Who’s talking nonsense about Halowe’en?

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Certain so-called Christians of the “make up any old crap as long as it’s sensational” school are publishing nonsense about Halowe’en and witches cursing your candy. Well, it’s true that the gods of an old religion tend to become the devils of the next religion, as Baal became “Beelzebub” and the Virgin of Baal became “Jezebel”. But, really, that doesn’t mean that the old Celtic festival of late harvest, time to slaughter pigs, smoke bacon, and store turnips, time to pray the souls of the recent dead across to Summerland, must be a time for witches to curse Hallowe’en candy. The church re-purposed this time of the thinning of the barriers between now and the hereafter as All Soul’s Day and All Hallows’ Eve. But to pagan priests and priestesses, Christianity would have been just an upstart newcomer and largely irrelevant to their agricultural calendar cycle. On the contrary, it was Christians who borrowed the pagan calendar, from Hallowe’en to the winter solstice and the rebirth of the Sun–for Christmas–to Easter, the time of ferment and fertility–for the rising of their reincarnated avatar of the traditional hero-myth.

Is Scientology imploding?

Some bloggers, such as Evolved and Rational, are reporting that the cult of Scientology appears to be in disarray. We can always hope. As people needing psychiatric care have died under their treatment, they are reported to engage in attacks by litigation, and their founder’s principles for raising children remind me of Dickensian child abuse, the sooner the better. And who drowned the judge’s dog when the judge was presiding over a $cientology case?

Rapture FAIL

Yet another unfulfilled prediction:

Apocalypse when?

Bill Maher explains swine flu

Bill Maher points out that swine flu proves evolution:

In the process, he gets in a few good one-line jokes and takes a dig at creationism.

Hat tip to Tara C. Smith at Aetiology.

Who benefits from religion?

A good question to ask about why organizations exist is to ask, “Who benefits?” Political parties exist to help their members to influence what laws are made and how they are enforced–in other words, to get into power and benefit the interests of their own social class.

For example, farmers usually have influence greater than their numbers would suggest by voting as a bloc on their issues, such as farm subsidies. Farmers are paid for not growing certain crops, because that keeps the price of food up and gets them more income–a wierd form of group socialism that harms the poor who are trying to eat and feed their children but benefits farmers.

Actors and dancers and artists believe that the arts should be subsidized for the good of the country’s culture and reputation. It’s incidental that subsidizing the arts would give more of them a living doing what they like to do.

Being a priest is a wonderful way to get an income without actually having to produce anything. However sincere, he gets paid to utter magic words and make mystical signs and ask for miracles, just like the witch doctor of a village. And with as much reality behind him.