Saturday, October 25, 2003

that old-time religion

holy shit, too freaky.  everywhere i go folks are talking about this connection between the rightwing religous element and government.  i haven't checked in on the daily KOS lately, so just now i did.  and guess what?  yep.  a great thread going on re this very subject.  go browse around in this thread.  the RR's have linked to the discussion, so it gets interesting.  a later P.S.:  here's the link to the post that started the whole thing.  and an interesting list of links, which i am investigating.

i linked to a group of sites on religion and spirituality because of all this. clearly this is one i'll follow a while.  a little background on my own take on all this.  i grew up roman catholic, went to catholic schools all my life, including georgetown univ.  i actually spent a total of about 9 months in a convent of a belgian order, though this house was in texas.  then i spent a couple of years teaching in catholic schools.  longtime brainwashing, huh?  but my recovery was sudden, swift and total. i'm all over it now.  i have friends who remain in the church, even have friends who are priests and sisters in the church.  they are dedicated, spiritually and socially, to bettering life on earth for the poor and helpless.  i love and admire them, but consider myself a spiritual person, not a religious one.  buddhism has many aspects that i take to heart and practice, though i cannot truthfully call myself a buddhist.  i am reading and studying buddhist writers, and have quite a few friends doing the practice.  i am on a path, that's all. i firmly believe in the separation of church and state, in the right of people to practice the religion or spiritual direction of their choice, including that of no religious belief at all.  i believe that the direction that we are headed under this administration will lead us to a position little different than that of iran under the ayatollahs.  this is not and must not become a theocracy of fundamentalistic evangelical christian ideologues.  it must be stopped.  we must become aware of what's going on, and speak out at every level. 

 

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amen, Sister!! Here's a sample of my spirituality:

Before the juniper and pine
shared this tranquil domain,
when our neighbors were
spotted skunk, rattlesnake
and collared lizard,
you and I dwelled within
the womb of Mother Earth.

She protected us from
climate and adversary,
provided wild turkey
speckled dace and
mule deer to consume,
clothed us in beaver,
killdeer, and kit fox.

Anonymous said...

Her spirit came to us
in the form of golden eagle,
great horned owl,
and mischievous coyote.
She cured our illnesses
with the essence of the
yucca and hackberry.

Here we survived
century upon century
hand and hand
with Mother Earth,
until the big wind came
and blew us to
another home.

That Happy Chica,
Marcia Ellen