kawaii in hawaii

Consider how textbooks treat Native religions as a unitary whole. The American Way describes Native American religion in these words: “These Native Americans [in the Southeast] believed that nature was filled with spirits. Each form of life, such as plants and animals, had a spirit. Earth and air held spirits too. People were never alone. They shared their lives with the spirits of nature.” Way is trying to show respect for Native American religion, but it doesn’t work. Stated flatly like this, the beliefs seem like make-believe, not the sophisticated theology of a higher civilization. Let us try a similarly succinct summary of the beliefs of many Christians today: “These Americans believed that one great male god ruled the world. Sometimes they divided him into three parts, which they called father, son, and holy ghost. They ate crackers and wine or grape juice, believing that they were eating the son’s body and drinking his blood. If they believed strongly enough, they would live on forever after they died.” Textbooks never describe Christianity this way. It’s offensive. Believers would immediately argue that such a depiction fails to convey the symbolic meaning or the spiritual satisfaction of communion.

“

—	Lies My Teacher Told Me, James Loewen (via whoistorule)

goawaygora:

Big round of applause to the hippie subculture and white fitness groups which have stolen everything from clothing to religious practices to cultural dances all under the guise of “health and embracing the alternative”.

While the POC these practices originate from continue to be subject to racism and xenophobia, as yet another white person walks around carefree with their bindis, baja sweaters, and dreads, heading to their yoga twerk tribal fusion class in hopes of opening their chakras………

texas gop is insane

zombiejammer:

what the fuck texas, what the fuck.

1.      Pronounces separation of church and state as a myth.

2.      Demands that Congress withdraw federal court jurisdiction over pending cases involving religious freedom and the Bill of Rights

3.      Demands that creation be taught as a part of Texas public school science curriculum.

4.      Opposes the sale and use of emergency contraception and backs the Legislature’s war on women’s health programs

5.      Rejects “any sex education other than abstinence until marriage” in public schools

6.      Advocates banning abortion, even in cases of rape, incest or to save a woman’s life

7.      Advocates the repeal of the Voting Rights Act

8.      Advocates repeal of minimum wage laws

9.      Advocates abolishing the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Education

10. Advocates abolishing the Social Security Tax and replacing with Individual Retirement Accounts

11. Abolish Pre-K and Kindergarten programs

12. Demand tax-payer funded educational vouchers

13. Demands there be no regulation, accreditation, licensing, or testing for private or home schooling

14. Demands an end to state licensing regulations for certain professions

15. Demands repeal of Hate Crimes Law

16. Declares LGBT Texans are a threat to society. Calls for doing away with any laws that protect them against job discrimination and hate crimes.

17. Calls for more funding cuts for Texas public schools, even more than the draconian cuts of 2011.

18. Demands change to the 14th Amendment

19. Threatens federal judges with impeachment for not following Conservative philosophies in controversial court cases

20. Calls for repealing Sarbanes-Oxley and the Dodd-Frank Act

21. Calls for increasing the authority of the highly politicized and dysfunctional State Board of Education to establish the curriculum of Texas public education. (i.e. the SBOE would appoint the Texas Commissioner of Education)

Okay, so there’s just something that’s been really bothering me lately. I usually don’t like to talk about religion, because it’s such a vast and controversial topic, but I am getting really tired of all the tension between believers and non-believers. You believe in God? Cool, go write a Bible. You don’t believe in God? Alright, that’s cool too, go write an essay on evolution. But don’t try and shove your beliefs down other peoples’ throats. Personally, I’m not a very religious person. I don’t go to Sunday mass, I’m a firm supporter of both same sex marriage and abortion, and I find the whole “creation” story a bit hard to believe. However, I do believe in God, and I do believe in Heaven and Hell, and I believe in fate, and luck, and karma, and that everything happens for a reason. Atheists, I’m sorry some Christians and other religious believers are so oppressive. But not all of us are. So please stop blatantly telling us we’re wrong for our beliefs. It’s called an opinion for a reason. Can’t we all just live happily in life and not worry so fucking much about what happens after we die?

I’ll just leave this here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1ImMtHrrKo

The only thing that worries me about Sweden & its 85% atheist population is that I wonder if the theist population is larger but they are too scared to say anything.
Like many atheists in America still are hiding behind the theist label.
People ask “Do you believe in God?” and they reply “O-oh, yea totally.” Even though they don’t, because they are afraid of being harassed…
So with the 85% in Sweden, I hope that that 85% is a true 85% & not just a bunch of theists hiding behind they feel scared by the majority…

But I still would like to live there anyway.

Equality in America

edwardspoonhands:

I think I make it pretty clear in my video today that I don’t understand why we’re even talking about this. I don’t understand the arguments of people who oppose gay marriage, and I’m usually pretty good at understanding people’s viewpoints.

The arguments are so silly and uninteresting that it’s hard to argue that there isn’t a deeper place where all of this is coming from. I think, in my quest, I’ve found some understanding that allows me a little bit of peace.

The world is complicated, and we like to think that we have tools with which to understand it. But it’s difficult to imagine understanding a world with no foundations. To a lot of people, I think, gender and sexual orientation are a big pillar of support for their understanding of the world.

I have mine, science, belief in the fundamental goodness of people, love of family, etc.

Other people have God and tradition and loyalty.

And so when I say something like “All people who love each other should be allowed to get married.” People who use God and tradition and gender roles as fundamental supports for their understanding of the world feel as if those supports are being attacked.

When people attack my fundamental supports, I also get angry. Like when people stop teaching science in schools because they see it as an attack on Christianity…that pisses me off. A lot.

So I can understand that. But being American isn’t about protecting your pilars of belief, it’s about supporting equality and freedom.

We are not asking straight people to get married to gay people. We’re not even asking them to hang out with gay people, or agree that homosexuality is OK. They’re perfectly welcome to believe whatever they want, as long as it does not infringe upon the rights of other Americans.

Legalizing gay marriage does not infringe upon anyone’s rights, making it illegal does. It’s that simple.

christiantheatheist:

Such a loving god.

$mandimorphine: bonersauruson: paula266: isayrather: “The Egg” by Andy Weir You were on your way home when you died. It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me. And that’s when you met me. “What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?” “You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words. “There was a… a truck and it was skidding…” “Yup,” I said. “I… I died?” “Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies,” I said. You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?” “More or less,” I said. “Are you god?” You asked. “Yup,” I replied. “I’m God.” “My kids… my wife,” you said. “What about them?” “Will they be all right?” “That’s what I like to see,” I said. “You just died and your main concern is for your family. That’s good stuff right there.” You looked at me with fascination. To you, I didn’t look like God. I just looked like some man. Or possibly a woman. Some vague authority figure, maybe. More of a grammar school teacher than the almighty. “Don’t worry,” I said. “They’ll be fine. Your kids will remember you as perfect in every way. They didn’t have time to grow contempt for you. Your wife will cry on the outside, but will be secretly relieved. To be fair, your marriage was falling apart. If it’s any consolation, she’ll feel very guilty for feeling relieved.” “Oh,” you said. “So what happens now? Do I go to heaven or hell or something?” “Neither,” I said. “You’ll be reincarnated.” “Ah,” you said. “So the Hindus were right,” “All religions are right in their own way,” I said. “Walk with me.” You followed along as we strode through the void. “Where are we going?” “Nowhere in particular,” I said. “It’s just nice to walk while we talk.” “So what’s the point, then?” You asked. “When I get reborn, I’ll just be a blank slate, right? A baby. So all my experiences and everything I did in this life won’t matter.” “Not so!” I said. “You have within you all the knowledge and experiences of all your past lives. You just don’t remember them right now.” I stopped walking and took you by the shoulders. “Your soul is more magnificent, beautiful, and gigantic than you can possibly imagine. A human mind can only contain a tiny fraction of what you are. It’s like sticking your finger in a glass of water to see if it’s hot or cold. You put a tiny part of yourself into the vessel, and when you bring it back out, you’ve gained all the experiences it had. “You’ve been in a human for the last 48 years, so you haven’t stretched out yet and felt the rest of your immense consciousness. If we hung out here for long enough, you’d start remembering everything. But there’s no point to doing that between each life.” “How many times have I been reincarnated, then?” “Oh lots. Lots and lots. An in to lots of different lives.” I said. “This time around, you’ll be a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD.” “Wait, what?” You stammered. “You’re sending me back in time?” “Well, I guess technically. Time, as you know it, only exists in your universe. Things are different where I come from.” “Where you come from?” You said. “Oh sure,” I explained “I come from somewhere. Somewhere else. And there are others like me. I know you’ll want to know what it’s like there, but honestly you wouldn’t understand.” “Oh,” you said, a little let down. “But wait. If I get reincarnated to other places in time, I could have interacted with myself at some point.” “Sure. Happens all the time. And with both lives only aware of their own lifespan you don’t even know it’s happening.” “So what’s the point of it all?” “Seriously?” I asked. “Seriously? You’re asking me for the meaning of life? Isn’t that a little stereotypical?” “Well it’s a reasonable question,” you persisted. I looked you in the eye. “The meaning of life, the reason I made this whole universe, is for you to mature.” “You mean mankind? You want us to mature?” “No, just you. I made this whole universe for you. With each new life you grow and mature and become a larger and greater intellect.” “Just me? What about everyone else?” “There is no one else,” I said. “In this universe, there’s just you and me.” You stared blankly at me. “But all the people on earth…” “All you. Different incarnations of you.” “Wait. I’m everyone!?” “Now you’re getting it,” I said, with a congratulatory slap on the back. “I’m every human being who ever lived?” “Or who will ever live, yes.” “I’m Abraham Lincoln?” “And you’re John Wilkes Booth, too,” I added. “I’m Hitler?” You said, appalled. “And you’re the millions he killed.” “I’m Jesus?” “And you’re everyone who followed him.” You fell silent. “Every time you victimized someone,” I said, “you were victimizing yourself. Every act of kindness you’ve done, you’ve done to yourself. Every happy and sad moment ever experienced by any human was, or will be, experienced by you.” You thought for a long time. “Why?” You asked me. “Why do all this?” “Because someday, you will become like me. Because that’s what you are. You’re one of my kind. You’re my child.” “Whoa,” you said, incredulous. “You mean I’m a god?” “No. Not yet. You’re a fetus. You’re still growing. Once you’ve lived every human life throughout all time, you will have grown enough to be born.” “So the whole universe,” you said, “it’s just…” “An egg.” I answered. “Now it’s time for you to move on to your next life.” And I sent you on your way.$