September 2011
1 post
4 tags
“A new movement of interfaith cooperation is growing that values the uniqueness...”
– Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, Senior Religion Editor for the Huffington Post
Read article here
August 2011
7 posts
17 tags
Atheism on the Tire-swing
I suppose you could say my interest in the interfaith movement started in fifth grade. I grew up in South Carolina, a state not exactly renowned for its religious tolerance. Our location in the middle of the Bible Belt does not contribute to a lot of interfaith dialogue. And if you can say this of the adults of this region, you can definitely say it for the children—for it is a sad truth...
11 tags
Fighting the Defamation of Muslim Americans -... →
After a six-month-long investigative research project, the Center for American Progress Action Fund released a 138-page report, “Fear Inc: Exposing the Islamophobia Network in America”, which for the first time reveals that more than $42m from seven foundations over the past decade have helped empower a relatively small, but interconnected group of individuals and organisations...
14 tags
Barbeque & Bibles →
educationofawonderbreadgirl:
The other day, I went on an adventure with some of my friends. Now, I can’t tell you where—I’m sworn to secrecy, and since it involves a hidden, pristine, tourist-free beach, me telling would probably result in a painful death from the friends who let me in on the secret.
I can, however,…
A post on the strange correlation between rural South Carolina and...
8 tags
Buddhist Geeks →
This is a great article. It’s interesting to see the development of religion alongside technology. On some levels, one would think that technology and spirituality would be increasingly divergent realms. But it’s encouraging to see people working to use them together, instead of skying away from one or the other.
In one of my religion classes last semester, my professor asked us what...
9 tags
Godless Humor
While discussing children the other day with my atheist friend, we came upon the topic of godparents. My friend knows that I don't plan on having any children, but she's always teasing me about having that motherly instinct:
Me: Godparents? Now THAT'S something I could handle. I could be your children's godmother. Barring the fact that neither of us are Catholic…
Her: You can be my kid's there's-no-god-mother. Plan?
Me: Atheist parenting. You should write the book.
17 tags
Stoveside Spirituality
So here I am, in my kitchen. Literally. As I write these words. I’ve got a nice little setup going on, with my laptop on the counter next to the stove so I can stir my kheer (it’s Indian food night in my house) and a stool pulled up to sit on. This will probably result in an imminent rice-on-the-keyboard disaster, so I’ll have to be extra careful in wielding my spoon. My apron is...
11 tags
Internal Love
[As opposed to eternal love. But maybe they can be the same thing.]
My mind has the propensity to be a little—or a lot—hyperactive. This becomes extremely apparent when I do my meditation sessions (which I’m now up to doing twice daily). My thoughts, as if feeling the danger of impending extermination, start doing crazy cartwheels. They flash colors like they’re on an...
July 2011
7 posts
9 tags
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“In India there is a beautiful greeting, in which the palms are placed together,...”
– - Joseph Campbell, from The Power of Myth
I think that if all believers took more time to recognize and respect the divinity in each other, instead of saving all honor toward God for the church or the altar or the mosque, the world would be a better place.
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“Happiness and freedom from suffering is a universal human right. We will not...”
– Geshe Dakpa Topgyal again, this morning at the dharma center
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“Life is fleeting. Like a bolt of lightning. Or a snowflake. They are gone...”
– Geshe Dakpa Topgyal, the spiritual leader (and wonderful Tibetan monk) who leads the dharma center I attend
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Trouble on the Cushion
Lately, I’ve been having trouble with my meditation. Let me preface that by saying that I am by no means an experienced meditator. I only started at the beginning of this summer, with the guidance of some books on Buddhism, which were actually assigned reading for my Buddhism in America class. I took the class last semester, not intending to find myself so drawn to the religion. Initially...
9 tags
Taking Off the Taboo
Originally posted in my personal blog, Education of a Wonderbread Girl:
The other day I was at a cocktail-party type reception. I was talking to man there, one I’d never met before, and we were having the normal sparkly, witty, superficial kind of conversation one usually engages in at these things. Suddenly, he made an offhand political comment, and then quickly apologized, saying, “I know...
7 tags
Why The U.S. is Not a Christian Nation - from CNN →
June 2011
1 post
30 tags
Puzzle Pieces of Faith
I have a muddled religious history. I’ve been baptized twice, once as an infant in the Presbyterian church (which disbanded when I was in elementary school and now houses a car dealership on its front lawn) and once in a born-again Southern Baptist church (dunked underwater the full-immersion way). I’ve attended “uni-denominational” churches that fell apart among cases of...
