PAGAN EASTER April 1, 2015

Drats! The Christians took all the fun out of Easter.

It’s an ancient pagan festival. The Spring Equinox. A  seasonal event. It celebrated the day all the fun things about this yearly event occur. Easter bunnies are a leftover. Eostre was a pagan goddess whose symbol was a rabbit or hare. Easter eggs are also an ancient custom celebrated by many cultures. Hot cross buns are ancient, too. That’s a cute story: early Christian leaders tried to put a stop to this tradition but-in the end-cake-baking women wouldn’t cave so they gave up and blessed the goodie. Don’t you just love defiant women?

Israelites baked sweet buns for an idol-leave it to the Hebrews-beats matzo balls, which I love, but which are not particularly festive.

Even better, dancing, drinking, feasting, noise-making and love-making had been the usual ways in which humans celebrated occasions of communal happiness. Ever since prehistoric times human kind has spent energy on the turning of the seasons. Spent the strongest of these human emotions on spring-a time when the earth is freed from winter and the days grow long-with joyous, sometimes lascivious human behavior-which overcome the powers of darkness. I’ll drink to that.

By the way, in those times it was a goddess, Inanna, or Ishtar, who was hanged naked on a stake and then resurrected. Well, at least we got out of that mess.

Another cute story: a cult called Cybele flourished on today’s Vatican Hill. Cybele had a lover, Attis, who was born of a virgin, died and was reborn annually. This festival began as a day of blood on Black Friday-which reared its ugly head for three days- after which everybody rejoiced the resurrection. This caused some pretty violent conflicts-Christian versus pagan-as to which story was the true story.  Ring any bells? They’re still at it. Whose god is the head honcho? Whose fairy tale is the real one?

An aside: as a devout non believer, I always wondered how it happened that awful Friday became Good Friday. Sounds like a perfectly terrible way to spend a Friday to me.

Eventually Christians accommodated the pagan Spring festival.  The goddess prevailed. Love goddesses. Miss’em.

Also, did you know, there’s no celebration of Easter in the New Testament? The patriarchs, once again, gave in. Today most Christians celebrate a “sunrise service” at Easter. A historical pagan celebration but governed by the phases of the moon. Strange how myths begin, evolve and change. Darwinian? I don’t know.

Actually, the spring Equinox is essentially related to fertility and a balance of night and day. Hey, some people celebrate with bonfires and jumpin’ over dying embers which is believed to assure fertility of people and crops.

I think the world was  much more fun  when god was a woman. Or at least shared the stage. There were girl gods and boy gods, a family, very egalitarian. They were always up to shenanigans. It was a time of celestial giddiness.

Better, I think, then a time when a grumpy old father figure reigns. What do you think?

 

 

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RIGHT IS RIGHT February 10, 2015

 

I’m constantly being reminded that everything I say is wrong. That’s terrible. I mean, even a clock that’s stopped is right twice a day. And that’s it. Right is right. So, I’m going to repent. Do penance and stuff. When you’re right, the problems of the world are easy to solve.

I’ll do it, as AA does, in ten easy steps.

1. Every human must convert to Christianity. Attend the church of his/her choice- for now- at least once a week. New borns must be baptized within the first 24 hours. All women must be disenfranchised. (Some exceptions. Read on.) No higher education. Chattel is their status. Home is their workplace. Child bearing their duty.
2. Seniors and those disabled, physical or mental-that is they who are no longer capable of working for a living-will be housed and fed and gifted with Bingo parlors.
3. No public schools. All male children-except the get of the rich, famous, religious, political and military hierarchy (RFRPMH)- must do 24 months of boot camp after which they, who qualify for professional status, may continue their education. All others will line up for assignments in the work force or remain in uniform. Army. Navy, Marine Corp or Air Force.
4. No sex education. No birth control. (Exception RFRPMH)
5. Private ownership of land forbidden (Exception RFRPMH)
6. No private ownership of pets. (Exception RFRPMH)
7. All subversive books or written works-films and art as well- burned. Soon to be followed by authors or creators of same.
8. Sedition punishable by death.
9. Nags and chronic complainers sent to rehab or incarcerated..
10. Be happy in your work. Or else.

 

Conflicting Religious Views October 10, 2014

If you deny there are conflicting views, you’re in denial. Religions, all religions, are hard-nosed. You quote your books, chapter and verse, you quote your silly gods, you interpret your books and fight with each other over the interpretations. But all over the world, in the Islamic world, in Israel, in America, South America, voices of reason, voices of the people, are rising.

We speak out against war, we speak out against dictators, religious fanatics and other unevolved humans. Strong words here, but appropriate. Muslim women are fighting for the right not to wear the veil. Our troops, many of them, come home sick to the heart about our senseless carnage of innocent people, men and women and children who have done us no harm. We speak out about a ridiculous economic system that never has and never will work. We dare to speak out against those who silence us with guns, with ridicule, with lies, with stupidities. Dare I mention Limbagh, Grundge, and other purveyors of your drivel.

How was your god in America been hijacked by the rich? By the powerful? By the killing machine? By Cheney, by Palin, by the Waltons, by the lunatic religious televangelist? Who was it said, wisely, “We love you, Jesus, we just don’t like the guys you hang around with,”?

At the very base of this madness lies, in his crypt, your murderous patriarchal gods. I love to hear the nonsense from the leaner brained evangelical bunch who sputter, “God has no sex.” Are you nuts? He seems to be everybody’s father and as most of us recall fathers are usually male. And, further, we are all sinners in his eyes. Well, I ain’t baby and you ain’t gonna stick that thorny feather in my blue bonnet. May I quote a few quotes?

“Religion, which should most distinguish us from beasts, and ought most peculiarly to elevate us, as rational creatures, above brutes, is that wherein men often appear most irrational, and more senseless than beasts themselves.” John Locke.

“There are scores of great religions in the world, each with scores or hundred of sects, each with its priestly orders, its complicated creed and ritual, its heavens and hells. Each has its thousands or millions or hundreds of millions of ‘true believers’; each damns all the others with more or less heartiness–and each is a mighty force of graft.” Upton Sinclair.

“I regard monotheism as the greatest disaster ever to befall the human race. I see no good in Judaism, Christianity, or Islam-good people, yes-but any religion based on a single, well, frenzied and virulent god, is not as useful to the human race as, say, Confucianism, which is not a religion but an ethical and educational system.” Gore Vidal

“The way to see faith is to shut the eye of reason.” Benjamin Franklin.

And last, but not least, “…the government of the United States, is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion…” President John Adams on June 10, 1797

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