Gus diZerega: July 2009 Archives

Lammas, or Lughnasadh,  is one of the most important Pagan Sabbats, midway between Beltane and Samhain.  Here are some ideas for two Lammas rituals you might want to try if you have no other gathering to attend.  Even if you do, perhaps they'll give you some ideas.

After the God of Death, why not the Whale of Life?

Lammas, or Lughnasad, has always been one of my favorite Sabbats. It is celebrated from July 31 to August 2, generally, and we are fortunate this year that all the dates are on the weekend. Lammas is the first and biggest of the harvest Sabbats, for it is at this time that in the temperate places in the northern hemisphere the earth's bounty most fully opens.

The many murders by self-described 'pro-life' supporters are only the down payment in deaths of real people rather than zygotes if those who want to ban all kinds of abortion have their way. Lots more dead people now in the name of 'life." 

If the 'pro-life' people are correct, these people died because they followed their directives of their God.  Why did their God kill them?

A number of people have suggested I was unfair to Sam Harris in criticizing his attack on Frances Collins.  Below I reprint his column from the NYT, inserting at key points comments showing I am very far from being unfair.  Towards the end we get into issues more interesting than that, issues growing out of Harris's attack on Collins.

Normal 0 0 1 73 417 3 1 512 11.1282 0 0 0 Sam Harris  has a column in today' New York Times objecting to Obama's naming Francis Collins  director of NIH.  He objects solely because Collins is a...

Huffpost has provided an important account of the human cost to Americans of turning control over our health provision to sociopathic corporations....

Normal 0 0 1 75 428 3 1 525 11.1282 0 0 0 After huffing and puffing that he would still frequently vote against the Democrats, new "Democrat" Arlen Spector of Pennsylvania, has fallen into line.  Understanding why gives...

Normal 0 0 1 379 2164 18 4 2657 11.1282 0 0 0 "Ex-Pagan" managed to get a lot of confusions and errors into a short snark in the ancestor thread, but by doing so raised an interesting issue....

  Normal 0 0 1 47 273 2 1 335 11.1282 0 0 0 Caroline Kenner has a guest blog over at Wild Hunt, and has provided a fascinating post on the ancestors .   Kenner raises an issue that I...

Yes it is....

UPDATE BELOW I have been following Jeff Sharlet's reports about "The Family," for some time.  His report in Harper's  initially alerted me to this loathsome organization.  It was followed by his book, The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of...

Frances Kissling over at Salon has a good discussion of fallacies in the views held by kinder gentler "pro-life" proponents who loudly oppose abortion but support Obama.  They are people who have expanded their moral and spiritual compass to be...

As we commemorate Apollo 11's successful trip to the moon and Neil Armstrong's first steps there, all done with the aid of less computing power than exists in my cell phone, I am reminded of how in one respect it...

After catching loud mouthed global warming skeptics lying about the weather and showing they don't understand statistics. Nate Silver has issued them a challenge.  For every day where they live that it's a degree cooler than average, he'll pay them...

This is the last of a three part post where I am trying to suggest how we as a community can contribute the most to our wider society.  Along with the Sacred Feminine and role of women, the other religious...

Some European friends were over to visit last night, and our conversation ranged all over the place.  One area where we spent considerable time was discussing various countries' violence against others.  My German friend expressed a strong sense of collective...

Y'all know what to do....

The hearings over Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor are giving us wonderful opportunities to see the psychopathology of modern 'conservatism' in action.  I am indebted to Daily Kos for much of the information that follows. Here are some interesting factoids...

Frank Rich has written a wonderful piece.With thanks to Balloon Juice....

Beginning in the '60s there has been a marked change in the way many people view women and the feminine, and this shift quickly influenced American religion.  After a lull, feminism began to regain its moral energy in the 1960s. ...

When I did a couple of blogs a while back, here and here,  on 'conservatives' as having, on balance, not really advanced far beyond a tribal identity, some of my readers got upset.Try these recent gems of wisdom regarding how...

I want to return to a discussion of the scientific method that arose during discussions following my post on animal morality. That will be also set the stage for part 2 of Paganism and America's Future, as well as keeping...

As far back as I can remember, I've heard people warning me about all the bad consequences that will happen because I indulge so deeply in my favorite drug.It is with great pleasure that the following has recently been discovered.I...

New Age Cowboy sparked some additional thoughts through his comments in my previous post, thoughts that I think merit a post all their own.  Or rather a series of three.  This one as foundational, another will follow on the Sacred...

When I read these two articles about how we are emptying our oceans  and exterminating sharks not even on purpose, but as thoughtless "bycatch" while we exterminate other things,  I was led into musing about the kind of world we...

Sebastopol had its annual fireworks show last night, on the 3rd.  (That way people can take in even more fireworks nearby, on July 4.)  Analy high school's athletic field and bleachers were filled by hordes of happy spectators celebrating our...

The rapid appearance of books by atheists in the United States is a predictable result of the rise of intolerant religion.  Nothing turns people off to religion faster than self-righteous fanatics and power junkies intent on telling you how to...

California is entering into a financial abyss, an abyss of its own creation.  The budgetary disaster that is eliminating health care and summer school for thousands of children, closing state parks, and leading to state workers and small businesses being...

Today Canadians are celebrating Canada Day, their national equivalent to our 4th of July.  Their celebration reminds me of how fortunate I think we are to have such an independent country as our northern neighbor. ...

In a sane world, with sane opposition on issues of concern this would not be happening.  The video is here.  It may no longer be a question of left vs right, where genuine issues exist over which people of good...