivities on health and grounds to banning everything on the grounds that it might offend Muslims.

A Christmas Shelter
Scottish comedian and writer Janey Godley kindly allowed Greenteeth to republish her christmas fiction 'A Christmas Shelter'. This poignant Christmas story with a wry twist reminds us that labes don't make somebody a good person, actions do. It's a lesson we should be aware of as the gap between haves and have nots continues to grow wider.

Merry Atheistmas
Yet another bad idea we will no doubt be importing from the USA very soon if it has not already happened is the religious version of atheism. Well at least it will give the militant atheists who hate all religion a new target so Christians can quietly get on with is while us traditional atheists quietly tolerate religious belief.

Black Russian?
by ianrthorpe, 2013-12-16
As many of you know (because I'm always telling you) there are a lot of nutters in America. Now it's easy to jump to the conclusion that most of these nutters are evangelical (born again) Christians. This is partly right because religion does lead to nuttiness, but we should not "misunderestimate" the propensity of Americans to turn anything into a religion. One of those religions is ...

Christmas MDF
Well here it is, our first Christmas post. I was more than a little gobsmacked to see a headline that read "IKEA" sells six foot Christmas Trees for £5. It was not the prices that amazed me, after all they have lots of pine trees in Sweden

Christmas is coming - and Retail Christians are ready A look at how Christmas has made Christianity the religion of retailing and Christians the most evangelical of consumers
Christmas Is Bollocks part 2.
For Christmas 2010 Boggart Blog has continued its long tradition off slagging off the modern, consumer oriented, shoddy, politically correct, conformist christmas if favour of supporting people who do their own thing.

You Get What You Deserve.
Are mobile phones, celphones as they are called in some parts, destroying good manners and the basic civility we need in order for ociety to finction? In the internet destroying our way of life? Are we becoming slaves to technology? Boggart Blog's resident technophobe Fatsally has a few things to say on that.

The Little Cellphone - A Christmas Story
What happens to all those cellphones that have given loyal and efficient servive only to be abandoned to their fate at Christmas when a newer model with more bells and whistles, apps and software widgets replaces them

Join The Christmas Resistance Ever felt like asking yourself what this annual insanity called Christmas is all about and then taking yourself off to a Buddhist monastic retreat from December 21st to Jan 6th thus letting Christmas pass you by completely? More and more people are rejecting the idea that we can all be happy if we buy loads of stuff we do not need, will never use and after it has cluttered up our living space for a year will throw out just before next Christmas to make way for next year's Christmas tat? If you have you are not alone. Welcome to the Christmas Resistance.
link url: Join The Christmas Resistance

Defying the Tyranny of Consumer Christmas
Manipulation is everywhere from the X Factor to Christmas, media hype is the tool that influences the sheeple to think what their masters want them to think. The careers of people as diverse as Michael Jackson and Barack Obama as well as the political success of Tony Blair are all built on nothing more substantial than spin. Repeat the lie often enough, that Michael Jackson is the most talented performer ever, that Barack Obama represents the dawn of a new era in politics, that Saddam posed a threat to the west, and enough people will believe it. So what can you do to regain your freedom. You can start by resisting the tyranny of the consumer Christmas
link url: http://www.greenteethmm.com/christmas_tyranny.shtml

A Child Is Born On The Bog

The people who run television channels have a weird idea of what will entertain us at Christmas. Or do thhey perhaps understand better than we do that what the public wants amid all the Bacchanialian feasting and Lupercanian unsrestrained shagging of the modern Christmas festival what we really want is Roman Circuses?...
A Child Is Born On The Bog

January Is Getting Earlier Each Year
Maybe it is we who are getting older but it seems while Chistmas lasts longer, January comes a little earlier each year...
January Getting Earlier

The Boggart Blog Christmas SOS - Save Our Socks
The Boggart Blog Irrelevant Christmas Charity Appeal. Our inaugural Christmas Carity Appeal requests your help in providing shelter and support for homeless socks, those unfortunate items of hoisery that have become separated from their partners and are now homeless and hungry. These sockes are often given as Christmas Presents without the giver forst checking what kind of home they are going to. All over Britain single, homeless, pairless socks are sheltering in the recesses of laundry baskets, hiding behind radiators or cowerting in changing room lockers. Please help us to help them.
Boggart Blog Christmas Appeal - Save Our Socks

The Time Has Come The Gordon Said
The Boggart Blog Irrelevant Christmas Charity Appeal. This year as well as our appeal for on behald of Fletcher Memorial Homes for seperated socks we are throwing our weight behind a charity that works to provide shelter over the festive season for abandoned hi - vis jackets...
The Time Has Come ... Again

Christmas Is Bollocks
Come on, admit it. When you saw the headline your heart leaped for joy. At last you thought, a like mineed person, sombody who thinks for himself. because let's be honest, if you had not agreed you would not have clicked through.
Christmas Is Bollocks

The Christmas Resistance

Killjoymas - the favourite festival of The Bansturbators
But Christmas is approaching again so perhaps it is time to give it a revamp. It is interesting to note how the Politically Correct Thought Police have progressed from banning Christmas festivities on health and grounds to banning everything on the grounds that it might offend Muslims.

God's Shock Jock?

Those of you who read my articles or are aware of my relationship with religion of most kinds (I like Paganism and Hinduism / Buddhism) might be surprised to learn that earlier today I was guesting on a Chistian Radio show for London's Premier Radio station.

Even more strange, the producer Justin Brierley contacted me after following comment threads on some of my jousts with fundies here at Gather.

Well Justin's show "Unbelieveable" is a British production with a more moderate tone than U.S. evangelical Christianity, so after some discussion I decided the programme would be fun to do and managed to get my friend Jenni Hutchinson invited as my opponent, the Christian speaker. Did you know that satan is the Aramaic (ancient Assyrian language) word for opponent or adversary. Ha! Jenni is a little devil - she will love that.

Anyway we put together a really good programme, covering topics such as how the church may fulfil a role in modern society, the nature of faith, building bridges (we bridged the religious divide, the generation gap - Jenni is 24 I'm...not. OK, I'm yibblety-yibble. the geographical divide between north and south and the soccer supporters gap, Jenni follows high flying Arsenal, one of the big guns of European soccer - my loyalties are to lowly Accrington Stanley (the team that came back from the dead - reluctantly apparently.)

All in all we proved there can be dialogue between Christians and non believers.

It will be difficult to get the show on the air in America but there is an internet feed. Here are the details:

The programme airs at 2pm this Saturday here are the ways to listen "Live"1305, 1332, 1413 MW (Greater London) Sky Digital 0123 Virgin Media 968 Freeview 725 London DAB or online at http://www.premier.org.uk/
From (Usually) Monday you can listen to the archive edition of the programme online http://www.premier.org.uk/engine.cfm?i=680
Not of great spiritual interest to many of my gather friends maybe, as most share my attitude to organised religion, but a worthwhile demonstration of constructive dialogue between faith and non-faith, with some good points made on both sides.

OK, that's just a cynical ploy to boost the show in search engine listings of course. But you will excuse me one shameless self promotion item I'm sure. I promise to get back to more humour and controversy next time.



RELATED POSTS:

The Charge Of The Anti-enlightenment Brigade
I don’t know if many of you remember London's Atheist Bus a few years ago. It toured the city bearing adverts that read: ‘There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.’ and was a great success[ ... ] this demonstrates the Sheeple - like tendencies of those who claim they have reason on their side: the religious propagandist with the sandwich board saying ‘repent, the end is nigh' was always the subject of jokes. Why do the opposing side now feel the need to parade high tech sandwich boards saying, "no need to repent, the end isn't nigh'?

A Bizarre Story From Derby

Derbyshire County Council have ordered their webmasters to use content filtering to prevent the Ramblers' Association Derby Dales Group web page being accessed from library internet cafes in the county.

The Derby ramblers' web content falls within the county councils' definition of a sex website the press release reveals.
No surprise then that Derby ramblers "love to go a - wandering along the mountain track" then but just what the hell does rambling involve in the Derby Dales we wonder?

I must ask artist and blogger Mike St. Mark if he has experienced any interesting variations from the norm while walking in the dales.

RELATED POSTS:
Bizarre >> Pagan >> Internet
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Fires of Love (Beltane celebration)

A Beltane Fire Festival in Scotland (image source)

All around the world Mayday is celebrated in many different guises, but all the various celebrations have a common root in the pagan festival of renewal that in Western Europe is known as Beltane. The pagan year, sometimes known as the eightfold year, is divided into its main seasons by the two solstices (longest and shortest day) and two equinoxes (when hours of light and darkness are equal). This roughly coincides with the farming calendar with seasons for planting, growing, harvesting and a barren season for ploughing and maintenance.

A secondary calendar (because four feast days is not enough) splits each of these seasons. Beltane (May), Lughnasa (August), Samhain (November) and Imbolc (February) marked the seasons of the herdsmen's year. But what has animal husbandry to do with the good fire (Bel Tane) you might well ask. Dunno. Possibly nobody really does. But one idea that has some traction is that it was delousing day after the animals had been shorn of their winter coats.

Hop over to Authors Den and check out Ian Thorpe's Beltane poem Fires Of Love and the write up of the significance of Beltane to our ancestors.

Fires of Love at Authors Den

The Sacred Feminine

Cup - Bearer to the Celebs

Hebe - looking rather rude in her Goddess of Youth role (if she really sits around like that she could make me young again), when cup bearing (or waitressing as it is now known) she sports a pair of wings. (Image source)

Mariah Carey would have us believe that she is a regular sort of girl who does not mind getting her hands dirty and not the egomaniacal diva some sections of the media suggest. Now there is a conspiracy theory that Hollywood has been part of a secret US government brainwashing program called MK Ultra which takes normal people and turns them into total arseholes whose obnoxiousness the media then manipulates us into admiring, but we would not subscribe to anything so outlandish, this is a respectable blog. On the other hand, it has been officially acknowledged MK Ultra did exist and the CIA and US Department Of Defense were involved.

So what does a regular sort of girl do when she goes into Starbucks? Well if she is in any way at all regular she does not take her cup-bearer along.

You might think that cup bearing is a profession that died out with the Olympian Gods of Ancient Greece. Gods are too important to lift cups to their own lips of course, so they had Hebe* who had previously been a herder of Peacocks, another profession for which there is not much call down at the local job - centre, and Ganymede, a beautiful young man, carried off by Zeus to replace Hebe as tastes in Olympia became more sophisticated (or less Arcadian and more Greek.)

A picture in this weekends' press shows Ms. Carey attended by her cup bearer who solicitously holds a polystyrene cup while La Donna Mariah sucks on a plastic straw.

One wonders what will be the next ego-inflating fad among the celeb culture? Who will be first to emulate King Henry VIII and appoint a Groom Of The Stool (or in the language of the street, a Royal Arse Wiper. I have it on good authority that the position was created before Henry got too fat to wipe. Presumably he was too busy sacking monasteries and topping his wives to bother with mundane tasks.

If Posh was too proud to push will she also be too weird to wipe. Will J-Lo appoint a cludgie assistant to work alongside the eyebrow assistant, the bikini line assistant and the moustache assistant (oops - that's another "cease and desist" on the way.)

Would I apply for the job of Mariah's arse wiper? Certainly not.

Now if it was Kate Winslet...

*Hebe trebled up as Goddess of Youth. In an excellent TV adaptation of Mary Wesley's novel "Herding Peacocks" she was portrayed by Serena Scott- Thomas (a relative of Kristen and just as lovely) who provided the most erotic TV scene ever when she posed in front of a full length mirror, naked except for a red hat and matching stiletto heeled shoes, thus providing both front and back view.

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Cup brearer to the celebs
Greek Goddesses
The Gods Return To Olympus
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Join The Christmas Resistance

Join the Christmas resistance today, before it is too late!

Now first it is necessary to point out that I do not advocate Christmas Resistance because Christmas might offend Muslims or any politically correct crap like that. I don't get offended by Islamic traditions but I do when some twant says I can't have my Turkey because the pork sausage stuffed up its arse is an abomination to Allah. I'm advocating heartily wishing each other a merry Christmas, snogging under the (pagan) mistletoe, playing music (which is unislamic apparently) including Merry Christmas Everybody by Slade, Wizzard's Let The Bells Ring Out For Christmas; Ring Out Solstice Bells by Jethro Tull and most of all A Fairy Take Of New York by the Pogues and Kirsty McColl, drinking alcoholic beverages to mild excess and lots of other Christmassy things, particularly those which remind us it is really a pagan festival.

But when politicians talk of the "War on Terror" I wonder do they ever think of the commercial terrorism inflicted on our world at this time of year. Think about the endless media message that we must be happy, this is the happiest time of the year so if you aren't having a great time you are some sort of failure. That would be sinister enough of course as people have different and very individual ways of coping with life, but it is underlined by an unspoken subtext blasted at us through the medium of advertising. "The way to be happy is through buying things." Can buying stuff make us happy or is the idea that buying expensive gifts for friends and family will prompt them to buy us expensive gifts in return, thus proving that they love us? Either way it is a rather bleak view of the human state.

Christmas is a strange festival, on the surface a celebration of the birth of Jesus (who, we know for certain, was not actually born at Christmas, but only just beneath that Christian overlay truly the pagan celebration of the Winter Solstice which is much more in line with the modern partying than the rather solemn commemoration of the birth of a Messiah destined to die for the sins of humanity could be. Strangely though, the two extremes, people like myself who try to live in harmony with the natural world (that is all Pagan means; nothing to do with Black Magic, nor with having orgies around big fires at midnight - bummer!) and those with a very profound Christian faith will be getting far less worked up about Christmas than the majority of sensible, level headed people.

I think the point at which these two extremes meet is an understanding that Christmas/Solsticetime should not be about money. So you bought the kids a new computer each, maybe it will help their future job prospects but might it not also raise expectations for next year? And as for the kids, is their pester power not fuelled by a constant stream of advertising.

The question we ought to be asking ourselves though has nothing to do with expensive consumer goods. We all live at a crazy pace now, we work to many hours, we spend too long travelling to and from work, during the precious leisure hours many of us are concerned with networking or are frenetically engaging in some self improvement project. We have no time for ourselves, never mind anybody else. So as you are making your gift list think what the most precious thing you can give in the modern world actually is.

Your time and attention.

The symbolism of both Christmas and the Solstice is new beginnings. The Messiah who will lead his followers to a new and better life is born on Christmas Day. The sun passes its nadir and the cycle of life is renewed. Not so different when you think about it, note that phrase "Jesus is born," which I have taken from old Latin scriptures. Not Jesus was born, but present tense, IS. Every year hope is reborn just as it is in the pagan tradition when the days start to become a little longer each year, when the growing cycle of crops and the breeding cycle of the livestock starts again.

These beliefs come from a time when life was harsh, there was no air conditioning, no SUVs, no global trade to bring exotic foods by 747 and truck to local supermarkets and then our tables. Feasting was the way to celebrate at this time of year because food was the most precious gift that could be given, food was life. Now many of us find our health failing due to too much food. In the world of 2000, 3000, 5000 years ago people had to depend on each other to survive. Now it is possible to survive alone and in isolation. Many people do so, particularly in the industrialised world where the many pressure combine to separate us from our roots. Surviving however is not living, nobody should lose sight of how much we actually depend on each other still.

Think about someone who has been alone for a long time, have you noticed how such people build their lives around little private routines and rituals? Such people develop eccentricities as a defence against loneliness. Do you also ever notice how many people seem to be obsessive these days. Even in a city, even within a long term relationship people can become lonely and find themselves seeking refuge in personal fetishes, be it an unhealthy interest in a particular celebrity or a fascination for playing poker on the internet. One of the most dangerous obsessions is an obsession with sex and yet progressively sex is being turned into a cash commodity. There is an industry dedicated to selling us sex as a purely mechanical way of gaining a brief pleasurable sensation through an act devoid of all emotional content.

Among this craziness it is no wonder almost all of us get caught up in this obsessive consumerism to the extent that everything human about the Christmas/Solstice season is lost. What was the great celebration has become a time of stress as we try to keep everybody happy, maintain our social profile, find time to fulfil all our obligations and worry about the New Year credit card bill.

This year why not be adventurous. Break out of the loop and instead of buying false happiness with costly, expensively wrapped gifts give your friends and family something much more precious - as much of your time as you possibly can. They will treasure it and the giving will add an extra dimension to your life as you find yourself remembering who you are.

Join the Christmas resistance, start thinking for yourself again. The fad is catching on, in the UK retailers are complaining that sales are down five per cent and are predicting financial catastrophe. The directors of mega - corporations had better get used to the idea of smaller salaries because as people discover the sheer relief of joining resisting Christmas terrorism the idea could catch on

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