Friends

19 August 2008 @ 11:11 pm

Music software migration report card

I had mixed, but mostly positive, results in moving my music software to my new computer. In most cases, any difficulty was due not to any fault on the manufacturer's part, but to some of the original install disks sitting in a box someplace where I couldn't find them after two moves. To my pleasant surprise, most companies nevertheless made it easy for the migration to occur. (I expected it to be harder, as software piracy seems to be particularly bad among musicians; however, I have paid for every piece of software I own.) I chalk this up to two things:

I always take the time to register my purchases, so the company has a record of my patronage over the years
I always save the emails that confirm my registration/activation keys.

Here's what I discovered:

Sony (Sound Forge, Acid, CD Architect): Had all my registrations online, with serial numbers and everything. I was able to download updated versions with no problem. If there was any trouble getting a new activation key, there was a live chat mode to get this from a customer service representative. A+!

Propellerhead Reason and Ableton Live: I had "lite" or "adapated" editions of these programs that came bundled with the Pro Tools Factory Edition. Now that I've upgraded to Pro Tools 7.4, it turns out these bundled versions use incompatible Rewire modules. Ableton Live has a generous upgrade policy, but the program still crashes Pro Tools. Reason, on the other hand, offers no upgrade path whatsoever...which sucks that a bundle I paid for is useless after buying an upgrade to the host software. :(

Arturia Moog Modular and CS-80V Softsynths: Worked like a dream. Entered my old serial number from my earlier email registrations, and I was able to download the latest and greatest version. A+!

Native Instruments B4 and PMI Bosendorfer 290 plug-ins: After downloading a new authorization wizard, it connected to the website, found my old registrations, and allowed me to register my software. (Fortunately, I had the CDs for these.) A+.

I also had good luck with VirSyn Tera 2.0 softsynth, Emagic Sound Diver 3.0 (although it keeps randomly asking for the original CD to verify the authorization), IK Media (Amplitube, T-Rracks) and Coda (Finale notation software).

I was less happy with Waves (the Gold native bundle won't even install on a 64-bit platform), FXpansion (my copy of VST-RTAS wrapper isn't compatible with the new PT 7.4), Steinberg's Free Filter plug-in (way cool software, but it registers my 120 GB hard drive has having negative free space, and therefore won't install), plus a few others (including Steinberg Clean! and BIAS Soundsoap, noise reduction programs both). At least I can upgrade the Waves bundle and the VST-RTAS wrapper to compatible versions.

The moral of the story: Always register your software, because you never know when you'll need it.

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fraterlsd
[norcal_oto]

19 August 2008 @ 08:19 pm

Update: Thelema Lodge Minerval Rehearsals

93!

*** Changed too 08/20 - 7pm ***

Previously: 08/19 - 7pm

Rehearsals for Minerval Initiations

Open to Dues Current in Good Standing of at least Minerval degree.

93 93/93

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ankh_f_n_khonsu

19 August 2008 @ 06:59 pm

Invoking the Unconventional -

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Tags: activism, biographic, collaboration, collaborative, drugs, entheogen, experimentation, gnosis, insight, occult, personal, polemic, progress, psychedelia, spirituality, subversion, urban shaman, vomug, wisdom

Current Location: Flat on Granville, Van

Current Mood:

busy

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lionserpent

19 August 2008 @ 06:49 pm

Lake Ride

I've started my practicum training so I'm a bit busy, but I'd like to give a quick update. The ride out to Lake Berryessa was gorgeous, and I took a few pictures. They're up at my flickr page if you care to see them. I rode back through Napa Valley and was astonished that there was grapevine as far as I could see. The wineries were gorgeous. I'm planning on renting a zipcar and taking

schlaukraft out there for a weekend trip sometime soon!

Here's the first of a few shots taken at the Monticello Dam:

And here's

schlaukraft in her sexy new riding gear!

Current Mood:

cheerful

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veleda

19 August 2008 @ 04:51 pm

LOLCAT 2U

I am normally not LOLCAT girl..but this.. fits my mood.

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00goddess
[oto_community]

19 August 2008 @ 03:15 pm

Thelemic Sexual Ethics

If you were to attend a presentation or discussion on Thelemic Sexual Ethics, what would you want it to look/sound like?

What are some questions you would want answered?

What are some issues you would want discussed?

What do you think?

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veleda

19 August 2008 @ 09:35 am

Printing Company

VINYL PRINTING - If anyone knows anywhere that if FAST and CHEAP and still reasonable in terms of QUALITY. I kn0w not asking for much. Please let me know. My current gig with an NY printing company is not going to work out and I need to find a printing company that is not outrageous and has a 48 hour turnaround.

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the_wildhunt

19 August 2008 @ 08:30 am

New Zealand University Gets Class on Witchcraft, People Freak Out

http://www.wildhunt.org/2008/08/new-zealand-university-gets-class-on.html

Massey University in New Zealand has introduced a new extramural class called Magic and Witchcraft to "show how magic and witchcraft illustrate the beliefs, values, structures, and social tensions within particular societies". Naturally, it has made the news.

"Spells, magical curses and voodoo dolls are all part of a new paper being offered at Massey University. Magic and Witchcraft, is a 100-level extramural paper offered this semester at the university's school of history, philosophy and classics. Senior classics lecturer Gina Salapata said the 120 students enrolled in the paper studied the use of sorcery in the classical world, medieval and early modern times and in colonial Maori culture."

Despite the fact that the teachers state the class is "not advocating witchcraft", that hasn't stopped The New Zealand Herald from conducting a sensationalist poll of its readership on the issue.

"The 120 students enrolled in the paper studied the use of sorcery in the classical world, medieval and early modern times and in colonial Maori culture. For the first assignment students had to create a magical curse tablet or erotic charm - however, the fanciful assignments have to be backed up with research. Is 'witchcraft' a suitable syllabus topic for Massey University?"

The "reader's views" question doesn't really explain that the "spells" they are crafting are for the purpose of exploring different cultural and historical views of sorcery, and not a "how-to" for aspiring magicians and Witches. As a result you get responses like this...

"The witches are slowly taking control, This is the start of their revolution, they have secret candidates in the up coming election and soon they will control the government. Beware unbelievers as the witches will take over us all."

"This witchcraft thing is a load of nonsense, and to think that students want money out of the public purse to study that crap."

"There is absolutely no place whatsoever for encouraging involvement in the powers of darkness, no matter how good and harmless they might claim to be. Shame on Massey University for being so naive as to allow this sort of thing to be part of the curriculum."

...and so on, and so forth (believe me, some of the comments are far worse). There are however the occasional voices of reason in between the paranoid Christians and militant atheists.

"Here's a recap for those too busy revelling in their own indignation to bother with facts. This is an extra-mural (look it up) summer course. It is a 3-month paper costing $497 plus $111 for enrolment & student fees. Most attendees will be adults taking a 'hobby' course. The paper restricts its focus to Classical Greece & Rome, Medieval & Early Modern Europe and early post-contact Maori society, treating each from a historical perspective (Source: Massey Website). Your taxes have nothing to do with adults paying to take a paper that interests them. A paper which focuses upon socio-historical trends will not teach people how to be 'modern witches' nor how to "slain/burn their own children" (sic) ILNZ, I would suggest you read some proper history books."

The manufactured controversy becomes clearer when you realize that the New Zealand Herald is a socially conservative paper. This is just a bit of red meat to throw to their readership, the sort of pandering one sees with ideologically slanted media outlets. Too bad really, the course sounded interesting, and there will no doubt be pressure on the university to drop the elective in the future.

Thanks to Judy Harrow for tipping me off to this story!

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veleda

19 August 2008 @ 07:08 am

Friends Only

This journal has been made friends-only.

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treasurehouse

19 August 2008 @ 11:44 am

Conference Celebrating UK’s Buddhism

http://www.thelema.nu/archives/310

Earlier today I was given the preliminary details of the centenary celebration of Bhikkhu Ananda Metteyya’s Buddhist Mission to the United Kingdom in 1908. The conference, Establishment of Buddhism in the U.K. (1908-2008), will be at Brent Town Hall, Forty Lane, Wembley, Middlesex HA9 9HX on Sunday, 28 September, 2008 from approximately 14:00 to 21:30. The conference is being presented by the World Buddhist Foundation.

The conference will consist of a number of events including an exhibition of material related to Ananda Metteyya and his proselytizing of Buddhism, a video about him, a workshop and roundtable discussion of his work. The evening will end with a number of lectures and singing by a Buddhist Choir.

I will be attending the celebration, and am tentatively participating in some capacity at the workshop; the extent of this is to be determined. I am sure all are welcome and once I know more about registration, etc. I’ll be posting it.
(more…)

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richard_kaczyn

19 August 2008 @ 12:02 am

Dreams

Dream #1
K. was doing an experiment in entropy by running an electrical current through a chemical solution in order to maintain maximum disorder. Leaving it unattended, the disorder entered a state of self-organizing complexity (how the complexity theorists account for the improbable circumstances of life randomly emerging on earth in such a relatively short span of geologic time), and by the time she checked back she had grown two hyper-intelligent alien beings out of her test tubes. "What should we do?" we pondered. "Since you can't send us back to our homeworld," they replied, showing a remarkable degree of self-awareness, "and killing us is not an option, I guess we'll have to make the best of it."

Dream #2
This is actually

kakurowski's dream: Earth was invaded and all humans enslaved by evil aliens. They had an ingenious method for keeping tabs on everyone lest they try to escape: They gave brunch to everyone, and could tell how many people were living in each house by counting the number of empty mimosa glasses.

Dream #3
I was at an O.T.O. event, it reminded me very much of the Best Western Laguna el Toro where the recent Convocation took place. Several of us were in a room changing clothes, when in walks Fra. Aladdin, smiling and talking the same as always. The rest of us shot glances back and forth at one another, realizing that our dear brother had recently passed away. Like us, he started changing his clothes, and, when he removed his shirt, his torso was covered with long rows of stitches. I grabbed my camcorder and turned it on: Looking at the LCD viewfinder, I could still see him plain as day. "You guys, check this out!" I shouted excitedly. "He's showing up on film!" But when I glanced up from the viewfinder, he had disappeared. A very vivid dream.

Current Music: Supertramp, "Dreamer"

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richard_kaczyn

18 August 2008 @ 11:09 pm

Word-play inspired by a real typo...

"Guests are welcome to bring a chimera, as we Argonaut hiring a photographer."

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richard_kaczyn

18 August 2008 @ 10:33 pm

Laptop necromancy

My old laptop has died.

Specifically, one day I couldn't start my word processor without getting a message that "Word has encountered an error and must close." The routine of reboot, retry, repeat, did not solve it. Nor did restarting in safe mode, nor restarting after restoring the system to an earlier save point, etc.

I tried running the "repair" feature of MS Office. It terminated early with a similar error message. No bloody clue was given about what the error was. Tried it several times, no avail. Okay, fine. I'll uninstall and reinstall it. Except the uninstall program terminated with the same useless message. Thus, I was unable to either install nor uninstall the program. Defragging the hard drive didn't help. Nor did downloading a trial version and using my registration key for the install.

After a couple days got sucked up with this, I decided "Fine, I'll try Open Office." Except every single site I downloaded it from resulted in a corrupt archive.

Virus, maybe? The machine turned up clean with my current software, so I downloaded AVG. It, too, kept downloading corrupted. I finally got a clean download and install, but every time I tried running it, it hung up after 90 minutes when it reached a DLL file for my HP printer. Trying to look at the file's properties only crashed my computer.

Trying to transfer a couple files off the hard drive to my new laptop failed with a "bad CRC" message. At this point, I'm thinking the hard drive has somehow gotten munged, and this has resulted in various programs having critical files corrupted. At least, this fits the symptoms.

Thus, my next strategy is to do a clean wipe and low-level reformat of the HD. Except I've moved twice since acquiring this laptop, and my Windows XP Pro installation CD is sitting somewhere in a cube of 50 unpacked boxes that I have no practical way of going through. Even if I had an install CD, I also can't put my hands on the CDs for Adobe Acrobat Pro, the Macromedia Dreamweaver/Fireworks suite, the SPSS statistical package, or the BIAS Soundsoap noise reduction plug-in. :(

Fortunately, all my original documents, scans, and research notes are all backed up and already living happily on my new laptop. So I guess my Dell Inspiron 2650 from 2002 will go out to pasture...at least until I move again and can go through all those boxes.

No snide comments, please, about "Why aren't you running Mac/Linux/DOS/Wii/Jesus/Xenu/Moses/riding a bicycle/getting some exercise/eating low cholesterol food/picketing a movie/looking for Osama bin Laden/knitting pot holders/(insert other proselytizing comment here)."

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solis93

18 August 2008 @ 08:09 pm

ATTENTION CHRISTIAN EVANGELICALS

If you haven't figured out yet that the Republican Party will say anything to you just to get your vote you are either not paying attention or haven't been in the country for the last 8 years. You guys MUST know you are being lied to, because no one is THAT naive. It's like you don't care what a candidate does so long as they tell you the right things.

If a Republican candidate tells you he is "pro life" what exactly does that mean? Do you think they will overturn present legislation to make abortion illegal? No, they wont, because that would be political suicide.

If you want to be "pro life" try a new approach. Side with a Democrat who wants to do away with it *by making it unnecessary.* And if "life" is so important to you, get on the poverty bandwagon and do something about the thousands of kids AND adults that die from hunger or easily treatable diseases because they neither have the food to eat nor the insurance with which to see a doctor.

So, I am guessing your knees, elbows and butts must be very sore by now and could use a break after being bent over, screwed and tattooed by your supposed buddies in the Republican party who used the hell out of you to get elected twice amidst all the lies and corruption. Try getting behind a Democrat for a change. You may not get everything on your agenda, but you'll know before hand what you will get and what you wont. What's the worse that could happen?

anubislux

18 August 2008 @ 07:32 pm

NEW BLOG SITE DONE

Generally speaking, I’ve made a very smooth transition from Blogger to the new site. I have the basics down enough here for a quiet opening and a continual moving forward. (There are still about 1700 entries left to add, but they'll get there soon enough.)

I do hope you will enjoy the new site. The RSS balloon provides tons of ways to read without ever having to hit the site and the LiveJournal feed will be updated properly soon as well. But at least stop by and take a look around. It's quite nifty actually.

Eremitic Life takes the place of my Blogger blog, my personal site (darkgods.net), and is the redirect point for our underlying domain (kindredx.net) which buffers our server home. Eventually this site will lead the way for the Ethereal Lake quote archive website and the Codex Pontifex (of which a small portion is introduced here on Eremitic Life).

This is, I hope, the last move I will make during this journey through academia. I only foresee a time when all this is done and the possibility of a more professional or more academic website/blog is desired and I may once again ask everyone to move with me—most likely just one site over to the Codex Pontifex as it will be designed around work output rather than mental droppings.

Jump in the fray. Take a look around. Enjoy. And by all means make suggestions if something is awkward or unfriendly. I will be adding, I hope, more user friendly features throughout the rest of August and as I discover new ways to broaden the experience here beyond merely a simple blog. But, that said, be forewarned this is a blog and it is my blog. Mind your manners and we’ll all get along fabulously!

panshiva

18 August 2008 @ 01:31 pm

The American Dream - BMan's 2008 Theme

American was meant to be the New Atlanatis. A place where the Masonic ideals which held an esoteric vision for the rebuilding of the New Jerusalem. But in it's Manichean drive, what it ignored was its own shadow of rape and torture born on the backs of Native people's, Africans, the Chinese, and the whole dark and repressed shadow history of civlization to that moment.

Now America, morally defunct, and spiritually bankrupt will be host in its wastelands to a nihilistic elite who will run off to the desert to cast off the yoke of repression they've placed upon themselves. Like those partying on the the top decks of the sinking titanic, they'll toast in a macabre and empty manner, the collapse of the shadow of a dream that never was.

A few will carry their own vision of a better world into that dark cauldron, and try to bring sanctity to the blasted hearth of salt and sand. The seeds of a vision that needs much more fertile soil to blossom and grow, but nevertheless an ideal held in the hearts of tier of mankind and their spiritual mentors.

What they need is to find the right seeds, the right soil, and the knowledge of what it means to really tend the Garden:

"And he says to me, quite disconnectedly: The man of earth is the adherent. The lover giveth his life unto the work among men. The hermit goeth solitary, and giveth only of his light unto men.

And I ask him: Why does he tell me that?

And he says: I tell thee not. Thou tellest thyself, for thou hast pondered thereupon for many days, and hast not found light. And now that thou art called NEMO, the answer to every riddle that thou hast not found shall spring up in thy mind, unsought. Who can tell upon what day a flower shall bloom?

And thou shalt give thy wisdom unto the world, and that shall be thy garden. And concerning time and death, thou hast naught to do with these things. For though a precious stone be hidden in the sand of the desert, it shall not heed for the wind of the desert, although it be but sand. For the worker of works hath worked thereupon; and because it is clear, it is invisible; and because it is hard, it moveth not.

All these words are heard by everyone that is called NEMO. And with that doth he apply himself to understanding. And he must understand the virtue of the waters of death, and he must understand the virtue of the sun and of the wind, and of the worm that turneth the earth, and of the stars that roof in the garden. And he must understand the separate nature and property of every flower, or how shall he tend his garden?"

http://www.hermetic.com/crowley/mwt/mwt_12.html

Answering that is the key to the American Dream.

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the_wildhunt

18 August 2008 @ 09:49 am

(Pagan) News of Note

http://www.wildhunt.org/2008/08/pagan-news-of-note_18.html

My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens.

West African Vodun is taking an important step towards modernization as Togo passes new laws (with the blessing of the Vodun divinities) that forbids pressing young girls into the service of the priesthood after their initiation as adepts.

"After a three-year campaign, rights groups claimed victory over a way of life that they said cut the girls off from their own families, sometimes involved ritual scarring -- and occasionally led to sexual abuse. But it took some intense lobbying of political and religious authorities in this small west African state -- and, it would seem, the voodoo divinities -- to get there ... Voodoo priests say that several hundred young girls are baptised every year as voodoo adepts, or voodoosi, after lengthy initiation rites of between three months and two years. Under the old system, instead of rejoining their families after these ceremonies, they had to stay at voodoo convents to serve the gods."

Under the new laws, it is a five-year prison sentence for anyone to take a child away from their family environment. This is a major shift in attitudes in one of the few countries where Vodun is still a major social and political power (60% of Togolese people are adherents of Vodun).

Speaking of Vodun, Speaking of Faith's blog takes you behind the scenes of their recent episode on Vodou.

"About two years ago, Patrick Bellegarde-Smith wrote us a brief e-mail asking if we had produced shows on “African and African-derived traditional religions” and recommended several volumes that he’d edited on Haitian Vodou, Cuban Santeria, Brazilian Candomble, and Umbanda. Our former associate producer Jessica Nordell called him asking for suggestions for people that he thought could speak about Vodou intimately. He was forthcoming and recommended many voices, including Claudine Michel. But we quickly realized that he was that voice — a Haitian aristocrat who was not only a scholar of the tradition but a practitioner who discovered Vodou in his early adulthood. We found his personal story about rediscovering his heritage and the spirit of the people of his country utterly captivating."

Check out SOF's archive of programs for a wealth of programming of interest to our faith communities.

In a town like Salem, even the cops are psychic!

"A retired Salem cop who swapped his badge for a crystal ball is still sleuthing - with backup from his friends from beyond the grave. Professional psychic medium Chuck Bergman, 57, spent 32 years pounding the beat in the Witch City, but says that since retiring five years ago he is finding old habits die hard. Initially skeptical of his “gift,” Bergman says he is now channeling the spirits to help police and desperate families find missing loved ones from coast to coast."

Forget "Medium", I want to see a police procedural set in Salem with a psychic cop! Maybe CSI: Salem? Forensics and Witchcraft, I'd watch it.

The Modesto Bee interviews a group of atheists about their struggles for tolerance and respect, including a self-described Pagan atheist.

"Shawna Amaral, a 22-year-old Modesto caregiver, said her parents and grandparents were Christians who never went to church or read the Bible when she was growing up. "They were too busy," she said. "Since nobody was there to teach me basic religion, I just came to believe that I can't believe in a god or a higher power or anything. "When I was 16 or 17, I discovered paganism, an earth-based religion. You don't have to believe in in a god or goddess, so I still consider myself an atheist in that way." Amaral said she lived in Alabama for a couple of years. When she told people she was an atheist, 'they'd call me a devil worshipper and said I'd go to hell. I'd laugh at them and ask how I could go to hell if I didn't believe in it to begin with.'"

I wonder if she has read Frederick Lamond's "Religion without Beliefs"?

While an American Indian spiritual leader hasn't been invited to the opening interfaith service at the Democratic National Convention, a gathering of Ute tribal leaders will be on hand for a "grand welcoming" ceremony.

"Colorado's first residents will offer the first official welcome to the Democratic National Convention in Denver Aug. 23, when Southern Ute, Ute Mountain Ute and Northern Ute tribal leaders and other Indian notables in full regalia will lead the pageantry of a grand entry before officials address some 13,000 media representatives. "It's the right thing to do, since they were the first people in the state of Colorado," said Holly Arnold Kinney, co-chair of the entertainment committee for the media event at Elitch Gardens near the Pepsi Center. The Ute Mountain and Southern Ute tribes are the only sovereign nations currently in Colorado, once considered home by the Northern Utes and many other tribes."

Interesting that Native Americans performing dances and songs tied to their indigenous faith traditions will be handled by the entertainment committee, while representatives from "mainstream" religions are organized by the head of the Democratic Party's Faith in Action initiative.

In a final note, the News Virginian reminds us that homeschooling comes in more flavors than right-wing Christian.

“For some reason, it’s gotten into the mindset of the public that homeschoolers are right-wing Christians,” said Ann Cameron Siegal, a homeschool mother and a volunteer for The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers. “Obviously, there are people under that label, but there are also Jewish homeschoolers, Muslim homeschoolers and pagan homeschoolers; it ranges from far left to far right. If there is any unifying thing, it is the idea of freedom – freedom to pursue education, much like people did in the Colonial period, to the depth and breadth of what you want to do.”

My wife's youngest daughter was homeschooled, and is entering college this year as a sophomore. I'm proud to say I had a hand in her homeschooling, and there was nothing particularly Christian about it.

That is all I have for now, have a great day!

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panshiva

17 August 2008 @ 06:59 pm

Resolution

"In the modern world, we have become so used to the idea that science can save us from an untimely death, and that the state can protect us from invasion - chemical, military, or viral - that we expect, almost as a constitutional right, a painless life that is free from the kids of adversity that afflicts the Third World. But suffering is not only an inevitable and unavoidable part of life; it will always have to be endured with resources that science and the state cannot provide - resources we find in ourselves, and in our fellowship with others...perhaps in our preoccupation with controlling the forces of life and death and insulating ourselves against baleful influences, we have lost our capacity to be open to the world, and depleted our resources to cope with unpredictable hardship."

Michael Jackson (Existential Anthropology 2005: 197)

It's no wonder that so much of the art and music that emanates from the third world is filled with such a rich vitality and a hunger for life. In the first world, the reliance on science and technology as a mechanism to control the unpredictable, (which at the root is driven by a terror of death), results in an anemic, and neutered culture cut off from the spirit of life.

Those who live close to the cyclity of life and death understand their interdependence, and the truth that the quality of your life is intimately related to the level of your relationship and intimacy with death.

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the_wildhunt

17 August 2008 @ 09:20 am

The Christian Presidency

http://www.wildhunt.org/2008/08/christian-presidency.html

Any illusion one might have had that the race for America's chief executive is a secular affair was thoroughly shattered yesterday at the Saddleback Civil Forum on The Presidency. Evangelical superstar Rick "Purpose Driven Life" Warren got the two candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, to sit down individually in his church, submit to his questions, and expound on concerns most important to evangelical Christians.

"Now you've made no doubt about your faith in Jesus Christ, what does that mean to you? What does it mean to you to trust in Christ and what does it mean on a daily basis?"

The fact that several questions in the "civil" forum sounded more like a job interview for the pastor of a Christian church didn't escape the notice of the Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, president of Interfaith Alliance.

"Some of the questions Pastor Warren posed crossed the line and promoted the fiction that the American people are electing a pastor-in-chief, rather than a commander-in-chief. Questions like 'What does it mean to trust in Christ?' create a religious test for public office and should have no place in the political discourse for a secular office. America is the most religiously diverse country in the world, and Christianity is only one of those faith traditions. Millions of voters who tuned in tonight will feel disenfranchised by some of the questions posed in this forum."

Despite admonitions from interfaith activists, I doubt that the intense wooing of evangelicals will stop. With recent Presidential races being so evenly split, the "freestyle evangelicals" are portrayed as king-makers. Alienate them at your peril, and certainly don't be anything other than Christian if you hope to win. It is little wonder that this year's Democratic National Convention will commence with an interfaith service organized by a Pentecostal preacher, a first for the party, and a move that has troubled atheist and secular organizations.

"Democratic National Convention's Aug. 24 interfaith service in Denver is supposed to be about unity. But to a Washington, D.C., coalition that supports nontheistic views, it's about division. The Secular Coalition Group, a lobbying organization for church-and-state separation, is pushing to get an atheist on the speaker list, and contends the service is divisive because it alienates nonreligious Democrats at a time when the party needs to unite to support the presumptive nominee, Sen. Barack Obama."

It should be interesting to see how this will be resolved. Because if the party isn't ready to navigate a compromise between secularists and the monotheist (and token Buddhist "participant") interfaith club, what will they do when Hindu, Pagan, Native, and Afro-Caribbean faiths start asking for a place at the interfaith podium? The post-Christian era is upon us, and the longer the two major political parties court 25% of America's religious adherents to the near-exclusion of nearly everyone else, the sooner they experience irrelevance as that demographic becomes just one voice in a cacophony of faiths and philosophies.

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panshiva

16 August 2008 @ 04:47 pm

Norwegian Black Metal

Now I know why my Norwegian relatives named their Black lab "SATAN." ;)
Just goes to show you can bring civilization to Berzerkers, but you can't take the Berserker out of civilization!

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