Religion, SF, and Other Speculative Fictions.


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Entries Tagged as 'Society'

Bit Lit Crit

October 5th, 2008 · by xJane · 2 Comments

That would be “Bitchy Literary Criticism”. John & I were having a conversation about good books and the concept of “strong female characters”, as a reason I might want to explore the Sabriel series. My response was that I had been recommended Miyazaki’s manga/movies for the same reason, that the author writes “strong female characters”, […]

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Tags: Fantasy · Feminism · Fiction · Gender · Musings · Personal · Science Fiction and Fantasy · Society · Women · Writing

Spark: India plans to incentivize female births

October 5th, 2008 · by xJane · 1 Comment

By giving a girl’s family […] financial benefits worth around $5,000, including health insurance, until she is 18, if she is sent to school and remains unmarried.I think this is a great idea, but I’m sure that the anti-feminists will spin it (they think that girls are more valuable than boys!!!). I also find it […]

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Tags: Activism · Creativity. · Current Events · Ethics · Feminism · Gender · Humanism · Humanity · Law · Links · News · Politics · Reason · Society · Spark · Women

Spark: It’s Not Terrorism When We Do It

October 4th, 2008 · by xJane · 1 Comment

An act of not-hate perpetrated against Muslim children by white men.
via. and.
UPDATE: others are picking up on this, but still no MSM

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Tags: Activism · Current Events · Depression · Getting over Religion · Humanity · Islam · Links · Politics · Society · Spark

Spark: Heavenly Mother & the Celestial Glass Ceiling

October 4th, 2008 · by xJane · No Comments

A fascinating discussion/speculation about the position of women on earth and how that mirrors their position in heaven. Includes speculation about what might have been the course of humanity if the Abrahamic God was a female.
via.

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Tags: Belief · Christianity · Feminism · Folklore · Gender · Getting over Religion · Islam · Judaism · Pacifism · Peace; conflict resolution. · Religion · Society · Spark · Spiritual Progressives · Women

Spark: Sinfest gets Political

October 2nd, 2008 · by xJane · No Comments

I’ve long been a fan of Sinfest, but it’s mostly been religious, rather than political in nature. Recently, since one of the characters is a pig, there was a whole Palin lip-stick-on-pig thing that I’m still not sure what I think about. But then there were these, which are interesting more because Sinfest is not […]

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Tags: Art · Comics · Current Events · Depression · Humor · Politics · Satire · Society · Spark

Spark: Naming

October 1st, 2008 · by xJane · No Comments

From the “you have power over what you name” files comes this story of a woman who found out who she was in the process of naming herself.

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Tags: Belief · Creativity. · Feminism · Getting over Religion · News · Society · Spark

the Pulpit Initiative—or, should churches maintain their tax exempt status?

September 29th, 2008 · by xJane · No Comments

So Freedom Sunday has come and gone. I didn’t hear anything on the news this morning about whether or not major changes are in the works, but I’d like to hear from the MoF crowd about this. Should churches be tax exempt or free to use their spiritual influence to exert political influence (and pay […]

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Tags: Activism · Atheism · Charities · Christianity · Church and State · Current Events · Dialog · Getting over Religion · Goals · Gods · Law · Musings · News · Reason · Religion · Society · Sunday Sermon

Spark: We Haven’t Linked to Cracked.com in a While

September 19th, 2008 · by xJane · 10 Comments

So here you go: “Orson Scott Card Wants YOU (To Rise Up Against The Gay Menace). Including such gems as
To those to of you who haven’t read Ender’s Game by Orson Scott card, warning: two spoilers follow.
Spoiler 1: Your childhood was incomplete.
and
You’ve spent your life imagining diverse races and cultures, and doing a […]

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Tags: Activism · Art · Atheism · Belief · Blogging · Church and State · Classic · Current Events · Dialog · Ethics · Feminism · Gender · Getting over Religion · Homosexuality · Humanity · Humor · Mormon · Politics · Pop Culture · Reason · Religion · Science Fiction and Fantasy · Sexuality · Society · Spark

Theocracy

September 17th, 2008 · by xJane · 7 Comments

*desperately trying to avoid typing “theoCRAZY!”*
I missed this discussion at school, but have been seeing flyers for a forum on asylum law that state:
HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR
FREEDOM OF RELIGION?
[…]
Come hear [asylum professionals] discuss asylum law and practice. In particular, they will discuss the plight of Christian converts in Iran and their attempt to get asylum […]

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Tags: Atheism · Belief · Charities · Christianity · Church and State · Depression · Ethics · Fiction · Getting over Religion · Gods · Islam · Judaism · Law · Musings · Personal · Politics · Reason · Religion · Skeptic · Society · Spiritual Progressives

Spark: Update from the Gay Marriage Files

September 17th, 2008 · by xJane · 7 Comments

California, post Supreme Court decision (that discrimination based on gender is discrimination), now uses marriage licenses that ask for the names of “Party A” and “Party B” to the marriage. As someone who still doesn’t feel like the word “wife” applies to her, I think this is pretty awesome. It is, however, causing waves.
I understand […]

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Tags: Activism · Atheism · Belief · Christianity · Church and State · Current Events · Dialog · Doubt · Feminism · Gender · Homosexuality · Law · Links · Politics · Queries · Reason · Religion · Ritual · Sexuality · Society · Spark · Women