Posts

No Hate Like Christian Love

-
Image
  Both my parents were brought up in devote Christian environments, particularly at school – my mother attended a convent school and my father was sent to a catholic boarding school for boys run by priests and monks. This was in the 1940s and 50s, at a time when discipline was favoured over nurturing and students who struggled academically were punished rather than helped. My mother recalled being frequently picked on by the nuns who called her stupid when she made mistakes, and smacked her knuckles with a wooden ruler when she struggled to pay attention. My father who was orphaned at seven, received far greater abuse from the monks at his school who didn’t recognise or understand that he was autistic and beat him black and blue because he struggled to sit still in class and saw his unruly behaviour as misbehaving and undisciplined. My father didn’t go into detail about what happened to him at that school and I wonder if there was more to it than that. Being that this was at a time...
Post a Comment
Read more

Signs From the Other Side

-
Image
  Though I was raised atheist and am still on the fence as to whether God actually exists in the sense of a sentient creator, I have always believed that spirit survives death and moves on to an unseen realm.   I wouldn’t call myself psychic, I guess you could say I’m an intuitive or empath – terms that paranormal investigators these days often use – I often know what someone is thinking or feeling without them having to say a word because I’m able to tune into their energy. I’m also something of an animal whisperer and have had some of the most unruly animals feel calm enough in my presence to fall asleep in my arms.   Friendship that survives death and life-saving intuition When I was 19 my best friend died tragically in a car accident and after that my ‘sixth sense’ seemed to become stronger, or perhaps I became more open to it because I couldn’t let go of my friend. I dreamt of her a lot in the days after her passing and felt she had come to say goodbye, but...
Post a Comment
Location: Manawatū-Whanganui Region, New Zealand
Read more

Longing for Home

-
Image
Ever since I can remember, I have felt a great sense of homesickness when I look up at the night sky or at images of space. I have always felt that I came from the universe and one day I shall return. Because I was never indoctrinated into a religion, I feel like my soul was able to hold onto the memory of where it came from and longs for the day when it can go home. These days, with the sad state of the world, that longing is stronger than ever, and is partly what prompted me to start this blog.  Sagittarius B2 molecular cloud. Image from James Webb Space Telescope In the Beginning My parents both grew up with religion, but left the church and became atheist as soon as they became independent adults, and they raised me as an atheist. To date, at the age of 51, with the exception of weddings and funerals, I have never attended a single church service. My mother did give me a children's Bible as she felt I should at least know about the religion that dominated the culture we were li...
Post a Comment
Location: Manawatū-Whanganui Region, New Zealand
Read more

Welcome to RIP

-
Image
This blog has come about because of two incidents in the space of three months where I was not only questioned about my beliefs but then also judged on those beliefs and told I was destined for hell because of them. The last time the question of divine judgement had come up was when my father was dying from leukaemia and the hypocrisy of family members we hardly heard from who were now interested not in his life, but in his afterlife angered me. It's not something I had experienced since high school when being on the wrong side of religious belief was just another thing that made me different to everyone else.  If there is one thing I cannot tolerate, it is a bully. Criticising my beliefs and telling me I'm a sinner is no less bullying that the school girls who criticised the way I dressed and told me I was ugly. The only difference is that back then I was too scared to fight back.  Evangelists may think they are coming from a position of care and concern about one's soul, ...
Location: Manawatū-Whanganui Region, New Zealand
Read more