Infidels of Every Denomination

The Tolerance Trade

More tales from the "hope for the future" files...

The Journal Star out of Lincoln, Nebraska has a piece about some Catholic school kids, high schoolers, who chose as their Junior Achievement project to create and sell t-shirts that say "TOLERANCE" with the T, A, and C replaced by the cross, Star of David, and crescent respectively.

Why did they choose it?

James Lange, a senior, is the company’s financial officer.

“I just think it’s really important to recognize that even though there are all different religions and beliefs,” he said, “it’s really important to accept others for who they are and to just try to eliminate indifference by learning about other faiths.”

Although there have been some negative responses in the town, the reception has been on the whole overwhelmingly positive, and their initial run sold out. (They are re-ordering, though, and the article includes ordering information.)

I think it might be just as encouraging that people are enthusiastic about buying something that promotes a message of peace and tolerance, as it is that these kids wanted to promote that message. Considering that it seems like the only people getting any public airtime anymore are the most narrow-minded, bigoted, persecution-complexed, hateful and divisive elements, it's good to remember that there ARE a lot of decent, open-minded, and just generally groovy people in the world.

If the "Tolerance" tee is a bit too limited in scope for your religious tastes, here are some alternatives:

Bono's "Coexist" on a sticker

World Religions

It's Not About the Name

Peace from Purplemoon.com

Celebrate Diversity

Peace Necklace from Multifaith Works

Young Philanthropist Needs No Training Wheels

(Trying to make an effort to post more regularly here again...oh blog, how I've missed you!)

As Christmas rolls around every year, there are the ubiquitous "news" stories screaming about the year's hottest gifts, the toy that parents are sticking each other with shivs to get their hands on, and usually a healthy dose of moaning about the current generation of selfish, spoiled kids whose concept of Christmas is summed up by whatever beeping, light-up, battery-powered crap they demand this year. And every year, the problem is the worst it's ever been.

So, as a tonic to those consumerist doom-and-gloom reports, I wanted to share this WaPo story about an 11-year-old boy named Winston Duncan who is from my neck of the woods (Northern Virginia) and who, having traveled to Africa and seen the widespread lack of transportation there, came home and organized a drive to collect bicycles to send to poor communities in Namibia. (He also donated his own.) He aimed to collect 75 and ended up with more than twice that many.

Dixie Duncan, Winston's mother, said her son has always been sensitive to the needs of others and aware of poverty around the world as a result of their frequent foreign travel. Two hours into Saturday's collection, Winston was talking about applying for a grant to continue his work, as well as holding a big bike collection on Earth Day. "I want to try to make it bigger," he said.

This kid is from Arlington, which is a pretty upscale town, and obviously he's what we would consider quite privileged in life. I think it's commendable that he's so interested in making a difference in the world at such a relatively young age, and his mom also deserves credit both for clearly supporting her son in his philanthropic efforts, and for almost certainly modeling the kind of values that have taught him to take action in the world.

I will continue to keep an eye out for and post stories about kids who are making this kind of effort to do good, especially in the holiday season. Please send me links if you find them!

Here are the websites for Bikes for the World and the Bicycling Empowerment Network, both mentioned in the story, for further reading or to make contributions. (I couldn't locate a website for Winston Duncan's nonprofit Wheels to Africa, although there apparently was one.)

Little Angels

Today marks the first of the Dias de los Muertos in Mexican tradition, the annual festival celebrating the memory of those who have gone before. On this day, All Saint's Day, the angelitos are remembered, the children who have died; tomorrow, on All Soul's Day, adult loved ones are honored. Celebrated as a Christian holiday, it has its roots in the indigenous tribal practices of Mexico and has become as much a cultural celebration as a religious one.

I am not Mexican, but the customs and spirit of the Day of the Dead are an important part of my Samhain celebration. The building of a tiered altar, the offerings of copal and flowers and food to the visiting dead, the colorful and even festive imagery, these all speak to me on a deep, intuitive level. This year I baked pan de muerto and molded sugar skulls to decorate with my admittedly limited skills. Kitchen witch that I am, the tangible acts of kneading dough, grinding incense, squeezing out frosting served as a spiritual practice in their own right, a meditation in motion, a joy tinged with pensiveness at the festive preparations to welcome our "guests".

Good news, good stuff

Something to help with the midweek blahs:

Here's a site dedicated to spreading happy news. 

And a Live Journal community that all about the good stuff.   

Enjoy.

Helping Hands

I wanted to address a feeling that I find to be common in the aftermath of any catastrophe, and Katrina's aftermath is no exception: namely, the sort of helpless frustration that "average" (ie non-rescue workers, non-medical personnel, etc) people feel when the urge to do something to help, to fix things, to care for people, to make things better is not satisfied by making cash donations to relief agencies.

It is a totally natural reaction when people or animals are suffering and beloved places are destroyed, to want to reach out and help. Personally, I think that one of the strongest arguments for the essential goodness of humanity is the fact that in a time of crisis, there are *always* people eager to open their wallets or their homes, to give time and resources and consolation and love, to the afflicted. There is never a shortage of people willing to help; in most really big cases, like 9/11 in Manhattan or now with Katrina, you'll constantly hear that officials have had to turn away volunteers or that they are asking people to not just show up wanting to help.

NYT On Coelho

Great little New York Times profile today on the author Paulo Coelho, whose new book The Zahir is selling increasingly rapidly.

I've only come to the marvel of Coelho's writing recently, having just read The Alchemist for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Frankly, I don't know how it took me this long to discover his work for myself. His philosophies-- of life as a continual spiritual quest towards one's unique purpose in being, of synchronicity, of the power of love, of the essential interdependence of the material and the spiritual-- are very much in line with some of my deepest beliefs.

He's a wonderful author to read especially if you are feeling purposeless or lost or trapped or have begun to wonder whose life you're living. Listening to yourself is not something that most of us are ever taught, so a book like his can be a real eye-opener.

In this profile, I think he also has the final word on bad reviews:

"But the one thing I cannot stand," Mr. Coelho went on, "is criticism of the reader, that the reader is dumb. You can speak badly of me, of my books, but you cannot speak badly of the reader. It's like saying, 'Everyone is dumb; the only one who isn't is the critic.' That's not fair."

You tell 'em.

New Links!

I've been updating our links categories, and have added a new one-- Champions of Pronoia.

"Pronoia" is loosely defined as the sneaking suspicion that the world is a benevolent place full of beings that are eager to help you. It's the opposite of paranoia. I learned about it through the incomparable Rob Brezsny of Free Will Astrology, and I think it's an awesome concept.

With all the bad news and infuriating people and general snarkiness in the world that we post about here, it's important to us to balance that with regular infusions of good news, optimism, and hope. It helps us keep perspective and keep from getting eaten up by bitterness or frustration or rage. Sometimes it's just nice to remember that there are many, many wonderful things about the world and that even an "ordinary" life can be exciting and beautiful.

Future updates in the works include links to books, music, and movies that we particularly recommend; a new and unique look for the site; and an easier-to-remember URL.

The Enchanted Forest

Here's a cool NY Times article about a composer who is something of a mystic and whose grand musical theater opus is creatively staged in a natural setting. The plot seems like it might be a bit heavy-handed, with the Earth Mother and various totem animals struggling against the evil developer who wants to cut down the forest, but the mythical elements sound intriguing and the whole experience sounds immersive and unusual.

Just a bit of light weekend reading for you all!

Military Pagans

Came across this article about the spiritual life of military personnel at Fort Sam Houston from the Express-News out of San Antonio. It is kind of a general overview of the wide diversity of religious services available to active duty military, from the point of view of the services at this fort. It's a lifestyle-type article, fairly positive towards the subject, nothing too controversial, which is part of why I was pleased by this bit:

Currently, commanders at Lackland AFB and Fort Hood allow Wiccan meetings. Wiccans praise the Earth rather than a supreme being. He said the Fort Sam Houston installation commander recognized the need to support Wiccan soldiers and their formal practice of worship. Maney said the post doesn't have a recognized Wiccan lay leader and never received a formal request to establish Wiccan meetings on post.

(To clarify that last sentence, that section of the article talks about the accommodations made to ensure as much as possible that all personnel have access to services that meet their needs-- in other words the commander is open to Wiccan services and therefore they have not specifically needed to request them.)

It's kind of a curious thing, that the US military has such retrogressive policies about gays and lesbians, yet at the same time they have been remarkably open-minded about religious practice. The US Army Chaplain's Handbook, which I believe is no longer actually published but is still consulted, had a section about serving the needs of Wiccan personnel as far back as 1978. While not an official document of recognition, the Handbook has been valuable in many civilian legal struggles to get Wicca recognized as a "real" religion. (There is a good overview of military policy regarding Wicca, the opposition it's received from some politicians including bad ol' Dubya, and Wiccan/pagan practice in the military in this 1999 Lady Liberty League report by Selena Fox, a wonderful lady who also contributed to the update of the Wiccan material in the Handbook in 1983.)

Despite the military's generally accommodating attitude, though, the Department of Veteran Affairs remains oddly stubborn about stonewalling requests to have the Wiccan pentagram added to their official list of optional spiritual emblems that can be placed on veterans' headstones. The list includes symbols for Humanism, Atheism, Eckankar, and some other fairly obscure religions. The Pagan Veterans Headstone Campaign has more information and continues to petition the DVA. According to ReligiousTolerance.org, who wrote to the DVA with specific questions, it is possible to get a marker without any symbol and to add your own symbol later at your own expense-- which isn't particularly fair, but at least they aren't actively preventing any representation of a particular faith-- but on the other hand, they note that the stated requirements for having an emblem approved include "a written request from the recognized head of the religious group, a list of national officers, and a membership tally". One wonders how Atheism, Hindu, or Sufism met those requirements...

Still, I have always found it encouraging that even though Wiccan or Pagan civilians still often find it difficult to gain acceptance in their communities, schools, and workplaces, the military has been on the whole pretty accepting and accommodating.

Yes, But They Look Funny Covered In Due Date Stamps

An innovative program in a library in Holland allows people to "check out" other people-- but not in the sexy way.

The program calls for volunteers to make themselves available for appointments with library patrons, who can "borrow" a volunteer for an hour-long meeting in the library's cafe and ask them anything they want. The volunteers are from minority and subcultures or who represent some misunderstood group, and the aim of the program is to encourage people to overcome their prejudices and misapprehensions by actually meeting and talking to, say, a gay person or a handicapped person.

So far, the program has been extremely popular and well-received. The director of the library is at the moment actively seeking Roma (gypsy) volunteers since two Rom families in the area were recently attacked.

I think this sounds incredibly cool. As a writer, if I had access to such a thing, I'd be at the library constantly just wanting to hear the stories of people who live very different lives than me and mine. And I'd sure be willing to go in and talk to people about any of my fringe-y proclivities. Wonder if this will catch on in America...