"Classic" Posts

As egotistical of me as it may be to point out any of my work as being particularly good, and as much as my perfectionism means that I don't post anything until I'm sure it's at least marginally worth looking at, I've decided that it might be nice to make a list of the posts I'm the most proud of writing.  So here they are, in chronological order.  If there's something else that you'd like to see, or if you're wondering why I selected any particular post for this page, please let me know.

"Never mind the whys and wherefores...": In which I explain a few things about myself and why I am a Christo-Pagan (including the reason why I hyphenate rather than just using the word "Christopagan").

Faith=/=Fauxgressive: Being a person of faith, even a faith that involves a fair amount of Christianity, does not mean that I can't be a feminist too.

Proselytizers Embarrass Me: Why do so many devout Christians think that they can annoy people into following Jesus?

Stop comparing people to Nazis!: Yeah, I know it's a quick and easy way to express extreme disapproval of what someone else is doing.  So what?  Chances are that they're not planning to re-create the Third Reich, even if they are unusually set on following and enforcing rules of one kind or another.

The "Pagan Persecution Complex": Yes, some Christians still do rotten things to some Pagans.  That doesn't mean that all Christians are Hell-bent on persecuting all Pagans, and it really doesn't mean that we should hate them.

Privilege: Admitting that you have privilege doesn't necessarily mean that you have to feel ashamed of yourself.  Being told to "check your privilege" doesn't necessarily translate to "you are a REALLY BAD PERSON".

On Faith and Depression: Just because someone is depressed, it doesn't mean that their faith is inadequate.

One Seed, Many Roots, One Tree: Despite our differences, we all come from the same place.

Respecting Others' Beliefs: Showing respect to another person's beliefs doesn't mean that you agree with them.  It just means that you don't belittle that other person for believing what they believe, no matter how silly you think those beliefs are.

An (Unsent) Angry Letter To My Choirmaster: Please stop making fat jokes.  They're hurtful and insulting and not really all that funny.  (I included this on the list because, somewhat inexplicably, this is the most frequently-read post on the blog.  I guess it touched a nerve, eh?)

On Being Quietly Pagan and Openly Christian: Sometimes it's difficult, and I sometimes feel like I'm letting other Pagans down because of the Christian privilege I have as a Christo-Pagan.

Out of Curiosity...: I have a question for every Christian who thinks it's perfectly OK to hate in the name of their God.

A Conversation With An Evangelist Nearly A Decade Ago: Yes, proselytizers embarrass me.  But on one sunny October afternoon in 2000, I ended up in a conversation with one, and although he would probably be quite angry about the path that our talk eventually helped me to take, I remain grateful to him for one particular insight.

Proselytizers Embarrass Me, Part II: It's not just religious proselytizers who annoy and embarrass me.  Atheist ones do, too.

Don't Tell Me What I "Really Believe": If you try, and if you're saying that what you think I believe opposes something I've explicitly stated that I believe in, you'll inevitably be wrong.

On Teaching The Privileged: Sometimes it's more constructive to point a prospective ally towards some helpful resources when we want them to teach themselves about something.  We don't have to teach them everything ourselves, but "go teach yourself" can sound a lot like "go fuck yourself" without that little push in the right direction, and that's no good to anybody.

Transforming Attitudes: Ten years ago, spiritually speaking, I was a bit of a hypocrite.  But although I've long since accepted that I was wrong, I've also often thought that if more Christians—especially the loud ones—spent as much time acting like Jesus as they do talking about him, the world might be a very different place, maybe even a better one.

"So, what are we going to do about your weight?": These are my terms for speaking about my weight and my health.  If you can't accept them, then you're no good for me, and I cannot trust you with my health.

Hell must be freezing over...: In which, much to my surprise, I actually find myself agreeing with the Vatican about something—the concept that humans have been doing terrible damage to the Earth, and that there will be Consequences for it.

My Quarrels With Christianity: Despite the fact that a Christian worldview does make up about half of my spiritual and religious life, I have some serious problems with it, and with what's been done with it.

"Natural": Don't judge people based on whether or not you think that what they choose to do with their bodies is natural.  You do unnatural things all the time, too.

Another Conversation With Another Evangelist: While I was walking in Edinburgh one day, a man handing out Gospel pamphlets inadvertently reminded me of something that I consider to be a fairly important insight.

I think I've been slut-shamed: In which I relate my encounter with a border guard who had apparently appointed himself a member of the Morality Police.

Reflections on the Death of Troy Davis: Capital punishment isn't justice.  It's vengeance thinly disguised as justice.

A Day For Purple: In some ways, I was lucky.  I grew up with not much of a concept of sexual orientation, and I was able to come to terms with being bisexual when I was ready to do so, which was considerably later than I might have had to deal with it if I'd been a little less straight-leaning, or a little less able to pass for being straight.  And while purple is one of my favourite colours, and I wear it frequently, I wear it on October 20 to honour those who have been made to feel that their lives weren't worth living just because they weren't strictly (or at all) heterosexual.

The Genesis of Disorder: The beginning of any eating disorder has its story.  This is the story of mine, and of why it was able to gain such a hold on me over a relatively short period of time.

"You're taking this too seriously, dear.": On being told that I was taking it too seriously when I corrected my mother's use of the pronoun "he" to describe a distant cousin of ours who has had male-to-female sex-change surgery.