Monday, July 16, 2012
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
"The Idealogical Turing Test"
Greg recently sent me a link to a great post on Patheos, called the "Idealogical Turing Test."
I was intrigued, so I entered. One of the questions is:
"Write a brief (~50 word) bio of yourself and your religious affiliation. These get published at the end and help me build up a range of interesting participants"
Well ...I started writing and.... a few more than 50 words spilled out, so I thought I'd share them here!
"I was raised Roman Catholic and attended 12 years of Catholic School. Grades 1-8 at a small diocesan elementary school where I was always getting into trouble with the nuns. High School was at a private, independent Catholic prep school run by an order of very progressive and (then) left-leaning brothers. I attended college at the Quaker-heritage University of Pennsylvania, where I came out as a gay man.
I spent many years angry with and estranged from the Catholic Church and considered myself agnostic. I was raised to think most other faiths were "shams" or pale imitations. Eventually I began reading more about Wicca, Quaker, Buddhism, Mormon and other faiths and began to become more open.
In my 30's, feeling a spiritual void, I began to explore Unitarian, Congregationalist, MCC and progressive Episcopal churches. I found some touch points with each - but none felt like "home."
Almost at 40, I moved from the city to a rural, small ranch in the high desert near Joshua Tree with my partner. The beauty and rhythm of the natural world were ever-present. I began to explore earth-based ritual, religions and Wicca. They seemed "natural" and right there.
After a series of personal tragedies, addiction, etc in my life I became angry with God, the Universe etc and moved to L.A. At MCC L.A. at a low point near my "bottom" I was re-baptized and became open to The Spirit again. My life changed.
I eventually found a safe, comfortable home with St Thomas the Apostle, Episcopal Church in Hollywood. It's very old-school, high church, but feels familiar and comfortable.
At this point in my life my theology is a hybrid of good bits from all I've sampled. However I feel they are all poor metaphors attempting to describe the ultimate indescribable mysteries of incarnation, the nature of God and the Spirit of the Universe. I find the traditional Christian metaphors I was raised with to be most comfortable - but I still consider them useful metaphors. My actual theology today more resembles Quakerism + Sagan's Contact + Battlestar Galactica than St. Paul, but I am now comfortable with celebrating old-fashioned ritual amidst personal ambiguity."
I was intrigued, so I entered. One of the questions is:
"Write a brief (~50 word) bio of yourself and your religious affiliation. These get published at the end and help me build up a range of interesting participants"
Well ...I started writing and.... a few more than 50 words spilled out, so I thought I'd share them here!
"I was raised Roman Catholic and attended 12 years of Catholic School. Grades 1-8 at a small diocesan elementary school where I was always getting into trouble with the nuns. High School was at a private, independent Catholic prep school run by an order of very progressive and (then) left-leaning brothers. I attended college at the Quaker-heritage University of Pennsylvania, where I came out as a gay man.
I spent many years angry with and estranged from the Catholic Church and considered myself agnostic. I was raised to think most other faiths were "shams" or pale imitations. Eventually I began reading more about Wicca, Quaker, Buddhism, Mormon and other faiths and began to become more open.
In my 30's, feeling a spiritual void, I began to explore Unitarian, Congregationalist, MCC and progressive Episcopal churches. I found some touch points with each - but none felt like "home."
Almost at 40, I moved from the city to a rural, small ranch in the high desert near Joshua Tree with my partner. The beauty and rhythm of the natural world were ever-present. I began to explore earth-based ritual, religions and Wicca. They seemed "natural" and right there.
After a series of personal tragedies, addiction, etc in my life I became angry with God, the Universe etc and moved to L.A. At MCC L.A. at a low point near my "bottom" I was re-baptized and became open to The Spirit again. My life changed.
I eventually found a safe, comfortable home with St Thomas the Apostle, Episcopal Church in Hollywood. It's very old-school, high church, but feels familiar and comfortable.
At this point in my life my theology is a hybrid of good bits from all I've sampled. However I feel they are all poor metaphors attempting to describe the ultimate indescribable mysteries of incarnation, the nature of God and the Spirit of the Universe. I find the traditional Christian metaphors I was raised with to be most comfortable - but I still consider them useful metaphors. My actual theology today more resembles Quakerism + Sagan's Contact + Battlestar Galactica than St. Paul, but I am now comfortable with celebrating old-fashioned ritual amidst personal ambiguity."
Friday, May 11, 2012
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
A Subway Through Bellevue, WA?!
I'm very surprised they're seriously considering a tunnel through Bellevue. It looks to me like there is already a terriffic off-street right od way available, and there does not seem to be the density there to support the cost of a tunnel.
Bellevue%20council%27s%20offer%20keeps%20light%2Drail%20tunnel%20alive
Bellevue%20council%27s%20offer%20keeps%20light%2Drail%20tunnel%20alive
What Los Angeles Metro could look like in 10 years if May Villaraigosa's 30/10 Plan Moves Foreward.
Funding is already in-place for all of these projects, but the money flows-in from Measure R funds over the next 30 years. The Mayor's idea is to ask Washington to fund a loan against the future Measure R income, to allow all of this work to be completed within 10 years.
It's a brilliant idea. The LA Metro region certainly needs this much relief from traffic congestion as soon as possible. With all this in-place LA could quickly become almost as non car-dependent as New York. There would be a major rail or BRT stop within a 1 mile walk of a huge percentage of the region's population.
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