Gus diZerega: February 2009 Archives

I have long been perplexed, and more than perplexed, by the seeming contradiction between the more intelligent right wingers' stirring defenses of 'freedom,' 'the rule of law,' and 'small government' and their cheer-leading for George Bush, who under-mined these values more than any other president in my life time.  I think I now understand - and oddly, my being a Pagan has helped.  

Being of a minority perspective often enables us to see what others see from a new vantage point.  This can be useful for all concerned.  I think my Pagan based sensitivity to relationships and harmony trumping atomistic isolation has helped me to finally come to an understanding of why so many conservatives are utter hypocrites.

Barack Obama's decisive win throughout almost the entire United States gave many of us hope that the threat of religious persecution and authoritarianism would begin to fade from our land.  To the degree that they could, a majority of Americans said "No way!" to America's home grown Taliban.  I imagine most genuine Christians were as relieved as any Pagan with a brain.  Judging from the craziness appearing in 'conservative' media and their fans, I think our optimism is only partially justified.  We are not out of the woods yet.

Recently one of the loudest ranters among the culture warriors, Glenn Beck, did a TV show on all the 'good Americans' uniting to wage war against the horrible left wing menace that now threatens American freedom from the White House.  Glenn Greenwald did his usual wonderful job reporting Beck's doings, but to a far smaller audience.  Beck represents the continued break down of what remains of respect for truth in broadcast journalism.

 Yesterday I went again to the wonderful Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, long the largest cathedral in the world, and still number three, after St. Peter's and St. Paul's.  When it was built, all of an admittedly smaller Florence could gather within its walls.  This time I went inside, and a guide, a young woman from New York, took us on a quick tour of the first floor.

Most everything about the cathedral is impressive, and it will long rank as one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen, especially on the exterior.  A multi-colored façade of marble that on a smaller structure would look busy gives an impression of  soaring sacredness I have never experienced before in the human world.  I haven't figured out how to put photos in this blog yet, but go here and here  and here  for a sense of the place.  No photo can do its justice.

Some of those who commented on an early blog of mine on the Bible and abortion questioned whether a Pagan should address so-called "Christian" beliefs.  Among other points, I answered that when these so-called "Christians" based their political opinions on their reading of scripture, and used those beliefs to support legislation those who believed differently would find oppressive, they left us no choice.  In a free society that means they will have to defend their beliefs against those of us who would just as soon leave them to live as they will, so long as they respect our right to do the same.

Little did I imagine I would get such a clear example of this necessity that when Scott Renfroe in the Colorado Senate compared being gay to being a murderer and then quoted from Leviticus to argue (I do not know any other way to understand him) that being gay deserved the death penalty in his view.

Dave Banack over at Mormon Inquiry   is wondering what the deeper spiritual meaning might be for the growing toleration of Wiccans and other NeoPagans in America today.  On the one hand, we demonstrably aren't particularly dangerous to anyone, but on the other hand, our theology explicitly rejects many of the core staples of Abrahamic monotheism, and back when those staples were taken seriously, we'd end up dangling from a gibbet or being crisped by a flame.

 I am staying in an old monastery just below the hill town of Fiesole, a longish walk up the hill from Florence, Italy. Luxurious by the standards of those who long lived here, my small room has a single bed...

The final panel I attended at Pantheacon was on  international interfaith work.  Its participants were an impressive group: Glen Turner, Starhawk, Don Frew, Selena Fox, Anastacia Nutt, Rachel Wachter, and EliSheva Nesher.  While present at the Con, Rowan Fairgrove was...

At Pantheacon Pagans deeply involved in interfaith affairs reported important achievements in two panels, one on the Lost and Endangered Religions Project (LERP) and the other on international interfaith work in general.  Both are doing great good for our spiritual...

Pantheacon coverage will return shortly - I gotta catch a plane.Markets are wonderful means by which people can make voluntary exchanges.  They are indispensable servants.  But when they become our masters all values are subordinated to enabling the most ruthless...

I will return to Pantheacon   issues shortly, but Holly Liebowitz Rossi over at Fresh Living   wonders whether I am using the word 'spiritual' appropriately in my blog on shopping locally.  This gives me an opportunity to explore this interesting question...

One of the things I like best about Pantheacon is the opportunity to get up to date on new research and discoveries in research on ancient sites of interest to Pagans.  And few times are more ancient than Göbekli Tepe, ...

I saw a number of wonderful sessions yesterday that might interest our larger community.  Too many to put a blog together before fatigue led me to bed.  One of particular importance was on Pagan involvement in interfaith work.  (Reports on...

I sat on an authors' panel Llewellyn hosted today at Pantheacon.  There were 10 of us taking questions from the audience about our relationship to deities., and we were a diverse lot, from many traditions, youngish to old, gay, straight,...

I almost forgot!  Today, Feb 12, is Charles Darwin's birthday.  And an illustrious day it is.  Why should I, a committed believer in the Gods and the Sacred, support a guy who has been used by atheists to debunk the...

I had not planned to do another blog till at Pantheacon, but upon reflection, I am making an exception.  I was one of many who rejoiced when Barack Obama won the presidency, bringing I hoped an end to the lawlessness...

Tomorrow I head off to Pantheacon, the largest Pagan gathering on the West Coast.  It is always a treat to go and immerse myself in our larger community, the (statistically) 'normal', the granola, the techno, the weird, the geeky, the...

For me, one of the hardest things about being a Pagan is living in a society where nothing has value in itself.  Our world is believed to be made up of things - people occasionally exempted unless they are in...

Rabbi Brad Hirschfield has taken exception to my blog post on the Bible and abortion.  He calls it arrogant, and worse.  I sent him my reply, and am putting it here, below the fold.  He raises some issues that were...

A friend just sent me a WONDERFUL talk by Elizabeth Gilbert at a TED conference.  She describes the creative process as many people have experienced it.  It rings true in my own experience, and I think it is worth every...

The abortion and the Bible thread has high lighted two issues where I think we Pagans have valuable insights for the spiritual community as a whole.  These are how we determine spiritual authority, and the issue of death.  This post...

I've been spending the weekend at a conference on spontaneous orders, also known as complex adaptive, emergent, or self-organizing systems.  In the human world what those terms, and some equivalent ones, point to is how certain kinds of order can...

I have been working on a book on the 60s and the culture war.  As part of my research, I looked at Biblical criticisms of abortion - not a major theme of the book by any means, but I am...

I have been traveling all day.  Flying from the West Coast to the East to a conference is a drag because I have to get up so early - 2 am - to catch the Airporter down to San Francisco...

The disturbing entry of right wing religion into American politics over the past few decades raises an important question for all of us with a spiritual commitment: how should our spirituality appropriately influence our lives as citizens?  As citizens we...

This morning a friend of mine in Denmark wrote asking me what I thought of an article titled 'Wicca Infiltrates the Churches,' by Catherine Edwards.  Its author is quite alarmed at what she sees as unchristian influences seeking to undermine...

We are having a fearfully dry winter here in northern California.  Summers are all but rainless, with only the coastal fog keeping this region from total desiccation in the summer.  You can tell where the fog gets when you visit...

We Pagans have made giant strides in public acceptance and in the numbers of Americans interested in our path.  This is wonderful.  But no good thing comes without at least a potential shadow.  Our current financial crisis  can help Pagan...