It may seem that there’s no point criticizing other people’s theological beliefs because from the standpoint of atheists, all religious beliefs are equally unreasonable, but different theological beliefs are not equal, and they lead to different outcomes.
I define theology as beliefs about gods, spirits, and ethics: how we show up in the world as humans.
Continue readingI’m thankful that I was not brought up with the nonsense about the rapture (which is weird because I grew up in the Exclusive Plymouth Brethren until the age of 9, and it was apparently the founder of the Plymouth Brethren, JN Darby, who popularized the concept of the rapture, along with dispensationalist theology). But I recognize that it is still traumatic to think about for a lot of people.
Continue readingChanging Paths challenge day 27: movies and TV.
Movies and TV that changed my mind / blew my mind.
Continue readingMy religious deal-breakers: Exploring a journal prompt from chapter 5 of “Changing Paths.”
Hello readers and happy Friday! Time to tackle another journal prompt from Changing Paths by Yvonne Aburrow. This week, we’re looking at chapter 5, …
Before I start pulling out my “laundry list” and discussing it, I should note that this is today’s list of my deal-breakers. I’m not sure everything would have been on my list back in 1998 when I was making my break from Christianity. After all, my only goal in 1996 was to make peace with the fact that I was gay. I didn’t plan on changing any other aspect of my faith at that time. But that’s the thing about such lists. They change and grow as we do. We need to allow them to change. Maybe we’ll add new items to the list. Maybe we’ll take some items back off it, or at least clarify what exactly it is we’re opposed to. But let’s get on with my current deal-breakers.
My religious deal-breakers: Exploring a journal prompt from chapter 5 of “Changing Paths.”
A helpful article from John Beckett on the type of people who revert out of Pagan traditions and back to their original path.
John urges compassion and empathy for people who leave Pagan paths for another religion, and offers suggestions for deepening your understanding of Pagan ideas so that you can avoid reverting.
Continue readingThere are many wonderful things that we could classify as miracles: the capacity for love, the beauty of a sunny morning, dew on roses, the ability to paint or compose a masterpiece, and many other natural wonders.
Many Pagans believe in healing energies and such; but we tend to regard them as supplementary to conventional medicine—not a replacement for it. We also believe that they are within Nature, and that one day science will be able to explain them.
Continue readingOne of my favourite movies — it’s nerdy, it’s cute, it’s hilarious and a fundamentalist Christian gets exposed to the vastness of the universe and learns to swear.
Continue readingChanging Paths challenge day 28 — the crossroads
“Only one heart had to find its true position and travel on from there and all the rest would follow, for no matter how isolated the one felt itself to be, in the deeps of all life all were united and no one could move accurately without all ultimately moving with it…”
—Laurens van der Post, A Far-Off Place, p 304
“The crossroads is a liminal place, an in-between place. It is often seen as uncanny, the place where criminals and suicides were buried, a place that might sweep you off your feet and carry you to some unknown destination, a place where you went to sell your soul to the Devil in exchange for some great talent. The crossroads is a profoundly uncomfortable place to be. So is sitting on the fence between two positions. But the ambiguity of the crossroads gives you freedom. You have at least four paths to choose from, plus the option of staying where you are.”
— Changing Paths, chapter 5: At the crossroads
Changing Paths is published by 1000Volt Press and is available from all the usual online stores. Ask your local bookseller or library to stock it!
The goal of the book is to help you decide your own path by guiding you through the perils and pitfalls of the terrain, and asking questions to help you deepen your understanding of the reasons for your desire to change paths.
Changing Paths challenge day 27: change
My favourite times of year are the transitional seasons of spring and autumn, when everything is changing rapidly. In spring there are new blossoms and new leaves emerging, and the days lengthen rapidly. In autumn, the leaves turn red and yellow and orange and are blown away in the wind. The smell of bonfires is in the air, symbolising the transformation of decay into the bright energy of fire.
Continue readingChanging Paths challenge day 26 — wobbling
Spiritual wobbles can happen when your spiritual path becomes out of synch with your religious community. They can be dry spells, when it feels as if the source of your spiritual life has dried up, or the wobble can propel you out of your old path and into a new one. It depends how severe the wobble is.
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Changing Paths 