11.17.2008
(Pagan) News of Note
My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens.
Author and ceremonial magician Donald Michael Kraig sings the praises of Silver Raven Wolf for the Llewellyn Journal.
"I was very impressed with what she was doing. Silver and I wrote to each other several times. It was clear to me that she knew more than most people about Paganism, writing, publishing, and marketing. It was inevitable that I would ask her the following question: “So when are you going to write a book?” She was too busy and had never written anything in such a long format, she replied, but I have to admit that I recognized a writer and knew that just as my question and encouragement was inevitable, there would be an inevitable result."
Kraig, while heartily endorsing RavenWolf's new book, also discusses how he met her through the (seemingly) now-defunct Wiccan/Pagan Press Alliance. Perhaps, in the age of blogs, e-zines, and podcasts, a new and revitalized press alliance is needed?
Side-Line Magazine interviews Olaf Parusel, the mastermind behind the classic darkwave band sToa, about his band's new album "Silmand", stoic philosophy, and working with famed "faerie" musician Louisa John-Krol.
"Louisa and [I] know each other from the old times on [the] Hyperium-Label. Fortunately [the] Internet has enabled us to stay in contact. When Louisa was on tour in Europe, we have met. We have made music together very intensively in that time. For example, we went to a church of a remote monastery high up on a hill, put up a microphone and performed medieval vocal improvisations. It's the famous monastery found by Konrad of Wettin. Later on I composed music for a historical documentation on Konrad of Wettin and used Louisas phantastic recordings for it."
To listen to sound samples, check out sToa's MySpace page. You can also hear tracks from sToa's latest album "Silmand" on my A Darker Shade of Pagan podcast.
The editorial pages are tackling the thorny free speech and religious expression problems presented in the Summum case currently before the Supreme Court. The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel hopes a solution can be found that "respects this nation’s undeniable Judeo-Christian roots", while the Austin-American Statesman mulls over the thorny First Amendment problems of letting the Ten Commandments statue remain alone.
"Because the government allowed a memorial to troops who died in the Vietnam War does not mean it also must accept a memorial to those who died opposing it. But a different question arises when the government accepts a religious symbol because the First Amendment prohibits government from establishing a religion. If a monument to the founding tenet of Judaism and Christianity is acceptable in a public space, why are Wiccan pentagles or Summum aphorisms or Mormon angels unacceptable?"
Those two are hardly alone in voicing an opinion. The Concord Monitor says: "Bring it on!" Jewish groups are torn on which side to take according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, while The Week explores editorials that argue if the already existing Ten Commandments monument should be removed. All sides will have a while more to argue, since the justices won't be handing down a decision on the case until Spring.
The Berkshire Eagle reports that a local Catholic Church had its statue of Mary destroyed. Who are the culprits? Fr. Michael Shershanovich seems to suspect dark occult powers!
"Shershanovich said several black marks had been spray painted on the statue and on the church in the weeks leading up to the desecration, including a pentagram, a five-pointed star synonymous with witchcraft."
Yes, synonymous with witchcraft, because no other group or organization uses a five-pointed star. In fact, Witches love to roam the night and bash Catholic statues with road signs. That's just how we roll. Has the secretive, thousands-strong, cult of disturbed teenagers struck again?
In a final note, The Chicago Tribune reports on the precarious fate of religious minorities in Iraq, and how one of them, the Mandaeans, are on the brink of extinction.
"Mandaeans, known as Sabis in Arabic, are just one of several minorities who have historically given Iraq its distinct identity as a cradle of religious diversity. All have suffered disproportionately from the spread of anarchy and extremism in the wake of the U.S. invasion. Iraq's once-substantial Christian community has seen its numbers dwindle from about 800,000 to 500,000. Yazidis, a lettuce-shunning minority that venerates the forces of good and evil, have been targeted for attacks in their enclaves along the borders of Iraqi Kurdistan. Shabbaks, a Muslim sect that permits alcohol and is neither Sunni nor Shiite, have been persecuted in their ancestral lands near the northern city of Mosul."
The fruits of a militant monotheism is that all heretics and potential rivals must be eliminated. Once the secular (though evil and tyrannical) government of Saddam Hussein was overthrown and war raged, the old rivalries were able to come to the surface once more. It seems increasingly unlikely that plans to restore the best elements of pre-war secularism will succeed, and many are expecting/fearing Iraq's future will be as a Islamic Republic in practice, if not necessarily in name.
That is all I have for now, have a great day!
Labels: Iraq, Islam, monotheism, music, Pagan News of Note, Paganism, Pentacle, Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, Silver Ravenwolf, stoa, teens
11.13.2007
When Theologians Attack!
A few weeks ago I linked to an L.A. Times editorial by classical scholar Mary Lefkowitz. Lefkowitz argued for a return to polytheism, specifically Greek polytheism, and extolled its superiority over monotheism.
"Ancient Greek religion gives an account of the world that in many respects is more plausible than that offered by the monotheistic traditions. Greek theology openly discourages blind confidence based on unrealistic hopes that everything will work out in the end. Such healthy skepticism about human intelligence and achievements has never been needed more than it is today."
You didn't think the monotheists were going to take that lying down did you? So two
"...a few theologians apparently have forgotten all the struggles of the prophets, the sages and Jesus. They cast wistful eyes at what seems like a paradise lost of religious tolerance and inclusiveness that is supposed to have characterized Greco-Roman polytheism but, in truth, never did ... Polytheism leaves us with a fragmented world of chaos and a failure to see things as a whole. For that reason, we are convinced that only a genuine monotheism can serve as the basis for a truly inclusive mode of thinking and acting in our time."
Being Christians, their argument is peppered with scriptural references, and they argue that "genuine" monotheism (as opposed to the aberrant "henotheist-monotheists" who engage in intolerant behavior) is intrinsically superior to polytheism, and provide a typical laundry list of polytheists acting intolerantly (the death of Socrates, Roman persecution of Christians). There are also some obvious flaws in their reply, including the cherry-picking from history, equating Greek polytheism with Roman polytheism, and comparing ancient forms of polytheism with (again cherry-picked) modern Christian ethical thinking.
One wonders if this will be the final word, or if Lefkowitz (or some other pro-polytheist advocate) will be allowed to continue this dialog in the L.A. Times editorial pages. If they do, I'll be bringing the popcorn for round three!
* Two against one is no doubt the standard protocol when monotheist theologians engage in rhetorical "battle" with a polytheist.
Labels: James A. Sanders, Mary Lefkowitz, monotheism, Paul Capetz, Polytheism
9.04.2007
Beliefnet's Balance
So lets say you run the biggest religion and spirituality web site on the Internet, and you decide to run a cover-story on a Wiccan who just won the lottery. What supplementary articles do you pick to run with the Associate Press story?
B-Net's balancing act.
What Neo-Pagans believe, and a collection of Pagan prayers? Sounds good, but how about we balance that out with an anti-polytheism article by conservative Jewish "intelligent design" proponent David Kinghoffer?
"...idolatry, polytheism, and witchcraft are really just three manifestations of the same error - to which, interestingly, Hebrew gives no name. They share the mistaken assumption that divinity can be broken down into discrete entities (gods) and manipulated for our benefit. By contrast, the God of the Bible, a purely spiritual being, must be the ultimate unity and perfectly free to act as He sees fit, unaffected by our attempted manipulations or any other circumstances."
Before you think I'm about to lay into Beliefnet again, let me just say that I applaud B-Net's move to balance things out like this. I look forward to articles on why monotheism runs counter to our natural religious impulses by Jordan Paper, or perhaps an essay on the superiority of polytheism by John Michael Greer to "balance" out the next front-page story about something good happening to a Christian or Jew. I mean, fair is fair right? I'm sure B-Net won't let us down. But you might want to remind them to stay consistent, just in case they forget.
Labels: balance, Beliefnet, David Kinghoffer, Ellwood "Bunky" Bartlett, monotheism, Paganism, Polytheism, Wicca
4.14.2007
Syncretism, Christo-Pagans, and Polytheism
A story on the growing popularity of Pagan prayer beads or "rosaries" has made the rounds to some of the heavy-hitters on the religious Internet. It appeared in somewhat truncated form on Beliefnet and now the media commentary site Get Religion has profiled the story.
"The story does a good job of making it clear that this kind of prayer rite produces a form of spirituality that may seem to create a bridge between different faiths. The experience is similar, as is the yearning for a physical object on which to concentrate while praying. But the contents of the prayers are different, which means the doctrines are different."
This story brings up all sorts of questions concerning the mixing of Christian ideas with non-Christian faiths. "Christo-pagans" while odd-seeming to many Christians (and in many cases to other Pagans), aren't really that unusual. When one religion is culturally dominant (as Christianity, in all its forms, is in America) syncretism often occurs among the other religions it encounters. While syncretism is a common occurrence within the history of polytheism, it is still considered very much taboo from a monotheist point of view. This was illustrated recently by Pope Benedict XVI who warned against inter-religious dialog that ventured into syncretism.
"In our world, evermore conditioned by the urgencies of globalization, a deep and demanding dialogue is necessary between cultures and religions. But this is not to diminish them with an impoverishing syncretism; rather, it is to enable them to develop in a climate of reciprocal respect so that each one works, according to its own charism, for the common good."
These tensions point to very different perspectives on the nature of religious truth. While a polytheist may acknowledge that there are many paths to the divine (though they may think theirs is the best way), generally speaking most monotheist traditions warn against any activity that places foreign practices or powers on an equal level with their own.
"Monotheism was revolutionary and maybe, argues Leonard Shlain in the book "The Alphabet Versus the Goddess," also dangerous. People who believed in many gods, he argues, respected the gods of other people and expected their gods to be respected in return. But to believe that only one God exists, an abstract God that different people might perceive in different ways, "loosed into the world an odious impulse," he argues. The question of whose perception of the one deity is the correct one 'has goaded monotheists to wage war with an intensity and purpose never witnessed in polytheistic cultures.'"
In the end, any lasting peaceful dialog between monotheist and polytheist points of view will have to address this underlying tension concerning the nature of religious truth (is their one or many ways). If this fundamental difference isn't acknowledged misunderstandings and ongoing adversarial attitudes from both camps could prevail in the long term.
Labels: monotheism, Paganism, Polytheism, syncretism
4.09.2007
The Monotheist Blogosphere
One of the things that I find so appealing about blogging is the idea of community. Not just community with my fellow Pagan and Heathen bloggers, but with a larger religious blogosphere. I'm proud that some Christian and Jewish bloggers have added me to their blogroll, and that occasionally stories important to our faiths break through into the larger religious blogosphere. But it seems that some religious sites would be happier with a singular emphasis on monotheism.
Beliefnet, one of the largest religion site on the Internet, has been hosting a religious blog aggregator that it cleverly calls "Blog Heaven". When it premiered it included Pagan author and academic Chas Clifton's blog in its "other" category. This wasn't a problem. After all, we are dramatically outnumbered by the dominant monotheisms, so a token inclusion seemed fair enough. But then it was removed recently after "technical difficulties".
"...the blog IS currently unavailable from Beliefnet's Blog Heaven. The technical and editorial team has recently been made aware of this issue and is working to resolve the situation. Please know that this issue is not related to the specific views or ideas presented in Mr. Clifton's blog."
After some protest from the Pagan blogosphere and Beliefnet participants the site re-appeared. But now it has disappeared again, and I somehow doubt its yet another "technical" issue with the aggregator considering this hasn't happened to any other site on the page.
"BeliefNet's Blog Heaven site has been cleansed of non-monotheists. No Buddhist bloggers, no Hindus, no Pagans. And yet I hear that BeliefNet is still trying to get some Pagans to write essays for the main site. Do we even need them, with all the Pagan sites and forums out there?"
Of course this is the same site who thinks bigoted comments concerning minority faiths is just fine from its a-list blog team.
"I think it's a form of demon worship, and besides which, it's savage." - Rod Dreher, discussing Santeria on his "Crunchy Con" blog, 02.09.07
When Beliefnet first started, I was a fan. They had (and still have) discussion boards for every faith imaginable, they had Margot Adler and Starhawk on as regular columnists, and they seemed receptive to making sure Pagans and other minority faiths felt included. But after declaring bankruptcy in 2002 the site has re-positioned itself to be far more friendly to the people with the most money and that meant evangelicals and "spiritual but not religious" seekers.
I don't blame Beliefnet for wanting to be economically sustainable, but I do blame it for its lack of attention to minority faiths in its features and blogs. The places that get the highest percentage of its readership. It sends a message when "Blog Heaven" is purged of non-monotheists, it sends a message when Beliefnet favors Christian and monotheist voices in its hosted blogs, and it sends a message that a site that prides itself so highly in being "multi-faith" so obviously favors those who can fatten their wallets. I think Chas Clifton's question is the correct one, do we really need Beliefnet? They certainly seem eager to prove they don't need us.
Labels: Beliefnet, Chas Clifton, Christianity, monotheism, Paganism
4.02.2007
Extremist Monotheism and Terror
Often ignored in the larger discussions of extremist Islam and its battles (both idealogical and physical) with the Western world is that the religious imperatives underlying those struggles aren't limited to "decadent" Westerners, but include any faith that could pose a challenge to their monotheism.
"Security surrounding the Dalai Lama has been tightened after reports of an attempt by the al-Qa'ida-linked terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Toiba to assassinate the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader ... In a recent document, Osama bin Laden denounced "pagan Buddhism" as part of his general attack on anything not Islamic. The assassination threat picked up by Indian authorities is thought to be based on bin Laden's denunciation and the extremist jihadi movement's hatred for anything and anyone that is not Muslim."
Also on the Lashkar-e-Toiba ("The Army of the Pure") hit-list is Sonia Gandhi, current chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance, a center-left coalition that recent gained control of the Indian government after years of rule by the more nationalistic Bharatiya Janata Party. While an Islamic terror group in Pakistan-administered Kashmir wanting to kill Indian leaders is nothing new or unique, what is new is the focus on Buddhism and the Dalai Lama (who holds no political power in India).
But then radical Islam's hostility to Buddhism isn't entirely new either. The Taliban's destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan (an act condemned by Pakistan) drew international attention and condemnation (some claimed that Osama bin Laden was behind the effort). It all comes down to the fact that monotheism, when taken to its worst extremes, desires the destruction of any faith that challenges its singular "truth". While extremist forces within Islam may seem preoccupied with "the West", we should never forget that non-monotheistic faiths will always be on the hit-list of such madness.
Labels: Buddhism, Dalai Lama, Hinduism, India, Islam, monotheism, Paganism, Polytheism
