My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Please read my full review on my website: Philosophy of Religion: A Contemporary Introduction

Technorati Tags: Philosophy of religion, religion, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Jainism, Hinduism

The Pagan relevant section of the `The Big Questions` broadcast on BBC2 31 Jan 2010 - The topical live debate comes from the Bitterne Park School in Southampton.

Joining Nicky Campbell are former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey; Druid priestess, Emma Restall Orr; novelist and broadcaster, Anne Atkins; and Oxford science professor, Peter Atkins, who is also a member of the National Secular Society.

The question discussed in this video is `Is Paganism more relevant than Christianity today?`

Part One


Part Two


Here is my thoughts, why does paganism have to be MORE relevant than any religion, can't it be just relevant?  Also in the videos, when asked whether Paganism was a religion, one of the panel members (who I believe was a Christian) said no, and I couldn't hear (or perhaps she didn't comment) Emma refute that why?  Isn't paganism a religion?

This ties into something that I have been thinking about for a while now and I hope people think about this before commenting one way or another, has our diversity helped or hindered us?  Why do some people still deny that we are a religion?  Could it be because we ourselves don't think of it as such?  I've come across a lot of "pagans" who have stopped practicing to go out and pursue another HOBBY...Or think of paganism as a weekend thing, that they can pick up when they have the time, or during the seasons.  Again in the clips, they talked about morality and one of the people talking tried to say that we are moral because it is in us to be so, but she made the other people resentful with her comparison to Christianity, Emma was sitting right there and has written a book on ethics why didn't she comment?  Her words are good when she did speak but they were to abstract for the people to understand, why can't we develop a system that other people can see as practical.  And if we have developed it, are we so bad at explaining it that people don't recognize it as a religious system or spiritual path?  You might ask why should we explain, my answer would be why go on these programs if you don't WANT to explain?

Is our fear of being like Christianity, Islam, or Judaism (from which many of us have come) stopping us from being a religion in the sense that it becomes a daily practice and part of our lives?  Are we afraid of being a religion???

Just my ramblings...    

So I've been thinking a lot about this and have decided to write an essay on religion.  I have not come up with an outline yet but I'm hoping that after I read a few books on the subject I will be able to see what I need to write on the outline.  After that I'm going to write about the Celtic religion and what we do and don't know about it and how we can improvise without losing tract of the fact that it is a Celtic religion and it is a reconstruction.  Then I would like to focus on the components of religion like gods, beliefs and practical things like daily offerings, rituals and prayers.

Right now though I need to begin at the very beginning with the question of "What is Religion?" Here is a list of books that I am hoping to use for my research:

• The Spiritual Dimension: Religion, Philosophy, and Human Value by John Cottingham
• An Introduction To The Philosophy of Religion by Micheal J. Murray and Micheal Rea
• Religion: The Basics by Malory Nye
• The Blackwell Companion to the Study of Religion Edited by Robert Segal
• The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Religion Edited by William E. Mann
• Heidegger's Philosophy of Religion: From God to the Gods By Ben Vedder
• Philosophy of Religion: A Contemporary Introduction by Keith E. Yandell
• In God We Trust: The Evolutionary Landscape of Religion by Scott Atran
• Religion Is Not About God: How Traditions Nurture Our Biological Nature and What To Expect When They Fail by Loyal Rue

I've already read Religion Explained by Pascal Boyer but that was a great book on WHY people believe and not about WHAT makes a religion a religion.  I know this is going to be a tough essay to write, mainly because it is going to be hard to define religion.

I have not done much in the way of reading today mainly because I am not sure what I want to read.  I need to look into books that talk about religion as a whole and then write an essay on that, and then look into rituals and write an essay on that as well.  The thing is I might find books on religion but rituals are very elusive. I'm looking for books that talk about the importance of rituals to religion and the history behind it if possible.

I also have been copying my livejournal entries from June until today to Blogger because I want to have a copy of it there too.  I'm not sure why I just do.

I've been doing a lot of house work today lol, mostly washing...

Hi all, I wanted to ask what books ya all would recommend for rituals.  I would like to study the history behind rituals, the meanings and how to structure one. 

I have just finished an essay on Welsh Mythology for any one interested: Introduction to Welsh Mythology

Ok so I finally decided to write an essay about Welsh mythology.  I'm learning as I go and that is a good state for me to be in lol.

I also just finished a book that is making me think double time and that is another state that I like to be in also.

Maya is a very happy woman today.

Religion Explained: The Evolutionary Origins of Religious Thought by Pascal Boyer


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
For a full review, please see my website: Religion Explained

Now that I have finished my essay on Irish Mythology and uploaded it, I'm a little torn.  Part of me thinks I should be writing another on Welsh mythology while another part of me wants to go on and start on religious studies.  I'm thinking about doing both.  I've already done all the reading I can on the Irish and Welsh mythologies when it comes to the books I own so it is a matter of putting together an outline and working from there for the Welsh mythology, and as for religious studies, I will need to look into the books I have and start reading.  I'm going to start with religion as a whole to learn what it is and where it comes from then move on to what we know and the religion of the Celts.  I don't know, I guess I will have to see.

Yesterday I read a batch of Paranormal Romance books that left me with a sense of bleh, I'm not sure if that is a burn out from reading or if the stories were bleh themselves.  I just could not tell even from the reviews on Goodreads since they too were split on the subject...Maybe I just need to change genres for a while...

For those interested in looking at an introduction to Irish Mythology, please check out my site: Introduction to Irish Mythology

I finished reading the book Beyond the Mist and today I wrote the review for it.  I absolutely loved reading it.  You can check it out on my website as I've already posted previously.

I also finished writing the last few paragraphs of my essay on Irish Mythology.  I still have not added it to my site as anything but a draft because I still need to add the endnotes to it.  I forgot them at work lol.  So first thing Sunday I will add the notes and publish the essay.

Now I have a bit of a dilemma.  I don't know if I should write an essay on Welsh mythology or not.  I doubt I have enough information on it to write it and also I'm ashamed to say it is not something that is upfront on my mind right now.  I'd rather go on to work on religion, gods and goddesses and rituals as pertaining to the Irish Path.  After all this is the path I follow...

We'll see...

Beyond the Mist by Peter O'Connor


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


For a full review of the book please see my site: Beyond the Mist

English:

It has been a long day at work today.  I've done a bit of work on the Introduction to Irish Mythology essay that I am working on for my website, but other than that nothing is really happening.  I can't leave a little early because my employer is here and I don't like leaving while he is around.

I also found a great way to learn a bit of Irish, I write out what I want to say, then translate it and put my English words into google translation for a correction of my own translation.  This way I can be sure I am doing it right.  It's not perfect, but it works.

Gaeilge:

Tá sé ina lá fada ag obair inniu. Mé déanta giotán an obair ar an Réamhrá a aiste miotaseolaíocht na Gaeilge atá mé ag obair ar do mo láithreán gréasáin, ach seachas aon rud atá ag tarlú i ndáiríre. Ní féidir liom fhágáil go luath beagán toisc go bhfuil mo fostóir anseo agus ní féidir liom buíochas a fhágáil agus tá sé timpeall.

Chinn mé freisin slí iontach chun foghlaim ar giotán na Gaeilge, an féidir liom scríobh amach cad ba mhaith liom a rá, ansin é a aistriú agus a chur ar mo focail Béarla san aistriúchán google do cheartú de mo aistriúcháin féin. An bealach is féidir liom a bheith cinnte go orm é a dhéanamh i gceart. Níl sé foirfe, ach oibríonn sé.

I feel a little restless today, which is not abnormal for me except that I've done quite a bit today in terms of reading and reviewing and thinking and still my mind won't stop.

I finished reading Irish Folklore Edited by Henry Glassie and reviewed it for my website, and I also finished reading Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry by William Butler Yeats, but decided not to review it.  I read and finished Dark Warrior Unleashed (The Talions, Book 1) by Alexis Morgan.  It's a great start to a new series by the author.

I've also been thinking about my Irish mythology essay and putting together the format in my mind (I already have an outline but I also like to think of stuff that might be added).

I heard today on BBC News Service a program on my way to work called Reporters and one of the reports was on how most of the British are now asking if their involvement in Afghanistan is worth it or not when almost everyday there is a British soldier brought home in a coffin.  The reporter made the point that the British and indeed the Americans should have asked WHAT they are fighting against rather than whether the war is worth it when it comes to the death toll of the western soldiers.  The reporter talked to someone in the Taliban and asked him what HE was fighting for and that Taliban soldier said that he was fighting for freedom just like he has always done from the time of the Russians.  First it was the Russians, and when they left it was the Warlord that came to their country during the vacuum the Russians left and now the Americans.  To them it is a national movement rather then an Islamic one.  Islam to them is merely the glue that is holding them together.  The reporter is not really condoning what the Taliban is doing but rather making the case that if we understand WHY they are fighting we might understand how to get what we want from them with their cooperation IF the whole exercise is to get Bin Laden and stop Al Qaeda.  The reporter brought up a story about Robert McNamara, I believe he was the secretary of Defense during the Vietnam war, who met a one of the communist leaders during the Vietnam war and that leader told him that the reason that the US lost the war in Vietnam was that they were fighting for the wrong reason.  The Communists had just come out of French imperialism and were thrown into war with the US.  They were fighting for their freedom (a Nationalist movement) and communism was the glue holding them together while the US was trying to hold off communism...The reporter was trying to say that perhaps when we understand WHY the other side is fighting we might at the very least understand HOW to fight the war, or even avoid it...I'm not sure how viable that is but it is food for thought.

 

Irish Folktales by Henry Glassie


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Please check out my full review at my website: Irish Folktales

The Lore of Ireland: An Encyclopaedia of Myth, Legend and Romance by Dáithí Ó hÓgáin


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was going to review this for my website but realized that that would be a bit wasted since it was an encyclopedia, though a very comprehensive one. It is one of these books that you just must have when you are studying Irish myths, legends, and folklore.