Pictures!

At long last here are pictures from the Bag End Bash 2006. If you have picture or video, please burn them to CD and mail them to me (Or just email the best ones) As usual I was just too damn busy running around to take many pics. I want to thank Don Nottage for some amazing pics this year. Enjoy.

Just another Salem

I urge you to go and read this important (if lengthy) testamony of an athiest and his struggles against the 'decent' god-fearing folk of a small Oklahoma town. It literally makes me feel ill.

I remember working the Oklahoma Ren fair 2 years ago. To kill time during the weeks and to make some extra money I contacted sign shops to see if they had any work. I made signs for 5 years and I figured its like riding a bike. It comes back to you. When I showed up to the sign shop I noticed the large collection of religious tracts on the front counter. They weren't the worst I had seen, but there were a lot of them. And here I was, driving my wifes car with the pentagram in the front window and some pagan stickers on the back along with the Scottish flag.

The man was polite, but I could tell he wanted to do his 'duty' and start the Jesus speech. The great thing was that I didn't NEED this job. So I didn't need to keep my opinions to myself for the sake of the job. The boss could only hold out about 3 days. Then he asked about me and my beliefs. I was honest and said that I was at best, a Diest. He asked what that meant and I explained that like Thomas Jefferson and many of our founding fathers, I believed that the universe may have been created by some supernatural force, but that his position is more of the master clockmaker than some big white-guy daddy-substitute. I told him that diests believe that reason and logic are more important than revelation or dogma. And I told him that my wife was wiccan and what that meant.

I don't think he was quite prepared for what I was saying (I was my usual long-winded self but I didn't want there to be any room for misunderstanding or confusion on his part) When he was done he tried to get back on script. I told him that I had no problems with the ideas of peace and love in Jesus' teaching, it was all the threats, the killing and violence that I couldn't get behind. He was kind enough (or confused enough) to leave it at that. When I left the shop my final day he shook my hand and said "Remember, Jesus loves you" and I gave him a "Blessed Be".