My parents were atheists. I am told I asked, at age 3, "Who is this God person, anyway?" after playing with Catholic neighbors. Mom remembers being so amused she was completely unable to answer. A few years later, I got a beautiful illustrated children's book about Greek mythology (Dad was an artist and Mom a children's librarian) for Christmas ( ( Read more... )

Proverbs 14:31 “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him ( Read more... )

I was raised in a college town by atheist parents. But we did celebrate all the holidays that came around, at least as an excuse to make cookies. And for Christmas we incorporated my Dad's midwestern traditions with my Mom's German traditions, down to having both electric lights and candles on the tree ( Read more... )

I'm a Pagan. Wiccan with heavy influence from the Greek gods and a smattering of Norse and Shinto. My atheist parents accidentally gave me religious instruction when they gave me D'aulieres' "Greek Gods and Goddesses" when I was around 7, followed by D'aulieres' "Norse Gods and Giants" the next year because I had enjoyed the Greek one so much. ( Read more... )

One of my commenters asked about what exactly makes up a Shinto shrine. I decided to make my answer to her into its own entry ( Read more... )

I was raised atheist, and that's how my father died, whereas my mother is very slowly returning to her Jewish roots two generations back. However, we celebrated every holiday that came along, including, I kid you not, Groundhog Day (dinner was "groundhog" stew or chili). It was fun: we made cookies and so forth, decorated with hearts, shamrocks, ( Read more... )

Karl thinks I'm overreacting to write this letter, which I had planned on sending to an appropriate executive at Bed, Bath & Beyond (it's amazing the personnel lists you can find online if you poke around a bit). I can't make up my mind whether to send it. What say you? Help me decide ( Read more... )

We’re on a campaign to reduce entropy in our house. So we’ve been fixing things, putting things away, tossing stuff, giving stuff away, and going through piles of paper to get the place cleaned up. Last week, while putting the scent diffuser I got last Christmas in its proper place on my desk, I found a pile of paper that had not been disturbed in ( Read more... )