Category Archives: Atheist

Former Growing Pains actor Kirk Cameron said he decided to embrace Christianity when he was 17 after being an atheist.

During an interview with PragerU, Cameron explained how he began acting in Hollywood at the age of 14 and quickly became inducted into the society of Hollywood.

"When I was a kid, I would have called myself an atheist until I was about 17 years old," Cameron said.

The actor said he began to wonder at a young age if there was a heaven or hell and figured that "if there was a heaven, I wouldn't be going there because of my attitude and my self-centered, conceded, 'I'm all that, I'm the GOAT,' celebrity Mike Seaver guy."

INTERNET TEARS INTO MAN FOR NOT HELPING WIFE SHOVEL DRIVEWAY: 'TIME TO MAKE HER SOME BREAKFAST'

Cameron said that as he began to pray, he felt a significant change in his life. He added that a note written by his daughter prompted him to reexamine his rise to fame in Hollywood.

"It's the same boiling water that softens potatoes that hardens eggs. It just depends on what you're made of," the note said.

Cameron explained what the note meant to him, saying, So the same difficult challenges and influences of Hollywood that turn some people sour and make them narcissistic and bitter and joyless and afraid to not fit in is the same pressure that actually softened my heart and caused me to embrace gratitude and be thankful for the life that I have and want to use a platform and this Hollywood industry to advance the good."

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I really think its what youre made of," he added. "And if you dont know what youre made of, dont look to your environment or your industry or other people to give you an identity. There was somebody who made you ask him. And you can be sure that the ending of the story is gonna be fantastic."

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Kirk Cameron details path to Christian faith: 'If there was a heaven, I wouldn't be going there' - Washington Examiner

Orrville school board prayer wrong

Regarding the Jan. 2article, 'Orrville school board prayer criticized,I agree that no prayer should be held in a public school board meeting as it is wrong and must stop.

As a local atheist, I wanted to applaud and publicly support the local parent who brought attention to this issue. Public school board members were elected to represent everyone in the Orrvilledistrict, and therefore must be inclusive, secularand neutral in their official duties to include every taxpayer in their community. The school board president stated that the prayer was said before the meeting is called to order, which suggests he may recognize that the prayer may be seen as unconstitutional and that the board is just trying to find a loophole to do what they want.

It is also concerning to read that another school board member may have used his religious beliefs to discourage a mask wearing policy; this is ridiculous because science shows that wearing a mask and getting vaccinated are ways to save lives, fight a deadly virusand keep public schools open. The Freedom from Religion Foundation is right to send a letter to the district because the Orrville school district's own policy doesn't discriminate on the basis of religion.

I would like to add that a moment of silence would not be an option either, and I strongly oppose Ohio Senate Bill 248 that was introduced in Octoberto potentially mandate this activity in Ohio public schools. If we want every student, parent, guardian or resident to feel welcomed and fully participating in any school activity, then keeping schools neutral without religion is the only way to run a public school.

Nancy Dollard, Lake Township

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Letter to the editor: Keep it inclusive, secular and neutral at public school meetings - Akron Beacon Journal

Sir, My first reaction, as a priest in a city parish, when I read that front-page article on multidenominational schools in Mondays Irish Times (Progress on multidenominational schools too slow, News, January 10th) was to wish that things could change quickly with regard to faith-formation in our parishes.

For a long time, we have been fooling ourselves into thinking that the faith was being passed on through our Catholic schools.

However, I rarely see a young person in church or young parents, for that matter.

We seem to have forgotten that the faith is passed on to children through a series of developmental stages that begin in the home, with the parents as the source.

Unfortunately, we have been working from an old model of church and state enmeshment, which took it for granted that the vast majority of Irish citizens were baptised as Catholics, had prayers in the home, and went to Mass on a Sunday.

The new reality is that this basic foundation for the faith is no longer there.

We are depending on an educational system where the majority of the teachers in our Catholic schools, who teach religious knowledge as part of the official curriculum, are not practising Catholics themselves. It is a sham.

What we need to do is what every other church, in every other country does have a parish-based catechetical programme for those who choose to commit themselves to their faith.

With non-denominational schools, we would unfortunately miss out on the benefits of the Christian ethos.

However, children who were of a different religious background, or none, would be treated the same as the Catholic students, unlike those times, at present, when schools prepare for the sacraments of First Holy Communion and Confirmation.

Yes, the future will be challenging. But we need that challenge. Yours, etc,

PATRICK SEAVER,

Farranshone,

Limerick.

Sir, Atheist Ireland has asked the United Nations to raise religious discrimination in Irish schools when it next questions Ireland on economic, social, and cultural rights. We have also made a complaint to the Comptroller and Auditor General about the misuse of public funds regarding the teaching of religion in Irish schools.

The Government aims to have 400 multidenominational schools by 2030. This clearly is not happening, as the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has told the UN. And even if it did happen, it would not address the problem.

Schools that are multidenominational are still religious schools. They do not respect the freedom of conscience of atheist families. Instead we need non-denominational schools, which treat everyone equally and do not promote either religion or atheism.

Also, even if they existed, having 400 multidenominational schools would not solve the problem, as most parents would not be able to access these schools. Having multiple school patrons, each with their own ethos, is the problem not the solution.

As an immediate step, schools must allow children to leave the classroom during religion class. Atheist Ireland has made a complaint to the Irish Comptroller and Auditor General about this, as schools that receive public funding are constitutionally obliged to do this.

Parents have a legitimate expectation that the State will fulfil its constitutional duty to protect their constitutional rights, and to fund the protection of these rights, and to not fund the erosion of these rights. The Department of Education is aware that many schools refuse to vindicate this right, yet the department still gives them funding.

Atheist Ireland has also asked the UN to raise the right to objective sex education, and Section 37 of the Employment Equality Act, which allows publicly funded schools to discriminate against teachers on the ground of religion.

Ireland is no longer a Catholic country. We are now a pluralist country with Catholic laws that we are gradually dismantling.

The most important next step is removing the anachronistic control that the Catholic Church has over the education of our children. Yours, etc,

MICHAEL NUGENT,

Chairperson,

JANE DONNELLY,

Human Rights Officer,

Atheist Ireland,

Drumcondra,

Dublin 9.

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Religion in schools - The Irish Times

Eric Andre. Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

Eric Andr is sort of the perfect person to play a hard-Christian-rocking, Holy Spiritwielding Texan preacher when you think about it. Sure, hes Jewish and an atheist and has dabbled in the satanic, at least on his Adult Swim show. But he cares about people, can speak in tongues, and his disciples would follow him to the ends of the Earth.

On the new season of The Righteous Gemstones, which premiered Sunday, Andr plays Lyle Lissons, a celebrity preacher who represents the new generation of megachurch worship in contrast to Eli Gemstones (John Goodman) old guard. He line dances with Joe Jonas, owns some sort of child ranch, and is trying to rope in Jesse (Danny McBride) or at least Jesses daddys money on his grand designs for a Christian resort in Florida. Andr spoke with Vulture before the premiere about how preachers are like WWE wrestlers, actors are like furniture, and horses are like demons straight from hell.

Hows it going?My exterminator thinks I look like Eric Andratti. He goes, Did anyone ever tell you you look like Eric Andratti? I go, Nope! Not specifically that, but Ive gotten similar comments.

Thats an interaction Im kind of amazed didnt happen more often filming Bad Trip.Ill tell you why it didnt happen: Notice the age range of the people we pranked. The majority of people we pranked were over 45. You dont notice a lot of skateboarders in the movie.

So what youre saying is it was basically your version of Betty Whites elderly prank show, Off Their Rockers.I forgot about that. I should rewatch that. That can go south, though, because what if somebody has a heart attack or something?

Or poop themselves.Aging is so miserable.

When you last spoke with Vulture, Bad Trip wasnt out yet. Now its on critics year-end best-of lists. Whats it been like to get that kind of reception?It was so heartwarming after making the movie and trying to get it to see the light of day. It took eight years from conception to release, so that fills my heart with joy, hearing that.

Between that and Righteous Gemstones, youve done a lot of line dancing and Florida-based, Americana-themed comedy this year. What drew you to Gemstones? I know the great Brandon James, a producer at Rough House. We were talking about a different project, and then he hit me up for this, and I put myself on tape and booked it. I think that they are so brilliant. I love Danny, and I love everything that they put out. Their horror movies are incredible, too. I just think theyre a really smart team of people, and theyre state-of-the-art as far as scripted comedy goes. I dont think anybodys getting away with or doing anything at their level in the scripted-comedy and situational-comedy space. So it was like, Im a fan of their work, and hell yes, I want to collaborate.

It wasnt this academic thing right after Bad Trip. It wasnt that masterminded. It was more just like I love these guys and everything they do, and I want to work with their company. Bad Trip was a road-trip movie. Road-trip movies by design are kind of a love letter to the nation. It wasnt cynical, it wasnt punching down, and it wasnt trying to embarrass people. It was showing the beauty and humanity of everyday Americans people of color and the working class.

Your character, Lyle Lissons, is introduced as this counterpoint to Jesse Gemstone. Hes a Texan pastor just as ridiculous and ostentatious but maybe 40 percent smarter. What was it like to film those scenes, playing the high-status one shaking things up? What is the energy like on set?Those guys are really nice. Theyre very polite and respectful and collaborative. They create a very welcoming and nourishing environment. Theres no egos or assholes on set. So I felt very comfortable. The industrys chock-full of damaged people. They were not. They were just very supportive. I felt like I was with a supportive peer group that was on the same wavelength. Ive been watching their material for over ten years, so I had already done my research. I know their style from being a fan of their style.

The very first thing I booked when I moved to Los Angeles was Curb Your Enthusiasm. I had all of two lines of dialogue, but I booked that right away because I just watched so many episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm going into it. After I booked that, it was like a fluke; I didnt book anything. I didnt book a single audition for like ten years.

The scene where youre introduced is not dissimilar to an Eric Andre Show intro. There are pyrotechnics. People are falling over. Its a physical performance. What do you think megachurch pastors and comedians have in common?They want your attention. They want to command the crowd. They want money and a ton of amphetamines and no-strings-attached sex.

Was that a real Christian rock song or something made up for the show? I think that was made up for the show.

You have a music background are you the one shredding in that solo?I was faking it 100 percent. Filmmaking is an illusion. It was invented by a French magician.

Your character has to be in line with the wacky visual language of the show. How did you develop his look? The costume designer and the producers and the writers come up with all that stuff. I just show up early and try on outfits, and Im happy theres lunch. Im flattered you thought I had as much creative control as that.

When youre just an actor for hire, you just try to look like a cutie-pie in your costume, memorize your lines, and stand on a green piece of tape.

If the job is to look like a cutie-pie, you succeeded! Theyre like furniture. You just, like, move em around next to different lights and you get them to go. [Andre makes Muppet noises.]

This is a show thats full of dicks, blood, and vomit. Will we see your character show any of that this season?Theres some blood. I dont know about any dick or vomit.

Danny McBride is good at holding up the male end of HBOs nudity thing. Lotta dicks.

I read that when you were prepping for the role, you asked Danny to send you videos of really eccentric preachers. Were there any that stood out to you?One of the craziest names This guys name was, like, Bojangles Sharpton. Something insane [Andre checks his Notes app.] Oh, yeah! Creflo Dollar.

Who else did you use as inspiration for the character? Megachurch preachers are a lot like WWE wrestlers. Its all kind of the same schtick. Joel Osteen, obviously. Hes the David Copperfield of that industry.

Next question, Jew to Jew: How exaggerated or implausible does the depiction of American televangelist megachurch culture seem on The Righteous Gemstones? Im an atheist Jew, so Im not the one to ask. I dont frequent a lot of megachurches. From the videos Ive seen, its not that far off. Its an old form of therapy, and its a form of community for a lot of people. What do people want? People want to be entertained. They want to feel like their misery and their suffering on this Earth is going to be okay, and when they die, theyre going to be up in heaven playing air hockey with Jimi Hendrix. It scratches a lot of itches for a lot of people with hard lives.

Was this your first time working with a Jonas? Yes, it was. The first of many.

How was Joe? He was lovely. You never know what youre gonna get with people who have been through the Disney machine or got started young, but he was very lovely and sweet.

Favorite Jonas Brothers song?Uh all of them.

Your character owns a ranch. Will we see you on a horse this season? Noooo, no. I had to ride a horse for Im not joking ten feet one time for this show I did, Man Seeking Woman. I had to just get on the horse and enter frame, and it was the fucking hardest thing I ever had to do on camera. Any time you see one of those old Westerns where the guys are, like, looking around on horses those guys are a different fucking breed. Those are bestial fucking hell demon animals.

You didnt fall off or anything, did you? I didnt fall off, but I was holding on for dear life. Ive been bungee jumping. Id rather go bungee jumping again than get on the back of a fucking horse. Those are fucking demon animals. We actually had a horse in a bit on The Eric Andre Show, and I didnt have to ride it, and it was cool.

Jessica Lowe plays your characters wife, Lindy Lissons. How was she as a scene partner? Shes amazing. Shes a total pro. If you look at her IMDb, shes worked more than anyone Ive ever met. She is just incredible to work with sweetheart, incredibly talented, and commits to every take and gives gold every time. Shes very, very easy and pleasurable to work with. Shes awesome.

Now that youve played a preacher, what role is next? A rabbi? President?A rabbi president. President Shlomo.

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Eric Andr Thinks Horses Are Demons From Hell - Vulture

A mum has described how she has been trolled after revealing she called her baby son Lucifer.

Josie Barnes, 27, says there was no religious reason why she chose the name for her seven month old she just liked it.

She says she did not call him the devil and he is actually a miracle baby because she lost TEN children before she had him.

Mum-of-two Josie says she spotted Lucifer in a baby name book and liked the sound of it and nearly chose Narnia.

Josie, who lives in Devon, revealed the name when she called the Jeremy Kyle TV show.

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She says she has since been trolled with vile comments.

Josie says: Ive been called an atheist I didnt even know what an atheist was till last night! Everyone has their own beliefs.

When it comes to religion and real life, they are very different things one is actual living and the other is in a book.

The Devil is not the meaning of my sons name.

Josie, who lives with her partner and her two young children, says there was no biblical inspiration for seven-month-old Lucifers name.

She says his arrival into the world was actually a miracle due to her physical health conditions.

Josie said: I have was diagnosed with hemiplegia in September, then found out I was pregnant with Lucifer in October.

So the pregnancy alone was stressful.

I looked at thousands of baby names and it wasnt a decision I made lightly because I knew it was the last child I could ever have.

Josie has put herself on the registration to be sterilized due to fertility issues that have affected her ability to have children.

She said: I had Lucifer six years since the birth of my first daughter because during that time I lost ten children.

I never thought I would be given the chance to have a second child.

I assumed I was having a girl so I picked a girls name because we are a very female-dominated family.

I was going to call her Narnia but then I found out I was having a boy.

I like the names I like, it may not be right for other people.

When I chose his name I knew people wouldnt like it but its not up to them.

When speaking about why Josie first rung up to talk on Jeremy Vine, she said: I rung up initially on impulse because of the topic.

its one that is very close to my heart because a lot of my friends have changed their babies names due to pressure from other people.

Its actually quite funny I rung my mum just before appearing on the show expressing my delight that I had been selected to speak and when asked my childrens names, I really didnt think Lucifers name was that out there but apparently it really is!

On TV, I actually agreed with Jeremy Vines statement Is it ok to criticise baby names because at the end of the day, if you choose something unique someone will always have an opinion on it.

But, that doesnt mean you should change it, people will always have an opinion and you cant listen to them because its not their kid its not their life.

No matter what I call my children, someone out there is going to have an issue.

I think its really bad where a 7-month-old month baby gets criticised and bullied because of a name.

That is when we need to remember that society is the problem, not our personal choices.

A name doesnt change you being a mother.

I had a couple of family members saying you cant call him that, but I said Im not religious so it doesnt stand for what other people think it stands for.

But my dad knows what Im like and that I like to be unique so he said that seems like you.

Josie says she has received a huge amount of hateful comments since appearing on TV.

But she has also received lots of messages of support from people who also love her sons name too.

Im so lucky Im thick-skinned because a lot of these death threats are so horrible and scary she said.

I have at least 15 people sending me lovely messages in my inbox who also have kids named Lucifer!.

I just want to say thank you to those people that have shared kindness and love with me, and have said what I think Its just a name!.

Josie also has another six-year-old daughter.

opinion has been divided on social media.

One person wrote: Going to bullied all his life. How sad and another said Poor lad.

However, others were in support of the name Lucifer with one writing: My son is called Lucifer nothing wrong with his name we love it.

Another also wrote: I think its a lovely name.

SWNS reporting by Lauren Beavis.

Read more:

Mother trolled with vile comments after naming her babyson Lucifer - Central Recorder

I was recently interviewed by a secular news outlet about a new fictional film featuring nuns. I almost didnt do the interview. Why not? Because I know better.

Ive done many of these types of interviews. They usually dont turn out well. How so? More often than not, the interviewer is woefully ignorant of and not interested in religious literacy. These journalists often dont come with an open mind meaning that theyve already formed their opinions, the article is already written in their heads and they just need a veiled specimen to weigh in a with a few quotes (often twisted and taken out of context in order to sound more adversarial or just plain kooky).

Even if one of these inquisitors might have some good will, you can be sure theres an editor hanging a sword of Damocles over their head to produce something controversial and sensational.

Said scribes often have an axe to grind with religion in general and the Catholic Church in particular. They cant fathom her teachings, personally embrace something quite contrary, and because of that, in our woke culture, dont understand that their job is to present an impartial news story, not advocate and agitate for their cause.

To top it all off, the nun movie in question was a particularly lascivious one. (I only watched the trailer and had seen enough, but the reporter still wanted to interview me.)

A veteran New York media professional reached out to me and told me I shouldnt have dignified the film with my commentary and let it profit from your rightful objections, citing that no publicity is the worst kind of bad publicity. I shared with him how and why I took the bait. I had actually done a 90-page paper for my Media Literacy Masters entitled: The Image of Priests and Nuns in Film, so I was rather prepared. And couldnt resist.

Needless to say, my most brilliant points did not find their way into and shape the rather shallow and cursory end-product.

The problem with bad nun movies is that they run on stereotypes. There are typically six. 1. The mean nun (often Mother Superior). 2. The sexy nun (often a lesbian, but thats not a requirement). 3. The mentally ill nun (believes shes having supernatural experiences). 4. The ditzy nun (super cute, but one crouton short of a Caesar salad). 5. The nave nun (invincibly innocent and dreamy). 6. The mousy nun (scared of her own shadow religious life is her safe space).

Why these six? Because these are the only categories the filmmaker has! If the filmmaker is an atheist, or a believer but not a Catholic, the lives of nuns are unfathomable. To the atheist, we are deluded women who have married our invisible Friend in the sky. To the non-Catholic believer, there must be something else wrong with us. It couldnt possibly be that God is real and He is more than enough for us. It couldnt possibly be that we simply want (because God has called us) to radically dedicate ourselves to love of God and neighbour.

I was taught in film school that a screenwriter should write what you know. This doesnt mean to limit yourself only to your experience, but to write about emotional territory that you know. This knowledge can be transferred into any lifestyle, profession, geographical location, set of relationships, etc., but you gotta know what youre talking about. That rarely seems to happen with (bad) nun movies. At least do your homework!

What other cinematic figures would get such shoddy treatment? Puhleeeeze. You can find a decent-looking habit with a simple Internet search. We do not wear rosaries around our necks, let alone wall rosaries. (If youre not familiar with a wall rosary, its a large decorative rosary you hang on a wall. The beads are the size of golfballs.)

Dont get me wrong, there are plenty of well-done nun flicks. My favourite will always be The Trouble with Angels. I guess my stereotype is the spunky nun.

To finish off my hour-long interview, I was asked a wonderful, thought-provoking question: What would you like to see in nun movies and religious movies in the future? I had to think for a moment, but then I had it.

Id like to see holiness, I said. Ordinary people striving to live out their vocations with all their highs and lows. And that doesnt mean boring. Everyone has a story to tell. Everyones life is fascinating. Everyones life is an adventure. Especially when you let God in.

(Sr. Burns, fsp, is a Daughter of St. Paul. She holds a Masters in Media Literacy Education and studied screenwriting at UCLA. HellBurns.com Twitter: @srhelenaburns)

More here:

Sr. Helena Burns: Every life is fascinating a nun's too! - The Catholic Register

Jan 6th 2022

ON JANUARY 7TH Orthodox Christians in Russia and Ukraine, among other places, celebrate Christmas. Most branches of this traditionalist church retain the Julian calendar, a precursor to the Gregorian calendar used in most countries (the name refers to reforms by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582), which puts Christmas on December 25th. In recent years, in the wake of Russian attacks on Ukraine, the festival has gained new significance. For decades Ukraines Russian-affiliated branch was the only one in the country recognised by Orthodox church leaders. But on January 5th 2019 the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, a separate body with no ties to Russia, was granted self-governing status by the head of the Orthodox church in Constantinople. What caused the split and how does it play into tensions between the two countries today?

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Few people in Orthodox Christian countries are churchgoers. Around 12% of the population in Ukraine and 6% in Russia attend regularly, according to the Pew Research Centre, a think-tank and pollster. But a far higher share78% of Ukrainians and 71% of Russiansidentify as Orthodox Christians. Religion is linked to national identity: 51% of Ukranians say it is important for a person to be Orthodox to be truly Ukrainian, and 57% of Russians say the same. Their Christian history is long and closely entwined. The faith arrived in the ninth century in Kievan Rus, a state that spanned modern-day Belarus, Ukraine and western Russia. Russian leaders, including Vladimir Putin, have traced the roots of all three countries back to this kingdom in an effort to justify their regional hegemony. As national boundaries shifted, the shared origin of the Russian and Ukrainian churches bound them together. After the fall of the Soviet Union, officially atheist, Ukraines church remained a subsidiary of the Russian patriarchate.

Unusually, the Russian-affiliated church was not the only Orthodox body in Ukraine. A second church, established after the Russian Revolution mainly for Ukranians in exile, returned to the country after independence. And in 1992 a third, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, was established as an independent national church. The divide between these churches and the Russian branch reflected the tension in Ukraine between an independent European identity and Russian influence. The Russian church, which claimed to have more than 11,000 parishes, was dominant, particularly in the eastern part of Ukraine, which abuts Russia and has many Russian-speakers. The other churches had around 5,500 parishes between them, many in the west.

Russias annexation of Crimea, a Ukrainian province, in 2014 hardened attitudes to the Russian Orthodox church. In Ukraine opinion polls showed that support for its leader, Patriarch Kirill, plummeted from 40% of the population in 2013 to 15% in 2018. Orthodox believers left the Russian-affiliated church for the independent churches in droves. In 2018, Petro Poroshenko, then Ukraines president, asked the Orthodox churchs overall leader, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, to grant Ukraines church autocephaly, or full self-governing status. Patriarch Bartholomew later told the European Council on Foreign Relations, a think-tank, that he had rejected seven such requests from Ukraines independent churches, but the appeal from the president and parliament convinced him. After the Orthodox Church of Ukraine received tomos, the document confirming its autonomy, at least 500 formerly Russian parishes switched to its jurisdiction. It is recognised internationally by a handful of Orthodox churches and many other faith groups. But Russia has refused to accept the church. It broke off relations with Constantinople following its decision to grant autocephaly. Those Orthodox churches that have subsequently recognised Ukraines have received similar treatment from Moscow.

In Russia, the split still rankles. Vladimir Putin, the countrys president, has said that autocephaly was intended to divide the peoples of Russia and Ukraine. In July, months before he sent 100,000 troops to the Ukrainian border, Mr Putin claimed that the countries spiritual unity was under attack. Supporters of the Russian church, which still controls thousands of Ukranian parishes, marched in Kiev that month. But for all the noise, church autonomy in Ukraine is almost certainly irreversible and will hasten the cultural divorce from Russia. Last month, in a sign of that growing divide, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine proposed moving Christmas Day to December 25th.

More from The Economist explains:How well do lateral-flow tests for covid-19 work?Do boycotts of sports events, such as the Beijing winter Olympics, work?Where else in the world celebrates Thanksgiving?

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Why did the Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox churches split? - The Economist

I have written much about suicide ideation since the passing of my dear son in August 2020. Mental health is a topic that should be front and center in all our minds and hearts, not just for those who know loved ones and friends who have succumbed to the demons of the day.

Since Skylers passing, I have doubled down on my mantra of doing some good every day and my desire to live life more intentionally. This was his mantra as well, and I would like to expand on his vision as I outline suggestions for modern day peace.

In my studies of monks and those who have dedicated their lives to discovering their identity, I have found keys to create the peace and abundant life we all seek. These keys apply to everyone, whether you consider yourself to be spiritual, religious, nonspiritual, nonreligious, secular or atheist. All can benefit.

In his book Letters from the Desert, the late Carlo Carretto, an Italian Catholic and Jesuit youth advocate, was very busy doing wonderful things. Still, he felt he hadnt really made the connection with God he desired. So, in his mid 40s he left for the desert to find his center. He left his entire life and friends behind and spent 10 years in the desert of northern Africa with a few of his Little Brothers, living as monks, to discover answers to his deepest questions.

For Carretto to leave his busy and seemingly fulfilling life behind in this way is an inspiration to me and has made me desire to go to my own desert to gain answers to my own questions. I have also discovered that this process is ongoing, not a one and done event. In this way, as we find the rituals and rhythms that elevate our souls, peace and purpose expand in our daily lives.

Experiencing peace begins with finding our sacred space. For Carretto, it was the desert in northern Africa. For us, it will be wherever we decide. This becomes our symbolic desert. For example, I have two spaces that invite the meditation and reflection needed to grow my peace and focus my purpose. One is my one-hour walk in the hills of my town each morning, and one is my office, where I am surrounding by many friends my books. These spaces are symbolic of my own monastery, a place set apart.

In their monasteries, the monks prepare questions that invoke deep thought and meditation. These questions are answered over time as we invoke our own monastic routines. Lets consider questions we might ask in three phases of our lives. Your questions may be vastly different, but you will get the idea.

These questions are foundational to establishing a life of purpose, but as we mature in years, there are other questions:

And then, if you are in the phase of life I am in (retirement age), you might ask:

In all of these questions and processes, we can learn to live our lives more intentionally and find peace in the process as we discover and rediscover our purpose. If you are a person of faith, then finding this purpose may include discovering what Gods purpose is for you also.

Ponder where your desert might be and the discoveries you will make as you go there. In part two of this discovery of finding modern day peace, we will explore shaping our own domestic monastery (building out own pillars of peace) as we listen for the ringing of the bells.

Steve Hitz is a co-founder of Launching Leaders Worldwide, a nonprofit organization that provides young adults with tools for personal leadership and faith. He is the author of Launching Leaders: An Empowering Journey for a New Generation, and Entrepreneurial Foundations for Twenty and Thirty-Somethings.

Link:

How people struggling with their mental health can find peace | Opinion - Deseret News

Even the choreographer Reggie Wilson sees how many would think that his new piece, Power, is just another version of they stood shaking while others began to shout, which premiered in 2019.

How many people have made pieces inspired by Mother Rebeccas Black Shaker community? he said, dissolving into a characteristic fit of laughter. But while the two works have some similar movements, he added, theyre really not the same piece at all.

When Wilson became aware of Mother Rebecca Cox Jackson, a Shaker eldress who formed her own community in Philadelphia in the 19th century, he was immediately intrigued about how Black and Shaker traditions intertwined or didnt. Shaker worship incorporated dance. Both of Wilsons works are based on an imaginative speculation: What might Mother Rebeccas worship have looked like?

And the look matters, at least in Power, which is to have its New York premiere at the Harvey Theater at BAM Strong, Thursday through Saturday, Covid permitting. (A community performance in conjunction with the Academys tribute to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is scheduled for Monday.)

For Power, Wilson engaged two costume designers as collaborators: Naoko Nagata, with whom he has a long history; and Enver Chakartash, who designed the vivid, patterned costumes for his Citizen (2016). He wanted both of their voices. As this project started, I was just like, well, heres a crazy thought, Mr. Wilson: Why dont you have two costume designers? he said. Who gets to do that?

He added: I think it is the first time that Ive thought about the costume design as the major collaboration.

Chakartash and Nagata were involved from the start, working separately with Wilson and the dancers at Hancock Shaker Village, a museum and farm in the Berkshires. (Power was also developed at Jacobs Pillow, the dance institution nearby, where it received its world premiere.)

Half of the time was with Enver there and the other was with Naoko, Wilson said. I asked them not to speak about what they experienced until both had come back. I figured why just have them start off doing the same thing right away?

Power opens with Wilson singing and moving, almost tenderly, pieces of fabric, which become the designs for the opening trio billowy, diaphanous skirts that later expand into dresses and overalls as costume changes happen onstage or in the wings. Throughout, sleek dancewear is also on display. For Wilson, the costumes create a world or, specifically, three landscapes that brings his vision of the Shakers to life.

It had to do with us not wanting it to settle into one place or time, Wilson said. It keeps mutating and it goes from more dance-y and athletic to kind of more historical character to more design.

While the designers studied Shaker materials shoes, fabric, lace and needlework at Hancock, Wilson and the dancers learned reconstructed Shaker dances from a video by the Enfield Shaker Singers, directed by Mary Ann Haagen. Its just like, let me start seeing what this actual movement feels like on the body, Wilson said. Because looking at it is one thing; trying to do it is another thing.

For Power, the idea is to capture different iterations of a question that Wilson is pondering: What if the Shakers of Mother Rebeccas community learned a dance from one of the New England communities and then took it back to theirs? How would it change and morph? And this all unfolds within Wilsons lens of postmodern dance.

Recently, Wilson spoke about this new piece and how his company, Fist and Heel Performance Group, has reacted to dancing communally its emotional and the power it helps to create, both internally and externally. Here are edited excerpts from a recent conversation.

Why does Mother Rebecca Cox Jacksons community interest you so much?

Most Shaker communities are rural. [Jacksons] was urban and primarily women. And primarily Black with a few Jewish women and a couple of men. So its like, what did it look like?

So much of the research that Ive done is thinking about Black worship traditions and shout traditions. I was like, OK, so here was a woman itinerant preacher with the possibilities of this folk spirituality, right? So maybe they did this? Basically, Power is multiple versions of it could have looked like this or it could looked like that.

You have talked about the power of the dances and how power manifests as energy. Can you elaborate as to how that relates to the piece?

When I was first starting and I landed on the title Power, it seemed like such a different model of power not patriarchal power, but a kind of feminine or matriarchal power from within. This also matches my interpretation of a lot of Africanist practices, where, during initiations, you are on your own individual search. Like you are receiving your gift from God, you are receiving what your role in the community is supposed to be. And the way you enter into spirit and trance is going to be slightly different than the person next to you.

Its individual?

Its this individual power in relationship to the communal. Not just the community, but the communal.

What is the difference?

How do you bring yourself in relationship to others? By being fully yourself. And its not about minimizing or squishing yourself, but about tailoring or customizing it to be able to exist next to another.

Theres so much dancing in this piece, and I think its going to feel so good to see it in person. I know thats not the only point, but

It is!

Is it like this piece is an energy?

Its power. The piece is about power, and its the type of power that is internal and external at the same time.

When I was doing a lot of research with the Spiritual Baptists from Trinidad and Tobago, they say higher heights and deeper depths. So youre always working in two directions at the same time. The Shakers also had a saying: Hands to work, hearts to God. To me, its so postmodern, too!

How?

Its just like [the postmodern choreographers] David Gordon or Trisha Brown. Each step has its own power, its own trajectory. It has its own there goes the word! It has its own power. And how do you give the agency and the care to each step?

Its like the mundane. What they did at Judson [Dance Theater, the 1960s experimental collective] was putting the mundane back on the table.

And this is putting simplicity back on the table?

Its putting simplicity, its putting everyday-ness, its putting labor, its putting work. The labor of a step, the labor of whether its an arabesque or a Caribbean step or a folk Irish step. Its all powerful, and its all valuable.

Its all equal?

Yes. Its all equally valid and its all equally powerful. Can I put the ballet next to the Fosse? Wheres the Fosse? Now youre going to look for the Fosse. [Laughs]

Is there really a Fosse moment?

Im sure there is. Theres always a Cunningham, a Balanchine, a Fosse. Theres probably one or two Sabar steps from Senegal. Theres probably some steps from Zimbabwe.

So we learned the patterns and the steps of these reconstructed Shaker dances. Thats the core material. Now, if we want to Africanize it and Reggie-fy it, what do we do? Its just taking this original thing and then playing with it.

What does simplicity mean to you in regard to the piece?

In thinking about how complex you can get with a simple kind of repetitiveness. When we started learning the reconstructed Shaker dances, we started seeing the patterns that were coming up and how it felt and impacted the religious and the nonreligious members of Fist and Heel. That was interesting. Seeing it actually manifested on bodies weaving back and forth and how those patterns played out and also seeing the emotional impact it was having on some of the dancers.

In what way?

There was one dancer who cried. I was like, Oh my God, were never going to get through this. [Laughs] And its somebody in the company that is a complete atheist and not agnostic, but atheist. And I was just like, Well, you apparently are having some conversation with Mother Ann. Mother Ann [Lee] was the founder of the Shakers.

Has it affected you emotionally?

[Pauses] As much as any of my pieces do, so yeah. I do joke that weve all become Shakers, but nobody is trying to actually go the whole nine yards and move up to Sabbathday Lake in Maine.

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Reggie Wilson Explores the Power of Moving Together - The New York Times

For me, and many like me scattered all over the world, Christmas will always be spelt Calcutta.

The Calcutta I knew and loved embodied the spirit of the Yuletide season which, like the mellow December sunlight, seemed to seep into the houses and streets so that the city appeared to glow with a borrowed radiance.

From the mazy lanes behind Ripon Street and Elliot Road rose an aroma of cakes, each made to an Anglo-Indian recipe as prized as a family heirloom, given to be baked by Muslim bakeries, and to be eaten as an ecumenical prasad by Christians, Hindus, and atheist Marxists alike.

Read full opinion on TOI+

Views expressed above are the author's own.

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Christmas city: Calcutta, the City of Joy, was never more joyous than in the Yuletide season - The Times of India Blog