Maybe Westboro Baptist Church IS being moved by the hand of God...

Counter-protestors stymie Westboro group 

Soldier funeral protestors leave in less than 10 minutes

Written by

Erin Quinn

Who cares if St. Patrick was Christian?

Ah, St. Patrick's Day. A day where many of my FB friends are posting their anticipation of a great time drinking green beer and bar hopping. Today, everyone is Irish :)

But wait, what's this dark cloud raining on the St. Patrick's Day parade? Ugh, it's ANOTHER religious bitch-fest. Yes, my pagan friends, you are right about the myths of St. Patrick's Day. There were no snakes, St. Patrick converted the pagans, yada-yada-yada. Well, guess what, there is another holiday people get pissy about, because of it's history and religious connections. In a little more than 6 months it will be Halloween, and I'll get to see the same things posted all over again, but from the opposing viewpoint.

Really though, what is the point of all of this anger and protesting? How does saying “I refuse to go out and have a good time, because of the religious roots of this holiday?” It's not like you have to go to Mass in order to go get drunk today, just as it's not a requirement that kids go to a pagan solstice ritual before trick-or-treating. There is no cosmic score keeper, counting up the number of people enjoying the festivities of either holiday. The Christians aren't “winning” anything if you decide to go out and party today. Your children aren't going to go to hell because they dressed up in costumes and asked their neighbors for candy on the last day of October.

So, to any of my friends who get their panties in a bunch over either holiday, lighten up and just go have fun. Have a safe and Happy St. Patrick's Day.

For my TN friends, if you find yourself in need of a sober driver, call 615-862-RIDE for a free ride.

All religions are true religions. It's all about vision.

I believe deity is like clay. Without an individual person's vision of what that clay is supposed to look like and how it is supposed to behave, it is just a mass of potential. We can imbue that clay with a face and a name and a personality, but when not formed, it reverts back into an amorphous state. My lump of clay is the same as your lump of clay. I still believe there is benefit in choosing a specific deity for specific needs. It's just calling forth a more focused, defined aspect of deity to fill the need.

All of the polytheistic religions I know of have an ultimate god/dess. The other deities below them are often described as their children, or are given god-like status by the ruling deity. The parent deity is a specific pantheon's lump of clay, given form. The deities below the parent deity are like a chunk of that clay given it's own specific form.

In my opinion, all religions are in a way polytheistic. In Christianity, God is the ruling deity, and Jesus is an aspect of God. There are plenty of references to that in the Bible, I believe. For the sects of Christianity that believe in patron saints, those Saints are like a specific container to help focus the worshiper's vision of God, and explain to Him their need. In another example, Buddhists have different forms or faces they put on Buddha, to express different things. Buddha is not considered a god, but is an aspect of the clay they believe in. Nirvana is their clay. Their minor deities are viewed, not as gods, but as ideas and symbols.

Even Atheists are right. They just see their lump of clay purely in scientific forms.

Often, religions say that deity is in all of us. Christians believe God is always in their heart. Pagans believe we are all gods and goddesses in our own right. These ideas seem completely opposite, but to me, it's just different ways of looking at the same thing. The spiritual clay that becomes deity is out there, available to all of us. It is in us and around us, just waiting for us to call upon it. That is how God is in our hearts. We are all gods and goddesses in our own right, because we all see deity in our own way, even when we are calling it by the same name. Gods wouldn't exist without us to envision them. We think, therefor, we are.

The only time I will ever say that someone is wrong in regards to their religion is when they say someone else's religion is wrong. Even if that is supposedly part of the teachings of their religion, I think it is a perversion. The belief that one's religion is the only true religion is a human idea formed by fear of doubt, and alpha-humans' need to conquer. I believe that the current interpretations of religious texts saying a god demands that all people believe religion in their way or no way, is a gross misunderstanding. The admonitions to share one's religion with the world are meant to spread peace. It's meant to give people who have no religion and WANT or NEED a religion answers and comfort. It's not meant to rip away a religion already in place in a person's heart, and replace it with another.

The spiritual lump of clay doesn't want us fighting in it's name. It doesn't really WANT anything, except to be what we need it to be. I think maybe it doesn't even want the anger and hate, but because it's nature is to become what we see it, it has no choice. To me, this is why, in the end, good triumphs over evil.

So, in a way, my religion is every religion. It's not Agnosticism. I definitely believe in deity. I just believe that we are all right.

What the Founding Fathers intended?

Ah, another sore spot for me. Another blog just reminded me of the asinine attempt to restrict freedom of religion because, evidently, the Founding Fathers intended us to be a Christian country. While I can agree that maybe they never imagined a country that contained as much religious diversity as we do today, I doubt that they intended America to be an exclusively Christian country. Of course, none of us today can state with authority what the Founding Fathers were thinking, unless the have verified written documents, like a journal that belonged to Benjamin Franklin. That's beside the point, however. Here is the First Amendment, exaclty as it was written:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Right there, plain as day. The government shall not establish any specific religion, or prohibit a religion. Even if the Founding Fathers DID intend for us to be a Christian nation, their own words clearly prohibit it. Considering this is the very first Amendment in the Constitution, that argues that they must have felt very strongly about this issue, and thought long and hard about the wording. Considering how many people were considered the Founding Fathers, if they truly wanted to limit religion to Christian based religions, I think that would have been spelled out.

The Constitution is there to make sure everyone has a chance to live in safety and happiness. One person's safety and happiness cannot come at another person's expense. My choice to be pagan may upset some people, but no one has the right to prohibit me from being pagan. They do have the right to prohibit me from committing a crime against another in the name of my religion. It would be a crime if my actions, in the name of religion or not, were destructive. Moral or philosophical differences don't apply.

To some, no matter what I do, unless it's in the name of God or Jesus, I'm going to Hell. That is all the punishment necessary for my supposed crime. Let your God handle that when it is time. According to Christian beliefs, that is all you are supposed to do. Honestly, I am not afraid. I don't think God cares how He is viewed, or how I go about my religious practices, as long as I do it with the intent to be a good person doing good things. I cannot believe in my heart that a being so profound as a god cares whether I picture Him with boobs, or a penis, or genderless, or even non-human. Why should he care what face or name I put on Him, and whether or not that face and name is the same in every situation? Why should it matter if I make my divine requests with herbs and candles and respect to the Earth and elements, or kneeling in a church?

Anyway, I digress. No ones soul should be subject to mortal jurisdiction, no matter what the religion. That is for whatever divinity is out there to decide, and if there is no divinity at all, then the subject is moot.