Retaining Your Identity

Dr. James McGrath over at Exploring Our Matrix recently asked "if you are a 'none' or even if you are connected with a religion, do you care if your children shift identities?" The short answer is no, not at all. The main reason why is because I shifted through several different identities myself within the last 5 years. I hope they remain open-minded and I don't care which faith they eventually settle with as long as the faith resonates with them. Although, I would rather they don't become fundamentalists of any faith.

[My Alien II by Bloommer. Follow the link to check out some of Bloomer's other works.]

I admit I would like to see my children follow my beliefs but I realize the beliefs I (currently) accept are the result of years of questioning, exploring, and evolving. I believe two people may follow the same faith tradition but their personal religious and/or spiritual experiences are unique. My wife is Baptist and since I (currently) consider myself a None we are raising them in the Baptist tradition. Religion is a touchy subject in our family so as the odd man out I try not to stir the pot and I'm fine with attending whatever church we call home (we begin church shopping next week). What I DO want to pass on to my children is to be loving towards your neighbor and to follow the wisdom of Ecclesiastes: eat, drink, have a few good friends, a career they love, and be merry. As a None I personally believe that as the globe becomes more interconnected people will begin to question their previous tribal and religious boundaries. I don't care if my children shift identities, what I do care is how they relate to their neighbor.

Savage Morality

It's videos and stories like this one which make me giddy about the interwebs.



What Dan Savage is doing is not "attacking" the Bible but tearing down the self imposed veils of ignorance and hypocrisy when it comes to what the Bible actually says. Some students who came to the convention thought they were going to hear about anti bullying and walked out when they felt their beliefs were under attack. I have yet to find a full clip of his speech (I'd like to hear it in its entirety) but the kids who walked out missed the point that you have to attack the source of bullying. What is fueling bullying against gays? It's not the Bible (which only has a handful of references to homosexuality) but the people using the Bible to bludgeon people different from what they consider the norm. Andrew Hackman (Welcome Back!) at Hackman's Musings summed it up best with the following:

 The anti-homosexual position does not belong to a deity.... it belongs to you.

 

Sharing is Caring

I love when I catch my kids sharing their toys. It warms my heart. I love it even more when those lessons of sharing are carried into adulthood, I melt into a puddle when I witness it first hand. So I'm sharing with you this clever illustration which I'm sure like everything else in the interwebs has been shared repeatedly (Thanks Andrew for sharing this). The thing is I absolutely love it when others share their beliefs with me no matter how much I may disagree with them. What I love is conversation and not being treated like I'm a potential convert. There have been times where I've had incredible conversations with people who hold beliefs entirely different from me as we focus on our differences and less so on our commonalities. Sharing what we have in common is great starting point but that should branch into our differences, which I believe when shared can create something new and beautiful.  Sadly most of these conversations are found to be more productive online than in person. As a non-Christian living in Tennessee it's difficult to come across anyone who shares a passion for religion and spirituality who isn't (ain't) going to tell me I better get right with God. Which is why I continue blogging, because I love to share, interact, and converse.

So Many Articles, So Little Time

It's terribly difficult in keeping up with all of the bloggers I follow on the internets through my feed reader, but then again there are a lot of good reads out there. Here are a few postings which caught my eye recently.

Andrew Hackman (Happy Belated Birthday!) shares a video from RSA Animate and his thoughts on reforming the public education system. And if you're unfamiliar with the videos by RSA Animate I encourage you to visit their Youtube channel. It's definitely worth your time.

John Shore has quickly become one of my favorite bloggers: passionate, witty, a down right rascal. Here's a recent posting entitled What Non-Christians Want Christians to Hear. (It's not about how much they LOVE to sin. It's quite the opposite.)

Scotteriology shares a video of a Bible Defenders video game. No foolin'! You can play as creation science evangelists Carl Baugh and Kent Hovind along with author Gail Riplinger and Pastor Peter Ruckman in this Mario-esque parody game. This reminds me of a video game made for the original Nintendo Entertainment System I used to play called Exodus: Journey to the Promised Land. Ahh, nostalgia.

And last but not at all least, Sabio at Triangulations recently wrote on Religious Prescriptionists found in faiths other than Christianity. Gasp!