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Archive for category Secular Life

My Latest Obsession: 30 Days

Jun 11

Posted by Aaron in Reviews, Secular Life | No Comments

30daysSo if you’ve talked to me at all this week, I have most likely mentioned this show I’ve been watching on Hulu called “30 Days.”

This show was created by Morgan Spurlock, the guy who directed the Oscar-nominated “Supersize Me” documentary, as well as “Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden” and other documentary films.

The central premise of 30-days is along the lines of “Supersize me”: People (sometimes Spurlock himself) are put into unfamiliar situations for 30 days with rules that compel them to participate in a way that is undoubtedly uncomfortable (generally for the first 14 days) but ultimately enlightening and often life-changing. It’s like “Wifeswap,” except done correctly.

I absolutely adore this show. (You can watch it here , you’ll have to create an account because it’s TV-MA, but it’s free and only takes a second) Read the rest of this entry »

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Book Review: Society without God

Apr 26

Posted by Aaron in Reviews, Secular Life | No Comments

In what reads like a combination of research paper and super-lengthy blog post, Zuckerman presents a very convincing case that religion is unnecessary for a society to prosper.

It’s important to note that the book’s hypothesis is not “secularism makes societies BETTER” but rather “lack of religion does NOT make societies fail.” To this end, Zuckerman interviews 149 semi-randomly selected people from Denmark & Sweden, while living there for 14 months. The general consensus is that religion is mostly a non-issue for people. Some believe, most don’t, but nearly all really just *don’t care*.

As for the support for his research hypothesis, one need look no further than the UN statistics on where Scandinavian countries place in terms of happiness, health, crime, poverty, etc. (hint: they do very well in all categories, significantly better than the US in most) The author does a good job of illustrating his personal experience while living there, as how it compares to living in northern California.

If I could, I would give it 4.5 stars. The only reason I don’t give it 5 is because at times, it feels a little bit too much like a research paper. At a mere 183 pages, it is a quick read; but there were a couple moments when it felt like the pacing was lacking. In spite of that, it is definitely worth reading; I highly recommend for anyone interested in socio-religious issues (whether a believer or a non-believer or a fence-walker).

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Winter Solstice and the so-called “War on Christmas”

Dec 18

Posted by Aaron in Rants, Secular Life | 1 Comment

We are all very excited about the upcoming holidays. Our presents are packed (and most of them shipped / delivered), the tree and lights are up and decorated, we’ve made cookies, and we’ve dove headfirst into the Winter Season media: The Grinch, Bing Crosby, Ultra Lounge, Muppet Christmas, etc.

The thing is, although all of this looks like the holiday we commonly refer to as “Christmas”, it’s really not. Our family celebrates the Winter Solstice – the astronomical event occurring between the 20th and 25th each year, where the Sun is at its lowest azimuth and the day is the shortest. 

Historically speaking, people have been celebrating Solstice for CENTURIES (I would even venture to say “millenia”), and many of the traditions that we all know and love (tree, gifts, Santa, etc.) all have secular / pagan origins. But what bugs me is this whole “War on Christmas” thing that’s all the rage in the media right now. It’s just plain silly, and it’s mountains from molehills. I want to discuss two topics here: Why the “War on Christmas” is ridiculous, and why (and “how”) we celebrate Winter Solstice.

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Mabon

Sep 25

Posted by Aaron in Friends, Family & Pets, Secular Life | No Comments

Pumpkin patchThis past Sunday, we celebrated Mabon - a harvest celebration. Mabon is traditionally a Pagan holiday, although I’d say it now falls under the more modern categorical moniker “Secular Holiday” (which is a bit of an oxymoron), to celebrate the Autumnal Equinox.

The Fall / Autumnal Equinox is the day when the amount of daylight and night-time are equal in duration. Most people know it more commonly as “the first day of fall,” if you go by the “Astronomical” scale rather than the Meteorogical scale.

It’s a point of transition — Summer ends, Autumn begins. Most plants begin to wilt, tree-leaves start to change, the air gets a bit chillier and takes on a drier, more musty-smelling flavor. Read the rest of this entry »

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PA Trek, Part 1

Dec 23

Posted by Aaron in Friends, Family & Pets, Humor, Secular Life | No Comments

Well, it’s nearly 2 am. RevJon and I are currently in…. ok I don’t know the town, but it’s in central PA. We’re around exit 160 or so. We’re watching “Homewrecker” on MTV right now, and it’s proving to be very distracting.

The trip to PA has been pretty uneventful so far, as expected. What else can you expect from driving through a state that’s 310 miles wide with only 53 exits.

When we got to the hotel, RevJon was checking in and there were some people standing behind us — 20-somethings — who were commenting on the Dayton snowfall from last year (which sucked some SERIOUS tucus… RevJon and I drove through it last year for this very same annual voyage). Anyhow, we got to talking and it turns out that they were on their way TO Dayton (where they’re from originally) from Boston, MA. RevJon is from Massacheusetts himself. So we all had a little chat about that for a little while. Read the rest of this entry »

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