Has the “Lost Ark” been hidden in Ethiopia? Will it be revealed? This week?

 Posted by on 27 June 2009  Vintage/Retro
Jun 272009
 

According to a dubious news source, World Net Daily, an Ethiopian church has been hiding the Ark of the Covenant for millennia, but they are just about ready to unveil it to the world. It was supposed to be revealed on Friday.

Now, they report, no one knows when it will be shown to the public. But they go whole-hog to report that it’s really there:

Next week, Cornuke will travel to Ethiopia for the 13th time since he began his search for the Ark. He told WND he believes it is possible Ethiopia could have the real artifact.

“They either have the Ark of the Covenant or they have a replica that they have believed to be the Ark of the Covenant for 2,000 years,” he said.

Cornuke said, if it is genuine, there’s a plausible explanation of how the Ark may have come to the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Ethiopia.

“The Ark could have been taken out of the temple during the time of the atrocities of Manasseh,” he said. “We have kind of a bread crumb trail that appears to go to Egypt, and it stayed on an island there for a couple hundred years called Elephantine Island. The Ark then was transferred over to Lake Tana in Ethiopia where it stayed on Tana Qirqos Island for 800 years. Then it was taken to Axum, where it is enshrined in a temple today where they don’t let anybody see it.”

Personally, I would be enthralled to see such an old and venerated object — even if it is a replica.

But, if it turns out to be real …  we all know how well that worked out last time:

The ‘new religion’ is a blast from the past

 Posted by on 22 June 2009  Vintage/Retro
Jun 222009
 

According to this intriguing article in The Guardian, paganism is the new national religion:

Paganism is casting its spell over more people now than ever before in the modern age. There are said to be a quarter of a million practising pagans in this country, double the number of a decade ago.

That would make them more numerous than Buddhists (of which there are 144,500, according to the 2001 census) and almost as numerous as Jews (259,000) – and it doesn’t even allow for the growing tribe of unofficial, instinctive pagans such as my friend Cath, who planned to celebrate the summer solstice in the early hours yesterday by “going out into the garden at dawn and just tuning in”.

This is in the news, of course, because 30,000+ turned up to watch the solstice sun rise at Stonehenge. Is it Paganism if you just want to go and party with some hippies? Well, maybe:

All you have to believe to be a pagan, according to the Pagan Federation, is that each of us has the right to follow our own path (as long as it harms no-one else); that the higher power (or powers) exists; and that nature is to be venerated. If you asked everyone in Britain if they agreed with those three statements, millions would put their hands up.

Of course, a definition like that is so broad that is pretty much overlaps with any Judeo-Christian faiths (the only sticking points might be “everyone can follow their own path” (sorry, proselytizers) and “nature is to be venerated” — strong word, venerated).

At any rate, the article’s worth a read. The author, Cole Morton, is apparently writing a book on the “soul of England,” which sounds rather stuffy, but if it’s anything like the article, I might watch for it.

…

Missed solstice? Not to worry. Amy mentioned to me that she found it odd there was no Christian celebration to mark the longest day. Not that there should be, but part of converting the pagans (the first time around) was taking the existing festivals and giving them Christian rationales. That’s part of the reason that Easter is celebrated so close to the vernal equinox, and that Christmas is celebrated near the winter solstice. But what about the summer solstice? Or the autumnal equinox?

Well, I can’t speak to the autumnal equinox, but I have a few months to nail that down with some research. (UPDATE: It’s Michaelmas. D’oh!) The summer solstice, or midusmmer, though, did in fact get transitioned over to have a Christian sheen — the festival of St. John the Baptist. Although it doesn’t completely match up with the solstice, neither does Christmas.

So why don’t we celebrate it? Well, in some places it is celebrated — Quebec, for example, has it’s provincial (properly called it’s “national”) holiday on St-Jean-Baptiste, which is June 24.

But the real traditional festival is St. John’s Eve, the night before, of course. So gear up to celebrate a little St. John’s Eve tomorrow night!

What? You don’t know how to celebrate St. John’s Eve? Drat that Henry VIII and his Reformation!

Anyway, it’s simple: just light a bonfire. Preferably a big one. Tend it late into the night. You can jump over it, if you like, that’s supposed to cleanse you. If you’re a farmer, walk around your fields with a flaming torch to cleanse them, too.

You can take some St. John’s Wort, too, why not!

I did some searching, and big bonfires are still the thing in places like Scandinavia and New Orleans. Let’s revive this great tradition!

“Atheism is a reaction to fundamentalism”

 Posted by on 13 June 2009  Modern Life
Jun 132009
 

What an interesting discussion about the evolution of religion (and oh, I love the juicy irony implicit in that phrase). Author Robert Wright’s new book, “The Evolution of God” takes a look at how religion has “tracked” along with society and culture, and he asserts that it has “aided and abetted” the growth of civilization.

Atlantic Monthly’s Andrew Sullivan reviews the book here (in the Times Online), but I really enjoyed their conversation, too.

I’m still not sure that any religion has the right answer, and if I had to argue with Wright, I would argue that religion’s influence tends to diminsh as the rest of our civilization’s cultural appartus picks up the slack (ie. religion was much more important before we had science and government). But the debate is fun!

Aside: although they don’t delve too much into it, I was struck by the quote I chose for the title of this post, that atheism is a reaction to fundamentalism. The argument seems to be that people who are turned off by fundamentalists choose to disbelieve in religion in general. Wright calls this new atheism “premised on a misconception,” which is exactly what atheists say to believers.

Religious types make Monty Python look serious and reasonable

 Posted by on 22 May 2009  Vintage/Retro
May 222009
 

I found this clip on the blog Cynical-C, where someone commented that they wished this whole interview was uploaded somewhere to watch. I’ll second that! But these few moments make for interesting watching: John Cleese and Michael Palin defend “The Life of Brian” in a debate with the Bishop of Southwark.

It was originally linked from a blog that I’m just about to bookmark, Atheist Media, where they cite the Wikipedia entry:

Shortly after the film was released, Cleese and Palin engaged in a what would become an infamous debate on the BBC2 discussion programme Friday Night, Saturday Morning, in which Malcolm Muggeridge and Mervyn Stockwood, the Bishop of Southwark, put the case against the film. Muggeridge and the Bishop had arrived 15 minutes late to see a screening of the picture prior to the debate, missing the establishing scenes which demonstrated that Brian and Jesus were two different characters, and hence contended that it was a send-up of Christ himself.

Both Pythons later felt that there had been a strange role reversal in the manner of the debate, with two young upstart comedians attempting to make serious, well-researched points, while the establishment figures engaged in cheap jibes and point scoring.

Dear God, hey man — what’s up?

 Posted by on 2 May 2009  Modern Life
May 022009
 

not-jesus

Kyle Fletcher talks to God. Well, not really. Really, he emails God. But without a valid email address, it’s hard to ensure that God’s getting your emails. So Kyle posts those emails on a blog: God’s Mail.

Taking the apparent position that God is all-knowing, all-powerful and deeply emotionally invested in every little thing that happens on Earth, Kyle asks God for clarification and guidance on a number of issues. “Was swine flu on the Ark with Noah, or did you craft it in your secret Jesus science lab deep in the fiery core of the earth?” Hmmm, good question! ”

Kyle seems particularly worried about trends in the Christian industry, and he asks God for His position on Christian videos, plastic light-up Jesus statues, and a planned-for Bible-story theme park. Or, how about the question sparked by the image above:

Dear God,
Thank you for keeping up with the times and blessing our world with a revised version of your original eucharists. Can’t emphasize how much of a sacrifice it was to woof down the prior version, .05g of fat and all. Will there be future advancements in the Christian diet? Could you create a 30 day meal plan one could order by mail via a series of compelling television ads?

Check it out! You’ll be illuminated.

(I’d like to tip my hat to Steve Juras. I’m pretty sure I got this from his Twitter feed. But I’ve had the tab open for over a day now, and I can’t remember for sure.)

Who decides who gets a holiday, anyway?

 Posted by on 12 April 2009  Vintage/Retro
Apr 122009
 

lazarus

Here’s a list of people who came back from the dead, about 2,000 years ago (give or take — don’t get all carbon-dating on me):

  • Jesus
  • Lazarus

Now, here’s a list of holidays based on them:

  • Jesus: Christmas, Easter
  • Lazarus: none!

WTF?

It’s worse when you consider that Jesus also gets like Good Friday, Lent and Palm Sunday in the whole “extended Easter” thing. Lazarus, though, still shut out.

And don’t give me the whole “Jesus was the one who brought him back” stuff. God was the one who brought back Jesus, and Easter’s not a God-holiday. I think Lazarus deserves some respect.

I propose a new holiday: Lazarus Day. We can all lie around and watch “Flatliners.”

He died for your sins, now he’s back for your brains

 Posted by on 10 April 2009  Modern Life
Apr 102009
 

zj_splash

It’s Good Friday, so here’s a little Easter-themed link to pass around to all your (secular) friends: Zombie Jesus.

Acts 2:24
But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him

John 6:53
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you”

Shout-out to my friend Tyler, who says his friend is behind the site (which is really just a link to the Facebook group). That makes me, what, three degrees of separation from the Big Z-J Himself?

Oh, but check out the hilarious page on Zombie Jesus at uncyclopedia:

After dying, Jesus was raised from the dead and once more walked among the living. This, of course, would only be possible if he were a zombie; Zombie Jesus is the identity of Jesus following the Resurrection. In zombie form, Jesus retained his unending love for mankind, in particular, he loved their sweet, delectable brains. Many of his followers were surprised when, instead of offering God’s salvation, Zombie Jesus voraciously consumed their faces.

See? This is why it’s always better to focus on the pagan bunny.

Three Buddhist films you didn’t think were Buddhist

 Posted by on 9 April 2009  Modern Life
Apr 092009
 

Check it: These three films will all be shown at the International Buddhist Film Festival next month.

Donnie Darko:

Dead Man:

Stay:

From the Guardian article:

For 10 days, the Barbican will play host to more than 40 films, from the clearly Buddhist to some without such an obvious connection.

The festival’s executive director, Gaetano Kazuo Maida, admitted some of the Buddhist references might be oblique, not least Donnie Darko, the Jim Jarmusch-directed Dead Man (with Depp) and Stay, starring McGregor and directed by Quantum of Solace director Marc Forster. All three will be part of a Mind the Gap strand, focusing on the Buddhist concept of bardo, the state between one life and the next.

It sounds awesome!

Canada Science Minister not at all sure about that “science” business

 Posted by on 20 March 2009  Modern Life
Mar 202009
 
Minister of State (Science and Technology) Gary Goodyear makes an announcement earlier this year (Gov't of Canada image)

Minister of State (Science and Technology) Gary Goodyear makes an announcement earlier this year (Gov't of Canada image)

So, there’s been a bit of a kerfuffle lately over some comments made by Canadian Science Minister Gary Goodyear. Seems he declined to tell the Globe and Mail whether or not he believed in evolution: “I’m not going to answer that question. I am a Christian, and I don’t think anybody asking a question about my religion is appropriate.”

He “clarified” that stance later, but didn’t clear much up, because although he said that he does believe in evolution, his confused examples didn’t really cite species evolution at all, but more individual development, or adaptation.

His demand that his religion is irrelevant seems to be one one thing that’s off the table, but I can’t believe how everyone’s swallowing it. The standard line seems to be that so what if he doesn’t, personally, believe in evolution — so long as he “understands” it.

Well, first of all, if you truly do understand evolution, you have to believe it — the evidence is overwhelming. The only alternative would be perhaps to believe in a trickster God who deliberately is trying decieve us.

And anyway, I myself think it’s important that the science minister, you know, believe in science.

Frankly, I want the Transportation Minister to believe in cars — and I wouldn’t be very comfortable if they said that actual belief in cars wasn’t relevant, so long as they understood the relevant concepts.

Or, to put it terms that Goodyear might understand, would he worship at a church if his pastor claimed to understand relgion — but not believe in God?

UPDATE: There’s a great column in the National Post about this issue.)

Clearing out the tabs

 Posted by on 31 January 2009  Everything Else, Modern Life, Vintage/Retro
Jan 312009
 

Whenever I find a link that I’d like to blog about, I open it in its own tab, and leave it there, waiting for me. Normally, I think about it for a little while, maybe find some pictures or other articles to go with, do a write-up, and post it to the blog.

But sometimes, I just don’t get around to something for a long while, and it stays open in its lonely little tab, waiting for me. I have too many of those tabs open right now, and I think my vintage Windows computer could use a reboot.

Sure, I could save them all as bookmarks, and then eventually I’d find them and blog about them in the future, maybe, but I thought I would just do a big post with several links all in one, and hopefully I can move on to more ideas in the futures.

Read more after the jump:
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