Saturday, August 28, 2010

Don Emmerich

Hello and Happy Saturday!

First up, I wish to thank Jason for his post last week- if you haven't had the chance to check it, please do! Thank you Jason!

This week, we have a new post so please welcome Don Emmerich.
Don is an Agnostic and I know you'll enjoy his post as well!

Here Is Don Emmerich's Introduction:


Hi, I’m Don Emmerich. I’m a philosopher and peace activist. You can find my writings at http://donemmerich.blogspot.com/.


1) What religion do you practice?
To be honest with you, it depends on the day. Sometimes I try to be a Christian (for reasons I’ll describe below), but lately I haven’t even been trying. So at the time of this writing, I guess I’d have to say that I’m an agnostic.

2) Did you convert or were you born into this religion? If you converted, what did you need to do to convert? And what did you practice prior to converting?
I grew up in a half-Jewish, half-Catholic family. Neither parent really pressured me to accept their religious beliefs (I suppose out of respect for the other), and at a fairly young age I just sort of drifted into deism: God is there, he made the universe but hasn’t interfered all that much over the past few billion years. Anyway, when I was twenty, I converted to Evangelical Christianity. I started out as a fundamentalist but, after a year or two, started to discard some of my more radical beliefs: e.g., the universe is only a few thousand years old, all unbelievers are going to hell. To make a long story short, I guess you could say that I just kept evolving (I suppose some would say that I just kept devolving), and here I am today, one really confused agnostic/deist/Christian/who-the-hell-knows-what.

3) Would you consider yourself a moderate, conservative or other?
I really don’t like labeling myself for the simple reason that these terms mean so many different things to so many different people. But since you insist, I guess I’d have to go with liberal. By this, I mean that I believe in the Enlightenment. I believe faith can be a good thing, but I refuse to blindly accept a religious belief that contradicts my own reason and values.

4) In your opinion, what makes you a liberal?
I try to be true to myself. Which means that I try to believe what I believe, not what society tells me to believe, not what the Bible tells me to believe. For example, the Bible tells us that the universe is run by an all-powerful, all-good god. Moreover, the Bible tells us that this all-powerful, all-good god loves us so much that two thousand years ago he became one of us and died an agonizing death for our sins. Well I’d love to believe all that. More than anything, I’d love to believe all that. But when I look around, when I see all the indescribable suffering that so many people in this world are going through, I'm just not sure I can do it.

You know, for years, the Problem of Evil never bothered me. I’d read CS Lewis, Alvin Plantinga, and a number of other apologists. I believed that God had good reasons for allowing people to suffer, that he used suffering to further his kingdom, to draw people to him, etc. But then, last year, my uncle died of cancer. He was in his early fifties, just a wonderful guy. I watched from a distance as he died a slow, painful, humiliating death. I then watched as his death devastated his parents (there’s nothing worse than watching a mother and father bury their own child). I watched as his death devastated his wife (truly a soulmate), his children, grandchildren, siblings, friends. And it seemed so clear that no good came from all this, that no good could come from it. This was an awful, senseless tragedy. Period. And the only conclusion I could draw from it was that maybe I didn’t have life figured out after all, maybe god isn’t there, maybe existence really is as cruel and senseless as Nietzsche claimed.

5) In your opinion, what makes someone conservative? What makes someone moderate?
With regards to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, I’d define a conservative as one who believes his/her scriptures are inerrant, God-breathed, and that they should be strictly followed. I’d define a moderate as someone who tries to follow his/her scriptures, who really, really tries, and sometimes succeeds, but sometimes doesn’t.

6) What's your heaven/paradise like?
I don’t really have an idea of what heaven’s like. Heaven makes no sense to me, absolutely no sense. A world without pain and suffering seems boring, pointless. I could certainly do without SO MUCH pain and SO MUCH suffering. Obviously. But no suffering at all? An absolutely perfect, blissful existence? Where’s the challenge? What’s the point?

7) In your opinion, does everyone make it into heaven/paradise? If they do not, why?
I don’t know. If there’s a god, and if this god’s good, then I would think that most people get to heaven. But everyone? Even Hitler? Even Pol Pot, etc.? I guess I’d have trouble believing that.

8) What makes your religion a good fit for you?
Agnosticism isn’t a good fit for anyone. Nor is atheism. These worldviews suck. As Nietzsche explained, once we do away with God, then we lose many things that we deeply value. Without God, we can’t have objective moral values. We can’t talk about life having any sort of meaning, about our own lives having any sort of purpose. And, of course, without God, it’s hard to imagine there being life after death.

Christianity is a good fit for me. Or, I should say, Christianity would be a good fit for me, if I could just get myself to believe it. But it’s so tough. Having faith is so tough. Back when I was a Christian, I told myself that my faith was based on evidence, objective evidence. For example, I believed that, to some degree at least, one could prove God’s existence, one could prove that Jesus rose from the dead. But I just don’t buy that anymore. Christianity is a great story. In my opinion, the greatest story ever told. But what reason do we have for believing that it’s actually true?

So here I am, sitting on the fence, convinced that life’s big questions are unknowable, wanting so badly to make a Kierkegaardian leap of faith but unable to do so.

9) What are your holy days and what do you do to celebrate them?
I don’t really have holy days. Sometimes I’ll get into the Jewish holidays. I’m not even sure why, but there’s something so beautiful about them. I remember lighting my menorah last December, reciting the traditional Hanukah prayers. A weird thing for me to do. When I started reading, I don’t think I even believed in God. But once I got into it, if only for just a moment or two, I felt as though He might actually be there. It was nice.

10) Do you consider people of other faiths to be your friends?
Of course.

11) Would you ever join people of another faith to celebrate one of their holy days? Please explain why?
I like the idea of people from different faiths occasionally praying together, worshipping together, etc. I don’t think it would make much sense for, say, Christians and Hindus to have common religious services, as their beliefs, at least as I understand them, are so completely different. But I don’t see why, for example, Christians, Jews, and Muslims couldn’t occasionally do this. After all, although such believers have many differences, they also have many similarities.

12) What are your thoughts on the burka, and Shariah Law?
If a Muslim woman wants to wear the burka, then that’s her right. I’m deeply troubled that some European governments have moved to ban it. Regarding Sharia Law, this of course means different things to different people. When Westerners hear someone mention Sharia Law, they usually think of Afghanistan under the Taliban. But this isn’t what most Muslims mean by it. To most Muslims, even most Muslim women, Sharia is a beautiful, liberating system, and Muslims have the right to choose to live under it.

13) What are your thoughts on women not being allowed to become priests?
Well, the Catholic Church is a voluntary organization. Nobody has to join it if they don’t want to, and they have the right to ban women from the priesthood. I personally don’t agree with this view and wouldn’t go to a church that didn’t allow women to be priests, pastors, etc.

14) Does your place of worship segregate? If yes, how does this make you feel?
Not applicable. But I wouldn’t go to a place of worship that segregated the men from the women.

15) How much does your religion affect your daily life and how much thought do you give it when making a decision? Does it affect in any way your decision on abortion, gay marriage, etc?
Everyone’s worldview affects their daily life. That is, if their belief is sincere. I imagine that those people who say they’re religious but spend they’re lives being total shmucks don’t actually believe.

16) How would you react/feel if your child wished to marry outside your religion?
So let’s assume my kid married someone who practiced a religion that I felt was really strange. For example, Mormonism or Religious Science. Would I be disappointed? Of course. But I hope I’d have enough respect to hide my disappointment and completely accept my soon-to-be son-in-law or daughter-in-law.

17) In your opinion, if someone is not of your faith, will they go to hell?
Even when I was a devout Christian, I had trouble believing that a loving God would send people to hell for simply adopting the wrong religious dogma. I always found CS Lewis instructive on this topic. Lewis basically believed that nobody would be in hell who didn’t want to be there: for instance, the African native who’d never heard the Gospel would ultimately be given a chance to accept God; if he didn’t want to humble himself before his creator, then he wouldn’t be dragged kicking and screaming into heaven, but he’d at least be given the chance.

18) Who do you think is not a practicing ----- in your religion and why? ie who in the public domain claims to speak for your religion? Do you agree with them or not?
I think many (most?) religious figures in the public domain are total assholes and hypocrites. For instance, there are a lot of good Christian ministers out there, but all the ones you see on TV—James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Chuck Colson—are complete assholes. Jesus was a good man who preached a simple message—love God and love your neighbor. But these pseudo-Christians spend their time advocating the exact opposite of what Jesus taught. As you can tell, I just can’t take these creeps. Every time they open their mouths, they’re defending things like preemptive war and torture. And what do these people have against homosexuals? God Almighty, why can’t they just leave homosexuals alone?

19) Have you ever been the target of a hate crime? Please explain.
I don’t think so.

20) Do you ever feel like your religion devalues you?
Not applicable.

21) Does your religion give you peace of mind?
During those times when, for some reason or another, I find myself believing, yes, absolutely, my belief gives me peace of mind. That’s the whole point, isn’t it? As Ernest Becker argued, we believe in Yahweh/Jesus/Allah/etc. because doing so gives us peace of mind. Believing that life ends at the grave is terrifying, utterly terrifying. There’s no peace in that.

22) Do you believe in reincarnation? Why or why not?
No, I just don’t see any evidence for it.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Groucho Marx Quote

Happy Thursday Everyone!

Today's quote is brought to you by Groucho Marx:

Well, Art is Art, isn't it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now you tell me what you know.

Be sure to check back Saturday, YMR will have a new post!

Til then- Take care.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

September Interviews

A Sneak Peak Into September!

-some awesome interviews coming up next month:

we'll hear from Kola Boof who is a Womanist,
Sarita Rucker who is a Pagan,
Ilene Rosenblum who is Jewish
and Noor who is a Muslim Convert.

And coming up this Saturday, we'll hear from Don Emmerich who is an Agnostic.

All great interviews you're not going to want to miss!


Saturday, August 21, 2010

Jason

Hello and Happy Saturday!

First up I wish to thank Tirzah Roxie for her very interesting and unique post last week. Thanks for sharing with us Tirzah!

This week we have a new participant- please welcome Jason.
Jason is an Objectivist and I know you're going to enjoy his post as well.

Here Is Jason's Introduction:

My name is Jason- I’m 33, married, and father to 3 girls.


1) What religion do you practice?
I try not to practice at all. To practice implies that, somehow, my thoughts, actions, and beliefs are somehow unnatural and require constant attention and correction. (That isn't to say that beliefs are not an ever-evolving thing, or that such beliefs are not occasionally challenged.) This is not the case. I am, quite simply, an objectivist. If you don't know what it is, you can look it up. I'll even help: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_(Ayn_Rand)

This isn't a religion, nor is it a path to one. It's simply reality, viewed through one's faculty of reason. That which exists, exists. That which is, is. The truth speaks for itself. Objectivists do NOT pray. We work hard. We prepare. We use our faculty of reason to know the world We, as much as is possible use knowledge to achieve our goals. If we spend 3 years saving to buy a car, we applaud our careful planning and execution in finally achieving our goal. We do NOT thank god for helping us save, providing a dealership, and designing the car. It was the mind of man who created the car, the mind of man who build the dealership, and the belief in value-for-value which helped us save the money.


I was once in a very bad place and someone helped me. I don't know where I might be were it not for that person. God did not send that person. The very thought so totally diminishes the caring and effort and character of that person that it would sicken me. That person was raised well, made choices, and lived her life her way. It is because she chose to be who she is, suffered and enjoyed the results of those choices to the fullest, and lived her own life that she is who she is, which helped me to best be who I am.
Sorry for the ramble- you can't condense this method of thought easily.


2) Did you convert or were you born into this religion? If you converted, what did you need to do to convert? And what did you practice prior to converting?
I have always believed the way I do. Someone just came along and gave it a name that mostly fits. Only things you need to be an objectivist is a brain, common sense, and reason.

3) Would you consider yourself a moderate, conservative or other.
I believe what I believe. I feel no need to place myself in a group of like-minded individuals in order to somehow justify my beliefs, feel that I fit in, or conform.

4) In your opinion, what makes you moderate/conservative/other?
The events and circumstances of my life and choices I have made have dictated my beliefs. It's our choices, our circumstances, our lives which shape our beliefs. I believe human beings, by and large, just need to feel as though they belong to some group- some pack of like-minded individuals, in order that they are freed from the effort of thinking for themselves. It's hard to make a choice yourself. It's much easier to hold a belief that the people you surround yourself with endorse. As a culture, we should be celebrating our diversity, not our commonality.

5) In your opinion, what makes someone conservative? What makes someone moderate?
See above.

6) What's your heaven/paradise like?
Every religion has a version of heaven/paradise, and most religions have this heaven/paradise described quite clearly in their predominant holy book. The believers of those religions obviously endorse those descriptions and would give a similar answer. On the other hand, by framing this question in a personal framework, you are implying that heaven/paradise is a personal and subjective creation.
I live my life- if I live it well, then it is its own reward. It shouldn't take some mystical promise of eternal bliss to make me choose to make the right choices in my life. I do the right thing because it's the right thing.

7) In your opinion, does everyone make it into heaven/paradise? If they do not, why?
You're asking me to pass judgement on the rest of the people in the world. Sorry, I'm not qualified.

8) What makes your religion a good fit for you?
What I believe fits me because I'm the one doing the believing. My beliefs are my own- as such they could never NOT be a good fit.

9) What are your holy days and what do you do to celebrate them?
You either live your life by following your beliefs, or you don't. The celebration of life should be expressed in how you choose to live it, each minute of each day. If you only do that on specially reserved days, then you're shortchanging yourself.

10) Do you consider people of other faiths to be your friends?
Wanna know a secret? I don't know the faith or religion of about 95% of the people I know. And I don't care. They are my friends because they are people I find of good moral character, based on their actions in their day-to-day lives. If they choose to align themselves with a particular group, and as long as they don't try to give me their spiel, why would I care either way? I'm friends with people, not with their religious, political, or socio-economic alignments.

11) Would you ever join people of another faith to celebrate one of their holy days? Please explain why?
There's almost no way to fully quantify the possible circumstances which would allow me to answer that hypothetically. I'll just say I'd take it on a case-by-case basis.

12) What are your thoughts on the burka, and Shariah Law?
My thoughts are precisely the same as my thoughts on any religious texts, laws, and iconography. Every person chooses their path, and the way they live their life.

13) What are your thoughts on women not being allowed to become priests?
If the women don't have a problem with it, why should I? If, on the other hand, the women did have a problem, then they'd do something about it, now wouldn't they?

14) Does your place of worship segregate? If yes, how does this make you feel?
Well, given that my life is my "place of worship" then I'd have to say, yes it segregates. Life isn't fair. You do what you can with your own life, but you can't control others. If people want to segregate away from me, then that's their choice. It serves not only them, but me as well, because most likely, if they're the type to segregate, they aren't the type of people I want in my life.

15) How much does your religion affect your daily life and how much thought do you give it when making a decision? Does it affect in any way your decision on abortion, gay marriage, etc?
Abortion: Your choice

Gay marriage: Your choice


My firm belief is that we don't have any business telling people what they can and cannot do within the context of their own lives, so long as it brings no harm to others.

Abortion is tricky- I'll grant you that. If you were raped, or as a medical necessity, then I agree with the concept. If you just weren't careful and didn't want a kid... well, that's fuzzier. As with all things, I believe the circumstances dictate the proper course. It isn't my place to judge. In my own life, I would only choose to do so for medical, safety, or humanitarian reasons. (ie. the child or mother would be irrevocably damaged by childbirth, or the child has a verified defect/disease that would result in a very poor quality of life.)

Gay marriage, on the other hand, is much easier, in my opinion. Why should I care? More's to the point, what gives me the right to care? I always consider the actions I take in the context of the golden rule: If I choose to tell someone who they can and cannot lay with in the privacy of their own bed, then I must be willing to accept that same judgement. In other words, if I tell a gay man he must not lay with another man, then I am accepting that anyone has the right to tell me with whom I may lay. I know I certainly wouldn't like that.


16) How would you react/feel if your child wished to marry outside your religion?
They'll marry who they love. That's all there is to it. Jew, Christian, Muslim, black, white, chinese, boy, girl. Love is love- you can't stop it, you shouldn't stop it. Neither will I.

17) In your opinion, if someone is not of your faith, will they go to hell?
I think by their own religions, most people will be going to hell, based solely on their own actions as applicable to their own faith. You have people gladly rewriting, reinterpreting, and outright ignoring large parts of their own holy books. Tell me, if myself and 10,000 people like me get together and ratify a law or reach a consensus, based on our religious beliefs, that says it's ok to kill people we don't like, or who don't agree with us, will that make it acceptable or moral? Probably not, so tell me why Christians, Jews, etc all reinterpret their laws and codices so frequently to allow for exceptions? Look at christians, for example. Exodus 20:4- “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." Do you have ANY IDEA how many crosses, jesus fish, etc that I see on cars, on necklaces, etc, over the course of a single day?

What about Jews- they have a whole subset of workarounds classified under Rabbinical law. Elohim (God) says you cannot carry anything from place to place on the shabbat. This has got to be awfully inconvenient, so the rabbi's came up with a magic antenna wire called an eruv, under which you CAN carry things on the shabbat.

I could give you many more examples. The bottom line is that if there is a hell, people will go there based on their own actions, whether I think they will or not.


18) Who do you think is not a practicing ----- in your religion and why? ie who in the public domain claims to speak for your religion? Do you agree with them or not?
As far as I know, nobody really fits the first part of this question. To the second part- I greatly admire the words of Terry Goodkind, who is also an objectivist.

19) Have you ever been the target of a hate crime? Please explain.
I'll actually use a Terry Goodkind quote about hate crime which I believe wholeheartedly.

"This muddled thinking leads to things like the dehumanizing concept of "hate crimes." What "hate crimes" do is to say that the real measure of the crime is in the mind of the murderer. What he was thinking qualified the crime -rather than that he took a human life. The very notion of "hate crime" is bigoted; it strips away the value of the victim's life and places the importance, instead, on their membership in a group. This is an attempt to wipe out the importance of the life of the human being who was murdered, and to establish instead that the "real" crime is that a member of a group, not a human being, was attacked.

These perverse notions leave in their wake young people who don't have any goals in life because life itself has been devalued for them. What society is telling them, is that human life isn't valuable -because it is the thoughts that make the crime serious. When you say that thoughts can make murder a more serious offense, you are devaluing human life.

When thoughts are the crime, then people always begin deciding what thoughts are "good" and what thoughts are "bad." It's only a matter of time until- since life isn't valuable, and thoughts are the test of value -that people by the millions are marched into gas chambers, or people by the millions are starved, because they don't have the right "thoughts." They have the wrong religion, or the wrong culture, so those members of a group with these wrong thoughts must die for these "crimes."


20) Do you ever feel like your religion devalues you?
Not at all.

21) Does your religion give you peace of mind?
No, my life and the way I live it gives me peace of mind. I guess you could say they are one and the same.

22) Do you believe in reincarnation? Why or why not?
Our bodies are matter. Our thoughts are energy. As any schoolchild can tell you, energy can neither be created nor destroyed. That means it's all still out there, somewhere. Your mileage may vary.


Thursday, August 19, 2010

Anais Nin Quote

Hello and Happy Thursday!

Tirzah Roxie has suggested a quote by Anais Nin:

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom

Thanks Tirzah!

Be sure to check back Saturday, YMR will have a new post!
til then- take care!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Thank You!!

Hello and Happy Tuesday Everyone!

I wish to thank YMR participants-


Abe Solomon, Infidel753, James Randi, ALC, Carlos Scienza, Muslimah and Tirzah Roxie.

Thank you all for sharing your unique voices with all of us. I enjoyed reading and publishing each of your posts. You each brought something different and interesting and I thank you for your honest and open dialogue!
Without great participants such as yourselves, there would be no YMR!

Thank You!


Saturday, August 14, 2010

Tirzah Roxie

Hello and Happy Saturday!

First up, I wish to thank Muslimah for sharing her perspective with us. I found it very informative and quite interesting. And thanks for fielding all the comments as well Muslimah! Great job!

This week we have a new participant. Please welcome Tirzah Roxie.
Tirzah is Catholic and I know you will enjoy her post as well!

Here Is Tirzah Roxie's Introduction:

I am Tirzah Roxie but Rox to friends & family, wife, mum of 6 & granny. A survivor of many of life's trials. Always been an old soul & do best in the natural world. I'm also a wisewoman, curandera, intercessor. I don't really like labels or being put into a box because I often get stuck. A romantic dreamer & most say an optimist. I love learning & teaching. I love elders so very much. I fall alot but falling is often what helps me get back up. Love little birds, sunshine, sandbars, camping, dancing, watching & listening. I do not like talking much. I love reading & writing and will not get through most rooms in the house without looking at a book. I do not spell well & I despise editing! I long to leave the inner city & return to the bush, the forest where my family is from. I love grey hair & aging gracefully. You can see I love the word love ☺.
I am slow & really enjoy silence, prayer & contemplation. I love thinking! We homeschool unschool our children & I love this because it keeps me in a constant state of learning always. Music I love & my dh is a musician. We love afrocuban, jazz, soul is my fav, old country, boogaloo, classical too, if it is good music we like it .
http://thenaturalcatholic.blogspot.com/

1) What religion do you practice?
Catholic ( not the roman kind either ) which means universal

2) Did you convert or were you born into this religion?
I do not like the word convert so much in the sense that it is used. Conversion means change so I love the word in that context because I love change but I feel people are created who they are, yes we can choose our religion but if we make the wrong choice we are not being us who we are created to be. If God created me a Hindu then living my life as the best Hindu I can be is what is truly how it is to me . However I was baptized a Christian in the high Anglican church.
However my parents only attended weddings & funerals. I got most of my religous instruction in public school & my gramma. I enjoying continuing conversion, I hope I always do .


If you converted, what did you need to do to convert?
I had to approach the church first which is right across the street from us! I was blessed I had a really good instructor to start off with, he had actually been studying to be a priest but then got married. He told me God is neither male nor female, just God. He was very calm & open & answered all my concerns & questions .

And what did you practice prior to converting?
well I think part of discovering I am a Catholic is I always did ritual as a kid, I would have an altar in my room. I loved the narnia books when they came out and they greatly influenced me. I'd put out little bowls of dried fruit, light candles etc. I always was encouraged to think of & talk to my ancestors, Aboriginal ( Native American ), culture was a great part of my life in the young yrs. I always talked to my dead grandfather & great-grandmother so the concept of spirits, angels, saints was very real to me. I pray to the 7 directions, influenced by many of our Aboriginal elders & attend an Aboriginal Catholic church . I know many of my friends would say I was Pagan but I don't really think so because I also always believed in Jesus Christ since I heard about him as a child .

3) Would you consider yourself a moderate, conservative or other.
I am for sure a bit of everything & when I am most balanced I am always in the center. I have very liberal views to some, say Catholic Americans, than to my Pagan friends I may seem conservative. Again I don't like boxes. This could also come from being a Canadian where conservatives here are quite liberal minded compared to the American republicans .

4) In your opinion, what makes you moderate/conservative/other?
well it is hard to say because I think I like to blow those stereotypes out of the water. Like I believe in prolife but also it doesn't bother me at all about gay marriage yet it does my dh who says he is not a Catholic and thinks himself very liberal and is quite anti Catholic at times. I think people like to fit in and go with the flow. I think we all have opinions, some of which could be and can be wrong. I think we all each and every single person has prejudices and what is more important is I can see them in myself and work on them, so again I'm in the center.
5) In your opinion, what makes someone conservative? What makes someone moderate?
again no clue because I know gay Catholics, I know gay prolifers, Pagan prolifers , Pagan republicans, Catholic hippies, etc. Some very liberal minded people are prolife, some very conservative minded people feel racial profiling is wrong. I consider people to be people, we are all unique and not one of us is the same. Common interests, morals, beliefs but we are not all the same either.

6) What's your heaven/paradise like?
I think it is true freedom, release. I don't think it is a place but a state of the soul perhaps. I'm not really sure. I think we all have been given glimpses of it though perhaps.

7) In your opinion, does everyone make it into heaven/paradise? If they do not, why?
I think heaven, nirvana, summerlands is for those souls which have reached true peace, true release. No I don't think someone who has raped a child or committed suicide or been in a huge car wreck etc. would go straight to heaven. There are many steps to heaven, healing. I believe when a soul passes we then have none of this world, the stuff that has kept us stuck here. Our fear is gone or we are given the means and ways to work on our stuff that kept us stuck here. Those I know who chose to take their own life, they can now not be afraid and all the reasons they made the choices be it a result of abuse, addiction etc. is all out in the open, no more fear involved. Yet a soul must still have choice. I think about that at times- do all souls have remorse? Like the sociopath? We just will never know it all.
I don't believe in if you didn't work it out here on earth thats it . I believe a soul heals after passing. I believe this is open to everyone, whether all souls heal, well I don't know if that happens or not. Many religions believe in the concept of a heaven & hell, a dark place & a light place. I learned because in my intercession work that in the Lakota way a soul has a soul keeper that not all souls go straight to heaven.


8) What makes your religion a good fit for you?
I am truly being me when I am the Catholic I am created to be ☺. It keeps my ego down, keeps me humble, strong and it is just the way it works. I get the best results when I'm truly living my religion. I love learning with saints & wonderful catholics like Hildegard, Brigid, Nicholas Black Elk, Kateri Tekawitha etc. When I do I am truly being me. They all help me so much.

9) What are your holy days and what do you do to celebrate them?
My all time fav day is All Soul's day . It is very special to me because our first All Soul's day was in Michoacan MX. 26 yrs. ago. It is a very strong place of protection and of the Aboriginal people there celebrated this day as all Soul's Day before Christians came there. They believed the return of the monarach butterfly represented the souls of their ancestors. All the way up here in Canada, the butterfly represents the soul of little girls & dragonflies that of boys! I work with souls passing so this is all very special to me. I love this sameness of all religions, how spread out all over the world the concepts are the same! We started to find out more about Celtic Christianity in Ireland, Wales etc. They celebrate all the festivals there like Ostara, Beltane etc. St. Hildegard had very strong Celtic roots and wrote alot about the 4 elements etc.

10) Do you consider people of other faiths to be your friends?
of course! my sil is Neopagan but she will be the first to tell people I am for certain a Catholic lol. People always wish to squish others into boxes. I consider myself Catholic in the sense of before the influence of Pagan Rome. Back to the beginning when women were bishops & priests etc. and when the essnsses had a deep influence on the teachings of Jesus. Back to the beginning of what Jesus first gave to us. I like to help inform people as many of us have just been ignorant and if we are open we will always be given more information. We need to be able to admit we are capable of not knowing it all though. Being aware our own ignorance is a must in order to learn. Like most people believe all Aboriginal peoples were/are Pagan. Not all were. Many many tribes believed in one God. I watch this great show called The Voice of Hinduism. The teacher is a really great elder. Hindus do not consider themselves Pagan and in fact refer to the ultimate God often. A great priest told me Krishna is Jesus. Jesus is Krishna .
Many baptists think Catholics are Pagan. We pray to beads you know ☺.
I guess I always grew up with the influence of not all is European way. A Christian in fact has nothing to do with being European or having a white picket fence, merely we believe in Jesus. That is Jesus is God. That one belief nothing else. So you will have gay Christians, Christians who believe in abortion, Christian witches, etc.
I like to tell people this little story of how one day I was making a prayer stick for my sil for her birthday. My ds Indigo, then 11yo said to me ( I don't know mum if aunty Summer will like that, she's not catholic you know. " lol. It was so funny because he had no idea that most of the world would consider making a prayer stick a pagan thing. Remember my sil is neo pagan, but to him my ds, this is mum, his catholic mum and who I am being when closest to God is exactly that, making things like prayer sticks ☺.


11) Would you ever join people of another faith to celebrate one of their holy days? Please explain why?
Yes, because like Mother Teresa who told leaders of other countries to build more temples & mosques etc. so the people could have more time with God. That is what I think, if people could focus, and have more time with their God, our Creator then their minds will be taken away from fighting, help others etc. I think it is really important to encourage others to celebrate.

12) What are your thoughts on the burka, and Shariah Law?
I like the burka however Shariah Law is not Canadian law but we have begun to have Aboriginal law here for Aboriginal communities. I think I would have to say I'd like to hear from people who would be greatly effected by these laws. I've heard a bit mentioned here on the news but I'm not that informed about it. I think the burka is a choice. I think if someone decides to dress up in a burka to conceal an explosive device well that is their choice. It will not stop them from making a wrong choice if the burka is illegal. I work in the area of abuse too, people make all kinds of poor choices out of desperation & hate. People have abusive character not because of race, religion, economic status etc. I don't believe in a system based on punishment etc. We are big advocates of restorative justice so maybe that will give you an idea of my belief .

13) What are your thoughts on women not being allowed to become priests?
it is really dumb lol. Is that simple enough of an answer? It is totally a hypocritical thing too because the roman church says that the eastern churches are inline with the RCC yet priests in many of those Catholic churches can be married etc. Women were once priests in our church, they should be again. It was the influence of pagan rome actually that brought on that practice of women not being priests. People don't want to see that bad ideas, poor choices come from all religions. People are people after all. Anyway yes women should be priests if it is their calling.

14) Does your place of worship segregate? If yes, how does this make you feel?
I never really expereinced the whole someone judging me because of my sex not for along time. I'm used to people, including our priests, seeing me as a whole . Then I found a priest who judged women who treated us different just because of that fact. It was wierd so how am I to respond. I didn't take part in it, this is who he is . He isolated himself more because of it though because in the Aboriginal community many women become and are leaders. He lost respect of many people.
Our church on a whole does not but we are a poor church, Rome definitely segragates people!


15) How much does your religion affect your daily life and how much thought do you give it when making a decision? Does it affect in any way your decision on abortion, gay marriage, etc?
religion is a part of my daily life in ritual, prayer even what I read I guess , but my views & belief on issues of abortion or gay marriage are my belief even if the pope told me abortion was now ok, I would not beleive it or put it into practice. I already said what I feel about gay marriage. My church leaders are people, they are not always right. The view that someone is holier than others because of status, what you wear, where you live, if you are celibate or not is a farce. It is not true. I think people need to see people for people. There are gay catholic priests, married gay catholic priests, women priests too just the main church in Rome has not accepted them. Then there are people who say they can't believe I am a Catholic after all I am a survivor of abuse etc. Well for one I am a Catholic because I am created that way. Change will not come if people leave and I can want to be a hindu all I want, but wanting to be is not being ☺.


16) How would you react/feel if your child wished to marry outside your religion?
she already did! It was a great wedding! Edith Piaf playing in the background, an outdoor wedding, a 1940's theme. I question more if a couple really is meant to be married in the first place, so many people are not even supposed to be together.

17) In your opinion, if someone is not of your faith, will they go to hell?
it has nothing to do with being a religion I don't think. I think it depends on the state of ones soul.

18) Who do you think is not a practicing ----- in your religion and why? ie who in the public domain claims to speak for your religion? Do you agree with them or not?
the Pope! and most of Rome! Do not speak for me and do not reflect my Catholic religion. I don't believe in hierarchy but rather in leadership. There are always leaders for people, presidents, chiefs etc.
Then there are really great people groups like PAX Christi, Development & Peace, Sister Elaine a nun who runs a yoga & meditation in the prison system here for over 20 yrs! My brother is in that system so I know how great programs like this are. There are people who work to help children not be abused too & help in healing from residential school abuse as well like returning to spirit program .


19) Have you ever been the target of a hate crime? Please explain.
I have to deal with people who have hate for Catholics even my dh, but I have to look beyond. It has nothing to do with my religion, it is always about a fear that was placed there. We all expereince this. Think how hard it is for a priest to see beyond the hate. People hate a priest just for being a priest because of abuse that happened to a family member etc., it takes great humility just to go on and not take it personally, but reality is if we are truly living our religion be we Catholic , Hindu, Muslim, Pagan, we will never be able to be enabled to be a victim or a persecuter. We will be able to be defend in a non pushy or bullying way. I know my dh has a hate in his heart for the Catholic church because his father was abused by a priest. His mother hated Catholics, so he got it from both parents. All the fear & hate isn't even that of my dh, it was passed on.

20) Do you ever feel like your religion devalues you?
not really, it has helped me become me more and more.

21) Does your religion give you peace of mind?
yes very much so, I have much contentment

22) Do you believe in reincarnation? Why or why not?
I guess I do, that it exists but not for me. I think possibly reincaration is the version of hell in someway, yet coming back in another form, your soul remains always who you are.
Yet you see I don't need reincarnation because my soul will heal when I pass, there is no need to return here. I also believe that God gives some of us the gift to see ahead or behind. So maybe it isn't a past life but rather time travel. I know God lets me do this so why would he send me to another life when in the here and now He could send me to visit that which is needed to be seen.




Thursday, August 12, 2010

New Post

Happy Thursday!

Be sure to check back this Saturday for a new post- we'll hear from Tirzah Roxie who is Catholic.

til then-take care!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Muslimah

Happy Saturday Everyone!

I wish to thank Carlos Scienza for sharing his perspective in so open and honest fashion with all of us. Thank you so much Carlos!

This week we hear from Muslimah who is a Muslim Convert and I know you'll enjoy her post as well.

Here Is Muslimah's Introduction:

You can call me Muslimah. I'm a 21-year-old convert to Islam and I live in Helsinki, Finland. You can visit my blog at http://hijabchicblog.blogspot.com

1) What religion do you practice?
Islam.

2) Did you convert or were you born into this religion? If you converted, what did you need to do to convert? And what did you practice prior to converting?
I'm a convert to Islam. I was born into a Christian family, but I was never practicing because I simply didn't believe in Christianity. I took my Shahada (declaration of belief in the oneness of Allah SWT and acceptance of Muhammad as His Messenger) 4 years ago at the age of 17.

3) Would you consider yourself a moderate, conservative or other.
I consider myself a Muslim and there's only one way, one Islam. Islam is a universal religion, perfected by Allah SWT and it needs no moderation, alteration etc. The teachings of Islam are very clear, logical and pure, but unfortunately some people try to mess things up.

4) In your opinion, what makes you moderate/conservative/other?
What makes a person a Muslim? Submitting to God's will, so I try my best to follow the teachings of Islam - the holy Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), like every Muslim believer should.

5) What's your heaven/paradise like?
Eternal. Read the holy Quran for more specific information.

6) In your opinion, does everyone make it into heaven/paradise? If they do not, why?
No. I believe in the Day of Judgement and the Last Day, when every single human being is held accountable for his/her deeds and are judged by God, according to their actions in this life. The ones who were true believers and who did righteous deeds will make it into heaven out of God's Mercy and the disbelievers will end up in Hell.

"That Day, the people will depart separated into categories to be shown the result of their deeds. So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it and whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it." Quran 99:6-8

7) What makes your religion a good fit for you?
Islam is a very logical religion, it makes a lot of sense. It's an universal religion and the teachings of Islam go for every situation, every era, every race and every nation. Islam is a way of life and a meaning for life, like a complete guide to this life and hereafter. Islam was given to the mankind 1400 years ago and all the teachings and scriptures still make sense, because Islam was perfect from the beginning and allows no religious innovations. Allah says in the holy Quran:

"This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion."
[The Quran 5:3]


8) What are your holy days and what do you do to celebrate them?
Friday. Muslims do not celebrate the Sabbath like Jews and Christians do, but for Muslims Friday is the day when people gather to the Mosques for Friday prayer, Jum'ah. All Muslim men are required to attend Friday prayers and women can attend voluntarily.

Then we have 2 major Eids, 1) Eid al-Adha - celebrations start right after Hajj (the time of year when Muslims do pilgrimage to Mecca) and 2) Eid al-Fitr - which marks the end of the month of Ramadan, the holy month of Islamic lunar calendar and the month when Muslims fast.


9) Do you consider people of other faiths to be your friends?

Most of my friends are Muslims, too. The reason why I mainly choose to hang out with other Muslims is because I can really relate to them, we have much more in common than with people of other faiths. We have similar values and practices. For example, if I was spending time with non-Muslims, it would be a bit difficult for me to explain to them hey it's time for prayer, I have to go pray and many of the people I used to know before converting to Islam are nowadays getting involved in things I don't want to be a part of, for example many of them are dating, drinking alcohol, going to clubs and my religion doesn't allow such behaviour, so I'd rather stay away from them. Sooo, my question to the answer would be no, not really. I feel much more comfortable with other Muslims than with people of other faiths, however I still treat people of other faiths with respect.

10) Would you ever join people of another faith to celebrate one of their holy days? Please explain why?

No, I wouldn't join to celebrate the holy days of other religions. Imitating non-Muslims in their festivals implies that I'm pleased with their beliefs and practices and I accept them, which is the reason why it's forbidden for a Muslim to join the celebrations of other faiths. For example, joining a Christmas celebration would imply that I accept the pagan rite or that I accept Prophet Jesus as the son of God. Jesus, peace be upon him was a Prophet, just like Noah, Moses, Muhammad.

Allah says in the holy Quran 3:85 (interpretation of the meaning) “Whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers.”

11) What are your thoughts on the burka, and Shariah Law?

I myself am a Muslim woman, choosing to cover my entire body (including my face and hands) in front of men I'm not related to. The Shariah is better than any man-made law, because the Shariah is the word of God, based on the Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and therefore it's superior to any other system.

12) What are your thoughts on women not being allowed to become priests?

Islam permits women to lead other women in prayer but not a congregation with men in it. If there are both men and women, the Imam has to be one of the men and men will pray in the front row and women will pray behind them or in a separate women's section.

13) Does your place of worship segregate? If yes, how does this make you feel?
Yes, Islam forbids free mixing of unmarried men and women, in order to protect modesty. Modesty is very important in Islam and Islam encourages people, both men and women to protect their modesty.

14) How much does your religion affect your daily life and how much thought do you give it when making a decision? Does it affect in any way your decision on abortion, gay marriage, etc?

Islam is a religion and a way of life so yes, it definitely affects my life and I try my best to live my life according to the teachings of Islam.

15) How would you react/feel if your child wished to marry outside your religion?
Every parent wishes the very best for her/his children, so naturally I wish my children would also marry Muslims.

16) In your opinion, if someone is not of your faith, will they go to hell?

God only knows who will make it to the Paradise and who will end up in Hell.

17) Who do you think is not a practicing ----- in your religion and why? ie who in the public domain claims to speak for your religion? Do you agree with them or not?
Unfortunately, most people in the Western media especially and public domains talking about my religion are not speaking for Islam. Many of them are non-practicing Muslims who have adapted to the ways of non-Muslims, many of these people aren't even Muslims and many are Muslims without real knowledge based on the authentic scriptures, so I do not agree with them.

Muslims believe in One God, Angels, the Revelation, the Prophets, the Day of Judgement and divine Predestionation althougth people have free will.
There are 5 pilars of Islam: declaration of faith, the Prayer - we pray 5 times a day, fasting in the month of Ramadan, giving charity and pilgrimage to Mecca.

That's what makes one a Muslim.


18) Have you ever been the target of a hate crime? Please explain.

I've experienced racism and discrimination, especially when trying to get a job, but I have not been a target of a major hate crime.

19) Do you ever feel like your religion devalues you?

Absolutely not. I feel like Islam taught me about the value of a human being and especially about the value of a woman, which is unfortunately very widely misunderstood in most of the Western medias.

20) Does your religion give you peace of mind?
Yes.

21) Do you believe in reincarnation? Why or why not?
No. I believe in the Day of Judgement and Heaven and Hell.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

This Saturday

Be sure to check back this Saturday-we'll hear from Muslimah who is a Muslim Convert from Finland!

til then-take care!

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

J.K. Rowling Quote

Hello and Happy Tuesday!

Today's quote is brought to you by J.K. Rowling:

It is our choices... that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.



And don't forget to check out Carlos Scienza's post!