Nicked from rivka

( The swag )

But... why wasn't I tricked with a button? I LIKE buttons! I can still probably figure out something to do with that pencil though..

picking the scab of organized religion - again

Attn: hadesgirl and patgreene in particular, 'cos I know that y'all will have some intelligent and insightful things to say:

I find this Boston Globe article, Warring With God interesting if only for this one bit:

It was unfashionable of him [General Boykin, who made the "my god was bigger than his god" noises last week] to speak aloud the implications of his "abiding faith," but exclusivist claims made for Jesus Christ by most Christians, from Vatican corridors to evangelical revival tents, implicitly insult the religion of others. When Catholics speak of "salvation" only through Jesus, or when Protestants limit "justification" to faith in Jesus, aspersions are cast on the entire non-Christian world.

This is another reason why I don't identify with Christianity, or with any one faith in particular - I don't think Jesus, Mohammed, or anyone else has cornered the market on The Way, so I find it difficult to accept Jesus Christ (or anyone else) as my personal savior, etc. when other faiths and philosophies have just as much to offer.

So I put it to those of y'all who do adhere to a particular religion - what has your religious leader got that the rest don't? And how do you respond to questions like the above, that accepting a single religious personage as The One is inherently insulting to other faiths?

Disclaimer: Despite my subject line, I don't mean this post to be insulting or condescending in any way - I am genuinely curious, and eager to start debate.

more food for thought

Just pulling out the thought-provoking articles today!

This one is by John Perry Barlow of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. In Surreality TV: From Burning Man to Running Man, he discusses his observations from Burning Man and ponders why "bohemians" are not politically involved, and why that needs to change:

If someone like Karl Rove had wanted to neutralize the most creative, intelligent, and passionate members of his opposition, he'd have a hard time coming up with a better tool than Burning Man. Exile them to the wilderness, give them a culture in which alpha status requires months of focus and resource-consumptive preparation, provide them with metric tons of psychotropic confusicants, and then... ignore them. It's a pretty safe bet that they won't be out registering voters, or doing anything that might actually threaten electoral change, when they have an art car to build.

I've never been to Burning Man, so I can't say what "type" (if any) of person attends, and whether they are all as creative and freethinking as Barlow claims. I do know that from my own experience, it's far easier to retreat into my private world of books, art, and creative, insightful friends and pretend George II isn't on the throne than it is to get out there and try to make some small difference.
( venting-feel free to skip )

Update 10/29/2003 - patgreene, I'm sorry I accidentally deleted your comment - somehow this entry got posted twice and I managed to delete the one with comments (of course! :P) I do imagine that someone can have some profound insights at an event like Burning Man, but unless you try and are able to take that knowledge home with you, I question whether it's ultimately a useful experience.