Changing Paths

Another great post from John Beckett: Putting the remnants of toxic religion where they belong

My friend Jenny, who volunteers for an organization that helps trans people escape from oppressive countries (including the USA and the UK) has co-authored a book about how to get out of these countries. It’s a free download. Continue reading Escape to freedom

Some time ago, someone shared with me the wonderful music of Alanah Sabatini, specifically her reclaiming of hymn tunes by rewriting them with empowering and uplifting humanist words. Continue reading Healing through reclaiming

A Facebook friend just shared a post with an excellent list of Christian doctrines that were invented by churches. Here’s my commentary with additional context on the list, plus one very important item that they missed. Continue reading Made up Christian doctrines

Interesting interview in The Guardian with Hannah Murray, who joined a wellness cult which triggered bipolar disorder. The scary thing about the wellness cult is that it’s combining elements of Pagan culture, magic, shamanism, and Celtic cultures. Continue reading A Wellness Cult

Threads post by Jarred the Wyrd-worker Continue reading Double standards

A weird new trend which started in Los Angeles has spread to Vancouver, Canada. The trend is “Scientology speed running” and involves running through Scientology buildings. How the viral ‘Scientology speed-run’ trend got started and why young people keep doing it — CBC News While this may be amusing as a prank or a dare, it’s probably not going to dissuade anyone from being a…

One of the most misunderstood books in history, Revelation (or that third-rate misinterpretation of it, Left Behind) is often used to scare small children, and it is currently being used as a reason to attack Iran. So it seemed like a good moment to inquire into what it actually means. Continue reading Revelation and Ragnarök

The difference between information, mission, evangelism, and proselytizing. Continue reading Ways of talking about faith

The tenth anniversary edition of All acts of Love and Pleasure: inclusive Wicca — expanded, revised, updated and considerably bigger than the original — available now. Continue reading Tenth anniversary edition of All acts

Recently a woman successfully sued a yoga retreat for triggering her childhood PTSD. It is not clear what actually happened, as there are two different versions of events. The people running the yoga retreat said the activity was optional; she says it was compulsory. Western uses of mindfulness & meditation There has been a trend over the last decade or more of importing spiritual techniques…

View this post on Instagram Great post about DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender), a tactic frequently used in high control religions to prevent their adherents from leaving.

Another excellent piece from John Beckett on how Pagans think about death. Do you fear death? I don’t fear death because I don’t believe in heaven or hell, which is a pernicious doctrine designed to cause fear. I believe in the Summerlands, which is a completely different place. I also have reasonable belief in the continuation of consciousness after death. And if that doesn’t happen, I am at…

It may seem that there’s no point criticizing other people’s theological beliefs because from the standpoint of atheists, all religious beliefs are equally unreasonable, but different theological beliefs are not equal, and they lead to different outcomes. I define theology as beliefs about gods, spirits, and ethics: how we show up in the world as humans. Continue reading Discerning good theology

The best dating site, in my opinion, is OKCupid, because you can ask and answer questions about your dealbreaker issues. Then you don’t need to go on a date with some idiot who believes stuff like “women should submit to their husbands” or “pregnant rape victims should carry the foetus to term”. Continue reading Red flags

I’m thankful that I was not brought up with the nonsense about the rapture (which is weird because I grew up in the Exclusive Plymouth Brethren until the age of 9, and it was apparently the founder of the Plymouth Brethren, JN Darby, who popularized the concept of the rapture, along with dispensationalist theology). But I recognize that it is still traumatic to think about for a lot of…