Welcome to Religious Rambles!
Here you will find articles and information that I find as I enjoy my love of learning about religions. I hope that you'll not only read what I write but also share YOUR perspective!
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Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Currently the holidays of Hanukkah and Kwanza are being celebrated.
Here are some blogs of people celebrating Hanukkah:
Teaswap - A very neat post looking at Hanukkah celebration in a new light.
If you will it The blog of a Jew in Isreal, blogging through the days of Hanukkah.
Virtual Talmud Here three rabbis blog about all things Jewish. I really love the post from December 9, "A Hannukah Epiphany."
Can you believe I couldn't find any blogs of people celebrating Kwanza? Every link I got while searching just led me to posts on the Happy Holidays/ Merry Christmas debate. *sigh* I'll keep looking though! Let me know if you know of any neat sites.
Posted at 01:25 pm by JanaBanana
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Tuesday, December 20, 2005
The holiday "Las Posadas" is one I'd never heard of until recently. Las Posadas, which translates to "the inns", celebrates Joseph & Mary's search for an inn.
A census had been decreed, which meant that all citizens had to go back to the place they were born. Consequently, Mary and Joseph had to return to the town of Bethlehem, in spite of her pregnancy.
As Mary began to go into labor, Joseph became desperate to find an inn for them to sleep in. He went to inns, but was told they were full, try somewhere else. Finally, one innkeeper had compassion on them. He told them his inn was also full, but that he had a barn they could use.
Las Posadas commemorates this event. Each night of the festival, a group travels to a different pre-determined house, knocks, and asks for "posada." Piñatas, feasts, etc. go with the festival of course.
And of course, even in Blogland, Las Posadas is being celebrated.
Here are some neat blogs I've found, where Las Posadas is being celebrated:
Stained Glass Pickup
Mama Lisa
Written In Chalk
Posted at 12:15 pm by JanaBanana
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Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Bizare Holiday Traditions
Posted at 01:16 pm by JanaBanana
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Monday, December 12, 2005
Posted at 01:14 pm by JanaBanana
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Thursday, December 08, 2005
May all of you have an enlightening Bodhi Day!
On our holiday blog calendar, you will find that today is the Buddhist holiday of Bodhi day.
It celebrates the day that Prince Gautama Siddhartha achieved enlightenment, and became the original Buddha.
The basic things he learned that day were the Four Noble Truths and the Eight-Fold Path.
The Four Noble Truths are:
1. Suffering is universal. No one escapes.
2. The cause of suffering is ignorance. Ignorance of self is the greatest ignorance.
3. Ignorance can be overcome.
4. The way to overcome ignorance is the Eightfold Path
The Eightfold Path includes:
- Right Views means to keep ourselves free from prejudice, superstition and delusion... and to see aright the true nature of life.
- Right Thoughts means to turn away from the hypocrisies of this world and to direct our minds toward Truth and Positive Attitudes and Action.
- Right Speech means to refrain from pointless and harmful talk... to speak kindly and courteously to all.
- Right Conduct means to see that our deeds are peaceable, benevolent, compassionate and pure... and to live the Teachings daily.
- Right Livelihood means to earn our living in such a way as to entail no evil consequences. To seek that employment to which can give our complete enthusiasm and devotion.
- Right Effort means to direct our efforts continually to the overcoming of ignorance and craving desires.
- Right Mindfulness means to cherish good and pure thoughts, for all that we say and do arises from our thoughts.
- Right Meditation means to concentrate on the Oneness of all life and the Buddhahood that exists within all beings.
I got this information from Heronwing's Site, and The Buddhist Temple of Chicago.
I find it interesting that I can't find any blogs where people are celebrating this day. I'll keep searching though!
Posted at 11:47 am by JanaBanana
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Tuesday, December 06, 2005
This is a beside-the-point thought, but I found a NEAT post in Hatshepsut's Blog about the the celebration of Advent in Iceland. Did you know that they light advent candles that are shaped like a Jewish menorah? Check out her blog to find out the story of how this came to be.
Posted at 10:54 am by JanaBanana
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Now, this may seem like a silly question to a US Citizen, raised in a Christian home, the grandaughter of a Methodist pastor.
But no, I have no clue what advent truly is.
While roaming the internet in search of answers, here are the interesting things I've found:
Advent seems to be kinda like the Christian season of Lent... which, we never celebtrated that either, so no help there LOL
It seems that Advent is just the four weeks before Christmas, and is kind of a time of preparing yourself for the celebration of Christ's birth.
Some families seem to light a candle on an advent wreath each night of the advent season. Isn't that a fire hazard? Others have an advent calander, where you can see different things each day of the season.
So, my question to you, my devoted bloggers, is what is Advent to YOU? Do you celebrate it? If so, how?
Posted at 10:50 am by JanaBanana
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Monday, December 05, 2005
Building Bridges through Books
I read the NEATEST article today.
http://csmonitor.com/2005/1130/p14s02-lire.html
Women of three faiths (Christian, Jewish, Muslim) meet together in an interfaith bookclub called Daughters of Abraham. Not only have they learned a lot about the religions, but they have also formed friendships and even traveled together.
Talk about a way to promote peace!
I wish with all my heart that I had the knowledge, the connections, and the courage to start one of those here.
Posted at 02:50 pm by JanaBanana
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Friday, December 02, 2005
Happy Holidays everyone!
This blog began when I started a little project last year in my main blog. I decided then to spotlight different religions on my blog, learn about them, and invite bloggers of other religions to post their thoughts. It went decently but my friends were of course, more interested in hearing about my daily life. So, this blog became a seperate entity.
So, that being said...
It's the holiday season once again, so lets begin BLOGGIN THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS!!!!! Tune in each couple of days to see what religious holidays are occuring, and learn random facts about other religions. Meet bloggers of other faiths, post your opinions about different religious topics, and just generally enjoy your time here!
Posted at 01:06 pm by JanaBanana
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Saturday, November 26, 2005
Teaching about other Religions is bad?
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_3234012
"SAN FRANCISCO — Christian students and parents cannot sue a school district where some seventh-graders pretended to be Muslims for three weeks during a course in world history, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
They reviewed the method used by one teacher in Byron, in Contra Costa County, four years ago to teach the unit on Muslim history, culture and religion that is part of the state's seventh-grade history curriculum.
Brooke Carlin encouraged her students to play at being Muslims — adopt Muslim names, recite a line from a prayer and give up candy or television to simulate fasting, for example. Students were permitted to opt out. On the final exam they were asked to critique elements of Muslim culture. "
I find this article to be very interesting, but not NEARLY as interesting as other bloggers opinions about it.
What is wrong with students actively learning about a minority religion rapidly growing in our country? Yes, I agree that having them recite prayers might be taking it a bit far, but there WAS an opt out for the prayers. There's nothing wrong with learning about Muslims names, or about what fasting is!
Evidently some disagree with me though. Want to see their opinions? Here are a couple I found, and I'll post more if I find them. In The Bullpin
Cardinal Martini
The Colossus of Rhodey
OH and I found another blog with a history of the issue... DEFINATELY check this one out!!!
The Revealer
Posted at 09:58 am by JanaBanana
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