Hagrid is in the House!

Today I got birthday presents!
Two items from my Amazon.com Wish List were delivered to my door:



The Watchmen Motion Comic DVD set
This was a Birthday Present from my little sister, Nettie, and her husband, Joe. I LOVE the Watchmen, worship Alan Moore, and really enjoyed the first chapter of the Motion Comic, which was made available for free on iTunes, so I was very excited for the chance to watch the other 11 chapters! Thank you both so much for this!



The Quotable Atheist:
Ammunition for Non-Believers, Political Junkies, Gadflies, and Those Generally Hell-Bound
This was a gift from my ex, beest. I added this one to my wishlist because it looked interesting. Quotes about atheism are useful for me in my writing, and I liked the title. Thank you, John!

The Internet is about to become much more interesting.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has just approved unlimited new top level domain names, and not just in Roman characters, starting in 2009.

.atheist anyone? How about .pagan?

I've been influenced a lot lately by the thinking of the New Atheists, and am beginning to question some of my beliefs. My spirituality continues to grow and evolve, and while this can be disconcerting -- and even troubling at points when it comes to fitting in with old communities, like the neopagans and Radical Faeries -- it does show me that I am still growing as a human being.

So I've decided to take a snapshot of where my thinking is right now.

Here is what I believe right at this moment:

* I doubt (though I cannot disprove) the existence of the monotheistic creator gods. (Some would label me a "Weak Atheist" for this, others an agnostic. I'm fine with either label.)

* I believe that Monotheism is probably maladaptive for our survival as a species.

* I suspect that whoever Jesus was as a historical figure, he probably wasn't much like the man depicted in the gospels, which appear to me to be mappings of stories, myths and deities of the Roman world onto a Jewish mystery cult. He may not have existed at all.

* I doubt that there is an afterlife. When you die, you're Recycled, Remembered, Reproduced and Ramified, but that's probably about it. (Recycled through the environment, Remembered by those who knew you and loved you, Reproduced in your descendants, and Ramified in that we have Ramifications in how we changed the world by our presence and actions.)

* I believe the human need for spirituality is real. It's the expression of it that is problematic.

* I believe there is still a great deal about the workings of the Universe we still don't understand, because we are limited. We're limited by our perceptions, by our experiences, by our place in the Universe, and by the knowledge our predecessors and culture gave to us.

* I believe that gods and goddesses in the neopagan sense are metaphors, ways of interacting with aspects of the universe, but that they don't have any objective or incarnate existence. They're more like archetypes than actual beings.

* I am agnostic on the idea of supernatural entities and forces -- I just don't know if they exist or not.

* I believe I am an animal. A very smart animal to be sure, a remarkable primate, and a very advanced monkey, but an animal nonetheless. We are probably not more important than the other animals we share the Earth with, including the food we eat.

* I believe the Earth is a self-regulating living organism. (This known as the Gaia Theory.) This is not to say that, as an organism, it has any purpose, or self-direction, but it definitely appears to be alive. I also believe that Earth must be revered and cared for if we are to survive. I have no knowledge as to whether or not the Earth is conscious, though -- except to say that I, as part of Earth, am conscious.

* I know The Universe is, at least in part, alive and conscious. I am alive and conscious, and since I am part of The Universe, then at least this part of the Universe is unquestionably alive and conscious. And if the Earth is alive, and part of The Universe, then that part of The Universe is alive as well.

* I believe that science, and logic, are the best tools we have right now for understanding The Universe. I believe that Emotion, Spirituality, Intuition, Perception and Experience are more limited than science and logic -- they are too easily wrong, and shaped by our prejudices and limitations.

(All beliefs are subject to change as I continue to explore, think, and grow.)

So what am I? How should I label myself? Like clothes that I outgrew as a child, some of the labels that I used to wear seem ill-fitting. Am I still a Pagan? Am I an Atheist? Who am I?

Here's a blast from the past. I've been thinking about my spirituality a lot lately, and this sums it up pretty well:



Direct link to this video


Dear God
by XTC
from the LP "Skylarking"

Dear god,
Hope you got the letter,
And I pray you can make it better down here.
I dont mean a big reduction in the price of beer,
But all the people that you made in your image,
See them starving on their feet,
cause they dont get enough to eat

From god,
I cant believe in you.

Dear god,
Sorry to disturb you,
But I feel that I should be heard loud and clear.
We all need a big reduction in amount of tears,
And all the people that you made in your image,
See them fighting in the street,
cause they cant make opinions meet,
About god,
I cant believe in you.

Did you make disease, and the diamond blue?
Did you make mankind after we made you?
And the devil too!

Dear god,
Dont know if you noticed,
But your name is on a lot of quotes in this book.
Us crazy humans wrote it, you should take a look,
And all the people that you made in your image,
Still believing that junk is true.
Well I know it aint and so do you,
Dear god,
I cant believe in,
I dont believe in,

I wont believe in heaven and hell.
No saints, no sinners,
No devil as well.
No pearly gates, no thorny crown.
Youre always letting us humans down.
The wars you bring, the babes you drown.
Those lost at sea and never found,
And its the same the whole world round.
The hurt I see helps to compound,
That the father, son and holy ghost,
Is just somebodys unholy hoax,
And if youre up there youll perceive,
That my hearts here upon my sleeve.
If theres one thing I dont believe in...

Its you,
Dear god.

© 1986 EMI Virgin Music Ltd