I Support a National Month of Prayer.

A friend of mine recently linked to a page on Facebook promoting the defense of the National Day of Prayer (NDP). The page was created in response to a Wisconsin judges ruling that the NDP violates the laws our founding fathers made when they formed this county we call the USA. Now, what did they say? Oh yes it's right here in the FIRST Amendment;

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

I think we can all agree on one thing. That statement is pretty open to interpretation. God-fearing folks see it as an obvious endorsement of religion and the God-less interpret it as "the Government should mind it's own business and not dabble in anything religious."

As a godless, spineless liberal, I tend to lean to the second interruption. But, in an effort to bring a lasting peace to this nation, I propose that we not only have day of prayer but an entire month of it.

I truly believe that we as a nation we would benefit from praying together in classrooms, boardrooms and courtrooms.

Of course not everyone will like this.

Why? Because my month of prayer would require everyone to learn and participate in the beliefs of ALL religions.

Week Zero would be spent learning the prayers of the four major faiths (Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Hindu).

On the first week, everyone would be called to Muslim prayer and recite Salah. Non Muslims will only need to pray once in the morning. Practicing Muslims will of course continue to pray at the prescribed times.

The second week would change to Hindu, the third Jewish, and the final week Christian.

Since this nation is predominately Christian, regional differences will have to taken into account. I think we should eliminate Snake handling as an option but you may disagree. The use of the King James version of the Bible with be strictly enforced! ;-)

A 30 minute open discussion will follow the prayer. Comparisons will be made to other religions.

What will the result of this Month of Prayer have?

At best (for me) it will show this country that the humans on planet Earth are very diverse in their beliefs and a close examination of those beliefs will show many similarities as well as allowing people the opportunity to question their own belief system.

At worst (and most likely scenario unfortunately) it will cause a larger rift between people who are unwilling to acknowledge the views and beliefs of others.

What are your thoughts? What am I missing (besides the smaller, less followed beliefs)? What did I get TOTALLY wrong?

Why Only Christmas?

I recently did a holiday quiz for the Skeptic group I belong to. While researching myths associated with this time of year, I came across an interesting curiosity. It seems that while the Christian holidays have a pages dedicated to seasonal myths, the Jewish and Muslim faiths have, as far as I can tell, none.

Why? Is it because their belief system is so rigid that it doesn't allow for any questioning of the doctrine? Could it be that most Christians are more open-minded and accept adding on non-theist, or more accurately, Pagan traditions to their celebrations? I would bet that if you took a worldwide survey on people's first impressions of Christmas and Easter, Santa (or Father Christmas in his various incarnations) and the Easter Bunny (or Easter Bell in Italy), would be the first thing most people associate with the holidays, and not the birth and resurrection of Jesus.

But that brings up the question; What is a myth? According to the dictionary it's:
"A traditional, typically ancient story dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serves as a fundamental type in the worldview of a people, as by explaining aspects of the natural world or delineating the psychology, customs, or ideals of society."

With this definition, isn't all religion mythology? Every religion practiced today would fall under this definition. Why is the Jewish Torah anymore believable than the secret texts of Scientology? The one thing they all have in common is that they can not be proven to be true. There is no factual evidence on which these beliefs are based, many actually contradict historical documents.

It all comes down to "Faith" and that is a topic for another day!

He Shall be Known as the King of Kings

UPDATE: A great overview of December 25th Deities can be found at http://edwinkagin.blogspot.com/2008/12/deities-born-on-december-25th-from.html

In the olden days, virgin births evidently weren't that rare. The gods seemed more then happy to knock up a young, trusting teenager.
The gods seemed to know what they were doing though. Take a look at the resulting offspring.

• Attis was a son of the virgin Nana. His birth was celebrated on Dec 25. He was sacrificed as an adult in order to bring salvation to mankind. He died around March 5, after being crucified on a tree, and descended for three days into the underworld. On Sunday, he arose, as the solar deity for the new season. His followers tied an image of Attis to a tree on "Black Friday," and carried him in a procession to the temple. His body was symbolically eaten by his followers in the form of bread.

• Mut-em-ua: The virgin Queen of Egypt, supposedly gave birth to Pharaoh Amenkept III through a god holding a cross to her mouth. Isis gave Virgin birth to Horus. Virginal birth, or women being impregnated by gods was a common theme in Egyptian Mythology.

• Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) On the night Siddhartha was conceived, Queen Maya dreamt that a white elephant with six white tusks entered her right side, and ten lunar months later Siddhartha was born. The Buddha broke from the traditional religion of his people and spoke of peace, love and understanding.

• Egyptian, Osiris is a savior-god who had been worshiped as far back as Neolithic times. "He was called Lord of Lords, King of Kings, God of Gods...the Resurrection and the Life, the Good shepherd...the god who 'made men and women be born again'" Three wise men announced his birth. His followers ate cakes of wheat which symbolized his body.

• And Last but not least, Jesus of Nazerath. Born of the Virgin Mary, he would be the spiritual leader for billions... I think most of you know his career stats. ;-)