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kleenexwomanI finally got to watch Where The Heart Is! The good one with Crispin, not the shitty Wal-Mart one with Princess Amidala. They do not have it at any video stores near our house; I had to have Mom abandon me at Grandma Chris's house, whereupon, not knowing what to do with me, said old lady decided that we ought to rent a movie. Hooray for obscure chain video stores with enormous selections.
I liked the movie quite a lot. Pretty art with cute people and cool old homeless guys. Crispin as a gay-not-gay (gay) slightly high-strung fashion designer. Covered with leafy body paint. Awww.
The next morning...
Mom finally got me to this church she'd been talking about. I had been rather looking forward to going because she said it was "Kind of Unitarian, I guess," and "more inspirational than religious." It turned out to be fluffy Jesus-flavored New Age-ness (Me: "I thought you said it was Unitarian." Mom: "I don't like classifying things.") crossed with Baptist-type singing and doing jazz hands (note: Mom says this is a sign of being open to recieving God, but it still looked like jazz hands to me) and spontaneously repeating things, but with worse music. Very, very boring.
There were two interesting parts to the church. The first interesting part was the fact that it had a gift shop with meditation crystals and tarot cards and other paraphenalia that most stricter churches would probably want to burn. (Fun fact: I have met people at CMU who sincerely believe that people who practice yoga are going to hell. 'Cause apparently low-impact stretching exercises are, like, totally Satan's work! Honestly, it boggles the mind...) I almost bought a Shakespeare tarot kit, but it was a little out of my price range.
The second interesting thing was how much I disagreed with the preacher. The theme of the sermon was something along the lines of "Religions with fancy rituals suck." A fairly large portion of it was devoted to talking about how silly Judaism was with all its rules until Jesus came along to break them all and baptize everyone.
:seethe:
For one thing, it didn't work. Judaism stayed Judaism. The people who wanted to love Yahweh and eat pork at the same time became Christians while the Jews went along following their rules and getting persecuted all over the place until a couple thousand years later, when Reform Judaism started being OK. (For those that have no idea what I'm talking about, there are three basic flavors of Judaism: Orthodox, in which you follow pretty much all of the Old Testament rules to the point of boys not being able to look at girls, also you dress as though you are Amish; Conservative, in which you can talk to other genders and don't have to dress like an Amish person, but you still keep kosher and go to synagogue; Reform, in which you can eat barbecued pork butt and only go to temple on the High Holy Days if you feel like it. My dad's side of the family is Reform. Also, there's a new thing called Reconstructionist Judaism and I have no idea what that's all about.)
But the ritual is half the point of Judaism. Of any organized, communal religion, really. Religions with rituals are interesting; they have drama, passion, sacrifice, conflict, history, tradition. (Did you ever notice that the more serious and strict and freaky the religion, the better music they have? Satanists have heavy metal, old-school Catholics have bowel-wobbling organ music, Baptists have swinging gospel music, and New Age churches have...Creed.)
Rituals are the framework of a religion. The philosophy is universal; most religions, deep down, mean the exact same thing: "There's a God (or gods) and it loves you unless you fuck up, so be nice to people and make sure they know how awesome this religion is." What makes a religion different is its rituals, and that's all. It's a way of saying, "Unless you follow these particular rules, you can't be in our club and worship our god." It's a price, and it's only fair. You can't be Jewish unless you get circumsized (for boys), you can't be Catholic unless you get baptized, you can't be a santero (Santeria) unless you go through the ceremony. Why take that away? If you don't like the rules, make up your own religion; they're all the same anyway. A religion without ritual is just another belief system.
On another, somewhat related note: Does anyone remember The Danny Elfman snippet with Steely Dan I posted ages ago? No you don't, because it wasn't very good. I didn't do any research at all for it...but now I have! I got a book on Santeria, which is not exactly voodoo, but it's close. It's actually based on an African religion called Yoruba. The "get out of death free" pendant does not exist, but apparently if you wear a bracelet with green and yellow beads on your left wrist, you are less likely to die because Death (well, the orisha, or god, of Death) will say, "Hey, those are my colors! You have good taste!" or something along those lines, and let you go. (I kind of want to make get-out-of-death-free bracelets for friends...would anybody be seriously offended if I sent them one? Just in case, like the physicist that put a horseshoe above his door? More to the point, would it not work because I don't actually believe in Santeria?)
Much of the religion is based around sympathetic magic. "As below, so above." Very basic stuff, where a part of something can stand in for the whole thing (i.e. saltwater is the ocean, a lock of someone's hair is them), and what you do to that part you do to the whole thing (if you spill a bit of oil in saltwater then the Exxon Valdez will crash, if you burn someone's hair they will get locked in a burning house--with the correct rituals, of course). It's actually a bit like Wicca, in that respect...with the different that Santeria is a hell of a lot cooler and much, much less fluffy-bunny. There are no casual santeros.
The coolest thing about Santeria: Retribution. Most religions have the philosophy, "If you do bad stuff in this life, you may get rich and have sex slaves, but when you die or move on to your next life you are so going to get it." Santeria says, "If you do bad stuff in this life, the orishas will come down and totally kick your material ass real, real soon." No pedophile priests and secret sinners here. The gods are alive, well, and very, very vocal.
This is actually re-igniting my interest in that ficsnip. (I watch as everyone scatters in fear.) Time to do research. Lots of it. Mmmm, yummy.
I liked the movie quite a lot. Pretty art with cute people and cool old homeless guys. Crispin as a gay-not-gay (gay) slightly high-strung fashion designer. Covered with leafy body paint. Awww.
The next morning...
Mom finally got me to this church she'd been talking about. I had been rather looking forward to going because she said it was "Kind of Unitarian, I guess," and "more inspirational than religious." It turned out to be fluffy Jesus-flavored New Age-ness (Me: "I thought you said it was Unitarian." Mom: "I don't like classifying things.") crossed with Baptist-type singing and doing jazz hands (note: Mom says this is a sign of being open to recieving God, but it still looked like jazz hands to me) and spontaneously repeating things, but with worse music. Very, very boring.
There were two interesting parts to the church. The first interesting part was the fact that it had a gift shop with meditation crystals and tarot cards and other paraphenalia that most stricter churches would probably want to burn. (Fun fact: I have met people at CMU who sincerely believe that people who practice yoga are going to hell. 'Cause apparently low-impact stretching exercises are, like, totally Satan's work! Honestly, it boggles the mind...) I almost bought a Shakespeare tarot kit, but it was a little out of my price range.
The second interesting thing was how much I disagreed with the preacher. The theme of the sermon was something along the lines of "Religions with fancy rituals suck." A fairly large portion of it was devoted to talking about how silly Judaism was with all its rules until Jesus came along to break them all and baptize everyone.
:seethe:
For one thing, it didn't work. Judaism stayed Judaism. The people who wanted to love Yahweh and eat pork at the same time became Christians while the Jews went along following their rules and getting persecuted all over the place until a couple thousand years later, when Reform Judaism started being OK. (For those that have no idea what I'm talking about, there are three basic flavors of Judaism: Orthodox, in which you follow pretty much all of the Old Testament rules to the point of boys not being able to look at girls, also you dress as though you are Amish; Conservative, in which you can talk to other genders and don't have to dress like an Amish person, but you still keep kosher and go to synagogue; Reform, in which you can eat barbecued pork butt and only go to temple on the High Holy Days if you feel like it. My dad's side of the family is Reform. Also, there's a new thing called Reconstructionist Judaism and I have no idea what that's all about.)
But the ritual is half the point of Judaism. Of any organized, communal religion, really. Religions with rituals are interesting; they have drama, passion, sacrifice, conflict, history, tradition. (Did you ever notice that the more serious and strict and freaky the religion, the better music they have? Satanists have heavy metal, old-school Catholics have bowel-wobbling organ music, Baptists have swinging gospel music, and New Age churches have...Creed.)
Rituals are the framework of a religion. The philosophy is universal; most religions, deep down, mean the exact same thing: "There's a God (or gods) and it loves you unless you fuck up, so be nice to people and make sure they know how awesome this religion is." What makes a religion different is its rituals, and that's all. It's a way of saying, "Unless you follow these particular rules, you can't be in our club and worship our god." It's a price, and it's only fair. You can't be Jewish unless you get circumsized (for boys), you can't be Catholic unless you get baptized, you can't be a santero (Santeria) unless you go through the ceremony. Why take that away? If you don't like the rules, make up your own religion; they're all the same anyway. A religion without ritual is just another belief system.
On another, somewhat related note: Does anyone remember The Danny Elfman snippet with Steely Dan I posted ages ago? No you don't, because it wasn't very good. I didn't do any research at all for it...but now I have! I got a book on Santeria, which is not exactly voodoo, but it's close. It's actually based on an African religion called Yoruba. The "get out of death free" pendant does not exist, but apparently if you wear a bracelet with green and yellow beads on your left wrist, you are less likely to die because Death (well, the orisha, or god, of Death) will say, "Hey, those are my colors! You have good taste!" or something along those lines, and let you go. (I kind of want to make get-out-of-death-free bracelets for friends...would anybody be seriously offended if I sent them one? Just in case, like the physicist that put a horseshoe above his door? More to the point, would it not work because I don't actually believe in Santeria?)
Much of the religion is based around sympathetic magic. "As below, so above." Very basic stuff, where a part of something can stand in for the whole thing (i.e. saltwater is the ocean, a lock of someone's hair is them), and what you do to that part you do to the whole thing (if you spill a bit of oil in saltwater then the Exxon Valdez will crash, if you burn someone's hair they will get locked in a burning house--with the correct rituals, of course). It's actually a bit like Wicca, in that respect...with the different that Santeria is a hell of a lot cooler and much, much less fluffy-bunny. There are no casual santeros.
The coolest thing about Santeria: Retribution. Most religions have the philosophy, "If you do bad stuff in this life, you may get rich and have sex slaves, but when you die or move on to your next life you are so going to get it." Santeria says, "If you do bad stuff in this life, the orishas will come down and totally kick your material ass real, real soon." No pedophile priests and secret sinners here. The gods are alive, well, and very, very vocal.
This is actually re-igniting my interest in that ficsnip. (I watch as everyone scatters in fear.) Time to do research. Lots of it. Mmmm, yummy.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-08 08:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-08 09:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-08 09:49 pm (UTC)If you need...
Date: 2005-08-08 10:31 pm (UTC)Re: If you need...
Date: 2005-08-09 03:41 am (UTC)Re: If you need...
Date: 2005-08-09 05:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-09 12:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-09 03:42 am (UTC)Gyah. How in the world did they justify this? It's like a church of greed. How Babylonian.
And I still have absolutely no idea what Reconstructionism actually is.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-09 11:35 pm (UTC)This may of course be complete heresy, as I have not studied theology with any great degree of depth; but even still, it's what I've gleaned.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-09 01:10 am (UTC)Rant over.
WTHI is pretty cute, although I almost bit thru my tongue at the end where Lionel said he wasn't gay. I actually have a very stupid theory as to why that was a lie . . .
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-09 01:53 am (UTC)1) Sex
2) Music
3) Religion/god(ess)(e)(s)
4) Drugs/alcohol/whathaveyou
Each has its major, creative benefits; each has its major, destructive detractors. If a person can get 'em in good balance -- well, then, good that's the way to go. It's only when they get all wacky and one starts to dominate itself and the others that the trouble begins.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-09 02:08 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-09 02:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-09 02:33 am (UTC)Black card.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-09 03:15 am (UTC)I also find it interesting that religious hallucinations often precede certain seizures...
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-09 03:56 am (UTC)Isn't that related to the study where it was shown that a sense of religious enlightenment can be duplicated by stimulating certain parts of the temporal lobe which are also active during epileptic fits?
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-09 03:43 am (UTC)I so want to hear this.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-08-09 03:53 am (UTC)I haven't quite reached that level of bitterness yet, I guess. I've found that most well-constructed religions do have room for freethinking, if you can be convincing and interesting enough...and manage to live in a time where you won't get torn about by men in black robes if you say anything contrary. Hard to manage.
In any case, I generally treat religions as a form of fandom--infinitely interesting, but totally fictional. Keeps me from taking them too seriously.
The VMAT2 thing is quite interesting; I hadn't heard of it before. I love learning things from you.