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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
The Latest Internet News Concerning Pagans Today's InsaneJournal:
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Do you think that the popularity of fortune tellers implies that people are in need of hope and distraction?
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Is fortune telling wrong within the Muslim doctrine?
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Does it make sense to discourage fortune telling because it lacks a scientific or logical basis?
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Has anyone here seen “Beowulf”? If so, do you think the depiction of the “pagans” is that of a “open-minded” or “free spirited” group? Is the depiction at all similar to the Norse people of the time?
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For people who have seen the movie, how often does this whole Christian vs pagan thing come up? Are the complaints in this article valid? Why or why not?
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Do you think that movies have had an over all “negative” view or Christianity?
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Do you think that movies and media over all have a “open minded” “free spirited” take on paganism?
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Considering the movies with “negative views of Christianity” are set back at a time when the Catholic church was highly corrupt and violent, is it still inappropriate or prejudice to depict them with that historical coloring?
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Are movies required to be faithful to reality?
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Are producers, directors, and writers responsible for the messages that people gain from their works?
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Were the intentions of “Beowulf” to put down Christianity and praise paganism?
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Is handling snakes for religious or non-religious purposes really that big of a deal, especially if the children never attended?
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Is the Depiction of Santa really “secular”?
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“a county Halloween display of a pumpkin at the base of a guillotine, he said. If the county chose to recognize a religious holiday for Wiccans, it ought to do the same for Christians” This quote leads to a few questions: Is a pumpkin at the base of a guillotine a “pagan holiday symbol”? Is Halloween actually a “pagan holiday”? Since when is Halloween and the following day not a Christian holiday?
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Is removing Santa from the Department of Social Services appropriate? When is removing all/some/ or any religious or holiday displays from an office or a department appropriate?
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Is the information presented here correct, somewhat correct, not correct, or something in between?
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What do you think of this article in comparison to other “what Wicca is” articles you've read in the media (if you have read any) or the definitions that other articles give sometimes in passing of what Wicca is?
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Any specific complaints or compliments for the article?
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What do you think this article would define as “tradition paganism”, is its use seems to imply that the writer believes it to be one specific thing?
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How do you feel about the compare and contrast bit between Wicca and Christianity? Does the writing of this article show bias to one belief over the other?
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Any other thoughts and concerns?
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What do you think of the advice given here on “how to celebrate the solstice”?
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Are any of these decorations ones you traditionally use in your celebration (if you celebrate the solstice)?
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Do you celebrate the solstice at all and if you do when? Do you use the 25th to line up with Christmas, do you use the actual darkest day of the year, do you follow some other reasoning behind your day of celebration?
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What do you think about the use of tropical plants for solstice decoration? Does this follow in line with traditional practices or do you think it is an appropriate modern twist? Do you think about the origin of you plants and flowers at all for any winter celebration?
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Did you see any ideas you liked? Did it remind you of anything kind of decorations you use?
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Does this article really have a lot to do with celebrating or is it more about winter decorations?
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How do you feel about Christmas/Holiday decorations? Where is the line for you? Does this line change when a private company decorates instead of a government?
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Do you feel that the council's ruling was one in favor of “political correctness gone astray” as Elizabeth Springer suggests?
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“It still is a federal holiday, and that holiday is to celebrate Christmas,” Hecker said. “We don't celebrate the Baha'i faith on Christmas. The day was set aside for Christmas.” Hecker brings up a good point, should Christmas be a federal holiday in the USA? Does the government have the right to support one religion over another in such a way?
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Is including other symbols enough or should all “religious” symbols leave public display?
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What (if any) problems do you see with the latest Fort Collins ruling?
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Is requesting a menorah be hung really an outrageous one?
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Does your religion or culture have any traditions or ceremonies that have been sensationalized or made taboo?
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Do you think that the Native Americans are still fighting a lot of battles that they were fighting in colonial times and why?
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What do you think of the government funded religious educations historically offered to the Native Americans? Do you think that the American government still struggles with the question of funding religious groups today?
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Any other comments or thoughts?
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Do you feel this story has enough details to make any really informed decision on the ex-mayor's claims?
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Do you think the ex-mayor is telling the truth?
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How do you feel about ex-mayor staying with his current wife?
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Would you be more interested in the article if instead of it being a Satanic group, it was a pagan group?
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Why was the ex-mayor administered truth serum in the first place?
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What are some initial thoughts and reactions to this article?
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Who do you think is “wrong” and who is “right”?
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Are you/ would you be comfortable sending your son or daughter to a school where grace is said before meals the same way the pledge is required in the morning?
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If you were this parent would you have complained? Would your complaint been the same or different from the parent requesting the removal of the word “Lord” from grace?
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Is it fair to force a student to leave the room because they do not want to say grace?
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Does removing the class mandated grace actually prohibit staff and students who wish to say it from doing so?
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Has anyone heard of the Blithe Spirit play before, and if so what are your feelings about it?
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Do you think the decision not to put on Blithe Spirit was the right one?
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Some people claimed this was an argument over censorship, others claimed it to be a spiritual battle, what do you think this disagreement boils down to?
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Is it fair for people who have never read or seen the play to violently object towards it's content? Is it ever appropriate to speak out against a work you haven't seen or read?
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Do people who have read the play and speak out against it carry more weight than those who are against a play and haven't read it?
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“Lehman’s complaint stated the content could hurt students’ views on monogamous relationships and encouraged exploration of witchcraft and the occult.” Is this a good reason to censor a work, and is there any good reason to censor a work from a school system?
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““There isn’t any hope in that play. Why do it?” Hillary told the School Board as she sobbed. “We need hope. There are kids struggling with depression with drugs.”” does this student have a point and do you agree or disagree with her. Also do you think that a comedy is really meant to be a tale without any hope?
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Is enforcing a “moment of silence” unconstitutional?
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As the school is currently enforcing the law, with fifteen seconds of silence without mention to prayer or reflection or God(s) or religion, do you think that it is discriminatory towards atheists or people of other faiths?
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Did your school have a moment of silence, is so how did you feel about it growing up? How do you feel about it looking back on it now?
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Any other comments or thoughts.
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Do you think that discrimination went on between the client and company?
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How do you feel about the comment at the end by the reporter where he writes “Ouch! Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.”?
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Do you think the trial would have ended differently in a different location?
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Do you think that the report here is biased in any way?
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Is there anything you wish that the article had added or told us more about?
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What do you feel about the depiction of “witches” during Halloween?
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Do you feel like the general population really believes that “real witches” look like the green warted counter parts?
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Does your opinion of witch decorations change when the negative image stops being green skinned and warty and becomes more human?
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Can the green skin, warts, cackling, really be a cathartic depiction of the “darker” aspects of life?
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Anything else that comes to mind from this article?
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Is this decoration a hate crime?
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Hate crime or not do you think this decoration has gone too far?
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Is the woman in this article getting worked up over nothing?
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Considering the history of the Salem witch trials involved hanging fellow Christians for political, social, and financial reasons, do you think it's fair to twist their deaths into something symbolic of Halloween, of paganism, or anything else other than the actual event?
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Have you ever heard of Witch School before?
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What do you think of them (website: http://www.witchschool.com/main.asp ) ?
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Do you think that Witch School has a right to set up head quarters in a community that doesn't want them there? Does any business have a right to come and set up head quarters in a community that doesn't want them there (examples are malls, stadiums, oil refineries, etc.)?
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Do you think that Witch School is good, bad, or neutral in its ability to help create more business/ get more people to move to town?
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Would you move to a town where a “Witch School” was located?
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Is having a Witch School located in your town different than a Hebrew School, Christian Center, Meditation Facility, or other religious organization? Why or why not?
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In the article the mayor says: “"I told them, 'I don't remember voting on you coming into town,' " he says. "Back in the 1920s, there was quite a presence here" of the Ku Klux Klan, Prillaman says. "What do you suppose people were saying back then?"” Do you think these comparisons are apt, why or why not?
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To quote: " … We decided as a community to live and let live." is this a decision the community had a right to make? Was there really a threat of some kind of war?
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Again to quote: “...but the main thought of the Christians is we would like to see them close," she says. "They're in darkness. They're deceived." How does deceit make this group more or less worthy to close? Why are these towns people so threatened by a school that is mainly online?
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“Thomas worries that young people will be attracted by the witches' spells, potions and aura of mystery. “ Why would this be a concern if the practices are wrong or if there is no substance to practice? Also wouldn't one way to “demystify” Witch School be to allow the youth to view it and learn what it is about?
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Quote once more: “"Our ultimate goal would be to convert them to Christianity," he says. "If that doesn't happen, I don't know what will be next."” What are your thoughts on this statement? statement?
| Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 | |
| 1:14 am [moondancer] |
Pagan Newswire Collective Blogs Here are feed links for the three Pagan Newswire Collective* Blogs on different sites. Enjoy and share as appropriate!! InsaneJournal: http://feeds.insanejournal.com/pnc_cult http://feeds.insanejournal.com/pnc_mili http://feeds.insanejournal.com/pnc_poli Dreamwidth: http://pnc-culture-feed.dreamwidth.org http://pnc-military-feed.dreamwidth.o http://pnc-politics-feed.dreamwidth.o LiveJournal: http://syndicated.livejournal.com/warri http://syndicated.livejournal.com/pagan http://syndicated.livejournal.com/pagan * The Pagan Newswire Collective is an open collective of Pagan journalists, newsmakers, media liaisons, and writers who are interested in sharing and promoting primary-source reporting from within our interconnected communities. Current Mood:  good |
| Saturday, November 29th, 2008 | |
| 1:03 pm [tigresslilly] |
Women in an Abrahamic Faith and Where Their Position Is Why Churches Fear Gay Marriage my linking in ij hasn't been exactly solid so the actual site address is: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/1 It's a neat article that interviews Robert Rodriquez and asks in his opinion why the church is so anti-gay marriage. Rodriquez interestingly enough relates the church's fears of gays as a displacement for their real fears regarding the rising power and demand for power from women and the "women's movement" Personally, I'm somewhat torn in what the article says. I agree that the gay rights movement and the feminist movement are connected, for me personally, they are closely connected. I agree that feminism is still alive and pushing buttons. I guess that I just felt like Rodriquez's language was a bit insulting and that he made women out to be farther back from equality that we are. I suppose in the later though, the combination of religious an racial influence might alter my view as opposed to Rodriquez. Something else that strikes me as odd is that Rodriquez sticks with the Roman Catholic church. Their power structure is built in such a way that he and others won't make a difference in it. I suppose what struck me personally the most was the talk of male power structure in Abrahamic faith. The reason I had problems with the church was that I could never be a priest or a bishop or pope because of my gender. Not only could I never rise in ranks but nuns can't even perform the same basic duties as priests. Were the gender roles equal in Catholism, it would have been years later, if ever, that I considered questioning the church. Certainly, once I started questioning and reading, there were a lot of flaws and reasons to break away, but honestly the church's stance in feminism, which later connected me to abortion and gay rights, is the factor that turned me away from that faith system. Because of my own experience and the general numbers in agreement with my choice to walk out, I find i odd that Rodriquez doesn't mention this. Making an issue out of gays instead of women's demands for power does two good things for the church. First if gays leave because of attacks, the church cares less as their place in a traditional family structure doesn't exist, where if women left in large enough numbers, the church would lose any following. Secondly, focusing on a "spiritual war" of any kind forces women and other people dissatified with aspects of the church to put those thoughts on the back burnr while they handle the "problem" at hand. Those are just some of my thoughts on he article, what about you guys? PS, I'm sorry that this place has been so inactive, I'm going to try to revive it, but I would love help. Last I checked posting is free and open and any new article, book/movie review, or news opinion piece that relates back to your faith, even vaguely or on a personal level is welcome here. I figure actually limiting posting is something we do after we have too many, not before. |
| Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 | |
| 12:08 pm [moondancer] |
Attn Druid Veterans & Military Members The following is from Ellen Evert Hopman: An Urgent Plea Concerning Druid Veterans and Their Families and Friends. Please Read and Pass This Along! Dear all: To date I have not received any new letters from vets stating their desire to have the 'Awen' symbol on their headstones, nor any copies of letters to next of kin or clergy stating the same. It will be very hard to proceed with this cause as a religious freedom issue unless we can show that there are Druid vets out there who want the symbol. The campaign is at a critical point once again and we really need those letters. Can you please alert your members? Thank you in advance and here is my address again; POB 219 Amherst, MA 01004 EE Hopman Please see message from Selana Fox below; Greetings, All, This is follow-up to some individual and group discussions I have had with some of you previously, and most recently, Ellen. It is a good idea to get letters from Druid vets and Druids on active duty in the US military who state that they have the Awen symbol as their emblem of belief and that they want it added to the Va's list of emblems of belief that can be included on gravestones it issues for deceased veterans. Their letters should state that after death, they would like the Awen included on their VA-issued grave marker which will be ordered by next of kin. It also is a good idea to have the next of kin of each of these veterans informed about the veteran's wishes regarding the Awen being included on gravestones to be ordered after the veteran's death from the VA. Something in writing from the veteran/soldier to her/his next of kin could be very helpful. I met by phone this week with staff from the US Department of Veterans Affairs to get another update on the progress of the revision of the new procedures for adding additional emblems of belief to the Va's authorized list. This bureaucratic process is still in the works. During this call, no one could estimate as to how soon the process would be completed. I did lean that the process was continuing to move, although slowly. We plan to continue to track this. Although the Va's new procedures have not been released yet and supposedly have gone through quite a few changes as a result of the revision process that was begun in January 2007,several VA staff I spoke with over the past year indicated to me that, as with the previous set of procedures, that a symbol will be eligible to be on the list after a veteran or one on active duty dies and had wanted a symbol on her/his marker and the next of kin knows of this and makes that request of the VA as part of the gravestone/marker/plaque application process. During our settlement of the Circle Sanctuary vs. Nicholson lawsuit in April 2007 which resulted in the Pentacle being added to the list, I made certain that our attorneys (from Americans United for Separation of Church and State) included a clause in the settlement agreement that allowed me and Circle Sanctuary to work on behalf of other emblems of belief being added to the list. When asked about the reason for this clause by media at the national press club news conference on April 23,2007, the day the Pentacle was added to the list, I specifically mentioned the need for the Druid symbol to be added. Should any of you know of a Druid vet or Druid on active duty who dies and has requested the Awen to be on a VA headstone and the next of kin is planning to order a marker from the VA, please contact Circle Sanctuary as soon as possible so we can be available to help as needed. Contact: Lady Liberty League Circle Sanctuary liberty@circlesanctuary.org Box 9,Barneveld, WI 53507 USA (608) 924-2219 Blessings, Selena _____________________________________ Ellen Evert Hopman, herbalist, author and Druid Priestess author of "Priestess of the Forest: A Druid Journey" and "A Druids Herbal - For Sacred Tree Medicine" (Spring 2008) See her books, DVDs and audio tapes at http://www.celticheritage.co.uk/EllenEv Current Mood: good |
| Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 | |
| 8:51 am [elfwreck] |
Recent WV article http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.ht "Is Being Organized Really Necessary?" As someone who has always felt that the current popular religion, (i.e. Christianity), was somewhat lacking, I was more than ready for some reality that I can sense and feel is right, not just have someone tell me it is.Gaaah. Maybe they're encouraged to find a group because that's how every other religion on the planet gains new members. Because until mass-marketed popWicca, no religion's practitioners said, "the best way to become one of us is to read on your own and stay away from groups that actually practice the religion, because maybe you won't agree with their concept of the religion." *headdesk* I am sick of "I've read all this stuff about paganism and so I know how it works and how it should work better than the people who've been doing it for several decades." ( More mini-rant inside ) |
| Wednesday, December 5th, 2007 | |
| 8:13 pm [tigresslilly] |
18th Post Really Just Because It's Interesting http://www.thestar.com/living/article/28
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| 8:11 pm [tigresslilly] |
17th Update a Movie Review? http://frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Re "Beowulf" and Christ |
| 8:07 pm [tigresslilly] |
16th Update the Persecution News I just wanted to throw all the persecution articles in one update cause they are semi connected. I'm for the ethnic slur in the title of one of the articles and I'm sorry if I began to have a little bit of attitude in the questions. If you read enough of these articles they all start to sound a lot a like.
http://www.wave3.com/Global/story.asp?S=7 Foster parents who attended service with snakes sue over license http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,2
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| 4:36 pm [tigresslilly] |
15th Update: The Christmas Edition part II There is just sooo much holiday cheer. [/sarcasm] Seriously though, there are a lot of articles about Christmas and the Holidays and I figured they might be similar enough that I could post them all together. As always feel free to comment on anything pertaining to the articles. The prompts are just suggestions and points I found interesting...though I tried to leave some of the more obvious stuff out because I don't want to be too repeative. I should probably warn you (if you can't guess from some of the titles) that some of the are opinion articles on how Christmas is about Christ and should still remain a national USA holiday. The issue isn't specifically pagan in nature, but it does apply. Some people may find it offensive. http://www.redding.com/news/2007/nov/28/t Tehama says OK to Santa
And as a follow up from a previous story: http://www.wgrz.com/news/news_article.as 4. You know, I think all the questions I could ask about this have been asked, so throw you some of your own thoughts, feelings and opinions on this one. http://www.redbluffdailynews.com/ci_7600 Neighbors: Christmas has more than one meaning 5. “Many holidays have two sides, pagan and Christian.” Does this statement ring true to you, why or why not 6. “Most symbols of Christmas have a secular meaning and a Christian meaning.” Do you agree with this why or why not? 7. Here we are again with the idea of Santa as a secular image, which leads me to asking: Do non-Christian children look forward to the arrival of Santa? 8. Why should pagans or any other religions be asked to subscribe to a holiday name that doesn't belong to what they celebrate? 9. Does a connection in some symbols used in solstice celebrations and Christmas celebrations make the two the same holiday? Are the themes or the actual nature of the celebrations that similar? Alright so I cheated a little. This one isn't really that holiday oriented. Just in Time for Christmas - Canadian Broadcaster Floats Show on How Christ Didn't Really Exist 10. Based off of the synopsis here, what do you think of the show? 11. Is there a problem with releasing this kind of special so close to the holidays? 12. “The Post wrote, that the phenomenon of thousands of pilgrims responding to a papal invitation to deepen their spiritual lives, "does not compute in the mind of those middle aged bien pensants for whom the idea of moral certainty is alien and traditional institutional religion abhorrent."” Any reactions to this quote? 13. Does anyone have any personal experience with the CBC? Do you think the is a fair article on their style of journalism?
http://www.chieftain.com/life/1196502284/4 There's good reason for calling the season 'Christmas'14. Do you find this article offensive, honest, uninformed, well researched, or something other? Please explain 15. “Would there be any wintertime celebration in modern civilization if, for some reason, the events of Christmas didn't happen?” This is an interesting question, anyone have any thoughts? 16. Do you agree with the jump in logics the author made? If not where do you see holes? 17. “If one argues he should be able to rename Christmas as, say, "the winter holidays" and celebrate it without any acknowledgement of Jesus Christ, then a Christian should be able to celebrate, for instance, Ramadan, but with no recognition of Muhammad or the Quran. And rename it "the starve-until-after-sundown month."” Is this a fair statement? I guess you could call this an update on the Ft Collins stories I've posted :http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?s Outspoken sheriff helps erect Christmas tree to counter city policy 18. No questions here.
http://www.tomahjournal.com/articles/200 Column: America's Christian heritage slipping away 19.Just your dose of “look at how much worse things could be, the majority could think like this” moment. I think the only coherent comment I can make is wow, and apparently both liberals and conservatives use the same people don't vote for what they really want speech.
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| Wednesday, November 28th, 2007 | |
| 11:35 am [tigresslilly] |
14th Udate- A Christmas Show I know that we already have a post here with most any discussions we could have about holidays and secular decoration, but I still wanted to post these articles that are about similar controveries. I won't post the same questions for discussion though most of them probably still apply, I'll just add anything that may be a new idea here. Of note: She second article I'm posting here, "Christmas Warriors and Hot Air", is a follow up post to the first article we have. http://www.wcax.com/Global/story.asp?S=7 Wiccan pentacle may join manger outside Olean building 1. Should both displays be taken down since they don't have proper permission? http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_7 Christmas warriors and hot air 1. Um think of your own responses here, if any. |
| Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 | |
| 2:13 pm [tigresslilly] |
13th Update http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.p |
| 2:13 pm [tigresslilly] |
12th Update http://www.madison.com/tct/entertainment/2 Celebrating the solstice |
| 2:11 pm [tigresslilly] |
11th Discussion http://www.fortcollinsnow.com/article/20
Christmas Displays Plus: Council Adds, Doesn’t Subtract
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| 2:10 pm [tigresslilly] |
10th Discussion http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2
Fighting to keep traditions |
| 2:09 pm [tigresslilly] |
9th Disscussion http://news.aol.com/political-machine/20
Mayor Resigns Over 'Satanic Abduction'Not entirely pagan news, but interesting and almost kind of related enough that I figured I might as well add it. |
| Friday, November 16th, 2007 | |
| 3:29 pm [tigresslilly] |
8th Discussion http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/ar
Parent fury after school removes the word 'Lord' from lunchtime prayers
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| 3:28 pm [tigresslilly] |
7th Discussion http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/1018 Crushed 'Spirit'? |
| 3:27 pm [tigresslilly] |
6th Discussion http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.a
State barred from enforcing moment of silence in schools |
| Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 | |
| 1:38 pm [tigresslilly] |
5th Discussion http://www.kansascity.com/business/story/3 Wiccan loses lawsuit alleging dismissal because of beliefs
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| 1:35 pm [tigresslilly] |
4th Discussion http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.d Witches do important work, but sure need a thick skin and healthy sense of humor
And because this article makes mention to this one (which while older is I think more interesting): http://www.winknews.com/news/weird/10527 Halloween Decoration or Hate Crime?
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| Tuesday, November 13th, 2007 | |
| 1:21 pm [tigresslilly] |
3rd Discussion At Witch School, spelling has new meaning
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