As noted the other day, The New York Times is publishing a daily series tracking the Civil War 150 years ago. Today’s installment discusses Lincoln’s 12-day trip to Washington, which began on February 11, 1861.
Pulitzer-winning author Lawrence Wright has written a lengthy but invaluable look at the Church of Scientology in The New Yorker. I commend his report to you.
| That is, are you getting ready to go to confession?
There’s an app for that. And it has the Church’s blessing (i.e., imprimatur). |
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The app offers different questions depending on your age and gender.
For instance, if you sign in as a 15-year-old girl and look under the Sixth Commandment, one of the questions is: “Do I not treat my body or other people’s bodies with purity and respect?” If you sign in as a 33-year-old married man, that commandment offers this query: “Have I been guilty of masturbation?”
Children are asked if they pout or use bad language. Teenagers are asked if they are a tattletale or bully. Women are asked if they’ve had an abortion or encouraged anyone to have an abortion and if they’re chaste. Men are asked about the latter two, as well.
The app also tailors the questions if you sign in as a priest or a “religious.” For instance, if you say you’re a female and try to select “priest” as your vocation, a dialogue box appears that says “sex and vocation are incompatible.” So much for modernity.
Under the Sixth Commandment, men and women are asked: “Have I been guilty of any homosexual activity?” Priests, however, are not. They are asked if they flirt.
I’m thinking the app should link directly to status updates on Facebook. Zuckerberg could really sell that information.
According to surveys, only about one-in-four Catholics goes to confession at least once a year as commanded by the Church.
. . . I say make the most of it.
A week ago Annette wrote that her “church pastor said flirting is a sin.”
I believe that a pastor flirting with any member of his or her congregation would be a sin.
I believe that a person married or in a committed relationship flirting with someone not his or her partner could be a sin.
But other than that, I believe her pastor is just revealing his own hang-ups.
What do you believe?
“The intellectual level of the ministry of our American churches is pathetically low. Recent controversies could hardly have arisen had our pulpits been filled with men abreast of current thought and seriously teaching the people. The number of college professors and leaders in the professions who show no interest in the Church is an alarming sign of the inability of our clergy to grip the minds and stir the imaginations of many of our educated people. A rift between teachers of religion and foremost thinkers . . . constitutes a grave national peril.”
Reverend Henry Sloane Coffin, born on this date in 1877. He made the remark during his inauguration as President of Union Theological Seminary in 1926.
Though advertisers and merchants would have us believe that the Christmas season begins at Thanksgiving (or possibly Halloween, or Labor Day), liturgically it begins on Christmas Eve and extends until Twelfth Night, the eve of the Epiphany.
The Twelve Days of Christmas are Christmas through January 5th. Tonight is Twelfth night.
A long-time NewMexiKen reader wrote to say, “No NMK until 2011? Come on, I need stuff to read.”
These are good.
The best feature films of 2010 by Roger Ebert
Your Burning Questions, Answered by Matt Taibbi
A Holiday Message from Ricky Gervais: Why I’m An Atheist
And a best line:
“It’s not Christmas until you throw the tape dispenser because you can’t get the tape started.” – Bill
I believe there is no god.
Or, at least I believe there is no god that interacts in any way with human life or ever has.
My belief comes, I’m sure, as no surprise to my seven regular readers. If I haven’t so much as said so before, my dogma is implied by links I’ve posted, references I’ve made, a tone of disbelief I’ve exhibited. I’ve always assumed my regulars share my incredulity, or don’t care what I think and just want to know whose birthday it is, or are strong enough in their own beliefs to let me have mine.
In turn, I’m strong enough in my beliefs to let you have yours. It’s my blog, and after 2 million words, I can do as I please with it, but I don’t believe I’ve used NewMexiKen much to proselytize. At least not about religion.
But I am going to post links to two essays that are premised on beliefs similar to my own, and I thought first I should give witness, as they have.
I agree with this from The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, an excerpt from one of the best rants about Christianity I’ve seen:
Second, your “religion” is a myth. It’s bogus. Jesus did not die and rise from the tomb and ascend into heaven. Okay? That. Did. Not. Happen. God did not take the form of a little bird and fly down and impregnate an unwed teenage virgin girl so that she could give birth to a half-human half-divine man-god. Immaculate conception, virgin birth, raising people from the dead, walking on water, loaves and fishes — great stories, but correctly filed under “fiction.” The sad fact is, what you call “faith” is a form of mental illness. It’s amazing enough that so many of you are running around in your mental case dream world. But it’s simply unacceptable when you start trying to impose your delusions upon the rest of us. Cynical politicians may feel the need to humor you and kowtow to your demands. I, however, do not.
I like his conclusion, too:
It’s bad enough that you’re hateful bigots. But to dress up your hate and bigotry as an expression of Christianity? That, my friends, is pure evil. If you want to go around hating people, fine. Go for it. It’s stupid, and pointless, but whatever. Go hate people. Just don’t go around saying Jesus told you to do it.
So, listen up. You can’t put your bullshit in my app store. I’m sorry. But I won’t let you use my store to spread your hate. I don’t want any part in the spreading of your phony religion, either. There is no God. There is no heaven. There also is no hell, which is too bad, because if hell did exist, you would surely be spending eternity there, with red-hot pokers up your butts. And nothing would make me happier.
You really should read the whole thing. (Keeping in mind that the blog is satire and is not, so far as we know, written by the actual Steve Jobs of Apple.)
The other post is by Tanya at Dinner without Crayons. She titled it, “What would Jesus do?”
Tanya may not appreciate being conjoined here with the Fake Steve Jobs. Her post is more personal, and more open-minded and tolerant than the rant described above (you do need to go read all of both of them). Tanya writes:
If I really want to scare the other person off I tell them I am a liberal atheist lawyer. Few things evoke the horror and the revulsion of that statement.
Now, I am not a rabid, foaming-at-the mouth-atheist. I don’t believe in God, but I fully support your right to. People saying “Merry Christmas” does not offend me. I don’t care what is printed on our currency so long as I have enough of it. When people come to my door trying to save or convert me, I tell them that I admire the depth of their belief and wish them well.
Ironically, many of my closest friends are quite devout in their beliefs, and I am glad that their faith gives them comfort and a sense of belonging. They pray for me, and I think good thoughts for them. They don’t try to convert me and I don’t invite them to my naked goat slaughters in the moonlight. (Just kidding, I do invite them but they don’t attend.)
I think religion, like sex or politics, is deeply personal and that whatever consenting adults choose to do or believe that does not hurt or interfere with the enjoyment of others is generally fine by me. Rock on, rock out for Christ, rock the vote, whatever. But at the end of the day, I believe, as Dooce so eloquently wrote recently, “when we die there is no heaven, we just rot in the earth while worms digest our intestines. Merry Christmas.”
Taken together then, my beliefs. Peace.
I love nativity sets because of all the Christmas decorations they express most closely the true meaning of the season.
This one with penguins is particularly rich in religious symbolism.
Hanukkah began at sunset yesterday and lasts for eight days.
The story of Hanukkah is the struggle for religious freedom. Over two thousand years ago, the foreign rulers of the Israelites decreed that the Jews bow down to the image of their leader, Antiochus, whose statue was erected in the Temple.
But the Jewish people were forbidden by the law of God to bow to statues or idols. Inspired by Mattathias and led by his son, Judah, a small group of Jews called Maccabees (meaning “hammer”) rebelled. The Maccabees risked their lives to live according to Jewish law and to prevent this desecration of their sacred Temple. Although the Maccabees won, the Temple in Jerusalem, the Jews’ holy place, was destroyed. The Jews had to clean and repair the Temple, and when they were finished they rededicated it to God by rekindling the menorah, the candelabrum symbolizing the eternal covenant between God and the Jewish people and the continuity of tradition through the generations. But there was only enough olive oil to fuel the menorah for one night, and it would have taken eight days to make more oil. The legend of the miracle at Hanukkah says that the one day supply of oil burned for eight days and nights until more oil could be made.
There are eight days of Hanukkah corresponding to the legend of the miracle of the oil in the Temple. Foods cooked in oil are traditional, particularly potato pancakes, called latkes. Today, candles are used instead of oil. On each successive night, the number of candles lit increases by one. Prayers accompany the lighting of the candles.
Hanukkah is celebrated in the home beginning on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev. Even though it is not mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures, Hanukkah is widely celebrated as a major holy day of the Jewish liturgical calendar. Given its proximity to Christmas, Hanukkah has taken on importance in the United States and many other countries where Christmas has been commercialized.
It is traditional to give small gifts to children on each night of Hanukkah. The party atmosphere is enhanced with songs, games and toys such as a dreidel – a spinning top. Yet the religious celebration – the lighting of the candles with accompanying prayers – must come before the party.
And, from Jewish Heritage Online Magazine, an explanation of Hanukkah jelly donuts. The lesson begins:
There are two types of Jews at Hanukkah time. There are those who believe that Israelis eat jelly donuts on Hanukkah because the oil in which the donuts are fried is connected to the miracle commemorated on Hanukkah. Others hold that Israelis eat jelly donuts because somehow the sweetness of the jelly inside is related to the festival. Etymologically, if not historically, “Others” have a good case.
Buffalo wide receiver Steve Johnson tweeted this after his Bills lost to Pittsburgh yesterday when he dropped a perfectly thrown pass in OT:
“I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM THIS??? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO…”
The play:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGJWBWcFD_4
Had to be God’s doing. There’s simply no other explanation.
Evangelical Christians in Brazil have apparently banned the use of USB connections after claiming the technology is the mark of Satan-worshippers … Apparently the revelation came after the evangelists noticed that the USB symbol resembles a trident.
Joe Posnanski on Pain and Injury in the NFL.
In the name of science, the columnist Steve Lopez smokes, giggles and drives. “But Trutanich and many cops believe that if Proposition 19 passes next month and marijuana is as legal as potato chips and nearly as cheap, more new users will be driving under the influence, so the experiment would be worthwhile.”
Juanita Jean has a Regular Ole Friday Toon, today featuring the women in Clarence Thomas’s life.
And I’ve never been a fan, but at some level you gotta love Shaq.
First published here five years ago today.
There are 6.4 billion people living on earth. There are approximately 100 billion stars in our Milky Way galaxy — 16 times more stars than people. The latest estimates say there are over 125 billion galaxies in our universe. The universe is estimated to be between 13 and 14 billion years old and having a radius of at least 10 billion light years (because we can see stars that far).
The earth is about 4.55 billion years old. And man has been on earth for the last 350,000 of those years. By my arithmetic (which is open to correction), if the age of earth was proportionately reduced to 100 years, then man has been on earth for not quite 3 days and each person inhabits this earth for about one minute.
With all this in mind, does God really care if someone kicks a field goal?
Earlier today I posted an item about religious knowledge.
Here’s a quiz if you are inclined to test your own knowledge. 15 questions.
At the time I tried the quiz the Devil was messing it up and making it tediously slow. Despite that, I scored 15 correct out of 15 and feel actually quite spiritual. I may start my own faith.
Researchers from the independent Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life phoned more than 3,400 Americans and asked them 32 questions about the Bible, Christianity and other world religions, famous religious figures and the constitutional principles governing religion in public life.
On average, people who took the survey answered half the questions incorrectly, and many flubbed even questions about their own faith.
Those who scored the highest were atheists and agnostics, as well as two religious minorities: Jews and Mormons. The results were the same even after the researchers controlled for factors like age and racial differences.
. . .Among the topics covered in the survey were: Where was Jesus born? What is Ramadan? Whose writings inspired the Protestant Reformation? Which Biblical figure led the exodus from Egypt? What religion is the Dalai Lama? Joseph Smith? Mother Theresa? In most cases, the format was multiple choice.
The New York Times has more in its report.
UPDATE: Here’s a 15-question quiz: U.S. Religious Knowledge Quiz. 15 correct out of 15 here.
I thought Maureen Dowd’s column “Rome Fiddles, We Burn” was a pretty good indictment of the Catholic Church hierarchy.
Adding up all the numbers, about 75 billion human beings have lived and died by now.
How many do you suppose are in heaven?
What do they do there?
“I heard a joke the other day about a pious soul who dies, goes to heaven, and gains an audience with the Virgin Mary. The visitor asks Mary why, for all her blessings, she always appears in paintings as a bit sad, a bit wistful: Is everything O.K.?
“Mary reassures her visitor: ‘Oh, everything’s great. No problems. It’s just … it’s just that we had always wanted a daughter.’ ”
Nicholas Kristof opening a very fine column.
Maureen Dowd had a first rate column Sunday about the problems in the Catholic Church. She begins:
When I was in Saudi Arabia, I had tea and sweets with a group of educated and sophisticated young professional women.
I asked why they were not more upset about living in a country where women’s rights were strangled, an inbred and autocratic state more like an archaic men’s club than a modern nation. They told me, somewhat defensively, that the kingdom was moving at its own pace, glacial as that seemed to outsiders.
How could such spirited women, smart and successful on every other level, acquiesce in their own subordination?
I was puzzling over that one when it hit me: As a Catholic woman, I was doing the same thing.
Click link above to read more.
In The Epic of Gilgamesh, written in Babylon 4,000 years ago, the eponymous hero travels into the gardens of the gods in an attempt to discover the secret of eternal life. His guide tells him the secret—there is no secret. This is it. This is all we’re going to get. This life. This time. Once. “Enjoy your life,” the goddess Siduri tells him. “Love the child who holds you by the hand, and give your wife pleasure in your embrace.” It’s Lennon’s dream, four millenniums ahead of schedule: Above us, only sky. Gilgamesh returns to the world and lives more intensely and truly and deeply than before, knowing there is no celestial after-party and no forever.
We know now why Tim Tebow scored so poorly on the Scouting Combine Wonderlic (just 22 out of 50) .
The other players in the room blasphemed.
Thanks to Jason for the pointer.
The food in famous paintings of the meal has grown by biblical proportions over the last millennium, researchers report in a medical journal Tuesday.
Using a computer, they compared the size of the food to the size of the heads in 52 paintings of Jesus Christ and his disciples at their final meal before his death.
If art imitates life, we’re in trouble, the researchers conclude. The size of the main dish grew 69 percent; the size of the plate, 66 percent, and the bread, 23 percent, between the years 1000 and 2000.
Just another Briton who conquered Ireland — though in his case spiritually.
The facts about St. Patrick are few. Most derive from the two documents he probably wrote, the autobiographical Confession and the indignant Letter to a slave-taking marauder named Coroticus. Patrick was born in Britain, probably in Wales, around 385 A.D. His father was a Roman official. When Patrick was 16, seafaring raiders captured him, carried him to Ireland, and sold him into slavery. The Christian Patrick spent six lonely years herding sheep and, according to him, praying 100 times a day. In a dream, God told him to escape. He returned home, where he had another vision in which the Irish people begged him to return and minister to them: “We ask thee, boy, come and walk among us once more,” he recalls in the Confession. He studied for the priesthood in France, then made his way back to Ireland.
He spent his last 30 years there, baptizing pagans, ordaining priests, and founding churches and monasteries. His persuasive powers must have been astounding: Ireland fully converted to Christianity within 200 years and was the only country in Europe to Christianize peacefully. Patrick’s Christian conversion ended slavery, human sacrifice, and most intertribal warfare in Ireland. (He did not banish the snakes: Ireland never had any. Scholars now consider snakes a metaphor for the serpent of paganism. Nor did he invent the Shamrock Trinity. That was an 18th-century fabrication.)
There’s much more; follow the link.
“Many people describe their relationship with God not in abstract terms but in the way they would describe a real personal friend, but a friend who would never betray you.”
From a study of two recent national surveys as reported by the Well Blog – NYTimes.com
The study found that 82 percent of respondents said they “depend on God for help and guidance in making decisions.” And 71 percent believe that good or bad events are “part of God’s plan for them.’’
And one in three respondents agreed with the statement: “There is no sense in planning a lot because ultimately my fate is in God’s hands.”
