Found this on Facebook

Your Christmas Nativity Scene Is a Lie: There probably weren’t three kings. And Jesus wasn't blonde.

Folklore is a fascinating thing; history is, in my opinion, even more so. Now, I know, I'm pagan, so my opinion probably doesn't matter, but having an historical perspective on one's religion, I believe, is important, and if you have sacred writings, well, you should read them, and not necessarily base things on the non-canonical traditions that crop up. Mind you, I also dislike neo-pagan writers who have no sense of classical history and really seem to think you can plug one Goddess into the same slot as another, because somehow with their fuzzy thinking, they're all the same. There's nothing irreligious about using critical thinking regarding religion, and in fact, in the view of many theologians, it can mean a deeper faith. Oh, and while we're at it, you do know that St. Nicholas was actually a Greek bishop in Myra, which was a city in what is now Turkey? The whole Santa Claus came much later, and had possible Norse pagan influences, as did the Christmas tree (which is why I feel justified by having a Yule tree), and which became popular in Protestant German homes in the 18th and 19th century as an alternative to the more Catholic Nativity scenes. That said, I think what matters most is that whatever faith or religion one belongs to, this is a time when we can come together to do good and help others, and it should be more about that rather than who can beat whom to a parking place at the mall and grab up the most consumable goods. So whatever holiday you're celebrating at this time of the year, hear's to light, laughter, and love in abundance.

Oh, and have you seen this?

The Real Face Of Jesus: Advances in forensic science reveal the most famous face in history.

From the first time Christian children settle into Sunday school classrooms, an image of Jesus Christ is etched into their minds. In North America he is most often depicted as being taller than his disciples, lean, with long, flowing, light brown hair, fair skin and light-colored eyes. Familiar though this image may be, it is inherently flawed. A person with these features and physical bearing would have looked very different from everyone else in the region where Jesus lived and ministered. Surely the authors of the Bible would have mentioned so stark a contrast.

On the contrary, according to the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane before the Crucifixion, Judas Iscariot had to indicate to the soldiers whom Jesus was because they could not tell him apart from his disciples. Further clouding the question of what Jesus looked like is the simple fact that nowhere in the New Testament is Jesus described, nor have any drawings of him ever been uncovered.

It's trending right now on social media, but the Popular Mechanics article is date stamped from January of this year. The photo itself, done by Richard Neave using forensic anthropology to determine what someone from the area would have looked like at that time, says 'Popular Mechanics December 2002', so I'm not sure when this was done. Still, it was very interesting.

Interesting

A table from the sttudy

America is becoming less Christian, and US Christianity is becoming less white

Christianity is on the decline in America among just about every demographic you can think of: young adults, older adults, white and black Americans, Latinos, men, women, and people with and without a high school education.

But the new Pew demographic study with those findings has another interesting twist: the Christians who remain are more diverse than ever.

I do have to share this, first

By Sue Fitzmaurice....I think this sums things up very nicely.

Excellent!

From a Presbyterian minister in Texas, Jim Rigby: Ten Things I wish the Church Knew About Homosexuality

Thanks to my childhood friend Jody for sharing that with me. :)

I had the wrong disk today to do some tech work

and wound up taking 8 buses back and forth over the course of the day, meaning several hours of bus riding, waiting at bus stops, and walking to them. One nearly broke me--a man who (and I have it on good authority that this is he usual schtick) harangued a young man who did Christian rap, telling him he was going to teach him a lesson and preaching at the top of his lungs, and quite arrogantly believing he had The Truth directly from God, when the young man had a better idea of how to live a life based on Christ's teachings than that over-inflated buffoon who was attempting to impart his 'wisdom', got so onto my nerves that as the bus came to a stop and they were still at it (his wife was in this supportive role), that I finally shouted, 'Oh for God's sake, shut up!', and left the bus. I should say that it takes a lot to make me do anything assertive, but I feel really strongly about being subjected to religious bullying, and yet at the same time, it irritated me that even though the guy could quote chapter and verse (why do so many people believe that makes them knowledgeable?), he had no real understanding of the history and meaning of the scripture. I've probably studied more religious topics than he has.

Then they got on the next bus with me, and my heart sank, for I had a headache from all his shouting, but they were very, very quiet. Thank goodness. If I'd known the Orphic hymn to Hekate by heart I would have recited it. What would he do with an actual pagan, rather than brow-beating the flock of fellow believers? I may just put that on my phone for future reference. I don't normally encourage belligerent people or bother the hornet's nest, but really, some people need to be taken down a notch or two. I know someone who encountered this same man and did that more eloquently than I could ever have, but it inspired me to act, and I'm glad I did.

Oh, but I'm glad to be home now. I could barely see (my contacts were bothering me) or walk straight on the way from the bus stop. I wouldn't have been surprised to be questioned about public intoxication, even though I was sober. I came in, made a quick phone call to announce my safe arrival, made some steel-cut oatmeal, and now I'm headed to bed. Tomorrow is game day and it starts very early. Good night.

A thoughtful writing, worth a read

Via Joe.My.God.:

I preached against homosexuality, but I was wrong: As a Presbyterian minister, I believed it was a sin. Then I met people who really understood the stakes: Gay men

So why had we singled out homosexuality as a litmus test for True Christianity in the first place? Why had it become such a lightning rod for self-righteousness?

One reason, I think, is that it's easy to condemn homosexuality if you are not gay. It is much harder than condemning pride, or lust or greed, things that most practicing Christians have struggled with. It is all too easy to make homosexuality about "those people," and not me. If I were to judge someone for their inflated sense of pride, or their tendency to worship various cultural idols, I would feel some personal stake, some cringe of self-judgment. Not so with homosexuality. 





Now I am wondering why, if two gay people want to commit their lives to one another, they should ever be denied that chance. No church or pastor should be forced to perform those ceremonies, and they can choose not to recognize gay marriage for their adherents. But the constitution of the Presbyterian Church does not explicitly forbid a pastor from being a thief, a murderer, or an egotistical jerk. It is not designed to do these things. It does prohibit a gay person from becoming a pastor. All I can ask is: Why?

Troubling

Thousands of Christians Displaced in Ethiopia After Muslim Extremists Torch Churches, Homes

Thousands of Christians have been forced to flee their homes in Western Ethiopia after Muslim extremists set fire to roughly 50 churches and dozens of Christian homes.

At least one Christian has been killed, many more have been injured and anywhere from 3,000 to 10,000 have been displaced in the attacks that began March 2 after a Christian in the community of Asendabo was accused of desecrating the Koran.

Ethiopia has a long tradition of Christianity, and Christians outnumber Muslims. But in this area, an extreme form of Islam is being used as an excuse for religious intolerance.

Religious extremism is, in my view, very bad regardless of the religion. I'd like to think these are just a very misguided fringe. Yet Muslim extremism seems to abound in many parts of the world. I think it's important for Muslim leaders to use their authority to promote peace between religions, rather than the reverse. Hopefully some sort of sense will prevail in Ethiopia, which has a long history of Christians and Muslims living side by side in peace.

Crazy

Christian woman faces death for blasphemy
Welcome to Pakistan, where you can be beaten and sentenced to death by hanging for insulting the Prophet Mohammed without uttering anything about him, especially if you don't belong to the Islamic faith.

Somehow I'm not surprised

Pagans celebrated when the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs added a closer, more robust religious area for Wiccans and other followers of nature-based religions (Academy chapel to add outdoor circle to worship areas). But within a short time, before it could even be properly dedicated, the circle was desecrated (Christians Desecrate Wiccan Religious Site at Air Force Academy) by setting up a large wooden cross there.

I wish people could just learn a little tolerance. Years ago, when the Rosemoon Guild became the first CUUPS group there at the local Unitarian-Universalit Church, we set up a ritual circle. I think they were afraid, in the words of one of my friends, that we'd hex their office equipment. But after our circle was desecrated by some of the locals, they came to our defence, and we became 'their' pagans, at least until we finally parted ways a few years later. For some time, though, the circle became community property between both church and Guild.

Irrational and sad

African churches denounce children as ‘witches’: Pastors accuse thousands of children, leading to torture or death

The caption to a photo is horrific:

Accused child witches Jane, left, and Mary, right, stand with other children accused of witchcraft at the Children's Rights and Rehabilitation Network in Eket, Nigeria, on Aug. 18, 2009. Jane's mother tried to saw off the top of her skull after a pastor denounced her and Mary, 15, is just beginning to think about boys and how they will look at the scar tissue on her face caused when her mother doused her in caustic soda.

[Emphasis mine]

What a horrible thing to do in the name of religion to defenceless children!

Great news for scholars

World's oldest Christian Bible goes online

More than 160[0] years ago, a scholar named Constantine Tischendorf came upon a Bible in the Monastery of St. Catherine in the Sinai desert. Recognizing its significance, he took some of the pages away with him to have them published in Germany. He returned again, and again, to take more pages, which wound up scattered in Germany and Russia. Later, some of the pages were purchased by the British Library.

Now the Codex Sinaiticus Project has brought the various pieces of the over 1,600 year-old text together in digitised form online through partnerships with the British Library, the National Library of Russia, St. Catherine's Monastery, and the Leipzig University Library.


Oldest known Bible goes online

World's oldest Christian Bible digitized

Strange Christian thing of the day

Okay, I have trouble remembering when Easter is, since it's not one of my holidays, but for a wonder I remembered not only that Easter is Sunday, but today was Good Friday. But even so, I was not prepared for what I found as I was cruising down Chinoe this afternoon. I looked in my rear-view mirror and the woman in the car behind me is holding a large (10-12 inch) crucifix out of her window. My first reaction is that she somehow recognised the Hekate figure on my car and was calling upon God to smite the evil idol-worshipper. (Not that I worship idols, but that's another topic). My second thought was that she was just going along with a literal 'Jesus is my co-pilot' thing. Weird, but there are weirder things in the world. She turned at Gainesway and kept it out, so it wasn't aimed at me. Let's face it, 9.5 out of 10 Christians would not recognise Hekate even if She were blatantly shown. So, later I realised that this might be some sort of cognate to the pilgrims who go to Jerusalem and carry life-sized crosses (or some other places where they go through mini-crucifixions) along the path Jesus was reported to have done so they can better understand what he did for mankind. I could see where driving a similar route could at least make you more mindful of your Saviour's trevails, but I don't see where toting a 2 lb cross whilst behind the wheel is really going to get you into the mindset of the suffering he reportedly endured. You just look silly. And what if you drop it and some car runs over it? Or worse, what if you're in an accident? That's got to be pretty distracting, especially if you're praying as well. People, this is something you do whilst *walking*.

Just my musings. I hope I haven't offended anyone. I don't mind if you believe that Jesus was the son of God (there were many in the ancient world...my favourite was the whole Zeus appearing as a shower of gold story). I don't mind if you believe he resurrected (again, several cases reported). But the whole one-hand-on-the-wheel-one-hand-on-the-cross is a little creepy. Next time, just put it on your grille like people do wreaths at Christmastime.

Anyway, for those who are sane who are merely marking this important holiday of your faith, happy Easter. And for those of you who have thrown this sadness followed by joy thing to the wind and just gone with the very pagan theme of coloured eggs and chocolate bunnies, happy Easter too.

(I didn't say Happy Spring (my holiday, known as Ostara to some, Alban Eilir to others)--Eilir being rather recognisable to readers of this blog as it is my middle name and means spring, rebirth, or (as a different but related word), butterfly. Anyway, Happy Spring!)

Also, the full moon tonight is very pretty. That's why Easter is as early as it is. It has to fall on the first Sunday after the first full moon of spring (note the word 'after'--if the full moon is on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox, then Easter is the next Sunday. Got it?) Passover, meanwhile, begins on the 15th of Nisan (at sunset, as the Jewish day goes from sunset to sunset, the month from new moon to new moon). This year it's much later than Easter, beginning at sunset April 19th this year. (Note: In Israel and amongst Reform Jews, the holiday is seven days long...amongst the Orthodox and Conservatives outside Israel, it is eight, to be on the safe side and make sure the whole period is commemorated, as days are based on the moon and not on some clock.)

Okay, there's my splurge into spring holiday lore.

Speaking of religion

Here is Graham's (somegreybloke) latest video post:
'Choosing My Religion 2'


I love the Jesus-headed pigeon with God's thunderbolt. :) What can I say, you have to watch. My favourite line, 'It depends if you favour the words of Jesus or the words of Paul. Most Christians seem to go with the latter. Which is odd, because you would think Jesus would outrank Paul. Apparently not.'

This is so me

I try to go to the gym, but I can't find the time. Thanks YKWIA for finding these.

'Gym Membership' by Graham (somegreybloke)


I also like these as well'
'RE: Jesus Loves You' by Graham (somegreybloke)


'Choosing my religion' by Graham (somegreybloke)