Boy praying outside the destroyed palace, Haiti / Photo: United Nations

While most Americans strongly sympathized with the victims of the Haitian earthquake, and were quick to fundraise for humanitarian aid, a Christian evangelist by the name of Pat Robertson offered a different response. He inferred in the media that it was God’s retribution for a pact the Haitians made with the Devil in the nineteenth century.

Although this view might seem incredulous to most rational people, the use of natural disasters to convert or radicalize victims is not a new phenomenon.

‘Fire and brimstone’ was preached by Puritans in Britain before they carried it across the Atlantic to the New World.

In 2003, Islamic fundamentalist Abu Hamsa Al-Masri asserted that the Space Shuttle Columbia explosion was an act of God against the trinity of evil (Christians, Jews and Hindus) opposed to Islam. And purporting to speak for Judaism, the Rabbinical Alliance of America recently blamed natural disasters on the use of gays in the military.

Ironically, CNN reported that after the devastating earthquake Haiti, Christian belief strengthened or spread among the survivors.

Haitian service / Photo: United Nations

The strengthening of faith in the face of awful loss was no surprise to anyone who viewed the recent documentary Tsunami: Where Was God? Former Dominican friar Mark Dowd investigated how belief in a benevolent God can be reconciled with natural disaster as he visited areas hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004.

While Dowd expected that religious faith would have diminished in the areas, instead he found that even people who had lost all their family and belongings in the tsunami had more faith after the disaster. Here’s how each religion responded:

The Muslim Response in Banda Aceh

Banda Aceh bore the brunt of the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia. Fadil, who had lost his whole family to the tsunami, told Dowd that his faith was stronger now. Yusuf Al-Qardhawy, of the Islamic Defence Front, said it had been a warning from God, as there had been too much carefree living, (such as the wearing of loose clothing). Prof. Yusny Saby, an expert on Islamic Philosophy, said you cannot know God’s reasoning: it is a test, and if you pass you get closer to God.

Dowd did not think there was much difference between Saby and Al-Qardhawy: they both believe people have to earn their virtues rather than being born with them. Life is a test.

The Hindu Response in Tamil Nadu

15,000 people died off the coast of Tamil Nadu. Dowd interviewed Prof. G Bhaskaran, who told him that destruction was one of five qualities held by the Shiva deity, while its son, Ganesha, builds life. This meant that Hindus were spiritually prepared for the devastating tsunami. Ramayee, a local woman, believed the child she lost to the wave would be reborn, since all children are one anyway. She saw her son in other children she sees and believes God shows them to her for a reason.

On the question of karma, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, a member of the Art of Living Foundation, said there was positive and negative karma in everyone. Karma is not the same as fate, and you have freewill to turn your life around. He said that humanity cannot understand everything as we have limited intellect. When Dowd said he didn’t like the idea of children dying so others can show compassion, Shankar correlated the Islamic viewpoint when he said that “there can be no compassion without suffering.”

The Buddhist Response on the Thai Coast

Dowd travelled to Thailand next. 5000 people died when the tsunami crashed into the west coast. Dowd explained that Buddhism is derived from Hinduism, so karma was once again invoked. A Buddhist nun called Dhammananda explained that karma does not mean that a person who dies is reborn as that same person.

Rather, it is like a candle being lit by a flame from another candle: the original flame does not pass to the new candle; a new flame is lit. She also thought that fixed identity or the self is just a social construct or illusion; we are all part of an aggregate energy, and only those who discipline mind and spirit escape the cycle. When Dowd asked her “is there a God?”, she said it is not her main concern; she makes the best of her life whatever its reason.

The Christian Contribution from Kansas to the Vatican

While on the Thai coast, Dowd also arranged for Bjorn Muller, a Swede who lost family members to the tsunami in Thailand, to phone the Kansas Baptist Church, as they had blamed the disaster on ‘gay Swedes’. They defended and reiterated their position, citing a biblical passage, but when challenged to identify it they angrily hung up the phone.

Dowd travelled to the Vatican Observatory next for a more rational Christian perspective. Father Chris Corbally, Vice Director of the Vatican Observatory, asserted that God was still the best explanation for the universe, and that “creation reflects the creator.” When asked why the planet was not created perfectly, Prof. Nancey Murphy attested that if the Earth was smooth all over it would be marshland and only good for basic life.

The Atheist Perspective

Dowd spoke to Richard Dawkins for an atheist perspective. While Dawkins acknowledged there may be a creator, who set up the physics needed for evolution, he said that it’s ridiculous to claim that it intervenes to cause individual disasters such as the tsunami.

Conclusion

Haitian girl / Photo: United Nations

Dowd concluded the film by outlining the strand of opinion running through all the religions he’d investigated: that there was a need for suffering and tests so that people could show compassion and grow closer to God. This is similar pattern repeated after the Haiti earthquake.

If God is thought to have created our world then believers don’t seem to feel as if they can blame it for their losses. Rather, that same God offers hope for those who died and the survivors. As the alternative is a belief in nothing, and total loss, it is not a surprising position. This is similar to the ancient worship of pagan deities, where anything from bad harvests to natural disasters were blamed on angry gods.

If the Haiti earthquake had hit the USA, Pat Robertson would likely have adapted his blame to those Americans with irreligious behaviour he does not agree with. Abu Hamsa Al-Masri would also have seen it as the intervention of his God, and probably blamed it on American foreign policy.

The truth is that disasters can be harnessed for hope or blame. The interpretation depends largely on the individual, and if they’re free to make their own decision, or told by various religious leaders how they should feel about ‘God’s judgment’.

What do you think about disasters and faith? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Photo: Tony the Misfit

Buddhism certainly has caught fire in the West over the last couple of decades. As we face ever greater threats to our humanity, Buddhism has become, in some ways, the “go-to” religion for those searching outside the Christian values set forth in western society.

Mark Vernon, in the Guardian’s “Comment is Free” section, recently wrote about his week spent at a Buddhist meditation retreat in the UK. He outlined the process – very similar to ones I’ve experienced here in the US – of silence, sitting, walking, and eating meditations, and also work meditation. Teachers are on hand to begin and end sessions, act as helpful guides, and to intervene if a student is having issues.

Vernon espouses the importance of meditation – central to Buddhism, as most people know – for gaining insight into the idea that life is suffering, and the way to be delivered from that suffering is to accept this “noble truth” and release attachment. He grasps the importance of deepening insight in order to heal ourselves, but then he wonders about the bigger picture of possibly becoming self-absorbed:

Meditation-as-therapy flirts with narcissism when it is devoted to observing yourself, for that can lead to self-absorption and self-obsession. It’s a danger inherent in any community devoted to a particular task, though perhaps more so in one that lacks a reference point beyond the individuals taking part.

Is that what insight religions like Buddhism do? Make us more self-centered?

Is Christianity More Enlightened?

On the other hand, Vernon notes, Christianity – in theory – is about something outside of ourselves, namely God. Christians are in “service to something greater” than themselves – at minimum going and donating to the church, and at maximum living a life in service to God and others. He continues:

But I did wonder whether a God-centred spiritual practice might offer a better way to get over yourself, and in turn offer a more satisfying “therapy”.

I can see a bit of the logic from an “on paper” point-of-view, but what immediately struck me when I read about being in service to God, is that many people do this in order to get to heaven. I’m not talking about nuns or priests, or even extremely devout Christians.

But I am talking about a normal human being who follows certain rules of the religion for the purpose of, and fears around, their own salvation, and not simply because of their love of God in and of itself.

Self-Inquiry Vs. Narcissism

Besides this possibility, I also see this perspective as not seeing the whole picture. As many people who take the time to explore themselves and the “whys” of what they do often say, each of us must understand, love, and feel compassion for what is inside before we can ever truly be of service to others.

And this exploration leads to a balance or contentment that sends out a ripple effect on the world, namely through lacking the anger that so many people carry in our extremely stressed out world.

I’m not trying to say that Christianity, or any other religion, cannot lead to the same insights. In fact, meditation has become (and really, always has been) a large part of several Christian sects. But to me, Buddhism teaches an “all-one” belief system that inherently requires being of service to others, but understanding that you must continue to be in service to the self at the same time.

There is no doubt in my mind that as with all things, extreme narcissism is an option – initially. But if a person really puts time into the process, they won’t end up that way. And in a world where we need each other more and more every single day, giving yourself love is an absolute necessity.

I want to leave you with a video created in celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which was yesterday here in the states. I think these quotes describe a beautiful balance between love of self and love of others, and really, how they are no different:

Do you think spending too much time looking inside makes a person self-centered? Share your thoughts below.

Community Connection

Need more great reminders of the power of MLK’s legacy? Then check out Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. Plus, stay updated with the latest stories and movements in Haiti at Matador Change.

Photo: Eddi 07(OFF)

During a recent three-way conversation with a “spiritually-open” man, whose faith was based at least in part on Christianity, the other man joked, “Yeah, you’re only allowed to kill people when they don’t agree with you, huh”? The spiritual man replied, “Nope, that’s Muslims.”

With that comment, and this time of the year, it seems appropriate to look the peaceful and open ways of different religions and spiritual belief systems. Especially considering we often only hear about the bad, or sad, stories about religion. Islam, which consistently takes a beating by our media, may have roots that surprise you. Check out Muslim Dialogue:

According to a tradition of the Prophet, ‘Peace is Islam’ (Al-Bukhari). This means that peace is one of the prerequisites of Islam. Similarly, a Hadith states: A Muslim is one from whose tongue and hands people are safe. One of the attributes of God described in the Quran is ‘As-Salam’, which means peace and security.’

This is a nice reminder that no religion is the problem – it’s human beings who twist a message and create havoc from it, whether Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, Taoist, or anything else.

Think only one faith can exist within a close-knit community? It is possible for a family to have multiple religious beliefs and not want to convert (or kill) each other, as a recent piece in the Rapid City Journal shows.

Talk about multicultural, this family has a Unitarian Mom, a Tibetan Buddhist Dad, a son who is “reading his way through the Bible,” and two other sons, one who is agnostic and the other who is an atheist. Mom Mahala Bach, who is on the Black Hills Unitarian Universalist Fellowship’s board, has this to say about the openness of religion in her family:

I believe in a creator, but I don’t put a name to it. I don’t call it God or Goddess or Yahweh or Jehovah or Creator…for us, expressing spirituality is about relieving suffering right here in our own community.

Shadow of Light

Slowly, quietly, and positively wickedly, love is beginning to overshadow all else, including religious and spiritual differences. The LOVEolution thinks there’s a spiritual conspiracy going on:

On the surface of the world right now there is war and violence and things seem dark. But calmly and quietly, at the same time, something else is happening underground. An inner revolution is taking place and certain individuals are being called to a higher light. It is a silent revolution. From the inside out. From the ground up. This is a Global operation.

No matter the religion or spiritual affiliation you subscribe to (and hey, this goes for travel too), this global operation seems to be touching many of us. Why is that? The threat of 2012 looming? Economic losses? It is interesting that so many people seem to be changing, affected by a deep desire of wanting something more real, less defined – a revival of the spirit, if you will.

I like Spring Break Time’s thoughts on the subject:

Within the core of our being, there is a wild mustang, a free spirit wanting to desperately break free from the mental fences we’ve built around ourselves; it’s in a way, the safety net that our mind has created for us to shelter us from harmful situations. However, that wild mustang, free spirit is your authentic self; and whether you choose to follow it or not, your authentic self wants to be released from your mental and emotional grips…and it will work fervently towards that end whether you want it to or not.

As we look ahead to 2010 and the necessity of tackling some of the largest problems the human race has ever faced, authentically living out our soul’s purpose is a necessary part of the equation – no matter what religious beliefs each of us have.

Do you have some positive religious experiences that defies how the media normally portrays a certain religion? Share your stories below.

Photo: jonfeinstein

Ah, yes, it’s that time of the year, where we begin to look back over 2009, with all of its oddities and mishaps. Oh yeah, and good things, too.

I was inspired to write about some of those good (and bad) things at my website in a piece called 2009 Pondering Ritual: The Ups, the Downs, the Secret Travel Spots, based on Superhero Journal’s completion ritual for the year.

But these end of the year roundups are really more than just about us, right? They are also about all the crazy people out there (sans Michael Jackson and Tiger Woods, I’m keeping my fingers crossed).

Which made me happy to come across the Top Ten Weird and Wacky Travel Stories of 2009 over at the Vacation Gals site. Whew, I’m not the only one that tends toward the crazy – apparently, there are a whole lot of you out there that are following Danny Devito’s “troll feet” around the world. Ahem.

Even more importantly (in my mind anyway), what are some of the weird and wacky spiritual stories we’ve come across this year? We’ve covered more than our fair share here at BNT, but I thought I’d take this opportunity to highlight some of the wackiest ones.

Here they are, in no particular order:

Wrong Mind. Who in their right mind would decide to walk across China? And better yet, document the growth of his beard in the process? Survey says: this guy.

Virginity for sale? Apparently, we are still living in whatever dark ages this was appropriate for survival purposes (as well as was pretending to be a man). Only now, it happens to pay for school, and then the German government goes and takes half your earnings in taxes. How dare they.

Um, what? / Photo: Jeremy 白杰瑞

Signs, signs, everywhere signs. Yep, it seems that every time an atheist’s gun rings, a Christian gets his wings (via being shot and going straight to heaven). The moral of the story is believe in God. Thanks, Answers in Genesis.

By the same token, don’t forget the ever-increasing shock value inserted into PSAs.

Man, this place is crazy! A post over at Planet D prompted me to relive my most surreal travel experience, which involved snow followed by palm trees and 100 degree heat, all in the middle of the desert and within a 16-hour period. Good times. What’s yours?

Holy drunkenness. Looks like you can be a spiritual being while still getting your drink-on (thank God!). Oh, according to an article by Ted Rose of the Shambhala Mountain Center, you have to be mindful about it. I get it. Worth contemplating if the same is true for mushrooms.

Taking Over the World. Maybe this one should fall under the “scary” more than “wacky” category, but nonetheless, it fits the description of kinda insane. Baxter Jackson recounts how he almost became a religious hitman by way of obtaining a Masters in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. The Christian Coalition would be proud.

Say What? Alright, this isn’t a BNT one, and the only spiritual part is its melodious goodness, but this video has become one of my favorites mind-benders since I watched it…er, five minutes ago. Thing is, you have to be a native English speaker to fully enjoy it. Wait, I take that back – non-native speakers will probably cheer louder for its dead-on impersonation of what an English speaker sounds like when you don’t know the language.

What are some of your favorite wacky spiritual stories from the year? Share your stories below!

Here’s a little video making its way around the internet that proves once again, we are a much more sexually inhibited society than our predecessors:

If you are having trouble viewing the video, it can be found at Reuters.

The museum’s director notes that on rooftops of houses and public paintings at the time – 700 BC to 400 AD – these types of sexual scenes were displayed for all to see, including “children, adolescents, men, women, everybody.”

Reuter’s reporter Paul Chapman adds that these ancient cultures viewed “nature, ideas, and actions all in balance.” Or is that just what we’d like to believe?

Christianity Made Sex Evil?

Over at the Huffington Post, most commenters agree that this video is “not news” if you know anything about ancient Greek and Roman cultures, or have stepped foot in Europe. They’ve got these naughty artifacts hanging around everywhere.

But some interesting thoughts were brought up around the rise of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, whose belief systems are arguably the reason for turning the clock back on accepting open sexual behavior. As futate01 notes:

Sexuality became evil when Semitic religions spread around the world. Before Judaism, Christianity, and Islam most world cultures had healthy attitudes about sex. It was viewed as a method of the creation of life and a gift from God to be honored and appreciated.

Insidious takes it further, saying, “Prudish is too nice of a word to describe the “demonization” of female sexuality from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.” HystericHistoria adds, “Not only female sexuality, but all sexuality. Yes, generally men in Western culture…have been…all­owed more freedom than women since the inception of the Judo-Christian religions began, but even then it is nowhere near as ‘free’ as what the ancients experienced. Homosexuality, for instance.”

Insidious’ final take:

I agree with you…but it’s not just Western culture…­in our global world, controlling female sexuality has been tantamount in oppressing all female behavior: From wearing the Burqa or highheels to Female Genital Mutilation to pornography as the new “erotica”. I think that the war against male homosexuality is an extension of the control over anything not “male” and is a form of misogyny. Just like there is no gray area for women’s sexuality, there can be no gray area for male sexuality.­..this is the case that Judaism, Christianity, and Islam purport.

Not the Whole Story

Photo: John Griffiths

Although these artifacts are obviously graphic, some commenters argue that they were simply on the “fringe” of society, and that the women depicted were prostitutes, much like our “billion-dollar porn industry.”

In other words, we can’t use these symbols to classify cultures that pre-date Christianity, Judaism, or Islam as completely open sexual societies (who didn’t oppress people) in the same way that strip clubs and bathhouses fail to prove that “deviant” sexual behavior is accepted in ours.

If people thousands of years from now can only get their hands on some copies of Hustler and a vibrating contraption, will they assume our society had extremely open views about sex?

Javida adds, “Normally, most faiths encourage the sharing of sexuality between married people. That is, not acting promiscuously or adulterously. But keeping sex inside marriage does not detract from it’s expression” (ahem, that is if you are allowed to be married, or not forced to be married, of course).

No matter what side you fall on, gotta love a guy with a very proper British accent saying, “the Greeks were always game and the Romans were permanently raunchy.”

Do you think current Western religions demonized sex, or are we just rewriting history? Share your thoughts below.

Ascension / Photo: Joanna Vaughan

The whole of history of philosophy, religion, science, mathematics, has the same root, the same mind – the same itch. You may scratch yourself one way, somebody else may do it differently, but the itch has to be understood. The itch is the belief that existence is not a mystery. – Osho

BNT editor Ian MacKenzie offered me this quote recently, and ever since I heard it, the words have been marinating in my mind.

At first, it seemed to me that Osho was dismissing all endeavors of discovery as pointless, saying that no matter what we do we will never understand life. Ian explained it in a different way: that while we can know some things, many of the pursuits in life are simply a means to wash our minds from the uncertainty that comes with not knowing or understanding something.

Since the conversation was concerning faith, I naturally tried to understand the quote in light of my Christian perspective. What if Christianity (or every other faith) is, more than anything, a search for comfort? A search for a sense of assuredness. Something to hold on to.

Some people would even go so far as to say it’s a crutch.

There are many that take their “faith” at face value without exploring the deeper contexts, and ignoring the hard questions. However, the more I thought about it, the more I became convinced that this isn’t entirely true for the Christian faith.

A Question Of Doubt

Photo: SMN

While faith assures us of many things, it also opens up a whole new world of questions, uncertainty, and doubt. Having faith requires a level of comfort with being uncomfortable. It requires knowing that you don’t know everything.

From what is typically seen in today’s world, this may seem counter-intuitive. There are many people who seem remarkably comfortable in their faith. In fact, they are so confident, they feel compelled to tell you and everyone else how right they are.

They’re the ones that end any actual topic of spiritual conversation by becoming angry and asserting their argument with, “Well, God told me so, so I’m right.” How do you argue with that?

Donald Miller has a great quote about humility and faith in “Searching for God Knows What”:

If you ask me, the way to tell if a person knows God for real, I mean knows the real God, is that they will fear Him. They wouldn’t go around making absurd political assertions and drop God’s name like an ace card, and they wouldn’t’ be making absurd statements about how God wants you to be rich and how if you send in some money to the ministry God will bless you.

It seems if your really knew the God who understand the physics of our existence, you would operate a little more cautiously, a little more compassionately, a little less like you are the center of the universe.

Too many times people use religion to justify themselves in areas of doubt. Instead of admitting they don’t know all the answers they put up a facade, and refuse to be honest with themselves and others.

The Mystery of Faith

I’ll be honest. When I read the Bible I don’t understand everything in it all the time. There are some confusing parts:

Photo: radiant guy

• The concept of a trinity
• An omniscient, omnipotent, and ever-existent being
• The coexistence of a perfectly loving God with the reality of so much evil in the world.

There are areas that are simply hard for me to wrap my mind around. You know what? That’s okay. The Bible actually states that we “cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.”

That’s not to say I think God is completely mysterious and there’s no way we can ever know anything about Him. I do believe there are some characteristics of God that we can know through his revelation in the Bible and his creation.

I’ve become aware that honestly I don’t know some things and I’m okay with not knowing some things. I’m simply coming to terms with some of my human limitations.

How does a finite mind comprehend something infinite? I have problems comprehending numbers when they get too big. If I can’t understand the concept of 1 trillion (12 zeros by the way), how am I supposed to understand how big “infinite” is?

Perhaps an even bigger question: if we COULD know everything about God and completely understand all of his facets, WOULD that God even be one worthy of worship?

The Unpredictable Is Divine

Part of faith is learning to be comfortable with the uncertainty that comes with life. If life were predictable, it wouldn’t just be boring, but pointless.

The Divine as seen in nature / Photo: moonjazz

There would be no surprises and nobody would ever pick a bad stock on Wall Street. In John Ortberg book “Faith & Doubt,” he recalls a musician friend telling him “If I refuse to sing a word or play a note until I’m certain of perfection, there will never be music.”

The same is true in faith. If you wait until you know everything about life and spirituality, you miss out on the great journey that faith is. It’s dirty and messy. You fall down. You screw up. But you learn. That’s part of faith. That’s part of life. It’s a discovery.

The truth is that I can make a very good case why I believe there is a God. I’m not sure I can logically prove Him beyond a shadow of a doubt, and sometimes I’m not even sure he’s there, but that’s where faith comes in.

In our Age of Reason, this isn’t a popular stance. Everything has to be testable. Everything has to have a concrete, logical reason or some sort of rationale behind it. I’m not against reason, I just wonder sometimes if we’ve fallen in love with the concept of reason and logic.

We judge so much by reason even though we’re not completely rational beings. Most of the decisions we make are not rational. We’re emotional human beings, not simply logic machines.

As Osho says, life is incredibly mysterious. God and faith are infinitely more complex than we can comprehend, and to think that we can understand the universe, its complexity and meaning in its entirety seems arrogant at best.

Like most things in life, it comes down to balance. Some things in life can be explained. Others can’t. The secret is learning to be at ease with that which can’t be known while simultaneously searching for an understanding of what can be.

What do you think about faith versus reason? Share your thoughts below.

Photo: Hammer51012

Sure, a lot of you know that on Thursday, most Americans will be celebrating the somewhat historically-sketchy holiday of Thanksgiving.

Although I don’t necessarily agree with the basis of the holiday, it is one of my favorites.

I appreciate the fact that it is the one time of the year we set aside to give thanks for all the little things in our lives (don’t forget, the Canadians have their own Thanksgiving, represented very lovingly in this video with Ellen Page and Justin Long). Gratitude is best served daily, but even once a year can help to see life in a different light.

But, as I was reading yesterday, Thanksgiving is only one of many spiritually-influenced holidays happening throughout the world in this jam-packed week of celebrations.

Tomorrow, Sikh’s commemorate the martyrdom of their ninth Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur. He refused to denounce Sikhism and accept Islam when faced with death by the hands of Delhi’s Emperor Aurangzeb in the late 17th century. In memory of his resistance, Sikhs visit the Sis Ganj Gurudwara located in Old Delhi, the place where he was beheaded.

On Wednesday, Bahá’ís honor the Covenant of Baha’u'llah. This covenant outlines how to organize communities of believers. Specifically, according to the Bahá’í Faith website, the Covenant is both “a renewal of the promise of divine guidance and a system that ensures its continuance…[it] can be understood to be synonymous with the line of succession after Bahá’u’lláh.” Also celebrated on this day is the life of the founder’s son, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

Making the Trek

Photo: omar_chatriwala

Millions of Muslims are heading to Mecca to complete Hajj (though thousands of both young and old Muslims were told to stay home due to threats around, you guessed it – swine flu).

Then on Thursday at sundown, they will celebrate the “Festival of Sacrifice,” when Abraham (Ibrahim) was told by God to sacrifice his son. He agreed to, and a voice from heaven said he could sacrifice a ram instead (I’m not sure how my alma mater would feel about that).

Saturday is a time of reflection and prayer for those of the Jains faith. According to Stephanie Fenton’s article:

Jains will meditate on the thoughts of monks, teachers, religious leaders, Arihants (enlightened masters) and Siddhas (liberated souls).

Maybe Friday would be a good day for Americans of all faiths to meditate, instead of partaking in the slightly sadomasochistic ritual of Black Friday. But what do I know?

Finally, Sunday marks the beginning of advent for Christians. Besides being allowed to eat a piece of chocolate at 7am since it comes from an advent calendar (best childhood memories ever), this process follows the four weeks leading up to the birth of me…er, I mean, Christ.

Yeah, it ain’t that great – combo presents my entire life. Oh, sorry, you were more interested in it soon being Jesus’ birthday?

Did I miss any religious or spiritual celebrations this week? Add them, or any thoughts you have, below.

Community Connection

Need a place to get a Thanksgiving dinner outside the US? Then check out 7 Restaurants Outside of The USA Serving Thanksgiving Dinner. Or if you just want to experience the feel of a traditional Turkey Day in America, read Notes of Thanksgiving in New Jersey.

Apollo Belvedere / Photo: alun salt

“If life is a journey, then philosophy is like a compass. It helps us to find our way through the jungle of possibilities that life presents.”

With these words, Thomas Knierim articulates his reason for creating The Big View, a website with the goal of “rendering a bird’s eye perspective on various philosophical topics, hence, the name.” Topics as diverse as Space Time, Buddhism, and Greek Philosophy are all presented clearly…and more importantly, concisely.

I caught up with Thomas to discuss the site, the importance of cutting through noise on the web, and the growing realization that everything is connected.

The Interview

BNT: How has philosophy acted as a compass in your life?

THOMAS: I mentioned this because some people believe that philosophy is a boring academic pursuit or perhaps just mind acrobatics. This is a misconception. Philosophy deals with the big questions in life and these questions affect everyone. Philosophy informs us about our limitations and our possibilities.

Thomas Knierim, The Big View

In my case, it has provided me with insight into human nature and with good advice about which goals in life are worthy following. Most people seek happiness in external things, such as wealth, love affairs, lifestyle, adventures, etc., and they put an enormous amount of energy into these pursuits.

True happiness, however, is a state of mind, and as such it does not depend on external conditions. This sounds like a cliché, but it’s true.

Philosophy directs attention away from the external world to the inner world. It directs the attention towards the development of self-knowledge and perfection of mental qualities… which are difficult but worthy goals.

You currently live in Chiang Mai, Thailand. What effect has traveling and living in Southeast Asia had on your own Western worldview? On the other hand, what do you see are the pitfalls of only relying on Eastern ideas?

I am living in Thailand for 16 years, so the Buddhist worldview has shaped my own worldview. If you live in Thailand you are sort of forced to learn Buddhism, because you cannot really understand the Thai culture without understanding Buddhism.

There is also a notable Chinese influence, especially in Bangkok, where I lived before. To experience Asian culture first-hand is quite educating, as it sets things into perspective. Things that I once considered universally valid turned out to be just culturally conditioned. I found Eastern philosophies, especially Buddhism and Taoism, very deep and enriching.

The major trap, on the other hand, is to see Eastern ideas as silver bullets, or magical solutions. Westerners tend to either ignore Eastern ideas altogether or develop disproportionate reverence for them. I think it is always a bad idea to forgo critical analysis.

You also say “Most people with Internet access are familiar with the problem of information overload.” How does information overload affect a person’s ability to discern quality ideas and philosophical teachings from the noise?

The major challenge is probably not to get carried away. There is such an enormous amount of information out there and it is so easy to get lost. This is facilitated by the interactive nature of the Internet and its associativity brought about by the hyperlink.

It’s eerily similar to the way the human mind works. Just as you can get lost in a train of thought, you can get lost surfing web pages. I have observed this process in myself.

For example, when I start looking for a specific piece of information, I inevitably come across some link that sounds interesting. If I decide to follow that link and to dig deeper, I might end up watching a video or reading a page that has little or nothing to do with the initial quest.

Another problem is the sheer amount of information that is available on each topic, which forces us to learn how to select information by specificity, presentation and scope.

How did you decide what philosophies (and philosophers) to include on your site?

I simply chose the topics and philosophers that interested me. Some of the material about Greek philosophy goes back to the pre-Internet Bulletin-board era when I had more or less scholarly (probably less!) discussions with other people interested in ancient philosophy.

Buddha / Photo: dnc

In the physics section, I tried to put well-known science topics into a less rigid philosophical perspective. In the Buddhism section, I tried to create a straightforward introduction that is intelligible to Westerners without any background in Eastern thought.

I had studied Buddhism a few years earlier from a number of books that used complicated language and unfamiliar Pali and Sanskrit terms, so I wanted to avoid that as far as possible. In future, I’d like to add new section about formal logic, Indian philosophy and evolution theory, but unfortunately at this point I don’t have much free time.

I have to ask, since I’m sure it’s a question that has plagued many philosophy archives. In your opinion, why aren’t women philosophers better represented throughout history?

It is not all that surprising, because you could likewise ask why aren’t female politicians, artists, doctors or female scientists better represented throughout history, and the answer is the same.

Throughout the last few thousand years, the patriarchy has dominated human societies. Not every society was patriarchal of course, but the one that led up to present-day Western culture certainly was a patriarchy and a quite rigid one at that.

Women were simply not considered fit to exercise the named professions; they were given little opportunity, little attention, and little credit. They were rarely able to gain public recognition. You only need to look back 100 years in European history to recognize the grip of the patriarchy.

So the grounds for female artists, scientists, philosophers, etc. have been infertile for a really long time. Fortunately, this has changed.

“Everything is connected.” This theme applies to many great philosophies throughout history. Yet it also seems to be the unifying idea of our time: from string theory, to weather patterns, to foreign policy decisions. Do you think humans will fully understand and here’s the key apply this idea in our lifetime?

Yes, I think that people will at least develop an intuitive understanding of interconnectedness. Things have changed, especially due to advancing technology and globalization.

My kids are growing up in a world that is different from the world I grew up in. Today, there is the Internet, there is a global market, and there is an emerging global culture.

My kids are learning three native languages as they’re growing up. They are at home in Asia as well as in Europe. They eat Thai food, Japanese food, German food, whatever. Intuitively, they understand that they are connected to different cultures.

For them, interconnectedness and global thinking will be quite natural.

For more, visit The Big View.

What do you think the importance of “the big view”? Share your thoughts in the comments!

God is a popular topic these days. Most people seem to have an opinion on a) what God is, and b) who’s side he (or she) is on.

And thus arises the problem: how can God be on more than one team at the same time? If humans are the sort of species that don’t mind a few glaring illogical realities, than we’d probably get along just fine. Unfortunately, as most of us know, humans aren’t that sort of species.

Instead, it appears ever since the idea of God took hold, we’ve decided to fight about it. The only thing that’s changed is the size of our weapons and the stakes of the conflict.

Luckily, filmmaker Peter Rodger decided it’s time once and for all to explore how God is perceived around the world. The film, premiering this Friday in the US, is Oh My God.

Watch the trailer:

Suitably intrigued, I decided to interview Peter about the film, and his epic experience shooting around the world.

The Interview

BNT: What initially compelled you to start this film?

PETER RODGER: Frustration. I was amazed in a shrinking world of enhanced communication, mankind can be so seemingly narrow minded. There seems to be such a childish schoolyard mentality that permeates our world – I call it the “My God Is greater than your God syndrome.”

Where you have grown men flying airplanes into buildings shouting “God is Great”; where you have the leader of the free world telling the BBC in 2003 that he invaded Iraq because God told him to; where you have the constitution of a country (Iran) that dictates that its supreme leader is God’s representative on earth; where you have young men and women blowing themselves up (and innocent others) to buy a place into heaven.

None of these concepts made any sense to me, so I thought it was about time someone went around the world and asked people what this entity that goes by the name of God means to them.

Did you have any expectations on the journey and what you would learn?

No. I just knew I was going along for an interesting ride. I wanted to rid myself of expectation and see what the experience would throw at me. I had no idea what I would learn when I set out. I was far too concerned about how to make a film out of such a wide, sensitive and seemingly unanswerable question!

Your film features some stunning cinematography and editing – at times resembling a music video. How important was this aesthetic to the content and message of your film?

Filmmaker Peter Rodger

Extremely important. Another reason I had for making the film was to be able to go shoot without clients around my head – make a film where I wanted to point the camera and not because someone was paying me to point the camera. (I’ve directed many commercials!)

The aesthetic became extremely important. There is also a sub plot going on in the film. I wanted to shoot the earth with as much artistic integrity as possible – to wrap the audience in the amazingly diverse beauty that surrounds us – in the guise of a bucolic landscape or the look in a child’s eye.

To use a biblical phrase, the earth became the garden of Eden for me. If you want to explore the entity of God – then open your eyes, grab a camera and shoot it. Music played an enormous part in the process. Film is sound and vision. I would cut sequences with John Hoyt, my editor and then Alex Bubenheim would score to it – but in two instances in the film – we switched.

Alex had come with me on to Australia and Japan and had recorded all sorts of music/vibes/sounds etc that he incorporated into a track – so we cut to the track instead of vice versa – which gives you – as you said – a music video vibe in places. It’s a film full of amazing words and information – throwing 2 sequences into the mix like this has the effect of pulling you back and keeping a pace at the same time.

What were the challenges of travelling with a small crew? What are the advantages?

The challenges were a bad back and having to do EVERYTHING split between myself and my one crew member – Line Producer Patrick Ellis. But it is amazing what training does for you.

Masaii Tribesman

I learnt to put things back! Instead of just leaving a lens cap, or a filter somewhere for some assistant to deal with – I actually PUT IT AWAY! Amazing. It soon became that I could prepare the camera and prep to shoot in complete darkness without thinking, – just by knowing exactly where everything was.

The advantages for the film were amazing. We shot under the radar – no one would know we were making a theatrical movie. We slipped in and out of places, unseen, as tourists or NGO workers or whatever.

Once we walked into the Palestinian Parliamentary building one Thursday afternoon unannounced in Ramalah and got amazing stuff and a great interview with a Hamas leader. If we had a full crew – with assistants and production coordinators, translators and egos – we would have been arrested and locked up – especially as we didn’t have a permit.

In your opinion, why do people all over the world have a need to believe in God?

Because they don’t have the courage to believe in themselves. They have been conditioned to believe in something greater than the sum of all their parts. They are scared of death, and don’t know where they came from.

We are all just primitive little organisms on a big rock in a scary vacuum desperate to have something to hold onto. God, usually in the image of something, and mostly in the image of man, becomes a comfy thing to hold onto. The trouble starts when people hold on so hard they push other human beings away.

What Mankind has to learn is that there is room for us all.

Who were the people you met that appeared the most profoundly at peace? How did their understanding of God (or the divine) contribute towards their peace?

Zen Master Kanju Tanaka from Kyoto Japan. He was wonderful and made so much sense. Being a Zen master he rejects the concept of God. He believes that we are already in paradise – we are already here and conscious now because we have earned our place in paradise – here – already.

For some, life on earth is hell. It is up to the individual to have peace and realize that problems are self created and then even in the most dire situations with the right outlook and in-look we can learn to make our hell – heaven. That concept is very powerful.

At one point in the film, you make that connection that conflict is usually caused by two things: land and religion. I would argue even further – conflict at its core is never about religion. It’s about human insecurities cloaking themselves under religious guise. Do you feel in some ways the search to unite us in the common thread of belief detracts from the social and economic reasons behind world conflicts?

All wars are about money/land and most use religion as the excuse. Throw in emotion and you have a lethal cocktail. Good news is no news.

We are all guilty – filmmakers, journalists, readers and watchers – of that one. Nobody talks about the great charitable work each religious institution executes. They just talk about the guy that blew himself up, and the blood and turmoil he caused. No one mentions institutions like Rabbis and Imams for Peace – they just talk about katyusha rockets and walls.

When it comes to conflict it’s about the club in which people belong – that maim those that don’t belong. So the answer to your question is yes.

Who was the most surprising interview you conducted?

Christian Hernandez, the little boy with cancer. (I am very happy to say he went through a bone marrow transplant and is doing REALLY WELL and he came to a screening last week.) I asked him – “What is your greatest wish today?” His answer blew me away – but you have to go see the film to find out why!

By the end of the film, how did your perception of God change? And what was the most important insight you learned about yourself?

Oh boy! My perception of God melted from any human form into a much more powerful force – a glue if you like – that binds humanity together.

I think Jesus Christ was bang on when he said he was the son of God because I think we’re all the son of God. We are all right now collectively what a lot of people would refer to as God – the Anima Mundi – the reservoir of every thought that has ever taken place in the history of time.

And what was the most important insight I learned about myself? To learn to let go.

Oh My God opens this week. Check the website for showtimes.

What do you think about the diversity of God? Is it a concept humanity needs to let go? Or does it serve a binding purpose?

Photo: takomabibelot

So what if Michael Jackson has made over $72 million since his death? Turns out even if you’re a saint, sometimes it pays more to be dead than alive (along with the possibility of even being called a saint).

AOL’s Daily Finance decided to take a look into the top-earning saints of all time.

Not surprisingly, Jesus’ mom ranks number one. The Virgin Mary’s got all those medals, statues, and candles going for her. Plus, think about all the many pilgrimages to places that are often far from home, including “Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugorje, and Guadalupe.”

But, lest we forget, the movie industry does enjoy its saints just as much as the next good Catholic, so when it comes to film, Joan of Arc rocks the big screen money. She’s been the subject of over 16 movies, plus, lest we forget, that TV show with Amber Tamblyn.

Also in the mix are St. Christopher, best known for safe travel (who apparently is also invoked by “bachelors, teamsters, epileptics, gardeners, porters, sailors, and toothache sufferers”), and someone you may have heard of even if you’re not Christian: St. Nick. A bit of sketchiness surrounds the history of the fat, jolly man, though; was he truly based on St. Nicholas of Myrna, Norse God Odin, or the Slavic “dark” and “light” Gods of Czernobog and Byelobog?

Either way, ‘ole St. Nick is making a killing. Or, at least all of the people selling toys in his name are.

The Mother of all Teresas

Which made me wonder about more recent saints, ones who have lived in our lifetime. First person that pops to mind (well, mine at least) is Mother Teresa. I wondered if she actually made any money in her life, and assumed she has made a lot more since her death.

Photo: runran

So I was a bit taken aback at this piece by Michael Parenti. In it, he claims that Mother Teresa received:

…Vast sums from wealthy and sometimes tainted sources, including a million dollars from convicted savings & loan swindler Charles Keating, on whose behalf she sent a personal plea for clemency to the presiding judge…she also accepted substantial sums given by the brutal Duvalier dictatorship that regularly stole from the Haitian public treasury.

Parenti continues, saying her hospitals were often nothing more than “human warehouses,” while she personally enjoyed state-of-the-art treatment when sick. He also contends that she fudged numbers of how many poor her services fed, and that during floods and cholera epidemics, her outfit was often nowhere to be found.

Possibly most damning were diaries found several years after her death and fast-track canonization (there is usually a five-year waiting period before investigations into sainthood can begin). Published as Il Segreto di Madre Teresa (Mother Teresa’s Secret), Teresa said:

In my own soul, I feel the terrible pain of this loss. I feel that God does not want me, that God is not God and that he does not really exist.

I’m not sure that this quote in any way suggests or proves she was a money-grubber; instead, it seems that she was human, and had doubts, just like the rest of us. Yet, it still makes you wonder if being an ultimate giver in the time of Hollywood riches and people desperate for a “perfect” savior is a bit impossible. Look, we’ve even turned all those dead saints into huge profits.

Or maybe, it was never possible to be a “true” saint in the first place.

What do you think of our beliefs about sainthood and holiness when it comes to money? Share your thoughts below.

Photo: Daily Mail Online

Last month, a Christian couple in Liverpool was charged with “criminal offense” after a religious dispute with two of their Islamic guests.

The couple, owners of the Bounty House Hotel, and the Muslim guests were apparently having breakfast when a discussion about religion ensued. Although details are scarce, it seems the couple:

…Suggested that Mohammed, the founder of Islam, was a warlord and that traditional Muslim dress for women was a form of bondage.

Ok, certainly offensive, but worth going to jail over?

Seems a little law in the UK called the Public Order Act allows police to arrest people based on offensive comments. The law was enacted, lawyers say, in order to deal with violence and disorder on the streets, not to arrest people having an argument.

Yet police say they were charged due to use of ‘threatening, abusive or insulting words’ that were ‘religiously aggravated’.

Things getting a bit out of control here? It’s hard to know exactly what happened, and the hotel owners obviously have some questionable beliefs about Islam. But going to jail over them? Man, half of America would be in jail if we could get arrested for stupidity.

Freedom of religion, freedom of speech and protection from bodily harm seemed to be getting all jumbled up here. Plus, commentary by the Daily Mail brought up another good point:

It is striking that the Crown Prosecution Service has thought fit to bring this case, when no action was taken to prevent the appalling persecution of Fiona Pilkington, whose disabled daughter was savagely bullied, who called for police help in vain at least 30 times, and who eventually killed herself in despair.

Hmm, makes you wonder what is really going on here.

What do you think about people being arrested for religious offense? Share your thoughts below.

Feature photo: yoshiffles

Eckhart Tolle

Though it shouldn’t come as a surprise, turns out Eckhart Tolle is a threat to all that is good and moral.

Well, at least according to leaders of just about every organized religion out there.

The Canadian magazine Macleans recently ran a feature on the man who some consider “one of the greatest spiritual leaders of our age.”

Other considerations range from heretic, to a mixer of “Hinduism, Buddhism, and New-Age Pop,” to “anti-Christ” (in a beige sweater vest, as the author notes).

What’s his sin? Well, it seems to be one thing essentially, no matter which religious leader you ask. He removes the hierarchical view of God being “above” us, and states instead that God is within each of us. We are all of, and share, the same source, so there is no need to go outside oneself to find connection or peace.

Or, as Mr. Walker, Texas Ranger himself, Chuck Norris had to say:

To me, [Tolle's success] is more evidence of the paradigm shift in our culture from its moral absolute and Judeo-Christian basis to a relativistic world view in which anything goes and everything is tolerated.

Anything goes? Has he read Tolle?

The Purpose of the Now

I’m not sure this commenter on the Macleans‘ piece has either: “Spiritual masturbation. All the good feelings without any intellectual discipline, interpersonal communion, or a perspective informed by tradition or mentorship.”

Tolle’s overall message is to always live in the present moment. To attempt living in the now, it takes extreme discipline. As Ian MacKenzie wrote in his piece, The Traveler’s Guide To Enlightenment, “‘Now’ is what you’re doing at this moment. It is you sitting in your chair, hand on the mouse, pupils reading the words on this screen.”

Are you fully in your body right at this moment, or is your mind somewhere else – thinking about checking Facebook, that annoying thing your friend said earlier today, or contemplating what sex with Eckhart Tolle might be like based on his picture above? (No need to lie, now).

In other words, it’s every day, every second, both within yourself and in connection with others, of not thinking about the past, and not contemplating the future. It means always connecting to the spirit inside of you and all around you.

I hardly consider Tolle perfect, and he certainly is making a chunk of change off of his books, videos and new ET-TV (yes, that’s Eckhart Tolle, not Entertainment Tonight, TV). But as far as I can tell, he has never claimed perfection, or being better than the rest of us; he is simply spreading a message about our own ability to achieve inner peace (a message which can be accessed at the public library for free).

God or Prophet? No. Simple, loving message? Feels more like it.

What do you think of Eckhart Tolle’s message and tactics? Share your thoughts below.

Photo: ItzaFineDay

A recent post by Abdul Sattar, entitled A Defense of Muslim Activism, got me thinking.

Sattar’s post does not follow along the lines implied by the title. In my mind, he was going to give reasons of how Muslims can and should be activists in this post 9/11 world without being categorized as terrorists.

While noting that some believe, “Islamic activism today is just the tattered remnant of political movements long since gone awry,” his focus instead falls on the idea that some believe to be an activist is inherently anti-spiritual.

In terms of Islam, Sattar notes:

One can easily glean from the Qur’an, Sunnah, and the legacy of our scholars that our primary purpose on this Earth is to worship Allah and die in a state knowing that our salvation is supported by sincere intentions and efforts…we should live as if we are “wayfarers or travelers on the way.”

Take out Allah, insert God, Buddha (with a different sort of afterlife), or Mohammed, and you have the basic premise of most of the world’s religions – worship an entity and live meekly in this life to gain riches after. No room for activism there.

And yet, most wars throughout history have been based on religion (at least outwardly), right? Some might consider war as an activist activity; it is the extreme version of standing up for one’s rights. So the ‘extreme’ activist – who will fight, mutilate, or kill – can certainly be seen as anti-spiritual.

But what about the activists who, because of their religious beliefs, ‘fight’ for the rights of the oppressed, mishandled, and misjudged?

While the ultimate goal in Islam is to worship Allah on the way to the afterlife, Sattar argues for activism, noting, “the Muslim traveler is obligated to strive to prevent injustice when he sees it.”

The real question is, where is the line of activism in the name of religion or spirit, and who draws it?

Do you think that many activists go too far? Share your thoughts below.

Feature photo: ItzaFineDay

1.MOUNT OLYMPUS, GREECE. The legendary home of the Greek Gods and throne of Zeus is the highest mountain in Greece at 9,577 feet. The 2-3 day hike to the summit features a close-up look at the roughly 1,700 different species of flora that grow on the mountain. Photo: Jaime Perez

2.MOUNT FUJI, JAPAN. This snowcapped mountain west of Tokyo is sacred in both Buddhism and Shintoism. During the July and August climbing season more than 200,000 people hike to the top of this 12,388 ft. peak. Also an active volcano, Mount Fuji has been venerated as the home of a fire god, a Shinto goddess and Dainichi Nyorai, the Great Sun Buddha. Photo: magnusvk

3.MOUNT AGUNG, BALI. The Balinese consider the volcanic Mount Agung to be the center of the universe. It rises 10,308 feet high in eastern Bali. The Mother Temple of Besakih, the largest and holiest temple in Bali, sits roughly 3,000 feet up its slopes. Photo: jessewagstaff

4.MOUNT OF THE HOLY CROSS, COLORADO. Legends of a giant cross hidden deep in the Rocky Mountains proved true when photographer William Henry Jackson returned from an expedition in 1873 with a picture of this mythical peak, the northernmost 14,000 ft mountain in the Sawatch Range. Mount of the Holy Cross is named for the distinctive cross-shaped snowfield that adorns its northeastern face, and is a popular Christian pilgrimage site. Photo: august allen

5.MOUNT EVEREST, NEPAL/CHINA BORDER. Tibetans call Mount Everest the Goddess Mother of the Universe, the Nepalese call it Goddess of the Sky. At 29,029 feet, it’s the highest mountain on the planet. Everest is part of the Himalayan mountain range and it’s a day’s hike from the Rongbuk Monastery in Tibet to Base Camp. Photo: rupert taylor-price

6.MOUNT NEBO, JORDAN. According to the final chapter of Deuteronomy, Mount Nebo is where the Hebrew prophet Moses beheld the promised land that God would give to the Jewish people. On a clear day you can see the Dead Sea, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, the River Jordan, Jericho and the Mount of Olives. The remains of a 4th century monastery were discovered on this windy peak in western Jordan in 1933, and the church features an impressive collection of ancient mosaics. Photo: charles fred

7.MOUNT KAILASH, CHINA/TIBET. Thousands of Buddhist, Hindu, Jain and Bonpo pilgrims journey to the remote Himalayan town of Darchen each year to make koras, ritual circuits, around the base of Mount Kailash. Setting foot on the mountain is considered to be a sacrilege, but one 32-mile kora around the base is believed to erase a lifetime of sins. Photo: reurinkjan

8.MOUNT CROAGH PATRICK, IRELAND. As many as one million pilgrims trek this peak annually to pray at the stations of the cross, participate in Mass, or just enjoy the spectacular view over Ireland’s western coast. Pre-Christian Celts believed the deity Crom Dubh lived on the mountain and later St. Patrick—who introduced Christianity to Ireland—is believed to have spent 40 days and nights fasting and praying atop the mountain. Photo: padraic woods

9.THE SAN FRANCISCO PEAKS, ARIZONA. More than a dozen Native American tribes consider this volcanic chain in the Coconino National Forest to be sacred, including the Hopi, who believe the peaks are the mythological home of the Kachina People. In order to protect the area as much as possible, there are no paved roads to the summit. The 9-mile Humphreys Peak Trail is a strenuous round-trip journey that leads to the highest point in Arizona at 12,633 feet. Photo: AI Hikes AZ

10.POPOCATEPEL, MEXICO. This volcanic peak located roughly 45 miles southeast of Mexico City figures largely in both Aztec and Nahua legends and among local Nahua today “El Popo,” as it’s called for short, is a living, breathing entity. Spanish missionaries built 14 monasteries on El Popo’s slopes during the 16th century, and they’ve been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Photo: jplatting

Community Connection

Need some more spirit? Check out The World’s Largest Religious Statues. And for more mountainy-goodness, read Exploring the World’s Most Sacred Mountains.

Photo: LA Times

The photo to the right certainly represents a open-minded, poly-religious, world traveler’s dream wedding (or worst logistical nightmare?).

Yep, that’s an East Coast Rabbi, Catholic priest from California, and a European Shinto priest who gathered in Greece to unite a Sephardic Jew groom and a bride with both Shinto and Catholic roots. Pretty darn unique.

Both wanted to please their traditional parents, but also the traditions alive within themselves.

Made me think about all of you out there that have connected with and honored people of different races, creeds, and socioeconomic statuses, and yet remained proud of your own. And just how beautiful that is.

Whether we are debating the nature of love between a white man and Asian woman, or the spiritual implications of a polyamorous relationship, it seems we still can agree that sometimes, love just conquers all.

And maybe it is simply love that we need to bridge different religions. As the groom noted, “Religion should unite people, not separate them. And after all, aren’t all religions one?”

Do you have a story of a religiously-complicated relationship that broke through the barriers, either your own or someone else’s? Share your thoughts below.

From browsing the Youtube comments on this video, it’s interesting how many people jump to conclusions about the filmmaker’s intent. They believe he’s attempting to prove “God doesn’t exist.”

This is not true. I believe he’s attempting to show why it’s logically incorrect to coerce others into believing God when there’s no real presentation of evidence. God may be true for you, but that doesn’t mean someone else needs to believe for the same reasons.

Community Connection

Need some more philosophy? Don’t miss F. Daniel Harbecke’s classic The Kung Fu Warrior’s Guide To Informal Fallacies and The Kung Fu Warrior’s Guide To Arguing With Logic.

Photo: kudumomo

This headline might make some of you worry:

Pro-Life Activism Adapting And Thriving.

What made me choke on my tea was the first line of the article: “The number one cause of death in the United States is abortion.” And here I thought it was heart disease.

Ok, I’ll give them that the purported number of abortions a year is higher than people who die of heart attacks (whether everyone would concur that abortion is a cause of death is another matter). I can’t say I agree with their statement that “radically pro-abortion politicians now control the executive and legislative branches of the [US] federal government.”

Last time I checked, the Supreme Court upheld the Federal Partial-Birth Abortion Plan in 2008 that President Bush had signed into law in 2003. But while the Bulletin article begins with a decidedly political tone, this “adapting and thriving” of pro-life activists has less to do with politics and standing outside of abortion clinics, screaming at doctors, and more to do with nonviolence.

It seems the group 40 Days for Life is bringing the issue back to what they consider, at its root, a spiritual question. And using spiritual, non-violent action is how they are getting their message across.

Using “prayerful, non-confrontational witness,” the group asks people to pray and fast for an end to abortion where they live, to keep vigil outside a local abortion clinic, and to get the message out to a wider community for 40-days, which many Christians can relate back to Jesus’ time in the desert.

Pro-Choice Vs. Open Conversations

As probably most of you who have read other articles I have written might imagine, I am pro-choice. But I have to say, with the exception of the fact that this group employs the tactic of going door-to-door, I’m actually impressed with their approach.

I’m certainly more willing to listen to what they have to say as compared to when they shout, craft derogatory signs, or use violence to promote a supposed nonviolent purpose.

Using prayer and vigils are actual nonviolent approaches, and allows everyone to take part in the conversation, unlike the comparable religious billboards that imply atheists are murderers and t-shirts that say Muslims are devil-like. And isn’t that what we’ve been hoping for?

Maybe this approach even means there is the possibility of people listening on both sides of the debate.

Or maybe I’m completely deluded.

What do you think about 40 Days for Life’s approach to spreading their message? Share your thoughts below.

Why does everyone have to have the same cupboard? This seemingly simple question sparks the journey of one kid who grew up under the influence of intolerant and fearful parents.

For another amazing short film, check out Sweet Dreams: An Epic Story About A Traveling Cupcake.

Photo: kevindooley

Uh oh, here we go. Seems a new film on Charles Darwin can’t find distribution in the US, despite opening the Toronto Film Festival and being sold to most other countries in the world.

And guess why they can’t seem to find a distributor in the States?

Because Darwin’s “theories on human evolution are too controversial for religious American audiences,” at least according to the film’s producer.

Ok, I know that there are a good amount of people in the US that don’t necessarily concur with what Darwin had to say. But Hollywood isn’t necessarily known for its conservative ways. Didn’t Bill Maher just do a scathing movie about religion not too long ago?

And I’m not quite sure I agree with this comment:

…US distributors have turned down the film that could cause uproar in a country that, on the whole, dismisses scientific theories of the way we evolved.

Really, “on the whole”? But, this is the Daily Mail, and they certainly enjoy making inflammatory remarks.

Then again, with basic health coverage for all US citizens continuing to be labeled as “Socialism,” and that word being worse that the Devil here on Earth, maybe they’re right.

Do you think that on the whole, the US does not believe in evolution, or is this just a media ploy? Share your thoughts below.

Photo: The Wandering Angel

Is there a common thread between different religions throughout the world?

Of course there is. And there is certainly more than one.

But the one that Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener, author of the new book, Claiming Earth As Common Ground: The Ecological Crisis Through the Lens of Faith, takes a look at is environmental activism.

I have to admit, I’m intrigued about the prospect of religion, science, and environment coming together. Cohen-Kiener, along with being a spiritual leader and author, also heads the Interreligious Eco-Justice Network. In a recent article on the Mother News Network, she claims that:

…The major faith traditions offer not only clear instructions [for taking care of the environment] but also an urgent mandate to do something about them.

She claims that religious leaders the likes of Pope Benedict are on board and are openly discussing the need for conservation. But, she adds, there is also a “trickling up” from the masses to these leaders in the need to be open and honest about environmental degradation.

In 2007, Grist.org published a list of 15 Green Religious Leaders, which included obvious ones such as the Dalai Lama, and maybe the not-so-obvious, like Richard Cizik, vice president of governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals. According to the article, Cizik “travels the U.S. spreading the doctrine of ‘creation care,’ a Bible-based understanding of why Christians have a duty to be environmental stewards.”

The Other Side

But, as usual, there are some out there that disagree. Gerald Zandstra, in his piece Religious Leaders and Social Activism: Prophets or Captives? on the Acton Institute website, argues that at least some environmental groups and causes are simply bringing in religious leaders to “inject religious language into a non- (or even anti-) religious agenda.”

Photo: northbaywanderer

The example Zandstra specifies has to do with a project that is attempting to ban PVC-based products in healthcare. He believes this greening project is both secular and based on “an irrational bias against all things ‘artificial’.”

In an even more convoluted take on environmentalism found on the same site, a blog post by Jordan J. Ballor, a Ph.D. candidate in historical theology, entitled, Pro-Consumption and Pro-Environment, states:

Fossil fuels would thus have the created purpose of providing relatively cheap and pervasive sources of energy. These limited and finite resources help raise the standard of living and economic situation of societies to the point where technological research is capable of finding even cheaper, more efficient, renewable, and cleaner sources of energy.

He adds a statement from the Cornwall Declaration on Environmental Stewardship that says, “A clean environment is a costly good…the tendency among some to oppose economic progress in the name of environmental stewardship is often sadly self-defeating.”

Um, ok. So they are saying we have to essentially wreck the environment in order to save it? That environmental agenda goes along perfectly with the idea that we have to kill people in order to save them in all those “freedom” wars.

Too bad we could have chosen ethanol for our autos back in the early 20th century rather than oil. But, it seems as if most established religious leaders get it…

What do you think about religious leaders taking a stance on the environment? Share your thoughts below.

Photo: The Gainesville Sun

I don’t take a lot of comfort in the direction we are heading when I read that a 10-year-old wore a shirt to a Florida school proclaiming, “Islam is of the Devil.”

She isn’t the only one. Seems children who attend the Dove World Outreach Center are showing up at school in these kind and loving t-shirts (view the Dove Center’s explanation here).

They are being sent home by school officials when they refuse to change or cover up their apparel.

Free speech comes up against freedom of religion, although district attorneys have said the school is more than likely safe “from a First Amendment standpoint.” The US Supreme Court has ruled several times in favor of schools not allowing speech that may be disruptive to students.

My larger concern is the hate message being espoused to those of other religions by a church “based on the Bible, the Word of God…bring(ing) Godly changes to our entire society.” Especially when the news article notes:

Dove Senior Pastor Terry Jones said no local company “had the guts” to print the shirts.

Guts or anger? One of the member’s daughters, who also wore a shirt to school, said the “statement was aimed at the religion’s beliefs, not its members.” Ah, yes, of course.

I know this is nothing new, with the “shock” religious advertising that seems to have become a daily occurrence, but I have to say I always hope the next generation will be a bit more tolerant. But how can they possibly have tolerance when their parents are instilling these “we’re-just-trying-to-save-the-nonbelievers-from-going-to-hell” messages?

What do you think of this anti-Islam t-shirt? Share your thoughts below.

Photo: Baxter Jackson

We didn’t plan on breaking the law that day, it just kind of happened that way.

Not far from the dusty desert confines of our ersatz, dawn-pink villa, we hail an orange and white taxi as the sun rises on the first day of Ramadan, the month of fasting and spiritual renewal for Muslims everywhere.

The Islamic code of conduct it stipulates – no eating, drinking, smoking or fornicating from dawn till dusk – is now in full effect and in public places, is applicable to us infidel types as well.

The idea is to build Islamic unity and empathy through self-sacrifice. The consequences for breaking the Ramamdan code range from tongue ’tisking’ for Muslims and arrest for non-Muslims.

Nevertheless, in the excitement of scoring a cheap taxi-ride from Ibri to Al-Ain, a town on the other side of the Omani/Emirates border, thoughts of Ramadan take the backseat to the scenery whizzing by outside: white villages, undulating sand dunes, a herd of wild camels, the Western Hajar Mountains in the distance.

The Hunger

After traversing the 150 kilometers from our adopted-home of Ibri, Oman to Al-Ain in the United Arab Emirates, all we can talk about is food.

Photo: macca

With the previous two weeks limited to thermally-abused Chinese meat, no cheese (except for lubneh) and only two kinds of cereal at the ‘supermarket’ in Ibri, we’re salivating over the prospect of a ‘hypermarket’ fully-stocked with western goods in Al-Ain.

Maybe even bacon! Thoughts of Ramadan (and the consequences of breaking it) as fleeting as a desert mirage.

The tree-lined streets of Al-Ain turn out to be as empty as our stomachs. Only a handful of Indian merchants and Pakistani day-workers mill about the usually bustling fruit and vegetable souq.

Asking a lady in a sari where we can get breakfast, she bobbles her head and points across the super-highway. Grumbling across the flyover we find the place she bobbled about to be nowhere in sight. All the restaurants are closed.

Cursing our luck, we magically stumble upon a western style grocery store. All the products we had nearly forgotten we couldn’t live without are there: Havarti cheese, Dr. Pepper, fresh-ground beef and fifteen kinds of breakfast cereals!

My head is reeling. Without thinking, I order a danish from the bakery and cram it into my mouth in front of a young Muslim family. They nearly gasp.

Scene Of The Crime

Out the door with baguettes, smoked-turkey, Dijon mustard and Doritos, all we need now is a place to eat discretely. It is Ramadan, after all and we don’t want to be culturally insensitive, let alone end up in jail.

A breakfast-picnic in a secluded corner of the palm oasis behind the souq seems just perfect. Unfortunately when we get there it’s hotter than the blacktop. We’re melting faster than the cheese. Hungry, overheated and cranky, we grab a taxi and do like most Emiratis do when it gets too hot – we go to the mall.

The air-conditioning is breathtaking. Past the ice-rink and into the semi-private confines of the family-section of the mall’s food-court, we spread-out our picnic and eat like barbarians, hoping we won’t be spotted.

Just minutes into it, however, a mustachioed security guard approaches, informs us we’re in violation of Islamic law and instructs us to leave or face arrest.

We plead with him. We have no place to go. “Come with me,” he commands, furrow across his brow.

Gathering up the ‘evidence,’ we follow him into a backroom. Lumps form in our throats. He sits us down solemnly. The sign on the wall next to what looks like an interrogation table says ‘employee rest area’.

Then, with an unexpected smile he announces “You can eat here, no problem.”

We thank him profusely, grateful for our soon to be full-bellies and freedom on this most auspicious of days, the beginning of Ramadan.

Have you or are you planning on participating in Ramadan this year? Share your thoughts in the comments!

“Gay Liberation” sculpture, NYC / Photo: Tony the Misfit

As people in the US continue to debate over whether or not two people who love each other tremendously, but are the same sex, should be allowed to marry, a new survey shows that gays may be more religiously devout than their non-gay counterparts.

The Barna Group, apparently a well-known evangelical pollster, surveyed 9,000 gay, lesbian, and bisexual Americans and found that 70% describe themselves as Christian, with 60% saying their faith is “very important” in their lives.

David Gibson of Politics Daily added:

…Both anecdotal evidence and some research shows that gays and lesbians who are involved in their churches and denominations are often more committed to the church and more involved in ministry than their straight brethren.

Scott Thumma of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research has been studying gays in churches since the 1980s, and says that he has found gay congregants in every denomination, even evangelical and Mormon congregations.

What are some of the reasons for the stronger showing of faith? Gibson noted a few possibilities, including the desire to “avoid the risk of eternal punishment,” or the draw to minister to others because of their own experiences, which brings in the Christian ideals of forgiveness, redemption, and acceptance.

There is also the theory that once a person has discerned one call from God, they are more adept at understanding God’s call to ministry.

No matter the reason, it certainly makes me wonder if conservative, straight churchgoers will continue to call gay people heathens. This survey seems to throw that insult out the window.

What do you think about the survey’s findings? Share your thoughts below.

Women Praying Jamaah / Photo: dmahendra

When the flight attendant turned down my request for wine with dinner shortly after the Royal Air Maroc jet bound for Casablanca took off last September, I realized my yoga retreat in Morocco would bring some travel surprises.

There was no booze on board—and every Muslim on the flight was observing Ramadan.

If you’re a practicing Muslim traveling in the Islamic world, you already know what to expect during the holy month of Ramadan. But if you have little knowledge of the holiday, like me, you may want to brush up on what this period of devotion and self-sacrifice means.

The appreciation of the holiday will open up some meaningful conversations with your local hosts and create some great travel memories. Follow these five tips, and you’ll enjoy a more spiritually engaged Ramadan travel experience.

1. Know the facts.

Ramadan, which takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, is a month-long period of patience, modesty and spirituality. In 2009, the holiday starts on August 21 and continues until September 19.

The Koran forbids food, drink, smoking and sex from sunrise to sunset during those 30 days. I learned this from my taxi driver in Agadir, and we spent my entire cab ride talking about how cleansing self-denial can be.

People who follow Ramadan, also called “submitters,” may eat and drink “until the white thread of light becomes distinguishable from the dark thread of night at dawn,” the Koran says. Then, submitters fast until sunset.

2. Practice self-restraint.

Henna hands, last day of Ramadan. / Photo: dfyoung

It’s easy to view travel time as free to be more self-indulgent than you would allow yourself at home. You’re on holiday and no one knows you in this foreign place, so why not?

But gorging can blind you to the significance of the event. And isn’t the whole point of travel to keep your senses open and awake to the world?

Fasting in Arabic is called “siyam” or “sawm,” which means, “to be at rest.” Suppressing your appetite is a form of prayer. Your quiet state allows you to come closer to God.

In Morocco, restaurants are open during Ramadan and some of them serve alcohol, so you won’t have any trouble finding food or drink. But be extra kind to your servers, who haven’t taken so much as a sip of water since waking up and are probably waiting to go home before they break their fast.

3. Seek community.

While in Agadir I visited the Kasbah d’Argan oil shop and, once again, found myself immersed in a conversation about the meaning of Ramadan. (Argan oil, pressed from the kernels of the indigenous argan trees that grow only in southwestern Morocco, is prized for its nutritive and medicinal properties.)

I told the shop’s owner about my yoga retreat and our daily sun salutations, and he responded by showing me a Salaah prostration with his forehead, knees, nose and palms touching the ground. The position looked strikingly similar to the Chaturanga Dandasana position of the sun salutation sequence I practiced every morning.

Now, I’m not saying that you have to prostrate yourself on the ground to make friends from foreign countries, but I do recommend seeking a sense of commonality through shared faith.

4. Share your water.

At the end of a long day of surfing on a beautiful beach with my yoga mates, we noticed a group of local teenage surfers collecting half-drunk water bottles from people as they headed home.

These guys had been observing Ramadan and surfing all day in saltwater—and they were parched. Once we spotted their need, we handed over as many bottles of water as we could gather together.

Nothing reflects the spirit of Ramadan better than performing an act of charity.

5. Breathe.

Because I was on a yoga retreat during Ramadan, I was constantly reminded of the blessing of breath. The yogic breath is even and deep, and paying attention to it reminded me that I was here, now, alive.

Similarly, Muslims perform Salaah, the fixed ritual of Islamic prayer, five times a day. During the prayer, worshipers focus on their breathing with each verse they recite.

In a Muslim country during Ramadan, life moves at a slower pace. Use the time to meditate and follow your own breath.

Community Connection

Don’t miss Tim Witting’s thoughtful essay on Spiritual Fasting: How To Appreciate Life Through Temporary Deprivation, and the powerful story from Sarah Shroud Escape From Iraq: A Muslim Family Finds Solace In Ramadan.

Have you experienced Ramadan before? Share your advice in the comments!

Photo: catusbones

In my early 20’s, I almost became a nihilist. An existential nihilist to be exact, which argues “life is without meaning.”

I based my belief on the reality I saw around me (or at least on the news): war, violence, and death was everywhere. In the face of such suffering, I couldn’t understand why anything “mattered.” The only logical explanation was that the universe had no purpose.

I quickly realized this mentality was a deep, dark hole, and decided to continue exploring other beliefs on the nature of existence.

Now, looking back 8 years later, I realize it would have been interesting to chronicle my worldview at that time. Like a spiritual diary, I would have been able to study where I came from, and better understand my personal evolution.

Recently, I came across 20 questions that eloquently serve this purpose. Featured in the 2005 documentary film One, these questions were posed to various spiritual leaders of today: from Deepak Chopra, to Ram Dass, to the Dalai Lama.

I realized answering these questions myself would provide a snapshot of my beliefs today. And if I did the exercise again in 5 years, 10 years, 25 years… who knows the insight these polaroids will provide?

If you, dear reader, would like to join me, here’s how:

Instructions

Copy and paste the questions below into a blank document or blog post. Answer each question with as much detail as you like, then publish your answers on your personal blog.

Leave a comment below with a link to your post.

20 Questions For Every Spiritual Seeker

1. Why is there poverty and suffering in the world?
2. What is the relationship between science and religion?
3. Why are so many people depressed?
4. What are we all so afraid of?
5. When is war justifiable?
6. How would God want us to respond to aggression and terrorism?
7. How does one obtain true peace?
8. What does it mean to live in the present moment?
9. What is our greatest distraction?
10. Is current religion serving its purpose?
11. What happens to you after you die?
12. Describe heaven and how to get there.
13. What is the meaning of life?
14. Describe God.
15. What is the greatest quality humans possess?
16. What is it that prevents people from living to their full potential?
17. Noverbally, by motion or gesture only, act out what you believe to be the current condition of the world.
18. What is your one wish for the world?
19. What is wisdom and how do we gain it?
20. Are we all one?

Remember, post a link to your answers in the comments below!

Orthodox Jews at the Western Wall / Photo: premasagar

Any writing that attempts to tackle “religion” and “fundamentalism” should have an emergency 911 and the address of the writer attached for quick ambulance and police response.

Either he/she is a masochistic mental case or they really need the money to even take on such an assignment. Or maybe both. Well, here I am. You be the judge.

The word “religion” comes to us from the Latin, religare which means, “to bind strongly to.” Someone who is religious has chosen to bind themselves strongly to a particular belief system.

The word “fundamentalism” comes to us from the Latin, fundamentum which means, “of the foundation” or “of the underlying principles”.

We end up with something like this:

A fundamentalist is one who understands the underlying principles which are the foundation of his particular religion and has decided to bind himself strongly to act according to those principles.

Here’s where the fun begins. Almost everybody is a religious fundamentalist.

Even sworn atheists have decided that there is no God. They have bound themselves strongly to the fundamental belief that we have no higher power and they act according to their belief.

How about another example. Let’s take what is considered to be one of the oldest traditional religions, Judaism.

Judaism

Jews believe that there is a God, that He is the only God and that he is the God that has chosen the Jewish people, from their first founding father, Abraham, to be His people and to eventually rule the world with the Messiah coming from the Jews.

They also recognize that if non-Jews want to believe this, they can be accepted into the Jews and be a part of the religion; with everybody else going to hell.

Sounds like the Muslims too, doesn’t it. Let’s try it. (Boy, we’re getting into trouble now).

Islam

Taliban / Photo: AP

Muslims believe that there is a God, that He is the only God and that He is the God that has chosen the Islamic people, from their first founding father, Abraham, to be His people and eventually rule the world with the Messiah coming from the Muslims.

They also recognize that if non-Muslims want to believe this, they can be accepted into the religion; everybody else is going to hell.

Uh-oh. Let’s try Christianity, shall we?

Christianity

Christians believe that there is a God, that He is the only God and that He is the God that has chosen the Christian people, from their first founding father, Abraham, to be His people and eventually rule the world with the Messiah coming from… the Jews.

(Jesus started out as a Jew, but they rejected him, so he, Jesus, also rejected them, except as they believe in Him as God. — It’s a little complicated.) They also recognize that if non-Christians want to believe this, that they can be accepted into the religion; with everybody else going to hell.

The Rest Of The Ism’s

That takes care of the three “major” religions of earth. But, let’s not forget that there are many other “fundamentals” that people are “bound to” – Buddhism, Shintoism, Animism, and all the other –isms.

Suffice to say that the pattern remains. If you believe in something that you bind yourself to for action and interaction with people in life, you are a religious fundamentalist.

The real problem lies with the dreaded word, INTERPRETATION. How do we interpret what we think was written by those purported to be the original leaders of our religious movements and where does that take us?

Prepared For The Journey

One of the great philosophers of history, Benjamin Disreali, wrote;

“It matters not to me what you believe, just remember that whatever you believe will take you somewhere. Make sure that you are prepared for the journey.”

What disturbs societies of the civilized world (and throughout history) is when those who are bound to their beliefs feel they must dictate to others how to live and, sometimes, try to force others to live as they live.

The most universal modern example which can, probably, be agreed upon is the Taliban in Afghanistan. They are the Islamic religious fundamentalists who cut off people’s heads who refuse to get in line with their particular conservative interpretation of Islam.

Of course this has happened throughout the ages, at least since Abraham. Before that, people just cut off other’s heads because they didn’t like how they looked or wanted their camels. (Probably Camel-holics)

The Fundamental Question

So the question remains, “Can any religion remain free of fundamentalism?” The answer is, “Not if you define it in words and actions, which you have to follow for there to be any meaning.” So, “NO!”

Taliban / Photo: Digitalexander

Of course, the alternative is to believe in nothing very strongly and certainly not bind yourself very strongly to it. This gives rise to a new question:

“Can you be happy not believing in or binding yourself to anything on earth enough to care about it strongly and act on it?”

Sure you can. But you probably shouldn’t call it your religion. Calling it that defies the definition. You could call it your social club or something like that. Think about it.

If you call something your religion, it probably involves your god. If your god is so easy-going that he doesn’t mind if you don’t care about what he says to do, how much of a god is he? If he just lets you decide what you’ll believe and when and how you will act on it, isn’t he less powerful than you?

Good Vibrations

Those who want to believe in their god in moderation, soak-up some good vibrations and call it a religion; that’s okay with me.

Just be prepared that, wherever you travel, you are bound to bump up against those who will “religiously and fundamentally” disagree.

On the other hand, if you want to dedicate yourself to non-religious activities that are meaningful in your life, say, saving the whales or feeding the children of the world, or any number of wonderful causes, by all means do it.

Just don’t buy yourself a ticket on the grief-train by calling it “religious.” Call it humanitarian, travel the world with the quiet pleasure of doing good, and be happy.

I won’t tell God. Who knows, maybe He will meet you on the journey and smile.

Can religion remain free of funamentalism and still have meaning? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Photo: Allison Cross

God is everywhere in Sierra Leone.

Sometimes he’s Jesus and sometimes he’s Allah, but words praising his existence are plastered all over NGOs, schools, hair salons, stores, restaurants and vehicles.

I hear him everywhere I go, as gospel music blasts from massive, low-quality speakers on the streets and as Muslim calls to prayer ring out five times a day.

If the power happens to be on, one of my favourite restaurants in Bo district plays the same set of Christian music videos over and over throughout the day. I unconsciously hum to the tunes as I munch on rice and fish.

God even finds his way into the exchange of pleasantries. Ask someone how they are in Sierra Leone, and you’ll quickly receive the answer: “Fine. Thank God.” Sometimes they’ll skip the “fine” and just thank God.

This atmosphere of religion doesn’t just come from inside the country.

Hundreds of relief and capacity-building organizations in Sierra Leone are funded by church ministries in Europe, Canada and the U.S. There aren’t many other foreigners in Bo district, but the first ones I met were Mormon and Jehovah’s Witness missionaries.

About Faith

Approximately 10 per cent of the population of Sierra Leone is Christian, while 60 per cent practice Islam and 30 per cent practice African tribal religions.

Photo: Allison Cross

The three live fairly peacefully with one another, although there is some pronounced resentment and skepticism expressed between belief circles. Muslims outnumber Christians, but the former are more visible and vocal because of their focus on recruitment.

Few of the people I’ve met know quite what to do with me when I say I’m neither Christian nor Muslim.

My first night in Sierra Leone, one of our drivers, a loud and joyful man named Lamin, asked me if I was a Christian.

I told him that technically I was, as I had been baptized in the Anglican Church. But I told him I didn’t practice any religion and that in my country, people subscribe to many religions. I told him that many subscribe to nothing at all but consider themselves spiritual.

He leaned towards me, a sober look on his face. “Muslim. Christian. It doesn’t matter what you are,” he said. “But you have to pick one.”

Relationship With The Divine

I’ve been invited to church on many occasions, and despite being very curious about the services, I’ve always declined. The obliging Canadian in me wants to say yes, but I know if I give in to one Sunday service, the invitations will only increase.

Photo: Allison Cross

I have difficulty explaining the fact that I don’t go to church. No reason I give seems to satisfy the people perplexed by the fact that I spend my Sundays at home. I sometimes explain that I wasn’t raised going to church.

If I’m feeling brave, I’ll say I don’t agree with the teachings of the Bible and the inconsistent manner in which people follow it. If I want to create confusion, I’ll try to explain that I’m spiritual, and that I believe in “something” – but that I’ve never been able to say what that something is.

They find their joy and satisfaction in their relationship with God, I tell my critics, and I find my joy and satisfaction in my relationships with people, my work, and the world around me.

But most people still don’t like this, and will launch into a diatribe about how I need God in my life. I’ll explain that I have incredible admiration for the devout and for their willingness to help people and to support each other when they need it.

I try to explain that this respect doesn’t mean I am willing to join them in their faith.

It’s a precarious position to be in, one I’m sure is experienced by people living in their own countries and by people living abroad: to attempt to respect the beliefs of those around you, while firmly holding on to your own.

What are your thoughts on god abroad? Share in the comments!

Photo: nyki_m

In the West, are we living in a state of “moral blindness”?

Reading Gilad Atzmon’s recent article on Counter Punch makes me think it’s possible.

Atzmon tackles the idea of two distinct ideologies competing for our beliefs: “liberal” vs. “leftist.”

The first praises individual liberty, while the latter believes in a social science that delineates ‘progressives’ from ‘reactionaries.’

What’s the problem with either of these distinctions? Well, according to Atzmon:

For some reason ‘we’ (the Westerners) tend to believe that ‘our’ technological superiority together with our beloved ‘enlightenment’ equips us with a ‘rational secularist anthropocentric, absolutist ethical system’ of the very highest moral stand.

He continues that westerners tend to think of “secularism is the answer for the world’s ailments,” but in reality, “this very division led also to the rise of some blunt forms of fundamental-secularism that matured into crude anti-religious worldviews that are no different from bigotry.”

In more common language, I take Atzmon’s commentary to imply that our “progressive” western worldview leads us to believe that ‘modern/evolved-is-right,’ and many religious traditions are just ‘backward.’

Many of us travelers tend to think ourselves open-minded and progressive, yet still look down on people and areas that in our eyes, are not just.

Examples that come to mind include the continued debate around banning burqas in parts of Europe, being appalled over yoga being questioned by Muslim clerics, and however strongly we debate either side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

These situations seem to be inequality-in-action to our eyes. But for the religious cultures they are a part of, our reactions and discussions may just be showing our beliefs of “supremacy” over their way of life.

Do you think that leftists and liberals are after justice-for-all, or simply think they are better than deeply religious people? Share your thoughts below.

Photo: bowtoo

Apparently, Paganism is where it’s at these days. According to a recent Examiner.com piece, the amount of Pagans is doubling about every 18 months in the US, Canada, and Europe.

So naturally, this increase eventually showed itself in travel.

A record 35,000 attended the Solstice celebration at Stonehenge this summer, eco-retreats are doubling as neo-pagan travel, and there are Fairy/Fairie/Faerie festivals flying in and landing all over the world, from Maryland to Perth.

But beyond travel, the best of all has to be the job possibilities. Or possibility. BBC News ran a piece on the latest Job Centre opening that will bring in £50,000 a year for the right candidate.

Yep, they have a ‘witch’ vacancy. You must be willing to live in a cave at tourist site Wookey Hole, can’t be allergic to cats, and must be able to cackle. Teaching a bit of witchcraft to the people coming through is also a part of the deal.

Hmm, for that kind of money in this economy, I think my cat would dig the darkness and the people-watching. And I’ve certainly been known to let out a good cackle here and there.

What do you think about the upswing in Paganism? Share your thoughts below.

There are all kinds of reasons why travelers seek out temples, mosques, synagogues and churches on the road.

These holy buildings literally house tradition and history, offer insight into local cultures, and do so while putting irreplaceable works of art and architecture on display — often for free. And of course, they’re also popular destinations for spiritually-minded visitors, too.

Whether you’re seeking buildings with powerful religious or historical significance, or simply an overwhelming visual experience, here are 12 memorable houses of worship from around the globe:

1. St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City. St. Peter’s is a triple threat — it’s the centuries-old seat of Catholicism, home to one of the finest art collections in the world, and a visual feast in its own right. Found it overhyped and overcrowded when you visited? Here’s a hint: show up early. At 8am, you’ll have the place to yourself./ Photo: edbrambley

2. Golden Temple, Amritsar, India. Amritsar’s Harmandir Sahib, or “Golden Temple,” is the holiest site in Sikhdom. It’s located in the Punjab, in north western India. / Photo: estetika

3. Kek Lok Si Temple, Penang, Malaysia. Kek Lok Si’s giant Kwan Yin statue dominates the road to Georgetown, the main city on Malaysia’s Pulau Penang, and the various segments of the temple proper seem to spill down the mountainside. I’m sure there are plenty of more famous Buddhist temples in the world, but this one has stayed with me for years. / Photo: shanemcg

4. Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Mecca is the historic and spiritual heart of Islam. Millions of devotees flock to the vast mosque complex each year for the hajj, the world’s largest pilgrimage. At present, Mecca is open only to hajjis — so for now, unless you’re a practicing Muslim, file this one under “daydreams.” / Photo: Wiki Commons

5. Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain. Gaudi’s unfinished masterpiece (under construction for 127 years and counting) is a mixed-up fantasy of shapes and colors, light and space. The scaffolding and other signs of construction only add to the awesome confusion of a holy sensory overload. / Photo: jurvetson

6. Aya Sofya, Istanbul, Turkey. Istanbul’s Aya Sofya (also called the Hagia Sophia) began life nearly 1500 years ago, as a church. 1000 years later, after the Muslim conquest of Turkey, it was re-invented as a mosque: its mosaics were plastered over, and replaced by Islamic calligraphy. Today it’s a de-consecrated museum — the mosaics are being slowly uncovered, and displayed alongside their later replacements, showing the literal layers of religious history at the junction of Europe and Asia. / Photo: vshioshvili

7.Jain and Hindu Temples, Khajuraho, India. If you’ve walked the tourist trail in India, chances are you already know Khajuraho — the erotic sculptures that cover the walls of the village’s temple complex are a big hit with visitors. / Photo: sankaracs

8.Il Duomo, Florence, Italy. Officially known as the Basilica of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence’s “Duomo” (Italian for cathedral) has two ways to awe you: First, there’s the massive dome, the largest ever to be constructed in brick, and one of the first major domes to be constructed since Roman times. And second, there’s the facade, an intricate marble pattern in pink, green and white. Honestly, I don’t think I’d ever get tired of looking at this building. / Photo: chrisbuckridge

9.Great Synagogue, Budapest, Hungary. Also known as the Dohany Street Synagogue, Budapest’s Jewish temple is the second largest in the world. Theodore Herzl grew up next door. / Photo: harshilshah

10.Great Mosque, Xi’an, China. Xi’an’s Great Mosque was built more than 1300 years ago, and still serves local Chinese Muslims today. If you’re expecting domes and minarets, though, don’t hold your breath — the complex is built entirely in the traditional Chinese style, and — visually — has more in common with the Forbidden City than with Mecca. / Photo: andreweland

11.Rock-Cut Churches, Lalibela, Ethiopia. Lalibela is a hub for the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian community, and the area is home to a cluster of rock-cut churches — that is, holy buildings carved downward into the ground, instead of built upward from ground level. Ethiopia’s Christians have a history all their own, and (as you see below) an architecture to match. / Photo: herr_hartmann

12. Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.This modern-day cathedral may not be entirely to my taste, but there’s no denying the power of a church built 250 feet high, with floor-to-ceiling stained glass windows climbing 210 feet. / Photo: soldan

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

These are a few of the buildings that have fascinated me in recent years, whether in person or in photos — but I know there are many more remarkable houses of worship out there. What are some of your favorites? Even better, got a photo link to share?

And before you go see these places for yourself, why not brush up on how to respectfully visit holy places around the world?

Photo: mariachily

A few days ago, French President Nicolas Sarkozy gave a speech about the possibility of banning burqas in public.

As many know, France banned headscarves (well, the Islamic ones anyway), the burka, turbans and other “religious symbols” in schools in 2004.

According to the government, the purpose was to completely separate religion and state.

But this time around, they are claiming the possible ban is about women’s rights. Sarkozy stated he believes the burqa “reduced [women] to servitude and undermined their dignity.”

Similar to five years ago, there are people who say that the possible ban, at this point only a proposed parliamentary commission to discuss the issue, is discriminatory against Muslims. Many also blame France for becoming completely homogenized.

Or it could be simply politically-motivated. In an article on The First Post, Neil Clark argues this is a calculated move by Sarkozy, who “knows how to spot a vote winner.”

Islamophobia Or Women’s Rights?

Clark continues his piece by voicing the dilemma that is occurring not only in France, but other parts of Europe as well:

For some leftists, civil liberties, a strong belief in multiculturalism and a determination to fight the rising tide of Islamophobia come first. For others, defending Enlightenment values and the rights of women are paramount.

What this possible ban once again brings to the surface is the debate over whether or not the burqa is actually seen as oppressive by Muslim women.

The Times of India ran a story saying many Muslim Indian women are “disgusted” with Sarkozy’s comments. They believe the burqa “is an article of faith, a pillar of support…in a world where sexual-crime is rampant, the burqa denotes comfort, security and allows a woman her dignity.”

Burqa or bikini – women’s choice? / Photo: DeusXFlorida

I also found an interesting take on what Afghan Muslim women vs. American (non-Muslim women) must face.

In The Choice Between Burqa and Bikini, written by Abid Ullah Jan, he argues that it is, in fact, western women who must face a culture that wishes to control their bodies. He noted:

From the hair removal products that hit the marketplace in the 1920s to today’s diet control measures that seek to eliminate even healthy fat from the female form, American girls and women have been stripped bare by a sexually expressive culture whose beauty dictates have exerted a major toll on their physical and emotional health.

Of course, on the other side is the argument that the burqa represents the ownership of women by their male family members, no personal freedom whatsoever, and complete sexual repression. And, in reality, nowhere in the Qur’an does it explicitly state that Muslim women must wear one.

Sarkozy ended his speech saying “the burka is not a sign of religion, it is a sign of subservience. It will not be welcome on the territory of the French republic.”

Is France fighting for women’s rights or taking away Muslim’s rights? Share your thoughts below.

Community Connection

A bit southeast of France, the opposite is happening as Western women search for veils in Baxter Jackson’s piece, Veil Shopping In Cairo. Also, delve deeper into the debate around religious and cultural norms at Where To Draw the Line When Defending Cultural Norms and Put Some Damn Clothes On!

New religions are looking for you / Photo: mrmanc

Recently at BNT, Chris Wary wrote about six religions virtually unknown in the West.

But have you heard about these three new “religions” (in quotes because they do not necessarily deem themselves this way) starting to thrive in the West?

Although these new systems of belief have an eastern feel to them, they all have a decidedly western approach.

For some, the reality of the dollar signs involved may be a turn off, but to others that is just the way that religion has always been done.

Eckhart Tolle’s New “Now”: GATE

According to Kim Masters at The Daily Beast, Eckhart Tolle and Jim Carrey have teamed up to launch a new religion, if you will, called Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment (GATE).

Masters notes that Hollywood Reporter blogger James Hibberd described GATE as “a newly formed outfit of producers and artists with a shared enthusiasm for New Age uplift.” To me, it sounds like a combo of Tolle’s message of being in the present – the “Now” – and the law of attraction.

Carrey seems to be keeping perspective about his role in this new endeavor, joking, “I’m Jim Carrey and I’ve come to free the world from sin,” during his appearance at the first GATE conference. The Ministry of Skepticism, though, doesn’t seem to agree:

This is the kind of thing that might go some way towards Jim Carrey discrediting himself as a credible source of information in the vaccination debate.

In reality, GATE was founded by PR “expert” John Raatz. Thus far they’ve only had one invitation-only meeting, but stars including Carrey, Garry Shandling, Billy Zane and Jackson Browne skipped the Laker’s championship-opener game in order to attend.

Scientology be afraid, be very afraid: Knowledgism

Looks like Knowledgism is an off-shoot of Scientology, as a former “upstat missionholder” of ST, Alan C. Walter, developed this knowledge-based entity.

According to Knowledgism.com, this belief system is the “high-tech, high-touch use of knowledge systems, processes and procedures to optimize economies, societies, areas, subjects, objects, groups, and individuals…it is based on win-win accomplishment for all, and includes that which is best from past systems.”

And the Scientologists aren’t happy about it. On the website Gathering Minds, which does not state that it represents Scientology, but suspiciously has a link to “Scientology Public Relations,” has this to say about Knowledgism:

This is a complete perversion of Scientology. Scientology, in it’s actual form, is designed to free spiritual beings, not congeal them into masses. Scientology, in it’s actual form, is designed to allow one’s self to become spiritually free, not to embrace physicality.

The Knowledgism website certainly contains a plethora of information, if you are interested in learning more.

Buddhism Billions: Soka Gakkai

According to NPR, Soka Gakkai “was brought to the United States by Japanese war brides, and in the 1960s, it caught on with hippies.”

Photo: andymangold / Feature pic: dno1967

Based on Buddhism, Soka Gakkai developed from the teachings of Nichiren, a 13th century Buddhist reformer.

His teachings are based on the Lotus Sutra, which essentially states that all people possess the Buddha nature and therefore can live life in a state of freedom.

The Soka Gakkai International (SGI) website states that the organization has 12 million members worldwide, and NPR says there are more than 300,000 in the US alone, mostly middle class, yet stem from many ethnic groups.

But, of course, there is a bit of scandal not mentioned on the SGI site. The leader, Daisaku Ikeda, is a Japanese businessman who has been accused of “heavy-handed” fund-raising (the group has $100 billion in assets), along with intimidating its detractors and trying to “grab” political power. A former member airs out some of his grips here.

Religious Realities

The thing about new religions, or spiritual systems in general, is that they often build on past systems. In a way, it is a bit like science, taking the knowledge we’ve previously gained and refining it, maybe collaborating with other known discoveries.

Even “historic” religions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam built upon, or borrowed beliefs, rituals, and holidays from, religions that came before.

And no matter what, there is always some controversy, so take it all with a grain of salt.

What do you think about these new “religions”? Share your thoughts below.

On Saturday, I attended a workshop on sacred activism, where the instructor showed this video of environmentalist Paul Hawken’s speech at the 2006 Bioneers conference:

At the beginning of the speech, he says:

It is my belief that we are part of a movement that is greater and deeper and broader than we ourselves know or can know. It flies under the radar of the media by and large. It is nonviolent, it is grassroots. It has no cluster bombs, no armies, no helicopters. It has no central ideology. A male vertebrae is not in charge…it is growing and spreading worldwide, with no exception.

Hawken goes on to describe this movement as the intertwining of indigenous culture, the environment, and social justice. During his speech, on the black screen behind him, runs a list of the 130,000 minimum organizations in the world dedicated to social and environmental justice.

The power of using this tool came when he noted that the list would have taken the full three days of the conference to witness every single name. And though some of these groups employ traditional means of activism, such as loud protests, walking around with signs, or chaining oneself to a storefront, others take a quieter approach.

Sacred Activism

This “new” form of activism can happen alone through the way one decides to live their life (i.e. only shopping locally, so that you know where your food/clothes come from and that the people producing them are garnering a fair wage), or as part of a group via such avenues as microloans or community bartering.

The basic premise combines the tenets of social justice and spiritual connection.

I personally believe we are in a time of shifting perspectives, understanding that the us-vs.-them mentality has mostly lead to pain, war, and a whole lot of bloodshed. It seems that if we engage long enough with anything, there is the possibility of finding common ground, collaborating, and maybe most important of all, feeling a sense of compassion.

This might just be the new world order.

Holy War

Or am I just being naive and living in a bubble? As we watch peaceful protesters lose their lives in Peru, and big oil once again failing to be reprimanded for human and environmental degradation, Hawken’s words can ring as hollow.

China continues its oppression of Tibet (and Lhasang Tsering doesn’t think the Dalai Lama’s “Middle Way” is working), and no matter how much we hope and pray for a positive outcome for both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it seems to barrel forward.

Plus, our religious divisions worldwide seem to be growing larger instead of being bridged.

So is this where we are actually headed instead?

Illustration: Geoff Olson

Do you think we moving toward a better future or one of annihilation? Share your thoughts below.

Most of us know of two creation myths, or ideas if you will.

In fact, the Big Bang theory and Intelligent Design have been hotly debated in the comments just this week in the BNT article Bizarre Christian Billboard Compares Atheism To Murder?

I thought it best to take it to the next level and break out some of the other, even more “unique” creation myths (yes, there are many more than two) so that the fighting, ahem, gentle discussion of the issue could continue.

So gather around children. Here, in no particular order, are six other ideas of how we all made onto this vast expanse we call Earth (well, some of us call it that anyway).

Hindu Creation Myth: It’s Like Buttah.

The other Hindu Creator, Brahma

Rig Veda, the earliest Vedic text, says it all begin with a big, ole’ monster. Or just a “gigantic being.” Purusha was his name, and he possessed a thousand heads, eyes and feet and enveloped the Earth.

The Gods decided it was time to etgay idray ofway Urushapay, so they sacrificed him. What was left? Clarified butter, but of course.

But this buttah did more than simply be finger licking good; it created the birds and animals. All those crazy body parts became the world’s elements, along with the Hindu Gods Agni, Vayu, and Indra.

Priests, warriors, the “regular” peeps, and servants, i.e. the caste system, also came from his body (so he was classist, I take it?)

Then they decided to go and change the story and make it about Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the preserver, and Shiva, the destroyer. Vishnu sleeps; Brahma appears in a lotus sprouting from his navel. Once done sprouting, Brahma creates the universe, but only for one of his days…which is 4.32 billion of our years.

Then Shiva’s gotta come in and do her thing, destroying the universe, all so that the universe can begin again. (I think we’re only a bit into a new cycle, so we’re all good.)

Native-American Creation Myth: Dream A Little Dream.

Indian creation mural / Source

Not sure if you can get trippier than the Makiritare myth. It begins with: “The woman and the man dreamed that God was dreaming them.”

The rest involves God singing and shaking his maracas, smoking some tobacco, being happy, but trembling with doubt. The woman and the man, on the other hand, dream that a huge, shining egg appears in God’s dream (still following?), one in which they are singing and dancing and basically causing a ruckus (hey, they were ready to be born, already).

They sang:

I break this egg and the woman is born and the man is born. And together they will live and die. But they will be born again. The will be born and will die again and once more will be born. And they shall never cease to be born, because death is a lie.

I’m guessing they’re a reincarnation bunch.

Chinese Creation Myth: Yet Another Egg?

Pan Gu! Pan Gu!

Heaven and Earth were together at the beginning of time, according to this myth. They were hanging out in a cloud that was, you guessed it, egg shaped.

But chaos was the name of the game for the universe at that time, and a giant named Pan Gu grew in the middle of it. Only took him 18,000 years of sleeping and developing in the egg until one day, he awoke and stretched. Boom, there went the egg.

The lighter egg goo, or elements if you want a nicer word, became the sky and heaven, and the heavier, yolkey- stuff became Earth. Pan Gu was a bit tense that the two might combine again, so he decided to do his part and hold the heavens on his head and the Earth underneath his feet.

Then he continued to grow for a whole other 18,000 years, until finally he felt satisfied when the two were a good 30,000 miles apart. Soon after, he died.

From his death, the Earth was bequeathed some new stuff – his arms and legs became the directions NSEW and the mountains; his blood the rivers; his sweat, the rain and dew. His voice was now thunder, and his minty-free breath, the wind. All elements of land and water came from his body, with his left eye becoming the sun, and his right eye, the moon.

Pretty cool guy, huh?

Scientology Creation Myth: Set Your Thetan Free!

Good times in the streets / Source

Oh, those crazy Scientologists. They sure do get a bad rap, don’t they, what with the Wiki refusing to let their members update their own information and Germany’s attempt to ban the religion.

But have you ever wondered what they believe about the creation of the universe?

According to an undercover article in The Independent, Hubbard stated around 1940 that “writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion.”

Their equivalent to a soul is called a “thetan,” but beyond that is actually a “disembodied soul of alien beings that existed 75 million years ago.” Stay with me here. Especially if you are into Sci-Fi.

Xenu, an intergalactic ruler, was about to be removed from power, and he wasn’t having any of it. Instead, he got rid of the population that was planning to take him out by paralyzing and taking them to Earth (good old Teegeeack at the time). There, he loaded them into volcanoes, destroying them with hydrogen bombs.

Bodies gone, he gathered the thetans – remember, those are the souls – and implanted misleading data, such as all religions, into their memories.

The thetans began to cluster together and inhabit bodies of aliens that survived the blast (how they survived a hydrogen bomb, one can only guess). Voila! You have the predecessors to modern humans, and these thetans continue to move from body to body and life to life accumulating more misleading data along the way.

Only with “auditing” can you remove this data, and set your thetan free!

Japanese Creation Myth: I Shit You Not.

Watch out! It’s Izanagi and his spear

I really can’t say it any better, so I’m just going to let Cezary Jan Strusiewicz over at Cracked.com tell this Japanese creation myth. Hold on to your seats (and lunch):

What country has the honor to say that part of their homeland is basically godly spunk? Well, Japan does. The story of Japan’s creation is the god Izanagi pushed his “jewel encrusted spear” into “the primal ooze of our planet” and, when pulling out, “spilled a salty substance” that created the Japanese island of Onogoro. If you can’t spot the innuendo there, don’t worry, it only gets less subtle from here.

The story goes that when Izanagi finally decided to stop metaphorically “raping” the underage Earth below, he took his soon-to-be wife Izanami and descended on the huge island of dried ejaculate where they married and settled. After having sex on Spunk Island the woman gave birth to eight more Japanese islands.

Izanami continued to get pregnant and squeezed out more babies into the world. One of them was Homusubi (Kagututi), the incarnation of fire. A literal fireball. Learning first hand that fire is hot, Izanami suffered the worst burning sensation down there… and basically everywhere.

Being horribly burned from the inside she suffered agony for a couple of days, losing complete control of her bodily functions (what kind of gods are they?), vomiting, urinating and shitting uncontrollably. Her dying spasms of bodily functions gave birth to new gods, a pair for each substance that flew out of her body:

The Vomit Gods: Kanayamahiko, Kanayamahime
The Urine Gods: Mitsuha no me, Wakumusubi
The Feces Gods: Haniyasuhiko, Haniyasuhime

And there you go.

Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Creation Myth: Largest Balls Ever.

The Flying Spaghetti Monster

Without a doubt, this is my favorite creation myth (apologies to the Japanese). This religion “came to light” in 2005 while the Kansas School Board was debating whether or not to teach Intelligent Design in the schools.

In a letter to the Board, Bobby Henderson makes the point that there is not necessarily only one theory of Intelligent Design, that in fact many people throughout the world believe the universe was created by the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

Henderson states, “It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him.”

Their manifesto:

With millions, if not thousands, of devout worshippers, the Church of the FSM is widely considered a legitimate religion, even by its opponents – mostly fundamentalist Christians, who have accepted that our God has larger balls than theirs.

Now that’s a creation myth I can get behind.

What are some other crazy creation myths? Share your myths below!

Here we go with the shock advertising again. How does this advertisement strike you – as valid or infuriating?

Somewhere in Texas / Photo: Answers in Genesis

Here’s how Answers in Genesis describes themselves:

An apologetics (i.e., Christianity-defending) ministry, dedicated to enabling Christians to defend their faith and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively…we also desire to train others to develop a biblical worldview, and seek to expose the bankruptcy of evolutionary ideas, and its bedfellow, a “millions of years old” earth (and even older universe).

Apparently, AIG doesn’t seem to be the only one sprinkling such wonderful Christian sentiment around the US. Dangerous Talk has compiled, and asks people to continue sending in pictures, of the worst Christian AND Atheist billboards around the country.

Personally, I can’t believe they are implying that non-believers, or to whom God “doesn’t matter,” are going to take a gun and shoot someone in the face.

Striking yes; thoughtful, absolutely not.

Here’s the same kid featured in video campaign:

Although supposedly their beef is with evolution, I don’t see how that point is conveyed with this picture. So, according to them, believing what Darwin had to say means a person is lawless and will go on a killing rampage?

I’m honestly surprised they didn’t put an African-American or Middle Eastern child on there. But I guess they know it would completely show their prejudices. With a white kid, they can get away with “anyone can be lawless and moral-free who doesn’t believe in God.”

Equal opportunity to be a murderer, I guess.

What do you think about the message of this billboard? Share your thoughts below.

Photo: creativity103

What are some of the deep philosophical questions we ask in life?

Usually these concern health, life, death, or when Grey’s Anatomy will finally be canceled (that show needs to go).

Now imagine that you’re asked to answer those deep philosophical questions while 30,000 feet in the air?

That’s the case for Dr. Bernard E Johnson, an ordained minister who recently wrote an interesting article on the 10 questions he most often gets asked during flights. No-holds-barred cross examinations include the following light and easy fare:

• Does the current economic crisis have spiritual roots?
• Why are so few people truly happy?
• Is the conflict in the Middle East leading to Armageddon?
• Why do bad things happen to good people?

The good minister doesn’t attempt to give an answer to any of these questions (at least in the article) but simply notes that they all touch upon the deeper, “spiritual dimension of life.”

Which got me thinking – What would I ask a minister, or a guru, rabbi, or Buddhist philosopher (and the list goes on) if I sat next to one on a plane? And what would I expect as an answer?

Knowing myself relatively well, I’m sure I’d seek out if they were even moderately intuitive…and then ask them what they could tell me about myself (narcissistic? Probably. Keeps me focused? Definitely).

Beyond The Self

After that, I’d ask what brought them to a life of serving God, or other deity, and if they agree with the rules placed upon them. These are different for each religion, obviously, but for Catholics, what about that no marriage rule? Could that be part of the reason such sexual scandal exists in the church?

Yeah, maybe I wouldn’t ask that.

I would definitely ask the person’s view on women in terms of leadership within that particular religion or spiritual organization. That reveals plenty with just a little bit of information.

I suppose that I wouldn’t expect this “leader” to have any of the big answers in life, any more than the rest of us. I would certainly love to discuss the idea of the economic crisis having spiritual roots and implications, but I’ve already come to my own conclusions around that (of course, I’m open to more thoughts on the subject).

Chances are, they’re searching too, because they are human just like the rest us.

What would you ask a spiritual leader if you sat next to one on a plane? Share your thoughts below.

Seems as if I can’t walk out the front door without hearing about yoga these days (literally…there’s a yoga study right across the street from my apartment).

In my neck of the woods, more people seem to be coming out of yoga classes on a Sunday morning rather than church.

And it’s not just in new-age central, California, either. Retreats are abounding: everywhere from Massachusetts to Thailand, the best yoga destinations are now hotly debated around the web.

Are traditional church leaders scared? Christian televangelist Pat Robertson called yoga “spooky” a few years back:

Yet it appears that his view on yoga is rooted in misunderstanding. As one blogger put it, “Asking Robertson about yoga is about as futile as asking Paris Hilton for her insights on the theory of existentialism.”

Spiritual Or Religious?

So traditional church attendance appears to be waning. Does that mean Americans are less spiritual?

What might be considered damning to the very fabric of organized religion, a recent Huffington Post article posed an interesting theory: Americans, at least, are searching for spiritual experience over simple spiritual belief.

The author and Spiritual Program Director for Canyon Ranch Health Resorts, Jonathan Ellerby, states that:

Church attendance is down more than 10% from recent years and fewer people self-identify as Christian or religious…more and more people are connecting with regular and diverse spiritual practices such as meditation, yoga, mindfulness, expressive arts (such as dance, group singing/chanting), self-help studies, and spiritual travel.

He goes on to explain that anything in life where there is a felt-sense, like watching a sunset, connecting with a lover or pet, or even playing sports, has more impact than simply reading about it.

Even more importantly, he says: “The tolerance for guilt and passing one’s own ethics and judgment to an authority who is questionable and too human is less and less appealing.”

Yoga As Religion

Then there’s the question of whether or not yoga is a religion, or is at least rooted in one. Over the past six months, yoga has been banned by Islamic leaders in Malaysia and Indonesia due to its Hindu roots.

Food and Yoga blogger Karen Mackenzie questioned whether it’s possible for yoga and religion to work together. And Yoga Journal ran an article entitled, Is Yoga a Religion?, which noted:

There are ancient yogic texts (most notably, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra) that many regard as scriptures, revelations of truth and wisdom meant to guide the lives of yogis down through the ages.

I can see how this might scare some leaders of organized religions, since it is giving people the ability to make choices and come to their own conclusions. Whether we explore externally via globe trotting, or internally via contemplation, breathwork, and movement, we give rise to our own truths.

And those truths may or may not look a whole lot different than what the church is telling you to believe.

For some good fun with a Christian twist, check out the farcical Yoga: A Religion for Sex Addicts.

Feature photo: adhiwus

Community Connection

Find out how some groups are doing to trademark this ancient practice in Asanas For Sale: The Privatization Of Yoga, and how to fit in yoga anytime with 7 Ancient Exercises You Can Do Anywhere.

Do you think yoga is becoming more popular than organized religion? Share your thoughts below.

A boy in Nepal / Photo: nromagna

Nepal has always seemed exotic for many travelers — not only for its litany of climates, which range from sea level jungles to the ice-caped apexes of the world called the Himalaya.

Despite the bevy of diversity amongst flora and fauna, its culture too has held sway over the imaginations of travelers from around the world.

I was fortunate enough to have had a teaching post in its capital Kathmandu. The duties were minimal and I was able to feed a few sportive passions like trekking and climbing, as well as a few more cerebral ones, including the odd bit of volunteer work and some personally relevant cultural research.

As an atheist with avid interest in religion I was keen to explore the culture that (for me) was tantamount to zealous and devout observance of Hinduism and Buddhism.

My first shock when I realized Sundays are normal work and school days in Nepal; a fact that started me thinking not so much about the role religion played in conditioning the Nepalese and Nepali societies, but rather, the role of religion on a global level.

God Bless You

NYC crowd / Photo: cwbuecheler

In the West, whence secularism arose, we are tempted to conclude that we live in a place devoid of religious dominance.

Of course, most people cognisant of history will acknowledge that bank holidays such as Christmas, Good Friday, or Easter Monday come directly from Christianity. Aside from these obvious examples, the prevalence of religion, and not only Christian, is woven throughout the experience of Westerners.

“God bless you,” one might say after sneezing, a statement with overtly religious origins. The phrase is thought to have originated during the reign of Pope Gregory I (aka Gregory the Great or Gregory the Dialogist) when sneezing was considered a sign of having plague. Blessing one another, as per the recommendation of Gregory I, was meant to provide alleviation.

In Law and Loss

In modern law, the phrase Acts of God can be readily found. What was once intended likely for reverence – now the mentioned ‘God’ is no longer inherent, yet the phrase remains intact, exemplifying the role of religion in even secular societies.

Perhaps the most prevalent of places to find religious connotation in daily life is in the bevy of exclamations people employ whilst expressing themselves on matters of relief, stupefaction, indignation, anger, and any other heightened emotion state.

“For heaven’s sake”, “Devil take the hindmost”, and “Thank God” might be heard on any given day, and all have religious suggestions even if the users are non-believers.

Tthe phrase “by Jove” conjures the head of the Roman pantheon by name directly, Jove, sometimes known as Jupiter, or in Greek, Zeus.

Eat, Pray, Eat

Hot (Jesus) Cross Buns / Photo: tico24

Many people also indirectly observe religion by way of eating. Or maybe it is more apt to say that what many people put—and do not put—into their mouths is dictated or at least influenced by religious observance.

Taboo foodstuffs are the easiest to consider, such as pork in Islam, which is forbidden a la Mohammed (owing to how quickly the meat spoils in the warm climate in which Islam was first founded). The sacred status of cattle in Hinduism that lead to the prohibition of beef amongst Hindus is another well-known example of the interplay between food and belief.

Vegetarianism on religious grounds is certainly not limited to Hinduism. During the Christian time of Lent, red meat is forbidden. This excludes beaver, which was declared a fish in the 17th century by the Catholic Church and is therefore not taboo throughout Lent.

In many English-speaking cultures, one of the ways in which the end of Lent is celebrated is with the pastry hot-crossed buns.

These sweet breads are decorated with a cross, commensurate to the Christian religion and evocative of resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is also evidence suggesting these specific breads having been part of an early Anglo-Saxon tradition celebrating spring.

Regardless of one’s own beliefs, country of origin, and country of residence — whether Nepal and India, or Europe and North America — the fortitude of religion has been secured through celebration, custom, food, and even colloquialism.

What examples of of religion influencing culture have you noticed in your travels? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Photo: Azam Sa’ad

I tend to believe that many of us want to live forever.

Or at least think we will. At age 20.

But, according to a poll conducted by Reader’s Digest, it turns out most of us do not want to partake in a never-ending existence.

Except Brazilians – 72% of them wanted eternal life (duh…it’s because they’re out partying all night).

Indians ranked next in hoping to break the death barrier, with 67% voicing an affirmative yes! to life.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, only 36% of Russians, 39% of Singaporeans, and 40% of Germans are hoping against meeting their maker (or not heading on to their next life). Americans also came in at 40%, Brits 41%, and Canadians at 42%.

It’s interesting to contemplate why the numbers range so much between certain countries. What exactly do these statistics imply?

Views On The Afterlife

Does wanting to live forever or just get it over with have to do with religion, socioeconomic status, or a general outlook on life? Or is it just a random process?

I suppose Indians on the whole are less stressed than Americans (although the Westernization that is currently underway may be changing this belief), so inevitably, they’d want to live longer.

But then a good chunk of the Indian population believes there is more than this one life, and hopefully the next life will be better, so that makes me think they’d want to get on with it.

I might also hypothesize that Russians have had to deal with quite a bit since the fall of Communism, and it’s not been exactly smooth going, so maybe they want the misery to end.

Plus, the largest religion is Russian Orthodox Christianity, which is pretty clear on the trials and tribulations of life and death, and the kickass-ness of the afterlife.

And yet, Russian artists seem intent on capturing the timelessness of life. As Maxim, a Russian couchsurfer, explains in a recent interview conducted by by Matador Trips co-editor Carlo Alcos, in his culture “poets, writers and musicians have always been the ‘conscience of the people.’”

For some, creating a masterpiece is certainly something worth living a long time for.

Contemplating the reasons for or against life eternal based on one’s current life seems to split 50/50. But maybe there are other reasons why the populations of different countries had such a varied response to this question.

Why do some countries want a never-ending party, while others think a finite amount of time is just fine with them? Share your thoughts below!

Community Connection

Don’t miss BNT’s recent interview with Jason Silva about how science can eliminate death, along with the interesting debate in the comments section.

Bahá’í House of Worship in Delhi, India / Photo: macsurak / Feature photo: Christine K

Encountering different and unique religions worlds apart from your own is part of the travelling experience.

However, no matter how many countries you have under your belt or hostels you’ve slept in, you still might not encounter some of these extremely private, seldom heard-of religions.

1. Jainism

Praying at a Jain temple, India / Photo: mattlogelin

Jainism is one of the world’s oldest religions, dating itself prior to tenth century BCE India. There are approximately four million Jains today, almost entirely in India.

The religion revolves around five central beliefs of non-violence, truth, non-stealing, celibacy, and non-possession. The principle of non-violence is particularly important to Jains, as they believe that every living thing, even microscopic organisms, has a soul that can attain enlightenment.

Because of this, most Jains eat something resembling a very strict vegan diet and monks and nuns walk around barefoot sweeping the ground in front of them to avoid killing innocent insects.

2. Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrian carvings / Photo: wallyg

Zoroastrianism is based on the teachings of the first millennium BCE Iranian prophet Zoroaster. There are estimated to be between 150,000 and 210,000 Zoroastrians in the world today, mostly in India and the United States.

These small numbers mask the historical importance of this religion. Both Eastern and Western religions can trace ties back to Zoroastrianism, meaning the religion has most likely had more impact on the world than any other belief system.

Zoroastrians believe in one universal God, Ahura Mazda, who is in conflict with the forces of chaos, led by Angra Mainyu. Humans need to take an active role in the conflict by performing good deeds and having good thoughts and words.

The conflict will ultimately be brought to an end when Soashyant, a savior, comes to Earth and reanimates the dead.

3. Baha’i faith

Baha’i Master looks on / Photo: blakeread

Baha’i was founded in the 1800s in Persia by the prophet Baha’u’llah. It emphasizes the spiritual unity of all humankind and sees religious history as unfolding through a series of divine messengers, each suited for what the people of the time could handle.

The prophets of the world’s major world religions are all accepted as valid, including Krishna, Abraham, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. The social teachings of each religion, such as which direction to pray, may be revoked or changed, but some fundamental principles, including charity and neighborliness, are always unchanged.

The largest center of the Baha’i faith is India, where 2.2 million followers reside, followed by Iran and the United States. Baha’i was classified at the world’s second fastest growing religion by percentage in 2007, when it grew by 1.7 percent.

4. Yoruba

A girl in prayer / Photo: carf

The Yoruba religion is the beliefs and practices of the people located in the areas that are now Benin and Nigeria before they encountered other outside religions.

There are no specific numbers documenting the number of followers, but many believe that Yoruba is the largest African-born religion in the world. It has also heavily influenced several Afro-American religions such as Lucumi in Cuba.

The main belief of the Yoruba peoples is that all humans have a manifest destiny, referred to as ayanmo, to become one with the divine creator, known as Olodumare.

Our destinies are determined through our thoughts and actions in the physical world. The Yoruba see life and death as cycles in the physical and spiritual realms while the spirit moves towards union with Olodumare.

5. Mami Wata

Mami Wata, water spirit

Mami Wata is another African-born religion that venerates a water spirit known as Mami Wata. She is depicted as being incredibly beautiful with long hair and is frequently accompanied by an incredibly large snake.

The religion holds that Mami will sometimes assume human form in bars or busy markets and also will abduct people while they are swimming or boating on the water. These captives are then released in dry clothes and better health, but only after agreeing to an oath of sexual fidelity to the spirit.

From its beginnings in Africa, the worship of Mami Wata has spread to many Caribbean islands and parts of North and South America.

6. Mandaeism

Prep for Mandaeism baptism / Photo: credit

Mandaeism is an extremely secretive Gnostic Christian religion. Prior to the 2003 war, the religion’s sixty to seventy thousand followers were almost entirely located in Iraq.

There are now estimated to be only five to seven thousand left in Iraq, the rest having been either displaced or killed in the sectarian violence that followed the US occupation.

Mandaens believe that Jesus was a false messiah who corrupted the teachings given to him by John the Baptist. For this reason, John has a special place in their religion along with Adam, Abel, Seth, Enosh, Noah, Shem, and Aram. Abraham, Moses, and Muhammad, on the other hand, are all seen as false prophets alongside Jesus.

Any personal experience with these religions? Or how about a few we missed? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Photo: Tina Keller

I’m pretty much as white as you can get if you take a look at me from afar.

My mom is 100% German, and my dad’s side of the family is half Irish, half German (yeah, that’s a lot of German…and whiteness).

Yet I tend to appreciate the wisdom of Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine over western medicine, I’ve been trying to figure out how to find my way to an authentic Native American sweat lodge for years, and I’ll take some coconut curry over steak and potatoes any day of the week, thank you very much.

And when I dress up to perform Bhangra, a traditional Indian folk dance, I’ve been mistaken for being Indian on more than one occassion.

I’ve felt embarrassed at times for being the white girl walking down the street with a bindi on her forehead (and I’ve certainly overheard a few comments). I sometimes want to turn around and explain I’m dressed this way for a performance, that I’m part of a multi-cultural dance troupe, etc., but then I realize I’m just fishing for justifications.

So when I happened upon Macon D.’s Stuff White People Do blog about romanticizing Indigenous people, I began to contemplate the idea that more and more white people (especially of my generation) need to identify with and take part, some say culturally appropriate, other cultures’ traditions:

So often, white people who want to reach out beyond the boundaries of “normal” life end up reaching too much into the lives of others. Actually, and oddly enough, when they think they’re reaching out to something authentically non-white, what they’re actually doing is conjuring up a fantasized, stereotypical, and romanticized version of something that’s only supposedly non-white.

Macon D. was commenting on an explosive situation that occurred between a Burning Man (BM) group and several Oakland, CA Native American tribes. The BM group had planned a party with a “Go Native!” theme, prompting the Native American activists to demand a cancellation of the event.

A Hopi woman had this to say:

I’m trying to articulate my feelings as best I can without completely losing it. What we do is not an artistic expression. And you don’t have artistic license to take little pieces here and there and do what you want with it. That’s something you people don’t understand, probably never will understand.

Following this thought process, how do we contextualize those white people who choose religions that are traditionally tied to another culture? Star.com recently ran an article, White by Birth, Sikh by Choice about a white man raised in the United Church who became a practicing Sikh in 1972.

According to the article, he still gets many looks when he walks down the street, dressed in a turban, flowing pants and shirt with a long beard. But the looks don’t bother him at this point, and he knew at a very young age that he didn’t fit in with those that surrounded him.

I’m all for people being able to choose, whether it be the way they dress, the groups they affiliate with, or their religion, considering I have personally gone down different cultural paths in all of these areas.

But, I wonder, are some white people (including myself) going too far in trying to be something different than they really are? Share your thoughts below.

Stone faced monks age solemnly / Photo copepodo

During four-months of backpacking and research across Spain, I found myself in the monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos, 57 kilometers south of Burgos.

I planned on experiencing as much as possible the rhythms of Benedictine monastic life.

Open to the public, the chanted prayer of the monks at Silos occurs six times a day in the monastery church. They perform their cycle of prayer in the form of plainsong, also known as Gregorian chant.

The Monasterio de Santo Domingo de Silos is home of the monks made famous when their CD, Chant, was released in 1994.

The lineage of the land here goes deep. Previously inhabited by prehistoric populations, Celtiberians, Romans, Visigoths, and Muslims, the current monastery was founded in the 10th century over a ruined Visigothic monastery that was destroyed during an 8th century incursion from Muslim invaders.

Immersed in this deep ancestry, I wonderd what would happen if I went to chanted prayer six times a day.

A Chance Encounter

Before my first chance to attend chanted prayer (7pm for Vespers), I stretched my legs and took in all the streets of the village, relishing in its medieval pattern and the sense that time has stood still.

Destinations

Community Connection to Spain

Until, that is, I passed an elderly man who looked back at me with a bewildered, wild eyes, before suddenly unfurling unbidden obscenities at me.

My stability unraveled and I rushed away, taking alternate streets to get back to my room so as to avoid running into him. I did my best to clear my mind of the experience and then headed back out to my first session with the monks in the monastery church.

For the rest of the weekend, I entered into a rhythm of going to each prayer session: Matins, Lauds, the Eucharist, Sext, Vespers, and Compline, held throughout the days.

I interspersed prayer times with walks into the wild countryside of Castile and three course country meals paired with local vintages at the traditional country inns in the village. The monks weren’t suffering for good food and wine, so I decided to join their monastic tradition on that front, too.

The Monks Arrive

Inside the Santo Domingo de Silos church / Photo labtscm

After two days of constant sung prayer, something did happen.

It was Sunday evening during Compline, the last prayer of the day. The monks arrived as usual, streaming in from a door behind the apse and standing on both sides of the church altar, a brother in the middle to guide the chant.

I loved the times of day, early and late, when there were very few visitors because then the monks were more themselves. One blew his nose while chanting, another rubbed his tired eyes.

They always showed each other great reverence, a thou relationship, bowing at each other upon entering and upon leaving. It was clear they saw each other as extensions of God.

There were four other lay people present, like me, sitting in the nave. I felt my state of presence had increased with these sessions – and now I was also finding that something significant was happening on a cellular level, as if my body and mind were pulsating at a different frequency.

I closed my eyes as the chanting washed over me. I pictured the monks on the altar, but they were emitting light from the crowns of their heads. It was a white light – but when it joined in the center of their circle, far above the dome of the church, it turned to purple.

It was like a complex maze or kaleidoscope of purple lines and luminous emissions, weaving a great cosmic tapestry with a deep purple center that acted like a tunnel, a great portal on a cosmic highway. It was truly one of the most beautiful things I’d ever “seen.”

A Glimpse Of God

As I am not Catholic and was not raised in a Catholic system. Whatever that was that I experienced was not being channeled through a particular belief system.

It felt universally sacred, offered through the discipline of intentional sound and vibration. As the chanting ceased, as the brothers bowed to each other, as one brother turned to us and wished us blessings, the few lay people got up to leave.

I sat a bit longer, still engulfed by the impact of my vision. An elderly man walked past me. I looked up and saw that it was the deranged man from the day before, the one who could not control the stream of obscenities that pushed past his lips.

But he was transformed, or better, trance-formed. His face, especially his eyes, were vibrant, clear, and shining. Plump tears were rolling down his cheeks. He stopped before me briefly and tilted his head in a respectful nod.

He then walked on past, whispering the sweetest buenas noches I’d ever heard.

I was seriously considering becoming an undercover agent of the Lord.

In exchange for some back alley preaching and a few hush-hush conversions to Christianity here and there (a sort of save the world one heathen a time kind of thing) Azusa Pacific University was offering me (at 50% the going rate) a Masters of Arts in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).

The impetus for such a bargain basement MA is a spiritual battle being fought in tandem with the physical conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine in what Christian missions strategist Luis Bush calls the “10/40 window,” an area stretching across North Africa and Asia from 10 degrees south of the equator to 40 degrees north of it.

According to Southern Nazarene University’s Dr. of Missions Howard Culbertson, of the 55 least evangelized countries, (countries with the least amount of actively proselytizing Christian missionaries), 97% are within the ten forty window.

In the vernacular of the Christian Coalition, of which George Bush is a supporter, these countries are known by the corporate like moniker of Creative-Access Countries (CAC’s).

Egypt, my home for the past 9 months, just so happens to be one of these countries.

Means To An End

Photo DavidDennisPhotos

What makes Egypt a CAC is that although the government generally tolerates missionary groups, if they actively recruit converts, it is seen (as in most of the predominantly Islamic world of the 10/40 window) as a violation of dhimmitude, the concept under which proselytism by non-Muslims is strictly forbidden.

While there is no state law saying that it is forbidden to change one’s religion, it is a common fact that in Egypt, a convert from Islam to Christianity risks being arrested and imprisoned. In stricter Islamic countries, the penalty for apostasy is often death.

Ironically enough, groups such as the Christian & Missionary Alliance seek to save Muslim souls through the teaching of a subject that George Bush, a self-professed born-again Christian, seems to have skipped one too many times at Yale: English.

Rather than using the teaching of English as an end in itself (as it should be, in my opinion as a English teacher) it is being used as a means to an end.

The end of “saving” Arab souls somehow justifies the means of outright deception and manipulation. This Christianized version of the old bait & switch con may indeed be, as touted in a recent article in Christianity Today “the ultimate language lesson.”

The article’s author explains the strategy behind the stealth crusade quite succinctly with this bold statement: “Start an evangelical church in Poland and no one will come. Start an English school, and you’ll make many friends.”

The Process Of Apostasy

Here’s how it works. Once a potential “agent of the Lord” is identified and screened for covert operations in a potentially hostile environment, work platforms and visas are secured by a sponsoring organization.

In an industrialized nation such as China, the pretext to secure the needed documents is to teach English through an already established institution such as a university. In developing countries such as Egypt, a community or health center is often opened so that English and/or computer classes can be offered as the front to hide the true motive of evangelization.

Integral to such neighborhood centers is a coffee shop or lounge area where agents and potential converts can chat. Once the relationship that begins in the classroom is deepened between the teacher and students over coffee and conversation, the process of apostasy is well under way.

Ed Mangham and his wife Julie have opened three of these centers in an undisclosed Creative-Access Country.

In a recent magazine article “Building on a Grand Heritage” the couple related how their centers are full of former Muslims. In fact, 95% of the students in their English and computer classes are Muslim and 75% of the patients in their clinic are.

The couple’s success, they suspect, may be attributed to the more subtle methods of modern day missionaries. Ed notes that the means may have changed from a formal church setting “to sitting down to talk with an Arab who does not know Christ – whether it’s over bitter Turkish coffee – or an espresso in our center’s coffee shop.”

The end remains the same: convert Muslims to Christianity.

Good Intentions

The issue, as Julian Edge clarifies in his article Imperial Troopers and Servants of the Lord, and as I see it also, is one of transparency.

By dressing their true – albeit well intentioned motives – in the guise of teaching English, these missionary groups are not conducting themselves honestly (1 Thessalonians 4:12; 1 Timothy 2.2) nor with due candor (James. 5:12) as scripture entreats them to.

They are tarnishing the noblest of all professions, a profession that Jesus was a part of himself: teaching.

Rather than operating by the Christian principles of transparency, honesty, and integrity these covert missionaries have opted for the easier softer way of false pretenses, deception, and manipulation.

And intentions, no matter how good, tend to produce more harm if not conducted with honesty.

What do you think of covert missionary work? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Postsecret.com is always the place to read about other people’s scandalous thoughts. Recently, they published a postcard about comedian Bill Maher:

The Bill Maher postcard.

This post, and Maher’s movie, Religulous, apparently have gotten people talking:

I liked this secret, and i hated it. I felt bad about it because i got the feeling the sender really wanted to re-connect with their faith, and for some reason Maher fucked with it at a crucial point… On the other hand, this person may in fact be able to defy Maher and his oh-so-cynical approach to… everything (not to mention his massive superiority complex) and re-connect with their faith and in the end, they may have a stronger, unwavering relationship with their god.

Similarly, movies such as Jesus Camp, where children are taught to become “dedicated Christian soldiers in God’s Army,” and The Passion of the Christ, Mel Gibson’s adaptation of the crucifixion of Christ, have polarized viewers around the world.

The conversations prompted by these movies show Hollywood’s influence on the public opinion of different religions (I won’t even mention Kabbalah or Scientology, don’t worry).

According to the Pew Forum on Religious and Public Life, in the US:

Less than half of Americans (45%) say the news media is fair in its portrayal of people who share their religious faith. Even fewer (35%) say Hollywood and the entertainment industry are fair in this regard.

And almost half of Californians blame Hollywood for “losing their religion.”

Why are people so affected by what Hollywood has to say? It seems to be how many people learn about other religions and cultures:

The entertainment industry does a particularly terrible job depicting other countries and cultures…the people who say “why are you taking this so seriously?” have been brainwashed to the point where they don’t see why (making fun of other cultures) is wrong…this has been done so much, that people just overlook it.

This made me contemplate the question: are people who immerse themselves in other cultures less influenced by what Hollywood has to say about religion or spirituality?

I wasn’t able to find a good study or even a discussion of this topic, so it’s up to you, dear reader, to say what you think.

Does learning about other cultures, faiths, and people firsthand make a person less influenced by Hollywood’s interpretation of different religions? Share your thoughts below.

Illustration: Gallup Poll

Which countries come to mind when you hear the word “religious”? Israel? India? Istanbul?

Ok, ok, Istanbul isn’t a country, but it was the inspiration for that catchy tune.

Well, if you guessed any of the above, you didn’t hit even one of the countries that made the top 11 Most Religious Countries in the world in a recent Gallup Poll.

Coming in at the top spot was Egypt, followed by Bangladesh, and a host of African countries, along with Indonesia.

On the flip side, which are the least religious countries in the world?

Estonia had the lowest percentage of people who said that religion plays an important part in their lives, followed by a few fair-skinned places: Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. Rounding out the top five is a former Communist territory, the Czech Republic.

Even more interesting, according to the same poll:

A population’s religiosity level is strongly related to its average standard of living…(the poll) indicates that 8 of the 11 countries in which almost all residents (at least 98%) say religion is important in their daily lives are poorer nations in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

And you guessed it, several of the least religious countries have the highest living standards, including Hong Kong, Japan, and the fair-haired triple whammy mentioned above.

What does this mean exactly? Is there a clear link between being devoted to a higher power and having no money in your pocket?

Of course, one of the problems with this purported correlation is the United States, which has both a high standard of living AND high marks for being religious.

What do you think – is there a real correlation between religion and standard of living? Share your thoughts below.

Feature photo: Steven Fernandez

Photo: Zaninni H

My dad was the first in the family to see it.

Fresh off a hitch on an Egyptian oilrig, he had a house full of friends and family to entertain with tales from abroad.

Much to the delight of his guests (but to my horror) his story about the third eye of Islam culminated with his finger tapping against the middle of my forehead, as he asked pointedly, “How’d you get that mark right there, Mohammed? Huh? Huh?”

Shrugging his shoulders and slapping his forehead to answer his own question, he busted out laughing. Guests followed suit.

Personally, I didn’t get it until years later when I came face to face with it on the Cairo metro.

Meeting The Eye

As the train chugged along the tracks, I felt like something was watching me. Turning my head slowly to the right, there it was – smack dab in the middle of a good believer’s forehead: the third eye of Islam.

My dad’s anecdote popped into my head then – and now every time I see one (which is often), I think of him.

While my father’s theory had been entertaining, I knew there was probably some kind of alternate explanation for this strange mark I was seeing between everyone’s eyes. To get to the bottom of this, I decided to talk to a specialist.

According to Dr. Sameh Attia, Professor of Dermatology at Mina University in Cairo and noted researcher on “Moslem prayer nodules,” the mark was nothing more than a callus in a seemingly incongruous place, the forehead.

In the Middle East, this epidermal phenomenon is commonly known by its Arabic name zabeeba, which means raisin. As it turns out, it was neither the finger jabbing nor the palm slapping that caused the mark as my dad had hypothesized, but one of the five pillars of Islam itself.

Worship Meets Reality

The doctor explained that praying and prostrating oneself towards Mecca five times a day (as stipulated in salat, the second pillar of Islam) means putting repeated pressure and friction on the forehead when it meets the carpet.

Photo: T Bet

As the full weight of the body is placed entirely on the forehead during the 34 daily prostrations (part of the five daily prayer sessions) the mark naturally begins to appear over a period of years (with four years generally the minimum amount of time required).

Dermatologist Sameh Attia agreed with this summation of the situation: 5 doses a day of religious inculcation + years of Islamic prostration = epidermal accumulation. As a medical specialist, however, he preferred to call it by its clinical name, hyperkeratosis.

The process of hyperkeratosis or calvus (as it’s also known) is accelerated through the exposure to secondary fungal and bacterial infections found where calluses normally preside – on bare feet.

A Mark Of Distinction

As worship is a communal experience and ritual cleansing of the extremities with just water are a part of that process, it does not remove all fungus and bacteria from the feet.

When the forehead meets the floor, the pressure and friction “plow the field” so to speak, and there among the corns of the guy’s feet in front of you, the seed of a zabeeba is sown.

A callus sown on a Muslim man’s head is like a key to the heavenly palace; it is brought about by the notion of social devotion and awarded with communal deference and general reverence.

It is, as Dr. Attia pointed out in his article Muslim Prayer Nodules, “a badge of distinction.” Some say that even the Prophet Mohamed, peace be upon him, had a zabeeba.

Small wonder it’s purported that some fake it till they make it.

For just as some falsely modest women can wear the veil, so can some less piously inclined men fake their zabeebas. So if the third eye you spied on the metro appears to be moving with each passing day, something besides piety may be a foot.

After all, with just a little sandpaper and soot, the payoff can be huge.

Michael Franti infuses his music with activism / Photo by Kubacheck

Throughout the world, people are being affected by the–gasp, dare I say it?–depression that continues to pummel forward on a daily basis.

People have lost their life savings, are going back to work at age 70, and are hunting down jobs that pay a third of their former salary, competing against three times as many people as they would have in the past.

But could there be an upside to the downturn? If you look around, you’ll see an unprecedented movement towards spiritual activism.

What exactly is spiritual activism?

I appreciate filmmaker Velcrow Ripper’s thoughts on the subject:

Spiritual Activism is the coming together of spirituality, and activism. It is not about religion, it is not about any form of dogma, it is simply activism that comes from the heart, not just the head, activism that is compassionate, positive, kind, fierce and transformative…Nothing could be more inspiring and more rewarding than being the change we want to see in the world, within and without.

It can take the form of organized religion, encouraging a former marine to become a Zen Buddhist. Or, it can be about finding one’s true calling, working for a social change organization after being laid off from a corporate job.

It can even be simply deciding to take part in the Brightsiding approach to life, or changing your spending habits.

A recent Gallop poll reported that for most Americans, the depression has not resulted in an increase in church attendance, or the “importance of religion” in their daily lives.

But does this report actually have anything to do with spirit, which can be a quieter process, shown outwardly through a growing desire to better our world?

Share your thoughts on spiritual activism in the comments!

Photo: Brittney Bush

Most people tend to think of yoga as separate from religion, or at least non-dogmatic and non-denominational.

Not so to Islamic leaders in Malaysia: in November, 2008, Muslim clerics banned the practice of yoga by followers of the religion. The National Fatwa Council Abdul chairman Shukor Husin stated that:

“Many Muslims fail to understand that yoga’s ultimate aim is to be one with a God of a different religion.”

Indonesia leaders followed suit a month later.

Insiya Rasiwala-Finn, a yoga teacher based in Vancouver and a practicing Muslim, was appalled by this ruling, especially considering she watched her devout father practice yoga every morning while growing up.

Yet she understands that yoga was originally a Hindu practice, and Hindu philosophies still pervade the tradition.

Should all Muslims, which number over 10 million in the US and Canada alone, refrain from taking part in the spiritual practice of yoga?

Does this also cause a problem for other religions, especially the fundamental factions found within many faiths?

Share your thoughts below.

This article originally appeared on Glimpse Abroad, an international news, culture and travel site that features stories written by students and volunteers living abroad.

As I woke to the muezzin’s wails straining through a riot of church bells in my cramped hostel room in Old Jerusalem, excerpts of the previous night’s angry conversations were already working their way through my mounting hangover. Shouts of, “how can you call them terrorists?” and “there aren’t two sides to this story!” and, of course, “What are you looking for anyway?!” pierced the headache I had earned over hours of politically charged debate and a steady stream of warm red wine. I rolled out of my narrow bed and groaned, cursing another day of reporting in this enraged and bitter country.

What was I looking for?

It was not my first time in Israel and Palestine. I had visited the region three years before as a tourist and student of journalism and was so captivated by the complex politics, passionate people, and heady religious atmosphere that I vowed to return as a reporter. I had visions of humanizing a land synonymous with hatred, of revealing positive, hopeful stories and bringing new insight to a seemingly intractable conflict.

Turns out that the summer of 2006 was a bad season for hope and insight in the Holy Land. When I landed at Ben Gurion airport along with my fellow journalists Jessica and Alex on June 28th we were well aware of the Israeli air strike that had killed a picnicking family on a beach in Gaza, and the Israeli soldier that had been kidnapped by Hamas a few days earlier. But we were full of energy and a fair amount of self-importance. Our online magazine had uncovered positive and unique stories in some pretty unlikely places and we were sure that we could do the same here – even in this land of perpetual war.

Almost immediately I sensed that the mood had shifted since my visit in 2003. Though suicide bombings and violence in Gaza were regular occurrences then as well, the people I had spoken with during those two weeks had seemed hopeful, open, and philosophical when conversation – as it inevitably did – turned to the conflict.

But the Jerusalem that enchanted me three years ago felt like a different city this time. The tension wires were pulled tight and a potent rage seemed to float in the ether, lighting and lifting at a moment’s notice.

We pulled up to our hostel in East Jerusalem and interrupted a shouting match between an Orthodox Jew and an Arab man over a bicycle accident. “Jew killer,” hissed our otherwise jocular cab driver, jerking his chin in the direction of the young Arab currently yanking twisted handle bars from the other man’s grasp.

Later, at the Western Wall, a place I recalled for its liveliness and beauty, the smiling and bearded men that once crowded to invite me to Shabbat dinner and ask what New York borough I lived in kept to themselves, impenetrable huddles of black hats and overcoats. The only interaction I experienced was with a seething security guard that shouted at me for wearing short sleeves.

On the way back a group of young men loitering in a pool of seedy yellow light shouted, “fuck your mother America” at my back. No flirtatious invitations to practice broken English this time.

I remembered feeling like a religious outsider during my last visit to Jerusalem. Being a non-religious person in the holy land had been strange. Your experience as a traveler there is largely defined by observing other people’s religious devotions. But my political ambivalence, largely a result of my journalistic training, had served me well here before. I recall my lack of “side-taking” as an invitation to some incredible conversations. It seemed to me then that people enjoyed speaking with someone who hadn’t firmly entrenched themselves in a camp, someone who just wanted to hear what everyone had to say.

Right away I realized that my neutrality was going to be cause for suspicion this time. Taking sides, it seemed, had become a prerequisite for most interactions. And it wasn’t limited to Israelis and Palestinians. The hostel conflagration, which resulted in some storming-out-of-the-room moments and icy breakfasts around the rooftop common table in the days that followed, was a reaction to our pitching story ideas to a group of American and European backpackers.

We raised some ire when we mentioned that we were looking to report on Palestinian NGOs working on issues outside the conflict (”how can you suggest that someone can work on social issues when they’re under occupation? Where’s your sensitivity?!”). But our biggest mistake was suggesting a piece that explored motivational links between Jewish-American settlers and activists working with the Palestinian International Solidarity Movement, [cue: out-of-the-room storming].

How were we supposed to report anything if we couldn’t even discuss ideas and pitch stories openly?

We weren’t trying to broker peace agreements or map out new borders here, we just wanted to challenge journalism to explore beyond the predictable political frames of conflict. But with every hopeful email sent out or lead explored that returned an angry political diatribe, that goal receded further into the realm of naive memory.

We finally just gave in. We focused our energy on a radio short that was basically a montage of Palestinian and Israeli voices-all ex-pats-and played more like an indictment of American culture (seems that no one has a problem with hearty criticisms of the United States these days) than a hard hitting discussion of the conflict or politics.

But producing a radio short takes time, in our case over three weeks, and while we may have had the media focus of our travels in Israel and Palestine worked out, it didn’t mean that we weren’t still suffering the emotional toll of working in a country that seemed to burying itself in hatred and intolerance.

It was strange to keep receiving emails from worried friends and family back home whose main concerns were for our physical safety when it felt like our psychological wellbeing was what was at stake. Just the simple fact that our radio piece required moving regularly between political, religious and ethnic borders made us feel isolated and suspicious – lonely in our unique curiosity.

Even in the rare moments when we allowed ourselves the luxury of stepping outside of our journalistic duties, when we were invited to a friend’s home for dinner and discussions focused on catching up on each other’s lives for example, it felt like politics loomed as an unacknowledged subtext. In the face of the overwhelming political identity and moral certitude of our hosts, there was no room for us to express our own feelings about politics or life. A guidebook that used the wrong geographical terminology, or even a misplaced sigh at the mention of violence, was enough to inspire terse breaks in otherwise lively conversation.

Then war broke out and I screamed at a priest.

It was the morning of July 13th and predictably the pressure that had been swelling for months – or I guess generations – exploded again onto Al-Jazeera and the BBC.

We woke to a surprisingly quiet hostel. Everyone, from backpacker to kid off the street looking for an update, was lined up on the dirty couches, faces tilted upwards to the TV, transfixed by the grayscale images and jerky camera work of war.

We had to get out of there. I couldn’t bear the idea of watching those tiny green explosions or the stupid talking heads or the sooty billows of smoke all day. Already, smug I-told-you-so predictions of doom were rising from the growing crowd. It was too much. We headed for the Mount of Olives, thinking that a walk, a view, or some time in a quiet Orthodox church would soothe us, give us perspective.

As we entered the dark, cool interior of the Tomb of The Virgin Mary I began to feel myself relax. I know it’s a cliché but I can’t help but say that I was comforted by a sense of timelessness. A gilt-edged pieta glowed quietly in the dark, deep woody incense infused the air, our flip-flops squeaked on the worn stone floor.

I even found myself smiling at a pair of young American men, resplendent in Bermuda shorts and dirty tank tops. “This place has seen it all, and silently carried on,” I thought, imagining that I was uncovering some solemn truth about time versus human drama, when a voice behind me stated in a thick Slavic accent, “you are not properly dressed young lady, please cover up or leave.”

I am no stranger to gender double standards. They abound in the States and are practically celebrated in many other parts of the world. But as this priest admonished me for wearing too low-cut a shirt we were both looking directly at the proudly displayed sunburned legs and shoulders of the two young American men as their Adidas sandals shuffled out the door.

There are probably only a few good reasons to yell at a priest, and I’m guessing mine doesn’t qualify in most people’s books. Really, screaming “hypocrite!” in the middle of the Tomb of The Virgin is extremely bad behavior-even among atheists.

But as the word rang out and echoed off the burnished stones I had just moments before been meditating over, I was wracked by anger. Anger at the judgment, intolerance, and yes, the hypocrisy we’d been steeping in – and perpetuating – over the past month. I was exhausted by diplomacy, and disgusted that the one truth I’d been able to uncover, for all my trouble, was that the only consensus left in the world is the communal laying of a smooth path to war. After three weeks in The Holy Land, the free floating rage had lighted on me.

It may be too late, but I don’t want to give the impression that everyone in Israel and Palestine is a fanatic, or that I was miserable and feeling sorry for myself twenty four hours a day. Actually, I had some profoundly hopeful moments and meetings there. Whether it was a young man in Tel Aviv working to begin an intentional urban community or drunken conversations with fervent young Palestinians over the meaning of democracy, there are a lot of sane, concerned people in that part of the world, desperate to effect positive change.

But there is something deeply paradoxical about Israel. The same land that produced The Prince of Peace has also somehow managed to create the perfect formula for endless war. A country meant as refuge is also home to the oldest refugee camps on earth. So I suppose that it’s fitting that my most hopeful moment came simultaneously with my most uneasy.

We were visiting Hebron, home to Arabs, Jews, and the famous Tomb of the Patriarchs. Our guide, Wesam, was a fellow American – of Palestinian descent – who agreed to accompany us to the troubled West Bank city. It was Friday evening. As we tiptoed through the Shabbat-emptied streets of the militarized Jewish neighborhood, we discussed strategies on how to evade the inevitable soldiers that would be guarding the religious site.

“We should lie and say we’re all Jewish,” declared Wesam, “then they’ll let us in.” “Or, I don’t know,” he faltered, “maybe only Muslims are allowed in on Fridays.”

“I think if we say we’re Christian it’ll be more likely,” I whispered back, spooked by the vacant dusty streets ringed by tangles of barbed wire.

“No,” Alex countered, “If we just say we’re all Americans it’ll work. They’ll like that we’re all Americans.”

This exchange perfectly mirrors the absurdity of so many experiences I had in Israel and Palestine. The four of us were all Americans, one a non-practicing Jew, one a non-practicing Muslim, and two non-practicing Christians. Actually, one thing we all solidly had in common (aside from being American citizens) was a healthy skepticism of religion and here we were, guessing at what religious lie would be most likely to get us into a religious site that had been a recent flashpoint for religious violence.

It’s also important to note that it is virtually impossible to predict what identity, religion, ethnicity or nationality is more likely to get you past a military checkpoint like the one we were headed for. It seems that in the spirit of confusion and arbitrary refusals the rules can change at a moment’s notice.

The one thing that an authority figure is sure to demand is that you take a side. No room for political neutrality here. Everyone, no matter how removed from the conflict, must declare that they are Jewish/Muslim/Christian/American/Israeli/Palestinian when asked. Whether you understand it or not, you must force yourself into their image. At the airport I had witnessed a conversation between a customs official and Jessica that went as followed:

“Are you Jewish?”

“I’m non-religious.”

“But are you Jewish?”

“No, then, I’m not Jewish.”

“Well, what religion are you?”

“I’m non-religious.”

“What religion is your family?”

“My family is Jewish.”

“OK then, you’re Jewish.”

As we neared the checkpoint in Hebron we fell silent. We had no plan as we approached the soldiers and their cement blocks and their jauntily angled guns. We sputtered awkwardly for a few moments as we stared at our distorted images reflected in the Russian soldier’s Oakleys.

Suddenly Wesam declared,

“I am a Palestinian-American, my family is Muslim.”

And I said, “I am an American, my family is Christian.”

And Alex said, “I am an American, my family is Christian.”

And Jessica said finally, “I am an American, my family is Jewish. We’d all like to visit the Tomb of The Patriarchs together please.”

Of course this tactic didn’t work, and we were turned away with a fair amount of disgust, but not before we had the pleasure of basking in the utter bafflement of the group of soldiers that were formed around us, and not before I had the chance to stutter out quite possibly the dumbest thing I could have said under the circumstances: “we’re a rainbow of diversity!”

I had meant for this to come out as a profoundly dry statement, but instead was embarrassed to hear myself utter it in deep earnestness.

Maybe inspiring a stunned reaction from a gang of soldiers seems like a small victory but it left a deep impression. The experience asserted a new idea for me, that in a world pulled apart by extreme sides, by animosities so deep and polarized they threaten to suck everybody into their dark centers; neutrality, humanity, skepticism, atheism, become a stand in and of themselves.

They can, and maybe should, become your position.

Sarah Stuteville writes for The Common Language Project – dedicated to developing and implementing innovative approaches to international journalism by focusing on positive, inclusive and humane reporting of stories ignored by the mainstream media.

What do you think about Sarah’s experience? Please share your thoughts in the comments.