Seeking and Finding Wholeness

Why do people think Jesus had a European looks (long soft blond hair and green/blue eyes)?

The above photo is the face of Jim Caviezel, who plays Jesus in the movie “The Passion of the Christ,” is similar to many modern-day images of Jesus.

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Do you remember your childhood memories of Jesus?

Do you remember seeing images of him in bibles, posters, Sunday school literature or seeing conceptualization of Jesus in statues?

If you are White or Hispanic, Catholic or Protestant (even Orthodox or Evangelical,Born Again, Baptist etc) you just may remember a blond Jesus with long hair.

One famous image of Jesus was a painting by Warner Sallman, called “The Head of Christ” (1940). It showedd Jesus with flowing blond hair and blue eyes. He’s clean-looking, safe, passive, and even feminine to a degree.

This is Sallman’s Jesus:

Let us take a look at more conceptualizations of Jesus from around the world,

The image above is from a popular Children’s Bible (popular in the 70′s), Jesus had blond, blue-eyed Jesus throughout

The image above is of Jesus is from Ethiopia, from the 17th or 18th centuries.

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In researching philosophies of religions I came across many “isims” so I put together the definitions of all the isims I came across here. Enjoy:

Agnosticism: a (meaning “without”) gnosis (”knowledge”). Agnosticism is the position where one claims they cannot know whether a God or Gods exists. This lack of knowledge may be viewed as temporary (weak agnosticism) or permanent (strong agnosticism).

Animism: A belief that natural phenomena such as rocks, trees, thunder, or celestial bodies have life or divinity. The doctrine that all natural objects and the universe itself have souls. a belief that natural phenomena such as rocks, trees, thunder, or celestial bodies have life or divinity.

Atheism: a (”without”) the (”deity”, or “god”). Disbelief in any supernatural deity.

Autotheism: The viewpoint that, whether divinity is also external or not, it is inherently within ‘oneself’ and that one’s duty is to become perfect; divine. This can either be in a selfish, wilful, egotistical way or a selfless way following the implications of statements attributed to ethical, philosophical, and religious leaders such as Jesus, Buddha, Mahavira, and Socrates. The doctrine of God’s self-existence. Deification of one’s self; self-worship.

Deism: the belief that a god created the world and then left it to run on its own. Popular during the Enlightenment period. The analogy often used to explain it is that of a clock maker who constructs the watch and then leaves it, allowing it to operate on its own.

Dualism: The doctrine that reality consists of two basic opposing elements, often taken to be mind and matter (or mind and body), or good and evil. Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The word’s origin is the Latin duo, “two” . The term ‘dualism’ was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general usage.

Eutheism: the belief that there is a god, and that this god is good. (Omnibenevolence) is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “unlimited or infinite benevolence”. It is sometimes held to be impossible for a deity to exhibit this property along with both omniscience and omnipotence, because of the problem of evil. It is a technical term used in the academic literature on the philosophy of religion, often in the context of the problem of evil and in theodical responses, and even in such context, the phrases “perfect goodness” or “moral perfection” are often preferred.

Existentialism: A philosophy that emphasizes the uniqueness and isolation of the individual experience in a hostile or indifferent universe, regards human existence as unexplainable, and stresses freedom of choice and responsibility for the consequences of one’s acts.

Fatalism: The doctrine that all events are predetermined by fate and are therefore unalterable.

Hedonism: The doctrine which holds the standard of the good and morality as whatever gives pleasure per se. This theory substitutes ethical purpose for ethical standard, stating (in essence) “the proper value is whatever you happen to value.” Objectivism rejects this formulation.

Henotheism: Devotion to one god, while accepting the existence of others. Much of the Old Testament is henotheistic.

Humanism: is a perspective common to a wide range of ethical stances that attaches importance to human dignity, concerns, and capabilities, particularly rationality. Although the word has many senses, its meaning comes into focus when contrasted to the supernatural or to appeals to authority. Since the nineteenth century, humanism has been associated with an anti-clericalism inherited from the eighteenth-century Enlightenment philosophes. Twenty-first century Humanism tends to strongly endorse human rights, including reproductive rights, gender equality, social justice, and the separation of church and state. The term covers organized non-theistic religions, secular humanism, and a humanistic life stance. The doctrine emphasizing a person’s capacity for self-realization through reason; rejects religion and the supernatural.

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Very valuable – must watch:

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Happy birthday to Jesus of Nazareth, Mithra of Persia, Attis of Phrygia, Horus, Osiris, Krishna,  Heracles, Dionysus, Tammuz, Adonis, Hermes, Bacchus, Prometheus and solar messiahs that were BORN on on December 25th

Happy Bday!

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It is sad how people experience stress during the holidays, but things don’t have to be this way!

The shopping, driving, mailing out greeting cards, going to the post office, budgeting, traveling and seeing relatives. Sounds familiar?

I want to tell you now, that you can change this. You do not have to be stressed. In fact, you can be happy and make a bunch of other people happy.

You do not have to navigate crowded malls, get stuck in traffic, drive long distances, deal with airports and air travel, worry what gifts to buy, wrap gifts, mail gifts, send cards… nothing! Yes, you can simply say “no”.

Many alternatives to the commercialized, stressful, costly and polluting norms exist. Consider finding a bunch of friends that are close to your heart and locale (in your same state or region) and spend time with them.

Give people good words, give good wishes, give hugs, give love, give smiles, do good deeds, be extra relaxed, open doors for people, plant trees, etc.. The sky is the limit. You do not have to venture into these pesky malls.

You have the power to save money, save the environment, save yourself from headaches and have a greater more positive impact this season by being a better friend to yourself, to others and to nature.

Yes, YOU have to power to keep things simple. To say no. To start new traditions. To be unique.
Consider giving a donation to non profit organizations, give the Gift of Microfinance , be selfless, serve others, or make some good food and invite people to eat.

Consider spending time alone in meditation, in counting your blessings, in reflection, in prayer, in adoring Nature or a candle’s flame. Take a walk on a trail, go alone or take a loved one, if it’s cold bundle up and go out, adore the snow, adore the sky, adore the trees, spend time with your God or Nature.

Make the new years, Christmas, solstice or Yule a time to be good, truly good to yourself, to nature and to other people.

If you celebrate Christmas, this year remember that Jesus said “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” and “sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Rid yourself of materialism and stress, keep things simple, honest, spiritual; you will be happier and make others happier while saving a bunch of trees, reducing your carbon and waste footprint and feeling better than ever for having done what you KNOW is right, not what you are told is right.

Remember, you are not alone.

Blessings, Love & Wisdom

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Gore Vidal, Stephen Fry, Albert Einstein, H P Lovecraft, Peter Singer, Susan B Anthony, Janeane Garofalo, Penn and Teller, Shirley Manson, Ian Mckellon, Ayn Rand, Diane Keaton, Brian Eno, Mark Twain, Isaac Asimov, Richard Dawkins, Harvey Fierstein, Gloria Steinem, Rachel Griffiths, Douglas Adams, Germaine Greer, Charles Dar More..win, Daniel Dennet, Armistead Maupin, John Malkovich, Katherine Hepburn, David Attenborough, Sam Harris, Joaquin Phoenix, Gabriel Byrne, Voltaire, Bruce Lee, Carl Sagan, Bertrand Russell, Jodie Foster, Steven Pinker, Gene Roddenberry, Frank Zappa, Gary Numan, Dave Gilmour, Nietzsche, Kathy Griffin and John Adams.

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One of my favorite quotes by Albert Einstein

The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. It was the experience of mystery— even if mixed with fear— that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds: it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, and only this sense, I am a deeply religious man.

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A young man came to Socrates one day and said, “Mr. Socrates, I have come 1,500 miles to gain wisdom and learning. I want learning, so I come to you.”

Socrates said, “Come, follow me.” He led the way down to the seashore. They waded out into the water until they were up to their waists, and then Socrates seized his companion and forced his head under the water. In spite of his struggles, Socrates held him under.

Finally, when most of his resistance was gone Socrates laid him out on the shore and returned to the market place. When the visitor had regained his consciousness and strength, he returned to Socrates to learn the reason for his behavior.

Socrates said to him, “When you were under the water, what was the one thing you wanted more than anything else?”

“I wanted air.”

Then Socrates said, “When you want knowledge and understanding as badly as you wanted air, you won’t have to ask anyone to give it to you.”

(Sterling W. Sill, quoted in 7,700 Illustrations)

When I read this story, I see three different ‘lessons’ one can take away. What does this story teach, what lessons do you think this story is offering you?

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This is an interesting article written by Teresa Silverthorn on an interesting phenomena, namely worshiping and studying the invisible God. I use the word invisible here, because as Teresa points out, when a person says they can see this God they are told ‘no you can’t see (him or her)’, in fact one is not supposed to see it.

In the framework of the article below, I see these scenarios:

• God actually doesn’t exist but you are asked to spend your life seeking it
• God does exist but it it is simply invisible to humans
• God is a figment of imagination
• God is not invisible but some want you to think it is

Re-printed below with permission from author:

The human race is psychotic. They were either born that way, taught to be such, or it was decided upon.

I have heard this before, and so have you. I am speaking of a current statistic that claims that a certain percentage of humanity has been defined as “psychotic,” which leaves the rest of us looking around our neighborhood analyzing our friends and co-workers.

In my opinion, it refers to the majority. Not the minority. And, I’m only speaking of a certain element of our existence, not an overall judgment call.

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Happy Earth Day, Today And Every Day

I’m writing today to wish Earth a happy Earth day.
I’m writing to wish you a happy Earth day.
May every day be Earth Day.

If you follow this blog, you know that I have little time to write these days. But I had to write to wish you all a belated happy Earth Day Earth day was on April 22nd 2009.

I am keeping this article short and simple. I would like to briefly mention a couple words that come to mind on an occasion like this.

Are you familiar with the word Gaia? I’d guess 50% of the people reading this have heard the word Gaia before. If you know this word, congrats for your knowledge of Greek Mythology.

How about this word: Pantheism ?

If you didn’t recognize these words, no worries. I will briefly discuss what these terms mean here, in the future I will dedicate an article to each term.

Gaia

Also spelled Gaea or Ge, is a word from Greek mythology. Gaia is the goddess of the earth and mother of Cronus and the Titans in ancient mythology. In other words Gaia is the mother of all things, including the Titans, as well as Zeus and all other gods.

The term Gaia is also found in philosophy. You guessed it, Gaia philosophy or the Gaia theory was named after Gaia the Greek Goddess. There are some mystical, scientific and religious predecessors to the Gaia philosophy. Many religious mythologies had a view of Earth as being a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts (e.g. some Native American religions and various forms of shamanism).

Gaia Theory is a broadly inclusive term for related concepts that living organisms on a planet will affect the nature of their environment in order to make the environment more suitable for life.

Gaia is also the name of a hypothesis. The Gaia hypothesis is an ecological hypothesis that deals with the concept of homeostasis, and claims the resident life forms of a host planet coupled with their environment have acted and act as a single, self-regulating system. This system includes the near-surface rocks, the soil, and the atmosphere. This hypothesis proposes that the biosphere and the physical components of the Earth (atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere) are closely integrated to form a complex interacting system that maintains the climatic and biogeochemical conditions on Earth in a preferred homeostasis.

On to the next term,

Pantheism

Pantheism is made of off two words, ‘pan’ is Greek for ‘all’ and ‘theos’ means ‘God’. It literally means “God is All” and “All is God”.

Pantheism refers to the belief that the universe is divine and should be revered. Pantheism identifies the universe with God but denies any personality or transcendence of such a God

A pantheist is someone who believes that everything is God and God is all. Since God is everything and everything is God, everything is sacred and interconnected. In other words, God and the universe are the same.

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I’ve asked a Teresa so many questions, she has decided to publish some of the questions and answers online, here’s one that I asked:

Ethan: I’ve heard of mysticism but I always thought it was an offshoot of an established religion. I never heard of  mysticism that was not affiliated with a religion. Why is that the case?

Teresa: The first word that comes to mind, when looking at this question is fear.

When I received this question, I spent many hours pondering history.  Specifically, the constant effort made by society towards religious growth, and its ultimate, predictable and continual subjection to criticism by the competing forces of worship.

Even in current times, there have been attempts to  break through the paper ceiling that society and organized religion have created.   Consider the New Age movement, which, according to my personal knowledge, gained ground in the late 1970’s.  (Perhaps it was earlier than that, but I only heard about it during that time.)  It had promise, but was soon degraded by Christianity and was, therefore, considered to be for kooks and fringe dwellers. To this very day, the New Age Movement is barbed and questioned by anyone who has been in contact with it’s competition.

Even Scientology has had a rough time in the media.  I’m not familiar with it enough to defend it, but consider it for those who are brave enough to venture beyond traditional viewpoints and try something new. Interestingly, traditional religious viewpoints have affected its social image, as well.  Many people  have  taken an immediate dislike to Scientology, only because they feel it’s expected of them.

As far as mysticism widening it’s boundaries beyond  the implied barbed wire of its own religious sect, history accounts for several reasons why it is  not too common.  The Inquisition, the witch trials, social persecution, and the crucifixion come to mind.  To this day, with all respect to the Roman Catholic Church, I am increasingly offended by the carnage displayed at their altar which directly implies to their community:

“This is what happened to the last mystic who tried to change things”

Admittedly, it was not easy for me to cut my roots to organized religion and become an independent, universal mystic.  Although I have respect for the truths of all religions, I identify myself with none of them. This freedom has allowed me the experiences and revelations I’ve had, to be an overview rather than a horizontal perspective…

Many Thanks

to

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In the last few hours, with unusual speed, the Vatican has condemned Obama’s Jan. 23 repeal of the ban on U.S. funding for foreign family planning aid groups who support abortion services. This rule was first enforced under Regan, then Clinton repealed it only for Bush to reinstate it, now Obama is repealing this rule again.

This rule basically says that US funds will not be given to any international organization or any non profits that support the full scale of family planning that includes abortion, this rule tells other countries how to handle their own people’s family planning and removes funding from any groups that select to support abortion. As a result most the money goes to groups that are religious or teach abstenance and the money does not go to all the rest of the mainstream and sensible groups that offer a full range of family planning but just happen to support abortions as a womans choice.

It is “the arrogance of someone who believes they are right, in signing a decree which will open the door to abortion and thus to the destruction of human life,” Archbishop Rino Fisichella was quoted as saying by the Corriere della Sera daily.

To you, Vatican and Archbishop I say Shame On You!

Our creed in the US is the constitution. The real arrogance is for the US to think that we have the right to tell other nations how to do their family planning based on our own religious views. We in the US have a separation between church and state. Neither you nor anyone really knows when ‘life’ starts in a human being. Under our constitution we have the right for privacy, women deserve the right to make their choice.

To you Vatican I say, stay out of our union

To those of you who advocate abstinence and are anti abortion I say please stop the hypocrisy. If you want to avoid abortions then teach family planning and improve sex education, do not go after a dream called abstinence because no one is abstinent, face reality, wake up! People who only use abstinence for family planning end up being ignorant, and ignorance leads to unwanted pregnancies. Want to reduce abortions then teach people how to use condoms and support sex education.

Further, how come you say that you care so much about “kill babies” but once these same “babies” are born you don’t care if they get health care or if they live in poverty? Shame on You!!

To Obama I say, Kudos! Thank you for restoring the power to our constitution!

Recent news article

Senior Vatican figures criticise Obama
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0126/1232923365952.html

The Vatican Slams Obama Over Abortion
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1873904,00.html

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Watch the Oceti Sakowin: The People of the Seven Council Fires documentary now online for free

Summary

Running time: 59 minutes (Watch Now Online)

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Watch Trailer:

Watch the trailer for the documentary entitled “Oceti Sakowin: The People of the Seven Council Fires” below.

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Find the documentary “Oceti Sakowin:The People Of The Seven Council Fires” on PBS, Find pictures and listen to music:

http://www.aptv.org/schedule/nolaschedule.asp?NOLA1=OCET

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This is part 4 of the series of articles entitled “The People of the Seven Council Fires – Documentary Summary“. Find part one here, part two here, part three here.

This article is about Family and the new way of life the Oyate were forced into.

Relationships are very important to the Oyate. If you were an Oyate you can make new relatives, by adopting someone as a relative, as a mother, son, sister or brother.

Social structure

The social structure is one of an extended family.

The men assume the role of the protector, provider and leadership.

Women

Women maintain the household. Women are viewed as nurturers & educators.

Women educate the children until a certain age, when boys go with men mentors and women stay under the womens’ mentorship

Grandmothers are usually the educators of the young

Women owned the house and tipi

Ethnic Cleansing

The Lakota were men of peace, lived in balance with creation and addressed all creation as relatives, they were relatives with the white buffalo

The Lakota was the last of tribes to resit the US military, odds and numbers were against them and eventually they worse faced with a new way of life.

Treaties were made and broken. Land was taken. People were forced into farming, and into boarding schools that were basically functioning in a Catholic school system. Further, families broken apart and separated, men and women and children separated.

Their roles were taken away. The women could no longer teach and nurture their children who were taken away from them; the men had no buffalo to hunt and mentoring to give.

The rationale for the boarding schools was, as Carlisle founder Richard Henry Pratt often said, to “kill the Indian and save the man.” But the actual reason was economic: By taking away the children, the U.S. government was able to take away and maintain control of the Indian land base.

Alcohol & drugs came into their lives when reservations started; the buffalo was replaced by rations as part of a government ration system.

The Oral tradition ended; now Cathlic nuns taught children and provided the children protection, someone else was providing for the children.

It was against the law to be Lakota from 1880 to 1978 !!!

In the 1950’s 100% of the Lakota denied their indiannes and they did not speak in Lakota.

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28 support poles around the sundance arbor

This is part 3 of the series of articles entitled “The People of the Seven Council Fires – Documentary Summary“. Find part one here, part two here.

This article talks about numbers. Numbers are sacred to the Oyate people.

The Number Seven

The numbers 7 and 4 are sacred thus are integrated in everything.

Seven (7) is used for social units or the structures of things
Four (4) is used in ritual
4 multiplied by 7 = 28.

The number twenty Eight (28) combines both ritual and social. The Oyate have 28 sundance lodges (or 28 support poles around the sundance arbor – sorry I’m a little confused about this particular one), 28 divisions in circle, and the months have 28 days (since they are lunar months)

The number 7 can be broken into 1, 2 and 4 , giving each of these numbers some significance.

Stay tuned for part 4 which will talk about Family

This series of articles are categories under “Religion / Atheism” and are tagged with “Ancient”.

End of part 3

Note: These articles were written in recognition and in high respect to those who inhabited these lands before me, to those who coexisted and protect the land, and to their spirituality, culture and legacy. My small contribution to bringing the truth out about what happened to the original inhabitants of North America.

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This is part 2 of the articles entitled “The People of the Seven Council Fires – Documentary Summary“. Find part one here. This series of articles are categories under “Religion / Atheism” and are tagged with “Ancient”.

I apologies for the length of time it took to refine my notes and publish them here. I have split the notes into smaller sections to make posting them in a timely manner feasible. So, let’s start with part 2 now:

The People of the Seven Council Fires

Documentary Summary pt2 (Dance & Sounds)

Dance

The Oyate had a solid system of song, dance and story telling. They used the arts, but they did not use the arts for entertainment. They used arts when they wanted to connect with something bigger.

In terms of instruments, drums and flutes are very important.

Sounds

The Drum makes the sound of thunder, the voice of ancestors’ heart beat

Rattle sounds represent the rain and water

The flute or whistle sound represents the wind purifies and is like the breath of life

The final instrument is the human voice, it’s like the lightning

Traditional song works on your “body memory” the vibrations bring memories back.

All the tribes shared melodies with the exact words with other. These are inter-tribal songs.

End of part 2

Note: These articles were written in recognition and in high respect to those who inhabited these lands before me, to those who coexisted and protect the land, and to their spirituality, culture and legacy. My small contribution to bringing the truth out about what happened to the original inhabitants of North America.

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In light of my last post about the unnecessary humanitarian disaster in Gaza, I’d like to bring this topic to light and see if you agree.

It scares me to think about Karma in a situation like this. I live in the US and I care deeply for this country’s well being. I do not, never did and never will, support the military industrial complex that benefits every time there is ‘war’. In fact I am anti war all together due to my beliefs and philosophical stance.

I also believe in Karma in the Buddhist sense and in a philosophical way. I worry about Karma and how it will come back to bite this country in the ass for the many wars and destruction that the US directly or indirectly has supported. From the weapons that the US allows to be sold, to Congress’s actions, to occupying Iraq, to allowing the destruction of Lebanon, and now Gaza and for doing nothing about Darfur Sudan, and the overall US foreign policy. Heck, this government doesn’t care about American citizens why would it care about others? With as many as 3.5 million people that are homeless (1) and 46 million Americans that have no health insurance (2) and are more likely to die from disease or go bankrupt as a result of sickness.

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I have kept my mouth shut for a long time but what’s happening in gaza now qualifies as genocide in my opinion. Humanitarian aid cannot be prevented in any war zone, if you can call this a war. These people are living in a large prison, a very large concentration camp (not my words – The Senior Vatican Cardinal said the Gaza Strip had been turned into a “concentration camp”). Why destroy schools? Why kill civilians? Why kill innocent children? Why destroy government infrastructure? Why fight hate with more hate? This will only lead to lawlessness, more misery, more hurt, more extremists, and more f*ing war!  

When will people learn that War and aggression will not create peace!

Hate will not eliminate hate

THIS IS FUCKED UP!

IS THIS SELF DEFENSE?

PLZ

STOP  KILLING

YOUR  FELLOW

BROTHER & SISTER

HUMAN   BEINGS!

Read REAL news:

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I am in favor of the idea of having an Ethical Code of Practice for scientists, similar to the Hippocratic Oath used in the medical profession.

No one can make anyone be an ‘ethical’ person, however having an oath brings the topic up and forces scientists to think it through, it also shows that ethics are worthy enough in the eyes of the scientific community to be considered and respected via an oath.

The idea was first suggested by Sir Joseph Rotblat, a nuclear physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project, during his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995.

Following that, in 2001, in the scientific journal The Biochemical Journal, Nobel laureate Sir John Sulston proposed an oath so that scientists could declare their intention “to cause no harm and to be wholly truthful in their public pronouncements, and also to protect them from discrimination by employers who might prefer them to be economical with the truth.”

Many disagree and believe that oaths do not promote advancement.

Existing Oaths:

Sir David King

The UK government has adopted a ‘universal code of ethics’ that was proposed by Sir David King in 2007. This code included seven (7) principles. These principles are guiding principles to scientists. Here they are:

* Act with skill and care in all scientific work. Maintain up to date skills and assist their development in others.

* Take steps to prevent corrupt practices and professional misconduct. Declare conflicts of interest.

* Be alert to the ways in which research derives from and affects the work of other people, and respect the rights and reputations of others.

* Ensure that your work is lawful and justified.

* Minimise and justify any adverse effect your work may have on people, animals and the natural environment.

* Seek to discuss the issues that science raises for society. Listen to the aspirations and concerns of others.

* Do not knowingly mislead, or allow others to be misled, about scientific matters. Present and review scientific evidence, theory or interpretation honestly and accurately.

University of Toronto, Canada
In June 2008, Biomedical Scientists graduating at the University of Toronto, Canada, pledged to honor a scientific oath

This was their oath:

“I have entered the serious pursuit of new knowledge as a member of the community of graduate students at the University of Toronto. I declare the following:

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I fully support this lawsuit. Religion should have NOTHING to do with Politics. It should not be present at the Inauguration, in the Pledge of Allegiance or on any money bills (legal tender).

Kudos to Minnesota Atheists! Positive Atheism in Action!
Keep religion out of politics, church out of state
“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s”

News Release:
Minnesota Atheists has joined as a plaintiff to a lawsuit by Michael Newdow to halt the prayers and religious invocations scheduled for Barack Obama’s presidential inauguration on January 20, 2009, as a violation of separation of state and church.  PDF versions of the lawsuit and its four appendices are linked below.

According to the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC), Dr. Rick Warren of Saddleback Church is scheduled to give an invocation and the Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery is scheduled to give a benediction at the upcoming presidential inauguration. Read more here.

The lawsuit is expected to be filed on Monday, December 29, 2008 in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia by attorney Robert Ritter on behalf of attorney Michael Newdow.  Besides Minnesota Atheists, other plaintiff groups in the lawsuit include the American Humanist Association (AHA), the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), and Atheist Alliance International (AAI).

The lawsuit contains names of both groups and individuals as plaintiffs.  In addition to the group Minnesota Atheists, August Berkshire, president of Minnesota Atheists and vice president of Atheist Alliance International, is listed as an individual plaintiff.  Berkshire is the owner of the ATHEIST car license plate for Minnesota.

Michael Newdow achieved prominence in 2004 when he argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that public schools should not lead children in the “Pledge of Allegiance” because it contains the words “under God.”   Minnesota Atheists signed on to a friend of the court brief in that case.  (The U.S. Supreme Court threw the case out, declaring that Newdow lacked standing because he was not the primary caregiver for his daughter.)  Newdow had previously prevailed in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2002. See case details here.

Minnesota Atheists was the only group to testify at the Minnesota State Capitol against legislation mandating the recitation of the “Pledge of Allegiance” in Minnesota public schools. (Feb. 13, 2003.)  Minnesota Atheists did this because the Pledge contains the phrase “under God.”  While the legislation ended up passing, the final bill contained greater protections for the rights of dissenters than the original bill, probably due to Minnesota Atheists’ testimony. Read more here.

Michael Newdow is scheduled to be interviewed live on Minnesota Atheists’ “Atheists Talk” radio program on Sunday, January 4, 2009, 9:00-10:00 a.m. on KTNF AM 950 radio “The Voice of Minnesota.”  It can be streamed live at: http://www.am950ktnf.com/listen and will be available later at http://mnatheists.org.

“Minnesota Atheists was pleased to accept a personal invitation from Michael Newdow to be a plaintiff in this lawsuit,” stated August Berkshire, president of Minnesota Atheists.  “The swearing in of a president is a secular event.  The oath of office is in the U.S. Constitution and it contains no religious references.  It is unfortunate that while Barack Obama campaigned on a theme of unity, the very act of becoming president will serve to divide Americans along religious lines.”

Founded in 1991 as a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational organization, Minnesota Atheists is the state’s oldest, largest, and most active atheist organization.  Our motto is “Positive Atheism in Action.”  We are organized for three purposes: to provide a community for atheists; to educate the public about atheism; and to promote separation of state and church.  We may be contacted at (612) 588-7031, info@mnatheists.org, and http://mnatheists.org.

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I am proposing renaming Christmas and calling it Shopathon because that is all what people do in preparation for xmas, they shop. Everybody agrees that Christmas has been highly commercialized in the U.S. Many say that it has lost its true meaning of celebrating Jesus’ birthday. I agree than Christmas has lost its meaning, the lost meaning is what I will debate here.

Christmas in the US and most the western Christian tradition does not fall on the correct date of Jesus’ birthday, so what are WE really celebrating? Are we celebrating a lie?

The fact is, no one knows for sure when Jesus was born. So where did Christmas come from? It is believed Jesus was born in the Spring, then why is Christmas in the Winter season?

Winter Celebrations

Why then does Christmas fall on Dec 25? Well, when Christianity spread in lands that practiced paganism, naturally pagan practices and traditions were not appreciated by christian leaders. Winter celebrations were major traditions that pagans would not abandon. They had to be re-named and adopted by the, then new religion, Christianity.

Winter Solstice falls on Dec 25th and was one major pagan holiday celebration.

Dies Natalis Solis Invicti means “the birthday of the unconquered Sun.” The use of the title Sol Invictus allowed several solar deities to be worshipped collectively, including Elah-Gabal, a Syrian sun god; Sol, the god of Emperor Aurelian; and Mithras, a soldiers’ god of Persian origin. Emperor Elagabalus introduced the festival, and it reached the height of its popularity under Aurelian, who promoted it as an empire-wide holiday. This day had held no significance in the Roman festive calendar until it was introduced in the third century.

The festival was placed on the date of the solstice because this was on this day that the Sun reversed its southward retreat and proved itself to be “unconquered.” Several early Christian writers connected the rebirth of the sun to the birth of Jesus. “O, how wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun was born

From Wikipedia

You are probably seeing where this is going now. Rather than abolish these traditions they were allowed to remain only after re-purposing and re-branding them into a Christian tradition.

Winter festivals were common in ancient times due to less agricultural work, expectations of better weather in the summer and the celebration of the rebirth of the sun as the sun lasted longer in the sky (a countdown to summer).

The Roman Pagans

Roman pagans celebrated the holiday of Saturnalia. This was a week-long period of lawlessness celebrated between December 17-25. During this period, Roman courts were closed, and Roman law dictated that no one could be punished for damaging property or injuring people during the week-long celebration. This holiday featured some ‘bad’ behavior to say the least like drinking to get drunk, sexual indulgence, singing naked in the streets (later morphing into the modern caroling).

In what seems to be even more horrible, each Roman community selected a victim. This person was forced to indulge in food and other physical pleasures throughout the week. On December 25th (the festival’s last day), this person was brutally murdered. Roman authorities believed they were destroying the forces of darkness by doing so.

Saturnalia festival was a major festival that pagans would not abandon. In order to convert pagans to Christianity it was decided to adopt the Sturnalia festival. As a result a large numbers of pagans became Christian after being promised to be allowed to continue celebrating the Saturnalia festival.

Since there was no significance to that date of the year, Christian leaders named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25th, to be Jesus’ birthday replacing the original festival’s concluding day

The Scandinavian Pagans

Pagan Scandinavians celebrated a winter festival called Yule, held in the late December to early January period. As Northern Europe was the last part to Christianize, its pagan traditions had a major influence on Christmas. Scandinavians still call Christmas Jul. In English, the word Yule is synonymous with Christmas.

You see? We are not celebrating the real Christmas (Jesus’ b’day) on Dec 25.

Winter Festivals were very common! Here are but a few examples:

Brazilians

Brazilian archeologists have found an assembly of 127 granite blocks arranged equidistant from each other. They apparently form an ancient astronomical observatory. One of the stones marked the position of the sun at the time of the winter solstice and were probably used in religious rituals.

Egyptians

The god-man/savior Osiris died and was entombed on DEC-21. “At midnight, the priests emerged from an inner shrine crying ‘The Virgin has brought forth! The light is waxing” and showing the image of a baby to the worshipers.”

Greek

The winter solstice ritual was called Lenaea, the Festival of the Wild Women. In very ancient times, a man representing the harvest god Dionysos was torn to pieces and eaten by a gang of women on this day. Later in the ritual, Dionysos would be reborn as a baby. By classical times, the human sacrifice had been replaced by the killing of a goat. The women’s role had changed to that of funeral mourners and observers of the birth.

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I just thought this info was interesting. I will post it without comment.

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Dec 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — That very large majorities of the American public believe in God, miracles, the survival of the soul after death, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the Virgin birth will come as no great surprise. What may be more surprising is that substantial minorities believe in ghosts, UFOs, witches, astrology, and the belief that they themselves were once other people. Overall, more people believe in the devil, hell and angels than believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution.
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll(R), a new nationwide survey of 2,126 U.S. adults surveyed online between November 10 and 17, 2008 by Harris Interactive(R).

Some of the interesting findings in this new Harris Poll include:

– 80% of adult Americans believe in God – unchanged since the last time we asked the question in 2005. Large majorities of the public believe in miracles (75%), heaven (73%), angels (71%), that Jesus is God or the Son of God (71%), the resurrection of Jesus (70%), the survival of the soul after death (68%), hell (62%), the Virgin birth (Jesus born of Mary (61%) and the devil (59%).

– Slightly more people – but both are minorities – believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution (47%) than in creationism (40%).

– Sizeable minorities believe in ghosts (44%), UFOs (36%), witches (31%), astrology (31%), and reincarnation (24%).
Differences between Catholics and Protestants
There are no significant differences between the large percentages of Catholics and Protestants who believe in God, miracles, heaven and hell, that Jesus is the Son of God, angels, the resurrection of Jesus, the survival of the soul after death, the Virgin birth and the devil.
However, Catholics are more likely than Protestants to believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution (by 52% to 32%), ghosts (by 57% to 41%), UFOs (by 43% to 31%), and astrology (by 40% to 28%). Protestants are slightly more likely than Catholics to believe in creationism (by 54% to 46%).

Which Religious Texts Are the “Word of God”
Slender majorities of all adults believe that all or most of the Old Testament (55%) and the New Testament (54%) are the “Word of God.” However, only about a third of all adults (37% and 36%) believe that all of these texts are the word of God.
Interestingly, only 26% of all adults believe that the Torah is the word of God, even though it is the same as the first five books of the Old Testament. Presumably many people do not know this.

Religiosity and Religious Practice
Less than a quarter of Americans describe themselves are “very religious.” However, a large majority (68%) describe themselves as either very (23%) or somewhat (45%) religious.
A quarter (27%) of adult Americans claim that they attend church once a week or more often, compared with 36% who say they attend less than once a year or never (18% each).

A Note on the Methodology Used and How It Affects the Results
Other research has shown that when replying to a question administered impersonally by a computer, people are less likely to say they believe in God, or attend Church services when they really don’t. It is generally believed that surveys conducted by live interviewers tend to exaggerate the numbers of people who report the socially desirable, or less embarrassing, behavior, and that the replies given to an online survey such as this, are more honest and therefore more accurate.

Methodology
This Harris Poll(R) was conducted online within the United States between November 10 and 17, 2008 among 2,126 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

Full data tables and methodology are available at www.harrisinteractive.com
These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.
J35171  Q956, 961, 1340, 1545

About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long and rich history in multimodal research, powered by our science and technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.
Harris Interactive Inc. 12/08
SOURCE: Harris Interactive Inc.

Harris Interactive
Corporate Communications
585-272-8400
press@harrisinteractive.net

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I watched a documentary last Sunday that captivated my full attention and educated me while solidifying the respect I had for the Native Americans and their ancient ways of life. The documentary was titled “Oceti Sakowin: The People of the Seven Council Fires”. The documentary presented information that I found very valuable I had to reach for my laptop and start taking notes. Here, I will summarize the documentary in my own words from my notes.

Calf Woman and the Sacred Pipe

This documentary discussed the history and lifestyle of the Oyate. The Oyate were the people who inhabited the upper Midwest region. The word Oyate translates to “the people”. Those were “the people” of the land before Columbus stumbled upon what is known now as America.

We all know that Columbus did not discover America. So, what about the people who lived here, were they really the lawless savages the Europeans painted them as? Simply, the answer is absolutely not.

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What is your definition of spirituality? — What a tough question.

Perhaps spirituality is so elemental that it’s hard to define. Most of the time it is hard to use words to explain things that are so innate within us.

This post aims at collecting your definitions of spirituality, I will not close the comments on this post for a very long time in order to allow as many people as possible to tell me and the world what “Spirituality” means.

So what is spirituality and what does it mean to be spiritual?

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A definition of spirituality used commonly to guide medical school teaching was provided in a report to the Association of American Medical Colleges in 1999. This is how spirituality was defined:

“Spirituality is recognized as a factor that contributes to health in many persons. The concept of spirituality is found in all cultures and societies. It is expressed in an individual’s search for ultimate meaning through participation in religion and/or belief in God, family, naturalism, rationalism, humanism and the arts. All these factors can influence how patients and health care professionals perceive health and illness and how they interact with one another.”

Another definition that is often cited was first used by Roger Walsh in his book Essential Spirituality, is that spirituality is “…a constellation of practices that awaken the heart and mind.”

Organized religion is not necessary for a person to be spiritual, organized religion however can certainly play a role in influencing a person’s spirituality if desired, yet it is but one of many influences.

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