Comment

Comment by James M. Martin on December 10, 2012 at 10:58pm

Thank you, too, Tabitha, for the note on mistranslation.  Wiccans I have known said that their ancestors invoked the elements to raise the storm that destroyed the Spanish Armada. If there was no Hebrew word for witch does that mean the Hebrews had no witches?  "Poisoner" kind of changes the scenario a bit. 

Comment by Tabitha McCoy on December 10, 2012 at 9:54am

Why thank you, James! I do love my feline name. And actually, the verse in the "booble" (that made me giggle) that you referenced was actually mistranslated. There was no Hebrew word for "witch" at that time, and it was actually "poisoner". King James (III?) altered it for his own gain.

And yeah, Paganism is as "good" as Christianity, whereas both are full of ancient myths and give some a feel-good (maybe not Christianity so much) feelings for an emotional security blanket.

Comment by James M. Martin on December 9, 2012 at 9:55pm

Tabitha (she of the name some give to felines), at least the pagans had the sense to avoid solar phallic male domination.  You see references to, e.g. Attis as pagan basis for the Death and Resurrection myth of "Jesus."  Actually, the religion was feminine and probably Moon-focused.  The Priests of Cybele, the Galli, were so extreme in their asceticism they self-emasculated thinking this would forever rid their minds of "unclean" thoughts.  Paganism is as good as Christianity, which is why it is denounced in the Booble ("suffer not a witch to live") and by clergy from the Inquisition to modern Vatican City.

Comment by Tabitha McCoy on December 9, 2012 at 9:08pm

What happened with Richard Dawkins and this Rebecca lady?? (lol sorry, new here and I saw the comments here and I was curious)

I'm Tabby, by way :) I was raised in a Christian household; I was terrified of burning for hell if I wasn't a "good Christian girl" for the longest time. Then I found Wicca/Paganism, and I went back and forth between that and Christianity for a long time (I was 12 or 13, and my family told me I would go to hell for practicing Witchcraft). Then, I found atheism while browsing the web when i was 16, and since then I'd been going back and forth between atheism and paganism since then. I think I'm starting to recover now though.

Comment by Mary O'Grady on October 26, 2012 at 7:52pm

I find the tone of Dawkins's comment demeaning and I think his intention was to humiliate. There are plenty of other atheist scholars to whom I can give my attention.

Comment by Jason Pool on October 26, 2012 at 7:40pm

And to be clear, if she was uncomfortable, telling him off, or even letting someone know on staff is the right course of action, I'm not arguing that.  But this thing got way too much attention, and that's what I feel Dawkins was getting at.  Something like this can be dealt with easily enough, but let's save our grandstanding for issues where someone has been truly victimized.  This could have gone the wrong way, this could have been a mistake.  It's really hard to say, since nothing further happened.  There's a fine line in an uncomfortable situation like this between taking the necessary steps to resolve it, and just trying to seek attention over something like this.

Comment by Jason Pool on October 26, 2012 at 7:18pm

I don't think Dawkins was being misogynistic there.  From what I saw, Rebecca got approached by a man and thought some of his remarks were creepy.  Grandstanding for a few words cheapens women's rights issues worldwide.  A lot of us fight for equal rights, but that means just that, equality.  Women get the rights they are denied, but they also lose anything that they may have benefitted from in the age of "chivalry", such as "Don't hit a woman".  How about "Don't hit anybody, unless there's just cause"?  Don't attack someone physically for no reason, and likewise, if a woman comes at me and is trained in a martial art or has a weapon, I wouldn't hesitate to defend myself any more than if it was a man.  Fighting for women's rights is definitely important, but any cause can go too far.  I would call what Dawkins said "blunt".  I may not have said it in that way, but calling him a misogynist is really a stretch.

Comment by Jennifer Kaufman on October 26, 2012 at 11:10am

gotta agree with you, Mary.  Richard Dawkins has been in trouble before for misogynist comments.  ENOUGH!

Comment by Mary O'Grady on October 26, 2012 at 9:10am

After reading Richard Dawkins's appallingly rude remarks to the feminist atheist Rebecca, I am just not interested in what else he has to say any more. There are plenty of other intelligent, articulate atheists to listen to.

Comment by Ronda McBeth on August 6, 2012 at 1:15am

I used to be so angry.  It was normal.  It was good and liberating, but after awhile it will hurt you.  I had a breakthrough at age 40.  I remember sitting in a tub, naked, holding myself and sobbing and laughing at the same time.  All of a sudden, I was grateful...grateful for it all...every stinking lousy thing, because it had made me who I was and all of a sudden I realized I LIKED WHO I WAS.  Since then, I've experienced moments of anger, but they subside and I mostly laugh about my Seventh-day Adventist years...I love my absurd sense of humor that was no doubt born out of living such an absurd first 23 years on the Adventist planet! 

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