Reflections of a Deranged Cultist is an ongoing work of fiction. If you're just coming in on it, you may want to read the whole thing. If you're a new arrival and short on time, it will help if you read the previous entry before this one.
I’m in luck... I think. The Elders didn’t want me to get rid of Claire - or (to use the same phrase in an entirely different sense) to get rid of Peter. That’s the good news. The bad news? They wanted me to “investigate” them: find out what they know and what they want.
So last Sunday I went to church with Claire. It wasn’t hard to arrange; I just mentioned being curious about it. After all, she and Peter both went there, so it must be a pretty decent place.
Claire said (something like), “I didn’t think you liked churches.”
I just shrugged. “It’s important to you.”
And she hugged me, hard; and that was that.
The church itself is... Well, it’s an older building, by the standards of modern American construction. Despite this, it has (what I think of as) a modernist flavor inside: clean white walls, stylized columns and a low dais to set off the sanctuary from the nave. The outside is simple brown brick, punctuated with stained glass windows. It’s old enough that the trees and bushes around it are firmly established. The building has obviously been well maintained.
The people... well, they were a mixed bag. Well dressed, for the most part, and even those without expensive clothes were dressed neatly. A couple of the younger members had the “Austin Weirdness” vibe - colored hair, piercings, and like that - but for the most part they were... maybe not conservative, but traditional. Claire and I fit right in, except that everyone seemed to know her - and half of them were actively curious about me. That could have been awkward, except that Peter found us shortly after we arrived, and helped run interference for us. He sat with us, too, which should have made me suspicious but (strangely) didn’t.
I followed their cues for the ceremony, but I didn’t rise to take communion. Peter suggested I go up for a blessing, so I did that instead; that seemed to please Claire.
“I like sitting in the audience,” Peter whispered when we sat back down. “It keeps the clergy on their toes.” He was wearing his collar, of course. I smothered the urge to laugh. Everybody around us was quiet, which made it even harder to do. The old guy might be the death of me, but it’s hard not to like him.
Claire and I headed out when the mass was over. Peter waved us off, and Claire thanked me for coming with her. I told her it was no big deal, which was sort of true: no unexpected threats, no sudden revelations, nobody doing anything but acting their part. It was... weirdly comfortable.
I’ll have to go back.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Declaration on Religion in Public Life
Okay, I just saw this this morning. Offhand, though, I like it.
The recent Gods and Politics conference in Copenhagen adopted the following Declaration on Religion in Public Life. The conference was the first European event of Atheist Alliance International, and was co-hosted by AAI and the Danish Atheist Society.
We, at the World Atheist Conference: "Gods and Politics", held in Copenhagen from 18 to 20 June 2010, hereby declare as follows:
Update: I've had a little more time to read and reflect on this, and I still really like it. I'm not particularly antitheist - that is, I see no reason to believe that God exists, but I don't see religion as inherently evil, either - and this makes a nice outline for promoting secular governments without trying to drive out religions per se.
Despite its origins, I hope that a great many religious people would agree with this - or at least most of it. Promoting secular government works in everybody's favor; mixing religion and politics isn't just bad for policy, it's bad for religion as well.
The recent Gods and Politics conference in Copenhagen adopted the following Declaration on Religion in Public Life. The conference was the first European event of Atheist Alliance International, and was co-hosted by AAI and the Danish Atheist Society.
We, at the World Atheist Conference: "Gods and Politics", held in Copenhagen from 18 to 20 June 2010, hereby declare as follows:
- We recognize the unlimited right to freedom of conscience, religion and belief, and that freedom to practice one's religion should be limited only by the need to respect the rights of others.
- We submit that public policy should be informed by evidence and reason, not by dogma.
- We assert the need for a society based on democracy, human rights and the rule of law. History has shown that the most successful societies are the most secular.
- We assert that the only equitable system of government in a democratic society is based on secularism: state neutrality in matters of religion or belief, favoring none and discriminating against none.
- We assert that private conduct, which respects the rights of others should not be the subject of legal sanction or government concern.
- We affirm the right of believers and non-believers alike to participate in public life and their right to equality of treatment in the democratic process.
- We affirm the right to freedom of expression for all, subject to limitations only as prescribed in international law - laws which all governments should respect and enforce.
- We reject all blasphemy laws and restrictions on the right to criticize religion or nonreligious life stances.
- We assert the principle of one law for all, with no special treatment for minority communities, and no jurisdiction for religious courts for the settlement of civil matters or family disputes.
- We reject all discrimination in employment (other than for religious leaders) and the provision of social services on the grounds of race, religion or belief, gender, class, caste or sexual orientation.
- We reject any special consideration for religion in politics and public life, and oppose charitable, tax-free status and state grants for the promotion of any religion as inimical to the interests of non-believers and those of other faiths. We oppose state funding for faith schools.
- We support the right to secular education, and assert the need for education in critical thinking and the distinction between faith and reason as a guide to knowledge, and in the diversity of religious beliefs. We support the spirit of free inquiry and the teaching of science free from religious interference, and are opposed to indoctrination, religious or otherwise.
Adopted by the conference, Copenhagen, 20 June 2010.
Please circulate this as widely as you can among people and groups who advocate a secular society.
Update: I've had a little more time to read and reflect on this, and I still really like it. I'm not particularly antitheist - that is, I see no reason to believe that God exists, but I don't see religion as inherently evil, either - and this makes a nice outline for promoting secular governments without trying to drive out religions per se.
Despite its origins, I hope that a great many religious people would agree with this - or at least most of it. Promoting secular government works in everybody's favor; mixing religion and politics isn't just bad for policy, it's bad for religion as well.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Bad Jokes
Just because I can...
Two cows are standing on a hill. The first cow says to the second cow: "So, are you worried about this Mad Cow Disease?"
The second looks at the first cow and replies: "Why would I be worried? I'm a penguin."
And, while I'm at it...
A bear with three legs walks into a bar. He looks around, and then says in a slow, western drawl: "Ah'm looking for the man who shot my paw."
Feel free to contribute your favorite dumb jokes in the comments. Maybe we'll have a whole thread full of jokes and then everybody who reads it will feel irrationally cheered. Come on, it's for the good of humanity!
Two cows are standing on a hill. The first cow says to the second cow: "So, are you worried about this Mad Cow Disease?"
The second looks at the first cow and replies: "Why would I be worried? I'm a penguin."
And, while I'm at it...
A bear with three legs walks into a bar. He looks around, and then says in a slow, western drawl: "Ah'm looking for the man who shot my paw."
Feel free to contribute your favorite dumb jokes in the comments. Maybe we'll have a whole thread full of jokes and then everybody who reads it will feel irrationally cheered. Come on, it's for the good of humanity!
Doggies Gone Wild
Last Friday after work, I joined my wife, both boys, and my in-laws at the neighborhood pool. After we finished swimming, we had a nice picnic dinner, including beer. (There are a great many things to admire about my father-in-law.) After we finished eating, we loaded the boys up and headed home.
I’d come directly from work, so we had two separate cars. My wife took Secondborn (who isn’t quite three months old yet), while I took Firstborn (who just turned four). We all live within a single city block, so it was a short drive through a residential neighborhood. As we were making our way back home, I came upon wife’s car. It was stopped at a T-intersection, and parked at a peculiar angle in the street. Creeping up on it, I saw why she had stopped: there were a pair of small dogs running around in the street.
Another car, coming the other way, stopped on the other side of the street. The driver, a woman who might have been a few years older than me, got out. She approached the two dogs, and picked one up. It came easily; it was limping a little, and looked at her as if to say, “Oh, you want to carry me? Great!”
So my wife approached the second dog, and it - perhaps predictably - fled down the sidewalk. An older man - probably not that much older than me, but with white hair combed back in a mullet - got out of the other car, and came over to help.
Well, by that time I had gotten out of my own car. My wife got back into hers and went on her way; she had the baby, and there were three adults (plus, arguably, our four-year-old) to capture the remaining dog. So we moved around, trying to get the dog into a position where one of us could pick him up. The dogs were long-haired dachshunds, small and fuzzy and cute.
The remaining dog was having none of it. He dodged, fled, showed his teeth, and feinted at nipping if anyone got too close. So I collected the first dog, and put him in the back seat with Firstborn. (Firstborn was happy to hold the dog, and the dog was happy to be held.) Then I started the car, and followed them halfway up the block, to where the second dog had now run.
This time, when I got out of the car, I picked up my towel - because, really, you should always know where your towel is. (Also, because I’d seen the second dog snap at the other guy who was trying to pick him up.)
Now, bear in mind that I’m still wearing my swimsuit. I’m not wearing a shirt, and I’m barefoot. But I cut back to where the dog is, and chase along beside him until he’s pretty well sprinting. The problem is, I’m also sprinting, and it’s been a long time since I’ve done this sort of thing. He can keep this up a lot longer than I can.
But, I took my position just behind him and to the left, and I got him going to where he couldn’t change directions easily, and I reached out with the towel, and cast it.
It fell over him, and he skidded to a stop and started whining. I reached down, and scooped up dog and towel together. Then, very cautiously, I pulled the towel back from the dog’s face. That way, he could see, and my hand was on the back of his neck. He kind of glanced around, and then he settled. It was perfect - just exactly as if I knew what I was doing. One quick move with the towel, one captured dog.
So I put him in my back seat (along with Firstborn and the first dog), and drove back to the corner where we’d found them. The second dog had run up to one particular house, but they weren’t answering the doorbell... but their neighbor was just coming out the front door. I accosted him and explained the problem. He wasn’t looking for his dogs; he was just out for an evening constitutional. However, while I was talking to him, the other couple honked behind me. A woman was coming around the corner, and she was looking for some lost dogs.
To make a long story short, she was the puppy-mommy. She reclaimed them, and took them home; and I exchanged thanks and compliments with the other car; and we all went home and lived happily ever after.
The End.
(Don't mind me. I'm just going to stand here for a few more minutes, savoring how perfectly that maneuver worked. 'Cause, y'know, damn.)
I’d come directly from work, so we had two separate cars. My wife took Secondborn (who isn’t quite three months old yet), while I took Firstborn (who just turned four). We all live within a single city block, so it was a short drive through a residential neighborhood. As we were making our way back home, I came upon wife’s car. It was stopped at a T-intersection, and parked at a peculiar angle in the street. Creeping up on it, I saw why she had stopped: there were a pair of small dogs running around in the street.
Another car, coming the other way, stopped on the other side of the street. The driver, a woman who might have been a few years older than me, got out. She approached the two dogs, and picked one up. It came easily; it was limping a little, and looked at her as if to say, “Oh, you want to carry me? Great!”
So my wife approached the second dog, and it - perhaps predictably - fled down the sidewalk. An older man - probably not that much older than me, but with white hair combed back in a mullet - got out of the other car, and came over to help.
Well, by that time I had gotten out of my own car. My wife got back into hers and went on her way; she had the baby, and there were three adults (plus, arguably, our four-year-old) to capture the remaining dog. So we moved around, trying to get the dog into a position where one of us could pick him up. The dogs were long-haired dachshunds, small and fuzzy and cute.
The remaining dog was having none of it. He dodged, fled, showed his teeth, and feinted at nipping if anyone got too close. So I collected the first dog, and put him in the back seat with Firstborn. (Firstborn was happy to hold the dog, and the dog was happy to be held.) Then I started the car, and followed them halfway up the block, to where the second dog had now run.
This time, when I got out of the car, I picked up my towel - because, really, you should always know where your towel is. (Also, because I’d seen the second dog snap at the other guy who was trying to pick him up.)
Now, bear in mind that I’m still wearing my swimsuit. I’m not wearing a shirt, and I’m barefoot. But I cut back to where the dog is, and chase along beside him until he’s pretty well sprinting. The problem is, I’m also sprinting, and it’s been a long time since I’ve done this sort of thing. He can keep this up a lot longer than I can.
But, I took my position just behind him and to the left, and I got him going to where he couldn’t change directions easily, and I reached out with the towel, and cast it.
It fell over him, and he skidded to a stop and started whining. I reached down, and scooped up dog and towel together. Then, very cautiously, I pulled the towel back from the dog’s face. That way, he could see, and my hand was on the back of his neck. He kind of glanced around, and then he settled. It was perfect - just exactly as if I knew what I was doing. One quick move with the towel, one captured dog.
So I put him in my back seat (along with Firstborn and the first dog), and drove back to the corner where we’d found them. The second dog had run up to one particular house, but they weren’t answering the doorbell... but their neighbor was just coming out the front door. I accosted him and explained the problem. He wasn’t looking for his dogs; he was just out for an evening constitutional. However, while I was talking to him, the other couple honked behind me. A woman was coming around the corner, and she was looking for some lost dogs.
To make a long story short, she was the puppy-mommy. She reclaimed them, and took them home; and I exchanged thanks and compliments with the other car; and we all went home and lived happily ever after.
The End.
(Don't mind me. I'm just going to stand here for a few more minutes, savoring how perfectly that maneuver worked. 'Cause, y'know, damn.)
Friday, June 25, 2010
plus ca change
"People are all the same."
"Crap. If that were so, you wouldn't need to tell me - I'd already think so."
"Crap. If that were so, you wouldn't need to tell me - I'd already think so."
Building the City, Part III
Cross-posted from here.
I’m working on a fantasy adventure rather than a romance, so I don’t really have a hero and heroine; I only have a single protagonist, the heroine. Her journey/ladder is mainly external, as she’s struggling to survive in a very strange place. Internally, she’ll be progressing from actively antisocial to someone who is at least tolerant of other people; but I’m not sure that’s a matter of character growth so much as the difference between feeling forced to interact with others at first, and having it be entirely her own option later on. She is, of course, my favorite character in the story… but that doesn’t mean I’ll be nice to her!
The antagonist isn’t really a villain; he’s just a very authoritarian (and somewhat self-centered) fellow who’s trying to keep his group alive and fed in a harsh and unforgiving environment. He probably has a steeper ladder than the protagonist; interacting with the heroine is going to force him to realize that authority is not a guarantee of obedience. I wouldn’t say I like him, though.
“My question for you: which character in your current book (the one you’re reading or writing) is going through the most dramatic journey? And do you like that character better than the rest?”I’m not sure if mine will be especially helpful, but you’re certainly welcome to quote it if you like.
I’m working on a fantasy adventure rather than a romance, so I don’t really have a hero and heroine; I only have a single protagonist, the heroine. Her journey/ladder is mainly external, as she’s struggling to survive in a very strange place. Internally, she’ll be progressing from actively antisocial to someone who is at least tolerant of other people; but I’m not sure that’s a matter of character growth so much as the difference between feeling forced to interact with others at first, and having it be entirely her own option later on. She is, of course, my favorite character in the story… but that doesn’t mean I’ll be nice to her!
The antagonist isn’t really a villain; he’s just a very authoritarian (and somewhat self-centered) fellow who’s trying to keep his group alive and fed in a harsh and unforgiving environment. He probably has a steeper ladder than the protagonist; interacting with the heroine is going to force him to realize that authority is not a guarantee of obedience. I wouldn’t say I like him, though.
Building the City, Part II
Writing ideas come from funny places. Take my current project:
The setting is courtesy of a dream I had. This wasn't the setting for the dream itself; it was the setting for a MMORPG that I was play(test)ing in the dream. But it was a hell of a cool setting, and I was having a lot of fun playing a character there - or dreaming that I was playing, anyway. (It's really not as surreal as it sounds...) If I were a programmer, I might try to build that game. If I were an artist, I'd draw pictures of that place. (Unfortunately, stick figures really wouldn't do it justice, and that's about the limit of my artistic ability.) As it happens, I enjoy writing, so I decided to set a story there.
Which was fine, but what would the main character do? Well, he'd be a new arrival; so there would be scavenging, exploring, and other survival-oriented activities. He would discover that people here had powers - they could do things that weren't supposed to be possible. And he'd quickly discover that some powers could be acquired... and not just acquired, but accumulated. It was dangerous, but it could be done.
What sort of power would he acquire? What direction would he go with that knowledge? In a setting like that, what would he want for himself?
I read a lot of comics when I was younger. (I still read some, but it's nowhere near as many. Partly that's because of time and money considerations, and that's partly because the quality seems to have dropped off - couple not-so-good writing with an addiction to endless crossovers, and I'm gone.) At one point, while reading the New Mutants, I started wondering about what sort of character I'd add if I were writing a story in that setting. Well, Marvel Comics has a character called Selene, a sort of psychic vampire who drains people's life energy to fuel her powers and extend her life. And it occurred to me that if she had a son, he might have a similar power, but fueled by blood. This appealed to me, since it added an interesting moral dimension to using his power: he could be as powerful as he wanted, if he was willing to take enough blood. Plus, it would be fun to write: you could introduce him with a couple of minor powers (strength, dexterity, a bit of damage resistance, and a powerful mind shield to hide his secrets from prying telepaths), and then drop hints (dead animals around the estate, using powers he hadn't shows previously). When his parentage and the true nature of his powers was finally revealed, you could have a big, dramatic showdown over whether he'd be able to stay with the team.
Sadly, Marvel never hired me as a writer, and the idea was left to languish on the top shelf in the back of some dark closet in my mind. I didn't forget entirely, though; and it occurred to that it would be an excellent fit for this setting.
The character himself wouldn't work, though. His background was too specific to the Marvel Universe. That could be adapted, but I didn't want him to be born with the power. I didn't want him to be born in the city at all; part of the weirdness of the setting is that people just occasionally wake up there. (New arrivals have no memory of their past, or how they got there; but they retain their skills, and they all have a single power: they can understand each other's languages.)
Which led me to another question: what sort of person would actually want a power like that?
It would be somebody who wanted access to a lot of power, obviously, and wasn't too picky about what he had to do get it. So, probably somebody who didn't have a lot of power, and couldn't afford to build up slowly (by accumulating minor powers). Right about then, my protagonist sudden became female, and Eve was born.
Eve, I thought, would be a new arrival and something of a loner by nature. She'd be a fighter, but also realistic about her limitations. She would feel trapped by the people who had taken her in, and by her inability to survive without them. Then she'd learn about the Temple on the Hill, and see a possible way out - if she could survive it.
Eight weeks and fourteen pages later, I have the heart of the story. It already begs for a sequel.
I wish I had more time to write.
The setting is courtesy of a dream I had. This wasn't the setting for the dream itself; it was the setting for a MMORPG that I was play(test)ing in the dream. But it was a hell of a cool setting, and I was having a lot of fun playing a character there - or dreaming that I was playing, anyway. (It's really not as surreal as it sounds...) If I were a programmer, I might try to build that game. If I were an artist, I'd draw pictures of that place. (Unfortunately, stick figures really wouldn't do it justice, and that's about the limit of my artistic ability.) As it happens, I enjoy writing, so I decided to set a story there.
Which was fine, but what would the main character do? Well, he'd be a new arrival; so there would be scavenging, exploring, and other survival-oriented activities. He would discover that people here had powers - they could do things that weren't supposed to be possible. And he'd quickly discover that some powers could be acquired... and not just acquired, but accumulated. It was dangerous, but it could be done.
What sort of power would he acquire? What direction would he go with that knowledge? In a setting like that, what would he want for himself?
I read a lot of comics when I was younger. (I still read some, but it's nowhere near as many. Partly that's because of time and money considerations, and that's partly because the quality seems to have dropped off - couple not-so-good writing with an addiction to endless crossovers, and I'm gone.) At one point, while reading the New Mutants, I started wondering about what sort of character I'd add if I were writing a story in that setting. Well, Marvel Comics has a character called Selene, a sort of psychic vampire who drains people's life energy to fuel her powers and extend her life. And it occurred to me that if she had a son, he might have a similar power, but fueled by blood. This appealed to me, since it added an interesting moral dimension to using his power: he could be as powerful as he wanted, if he was willing to take enough blood. Plus, it would be fun to write: you could introduce him with a couple of minor powers (strength, dexterity, a bit of damage resistance, and a powerful mind shield to hide his secrets from prying telepaths), and then drop hints (dead animals around the estate, using powers he hadn't shows previously). When his parentage and the true nature of his powers was finally revealed, you could have a big, dramatic showdown over whether he'd be able to stay with the team.
Sadly, Marvel never hired me as a writer, and the idea was left to languish on the top shelf in the back of some dark closet in my mind. I didn't forget entirely, though; and it occurred to that it would be an excellent fit for this setting.
The character himself wouldn't work, though. His background was too specific to the Marvel Universe. That could be adapted, but I didn't want him to be born with the power. I didn't want him to be born in the city at all; part of the weirdness of the setting is that people just occasionally wake up there. (New arrivals have no memory of their past, or how they got there; but they retain their skills, and they all have a single power: they can understand each other's languages.)
Which led me to another question: what sort of person would actually want a power like that?
It would be somebody who wanted access to a lot of power, obviously, and wasn't too picky about what he had to do get it. So, probably somebody who didn't have a lot of power, and couldn't afford to build up slowly (by accumulating minor powers). Right about then, my protagonist sudden became female, and Eve was born.
Eve, I thought, would be a new arrival and something of a loner by nature. She'd be a fighter, but also realistic about her limitations. She would feel trapped by the people who had taken her in, and by her inability to survive without them. Then she'd learn about the Temple on the Hill, and see a possible way out - if she could survive it.
Eight weeks and fourteen pages later, I have the heart of the story. It already begs for a sequel.
I wish I had more time to write.
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