Liberals like myself love to remind the Conservatives that Bush was not a legitmate president. That Al Gore should have been President of the United States as independant organizations proved that he did indeed have more votes than Bush in the state of Florida. The interesting thing about this is the Joe Lieberman issue. Senator Joe Lieberman at the time was a Democrat. A moderate Dem, but one nonetheless who supported environmental issues and foreign policy. He supported Universal Healthcare, too. In fact, as recently as the last election, he ran on a platform of expanded medicare. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34420961/
So what radicalized Joe Lieberman from the near top of the Democratic ticket in 2000 to the supporter of beheadings and citizen revoking that we see now? There have been several speculations from 911, to his loss in the Democratic primary to campaign contributions from Health Insurance Companies and pressure from Lobbyists.
Joe is an anomalie. He supports rights for Women and Gay Rights as well. But at the same time, he believes in restricting the first ammendment. The most chilling of Lieberman's recent ideologies follows the recent foiled terror plot at Times Square in New York. Lieberman suggested two things that should shake a freedom- loving American to their core.
Joe Lieberman suggested that terrorists should be beheaded. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-green/lieberman-suggests-behead_b_566013.html
Beheaded? Are you serious, Joe? Are we in times of war, to lower ourselves to the conduct of our enemy? Are we not supposed to look better than them? To do so would ruin the American's image to the rest of the country and make us look just as savage as the militant terrorist groups we fight against.
More horrifying yet, Lieberman went further than some Conservatives that suggested that American citizens accused of terrorism don't deserve Miranda rights. He suggested that anyone with "associations" with groups considered terrorist organizations should be stripped of their citizenship. And there it goes. There is the start of the end of our freedom and back to the days of another Sentor named Joe.
Senator Joseph McCarthy was a Republican. He served Wisconsin as a Senator from 1947-1957 when he died from Hepatitis which was supposedly linked to his heavy alcoholism. He was known in the Senate as being tough opponent against Communism (our big scare from back in the day). The threat of Communism caused many unconstitutional knee-jerk reactions to differentiate ourselves from the Communists. What it really did was restrict freedoms for Americans in the guise of keeping America safe.
Senator Joe McCarthy wasn't the only one responsible for the facist activities that ensued in the late 40's early 50's, but he definately made his mark. McCarthyism, is the attitude of the Conservative members of congress during this era who made efforts to restrict the freedoms of citizens and scare them with stories of Communism and how Anti-American it was.
Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and many other prominant Republicans took part in the scare tactics. Reagan, actually switched from being a Democrat to a Repbulican at this time because he agreed with HUAC and McCarthyism. What I don't get is how people could define "What is American?" It's the same thing going on here. Someone suspected of terrorism or associated with terrorists could be deemed un-American.
I'm all for deporting people who are here illegally. But shirking citizenship of anyone suspected of terrorism is a slap in the face to what IS AMERICAN! That is the fact that we have rights in this country as citizens that can't be taken away. We have a right to a fair trial, and to be innocent until proven guilty.
But, people like Joe Lieberman, we learned all too well are willing to give up our freedoms for their conveniences. All I can say is what's next?
Friday, May 7, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Big Announcement
As many of you may have noticed. For the past few months, I've been very ill. As of late, I've only made a few face videos because I just didn't look or feel the part.
Although there are a handful of people on Youtube close to me that know my situation, I thought it best to reveal to the public what's going on.
Today, on the radio show, I'll reveal my situation. Thankfully, I've taken a turn for the better, which is expected given my diagnosis. The condition that I have will still take quite a while to resolve.
Chris has been very helpful and I thank him for all his support. He's really been my savior through all my hardships. I've had so many symptoms, it's not funny. Headaches, fatigue, moodiness, nausea, breakouts, pain, etc. He's put up with me through all of it.
The radio show is on tonight at 6om EST http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepillarsofgreece
Although there are a handful of people on Youtube close to me that know my situation, I thought it best to reveal to the public what's going on.
Today, on the radio show, I'll reveal my situation. Thankfully, I've taken a turn for the better, which is expected given my diagnosis. The condition that I have will still take quite a while to resolve.
Chris has been very helpful and I thank him for all his support. He's really been my savior through all my hardships. I've had so many symptoms, it's not funny. Headaches, fatigue, moodiness, nausea, breakouts, pain, etc. He's put up with me through all of it.
The radio show is on tonight at 6om EST http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thepillarsofgreece
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Looking Down from Olympus onto the World: My Perception of Hellenism, The Greek Gods and The Global Culture
Recently on YouTube, I started doing a series of videos about my beliefs in the Greek Gods. Since I rediscovered myself as a Hellenist Witch. It actually wasn't a far leap from Wicca, but I can no longer call myself Wiccan because I don't see all Gods as aspects of a duality. However, there is still aspecting going on within my beliefs and I'll explain.
It's well known that the Greek Gods had to them many aspects. For example, Apollo is the God of the Sun, Prophecy, Music, Poetry, Healing, etc. This is a hefty list which requires many "hats". Each one of these ideas requires a different "persona" within the same God. All of these things fall under one simple word of enlightenment, but enlightenment comes in many different forms and therefore, so does Apollo. One of these aspects is Helios-God of the Sun, obviously, an aspect of Apollo. Some might envision Helios as being "under" Apollo, but I believe that even though the myths indicate they are different, that Helios is in fact an aspect of Apollo. Walter Burkert, a renowned modern Hellenic scholar agrees with me. He suggests that Apollo and other Greek Gods, mainly Olympians, have aspects in lesser Greek Gods.
Another example is Athena. There is the Goddess Nike, to whom some say is an aspect of Athena. She is a winged Goddess of Victory, who may have at one time been thought of as a seperate Goddess, but later realized as an aspect of Athena.
I go one step further in the aspects of the Gods in that I believe that globally, the ancients realized relatively the same things about the universe and discovered the Gods as a result. That just because a God from a different culture isn't exactly like a Greek God, doesn't mean they couldn't be an aspect of that God. After all, Nike had wings, Athena did not, yet the realization of them as one Goddess remains.
I take aspecting a bit further than this. I see aspects of the Greek Gods, namely the Olympians and a few other chief gods in other cultures. I don't think that just becuase one lived in a different time and place that they are actually experiencing a different deity. I simply believe that culture dictates perception and therefore, deities seem different to our mind's eye. For example, Zeus is the King of Heaven in Greek Mythology, but if we look at other cultures, the Sun God is universal. Regardless of how they are seen, the understanding of the Sun God is actually the gnosis that the Sun is part of the larger design of the universe and is directed by divine power. What I interpret as Apollo, another will interpret as Horus, but there can be only one Sun Deity that exists. It wouldn't make sense to have two. As for secondary qualities, like prophecy and music, those can change, but the major qualities seem to reflect each other.
For example, the archetypes of Zeus and Odin are quite similar, not in their secondary qualities, but in their primary qualities and appearances. Both fought against chaos and were responsible for the universe having the order that it does. Both look quite similar even though their secondary qualities are not the same, they reflect each other.
Personal gnosis is waht makes the Gods apparent to us. We might not get everything right, but the similarities between pantheons is something that's always interested me. I believe that the Gods are universal and that we all recognize them in our own way.
It's well known that the Greek Gods had to them many aspects. For example, Apollo is the God of the Sun, Prophecy, Music, Poetry, Healing, etc. This is a hefty list which requires many "hats". Each one of these ideas requires a different "persona" within the same God. All of these things fall under one simple word of enlightenment, but enlightenment comes in many different forms and therefore, so does Apollo. One of these aspects is Helios-God of the Sun, obviously, an aspect of Apollo. Some might envision Helios as being "under" Apollo, but I believe that even though the myths indicate they are different, that Helios is in fact an aspect of Apollo. Walter Burkert, a renowned modern Hellenic scholar agrees with me. He suggests that Apollo and other Greek Gods, mainly Olympians, have aspects in lesser Greek Gods.
Another example is Athena. There is the Goddess Nike, to whom some say is an aspect of Athena. She is a winged Goddess of Victory, who may have at one time been thought of as a seperate Goddess, but later realized as an aspect of Athena.
I go one step further in the aspects of the Gods in that I believe that globally, the ancients realized relatively the same things about the universe and discovered the Gods as a result. That just because a God from a different culture isn't exactly like a Greek God, doesn't mean they couldn't be an aspect of that God. After all, Nike had wings, Athena did not, yet the realization of them as one Goddess remains.
I take aspecting a bit further than this. I see aspects of the Greek Gods, namely the Olympians and a few other chief gods in other cultures. I don't think that just becuase one lived in a different time and place that they are actually experiencing a different deity. I simply believe that culture dictates perception and therefore, deities seem different to our mind's eye. For example, Zeus is the King of Heaven in Greek Mythology, but if we look at other cultures, the Sun God is universal. Regardless of how they are seen, the understanding of the Sun God is actually the gnosis that the Sun is part of the larger design of the universe and is directed by divine power. What I interpret as Apollo, another will interpret as Horus, but there can be only one Sun Deity that exists. It wouldn't make sense to have two. As for secondary qualities, like prophecy and music, those can change, but the major qualities seem to reflect each other.
For example, the archetypes of Zeus and Odin are quite similar, not in their secondary qualities, but in their primary qualities and appearances. Both fought against chaos and were responsible for the universe having the order that it does. Both look quite similar even though their secondary qualities are not the same, they reflect each other.
Personal gnosis is waht makes the Gods apparent to us. We might not get everything right, but the similarities between pantheons is something that's always interested me. I believe that the Gods are universal and that we all recognize them in our own way.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
My New Spiritual Home
I've been Wiccan for about 10 years. Wicca has been the only Pagan spirituality that I have ever formally been a member of. Because of this, I've stayed very close to my roots and defended my path with great strides.
I still love Wicca, but I find that it's constructs, history and reputation differ now from what I think my spiritual path should be.
Recently, I had a series of experiences that have brought me ever so close to the Gods of Greece. The Olympians have proved themselves to me and in doing so have changed my world view on many different levels.
#1. I am no longer a Pantheist. I am a Panentheist. I believe that the Greek Gods are transcendant from this world and the realm of Mt Olympus (Heavenly Realm).
#2. In my own path, I honor the Greek Gods. I may have honored others before, Norse, Egytpian, etc. But now, the only Gods I honor will be the Greek. I still retain beliefs from other cultures, but Gods are exclusive to the Greek.
I will no longer call myself a Wiccan. I'm a Hellestic Witch. I still agree with some of the Wiccan beliefs, but not enough to call myself a Wiccan.
I still defend people's rights to mix pantheons if they choose. I don't think the Gods mind as long as they are given reverence.
Chris and I have decided to dedicate our altar to the Greek Gods and our well on our way to getting statues of all the Olympians. When we get them all, we'll film it and put it on YT.
Chris has a new blog, as his old blog was dedicated to Wicca. It's called the realm of magick. http://www.therealmofmagick.blogspot.com/
The more you comment, the more he'll post. Who knows. I might post on there as well.
Brightest Blessings everyone.
I still love Wicca, but I find that it's constructs, history and reputation differ now from what I think my spiritual path should be.
Recently, I had a series of experiences that have brought me ever so close to the Gods of Greece. The Olympians have proved themselves to me and in doing so have changed my world view on many different levels.
#1. I am no longer a Pantheist. I am a Panentheist. I believe that the Greek Gods are transcendant from this world and the realm of Mt Olympus (Heavenly Realm).
#2. In my own path, I honor the Greek Gods. I may have honored others before, Norse, Egytpian, etc. But now, the only Gods I honor will be the Greek. I still retain beliefs from other cultures, but Gods are exclusive to the Greek.
I will no longer call myself a Wiccan. I'm a Hellestic Witch. I still agree with some of the Wiccan beliefs, but not enough to call myself a Wiccan.
I still defend people's rights to mix pantheons if they choose. I don't think the Gods mind as long as they are given reverence.
Chris and I have decided to dedicate our altar to the Greek Gods and our well on our way to getting statues of all the Olympians. When we get them all, we'll film it and put it on YT.
Chris has a new blog, as his old blog was dedicated to Wicca. It's called the realm of magick. http://www.therealmofmagick.blogspot.com/
The more you comment, the more he'll post. Who knows. I might post on there as well.
Brightest Blessings everyone.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Building a Bridge from Both Sides
There is a problem here in this country especially. I don't see it from my European friends and it probably stems from the level of fundamentalism in religion over here compared to there. Many Wiccans and Pagans have horrible hatred for all Christians. I watched video after video saying things like "Fuck you! Christians" and "Christians hate us!" First of all, those statements are statements of high religious intolerance. No religious group on the face of the earth all believe the exact same way. If they do, they are a cult, not a religion. Religions have free-thinking people who tend to apply logic and personal experience to their beliefs, Christians included. A few points that I'd like to make on the subject.
1) You can't expect things to get better if you are making them worse.
I went through a phase where I did things especially to piss off the Christians. I'd even get angry if someone said "God Bless You," and hiss at people. I used to think I was being edgy or cool by hating Christians. I thought by doing that I was rebelling against the establishment and forging my own path not tainted by the mainstream opinion of how things were supposed to be.
Nearly a decade later, I realize how silly that is. When I did these things purposefully to piss off Christians, I was acting as a representative of my faith and in doing so damaged the reputation of not only me, but all Wiccans. We can't expect anyone, regardless of their religion to be as enlightened as us or hold the same opinions, but what we can do is be a good representative of our faith and show them that what they might have heard, is wrong.
What I realized is that some Christians have the capacity and understanding of normal humans. I was assuming all Christians were judgemental, exclusivist, "my way or the highway," Evangelical jackasses and would never see it my way. In reality, most Christians are spiritual people on their own road as well. They rarely agree with the entire Bible. They rarely try to convert you.
2) Stop the Divisiveness
We, as a minority faith community, tend to creep into our own little corner of the world and stay their with our "own kind." This does us no good. I've seen so called "Pagan Pride Day" celebrations being held in remote dark corners of towns or out in the suburbs simply to refrain from public attention.
One of the best rituals I ever attended was a ritual done by Brotherhood of the Pheonix and the Chicago Reclaiming for Earth Day 2007. Even though I was sick as a dog that day, I had a great and rewarding experience. We did this ritual on public land right on the shore of Lake Michigan on an unusually hot April Day in Chicago. There were hundreds of people on the beach, and a few onlookers to ritual. We did get a few people who shouted Bible verses or other hateful things, but the vast majority complimented us on how beautiful the ritual was and some even asked to join in. These are ordinary everyday people, many were obviously Christian, but regardless were so moved by the spirituality of it, saw a connection between us and them. They chose to break down that barrier.
Give yourself an opportunity to start a dialogue with someone. Perhaps you'll find you have more in common than you think. If you look around, you will find many interfaith opportunities. Seek them out. Be ready to discuss the finer points of your religion without defaming theirs. Be respectful to their point of view while intelligently presenting yours.
3) Act in accordance with your values
Don't be a bad Pagan. Live your values. Whatever those values might be. For Wiccans, we believe in a positive and non violent approach to living and believing. Make sure you are exhibiting that.
You can't expect others to get a good opinion of your faith if you always act like fools. Make sure you know what your values are and are doing something to make sure others do too.
4) Be spiritually and emotionally balanced.
Don't let your past emotions about Christianity or other religions color your judgment. When you have emotional problems or have had trauma caused to you by others, you must let that go. You must realize that there are bad people in the world, but you can not blame all Christians for your problems or past wounds.
There are bigots in every faith. Paganism is included in that. We can encounter Christian bigots who scream to us about Hell. But we also encounter Pagan bigots who would rather spit on a Christian then talk to them. Don't be bigot.
This is a bridge that needs to be built from both sides.
1) You can't expect things to get better if you are making them worse.
I went through a phase where I did things especially to piss off the Christians. I'd even get angry if someone said "God Bless You," and hiss at people. I used to think I was being edgy or cool by hating Christians. I thought by doing that I was rebelling against the establishment and forging my own path not tainted by the mainstream opinion of how things were supposed to be.
Nearly a decade later, I realize how silly that is. When I did these things purposefully to piss off Christians, I was acting as a representative of my faith and in doing so damaged the reputation of not only me, but all Wiccans. We can't expect anyone, regardless of their religion to be as enlightened as us or hold the same opinions, but what we can do is be a good representative of our faith and show them that what they might have heard, is wrong.
What I realized is that some Christians have the capacity and understanding of normal humans. I was assuming all Christians were judgemental, exclusivist, "my way or the highway," Evangelical jackasses and would never see it my way. In reality, most Christians are spiritual people on their own road as well. They rarely agree with the entire Bible. They rarely try to convert you.
2) Stop the Divisiveness
We, as a minority faith community, tend to creep into our own little corner of the world and stay their with our "own kind." This does us no good. I've seen so called "Pagan Pride Day" celebrations being held in remote dark corners of towns or out in the suburbs simply to refrain from public attention.
One of the best rituals I ever attended was a ritual done by Brotherhood of the Pheonix and the Chicago Reclaiming for Earth Day 2007. Even though I was sick as a dog that day, I had a great and rewarding experience. We did this ritual on public land right on the shore of Lake Michigan on an unusually hot April Day in Chicago. There were hundreds of people on the beach, and a few onlookers to ritual. We did get a few people who shouted Bible verses or other hateful things, but the vast majority complimented us on how beautiful the ritual was and some even asked to join in. These are ordinary everyday people, many were obviously Christian, but regardless were so moved by the spirituality of it, saw a connection between us and them. They chose to break down that barrier.
Give yourself an opportunity to start a dialogue with someone. Perhaps you'll find you have more in common than you think. If you look around, you will find many interfaith opportunities. Seek them out. Be ready to discuss the finer points of your religion without defaming theirs. Be respectful to their point of view while intelligently presenting yours.
3) Act in accordance with your values
Don't be a bad Pagan. Live your values. Whatever those values might be. For Wiccans, we believe in a positive and non violent approach to living and believing. Make sure you are exhibiting that.
You can't expect others to get a good opinion of your faith if you always act like fools. Make sure you know what your values are and are doing something to make sure others do too.
4) Be spiritually and emotionally balanced.
Don't let your past emotions about Christianity or other religions color your judgment. When you have emotional problems or have had trauma caused to you by others, you must let that go. You must realize that there are bad people in the world, but you can not blame all Christians for your problems or past wounds.
There are bigots in every faith. Paganism is included in that. We can encounter Christian bigots who scream to us about Hell. But we also encounter Pagan bigots who would rather spit on a Christian then talk to them. Don't be bigot.
This is a bridge that needs to be built from both sides.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
If you're that stupid, you deserve to be fooled
Perhaps people on YouTube are just looking to be led. Or perhaps they just like to be caught up in some trumped up drama. Frankly, if you're that stupid, you deserve to be fooled by people like the BlindDruid and Jack Winters. There is no flagging campaign. Yes, I will flag videos with my personal information in them. But I'm not going to, nor would I flag videos that had opposing viewpoints. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I've never, in my YT career, flagged someone because I disagreed with them. I've flagged for bullying and inappropriate content, but only if those videos actually break TOS.
Now if you have a video with my workplace in it, or some other piece of personal info I don't want broadcasted to the public. You better believe I'd flag it. And if you're not a moron, you would too.
Wake up people, you're being led by drama whores with nothing to really say about religion, so they have to trash those who do speak about religion.
If you believe the hype without asking me. You're a moron. Unsub from me PLEASE.
Now if you have a video with my workplace in it, or some other piece of personal info I don't want broadcasted to the public. You better believe I'd flag it. And if you're not a moron, you would too.
Wake up people, you're being led by drama whores with nothing to really say about religion, so they have to trash those who do speak about religion.
If you believe the hype without asking me. You're a moron. Unsub from me PLEASE.
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