False gods exact a high price from their devotees

When a mere man is worshipped as God, the results are never good; as reported by Elena Salvoni and Agence France-Presse in the London Daily Mail, July 2, 2024:

Around 100 worshippers have been crushed to death at a Hindu religious gathering in northern India, government medics have said.

The death toll has risen to 107, with scores of others injured, according to a senior government official. There are fears the number of dead could increase further.

A large crowd had gathered near the city of Hathras, Uttar Pradesh state, for a sermon by a popular preacher but a fierce dust storm sparked panic as people were leaving.

Many were crushed or trampled, falling on top of each other, with some collapsing into a roadside drain in the chaos.

'The attendees were exiting the venue when a dust storm blinded their vision, leading to a melee and the subsequent tragic incident,' said Chaitra V., divisional commissioner of Aligarh city.

Unverified videos show people crammed together as panicked shrieks and sirens ring out. Separate footage shows bodies piled up on the ground outside a local hospital in the aftermath.

Indian president Droupadi Murmu said in a statement on X: 'The news of the death of many devotees including women and children in the accident in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh is heart-rending.

'I express my deepest condolences to those who lost their family members and pray for the speedy recovery of those injured.'

State Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said his thoughts were with the bereaved families and he ordered an urgent investigation into the incident.

'Instructions have been given to the concerned officials to conduct relief and rescue operations on war footing and to provide proper treatment to the injured,' he wrote on X.

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said he has spoken to Adityanath regarding the tragic incident.

He said the Uttar Pradesh government 'is engaged in providing all possible help to all the victims.'

'My condolences are with those who have lost their loved ones in this,' he added, 'Along with this, I wish for the speedy recovery of all the injured.'

Crowds had been massing to celebrate the Hindu deity Shiva in the town of Sikandrarao, some 120 miles (200km) southeast of New Delhi.

Hathras District Magistrate Ashish Kumar said that it was 'a private event and permission had been given by the sub-divisional magistrate.

'Security arrangements were made by the administration but the other arrangements were supposed to be made by the organisers.'

Deadly accidents are common at places of worship in India during major religious festivals.

At least 112 people were killed in 2016 after a huge explosion caused by a banned fireworks display at a temple marking the Hindu new year.

The blast ripped through concrete buildings and ignited a fire at a temple complex in Kerala state, where thousands had gathered.

Another 115 devotees died in 2013 after a stampede at a bridge near a temple in Madhya Pradesh.

Up to 400,000 people were gathered in the area, and the stampede occurred after a rumour spread that the bridge was about to collapse.

About 224 pilgrims died and more than 400 others were injured in a 2008 stampede at a hilltop temple in the northern city of Jodhpur.

Perceptive readers will notice that the devotees were gathering to worship Shiva. Shiva is a major deity in Hinduism, and is known as the Destroyer in the Hindu trinity that includes Brahma and Vishnu. The destruction resulting from this incident was reported by Cherylann Mollan of BBC News and Dilnawaz Pasha of BBC Hindi, July 3, 2024 (bold, links in original):

The number of people killed in a crush at a religious gathering in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh has risen to 121, making it one of the deadliest such disasters in more than a decade.

The incident took place during a satsang (a Hindu religious festival) in Hathras district on Tuesday.

Police said the number of people present at the venue was three times the permitted limit and most of those who died or were injured were women.

A case has been registered against the event's organisers.

The tragedy has sparked outrage in India, and has led to questions about lapses in safety measures.

What happened?

The crush took place in Pulrai village, where a self-styled godman called Bhole Baba was holding a religious gathering.

Officials said the event was massively overcrowded.

Authorities had given permission for 80,000 people to gather but around 250,000 people attended the event, according to the first information report (FIR) lodged by the police.

Chaos broke out at the end of the event as the preacher was about to leave in his car.

The police report said thousands of devotees ran towards his vehicle and began collecting dust from the path in an act of devotion.

As crowds swelled, several of those sitting and squatting on the ground got crushed.

The document added that some people tried running to a patch of mud-filled fields across the road, but were forcibly stopped by the organisers and were crushed.

Police have registered a case against a man who they say was the event's main organiser and a few others on several charges, including culpable homicide.

On Tuesday, distressing images from the site were circulated online.

Some videos showed the injured being taken to hospitals in pick-up trucks, tuk tuks and even motorbikes.

Other clips showed distraught family members screaming outside a local hospital as they tried to find their loved ones among rows of bodies left at the entrance.

Bunty, who uses only one name and comes from the state's Aligarh district, said he was devastated at the loss of his mother.

He saw her body lying outside a hospital on a news channel on Tuesday evening.

"But when I went there, I could not find my mother and have since been trying to locate her body," he told BBC Hindi.

Others expressed anger over the incident.

Ritesh Kumar, whose 28-year-old wife was among those killed, said his life had been upended.

“My family has been destroyed. The government should see to it that we get justice,” he said.

Who is Bhole Baba?

The self-styled godman's original name is Suraj Pal but he reportedly re-christened himself Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari. His devotees call him Bhole Baba.

He hails from Bahadurpur village in Kasganj district, which is about 65km (40 miles) from Hathras.

Sanjay Kumar, a senior police officer in the state, told BBC Hindi that he was a constable in the police but was suspended from service after a criminal case was lodged against him.

He was reinstated in the force after a court cleared him but left his job in 2002, Mr Kumar added.

Details about his life are sketchy, but Mr Kumar says that after leaving the force, he began to call himself Bhole Baba.

He does not have much social media presence, but has hundreds of thousands of followers in Hathras and neighbouring districts.

Huge crowds attend his sermons where he is mostly seen in white clothes.

Since the tragedy, the preacher is believed to be hiding in his ashram in Mainpuri, about 100km (62 miles) from Pulrai village.

Shalabh Mathur, a senior official in Aligarh police, said a search was underway to find him and question him.

Police say he runs an organisation called the Ram Kutir Charitable Trust, which was also the main organiser of Tuesday's event.

Satsangs are events where people gather to pray, sing devotional songs or listen to a preacher and they are often attended by a large number of women.

Gomti Devi, who was present at the event, said she had a lot of faith in the Bhole Baba.

She said she wears a locket with his photo because he "cures diseases, ends domestic troubles, and provides employment".

Gomti Devi holds up a locket with the religious leader's image

As reported by Reuters, July 3, 2024 (bold, links in original):

A massive gathering addressed by an Indian policeman-turned-preacher, considered an incarnation of God by his followers, turned horribly wrong on Tuesday, as at least 121 people, mostly women and children, died in a stampede.

"Bhole Baba", or the Innocent Elder, is the sobriquet of a self-styled godman who was a police constable before he turned to spirituality and became a preacher. Originally Suraj Pal Singh, he later changed his name to Narayan Sakar Hari. He is currently untraceable, and police in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh, where Tuesday's tragedy occurred, said they were still trying to trace him.

Here are some known facts about the preacher:

ORIGINS

Bhole Baba was a police constable in Uttar Pradesh for nearly a decade before he resigned and turned to spirituality, Sudhir Kumar, a senior police official said. The preacher is a native of Kasganj village, close to the Hathras area where the stampede took place.

He used to travel across the states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, in India's northern belt, where he has a huge following, and address gatherings, mostly on the first Tuesday of every month, local media said.

A member of India's low-caste Dalit community, Bhole Baba's aim was to create an ideal society, free of superstition and full of compassion, according to a hoarding erected at the site of Tuesday's incident.

ONLINE PERSONA

Posters and videos posted on Bhole Baba's YouTube channel, which boasts of millions of views, show him dressed in either traditional Indian kurta tunics or pristine white suits and ties, often sporting sunglasses, a departure from the spartan image of most godmen.

Holding a microphone in hand, seated on an ornate throne and with his wife by his side, Bhole Baba is seen addressing huge gatherings of mostly women, almost all of whom are sitting on the ground, hands folded in reverence. "Humanity was the true religion, is the true religion and will always be the true religion," he is quoted as saying in a poster.

To protect himself from devotees who would rush to touch his feet and seek his blessings, Bhole Baba had formed a security team known as Narayani Sena, with men and women guards who would escort him to gatherings, an NDTV report said.



Who is Bhole Baba aka Narayan Saakar Hari?

Suraj Pal Singh, known to his followers as Bhole Baba, was born in Bahadur Nagari village in Uttar Pradesh's Etah district to a farmer. He joined UP police and was a head constable working with the Intelligence Unit for over 18 years. However, his followers say he has also claimed that he worked for the Intelligence Bureau.

In 1999, he took voluntary retirement from the service, changed his name to Narayan Saakar Hari and began holding satsangs. He told his devotees he felt an inclination towards spirituality and world peace and he resigned to begin his spiritual journey.

From Suraj Pal to Narayan Saakar Hari

According to a report, he claimed to live in a hut in his village and travelled across Uttar Pradesh to preach. Narayan Hari also enjoys a large following in neighbouring states of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

Unlike most self-styled godmen, Narayan Hari is seen wearing a white suit and tie or a simple kurta pyjama accompanied by his wife Prem Bati. He also claims he does not keep any money offered to him by followers at his satsangs and distributes it among his followers.

Covid Satsang Had 50,000 Attendees

Even though the self-styled godman is known to keep his distance from the media, he has been embroiled in several controversies. In 2022, he held a similar satsang in UP's Farrukhabad even as cases of Covid were on the rise. While the district administration only permitted 50 people to attend the event over 50,000 people reached the site to attend the programme. The large crowd led to the significant traffic snarls in the area.

Seeing the large crowds that turn up for his satsangs, the godman has a security team named "Narayani Sena" that consists of men and women guards who escort him from his ashram to the satsang locations.

As reported by Reuters, July 5, 2024 (links in original):

The chief organiser of an Indian preacher's event where a stampede killed 121 people this week surrendered to police on Friday, a lawyer for the preacher said, after police had launched a manhunt.

Devprakash Madhukar was named a key suspect in an initial report registered by police under charges including attempted culpable homicide. Police had announced a reward of 100,000 rupees ($1,200) for information leading to his arrest.

A.P. Singh, lawyer for self-styled godman Bhole Baba, said Madhukar was the main organiser of the Hindu religious event on Tuesday attended by about 250,000 people in a village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. District authorities had permitted an event of only 80,000 people.

"He has surrendered from Delhi. We are not seeking an anticipatory bail," Singh told reporters. He denied any wrongdoing by the event's organisers and said Devprakash was getting medical treatment in a hospital after the stampede.

The preacher said on Saturday he was saddened by the incident and his aides would help the injured and families of the deceased.

"I have faith that anyone who created the chaos will not be spared," he told Indian news agency ANI, in which Reuters has a minority stake.

($1 = 83.47 Indian rupees)

Trinity Western University promotes events that divide rather than unite Christians

Anyone who thinks that evangelical universities and colleges are actually Christian isn't paying attention; it's becoming increasingly difficult to see any difference between these institutions and the world, especially as the world becomes more anti-Christian. Submitted for your approval, the following items from the events page of Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia (bold, links in original):

27/01/2023 - 10:00 :

Trinity Western University's Lunar New Year celebrations bring students, staff, and the community together at Langley and Richmond campuses

As a global Christian university, Trinity Western is a community of learners representing over 80 countries. This year, during Lunar New Year, a festival celebrated by many communities globally, Trinity Western's Langley and Richmond campuses are filled with activities.

On January 23, TWU's Intercultural Student Programs (ICP) kicked off a week-long series of events for students and the campus community, starting with a Korean Dinner hosted in the Global Lounge (Kuhn Centre) on Monday evening. Students shared laughs and good food while participating in dumpling wrapping and lantern making.

Wema Kibe is a student leader who helped coordinate Monday's community dinner. The third-year International Studies major explained that "Community dinners are a great place for people to not just learn about a culture but to also make new connections. Ushering in the new year with people from diverse places was a great way to do this."

The first activity of the evening was making dumplings, and Wema reflected on the intercultural exchange, "It was fun to see people at different tables creating different shapes. I talked to someone from Japan who made a dumpling the way they do it in her culture, and it was interesting to see that integration."

Student leader Anasthasia Anjanette led participants in making paper lanterns. The activity symbolized "letting go of our past selves" and getting ready for the new year. Wema explains, "Inside the lanterns, they wrote down their wishes for the new year." Prizes were given out to the maker of the best-looking lanterns.

The campus Korean club, Manna, took charge of the cooking and cultural explanations of the food.

On Tuesday, a lion dance troupe graced the foyer of the Reimer Student Centre. Boisterous music and drum beats accompanied the traditional dance performance, which was enjoyed by students, staff, and faculty. Wednesday evening saw student dorms racing through a series of stations across the Langley campus—each station presenting a different game or challenge—in a cross-campus dorm night.

Thursday brought celebrations to TWU Richmond's two sites in Minoru and Lansdowne. Activities included calligraphy writing, trivia games, pastoral care and prayer, and a student dance performance. Dumplings and snacks were served, and red envelopes with a treat and a note of Scriptural encouragement handed out. The MLA for Richmond Centre Teresa Wat attended as well, to share new year greetings with the Richmond campus community.

MBA student Merghani Ahmed expressed that he enjoys studying at TWU Richmond, where the community represents "a diversity of different faiths and nationalities." He also appreciates "the flexibility of classes, and good events, such as today's Lunar New Year event, which are good experiences for students from international backgrounds."

The festivities continued that evening in the Reimer Student Centre, where bubble tea was served by TWU's Student Association (TWUSA), and various booths offered games, conversation, gifts, and snacks.

A week of Lunar New Year events wraps up this Friday evening with a talent show at Block Hall.

30/01/2023 - 09:00

Black History Month 2023 at Trinity Western University

Trinity Western University honours Black History Month this February. Join us as we recognize the importance, impact, and contributions of Black history and culture on a global, national, and local scale.

Find out how TWU is celebrating Black History Month, and how you can participate.

See our month-long schedule of events below:

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Library Event and Book Display – Presentation by Aklilu Mulat, Senior Vice President, Business Operations & CFO, Trinity Western University
February 1 | 11:45 a.m. | Glass Room, Norma Marion Alloway Library

Topic: Blacks' Contribution to the TWU Family: The Ethiopian Connection

Mr. Aklilu Mulat's speech is inspired by his own journey and connection leading to Trinity Western, going as far back to the former emperor of Ethiopia (Haile Selassie), and the visible legacy that the connection created. Lunch provided.

TWU Afro-Caribbean Club (ACC) Games Night
February 2 | 8 p.m. | Global Lounge, Kuhn Centre

Join us in bringing TWU together, especially the student community, for a fun night of games, conversation, and friendship-building. Snacks will be shared.

TWU Chapel
February 3 | 11 a.m. | Enarson Gymnasium

Enjoy a special Praise Chapel worship experience with the TWU BHM Choir.

Black History Month Opening Event
February 3 | 5 p.m. | Kuhn Centre Lobby

Our Black History Month kick-off celebration features music by TWU's BHM Choir and the Kara-Kata Afrobeat Band from Vancouver, alongside talented TWU students Ose Obetoh, David Mutabazi, Eddison Bryan and Tamilore Awonusi.
Warm appetizers and Afro-Caribbean beverages provided.

TWU Chapel
February 8, 10 | 11 a.m. | Enarson Gymnasium

TWU President Mark Husbands continues the Chapel sermon series on Justice.

Black History Month Movie Night
February 15 | 6 p.m. | DeVries Auditorium

Movie: Hidden Figures
See the story of three African-American female mathematicians working at NASA—Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson—whose efforts served to launch astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a monumental accomplishment in U.S. and world history.

February 19
Black History Month Podcast Interview

Learning Matters: a Bridge to Practice – Episode #50

What do you get when a Communication Scholar, Historian, Geographer, and a Biologist walk into a room during Black History Month?

On the podcast Learning Matters: a Bridge to Practice, hosted by TWU's Scott Macklin, professors and scholars Divine Agodzo, Robynne Healey, Maxwell Ofosuhene and Laura Onyango discuss and celebrate intersections of black contributors to history and issues of diversity, inclusion and reconciliation across the full spectrum of our educational offerings and scholarship. Answering questions such as, What do you believe are some of the unique challenges facing Black students in Christian universities today, and how do you work to support and empower them? In your opinion, what can be done to address systemic racism and discrimination within Christian universities and communities? What are some books or movies that you consider helpful in exploring or learning about black history?

Black History Month Closing Celebration
February 27 | Front of Reimer Centre

Talk by Hon. Justice Olufunlola Adekeye, CON, CFR,JSC (rtd.) Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria 2009-2012
February 28 | DeVries Auditorium

Topic: The Place of Black Women in Leadership in the 21st Century—Experience as a Trailblazer

Hon. Justice Adekeye will share her Lordship’s experience as a Christian woman who helped to break the glass ceiling in the Judiciary of Nigeria. She was the first woman to rise to the High Court of Ondo and Ekiti States, and the second woman (and first in Southern Nigeria) to rise to the Supreme Court of Nigeria, which is the highest court in the country.

Throughout the month of February: A display of books written by Black authors will be featured at the Norma Marion Alloway Library.

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Gender Cafe: EDID, Politics, and Christian Institutions

Christian organizations should be in the forefront of creating and advancing equitable, diverse, inclusive, and decolonized environments. It is a part of our DNA. So, why are we not leading in this endeavour? The problem is that we follow the political and cultural trends instead of forging faith-led approaches to achieving a just and humane society. How are Christians called to lead the work of shaping the Beloved Community?

Dr. Adkins’ talk will be followed by discussion and a question-and-answer period.

It's FREE and open to the public and refreshments are provided.

About the Speaker

Jennifer Adkins, PhD, is Vice President of Inclusive Excellence at TWU. An expert in diversity, equity, and inclusion, she is a key member of the executive leadership team, the University leadership council, and the strategic planning committee, and she provides strategic leadership and counsel to the University. She is advancing TWU’s work in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and helping to propel the University forward in pursuit of our shared vision to prepare graduates for faithful lives of excellence.

About the Gender Studies Institute at TWU

The Gender Studies Institute fosters interdisciplinary teaching, intellectual dialogue, research, and collaboration in all areas of gender studies. The interdisciplinary nature of the institute will enable TWU scholars to collaboratively address with students gender issues that come out of every discipline, such as domestic violence, child abuse, and gendered visions of care, exploring how categories such as class, race, and gender intersect, to train leaders who will enjoy and foster restorative gendered relationships. The role of our Christian faith in the working out of gender in all aspects of life will inform our teaching and research.

Lunar New Year has considerable worldly superstition and pagan content; from the article The Lunar New Year: Rituals and Legends at the site Asia for Educators (bold, links in original):

Preparations for the New Year

... Domestically there is a traditional cleansing as well. In decades past, the most thorough “spring cleaning” of the year was initiated as a ritualistic sweeping away of all the evil spirits feared to be lurking in dark corners behind heavy and rarely moved pieces of furniture. Today, the only consideration for the vast majority of Chinese is a spotless presentation of one’s home to the many family members and guests who will be welcomed during the holiday season. Windows are washed, or were repapered in the old days, and the courtyard gate or other wooden parts of the house might be repainted. The old agrarian calendar cites the 20th day of the 12th lunar month as the “day for sweeping floors,” and this date still marks the beginning of the major pre-holiday housecleaning projects in Hong Kong. In much of China, peasants waited until the 23rd (in South China) or the 24th (in the North) to pick up the broom and dust pan. It was on this day that the Kitchen God, or god of the hearth, was scheduled to depart to make his report concerning household activities to the Jade Emperor in heaven. So as not to unnecessarily disturb and possibly offend him, housewives waited until he was on his way before they started moving furniture and raising dust.

Sending the Kitchen God off to heaven was a matter deserving special attention. In residence year-round at the hearth, where he was represented by a prominently displayed picture, or in parts of the South by beautifully calligraphed characters for his name, the Kitchen God observed all the family’s comings and goings. Had they been generous to any beggar at the door? Had they wasted any hard-earned food, which some farmer had toiled and sweated to produce? Measures were taken to insure the kitchen god’s cooperation in giving a glowing report to the Jade Emperor, and thereby winning for the family a little heavenly favor. This included ritual offerings of candies or pastries and wine, and even smearing his lips with honey to make certain that he would only have sweet things to say about the family. Once this was done, the picture of the Kitchen God was torched, and he was off on his yearly journey, not to return until New Year’s Day. The dusting, washing, and scrubbing could then begin. Many believed they should sweep with inward strokes toward the center of the room so as not to whisk any of the family’s good fortune out the door...

...New Year’s Eve

By New Year’s Eve, family members, some of whom may have traveled long distances to return home, gather for a reunion. In preparation for his return from heaven on New Year’s Day, the new portrait of the Kitchen God is hung, as are the brand new door gods, the duilian (door couplets), and any other festive decor. Some southern families place stalks of sugar cane behind the doors. The height and section-upon-section construction of the sweet stalks represented the family’s hope for a ladder-like ascent to new levels of glory in the coming 12 months. Everyone dresses up, preferably in new clothes, and is on best behavior.

Traditionally, on this last night of the year, the male head of the household led the family in making offerings to various gods of the house and to the ancestors. The ceremonies would begin by sealing the cracks around the door with red paper to prevent the last vestiges of the old year’s bad luck from stealing into the house, and any of the family’s good luck from escaping. Respects would be paid to the god of wealth, the gods of the well, the bed, the hearth, or any others with whom the family wanted to remain on especially good terms. The attention would then turn to the ancestors, to whom sacrifices of food would be given along with burning of incense. Each member of the family would kneel in respect before the ancestral tablets, symbols of many past generations, all the spirits of whom some families believed were in attendance that night. In wealthier households, an entire room might be devoted to use as an ancestral hall, complete with altar, while in poorer families, the ancestral tablets might occupy a modest shed in a corner. Just as important was to show respect to one’s living elders. Younger family members would ketou (kowtow) to members of each generation above them, in order, beginning with the eldest. When children showed respect in this way, they were rewarded with red envelopes (hongbao), which contained New Year’s money (yasui qian)...

...New Year Festivities

...It was at this time that the male head of the house in many educated households would write auspicious characters or phrases to be hung at the entrance to the home. Some also waited for this day to approach the ancestral altar for seasonal rites, and to perform ritual ketou...

...In the days after the new year, it is common to make pilgrimages to temples, especially nowadays for residents of Hong Kong. Theater groups and acrobatic troupes perform in the streets at marketplaces, on temple grounds, or at large public stadiums. Dragon dances, lion dances, stilt-walking performances, and folk pageantry are still particularly popular...

...The Lantern Festival

The 15th day of the first lunar month is known as the “Lantern Festival.” The name for this day on the traditional calendar is Yuanshao, which has come to mean the small round dumplings of rice flour conventionally eaten at this time. The Lantern Festival signals the end of the New Year festival period.

Originally, lanterns were said to have been used on this night to help see the gods by torch light. Each family would construct an elaborate paper lantern for this purpose. Now in many parts of China there is great emphasis on the craftsmanship used in making exquisite lanterns in a variety of shapes and styles, which are then often shown at public exhibitions.

All of the events mentioned above appeal to only certain segments of the population rather than the whole. Lunar New Year is of interest mainly to Orientals; Black History Month helps to perpetuate the separation of Negro history from general history; and "equitable, diverse, inclusive, and decolonized" is Orwellian Newspeak for "eradicate everything coming from white people, especially white males." I defy anyone to find anything distinctively Christian in these events--or in allegedly Christian institutions of higher education.

Antichrist Ambrose University presents Gilgamesh

Ambrose University in Calgary, Alberta is the denominational school for both the Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada and Church of the Nazarene Canada. Anyone who thinks that institutions such as Ambrose University are Christian isn't paying attention; they may be "evangelical," but they aren't Christian. According to Ambrose's events calendar (bold, link, photo in original):

Gilgamesh (Classical Theatre Production)

Ambrose Theatre Students

December 1-3, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. & Saturday, December 3, 2022 at 2:30pm

Tickets: $20 Adult; $15 Students/Seniors/Ambrose ID. Please reserve tickets at tickets@ambrose.edu or at the door. Not suitable for children under 10.

Date
Thursday, December 1, 2022

Location
Big Secret Theatre,
Arts Commons
#21 225 8 Ave SE
Calgary, AB

Ambrose Arts Performing Gilgamesh

From December 1-3, Ambrose Arts will be performing Gilgamesh at the Big Secret Theatre – Arts Commons.

We are pleased to introduce our designer, Lindsey Zess. Lindsey is a Metis director, designer, maker and art educator living and working on Treaty 7 territory, primarily Mohkinstsis/Otoskwunee/Calgary. She creates work for both film and theatre, specializing in scenography, directing, devised performance, physical theatre practices and puppetry. Her devising/design methodology places a strong emphasis on the material, mythological and metaphysical.

The production Gilgamesh is inspired by the discovery of the oldest library in the world. A 4000-year-old story, The Epic of Gilgamesh, begins with King Gilgamesh of Uruk leading a life of despicable actions. Finding an unlikely friendship with his rival Enkidu through combat, the two become inseparable, fighting all their battles together. Upon the death of his friend, Gilgamesh sets off on the quest for eternal life. Gilgamesh finds himself attempting to conquer death through treacherous missions assigned by gods and immortals. Laying eyes on his city once more, Gilgamesh comes to terms with his fate and chronicles it as a lesson to those after him.

For more information on the Epic of Gilgamesh, we recommend watching this video!

It's impossible not to notice that the announcement mentions the politically correct race of the designer,as if that's of importance to the production. What is important is the subject matter, which is not suitable for children under 10--ideal family fare for Christmas! It seems odd that a university that claims to be Christian would present a production celebrating Gilgamesh, who has been identified by sound biblical scholars with Nimrod (Genesis 10:8-10), a tyrant whose kingdom was opposed to the God of the Bible. For evidence of this, see Nimrod by biblical archaeologist David P. Livingston at Christian Answers. Let's hear it, ladies and gentlemen, for your "evangelical" universities!

Tree is granted membership in Manitoba Buddhist Temple

Spiritual buffoonery isn't restricted to New Agers, charismaniacs, or liberal "Christians." As reported by John Longhurst of the Winnipeg Free Press, September 26, 2022 (photo in original):

There’s a new member of the Manitoba Buddhist Temple: a tree.

The large tree, which stands in front of the Winnipeg temple, was made a member of the sangha, or congregation, at a ceremony Saturday.

“It’s a way to make a point about what’s happening to the environment today,” said Tanis Moore, sensei of the temple.

“Trees are vital for our survival, and they provide beauty and shade.”

Moore was inspired to hold the ceremony by what Buddhists in Thailand are doing to preserve their forests.

In the Southeast Asian country, monks have been ordaining trees in order to protect them from being cut down for environmentally destructive cash crops.

The Winnipeg ceremony, which was led by Moore and Fredrich Ulrich, former sensei at the temple, began with the ringing of a bell. It was followed by a chant beside the tree, which had an orange saffron coloured cloth wrapped around its trunk.

The tree was then given the name as Dharma Phala, or “Fruit of the Dharma,” along with the title “honoured one” and thanked for joining the congregation.

The ceremony included the playing of a shakuhachi bamboo flute by Eric Napier Strong, who attends the temple.

It concluded with a prayer: “We gently caress you, our planet and home… make us aware of the harm we have done to the life network upon which we ourselves depend.”

“It’s like baptizing someone into a Christian community,” said Ulrich, explaining the meaning behind the ceremony.

“It’s representative of all trees,” added Moore. “It’s a symbol of our desire to care for the planet.”

Fredrich Ulrich, former sensei at the temple, says the ceremony inviting the tree into the congregation is akin to baptizing someone into a Christian community.

Fred Ulrich has been around for a long time; he was a priest in Edmonton in the 1980s. On March 5, 1987, during Christian Awareness Week at the University of Alberta, he debated Jeff Amano (author of The Reincarnation Sensation) of Probe Ministries on the subject of reincarnation vs. resurrection.

Addition by subtraction: The deaths of James Lovelock and Ron Sider

British environmentalist James Lovelock died on July 26, 2022, his 103rd birthday. Dr. Lovelock, a physician by training, was also a climate scientist and futurist. He was best known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, the idea that Earth itself is a living organism, with life forms interacting with inorganic surroundings to form a synergistic, self-regulating system. The hypothesis, named after the Greek goddess who personified the Earth, has been criticized by secular evolutionists, but has greatly influenced the increase in pagan nature worship that has become so popular in recent decades. I doubt that Dr. Lovelock is enjoying his present climate and environment.

On July 27, 2022, Ron Sider died at the age of 83. Dr. Sider, a native of Stevensville, Ontario, was involved with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship while an undergraduate at the University of Waterloo, and worked in apologetics with IVCF after earning a doctorate in history and master's in divinity from Yale University. He founded Evangelicals for Social Action in 1973, which might more accurately be called "Evangelicals for Socialism."

Dr. Sider was perhaps best known for his books Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger (1977) and Nuclear Holocaust and Christian Hope (1983). Christian writer Lloyd Billingsley described the former as:

A textbook of zero-sum thinking and statist solutions presented in religious vocabulary. A compendium of economic fallacies. (Billingsley, Lloyd. The Absence of Tyranny: Recovering Freedom in Our Time, 1986, p. 196).

Mr. Billingsley said of the latter:

Nuclear Holocaust and Christian Hope, co-authored with Richard Taylor, is a kind of religious version of Jonathan Schell's Fate of the Earth. Like Schell, Sider and Taylor rely heavily on shock tactics--describing blasts, destructions, bombs, blood, vomit, burns, screams. The front, fictionalized section of the book where this occurs is a combination snuff film and nuclear pornographic novel.

Merchandising comes later, the radical Christian version of Jesus watches and frisbees. Sider and Taylor advocate measures like displaying peace bumper stickers (surely a distinctive Christian approach), keeping photos of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the coffee table instead of Ansel Adams, buying stationery with a peace motif, and subscribing to the right magazines including the "rigorously biblical" Sojourners whose peace ministry co-author Taylor is a consultant.

To his great credit, Sider at least has the courage to carry his pacifism to its logical conclusion. The book may very well be the world's longest suicide note, suicide being the sure outcome of his nonmilitary defense plan, a new Anschluss on a larger scale.

The assumption is that, once conquered, we can all eventuall settle down to a peaceful, neo-Scandinavian existence. Germany was once thoroughly conquered; they did not so settle down. Sider's arguments for complete, not just nuclear, pacifism are buttressed with proof texts, but remain to me unconvincing.

It appears they are unconvincing to the authors as well. After three hundred gruelling pages filed with countless usages of "must," "should," and "ought," Sider and Taylor make this astonishing statement: "The authors of this book do not claim to have all the answers." Given this it is difficult to see their book as anything more than a public act of spiritual and political masturbation.

(Billingsley, Lloyd, The Generation that Knew Not Josef: A Critique of Marxism and the Religious Left, 1985, pp. 187-188).

I never for a minute believed that Dr. Sider was a Christian; I always figured he was a Communist masquerading as a Christian. When U.S. President Ronald Reagan delivered his "Evil Empire" speech to the National Association of Evangelicals on March 8, 1983, it was Ron Sider who immediately formed a group to protest against Mr. Reagan's views. Dr. Sider boasted about his participation in the "Witness for Peace" program in Nicaragua in the early 1980s, in which the participants acted as human shields to impede the efforts of the Contras who were fighting against Nicaragua's Sandanista regime. The actions of the "Witness for Peace" participants had the effect of aiding the Sandanista regime, a regime that committed genocide against the Miskito Indians and was persecuting Christians. For information on the Sandanistas' treatment of Christians, I recommend the book Breaking Faith: The Sandanista Revolution and its Impact on Freedom and Christian Faith in Nicaragua by former Sandanista Humberto Belli, published in 1985.

For more on Ron Sider and Evangelicals for Social Action, see my posts 30 years ago: Ronald Reagan, addressing the NAE, denounces the evil empire--and other evils (March 12, 2013) and 30 years ago: Carl McIntire critiques Evangelicals for Social Action's Chicago Declaration (May 1, 2014).

Apostate Congregational church in Nebraska offers drive-by Easter egg hunt

I'm a few weeks late in posting this, but here it is for the record, as reported in the Lincoln Journal-Star, April 3, 2020 (link in original):

First-Plymouth Congregational Church will offer a drive-by Easter Egg Hunt Sunday, April 12, from noon to 7 p.m. around the block outside the church at 20th and D streets.

On Easter Sunday, First-Plymouth encourages families to pile in the car to take an afternoon drive to see over 300 large and colorful Easter egg signs around the church block. Everyone is asked to respect social distancing and remain in your vehicles as you drive by. Planners hope the event will brighten things up a bit during this difficult time.

For more information on First-Plymouth, go to firstplymouth.org or call 402-476-7565.

A quick glance at the church's Who We Are page shows it to be a member of the United Church of Christ, claiming to be Christian while denying every fundamental Christian doctrine, and sounding more like Unitarians than Christians (bold inserted by blogger):

First-Plymouth strives to blend tradition and innovation, the historical and the contemporary. Our worship services have a quality that echoes through the ages and yet, speaks to the present and points to the future. Our religious life is shaped by five guiding principles: We are Christian, Open-minded, Spiritual, Evolving and Diverse. First-Plymouth Congregational Church is part of the United Church of Christ.

WE ARE CHRISTIAN

"Christian" means we perceive in Jesus the divine qualities of love, peace, joy, and justice. It does not mean we think Jesus is the only path to God.

"Christian" means we eagerly explore the Bible for its spiritual wisdom contained in symbol, metaphor, and history. It does not mean a literal or heavy-handed approach that uses the Bible to prove we are right or righteous.

WE ARE OPEN-MINDED

"Open-minded" means we understand faith as a quest, not a clutched certainty. "Open-minded" flies above the tired distinction between conservative and liberal, and does not refer to one’s specific beliefs, but how one relates to those beliefs. It means we do not assume a defensive posture, but rather enter appreciatively into different points of view with the expectation of learning and growing.

WE ARE SPIRITUAL

"Spiritual" means we believe God is a spirit of love that can be felt and known by each one of us. It means Christianity is as much about the heart as the head, as much about the body as the mind.

"Spiritual" means not merely hoping for a better world or pining after justice, but rolling up one’s sleeves and starting to feed the hungry, care for the sick and anguished, house the homeless and advocate for a more just society.

WE ARE EVOLVING

"Evolving" means rather than resisting change or innovation, we eagerly experiment with new ways of being faithful and new understandings. We strive to be rooted but not stuck.

WE ARE DIVERSE

"Diverse" means we celebrate the differences among us such as sexual orientation, ethnicity, class, mental abilities, physical capabilities, personalities, and backgrounds.

"Diverse" means we trust that these differences inform and strengthen community. A diverse spiritual community welcomes conventional believers, curious agnostics, and questioning skeptics.

And, finally, "diverse" means you are free to seek your own guiding principles in our midst. These principles are not a creed to which one must ascribe. Rather, they are one attempt to describe the spirit and nature of our congregation.

– Jim Keck, Senior Minister, First-Plymouth Church

The current sermon series promotes mysticism:

THE MYSTICAL HEART OF RELIGION

This week Dr. Keck continues his sermon series on mysticism. Using three mystical exemplars from history - Girodano Bruno, Joan of Arc and Howard Thurman - he will propose that the mystical heart of Christianity can be reclaimed through the theological imagination(Bruno), an embrace of high tradition (Joan of Arc) and an appreciation of nature mixed with a thirst for justice (Thurman). Join the journey this Sunday!

Israeli archaeologists discover pagan temple next to first Jewish Temple near Jersualem

Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the Lord, until those days. I Kings 3:2

Aerial photo of the temple at the end of the 2013 excavation. (Israel Antiquities Authority)

As reported by Judy Siegel-Itzkovich of Breaking Israel News, February 4, 2020:

In 2012, a monumental Iron Age-temple complex dating to late 10th-early 9th century BCE was discovered at Tel Moẓa near Jerusalem by archeologists of the Israel Antiquities Authority. The site, identified as the biblical city of Motẓa – within the boundary of the tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18: 26) – served as an administrative center for the storage and redistribution of grain.

The dig is the site of the only monumental Iron Age temple excavated in the heart of Judah, according to Shua Kisilevitz and Prof. Oded Lipschits of Tel Aviv University’s Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, principal investigators in the excavation and lead authors of the study that was just published Biblical Archaeology Review after the first analysis of the findings. The Motẓa Expedition Project was led by Tel Aviv University (TAU) and Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) researchers.

Their new research details the project’s exceptional finds at the site, the area under the earliest floor of the complex, which includes cultic installations and artifacts such as anthropomorphic (having human characteristics). and zoomorphic (having or representing animal forms or gods of the animal form) figurines and a large decorated cult stand.

“Could a monumental temple really exist in the heart of Judah, outside Jerusalem? Did Jerusalem know about it?” wrote doctoral student Kisilevitz. “If so, could this other temple possibly have been part of the Judahite administrative system? The Bible details the religious reforms of King Hezekiah and King Josiah, who consolidated worship practices to Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, and eliminated cultic activity beyond its boundaries.”

But the TAU and IAA analysis of the archeological finds and biblical texts “clearly demonstrates that the temple at Motẓa conformed to ancient Near Eastern religious conventions and traditions and biblical depictions of cult places throughout the land. It has become clear that temples such as the one at Motẓa not only could but also must have existed throughout most of the Iron II period as part of the official, royally sanctioned religious construct,” Kisilevitz continued.

“Despite the biblical narratives describing Hezekiah’s and Josiah’s reforms, there were sanctioned temples in Judah in addition to the official temple in Jerusalem,” Lipschits added. “Our discoveries thus far have fundamentally changed the way we understand the religious practices of Judahites.”

In the spring of 2019, the first academic excavation of the site set out to fully unearth and study two cult buildings discovered one on top of the other at Tel Motẓa: The monumental temple complex built in the late 10th-early 9th centuries BCE, and a structure beneath it that has only partially been uncovered, tentatively dated to the 10th century BCE.

The rich collection of cultic artifacts and architectural remains at the site – including human-shaped figurines, horse figurines, a cult stand decorated with a pair of lions or sphinxes, a stone-built altar, a stone-built offering table and a pit filled with ash and animal bones – provides an important opportunity to study the formation of cult and religion in the region at the time and provide a framework for the formation of the Kingdom of Judah.

According to the study, the construction of a central cult location with regulated worship dedicated to this purpose was a natural progression for a growing community. As the site’s function as a granary intensified, a temple was constructed to ensure economic success and to strengthen the control of the local leaders over the community that lived around the economic and cultic center.

The study of the economic function of the site in tandem with its religious function strengthens the idea that a local polity emerged in the Motẓa region in the 10th century BCE, possibly hailing the establishment of a Judahite polity later in the era.

“We suggest that the Tel Motẓa temple was the undertaking of a local group, initially representing several extended families or perhaps villages that banded together to pool their resources and maximize production and yield,” the researchers write. “The rest remains to be discovered.”

The Motẓa Expedition Project will resume excavation at the site in the coming spring. The expedition will comprise a team of 50 participants, including staff and students from TAU, Charles University (Prague) in the Czech Republic, Universität Osnabrück in Germany and the University of California at Los Angeles in the US.

British Columbia Supreme Court rules that Indian cleansing ritual imposed on schoolchildren is "cultural," not "religious"

This blogger has long maintained that the judges in British Columbia are the most mentally and morally retarded in Trudeaupia Canada, and their latest outrage does nothing to alter my opinion. As reported by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, January 8, 2020 (link in original):

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (jccf.ca) is disappointed with the January 8, 2020 Supreme Court of BC decision that allows schools to require children to participate in religious or spiritual rituals, despite parental objections to the explicitly religious aspect of “cleansing” the spirits of children. In 2015, a Port Alberni school required children to participate in a smudging ceremony whereby smoke from burning sage was fanned over the classroom, furniture and space occupied by children ’s children. In a letter to parents, the school claimed that this ritual took place for the express purposes of cleansing the children’s spirits of negative energy. Later in the school year, a prayer was offered at a mandatory student assembly.

“We are reviewing the decision with an eye to next steps,” stated Jay Cameron, counsel for Candice Servatius and Litigation Manager at the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms. “This is a disappointing decision for citizens from any religion or cultural background, each of whom has a constitutional right to be free from state-compelled spirituality.”

The week-long case against School District 70 was heard in November 2019 in Nanaimo, B.C. The Justice Centre represented mother Candice Servatius, whose two children were subjected to a religious or spiritual ritual at John Howitt Elementary School without her knowledge or consent. Witnesses for the Attorney General of B.C. and the Nuu-chul-nuth Tribal Council, which intervened in the case, testified during cross-examinations that it is not consistent with First Nation’s practice to compel anyone to be smudged against their will, and that it is “unnecessary” to hold cleansing ceremonies in classrooms in order to teach about First Nations culture.

However, in September of 2015, Mrs. Servatius received a letter from the principal of John Howitt Elementary School (JHES) in Port Alberni, BC, where her two children attend. The letter informed parents that JHES would be hosting a “Traditional Nuu-chah-nulth Classroom/Student Cleansing” performed by a “Nuu-chah-nulth Member” in the school’s classrooms. The letter did not provide a date for when these cleansing rituals would take place. The term Nuu-chah-nulth is used to describe fifteen related First Nation tribes who live on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island.

The letter from the school outlined specific beliefs of the Nuu-chah-nulth: “everything is one, all is connected” and “everything has a spirit.” The school’s letter described in detail how the cleansing ritual would “cleanse” the classroom of “energy” and cleanse the “spirits” of the students. The letter claimed that without cleansing, the classroom and even the furniture would harbour negative “energy” and would not be safe until the “energy” was “released.” The letter stated that each student would participate in the cleansing ritual by holding onto a cedar branch while having “smoke from Sage fanned over [their] body and spirit.”

Concerned about the explicitly supernatural and religious nature of the cleansing ritual, and how it conflicted with her own family’s religious beliefs, Mrs. Servatius immediately went to the school to learn more. When she arrived, she was shocked to find out that the ritual had already been imposed on her nine-year old daughter. Mrs. Servatius had received less than 24 hours of notice from the school, and did not have the opportunity to opt her child out of the religious ritual.

When the child expressed to her teacher that she did not want to participate, the teacher told the girl that it would be “rude” not to participate in the ritual and that “all” the students were “required” to participate.

In January of 2016, Mrs. Servatius learned that a prayer based on First Nations spirituality had been performed at a JHES student assembly, with explicit references to an unspecified “god”. JHES did not notify parents.

School District 70 argued in court that the ceremonies and prayers that children are required to participate in violate the right of Mrs. Servatius and her children to be free of government-imposed religion, and claimed that such rituals are merely “cultural”.

One can hardly imagine the Court coming up with such a ruling if a charismaniac had insisted on going into a school and holding a service in which he cast out demons; the only difference I can think of is that charismaniacs view demons as spirit beings rather than negative energy. And I find it strange that Canadian Indians, who are increasingly whining about "cultural appropriation," should insist on forcing non-Indians to participate in their "cultural" ritual.

Backlog: Today's university life includes organized orgies and paganism

A pair of items from the University of Alberta that are a few years old, but still relevant. As reported by Jamie Sarkonak in the U of A student newspaper The Gateway, October 27, 2015 (bold in original):

The rumours are true: there’s going to be an orgy for University of Alberta students..

The location and date of the “sexual mixer” is still tentative, but it will be held on November 13 at one of three tentative locations. It’s open to any student of the U of A, as long as they are willing to be screened by organizers.

Gender and sexuality ratios will be kept as close to equal as possible, to make sure nobody feels outnumbered or left out. The group is sex-positive, and said they are accepting of anyone on the gender and sexuality spectra to attend. It’s challenging to keep a balance, but keeping relatively equal numbers from all groups is important for the group’s comfort, U of A student and organizer Matthew James Hardy said.

“This way they can actually explore and not feel suppressed,” he said.

Despite the popular view that only males want to participate in group sex, there’s been equal anonymous interest from both men and women. “Slut-shaming” culture tends to make women more hesitant, but there are indeed confirmed female attendees for November’s event. There has also been interest from LGBT individuals as well, Hardy said.

“I think there’s a significant number of people out there with an interest in group sex,” Hardy said. “They just never really take the plunge.”

All levels of experience are welcome; the orgy is open to anyone who wishes to explore their fantasies in that context, he said.

The fun and thrill that comes with seeing other couples enjoying themselves in group sex can strengthen one’s own relationship, Hardy said. There’s also a greater confidence that comes after expressing oneself naked in the presence of strangers, he said. Hardy is experienced with group sex, so he will act as a moderator to make sure rules are respected.

Hardy added that orgy is not a free-for-all; no one has to interact if they don’t want to. Guidelines for etiquette, consent, and safety must be followed.

Hardy said he is willing to be the face of the group to help others express themselves without having to face any judgement. Participants themselves can stay anonymous and only need to reveal their names to Hardy himself for security purposes. Names will remain confidential and are mainly used for the screening process, which ensures participants aren’t random people who will show up and make others feel uncomfortable, Hardy said. Within the orgy, attendees can remain anonymous or disclose a fake name. Identity security will be taken very seriously, he said.

“Discretion is my number one concern,” he said. “I want to give (participants) a safe environment to express themselves in that regard and not have to worry about any peering eyes.”

Regarding STIs, there’s no way to completely know if an individual is negative since tests quickly become outdated, so Hardy is not requiring participants to get tested. They are encouraged to bring and use barrier contraceptives however. Condoms will also be supplied.

Orgy-goers can bring partners from within or outside the U of A, as long as these partners are also screened. The idea is to make sure everyone is as comfortable as possible — if bringing a friend helps, all the better, Hardy said.

The orgy will start at around 7 p.m. and end around midnight. It’s currently undecided whether alcohol will be permitted and full details will be up to the finalized in the upcoming weeks. Also undecided is the location, which will be either a Fantasyland hotel room, the local lifestyle club 4-Play, or the host’s own home. Details will be finalized closer to the date to get the most input from participants.

Hardy is open to answering questions from anyone interested. He can be contacted on Facebook or as “Duraflame” on fetlife.com in the group UAlberta Kink.

The idea in the end is to just help people express themselves in a safe environment, Hardy said.

“I don’t like the idea of having to hide what you enjoy just because someone else may find it distasteful,” he said.

Hardy’s Orgy Guidelines

1. Safe environment — Consent must be given for any interaction: participants are not to touch or initiate without first reviving explicit permission. Flirting is not always a sign they’re interested in anything beyond the verbal exchange. Coercion is not considered consent, and is thereby prohibited.

2. Etiquette — This orgy in particular will be accepting to all types and whatever part of the sexual spectrum they may consider themselves on. Nobody has to interact if they’re not interested or comfortable, but basic etiquette expects participants to decline if asked to interact. To join a particular part of the orgy, participants must ask permission. This allows things to run more smoothly. Overt aggression can result in expulsion from the orgy

3. Cleanliness — Wipe up any bodily fluids, and dispose of any contraceptives. Participants are guests, and should behave as such.

I don't know if the orgy actually took place, but given reports of what's happening at other universities, such as the University of Toronto, I wouldn't discount it. Such activities, as far as I know, haven't been made compulsory at Canadian universities--yet.

The other item, by the same writer in the same issue of The Gateway, is an interview with the U of A's Wiccan chaplain--yes, they have one:

An old Wiccan saying says, “What is remembered, lives.” The idea of life through remembrance is the backbone of both ancient and modern Halloween celebrations.

Samhain, pronounced SOW-en, is the Wiccan celebration of the last harvest of the year, and the time to consult one’s ancestors for guidance. It’s a Sabbat, a Wiccan festival aligned with the lunar and solar cycles. The Sabbat of Samhain in particular is about “putting the world to bed,” University of Alberta Wiccan Chaplain Samuel Wagar said.

Community Samhain celebrations are all different, but usually include a divination where a Wiccan acts as the Crone Goddess and gives ancestral advice to individuals seeking direction. The evening ends with traditional food and drink: pork, apples and nuts.

Wagar still remembers his first Samhain from his early 20s. He had only recently become Pagan, and attended a community celebration at the Wiccan Church of Canada in Toronto. The ceremony was a divination, where a priestess went into a trance and embodied the Pagan Goddess to give advice, which Wagar had thought of as “very cool.”

“I thought it was very moving,” Wagar said. “I liked the idea of talking to the ancestors at this time of year. It felt right to me. It also was helpful to break past the normal fear of death … The idea that the ancestors are available to consult was very heartwarming to me.”

Smaller family celebrations closely resemble a typical Thanksgiving dinner. There’s a traditional feast for the living, but also a plate and candle lit for the dead at the end of the table.

Samhain also includes the classic dressing up and going door-to-door; it’s the parent of today’s secular trick-or-treating. Hundreds of years ago, homeowners would treat disguised anonymous figures as temporarily-returned ancestors and give them gifts. Later, for a lot of European descendants, those gifts became candy.

The feeling that goes though people in Samhain celebrations is one of remembrance, Wagar said. Wiccans reflect on loved ones who have died, and even attempt to communicate with them. This time of year most appropriate, as the late fall is considered by Wiccans to be the time when the veil between the living and the dead is thinnest. Though the ancestors can always be asked for advice, they’re believed to be most communicative in this time of the year, Wagar said.

“Death is in the air,” Wagar said. “It’s a difficult time, especially for people in early agricultural societies.”

Historically, the late Fall was a time of foreboding since there wasn’t always enough harvest to make it through the winter. Winter was a time of risk and death, especially hundreds of years ago. Daily life has since changed considerably, but rituals still are used to recreate the old experiences, Wagar said.

This time of year opens up the opportunity to talk about the fact that everyone will eventually die, something most people avoid talking about on a daily basis. Death is inevitable, so people might as well accept it, Wagar said. The entire process of being alive is much more meaningful if one can understand the beginning and end of it, he added.

“It’s good to remind yourself that life is uncertain,” Wagar said “You have to be to be in good with your family, your community, your ancestors, and the natural world. And Halloween’s a good time to do that.”

Earth Church holds services in Colorado

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Romans 1:20-23

More evidence for why Mad magazine will no longer be publishing new material; as reported by Seth Boster of the Colorado Springs Gazette, August 25, 2019:

A strange sound drifts from the gazebo in Manitou Springs’ Memorial Park.

Shaunti Lally (Shaun, as he was known in a previous life) sits cross-legged in a circle with 16 others, stirring an empty crystal bowl. Deep vibrations bounce off sternums, filling ears, almost drowning out the steady trickle of a natural spring, of bird songs, of highway traffic above.

Long-haired with a long frame that recalls his basketball-playing days at Manitou High, Lally speaks.

“Imagine this energy we’re cultivating together ... expanding outward across the country ... expanding beyond all borders ... this radiant light across the oceans ... and so too does it pick up momentum with all others who are in prayer at this time ...”

His eyes are closed until they open — bright blues that roam the circle. Some are decades older than Lally, some much younger, babies of meditating mothers.

“I’m so thankful to everyone who came here today,” Lally says with a grin. “Welcome.”

Welcome to Earth Church.

“Sound bathing” starts things off every Sunday, followed by thanks to nature in song and sermon, followed by a vegan potluck and dancing. This has no semblance to “church” as the people here have known it. And that’s the point.

“This is a collaborative space,” Lally tells today’s group. This is not organized religion, he says, “where someone speaks to you and expects you to take their word as truth.”

Lally, 37, speaks today. About the colonial legacy that “was very effective in turning us on each other.” About threats of deforestation in the Amazon. About ideas to build a telescope on Hawaii’s Mauna Kea volcano, sparking the same protesters as at the Dakota Access Pipeline. About the native legacy sadly forgotten.

But anyone is free to speak here, Lally says. Others have filled in when he’s been away at music festivals, for example — such as Ki (formerly Kyle) Sha, who met Lally in a Manitou drum circle last fall and helped with that first Earth Church gathering the Sunday before Earth Day. It was to be a kumbaya for a planet in peril.

Onlookers might have dismissed another hippie upstart in Colorado Springs’ hippie central.

“Everyone’s on their own path, and it is sad to see people judge,” Sha says. “But we can’t judge them back. The only thing we can do is love, and hopefully they see the light in us.”

Like him, another Earth Church collaborator grew up Christian. Abigail (toying with Abi) Lyons is the daughter of an Indiana pastor. She came to Colorado in 2012 for cannabis and has missed one aspect of church.

“The community was like everything to me, like my family,” she says. “Leaving that, it was like, ‘Ahh, I wish I could just keep that part without the doctrine that I’m not quite clear on.’”

Earth Church, she says beside her 2-year-old, “is what I’ve wanted for myself and my son for a while.”

And it’s what Lally has wanted for a while. He says he’s always been “spiritually curious,” as was written in his stars.

“I’m a double (Sagittarius),” he says. “I was a couple of hours from triple. Someone told me triple Sagittarius are cult leaders.”

Is that was this is?

“I think every cult that I’ve heard of requires members to give up personal attachments. This is a noncommittal, no pressure, guilt-free, shame-free zone. I don’t want to ever make someone feel pressured to be here. I don’t want to make someone feel like they’re being coerced or required to do something that’s not within their own guidance or constitution.”

Pagan is another label he avoids.

“I believe there’s truth in all teachings. ... The only real requirement here is that we unify, and that we’re never talking in terms of us and them. It’s we. And let’s be humble to the mystery, and let’s realize no one really knows the full picture.”

That’s thinking gained along his winding path from Manitou and back. Out of high school in 2000, his head shaved, his pants baggy, he was partying and rapping. Lally wanted something more. He recalls a shift one night as a kegger raged while he sat at a piano in a side room.

“Someone rushed in,” he says. “’There’s a fight!’”

He says he tried to break it up, resulting in what looked like a brick bashing his head. When he came home from the hospital, his friends were ready to find the guy.

“I was like: No,” Lally says. “This ends now.”

Soon he moved to Denver, where he knew nobody, growing his hair out as he pursued a degree in sociology. After five years, he moved to study transformative leadership at the California Institute of Integral Studies, but not before seeing some of the world.

Nepal was part of a six-month odyssey. Lally learned to meditate there, living in a poor village where he didn’t feel like a stranger. Everywhere, people greeted him with “Namaste.”

It was weird back home.

“Westerners were just so ugly to me for a while,” Lally says. “I was like, ‘Dang it, I wanna look at you! I wanna connect, and you’re ignoring me, and why?’ And I feel so invisible and isolated and depressed, and why?”

But he connects here at Earth Church, at one point in his sermon mentioning Namaste.

“This is just to say hello, just to acknowledge you as a person and to recognize the light in you,” he says. “This way of thinking has dramatic results.”

Reports of witchcraft child abuse in England have risen by one-third in the last two years

As you read the following article, you must, of course keep repeating the mantra, "Diversity is strength." As reported by Gabriella Swerling of the London Daily Telegraph, November 14, 2019:

Witchcraft child abuse cases have risen by a third in two years, as experts blame “cultural sensitivity” and “political correctness” as barriers to protecting children.

Abuse of children based on faith or belief – which includes witchcraft, spirit possession and black magic – increased from 1,460 to 1,950 cases between 2016/17 and 2018/19.

This marks an increase of 34 per cent, with councils dealing with the equivalent of 38 such cases a week.

The figures, published today by the Local Government Association (LGA) also show that the number of children identified by councils through a social work assessment as either having or being at risk of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has reached a record high – with 1,000 such cases in 2018/19, up 6 per cent on the 940 cases in the previous year.

This comes after a trial at the Old Bailey earlier this year which saw a woman who mutilated her three-year-old daughter become the first person in the UK to be found guilty of FGM.

Responding to the figures, Nimco Ali OBE, co-founder and CEO of The Five Foundation, the global partnership to end FGM said: “this is so depressing”.

She added that while there is increasing awareness in reporting the issue, there is also a cultural sensitivity, political correctness and fear of being accused of racism when it comes to authorities confronting the issues of witchcraft and FGM which occur predominantly among West African communites which have increasingly high birth rates.

“I’m so angered by these figures,” she said. “For so long the political power that black people have has been dismissed… People are scared to tackle FGM and witchcraft as they’re scared of being accused of racism - but it’s racist to ignore it.

“It’s more racist to look away… It really hurts that we still have to tell people that black kids need protecting.”

The National FGM Centre, a joint initiative between the LGA and Barnardo’s, says both sets of figures are hugely worrying, of significant national concern and probably don’t reflect the true prevalence of this “hidden” crime.

The LGA said that council social workers have become better at identifying cases, and that the work of the National FGM Centre – which provides services for children and their families affected by FGM and abuse linked to faith or belief - is vital.

Lisa Oakley, Chair of the National Working Group for child abuse linked to faith or belief/ Associate Professor University of Chester, said that the LGA figures were “concerning” and added that they may be “under-estimations”.

“The figures do demonstrate the need for more effective education, awareness, prevention, intervention and response,” she said.

“To develop these in the area of child abuse linked to faith and belief requires significant financial investment , which is not currently in place.”

The mother of a three-year-old girl has become the first person to be convicted of FGM in the UK, following a failed bid to "shut up" her accusers with witchcraft.

The Ugandan woman, 37, and her Ghanaian partner, 43, both from Walthamstow, east London, were accused of cutting their daughter over the 2017 summer bank holiday.

Forty limes and other fruit were found with pieces of paper with names written on them stuffed inside, including those of police officers and a social worker involved in the investigation.

The spells and curses intended to deter police and social workers from investigating were found at the Ugandan woman's home, the trial heard. Police also found two cow tongues bound in wire with nails and a small blunt knife embedded in them when searching the Ugandan woman’s home.

There was also a jar with a picture of a social worker in pepper found hidden behind the toilet in the bathroom.

Leethen Bartholomew, Head of the National FGM Centre, said: “There are many reasons why a child might be accused of witchcraft or that they are possessed by an evil spirit. When people are experiencing "misfortunes" such as poverty, ill physical health or have mental health needs a child could be blamed for this.

“There are a number of factors as to why local authorities are discovering more cases. The National FGM Centre is providing more training for Local Authorities and communities in England which has lead to an increased awareness around the issue, enabling professionals and communities to better identify cases.”

The LGA said the next government needs to ensure councils have the funding needed to continue to take effective action to keep children safe from harm and abuse.

Israeli scholars investigate pre-Columbian Puerto Rican artifacts alleged to be from lost ten tribes

There is still much research to be done, as reported by the University of Haifa, circa August 2019:

The secret of a collection of mysterious art objects from Puerto Rico, which in the past were alleged to have been made by members of the Ten Lost Tribes, has moved a step closer to a solution. Dr. Iris Groman-Yaroslavsky examined the objects in depth at her laboratory. Her findings confirmed that the objects were carved in the sixteenth century, and are not a modern forgery, and she also discovered evidence showing that some of the objects were coated in gold and in red paint. “This is definitely one of the strangest and most fascinating stories I’ve been involved in,” Dr. Groman-Yaroslavsky confessed. “To date, we have not found any similar carved stone art objects from this region of America, and this is why many researchers assumed that they must be fake. However, the microscopic tests we performed show beyond any doubt that the stones were carved around 600 years ago.”

The story of these art objects, known as the Library of Agüeybaná, sounds like the plot of an Indiana Jones movie. In the nineteenth century, a Puerto Rican monk by the name of José María Nazario presented a collection of some 800 carved stone statuettes, some of which had a clearly human form while others appeared to be artistic or ritual items. Many of the statuettes were engraved with markings that can only be some form of writing. The problem is that no similar statuettes or art objects have ever been found from this region of America, and there is no evidence at all of any writing system in the other pre-Columbian cultures of the region. The markings bore no resemblance to the writing systems developed by the Aztecs or Mayans. The story as told by the monk Nazario himself is no less bizarre: An old woman close to death invited him to her hut in the mountains, and there she told him of a treasure her family had been guarding for centuries that had belonged to the ancient inhabitants of the area. She gave him detailed instructions as to where the treasure was buried. Nazario followed her instructions and headed deep into the mountains, eventually reaching a pit covered by a large stone, just as the woman had told him. When he removed the stone, he found hundreds of statuettes. As a religious man, his explanation was that these were art objects made my members of the Ten Lost Tribes, who must have reached Puerto Rico after traveling across Siberia.

Over the years that followed, different researchers raised various suggestions about the stones and the engravings they bear. Some suggested that while some of the stones are authentic, others were forged by local people in the nineteenth century when they saw the great interest the statuettes had created. Other scholars claimed that all the statuettes are forged, and were probably made by Nazario himself, or by others. There was no agreement regarding the engravings, either: some experts claimed that the writing system was similar to Sumerian, others felt it was closer to Phoenician, and so forth.

The absence of any similar findings makes it particularly difficult to prove or disprove the authenticity of the statuettes, and as a result researchers gradually lost interest in the collection. In 2001, however, a research student called Reniel Rodríguez Ramos saw the stones during a study trip and was enchanted. He completed his doctorate in pre-Columbian cultures and returned to investigate the stones. “I decided to study the stones from scratch – to come to a ‘clean slate’ without any assumptions about whether they are real or fake, and to let the findings talk,” he explained. Rodríguez noted that even at first glance it was clear that the stones were several centuries old. Many of them showed changes in color on one side only, showing that one side had been buried in the ground while the other was exposed to air and sunlight, causing its color to change. But it could still be suggested that while the stones themselves were ancient, the engravings and carvings were only added in the nineteenth century.

After a long search, Rodríguez came to Dr. Groman-Yaroslavsky's Use-wear Analysis Laboratory. The unusual laboratory specializes in microscopic examinations revealing how various objects were made, what tools were used, whether the techniques and tools are ancient, and so forth. The microscopic tests undertaken by Dr. Groman-Yaroslavsky showed unequivocally that the stones were carved in ancient times. “Under the microscope, we can see the erosion of the stones and the brown-gray patina that is typically found when items have been buried or exposed to the ravages of nature for extensive periods. The items are made from a mineral that was originally a greenish black, but the erosion covers the engravings across the entire item, and there is no evidence of any modern manipulation that would have exposed the natural surface of the mineral,” she explains. “The processing marks on the items show that special chiseling tools were used, and all the items appear to share a unique style.” However, the analysis also revealed something that Dr. Rodríguez had not been expected: remnants of gold that appears to have coated some of the items. This reinforces still further the hypothesis that the items were used in ancient worship. Remnants were also found of a red paint that covered parts of the eyes and mouth in the figures, reflecting a complex process of design and finishing. Gold and ochre mines can be found in Puerto Rico, and there is extensive evidence regarding the use of these minerals in ritual contexts. The association with ritual activity became even more apparent when the facial design details were examined. “The items were clearly struck with a solid object, since we can see deliberate destruction around the nose and chin.”

In light of the new findings uncovered at the University, Prof. Rodríguez is now continuing his quest to unravel the secret of the statuettes. His next port of call will be an expert in the ancient writing systems of pre-Columbian America. A long journey lies ahead, but with each step Rodríguez is drawing closer to his conclusion: the existence of a previously unknown pre-Columbian civilization waiting to be uncovered.

100 years ago: The death of Austrian occultist Guido von List

On May 17, 1919, Austrian journalist and occultist Guido von List died at the age of 70. Mr. List was born into a Roman Catholic family in Vienna, but early in life he developed an interest in pre-Christian paganism. He began his journalistic career in 1877, and used his writings to promote Wotanism, a pan-Germanic völkisch movement worshipping pre-Christian pagan deities. He was influenced by the Theosophical Society and became increasingly interested in occultism, including the study of Runic alphabets.

Mr. List eventually promoted a belief that the modern world was degenerate, and claimed to have received a vision in 1917 that victory of the Central Powers over the Allies in World War I would be the apocalyptic cleansing event that would usher in a new Pan-German Empire based on Wotanism. Mr. List's alleged vision was proved erroneous by the November 1918 armistice and subsequent events. His health declined, exacerbated by food shortages resulting from the non-fulfillment of his vision. Mr. List died while on a visit to Berlin.

Guido von List achieved enough popularity in his own time to inspire the creation of societies promoting his ideas, the first of which was founded in 1908. His ideas influenced the creation of the Thule Society, occultist predecessor to the Nazi Party. While Mr. List's name is largely unknown today, his influence remains, and writers such as historian Joscelyn Godwin have noticed the similarities between the ideas promoted by Guido von List and the beliefs of New Agers and Green Party supporters today. For an example of a pro-Nazi organization that promotes ancient European paganism and is critical of Christianity, see the website of National Vanguard.

British pagans approve of Royal Mail stamp of Thor

People who had accomplished things of note used to be honoured on postage stamps; now postage stamps, like movies, are mainly about comic book characters rather than people. As reported by Patrick Sawer and Olivia Rudgard of the London Daily Telegraph, February 23, 2019 (links in original):

Thor superhero stamp

There cannot be that many things in national life to celebrate for those who still worship the Norse gods.

Pagan druids and their followers might gather at Stonehenge every solstice, but there is no special national holiday to celebrate either Odin and those who live with him in Asgard, the home of the gods.

But now, after years of being ignored, the Odinists and those who still look to Norse mythology for inspiration and guidance, have finally got something to smile about.

The Royal Mail is to issue a ‘pagan’ stamp next month, depicting the Norse god Thor, the hammer wielding god of thunder and protector of mankind.

Admittedly it forms part of a set of stamps commemorating Marvel Comics superheroes - of whom Thor is one, enjoying his own comic series and film spin offs - rather than the original figure of Germanic mythology.

But the Odinist Fellowship are pretty pleased all the same.

They are a registered charity that exists to "promote the original old religion of the English people and the native faith of the northern lands", so they naturally welcome any celebration of Norse mythology.

Ralph Harrison, the director of the Odinist Fellowship, said: "Considering how the Christian church tried so hard to eliminate the images of the Gods, it is with some satisfaction that we will be seeing people of all religions and none, who use this stamp, acknowledging, in a small way, the God Thor's continued presence in our nation's cultural life."

The Odinists - who worship at a Grade II listed former almshouse in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, dating back to the Tudor period - are so pleased they aren’t even complaining that the Thor shown in the stamps is the one created by an American comic publisher rather than the traditional depiction of him.

He’s still their man (or god), they say.

Mr Harrison said: "We recognise that the Marvel Comic depiction of Thor differs somewhat in its iconography from descriptions given in ancient sources, such as the Eddas; but Marvel seem to have based their image on that of Marten Eskil Winge's famous painting, ‘Thor Fights the Giants’, now on display in the Swedish National Museum in Stockholm.”

The fellowship points out that under the terms of the Postal Services Act 2011 the design of all British postage stamps must be approved by the Queen, and this is the first time that the Monarch has approved a design depicting one of the Gods of pre-Christian northern Europe on a stamp.

The Royal Mail has been previously criticised its choice of imagery for stamps.

It was attacked by Boris Johnson last year for not issuing a commemorative set of stamps to mark Brexit and in 2008 its decision to include the family planning pioneer Marie Stopes in a set commemorating women’s achievement was criticised by those who accuse of her being a eugenicist and Nazi sympathiser.

But on this occasion even the Church of England, of whom the Queen is the head and Supreme Governor, appears to have no complaint about the choice of a pagan god for a set of stamps carrying her mail.

Asked to comment the Church of England declined.

The Royal Mail said the series depicting Thor and other Marvel superheroes, including Spiderman and Black Panther, celebrated the impact of the comics in Britain and the contribution made to their distinctive look by British artists and designers.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “The Marvel Comics stories have been enjoyed for decades by generations of UK fans, and in the 1970s Marvel launched a UK imprint of its comics.

“The 1980s, in particular, saw US comic publishers heavily recruiting British writers and illustrators, who increasingly worked on the American publications and began to inject darker storylines and widened the appeal of the characters. One such artist is Alan Davis, who designed the new Special Stamps, and has worked with Marvel since the early 1980s and first illustrated Captain Britain in 1985.”

Louisville witches are upset with U.S. President Donald Trump's use of the term "witch hunt"

As reported by Joseph Gerth of the Louisville Courier Journal, December 18, 2018:

If President Donald Trump is courting the witches' vote, he’s going about it the wrong way.

In recent months — and increasingly so, it seems — Trump has called the investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller a “witch hunt,” and in the process, he has angered, well, actual witches.

“It conjures up for me the burning of 10,000, mostly women, in England and surrounding areas who were accused as witches — right out of the Inquisition playbook,” said Ann Hardman, a Louisville high priestess in the Fellowship of Isis.

“I am incensed with this term. And I have been ever since he did it the first time. It’s insulting; it should be eliminated from the vocabulary. In some ways it’s like the N-word,” Hardman said.

The president’s frequent use of the term, in fact, is angering witches around the country. A story on the Daily Beast website recently said some witches have cast spells on Trump while one group tried to hex Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

The spells and hexes don't seem to have worked yet — unless that explains Trump’s otherworldly skin tone.

At about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, Trump tweeted: “Biggest outrage yet in the long, winding and highly conflicted Mueller Witch Hunt is the fact that 19,000 demanded Text messages between Peter Strzok and his FBI lover, Lisa Page, were purposely & illegally deleted.”

So far, the investigation that Trump calls a “witch hunt” has netted nearly three dozen indictments or guilty pleas and has seen some of Trump’s top personal and campaign aides sentenced to prison.

He tweeted the term four times on Sunday and once on Saturday. He’s done it 22 times since Thanksgiving, a holiday that traces its roots back to ancient pagan harvest festivals.

In all, he has tweeted more than 60 times complaining about a “witch hunt.”

On Dec. 13, he tweeted just the words “WITCH HUNT!”

“Some find it very hurtful,” said Lady Vanessa, of Louisville, a third-degree Gardnerian Wiccan high priestess and a practitioner of British Traditional Wicca. She said she tries to ignore much of what Trump has to say, but she is finding that more and more difficult to do.

Witches, not the type that you see on Halloween, are all around.

They don't ride brooms, play quidditch, or stand around a cauldron in the woods late at night repeating incantations from Macbeth.

They follow some of the many Wiccan traditions that are nature-based spiritual traditions or religions.

“We feel kinship with Native Americans, though they would not call themselves pagans and witches,” said Lady Vanessa, who goes by her spiritual name and doesn't want her legal name used.

For practitioners of Wicca, or witches, the term “witch hunt” conjures up images of times in America and in Europe when people were rounded up and killed because they were believed to have been witches.

Some of them may have been practitioners of Wicca while others — particularly those at the Salem Witch Trials in the 17th century — were simply accused of being witches without evidence.

That’s where the term “witch hunt” to describe an unfair investigation comes from.

Lady Vanessa noted that since so many charges and convictions have arisen from the Mueller investigation, not only are Trump’s words hurtful, “it’s wrong historically to apply that to his situation.”

She's not heard of any local witches trying to place a spell on Trump or any of his appointees.

Martin English, a high priest of Nordic Wicca, said he’s talked to several Wiccans about Trump’s use of “witch hunt” and even discussed it with Nordic Wicca elders who are upset with Trump’s words.

“They were concerned about how the word is so flippantly thrown around,” English said. “It’s considered taboo to irreverently discuss the inquisitions and witch hunts like that.”

Maybe they'd be happier if Mr. Trump substituted the word "feminist" for "witch." Canadian sociologist Philip G. Davis argue in his book Goddess Unmasked: The Rise of Neopagan Feminist Spirituality (1998) that modern Wicca isn't a revival or continuation of an ancient practice, but is an invention of modern feminism.

See also my post Witches in Brooklyn plan to hex U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (October 14, 2018)