Mini-Mashup!!

1) "Yo, Dude, your stuff offends my mom..."

An interesting question was raised: "Would it be fair to ask my roommate to put his Pagan items in his room when my mom visits?" Well, let's look at it this way. Would it be fair to ask your mom to put her Christian items in her room when your friend visits? What would any rational person do in this situation? I would think a RATIONAL person would naturally say "F---K no!" (ok, perhaps without the expletive)

Well, one suggestion made was this:
"Say to your roommate: 'Dude, can you put your religious stuff away while my mom visits and in return I'll get you a pizza and some beer?'"...Seriously??? Which one would offend you more, being told that your roommate's mom find the stuff in YOUR HOME offensive and you need to remove it or that you'll get beer and pizza for doing this "favor"? I'm not sure which one I'd be offended by more.

The bottom line is this is your roommate's home too. He is free to keep out whatever religious stuff he wants just as you are free to keep out whatever religious stuff you want. That's the beauty of constitutions and charters that allow FREEDOM OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF. It doesn't matter the opinion of a visitor...it's YOUR home. You're not obligated to remove your religious and spiritually significant items just because someone is VISITING your home who happens to disagree with your spirituality. If there is a problem like this, perhaps arrange to meet in another location...one which has no offensive material or decor.









...seriously, beer and pizza?? What were they thinking??

2) Pagan Street Preaching??
I was surprisingly shocked the other day to see a big sign noting the Pagan origins of Christianity and some people handing out pamphlets. It wasn't something I expected to see on a week day. I almost wished I'd had stopped and explored their paraphernalia.

This was the second in a line of Pagan related sightings for that day (the third was a van I followed with a sticker that said "Protected by Witchcraft"...I can't remember the first).

I'd been recently exploring the Pagan population of the community in which I live. I'd contemplated contacting the organizer of an eclectic circle nearby and asking to join, just so I can get a more physical sense of community and regular practice. It seems the Pagan population in my area is bigger than I thought...though establishments and activities are still lacking.

But this particular display caught me off guard. It's not something typical you see from Pagans (and it might not have been Pagans to begin with...the large font saying "Pagan" was what caught my eye). Pagans don't seem particularly interested in nothing the origins of religions that aren't Pagan...usually you'll find that in fluffs or atheists trying to get a rise out of Christians.