Mythology
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On the value of religious misinterpretation.
We’re liable to misinterpret old stories when we look at them with modern eyes … but it’s worth knowing what myths might mean in a better world.
Abraham, anachronism, anachronistic crtique, Ants Among Elephants, Bible, can God save us, caste, caste system, Christ, Christian theology, colonialism, conquest, covenant, creation in Genesis, dalit, David Kishik, DK, Dravidar Kazhagam, forgiveness, forgiving god, Genesis, God, God saw that it was good, God’s insecurity, Goldman, grammar, hebrew, Hinduism, human sacrifice, human sacrifice for good harvest, imperialism, incarceration, incarceration crisis, incarceration in the U.S., incarceration in the United States, jail, Jesus, Jesus’s sacrifice, Job, John-Michael Bloomquist, mass incarceration, merciful god, mercy, Noah, Old Testament, oppression, poetry, poetry in jail, rainbow, Rama, Rama threatening ocean, Ravana, Ravana worship, religion, Rudyard Kipling, sacrifice, sacrifice of Jesus, suffering, Sujatha Gidla, Tamil, teaching in jail, teaching poetry in jail, textual analysis, The Book of Shem, The Flood, The Iliad, The Prodigal’s Return, theology, Translation, untouchable, why did Christ have to die, why did Jesus suffer, why does Rama threaten the ocean, why is God jealous, Yahweh
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On power and dignity in defeat.
Winning is pretty easy. It takes effort to get there, but once we’ve done it, most people can act with grace. It reveals more about a person’s character to see how they handle defeat. In the Christian bible, Jesus is a more compelling character than Yahweh. Jesus faces adversity, which sometimes he accepts calmly –…
Americans love a winner, anti-racism, Aryan, Aryan supremacy, ban the box, books to prison, books to prisoners, Christianity, Deadpool, death of Thor, defeat, dignity in defeat, education, equality, equity, felony, George Patton, gods die, growth, heroes, incarceration, Independently Blue, inequality, inequity, jail, jail poetry, Jesus, Jesus losing his temper, Julien Poirier, Laughing Shall I Die, learning, loser, losing, mass incarceration, Midwest Pages to Prisoners, MWPP, mythology, myths, Norse, Norse myths, Odin, odinism, pagan, paganism, Pages to Prisoners, patriotism, personal growth, poetry, poetry in jail, poverty, prison, prison education, racism, racist, Ragnarok, redemption, Reginald Dwayne Betts, suffering, superheros, teaching in jail, Tom Shippey, trials, Viking myths, Vikings, white supremacy, winning, Yahweh
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On explaining religion to my child, part one.
Humans have told so many stories about sky ghosts, but don’t worry, kiddoe … ghosts are pretend!
Abrahamic faiths, atheism, atheist, Buddha, Buddhism, children, Christ, Christmas, cobra, death, deities, Eden, Enkidu, explaining Christmas to atheist children, explaining Christmas to atheist kids, explaining Christmas to kids, explaining god to kids, explaining holidays to children, explaining religion to kids, expulsion from Eden, fatherhood, forgiving god, Genesis, ghost stories, ghosts, ghosts are pretend, Gilgamesh, good without god, holidays, immortality, In a Dark Dark Room, jealous gods, Jesus, John-Michael Bloomquist, Loki, Magic Penny, Malvina Reynolds, Midgard Serpent, misogyny in world religions, Moana, Mucalinda, mythology, naga, nap, naptime, Old Testament, parenting, penance, Quran, Ragnarok, religion, religions, sacrifice, secular children, secular kids, secular parenting, sharing, Siddhartha, sky ghosts, snake, snake myths, snake stories, snakes in mythology, snakes in religion, spirituality, stories about death, stories about god, stories about snakes, teaching children about religion, teaching kids about religion, telling children about god, telling kids about god, The Prodigal’s Lament, Thor, to live forever, toddlers, trickster gods, world mythology, Yahweh
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On food and willing sacrifice.
Perhaps nothing really wants to be eaten, but in our world, nothing can survive without sacrifice from its parts.
Agni, apoptosis, autotrophs, cancer, consumption, David Shulman, ejaculate, ejaculation, Fire, food, fruit, Ganges, Genesis, gestation, gift, gift economics, God, heterotrophs, Hindu mythology, Hinduism, immolation, King James, libertarian, libertarianism, masturbation, mythology, Onan, Onanism, paterogenesis, reproduction, Robert Goldman, sacrifice, Sally Sutherland Goldman, Sati, semen, sexuality, Shiva, Sita, suicide, tragedy of the commons, unilateral reproduction, Valmiki, Vedic mythology
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On parenting and short-term memory loss.
Caring for young children wrecks havoc on your brain. I’ve heard it’s temporary. And, to make a better world, more men need to do it.
Abdel Haleem, Abrahamic faiths, Anthropology of Childhood, attention span, banishment, banishment of Sita, Beverly Strassmann, childhood, Christian, Christianity, contract law, David Lancy, developing brains, Dogon, Dorothy Dinnerstein, Draupadi, Draupadi in the gambling hall, early development, Emily Wilson, emotional development, family, fatherhood, feminism, feminist, gambling, Garry Wills, gender equality, gender parity, gossip, inequality, Islam, Jewish, Judaism, Mahabharata, Mary Beard, memory, Mermaid and the Minotaur, misogyny, Muslim, parenting, patriarchy, Penelope, philosophy, polygamy, polygyny, preschool development, Quran, shirking responsibility, Sita, Telemachus, The Odyssey, value, what matters in life, What the Qur’an Meant, What the Quran Meant and Why It Matters, who should parent, Women and Power, women’s work
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On Buddhism, suffering, and Deadpool.
Buddha teaches freedom from suffering. Deadpool teaches us to love who we’ll love and simply endure the suffering that comes with it.
advocacy, attachment, Buddha, Buddhism, Buddhist mythology, comics, Deadpool, Deadpool’s daughter, depression, endurance, endure, equality, forebearance, freedom from suffering, helping others, If This Is a Man, mass incarceration, meditation, mental health, Mucalinda, mythology, non-attachment, Old Testament, pain, Primo Levi, privilege, regeneration, religion, running, Satan, Siddhartha, snake, snakes, Stuart Woolf, suffering, suicide, teaching in jail, thole, tree of knowledge of good and evil, volunteering
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On the death of Thor.
If Thor could meet the white supremacists who praise him now, he’d surely die again of shame.
Aryan, Asatru, Christianity, Else Christensen, fate, feminism, Fenris Wolf, free will, Freya, Freya’s wedding, hate, heathen religions, Icelandic, Jeramy Dodds, Job, KKK, Loki, Midgard Serpent, misogyny, Noah, Norse, Norse gods, Norse mythology, Norse myths, Norse religion, Odin, odinism, Odinist, paganism, poetic devices, Poetic Edda, Prose Edda, racism, Ragnarok, religion, shame, slavery, Thor, Thor’s wedding, Viking, wedding of Thor, white supremacist, white supremacists, white supremacy, Yahweh, ZOG
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On Eka Kurniawan’s ‘Beauty Is a Wound,’ mythology, and misogyny.
Kurniawan’s interests mirror my own — why wouldn’t I love his book?
Annie Tucker, Beauty is a Wound, David Foster Wallace, Eka Kurniawan, feminism, feminist, Flo the Progressive Insurance girl, Franzen, geek, geek culture, girl, Heartbreak, Kurniawan, Mahabharata, Mark Leyner, misogyny, mythology, neg, Neil Strauss, Purity, repetition, Scott Aaronson, sexual assault, The Game, The Pale King, The Sugar Frosted Nutsack, Translation
Frank Brown Cloud 