Juiciest Religious Factoids

from the Steven Waldman blog:

For someone who is both a religion junkie and a numbers junkie, the fabulous new Pew Religious Landscape survey has left me a bit giddy. Every page tells an amazing story. Eventually, we'll parse this more thematically but for now...[read the rest of the story]

Church Shopping

	Cocoa	Melbourne
Episcopal	St. Mark’s 19 min Main Sunday service: 10am	Holy Trinity 30 min Main Sunday service: 9am
Unitarian	Unitarian Congregation 23 min Main Sunday service: 11am	Unitarian Universalist Church of Brevard 24 min Main Sunday service: 11am
Unity	Unity Center for Spiritual Living 35 min Main Sunday service: 10am	Unity of Melbourne 23 min Main Sunday service: 11am

Vigil for Peace

Episcopal Peace Fellowship joins Christian Peace Witness for big event on 3/16/07

Episcopal Church started planning such an event after coming up with "General Convention Decision 20"

nice chain mail

This is a nice and inspiring chain email from a friend. It's nice:


This should probably be taped to your bathroom mirror where one could
read it every day. You may not realize it, but it's 100% true.

1. There are at least two people in this world that you would die for.

2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.

3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.

4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.

5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.

6. You mean the world to someone.

7. You are special and unique.

8. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.

9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.

10. When you think the world has turned its back on you take another look.

11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.


And always remember....when life hands you Lemons, ask for tequila and salt and call me over!

DailyOM: Echoes Of Happiness

from DailyOM.com

February 6, 2007 Echoes Of Happiness Belly Laughs As children, we laugh hundreds of times each day, delighted by the newness of living. When we reach adulthood, however, we tend to not allow ourselves to let go in a good belly laugh. Inviting laughter back into our lives is simply a matter of making the conscious decision to laugh. Though most of us are incited to laugh only when exposed to humor or the unexpected, each of us is capable of laughing at will. A laugh that comes from the belly carries with it the same positive effects whether prompted by a funny joke or consciously willed into existence. When our laughter comes from the core of our being, it permeates every cell in our physical selves, beginning in the center and radiating outward, until we are not merely belly laughing but rather body laughing. Laughter has been a part of the human mode of expression since before evolution granted us the art of speech. Through it, we connected with allies while demonstrating our connection with people we didn't know. In the present, laughter allows us to enjoy positive shared experiences with strangers and loved ones alike. Yet solitary laughter carries with it its own slew of benefits. An energetic and enthusiastic bout of whole-body laughter exercises the muscles, the lungs, and the mind in equal measure, leaving us feeling relaxed and content. When we laugh heartily at life's ridiculousness instead of responding irritably, our focus shifts. Anger, stress, guilt, and sadness no longer wield any influence over us, and we are empowered to make light of what we originally feared. Laughter also opens our hearts, letting love and light in, changing our perspective, and enabling us to fix our attention on what is positive in our lives. It is easy to laugh when we feel good, but it is when the world appears dim that we most need laughter in our lives. Our laughter then resonates through our hearts, filling the empty spaces with pure, unadulterated joy. We regain our footing in the moment and remember that no sorrow is powerful enough to rob us of our inborn happiness. When we understand that uninhibited laughter is the food of the soul, nourishing us from within, we know instinctively that life is worthwhile.

The Stairs of Light

Alex Brown February 1, 2007

The stairs of light are optional If you choose to be optimistic You ascend the stairs of light If you choose to be miserable You descend the dark stairs Those stairs lead nowhere At times, the stairs of light may be hard But in the end is the right choice For at the end of them is A feeling of peacefullness Inside of you

persuasion, negotiation, rhetoric

While reading one of my many email newsletters (SciTech Daily), I fell upon a book review called "Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die". This had me go to my favorite book store, Amazon.com, where I ordered the audio CD for it. It's basically about making someone remember an idea and convincing them of something.

Later, when reading a Christian Books & Culture e-newsletter (ahhh, guided websurfing!), they were talking about a book called "How Faith Happens." I don't know what the book's about, but they described the author as also being a student of rhetoric.

I wasn't sure of what rhetoric is, so I looked it up on Wikipedia. Guess what? It's a form of working to convince someone of something. On the brain, maybe?

---------------
1/31/07: additional link on the Made to Stick book, from Business Week.

history of doubt

Since I'm on a plane every weekend, I listen to podcasts, music, books on tape, etc, a lot. One radio show I like is Speaking of Faith. I thought the episode entitled "A History of Doubt" was both intriguing and educational. The author is not religious. She describes famous doubters such as Aristotle, etc. One thing that I thought was interesting was her discussion on cynics, epherists (sp?), skeptics, and the such. I was not aware, before, for instance, that the source of the word cynic comes from dog-like.

Episcopal Church split

I am a participant in the Episcopal church traditions and fellowship of my home church. Our church is "libaral", in that we support all that has happened in recent years with the Episcopal Church (gay bishop, female presiding bishop).

Here's the latest in the split. It's so unfortunate. I would agree that the congregations and dioceses that have chosen to move under African leadership are no longer Episcopalian, since they're abdicating one of the basic reasons that the Episcopal church started: self-governance. Now that they're willing to be governed by another nation, they're not observing that basic tenant. :-(

Speaking of Faith radio show

This is a radio show I like to listen to every once and a while. A variety of religious topics is discussed, relating the topics to events that are happening today.

So I was happy to see a description of it on Yahoo!Picks. I recommend using the podcast option. I'm not a real fan of sitting and listening, unless I'm in the car. So I put the show on my iPod and listen if I'm taking a walk or something.

Speaking of Faith In this country, some people see religion as a debate between those who despise the theory of evolution and those who think God is a four-letter word. But Speaking of Faith, "public radio's conversation about religion, meaning, ethics, and ideas," takes a much-needed, more-nuanced approach. Hosted by Krista Tippett, who received a Masters of Divinity at Yale, the series ranges far and wide in examining different aspects of spirituality. While hot-button issues like gay marriage, religious fundamentalism, and "The Da Vinci Code" are not spared, the show also explores less-traveled areas like the challenge war poses to core religious tenets and the history of doubt. The program's archive goes back to 2001. Download each show in MP3 format, listen to it with RealPlayer, or subscribe to a podcast. And find yourself, possibly, thinking and speaking of faith with a broader perspective. (in Religion & Spirituality)

silence

buddhist, buddhist
catholic
wikipedia/wikiquote, newage/quotes
quaker, a quaker book
social service
new age, new age, new age (search for "silence")
Thomas Hood - poem
in literature
700 club
urbandictionary
unitarian
episcopal

religious China

China has had a reputation, since it became communist, of persecuting folks who practice one religion or another. An example is the Tibet situation. I believe there are specific types of persecution for Christians.

With that in mind, the following article caught my attention (in the e-newsletter, Science and Theology):

The Sleeping Giant awakes
China reconsiders the need for spirituality to balance scientific development and consumerism.

This article caused me to look at Wikipedia:
- China and Religion
- Opium of the People
- Karl Marx

THE CURIOUS RISE OF ANTI-RELIGIOUS HYSTERIA

from Utne Webwatch:

By Frank Furedi, Spiked
Frank Furedi argues that in the process of attacking the religious right, the left in the US has come to resemble a "fanatical Inquisitor," embodying the very traits that it derides. [the story]

unweaving the rainbow

This book is on the top of my bookstack today. I got it for Christmas from my sister, who found it on my Amazon.com wishlist. It continually intrigues me that people from all walks of life have something like spirituality, and yet someone who is proclaimed atheist refuses to identify with that term. There is a sense of wonder at the world (and universe) that goes across any philosophical boundaries. I'm just in the middle of the first chapter, but the author starts right from the beginning describing this wonder with a very spiritual flair.

Perhaps there is a need for some sort of translation glossary of philosophical terms that, when used, could help with philosophical discussions?

It makes me think of the prologue from this book. In it, there is a description of spiritual leaders from all world religions shuffling to a common goal, and yet they are all afraid of each other.

science vs religion: they don't have to be at odds

The article on page one of this newsletter provides one person's thoughts at how science and religion can be considered complementary to each other, and that it is fundamentalists on both sides who continue to embrace a schism.

How I got here: SciTech daily / Closer To The Truth / Resources / Metanexus / Newsletters

evolution vs design

This article features an interview between a Beliefnet.com staff writer and Richard Dawkins, leading evolutionary biologist and atheist. In addition to the article, there is an open discussion board next to it.

I have participated in the Beliefnet.com discussions in the past, but don't think I will on this one. What I've found is that a few very vocal yet not very enlightened people dominate the discussion. It is not the best forum for thoughtful discussion.

But anyway, I find the interview interesting, and also want to check out some of the links that have been placed here and there along it.

As for me, I believe in evolution. As for God, God just Is.

philosophy & quantum mechanics

from Arts & Letters Daily:

Albert Einstein saw more deeply into quantum mechanics than many of its ardent defenders. His interest was philosophical, to be sure, but it was not senseless... more»

Newton’s laws can be derived from general relativity. So why not derive classical mechanics from quantum mechanics?... more»

Einstein's God

from :

Einstein's God [Web Site Listen Online]

With physicists Freeman Dyson and Paul Davies, and through the words of Albert Einstein himself, we explore Einstein’s way of thinking about mystery, eternity, and the mind of God. [the story]

Moving at the Pace of Guidance

Unity Monthly Feature Article

peace and quiet

from Straight Dope:

Not necessarily Lost: Are there actual cases of castaways who have been rescued? [the story]