I know that is not really the place go on about the recent economy media emphasis but it is my blog.

All over the news and with the candidates going on about how they plan to fix the economy and Wall Street they all keep saying the same thing. They mention the Federal Reserve and how the government should or should not bail out certain companies. What will the government do with the “governments” Federal Reserve?

This lead me to ask myself an important and irritable question this morning while watching the news. Are the politicians and national news media completely unaware that the Federal Reserve is not owned by the Federal government?

Technorati Tags: federal reserve, media, personal rant, politics

Witchcraft-Documentary Review: Mysteries of History, History Channel International

I watched the History Channel Internationals documentary this morning on Witchcraft. Being previously encouraged from watching the main History Channel’s documentary on Halloween, I thought that the international channel viewpoint would be just as open ended. And for the majority of the hour long episode there was some educational handling of the witchcraft subject, just not through the duration of the program.

Please, keep in mind that the following information is from the review and notes taken during the documentary. I am aware that not all this information is correct historically, even though that is how all of the information was present by the History International Channel. So, let us begin on the review portion of today’s post on Simple Abnormality.

…read full article…

Technorati Tags: burning times, History, history channel, history international channel, laura jean karr, paganism, simple abnormality, Wicca, witch, witch hunt, witch trails, witchcraft, witchcraft documentary

Pope Benedict gave a speech to more than a quarter of a million people in Paris last week. Now, normally I really don’t have that much to say about the Pope in general but there was one thing that stood out to me during the Pontif’s address and that is:

At mass on Saturday morning in Paris, the pope told more than a quarter of a million people that the modern world had turned money, possessions and power into idols as false as the gold and silver statues worshiped by the pagans of antiquity.

“Has it not imitated, perhaps inadvertently, the pagans of antiquity, by diverting man from his true end, from the joy of living eternally with God,” he said. Read full article here.

Another article to check out is this gem entitled Pope in Paris condemns love of money, power: PARIS (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI condemned unbridled “pagan” passion for power, possessions and money as a modern-day plague Saturday as he led more than a quarter of a million Catholics in an outdoor Mass in Paris.

Interesting theme for a speech coming from a religious leader decked out in gold. That’s just my thought on it. Kind of a “pot calling the kettle black” sort of thing. Funnier still is trying to promote the ideal that a love of money and power comes not from a religious institution that was built upon those precepts but no it comes form those “pagans”.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention everyones favorite overboard news agency Fox News. They ran the story of the Pope with this headline: Pope Condemns ‘Pagan’ Passion for Power, Money During France Visit

Yep, now I’ve gone and mentioned the Pope and quoted an AP article with a link

Technorati Tags: false idols, fox news, Pagan, pope, pope condems pagan passion, pope speech in paris

“In short, women are abandoning the church,” writes Kristin Aune, a sociologist at the University of Derby. “Because of its focus on female empowerment, young women are attracted by [the pagan religion] Wicca, popularized by the TV series ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer.’ Read full article here.

I’ll admit it, this statement provided me the Ha-Ha today.  Personally, I would like to hope that it would take more than a pop culture t.v. show to garner a reasoning for dropping ones faith.

By using the acceptance of what the media likes to play out as “entertainment paganism” there are way to many people jumping the bandwagon in the blame game looking for reasons outside of ones’ church as a way not to take any spiritual responsibility for its adherents not going to services anymore. Maybe, such places of worship who are upset about losing the female members of their congregations should take a look at what they can do about their problem instead of using pop culture as a scapegoat.

Just a thought.

Technorati Tags: church blames buffy, entertainment paganism, females, Ignorance, laura jean karr, paganism, pop culture, simple abnormality, Wicca