Every now and then I get inspired to research a topic and then when I get around to writing the blog post the inspiration flees, leaving me with a post of links and background information that is unlikely to ever make it onto a blog post. "Inspiration Link Dumps" are things that I looked into, but never … Continue reading Inspiration Link Dump (3) – Mark Twain & the Movies
Category: interesting
Inspiration Link Dump (2) – Miranda Rice & the Wikipedia Edits
Every now and then I get inspired to research a topic and then when I get around to writing the blog post the inspiration flees, leaving me with a post of links and background information that is unlikely to ever make it onto a blog post. "Inspiration Link Dumps" are things that I looked into, but never … Continue reading Inspiration Link Dump (2) – Miranda Rice & the Wikipedia Edits
Inspiration Link Dump (1) – a bit of everything
Every now and then I get inspired to research a topic and then when I get around to writing the blog post the inspiration flees, leaving me with a post of links and background information that is unlikely to ever make it onto a blog post. I'd like to change that, so I'm going to start … Continue reading Inspiration Link Dump (1) – a bit of everything
go do gratitude
I'm reclaiming "gratitude" from its saccharine Christian Science use. Lets ignore the bad grammar and do gratitude.
2014 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Here's an excerpt: The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 22,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 8 sold-out performances for that many … Continue reading 2014 in review
what I’ve been reading: a few thoughts on Christmas
video content note: Drunken Bible Study, Christmas Edition The Cost of Unbelief via the Economist Oh What Fun - Christmas with Chinese Characteristics via the Economist I think the video dovetails nicely with the afore mentioned Not-So-Virgin Birth of the Christmas Story and Slut Shaming, Sex-Negative Message in the Virgin Birth Story (via http://valerietarico.com/)
what I’ve been reading: Christian Science “Science” in Context
The chemistry of living things & Mary Baker Eddy’s Christian Science via http://isomorphism.es Atomic Theory via wikipedia The Pseudoscience of Christian Science via christianscience.tumblr.com Somewhat related, Cucumbers Cause Cholera via kindism.org
The Slut Shaming, Sex-Negative Message in the Virgin Birth—It’s Worth a Family Conversation
I had Sunday School teachers who insisted that Christian Science takes the “inspired” word of the Bible, and that the stories were “allegorical.” The virgin birth story (inspired allegory or not) always made me a bit uncomfortable. See also, http://valerietarico.com/2014/12/09/the-not-so-virgin-birth-of-the-christmas-story/ on how Jesus’ birth became more virginal and miraculous.
The birth story of baby Jesus celebrates the promise of new life, but for girls it also sends a harmful message. How can we acknowledge this without spoiling the rest?
Most Americans, even many who are not very religious, look forward to Christmas as a time to celebrate warmth, friendship, generosity and good cheer. Familiar festivities weave together stories and traditions from many cultures, which makes it easy to find something for everyone. But maybe it’s time to look a little closer at the Christmas story itself.
The birth story of the baby Jesus is heartwarming and iconic—the promise of new life and new hope in a time of darkness. It has inspired centuries of maternal art and is the best loved of all Bible stories. It also has a darker subtext, especially for someone like me—the mother of two daughters.
In the story, an angel appears to a virgin…
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An Atheopagan Life, by Mark Green: “Observances Around the Year: November/December”
Beautiful ways to celebrate the holidays.
An Atheopagan Life is a monthly column about living an atheist, nature-honoring life.
November and December certainly don’t lack for observances and holiday celebrations. In the temperate zone of the planet, pretty much every culture has had some way of celebrating the winter solstice, and the accumulation of many of those traditions lives with us today in the form of Christmas, Chanukah, the Pagan Yule, newer traditions such as Kwanzaa and even Festivus.
For Atheopagans, navigating this season in a manner free of theistic and supernatural overtones can be a bit of a challenge. We’re besieged with well-intentioned messages from relatives and friends rooted in their credulous religious beliefs. Exasperating as it can sometimes be, the main thing is to remember that those expressions are meant kindly and with love, by and large, not to try to shove religious credulity down our throats.
Meanwhile, our own opportunities for observances are…
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Why Egg Freezing Moves Us in the Wrong Direction
By Jackie Acho and Eva Basilion
Facebook and Apple recently announced plans to pay for their female employees to freeze their eggs for non-medical reasons. It sounds so friendly to women, doesn’t it? – a triumph of technology over biology, relieving us from the pressure of child bearing and rearing so that we may build our careers. Some people are even predicting the end of pregnancy and a rise in artificial wombs. Wouldn’t that level the playing field with men? Doesn’t it seem that they care about you, your choices, and your career?
Well, they don’t. They don’t care about you. They care about your productivity. They care about your ability to work 80-100 hours/week. Most of all, they care about your short-term profitability. They do NOT care about your long term professional development. And it would seem they don’t even care about the long-term relevance of their own institutions.
In…
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kind-ism 