A cult is an organization that dominates its members through psychological manipulation and coercion. They are typically lead by a charismatic and powerful leader endowed with authority. Cults are characterized by (according to the Cult Education Institute):
Absolute authoritarianism without...
Enjoy avocados? You might want to set your sights on organically grown or permaculture productions:
"On average, 90% of ... avocados are grown in the southwest Mexican state of Michoacán.
Michoacán is the only place on earth that grows avocados year-round, thanks to its temperate climate...
One of the contributing factors to polarization in the present age is a failure to practice cultural and religious tolerance. Like many important social skills, tolerance is only infrequently taught in a formal capacity in public education systems.
"Tolerance is defined as being able to deal...
An important aspect of religions worldwide is practice. But what do we mean when we say "practice" exactly? Perhaps more importantly, what is practice for within a religious (or spiritual, if you prefer) context?
Maia Duerr, a cultural anthropologist and practitioner of Zen Buddhism had...
While this is only the second year that St. Brigid has enjoyed having her own public holiday in Ireland, this year marks the fifteen-hundredth anniversary of her death.
"Whether devotees honor Brigid primarily as a saint, a goddess or some combination of both, they see Brigid as emblematic of...
Using religious affiliations as slurs or snarl words is nothing new to the history of human cultures. Sometimes, they are so pervasive in cultural dialogue that we don't realize we're doing anything wrong. Enter - voodoo. Odds are good that if your primary language is English, you've used or...
... is it proselytizing to encourage others to study and appreciate nature/gods through the sciences, the arts, and life experience?
On occasion, I ask myself this question. I'm a Pagan Druid. For me and others on similar paths, that which is worthy of worship - the gods - is the world and...
What do indigenous Indian religious communities and Christian communities have in common? Often, not much, but in Meghalaya, India, these two groups are working together to protect one of India's old growth sacred forests.
B.K. Tiwari, a retired professor of environmental science from North...
As a biologist, it often bothered me when species were named after some guy. Not because I didn't recognize the important historical contributions of scientists, but because naming a species after some guy doesn't tell you anything useful about the creature itself. While scientific names may...
Fear-mongering has become a routinely deployed weapon in today's sensationalist media discourse. I'd like to think most of us recognize this is problematic, even if we can't quite articulate why. Professor Pasternak discusses in a recent article at The Conversation a bit about the psychology...
Where scientific literacy is poor in my country, religious literacy is even worse. Naturally, as while the sciences are permitted to be covered in public schools, the challenges of teaching religious literacy cause many to abandon the notion entirely.
"According to the IDEALS survey of...
What places in your life to you consider safe spaces? Why do they feel safe to you?
What are some places you don't consider safe spaces, but also don't feel unsafe in? Why do they feel like neutral spaces to you?
What are some places you consider unsafe? Why do they feel dangerous to you...
Religion is fundamentally about answering life's big existential questions - of meaning, of purpose, of relationships, and so on. Some religions do this within a theistic framework, while others don't.
What are the questions "god" or "gods" are the answer to?
Perhaps it might also be...
Western culture discusses theism almost exclusively from the lens of classical monotheism, so much so that theism is often considered synonymous with it. Anyone growing up in Western culture is bound to be raised with or heavily exposed to the assumptions about god(s) found in classical...
Religion is about many things, but it is especially about navigating relationships between the self and others. Those others might be humans, they might be non-humans, or they might be gods. In all cases, the way we approach these relationships in our religions can act as a very important...
You are a character on the stage of life, and if likened to the storytelling medium of table top RPGs, your abilities can be represented with six attributes.
STRENGTH - muscle and physical power. This represents how much you can carry and how much force you can exert on objects and enemies...
Last week, I wrapped up a read through of the highly praised "Psychic Witch" by Mat Auryn. It's billed as the book everyone wishes they had starting off as a newbie practitioner of witchcraft, connecting together the realms of psychic perception (ESP) and witchcraft into one neat little...
Unfolding Lessons - Attending to the Guiding Star
The Dark Moon approaches
Storm Spirit flirts on the horizon
The Green unfurls
Magnolia stellata welcomes with open arms
Tree pollen carried on the Winds
In the decade plus I've been on the forums, at no point have I seriously considered...
In recent religion-related news, the Church of England has been exploring the pronouns used to refer to the Christian God. Theologian Annie Selak writes:
"When we speak about God, we do so knowing that what we say is incomplete. All images for God reveal something about God. No image of God is...