Having No Home: Being a Pagan Caught in a Christian/Atheist Frame

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Monday February 21, 2005 · 6:37 AM PST

2005/02/21 · 06:37

There is often talk of how Christians dominate the culture in America to a frightening extent. I will agree with this. There is often talk about how it seems as if it is a crime to be an Atheist in a Monotheist society. I will agree with this. There has recently been a diary which made the recommended list in which an Atheist claimed that the level of discomfort an Atheist has to live with just to live in America rises to the level of persecution. I will agree with this.

However, forgive me if I am somewhat unsympathetic.

I have never made a secret of the nature of my faith. Because of this, I always buy boots made for walking. The Right would be more likely to immolate me than let me sit at their table, and the Left often exhibits the same pyromaniac tendencies when they learn that I take science with a grain of salt. In the rush of some Atheists to assert their [lack of] faith, they have become in actuality Anti-theists. Read More

Censorship, Corperate Whores, Crazy Parents and Cheese Pizza

fuzzywolf

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Monday February 21, 2005 · 5:44 AM PST

2005/02/21 · 05:44

Some people will be amused by this. Some won't care. Some will roll their eyes.

Personally, I agree with Absath .

If you play Everquest 2, you can now order a pizza in real life through an in game command.

This is not a joke. Read More

Special Disctricts

fuzzywolf

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Sunday February 20, 2005 · 2:40 PM PST

2005/02/20 · 14:40

As I stated in my previous entry, I'm using the "diary" function of Kos for actual diaries detailing my attempts to break into politics. I have a few updates on the interfaith ministry I've been working on, which will come below the fold, but most of this entry will be devoted to something different.

In most states, there is an election coming up very soon; in Oregon, it's less than three months from now. It won't be a glamorous election, and it may not make much of a splash in the local papers, but it's an election that deserves notice all the same.

In fact, all of you should go out and file to run in it. Read More

Alaska tries to re-criminalize marijuana

fuzzywolf

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Friday February 18, 2005 · 4:16 PM PST

2005/02/18 · 16:16

The above is not a typo. For those of you who do not know, Alaska is perhaps the only place in the nation where you can light up a joint in the comfort of your own home and not have to worry about the cops breaking in.

Now the governor is trying to change precisely that, going against twenty five years of jurisprudence and the will of the people to impose a shockingly harsh penalty for possessing pot. Read More

Crisis of Faith line -- a new ministry

fuzzywolf

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Tuesday February 15, 2005 · 6:34 PM PST

2005/02/15 · 18:34

I've decided to take the name "diary" in a literal sense. In this space, and other installations yet to come, I plan to detail my efforts to carve out a place for the progressive religious community in Eugene, OR. I do this in hopes that my experiences will be valuable to others and also that I may get advice from those more experienced than I.

The details of my plan will come below the fold, but let me say a piece about myself first. I have never made secret of nor apology for my faith; I am a witch. One would think me an unlikely person to organize a new interfaith ministry. However, I think there is evidence to support the claim that many of the sheep who follow the religious right are disconnected from their faith rather than fanatics of it.

Combined with the fact that less than a quarter of my county belongs to a church of any stripe, I see a need. Read More

Marijuana Policy Project update

fuzzywolf

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Tuesday February 08, 2005 · 10:10 PM PST

2005/02/08 · 22:10

For those of you who are not signed up for the Marijuana Policy Project's emails, the bulk of their latest mailing will appear below the fold. Usually, they have some urgent policy issue coming up, and those I usually blog about. Today, they sent out a selection of horror stories concerning the persecution of pot users worldwide that should move even rabid anti-pot fanatics.

For those of you who are not signed up for Rob's excellent mailing list, I strongly suggest you visit www.mpp.org and sign up for it. I would also strongly suggest that if these stories sicken you, that you make a small donation. Rob is asking for $1 from everyone who supports the cause.

That's not even half a latte. Read More

What it's all about

fuzzywolf

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Sunday January 30, 2005 · 9:46 AM PST

2005/01/30 · 09:46

I do jewelry retail for a living, and so during "romantic" holidays, I see a lot of stuff go down. Some good, some bad, but I encounter love in many forms beyond the ordinary. Goth kids looking for titanium wedding bands; jocks looking for tiny golden hearts to give to their valley girls; an elderly man buying a diamond to give to his wife on their fourtieth aniversary. Valentine's day brings everybody to the jewelry store.

But there's one person in particular that I'd like to tell you about. If I could, I'd tell everyone about her, everyone right-wing dominionist I could find, specifically. Read More

Forgiving Emptiness

fuzzywolf

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Sunday January 02, 2005 · 8:44 PM PST

2005/01/02 · 20:44

I had a rather unique experience tonight. After work, I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things and cash my paycheck. As I was loading t.p. and candy corn (the breakfast of champions) into my van, I noticed that the owner of the car next to me was having trouble getting her trunk closed. Our political differences were immediately obvious; her red Ford Tempo was plastered with "Support our Troops" and "Bush/Cheney 04" stickers, while my blue minivan sported a similar number of "Hope is on the Way", "Give Peace a Chance" and Human Rights Campaign stickers.

She turned to me smiled a bit, even after seeing the "Kerry/Edwards" button that is still pinned to my jacket. "I'm not very mechanically inclined," she said. "Would you help me?"

How could I not? Read More

Faith and Feminism

fuzzywolf

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Wednesday December 29, 2004 · 8:56 AM PST

2004/12/29 · 08:56

Midnight of Christmas Eve saw me someplace you would not normally find a person of my religious persuasion: St. Paul's Catholic Church in Eugene. It had been, prior to that, five years since I had set foot in a Roman church. I'm happy to report that the holy water did not burn me as I dipped my fingers into the bowl by the entrance, nor did I burst into flames as I genuflected before the Crucifix.

So why was I there? Well, my neighbor wanted to attend Midnight Mass, but she's not allowed to drive at night. I ended up going with her, having nothing but a bottle of rum to occupy my night otherwise.

The intervening years between my last two attendances at Mass lent me a perspective I had not had before. I understood, in a slightly new way, the "moral values" issues that have stolen the political spotlight in America Read More

Marijuana initiative smoked in Nevada

fuzzywolf

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Wednesday December 29, 2004 · 1:25 AM PST

2004/12/29 · 01:25

Marijuana activists in Nevada have been rolled by a recent decision handed down by Republican Sec. State Dean Heller. To be quite blunt, it seems to be a chronic problem for him.

Heller's manual for activists required 53,337 signatures to be considered for the 2006 general election ballot. The initiative sponsered by the Marijuana Policy Project garnered more than enough. However, it, along with two initiatives on public smoking, have been thrown out.

After the petitions have been turned in, after the initiatives have been approved, after the game was supposed to have been over, Heller is changing the rules. And the new rule is over 80,000 signatures. Read More

Faith and Liberalism

fuzzywolf

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Sunday December 19, 2004 · 1:44 AM PST

2004/12/19 · 01:44

I have always considered myself a person of faith. When I was young, I was a devout Christian. Then . . .things changed. I'll never say that Christianity is anything other than beautiful, but it was not for me.

As someone who has undergone a spiritual transformation (and a political transformation along with it), and who made a serious study of theology on both ends of my change, I believe that I understand, more than the average Kosmopolitan, what the Religious Right is about.

The power of the Religious Right is predicated on fear. Not fear for your immortal soul kind of fear, but a fear they'll stuff you into ovens like they did the Jews flavor of fear. I don't think it beyond our grasp to defuse that fear and thus to defuse the power of groups like the Christian Coalition. Read More

Pretend Protestants, a study for peer review

fuzzywolf

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Thursday December 16, 2004 · 4:56 PM PST

2004/12/16 · 16:56

In a recent diary I described my theory that "moral values" issues bring a lot of people to the poll box who normally don't attend church. I contended that church attendance is a moderating influence on people's politics and that a litany of racism, misogyny and homophobia motivated a lot of "Protestants" to get out and vote. I used Georgia as an example.

Now I have fuller numbers to back up my claim. My theory explains voting patterns nationally and in 35 states to within 5%. The mean differential between what numbers show and what my theory predicts among all 50 states is less than 3%.

Read below the fold for full analysis and results. Read More

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