On The Third Hand

Wednesday, 27 Feb

Assorted rambles [permalink]

• MommaBear takes on the media on the subject of the Daniel Pearl tape. I agree. This is one tape that should not be shown on the 'film at eleven'. Let's have some common decency here.
• Stephanie seems to have offended one or two blogsters. Meanwhile, I've put the 'Ain't no Bad Dude' blog in the 'don't drink or eat while reading' category -- in defense of my much-abused keyboard. I think Brian may regret convincing this person to blog. Or maybe not. I sincerely hope that when Brian resumes his own blogging, the very amusing Stephanie gets a blog site as well.
• Louder Fenn has a proposal for how to decide whether a religion is a religion. He says: "I think a simple test is in order: the Century Test. If Wicca is still around in 2102 and has insinuated itself into family and intellectual life, then we'll have to concede that we can't just dismiss it."[and that should be "2012"]
  I've done some reading on this (it's all his fault), and I think Wicca is an attempt to reinstate a religion that was violently supressed by a better-armed religion. However, I will ignore that and just ask one question of the Louder Fenn. Do you believe that the Christian religion (in particular the "Church") was not a valid religion for the first century of its life? I'm looking forward to your answer.
• I'd also like to know what LF thinks of Hindus, who do acknowledge goddesses, and other so-called "pagan" religions who have been around far longer than Christianity. If length of time wins, I think the tribal animists have it hands down. I shall go worship the oak tree in my front yard now...
• I love etymology:
  Pagan
  From the Latin paganu(m), for "someone who is not from the city, rather from the country." In late Latin, this turned into pagensis, "one who is from the country," and this utimately became the French pays and the Spanish País, both meaning "nation."
  Are you a pagan?
• The term 'pagan', from my reading, was originally a term of derision used for the determinedly religious country people who held to their 'country' beliefs in the face of the more cosmopolitan religion of the then Christian Roman Empire.
• In addition to etymology, I also enjoy irony.
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