A COLLECTION OF QUOTES, JOKES, NEWS TIDBITS AND OTHER THINGS I'VE RUN ACROSS ON THE INTERNET OVER THE YEARS AND SAVED BECAUSE I FOUND THEM THOUGHT PROVOKING, INTERESTING, FUNNY OR JUST PLAIN LIKED THEM:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - People in homes where the annual income is less than $35,000 a year spend about 50 percent more time a week playing video games than those in homes with incomes above $74,000, according to a study released on Tuesday.

"Eris tend thee; Hekate reveal thee; Nemesis give thee thy due."


"That which our school courses leave almost entirely out, we thus find to be that which most nearly concerns the business of life. All our industries would cease, were it not for that information which men begin to acquire as they best may after their education is said to be finished. And were it not for this information, that has been from age to age accumulated and spread by unofficial means, these industries would never have existed." - Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)

"Woohoohoohoo. The wonderful thing about witches, is witches is wonderful
things. They dance, they prance, they clap and sing. They live a life of
joy, peace and fun. But, the most wonderful thing about witches is...I AIN'T
the only one."

- fromTigger's Full Moon Ritual,
Grove of the Hundred Acre Wood

I didn't really do anything except recite the usual
incantations (f**!!!#((( Audi) and it hasn't returned.
Customer's a friend of the wife so I would have heard.

"It's interesting that despite the separation of church and state, we are the most
religious country in the West and certainly the most religiously diverse. We are
also blessed -- no less than that -- to have had so little religious enmity, even now
in the post-Sept. 11 world.

I'd say that's no accident.

But when the bricks get pulled from the wall separating church and state, that's
an accident waiting to happen." -Mike Littwin

-DISCLAIMER: the author's enjoyment of the part of "Devil's Advocate"
does not imply any organizational, political, or religious affiliation
with, or belief in, "The Devil," "Satan", "Lucifer," et. al, or any similar
entities from Christian or other mythology. The author has not
received any fees, compensation, or benefits from "The Devil," nor is the author
bound in any contractual obligations therewith.-

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=--=--=-=--=--==-=--=-=-=-=--=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"As long as any group of people is able to dominate others through the
codification of their religious beliefs into civil law, the human species
will remain in the Dark Ages of ignorance and superstition."
-- Ann Moura, Origins of Modern Witchcraft

"As long as you have a cloistered mind and live and think according to social consciousness,
you will never venture into the unknown or contemplate the possibility of greater realities
for fear that it will mean change.

And certainly it will, because there will be more to see, to understand, and to be
part of, than there was before in a tidy world that lives and dies.

As long as you accept only those limited thoughts that have been bred into you,
you will never activate greater portions of your brain to receive and experience
any thought other then what you have faced every day of your existence"


"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing
evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but
you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence
you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact,
violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for
violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night
already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only
light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Let us treat men and women well; treat them as if they were real. Perhaps they are. Ralph Waldo Emerson

I can't underestand the appeal of virgins. Been there, done that: what a
pain in the ass! Whining, guilt tripping, second guessing... Sheesh!
Give me experience every time!

Pyrokanthos

"Religions only look different if you get them from a retailer.
If you go to a wholesaler, you'll find they all get it from the
same distributor."
--Stephen Gaskin

"I don't think that witchcraft is a religion. I wish the military would rethink
this decision."
-- George W. Bush, remark to ABCNEWS, June, 1999, regarding Ft. Hood's decision
to allow Wiccan rituals just as all military bases allow rituals of the Christian
faith (in a letter to Cliff Walker, the Bush Campaign HQ backpedaled, calling
this Bush's personal opinion; later it becomes part of his campaign)

"No one should be singled out for unfair treatment or unkind words because of their ethnic background or religious faith."
President Bush's address to joint session of Congress
Thursday, September 20, 2001


"He who joyfully marches in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would suffice."
Albert Einstein

Then he has but to make Science his religion. There are many saints
in that religion, too. Jane Borland, a teacher at Lamar High School
in Arlington said a couple of weeks ago, "the fact that they (Monarch
butterflies) can migrate thousands of miles on a route they've never
seen before and never been taught, is just one of the wonders and
miracles of science." I nearly spit coffee reading that one. But it
does indicate a sense of orthodoxy, doesn't it? Almost any wondrous
phenomenon can now be attributed to the wisdom of Science.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
Aristotle

"It is no great matter to make a goddess into a witch or a virgin into a
harlot; but to achieve the contrary, to give the humiliated dignity, to make
the fallen worth coveting, for that either art or character is needed." [J.
W. Goethe, 1749-1832]

"Question with boldness even the extistence of a god, for such a god, if
there be one, must surely respect the homage of reason rather than
blindfolded fear"
Thomas Jefferson


"No man [should] be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship,
place, or ministry whatsoever, nor [should he] be enforced, restrained,
molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor ... otherwise suffer on
account of his religious opinions or belief ... All men [should] be free
to profess and by argument to maintain their opinions in matters of religion,
and ... the same [should] in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil
capacities."
-- Thomas Jefferson: Statute for Religious Freedom, 1779. Papers

Did you know the Greeks always built a special temple to the God/Goddess
who has not been named? They wanted to make sure they didn't miss any
deities, so they had a temple set aside for any deity that they might have
missed. There is one on the left side of the entrance to the Parthenon, and
at the bottom of the hill in the Agora.

Nonlocal Energy
Nonlocal Quantum Hologram
DNA Phantom Effect

"Government doesn't work. It doesn't keep our streets safe and it doesn't educate our children. Government is good at only one thing: It breaks your legs, hands you a pair of crutches, and says, 'See, without us you wouldn't be able to walk.”
- - - - - Harry Browne

"We're also about body acceptance. We take the nude human body for what it
is: a gift of nature, dignified and worthy of respect. No body parts are
shameful; none need take on more significance than others. Naturists think that
all natural bodies are whole and complete, no matter what shape they take, or
what scars they bear."

It does make for an interesting, provocative, but civil discussion, though.


I really believe you should consider the fate of your eternal soul,
brother. The one true Goddess holds her hand out to you, having
sacrificed not only her Son, but also her Lover and Brother for your
salvation, that you might understand the meaning of the Summerland,
the lessons you have failed to learn in previous lives. May you taste
the everlasting cycle that has bourne us all, and forever shall bear
us onward.

Did ya' chuckle a bit? I fed you some of the priciples of my relgion
and included one of your own... The one true way tack. I hope this is
not lost on you. It sounds a bit ridiculous, doesn't it?

I felt the same way when I read yours.

"Free advice. Any time that anybody starts proclaiming themselves any
kind of 'governing body' or 'authority', particularly of a folkway,
heritage, or spirituality, RUN VERY FAST THE OTHER WAY!"..."Unfortunately
we DO get some of the same kinds of power-trippers and control freaks
that the Christers get, and like theirs, such tend to target newbies and
seekers who aren't experienced enough to recognise them. Remember,
these groups can no more give you 'permission' to be what you are - you don't
EVER need anybody's hypocritical 'permission' - than they can let you be
or make you be something that you are not.

Farheil," -Harbard

"Who died and made you the pantheon?" -- Weazel

Not being Christian, I am not bound by their moral code of turning the other cheek.
I am also free to tell you what I think of you in no uncertain terms. You are a
small person. You lack both the ability to accept correction and good manners.
Your ineluctable obtuseness belies the miniscule nature of your ersatz
intellect. In short you're a dunce. Good riddance.

"Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will
within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others.
I do not add 'within the limits of the law,' because law is often
but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights
of the individual."
-- Thomas Jefferson

Christians have been claiming for thousands of years that God is
everywhere. Pagans actually *believe* it.

What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put
it on? - Henry David Thoreau, _Familiar Letters_, May 20, 1860

I've always viewed the mixing of beliefs and practices as a strength,
especially to Wicca. To recognize that each culture has an inherent
religious "correctness" and to be able to integrate what we believe to
be the best parts into a unified whole is important on a personal
level. I don't believe its disrespectful to incorporate new ways of
connecting with divinity simply because someone else also employs
those ways. Nor do I see it as disrespectful to alter those ways
either subtly or drastically.

We shouldn't claim that our altered or adopted ways are "true and
authentic [insert label here] traditions", but we shoulnd't be scared
to borrow what we feel to be divinely True.

The Tenets

Reincarnation
Learning
Balance
Harmony
Love
Trust
Humility
Tolerance


Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old
enough to know better.
-- Anonymous

Body shame, like prejudice, is not natural. It is learned from others &
benefits no one.

An interesting trick some friends have done is to record the SIT
(Special Information Tone) notes into the beginning of their outgoing
answering machine message. The automatic-systems that the
telemarketers use will then strike you from their "live" lists.
They're available online in various sound formats if anyone cares to
do this.

Not necessarily so, Wicca is about 50 years old, the word Witch, and witch craft is centuries older, Wicca can not claim witchcraft as being a part of itself, because it has always been their, long before their was a wicca. Wicca is a religious path. A witch is someone who studies and uses the art and craft of magick, its not a religion, its no part of any religion,
Which is why you can have witches of just about every religion in the world, including atheists. You can be a witch and a wiccan, a witch and a pagan, a witch and a Jew,
a witch and a catholic ect, ect.

For me pagan these days means someone who follows an Earth religion or a
local religion, rather than a monolithic religion.

"Never tease fundamentalists while they are visiting in your home.
It is against the rules of Pagan hospitality, and besides, they pee
on the rugs when they get worked up." - Terry, alt.religion.wicca.
moderated

The capacity to learn is a gift;
The ability to learn is a skill;
The willingness to learn is a choice.
Rebec of Ginaz ("Dune: House Harkonnen")

It's pretty simple, the way I see it (and keep in mind that my comments here
are strictly from a Jewish perspective).

The commandments were given to the Children of Israel. The strict
interpretation of the commandment is that the Jews will worship YHVH only.
It does not negate the power of other gods for other religions; it just
forbids the worship of those gods by Jews.

Rabbi Honigsberg

I kind of like the way Robert A. Heinlein put it in 'Stranger in a Strange Land'

"...but the least likely explanation for it was the no-explanation of random
chance, the conceit that abstract somethings "just happened" to be atoms that
"just happened" to get together in ways which "just happened" to look like
consistent laws and some configurations "just happened" to possess self-awareness..."

Plato's influence extended long past his own life and, indeed, never died.
The Academy remained a going institution until A.D. 529, when the Eastern
Roman Emperor, Justinian, ordered it closed. It was the last stronghold of
paganism in a Christian world.

Why do you quote things out of the Old Testament, when it no longer applies today?

Because Christians do. Confronted with space on a schoolroom wall, Christians
suddenly feel the need to post the 10 commandments. At gay pride rallies,
references to Leviticus pop up everywhere. And just try getting through a
pro-life march without seeing umpteen Christians waving banners quoting
Isaiah or Psalms. The fact is, Christians refer to the Old Testament all
the time. The difference is, we do not suffer from selective amnesia when
doing so.
Plus, Christians say that God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
In other words, He never changes. So if He thought genocide was okay back
then, or that little children should be mauled by bears for teasing a man for
being bald, then He must today as well.

Its funny how we all seem to know the bible, the book
that condemmed our ansestors to death and the book
that almost destroyed our religion.

What -- Old Testament rules from God no longer apply
today, since we're under the New Covenant? Then there
are some people who are trying to hang the Ten Commandments
on public schools walls that you should have a talk with!

Whatever you wish for me,
May you have twice as much.

"Then again, there are so few Omnis around to eat, one must resort to meat."

Just because we are not interested in war doesn't mean that war isn't
interested in us - Trotsky

*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*
The key to the future lies in the past.
*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*

A golden ring, a tied knot,
two wreaths exchanged, two metals wrought,
a union, a bond, fusion, linked
O Gamos,
oh bless us
oh goddess ... Hera

Hera- Sister and wife of Lord Zeus. They are the King and Queen of the Olympian Gods. She is the divine goddess of Marriage and Unions. Let all relationships be blessed by her for they are all Unions and within her domain. Let her preside over all weddings, and partnerships. Any celebration of union for she will bless it with the fruits of success. Be it children, success, wealth, whatever. Honour her praise her and she will reward your dedication.
Let all vows be made before her and beware to those who would break those vows. She is goddess of retribution for infidelity. You have been warned!
Praise be to Goddess Hera.

"We are one, after all, you and I;

together we suffer,

together we exist,

and forever will recreate each other."

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin


> of the Church Of Satan,
Speak you may but communicate you can not... Your church is just
another part of the christian church of organized religion. When
will you ever learn.... "There is no Satan." Satan is not a being
and never was. You like Your Christian brothers sell hate and fear.

We don't buy from either of you.

I am awaiting a commission to investigate Satanism and Witchcraft in America;
headed by Fundamentalist ministers.
Perhaps they could call it "The Inquisition."

Blessed be to all in this troubled time;
Chloe McMahon

I believe in the rule of law. I also believe that laws should
prohibit only those actions that are proven to be truly, tangibly harmful to
others.

There are those who know, those who don't, those who wish to learn and those
who don't:-)

How did pagans get such a bad rap?
When the bully owns the printing press, guess what the copy is?

"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent."-- Mohandas Gandhi
"Nonviolence is the supreme law of life." -- Indian Proverb

:O <----This is the face of a man who's on the Jerry Springer show and
has just found out his girlfriend was a man and that he's now running
off with his Mother, who infact is not his mother, cause he was adopted.

"Although we may never know with complete certainty the identity of the
winner of this year's Presidential election, the identity of the loser
is perfectly clear. It is the nation's confidence in the judge as an
impartial guardian of the law."
-- John Paul Stevens, Supreme Court Justice Appointed by Gerald Ford

Wicca is a contemporary Pagan religion with spiritual roots in Shamanism
and the earliest expressions of reverence of nature. Among its major
motifs are: reverence for the Goddess and the God; reincarnation; magick;
ritual observances of the moon, astronomical and agricultural phenomina;
spheroid temples, created with 'personal power' in which rituals occur.

AAAARRRRGGGHH!! Who let all the football worshippers in here? ;-)

Seriously, a ritualized form of 18th century warfare promoted as our latter
day Roman circus is not my idea of entertainment .. although I guess
regular football games give the violent types something to do in place of
rioting in the streets ..

----------------------------ooO~(_)~Ooo----------------------------
"That which is called God by the Christians, Jehovah by the Jews, Ultimate
Reality by the Hindus, the Buddha Mind by Buddhists, Allah by Muslims, and
which the Chinese call the Tao- That is the Real Self and is all-pervading.
May we experience that!"

For the believer no evidence is necessary for the nonbeliever none is
possible


-- ?? --
Happy Third Millennium everyone.

(well...okay....it's actually --

450,000 AA (After Anu) according to the Sitchin "calendar"

9602 years since Ramayana wars

6237 according to the Egyptian calendar

5761 according to the Hebrew calendar

5119 according to the great Mayan Cycle

2754 years since Romulus and Remus "founded" Rome

2750 according to the old Babylonian calendar

2545 according to the Buddhist calendar

2004-2006 according to Christ's probable birth years of 4-6 BCE

1421 according to the Muslim calendar

423 years that the Dalai Lamas have been governing Tibet (though now in exile)

209 according to the French Revolution calendar

and as of January 24, it will be the end of the Year of the Dragon, and the beginning of the Year of the Snake, according to the Chinese calendar...

...but heck, we won't worry about such piddling details and obvious Western ethnocentrism! It's all just an excuse for a bit of celebration anyway!).

First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win. - Gandhi

There are Christians who do utterly horrible things, and are
always repenting, feeling that Jesus will forgive them. Gandhi
mentioned this phenomenon in his autobiography as the principle reason
why he rejected Christianity: because as far as he could see, it simply
purports to deliver one from the CONSEQUENCES of ones sinful deeds,
whereas Gandhi wanted to elimate sin and wickedness at its very source,
not simply escape the consequences.


The Truth is out there, we'll let it back in when it sobers up.

Those that Beat Their Swords into Ploughshares Shall Plough for Those
Who Did Not

For two millennia, pagans have lived on the spiritual periphery, their Earth-based faith demonized by mainstream religions.

"The Christian church has spent 2,000 years making "witches' and "pagans' bad words because we are the religion that lost the war (between paganism and Christianity)," says Denver psychotherapist Judith Brownlee, who is also a witch. "Anthropologists will tell you that any time a culture comes in, takes over and ousts an older culture, the gods and goddesses of that defeated culture become the devils and demons of the new culture." Weary of being associated with satanic worship, black magic and other unsavory practices, and tired of keeping their dearest values hidden for fear of discrimination, some pagans now come together to celebrate Pagan Pride Day. This year it falls on Saturday. -(Article submission courtesy of Lowell McFarland)

"You can have no religion in the schools. You can have all religions in the schools, but you can't have only the Christian religion in the schools,"

"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men."-Matthew 6:5

"It must be tough being a Bible-based fundamentalist Christian. After all, if you take it literally the book is a study in contradictions, not to mention advocating a host of currently unfashionable ideas, such as selling your daughter into slavery (Exodus 21:7), slaughtering goats to expiate one's sins (Leviticus 16), and of course, that business about God creating the earth in 7 days. However, one would think that despite the difficulty of following all of the Bible's injunctions, the words of Jesus might merit some special attention from a Christian."

"But no..." as Diotima goes to explain in, We Pray Too: A Report From The Bible Belt, "They believe that not being able to broadcast their prayers over the loudspeaker at a football game is a violation of their First Amendment rights, and they were bound and determined to let the Supreme Court and everyone else know it."

HOME BLESSING MAGICK

A home blessing meditation for charging a room:
o Sit Straight with palms on lap, take deep breaths, relax,
and move into a mental space where you activate your
intuitive senses,
o Imagine a cord of energy from your spine connecting you to
the Earth, and channel energy from the Earth through it,
o Silently ask for divine protection, guidance, and blessing,
o Direct your psychic sensing outward, and feel lines of
force coming out of your aura,
o Note where the strongest energy is (check out the
floor,ceiling, directions, etc), Note spots that feel empty
or dead, note places that feel full alive, focus on where
you are sitting and how you feel at that particular spot,
o Imagine a sphere of light and love energy at your heart,
feel it pulsing outward with every breath.
o Feel the radiance increase with every breath, feel your self
as a star, continue to breathe deeply and send out the
energy, letting it pulsate in the room,
o When ready, start making power sounds representing the love
and light you are channeling; use it to amplify the light
you are weaving; and fill the room with the energy,
o Then shift focus to sending a probe out into the room, and
note the differences in the quality of energy and how you feel
about it,
o Repeat if necessary,
o When done, feel the completeness of the work.

A room blessing involving elemental quarter invocations:
o Face each direction (with arms out in appropriate elemental
invoking gesture), and say, while channeling and visualizing
elemental power:
- Powers of (say direction),
- Powers of (say corresponding element),
- We great you, we honor you, we welcome you here!
- Watch over and bless and protect this place.
o After each invocation, shape the energy into columns of light
by sweeping ones arms together until they are parallel and
sweeping them up and down while channeling and shaping the
energy,
o When the energy is properly shaped, say so "mote it be."

o After you have done all four quarters, channel in spirit
energy.

To return the energy to a more mellow state while energizing
yourself, put your hands out and take in a bit of the energy into
your self from each direction, going widdershins, hold hands to
your heart and take in the energy (techniques also exist for
bringing it into a stone and retrieving it when needed).

The above was taught by Selena Fox at Esotericon V, in January
1988.

OK -- my $.02 .. as long as the school is not promoting or discouraging any
particular religion, it is constitutionally protected free speech.

"...When the government fears the people there is liberty, when the people
fear the government there is tyranny..."
Thomas Jefferson


"Man is the dream of the Dolphin"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~*~*~*
"You're not learning how to be a WITCH, you're remembering how
to be ONE"


"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." -Samuel Adams

My apologies, I am inexperienced in the realm of personal attacks and
retaliation. I have grown accustomed to discussing the merits of the issues
in a civilized fashion.

"The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. Instead
of altering their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit
their views...which can be very uncomfortable if you happen to be one of
the facts that need altering." -- Dr. Who


But... you don't have the right to force me to believe what you do, or to
force me to practice your religion. And you don't have the right to
interfere with me practicing my religion. Our country is based on religious
freedom. You have the right to not associate with me because you think I'm
harmful, but you don't have the right to ban me from my beliefs. THAT is
what our country stands for.

And as a side note, you're more likely to convince me that I'm wrong by
letting your God's light shine out through you than by wielding a sword
against me upon which you've written His name.


"You could spend an hour counting the petals in a flower
It might take you a year to count the veins in each petal
If you spent ten lifetimes, maybe you could count its cells...

...but you'd have completely missed the point
You fuckhead."


"I've paid a high price to be me, but it was worth it. The bill is paid, I
have my receipt, and I'm pretty proud of my purchase. And if you don't have
a self, I highly recommend picking one up. Some things you shouldn't
lease." - Catalyst


http://www.tylwythteg.com/WORD/WORD.html

These comments are meant to offend everyone equally. If, for some reason you are not offended, please write me with a description of yourself including your name, race, weight, religious views, political party, strong opinions, physical disabilities and anything else that you are
touchy about, and I will try to offend you in a future comment. Complaints should be emailed to: biteme@likeiactuallycare.com

They said, "You have a blue guitar.
You do not play things as they are."

The man replied, "Things as they are
Are changed upon the blue guitar."

-- Wallace Stevens, 1937

--------------------------------------------------------------

It's a dangerous precedent when the state's morality goes against the
parents personal morality in how they want to raise their children. It
works both ways, for those who are Christian conservatives as well as
liberals. So the law keeps a 15 or 16 year old from seeing a boob in
a movie theater, they can easily catch up and see much MORE on local
cable on HBO or Skinamax for instance or from a video at Blockbusters.
Keeping things like sexuality as a major taboo makes them want to see
it even more (just like anything else teenagers want to try because it
is demonized). If it was honestly approached like in many other countries
I've lived in (Germany and Australia) then it becomes less of an issue and
depsite all fears, the kids don't go wild having wanton sex in the streets.

And while we debate this kids much younger than this are welcome to view as
much war, carnage, horror, blood, murder, and mass killings as they like but
if a boob is shown their minds will be rotted.

Oh the irony!


"Time is our best teacher, unfortunately, she kills all of her students"

"My life changed forever the day I realized that I am not responsible
for the way other people think of me." -Richard Feynman

"Tell a man that there are 400 billion stars and he'll believe you. Tell him
a bench has wet paint and he has to touch it."

"Come on, you apes! You wanta live forever??"
-Unknown platoon sergeant, 1918

"It is one of the superstitions of the human mind to have imagined that
virginity could be a virtue." (Voltaire)

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin

"I do not feel obliged to believe that same God who endowed us with sense,
reason, and intellect, had intended for us to forgo their use." - Galileo

Be good, servile little citizen-employees:
Pay your taxes so the rich don't have to.


Children should not be protected from knowledge of what the world is like. They need to know.
They need to understand that people have sex, and that they should
protect themselves when they're old enough to engage in it. They need
to know that doing bad things can have terrible consequences. Sure,
it's scary. But that's what growing up is about.

Who is the idiot who first thought that children should be protected
from this knowledge and awareness? It is certainly not something we
humans evolved to be like. And all throughout history, children
experienced the life around them one hell of a lot more than they do
now. Personally, I think letting them see things like that, and
explaining it to them, makes them a hell of a lot better adjusted than
protecting them from it and letting them discover that their world is a
carefully constructed lie.

A plane was taking off from Kennedy Airport. After it reached a
comfortable cruising altitude, the captain made an announcement over the intercom,

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Welcome to Flight Number
293, nonstop from New York to Los Angeles. The weather ahead is good and
therefore we should have a smooth and uneventful flight. Now sit back and relax
- OH MY GOD!"

Silence followed and after a few minutes, the captain came back on the intercom
and said,

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am so sorry if I scared you earlier, but while I was
talking, the flight-attendant brought me a cup of coffee and spilled the hot
coffee in my lap. You should see the front of my pants!"

A passenger in Coach said, "That's nothing. He should see the back of mine!"

As I have learned it, Imperial Rome was very tolerant of other religions, but their tax
system required all subject peoples to make offerings to Roman temples. It seems that
the polytheistic world didn't have much of a problem with this, but it was the cause of
near constant rebellion among the monotheistic Jews. Into this time was born Jesus and
the Christian Church. A few hundred years later the Roman state was taken over by
Christians, starting with Constantine but fully accomplished much later. So by the time
of the misnamed Fall of Rome, the Catholic Church had been organized along Roman
governmental lines. Christendom was now the unifying concept in what was once the
Roman world. In one of the splendid ironies of history, the oppressed became the
oppressor, and the aftereffects of Roman religious imperialism are with us even
until this day.

Political leaders have always known the power that religion has over people's lives.
Fortunately the Founders of this country used this understanding to keep Church and
State completely separate through the Bill of Rights.

-----

"The biblical concepts of sin and salvation are an integral part of Christian doctrine. Christianity first creates a problem
(sin) and then offers a "solution" (salvation). This is not unlike the protection racket; you either buy "protection"--or else!"

"I have found Christian dogma unintelligible. Early in
life I absented myself from Christian assemblies."
[Benjamin Franklin, in _Toward The Mystery_]

Ye have enemies? Good, good- that means ye've stood up for
something, sometime in thy life.... -Elminster of Shadowdale

Now you keep claiming that the USA was at some point a Christian nation.

Can you tell us exactly when that was?

Was that back in the day when a large part of the population was
considered "property?"

Or was it when people were denied the right to vote based on their sex or
their skin color?

Perhaps America was "Christian" when Pinkerton guards were shooting down
strikers?

Or perhaps America was "Christian" when it enacted the internment of
thousands of Japanese-Americans simply because of their ancestry?

Perhaps McCarthyism, which blacklisted and destroyed the lives of so
many because of their (real or imagined) political beliefs, part of the
evidence of what it means to practice love, honesty and justice?

Maybe America was "Christian" while it engaged in National Security
that resulted in the radiation, biological, and chemical experiments
that killed, sickened, or disabled so many servicement and civilians?


You made the claim. I'm simply asking for clarification

Why did God cover two-thirds of a planet made for man, a creature lacking gills, with water?

Something to think about this weekend.

Being your basic Norse-Irish mutt, I've always been amused by the following within the "Pagan Community" of March 17th, the Feast Day comemmorating the death of Patrick, the "Patron Saint of Ireland." Many justify it by saying that they are "celebrating being Irish." Fine. I see it as the Irish equivalent of Stikklestad Day, the celebration of the death of Olaf the Fat.

To me the celebration is my way of saying "Fuck you" to the arrogant cretins who would try to turn us to their alien faith. The fact that we *can and do* celebrate shows that, in the end, Patrick, Olaf, and all the other fucking Missionaries on this Earth living, dead, or yet to be are all failures. We survive. At least, most of us do. Some don't quite make it.

This weekend, as I celebrate life with my kin, I'll raise a glass to a little girl I've never met. The Lincoln Park School district is in the news again. On the morning of February 20, 2001 CE, Tempest Smith hung herself rather than face another day of taunting from the Xtians at her school. The full story is on and linked from http://www.witchvox.com.

I'm sure you've all noticed the outrage and national outcry this ongoing religious harasment has caused amongst our dedicated civil servants and elected officials...

There's more I want to say, but words fail me. I'll save it for another day. Now I just need sleep.

We're into "raze their cattle; burn their women, kill their fields and
abduct their barn" territory here.

Zos is the name of a cult, I know it exists here in Newtown in Sydney Australia. Zos has the tag of CHANGE. All change in the material world is expansion or evolution the Big Bang, Satan booted out of heaven Christ calling him the Lord of This World. Zos is about the phenomena of change. The bar across the "oso" is the harmony of change. All things occuring for a purpose. Balance. Do you research on ZOS and you'll agree.

Well, the closest thing I ever saw coming close to a valid explanation of Page's glyph is that I used to have this friend who was dabbling with the occult and had this magazine at his house which explained this 'Zos' cult (I don't know who this Zos was but it had a lot to do with quite simply change. I don't mean personal growth but change from the original source - the big bang - the devil kicked out of heavan - you can take that to mean a lot of things. And when you think about the myriad of chnges in Dazed and Confused Page this seems to reflect what I'm saying. If anyone in Australia knows of this cult which seemed to be around Newtown in Sydney in the early Nineties then please expound on this. I'm sure more can be found out. The other sympols are self explanatory - Plant's - wisdom (the feather) the Circle - the divine. Bonzo's and Jones's - the trinity. Jones did play Church organ remember. Cheers, Buggerlugs.

Yes, it is sad that you had to give up, you should not have to be in
that position. You are not responsible for fighting all battles as is
no one. I fight plenty, but feel free to choose without criticisim from
someone who has a special interest in the one I chose not to.

How many times have I been chastized for giving to one charity and not
the other. A person is not selfish and uncharitable because they gave
to their favorite one rather than yours.

Yes I believe in the brother's keeper approach, but do not believe I am
the bad guy for making the decision about my recources and excersizing
my choice as to where and how I do it.

Before retirement I gave a LOT to charities. Far too often turn downs
would result in my being told (usually petulantly) "I don't see why you
can't give some money to me when you gave some to XYZ!" My answer was
always "You don't need to."

The Great Dionysia occured during the more favorable months of late March- early April
Dionysiac rites

"We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was 'legal', and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was 'illegal'."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

"God had to kill himself to appease himself, so that he wouldn't have
to roast us (his beloved creations) alive for all eternity, except
that he didn't really die."
[Unknown, capsule description of Christianity]

Ps 58:10,11 - The righteous will rejoice when they see vengeance done; they
will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.P eople will say, "Surely
there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on
earth."

Ps 68:22,23 - The Lord said, "I will bring them back from Bashan, I will
bring them back from the depths of the sea, so that you may bathe your feet
in blood, so that the tongues of your dogs may have their share from the
foe."

Yep - that's a religion of joy and gentleness! I'd know it anywhere!!

5 Kinds of love

The Greeks have five words to describe different kinds of love. it's
sad that the English language has only one, we love our husbands, wives,
friends, families, french fries, TV shows, ...etc. Wouldn't it be nice to
have a word for each, like the Greek did?

1. EPITHUMIA : a strong desire of any kind - could be good or bad. It
means to set the heart on; to long for, rightfully or otherwise; it can
mean to covet. When used negatively it is usually translated lust.
In a positive way it is usually translated desire.

2. EROS : carries the idea of romance. Includes the idea of yearning to
unite with and the desire to possess the beloved. Words that further
describe it are; infatuation, attraction. Eros love has the ability for us
to see no wrong in the beloved, no flaws, etc.

3. STORGE : could be described as a comfortable old-shoe relationship
comprised of natural affection and a sense of belonging to each other.

4. PHILEO: friends, brotherly love, it cherishes and has tender affection
for the beloved.

5. AGAPE: the totally unselfish love that has the ability to give and keep
on giving without expecting any return.


A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented
the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took
him to catch them. "Not very long," answered the Mexican. "But then, why
didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the American. The Mexican
explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of
his family. The American asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your
time?" "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a
siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my
friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs...I have a
full life." The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Yale and I can
help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell
the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat.
With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one
and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.
Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can negotiate directly
with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then
leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New
York City! From there you can direct your huge enterprise." "How long would
that take?" asked the Mexican. "Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied
the American. "And after that?" "Afterwards? That's when it gets really
interesting," answered the American, laughing. "When your business gets
really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!" "Millions?
Really? And after that?"
"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast,
sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta, and
spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends!"

Don't pray in my school
and I won't think in your church

"Leave the matter of religion to the family altar, the church and the private school supported entirely by private contributions. Keep the church and state forever separate."
-- Ulysses S. Grant, Address to the Army of the Tennessee, Des Moines, Iowa, September 25, 1875, from Albert J. Menendez and Edd Doerr, The Great Quotations on Religious Freedom

A Nudist is simply a human being without Artificial Additives!

Are we so narrow minded that we show war, murder, rape, etc. on TV, but we do not allow to show one of the most wonderful creations (the human body) in its natural form. - Mario Roman

It is not selfishness to live as you see fit. Selfishness is
insisting that other people live as you see fit.

It continues to baffle me why there is no attempt to censor television`s continual portrayal of homicide as a means of conflict resolution, while at the same time regarding an unclothed human body as a problem. - Charlie Metcalf

"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge in the field of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."" - Albert Einstein
Indecency, vulgarity, obscenity - these are strictly confined to man, he invented them. Among the higher animals there is no trace of them. They hide nothing. They are not ashamed. - Mark Twain, Letters from the Earth

"Every day people are straying away from
the church and going back to God."
Lenny Bruce

There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.
Morpheus

I was completely lost before I found out where I was.
-Nicole Jacamel