Five Mistakes We Make When Criticizing Other Religions

Religion is far more than a set of propositions to which we intellectually assent or dissent. Religion is inextricably intertwined with our social networks and our cultural context. And religious behavior, including religious speech, is far more than an expression of belief; it is a performance which binds us to our religious communities. When secularists, atheists, and religious naturalists attack a religion on the basis of the demonstrable falsity of the beliefs of its adherents, we reveal our own ignorance of the complexity of this thing we call religion.

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An Earthseed Solstice: Festival of the Teacher

The summer solstice coincides with the birthday of Octavia Butler, June 22.  So we celebrate Butler’s life and work, as well as the beginning of summer.  Through the ritual, we will seek to deepen our understanding of the words of the Book of the Living: “God is Teacher” and “Partnership is learning and teaching”.  The ritual will involve song, like Peter Mayer’s “God is a River”, and call-and-response. The center of the ritual will be a “meditative teaching” and the construction of an altar or “focus” to honor teachers who have inspired us.

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How a Hobbit Would Celebrate the Summer Solstice

When we light our solstice fire this year, I will be thinking of shadows. I will be thinking of ruined landscapes. And I will be thinking of Hobbits. Little people who took up farm tools and kitchen implements and drove out the shadow of desolation from their homes.

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Spiritual Experiences: Fuel for Action [Starstuff, Contemplating]

These spiritual experiences are an astounding gift that can be powerful fuel for our actions – motivating us when other lights have gone out.  How could I receive that gift, and not want to use it responsibly, to help empower me to make a better world?  

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Divining the Masculine

This essay on religion, science, gender and the Earth is one of the most difficult things I’ve written. Part One ~ Part Two The composition process felt like torture. I fully expected it would require serious revision, but it was accepted and published as-is in the collection Finding the Masculine in Goddess’ Spiral: Men in Ritual, Community, and …

Continue reading “Divining the Masculine”

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