Showing posts with label tradition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tradition. Show all posts
Monday, July 20, 2026
Thursday, January 8, 2026
Unexpected rules for Amish females
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| Karen M. Johnson-Weiner |
The reality is that there are multiple "Amish" orders, all with different rules collected in a broad set of often-unspoken guidelines known as the Ordnung.
These rules dictate the lives of everyone in the patriarchal Germanic Amish Christian faith, laying out community-specific guidelines on everything from the depth of a man's hat brim to whether or not it's okay to have a refrigerator in one's home.
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| Anything she can do, I can do better. I'm a man! |
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| Ruined by the lavender menace? |
It all seems rather simple. Amish girls are expected to observe rules that demand they remain subservient, wear plain clothing, and remember to be faithful and modest into womanhood.
However, these directives can get quite surprising and sometimes elaborate, depending on where a female lives and her personal convictions.
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| I can run my own biz. |
For instance, it wouldn't be beyond the pale to see an Amish woman leave the family farm and run her own business.
Think you already know everything about the rules of an Amish woman's life? Think again.
The rules of Amish female power are more complex than most Americans think
Being submissive is a common rule for Amish girls, but it's not just a matter of going along with a father, brother, uncle, or husband's decisions or quietly following the rules of male church elders.
In fact, all Amish people are expected to submit in one way or another. Males are directed to submit to God and to treat their wives well and care for them with love and respect (though there are also reports of widespread abuse in some communities).
There's also a rather tricky biblical verse, Galatians 3:28, in which readers are informed that "there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."
To balance this, the Amish generally agree that males and females ought to have separate roles in their communities but that the work done by females is theoretically just as important as that of males. And though Amish females may not have official power in their communities, they wield practical power in everyday life, such as when they organize home or church activities.
- The film My Big Fat Greek Wedding made this age-old distinction clear: "The man is the head of the house, the man is the head of the house...but the woman is the neck."
Everyone is responsible for his or her own spiritual life, too. As one woman in the highly conservative Swartzentruber Amish group states:
"The Amish way is that the men have to go ahead of the women [during baptism], but the women get baptized just as well as the men do." More: grunge.com (Unexpected rules Amish women have to follow)
The Lives of Amish Women
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| Karen M. Johnson-Weiner's on Amish Women |
Continuity and change, tradition and dynamism shape the lives of the Amish and make their experiences both distinctive and diverse.
On the one hand, a principled commitment to living Old Order lives, purposely out of step with the cultural mainstream, has provided Amish females with a good deal of constancy. Even in relatively more progressive Amish communities, women still engage in activities common to their counterparts in earlier times: gardening, homemaking, and childrearing.
On the other hand, these persistent themes of domestic labor and the responsibilities of motherhood have been affected by profound social, economic, and technological changes up through the 21st century, shaping Amish females' lives in different ways and resulting in increasingly varied experiences.
In The Lives of Amish Women, Johnson-Weiner draws on her 35 years of fieldwork in Amish communities and her correspondence with Amish women to consider how the religiously defined roles of Amish women have changed as Amish churches have evolved.
Looking in particular at females' lives and activities at different ages and in different communities, Johnson-Weiner explores the relationship between changing patterns of social and economic interaction with mainstream society and women's family, community, and church roles.
What does it mean, Johnson-Weiner asks, for an Amish woman to be humble when she is the owner of a business that serves people internationally?
Is a childless Amish woman or a single Amish woman still a "Keeper at Home" in the same way as a woman raising a family? What does Gelassenheit—giving oneself up to God's will [not in a slavish way but rather "'tranquil submission' in the Christian mystical tradition"]—mean in a subsistence-level agrarian Amish community, and is it at all comparable to what it means in a wealthy settlement where some members may be millionaires?
Illuminating the key role Amish women play in maintaining the spiritual and economic health of their church communities, this wide-ranging book touches on a number of topics, including early Anabaptist women and Amish pioneers to North America;
- stages of life;
- marriage and family;
- events that bring women together;
- women as breadwinners;
- women who do not meet the Amish norm (single women, childless women, widows); and
- even what books Amish women are reading.
Thursday, September 19, 2024
White Tibetan monastics Los Angeles (10/5)
There's an amusing anti-Dalai Lama sect of Buddhism in Los Angeles. It seems impossible. Could anyone not love the puppy eyes and playful laugh of the Laughing Monk, the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso?
Yes, lots. The New Kadampa Tradition (NKT) movement is not mad at him lately from the States. It's mad at him from old Tibet and it's been going on a while. See the Dorje Shugden controversy.
As the "pope" of at least one sect of Vajrayana Buddhism, the Dalai Lama has incurred the anger of the other colored hats in Tibet/China. The Dalai Lama blames them for worship of an entity, the result of which was invasion by China and the loss of His throne as "pope-king," the spiritual and temporal leader of the massive former Tibetan Empire (the land area of which amounts to 25% of modern China).
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| What they do is very bad. Suck my tongue, Boy. |
The NKT used to have a nice nunnery/monastery near Dodger Stadium, which is in Chavez Ravine to the west of DTLA, close to Glassell Park. They have their main center in Hollywood on Franklin. But there may now be a satellite temple in Pasadena, Santa Monica, and Catalina Island.
- One criticism we have of this feelgood sect (possible "cult") in Los Angeles is its capitalist (spiritual materialism) inclination with its tendency to angle its message as if spirituality were an ordinary Western consumer item to buy.
NKT's new Occidental (white) leader is going to give a talk at A Noise Within Playhouse ("Peace is Possible," a public talk with Buddhist monk Gen Rigpa Kelsang on Oct. 5, 2024) on the eastern edge of Pasadena on Foothill, next to the 10 Freeway.
"Peace is Possible," Oct. 5, 2024
Each one of us has the potential to experience true peace, happiness, and fulfillment in our life. Yet, in a world of distraction and stimulation, societal chaos and conflict, many people are struggling with their mental health and feel spiritually lost, without purpose or meaning.
In this inspiring talk, Gen Rigpa will share practical tools for generating peace, both within our own hearts and also as a contribution to peace in society at large. Everyone is welcome. Learn:
- The true causes of inner peace
- How to create both inner and outer peace
- Why meditation is good for everyone.
- NKT monk Gen Rigpa Kelsan (meditateinla.org); CC Liu, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Sunday, June 16, 2024
Father's Day: Tracing Irish origins by name
Black standup comedian Ali Siddiq breaks it down
Having an Irish dad is a treat, not necessarily a good one all the time, but it can feel like a crack (craik). Father's Day is celebrated around the world and probably began in the US, thanks to our lively card trade. Thanks, Hallmark. But many, many Americans are part of the Irish diaspora.
Trump seeks Black support and, not getting it, lies about it, posts nasty Father’s Day message, Pop Quiz: Dads fail when asked about their kids
What Irish clan do I belong to?
IRELAND IN 2024: What no one told us about the Irish | 50 intriguing facts
- Diane Jennings, June 7, 2021; Ali Siddiq; Europe In Detail, Aug. 11, 2023; Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Native elder explains solar eclipses
Native American (Navajo) beliefs about the eclipse
In our traditional Native (Indigenous, First Nations) ways the full solar eclipse is a very reverent time. It is a time for reflection, rebirth, new life, and new understanding.
An eclipse is called the Death of the Sun. During this time traditionally people sit indoors and refrain from eating and drinking [just as Hindus in India will do]. Some would pray or sing traditional songs.
Navajo "myths," who can believe superstitions?
Traditionally, Navajo (Diné) people would not look at the eclipse. They were told they could get sick or go blind.
Nowadays people look and celebrate.
While our Diné do not expect people to observe the same traditions it would still be a good time to be reverent and focus on a rebirth and new life.
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- Wally, Navajo Traditional Teachings, 4/1/24; Xochitl, Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Sunday, January 28, 2024
I want to be a rich, married TradWife (video)
Jessica Burbank, Rising (The Hill); CC Liu, Crystal Q. (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
Girl Boss-OUT, Trad Wife-IN, new trend among Gen Z sees return to traditional gender roles
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| I'm a totally unbiased girlboss wannabe at Rising |
Friday, January 12, 2024
Constantine did not convert Rome to Christian
Discovery rewrites history of Christianity
Chris Gorrie (SavvyDime.com via MSN.com, 1/12/24); Seth Auberon, Shauna Schwartz, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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Remarkable discovery rewrites the history of Christianity in the Roman Empire
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| "Jesus Christ" was a Roman invention (Atwill) |
- [Was it dedicated not to Jesus Christ but to the worship of Mithra (the pre-Christian "Messiah" or Buddhist "Maitreya" figure from the Sanskrit root maitri = Avestan, Zoroastrian, Old Persian, Aryan, Iranian Mitra, the star of Mithrianity), who preceded Jesus as the superstar of the Vatican grounds in the Holy See at the heart of the Holy Roman Empire, which left many such underground worship sites all over England? No, it was something else: the blending of paganism and Christianity, not replacement but fusion and syncretism.]
They believe that the building was constructed during the reign of Emperor Constantine, Rome’s ruler from 306 to 337 C.E.
Who was Constantine?
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| I'm a white European (Italian), so I want a white savior. Turn that Black Nazarene Jew white. |
.
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| Forged (Prof. of Religion Bart D. Ehrman) |
He is remembered for his leadership during a major time of transition in the Roman Empire, as well as for moving the capital of the empire to Byzantium, later rechristened "Constantinople" in his honor.
But he is perhaps best known as the first Roman emperor to convert to [and force others by the sword to convert to] Christianity.
The Roman pagans
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| Out image of Christ as a white man with beard, long hair is Greco-Roman Serapis Christus |
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| Although Black, we need Jesus to be white! |
Christianity, though now a major world religion, was a peculiar phenomenon for the Romans, and the early Christians were heavily persecuted.
When Emperor Constantine converted, however, the Roman Empire gradually adopted more and more elements of Christianity [renaming its pagan celebrations and holy days. At least, that’s how the popular story goes.
Emperor Constantine did NOT make Christianity the official religion of Rome
There’s a popular narrative that neatly condenses history by saying that Constantine changed the official religion of Rome to Christianity.
However, the new archeological findings at Spello attest to the fact that this is an inaccurate version of reality.
Researchers stated in a press release that the uncovered temple “shows the continuities between the classical pagan world and early Christian Roman world that often get blurred out or written out of the sweeping historical narratives.”
The inspiration for the archeological dig
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| Scholarly teachers can't beat blind "faith"! |
The inscription was originally recovered in the 1700s. It states, in language directed to the townspeople of its time, that the creation of the temple constituted a massive undertaking.
What intrigued researchers was that it also grants the town inhabitants the ability to celebrate a religious festival in Spello instead of making a long journey elsewhere.
The condition for festival celebration in Spello
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| Caesar's Messiah (Joe Atwill) |
The inscription, however, contains a condition for townsfolk who wished to celebrate the religious festival within Spello.
Emperor Constantine stipulated that the citizens must build a temple dedicated to his ancestral worship. Specifically, the temple would serve as a place for worship of the Flavian family [the very family/dynasty of Caesar, as Joseph Atwill revealed to the world in Caesar's Messiah, a psyops plot to INVENT JESUS and trick an induce everyone in the Roman Empire to convert to this new state-friendly faith], Constantine’s own predecessors. More
Tuesday, December 26, 2023
Kwanzaa Week begins: Black celebration, LA
Daily News; Crystal Q., CC Liu (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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| Back in pre-Columbian times, islanders in the America s enjoyed many rich traditions |
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| Truth and Mother Temple exhibits a sanctuary of Kemetic Orthodoxy (wiki) |
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| Submit (blackculturalevents.com) |
The holiday was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Ron Karenga, a professor of Africana Studies at Cal State Long Beach, Los Angeles, and is typically observed on the week between Christmas and New Year’s, starting on Dec. 26.
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| Dreams of the Mother Continent call to me. |
In a letter published this week in the Los Angeles Sentinel, Prof. Karenga delivers an annual message wishing Africans peace and solidarity, particularly in the ongoing struggle for freedom and equality:
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| Woman worships Ra-Horakhty who blesses her with rays of light (Taperet stele, Africa/Kemet) |
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| They'll have you siding with oppressors (MX) |
“Kwanzaa thus came into being, grounded itself and grew as an act of freedom, an instrument of freedom, a celebration of freedom and a practice of freedom.”
The name “Kwanzaa” is derived from the Swahili phrase, “matunda ya kwanza.” At home, families can also celebrate with feasts, daily activities, reading books, or watching films that relate to the seven principles.
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Does Buddhism have a LENT? (Yes, Vas)
Bhante, Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation) (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit
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| Merit-making at the end of Buddhist Lent in Laos (jclao.com) |
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| Rains Retreat (Vas) is a time to fast (stop eating at noon), meditate, donate, give up/let go) |
(Plum Village)
The monks or brothers of the Upper Hamlet of Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village Monastery in France are seen here during the Vietnamese Zen temple's
annual three-month Rains Retreat or Vassa. It is a time to return
to the practice center and spend the season all together, practicing,
learning, building community. 12/14/20. Support (plumvillage.org) or help to caption and translate (amara.org)."Buddhist Lent"
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| Vassa is the Rains Retreat = "Buddhist Lent" |
Taking place during the wet season in many parts of Asia, the Rains Retreat lasts for three lunar months, usually from July (Burmese month of Waso or ဝါဆို) to October (Burmese month of Thadingyut or သီတင်းကျွတ်) [1].
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| Let's go wander around. - Mmm, let's not. |
For the duration of Buddhist Lent, Theravada monastics remain in one place, typically a monastery, nunnery, or temple grounds [4, 5].
In some monasteries, monks dedicate the Rains to intensive meditation [4], while others do intensive teaching to lay Buddhists who visit every week.
What bad habits to give up?
(Gerogia Meditation Center) Members of the Georgia Meditation Center learned about "Buddhist Lent," or Rains Retreat. During this three month period, monastics -- who were originally wandering ascetics -- stay in one place for three lunar months to study and cultivate. In 2013 the GMC had five monks for the Rains and Kathina, or the Robe Offering Ceremony at the end, celebrating these efforts. Lay Buddhists come together to offer requisites to the Sangha (meditationcircle.org). The Georgia Mediation Circle, founded in 2007 by Nat and Bee Intakanok, introduced meditation to over 2,500 people in its first five years, Wednesday nights at GMC.Some Buddhist lay people choose to observe this "Lent" by adopting more ascetic practices, such as giving up meat, alcohol, and smoking [1].
In Thailand, the sale of alcohol is prohibited on the first and last days of Vas, known as Khao Phansa and Wan Ok Phansa [6].
While it is sometimes casually called "Buddhist Lent," others object to this Christianized terminology [4]. For they are just similar not equivalent. Commonly, the number of years a monk has spent as a fully ordained monastic is expressed by counting the number of Rains or vassas since ordination.
Mahayana Buddhists also observe Vas. Vietnamese Thiền (Zen) and Korean Seon monastics observe an equivalent retreat of three months of intensive practice in one location, a practice also observed in Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism.
Mahayana Buddhists also observe Vas. Vietnamese Thiền (Zen) and Korean Seon monastics observe an equivalent retreat of three months of intensive practice in one location, a practice also observed in Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism.
When is "Buddhist Lent"?
Buddhist Lent (invitation to start the Rains Retreat)
(Bhante Kusala) "Buddhist Lent," or the Rains Retreat (Vassa) is a Theravada Buddhist religious observance kept by Buddhist monastics and lay practitioners, predating the Buddha’s time, just as the weekly Lunar Observance (Uposatha) or "Sabbath" started long before the Buddha, who said it was an excellent tradition worth observing. August 2, 2020.Vas begins on the first day of the waning moon of the eighth lunar month, which is the day after "Dharma Day" (Asalha Puja or Asalha Uposatha). It ends on Pavarana, when all monastics come before the monastic community (Sangha) and atone for any offense that might have been committed during Vas -- a kind of "confession" or Shrovetide (Christian "Season of Confessing").
Vas is followed by the "Robe Offering Day" (Kathina), a festival in which lay Buddhists express gratitude to monastics [7, 8] and make a great deal of merit by offering alms and other requisite supports. Lay Buddhists bring donations to temples, especially new robes for nuns and monks [7, 8, 9] and one particularly sturdy robe, which the local Sangha awards to one monastic who has best observed the Rains.
The Vas tradition predates the time of the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama [1]. It was a long-standing custom for wandering ascetics (shamans or shramanas) in India to not travel during the rainy season, as doing so might unintentionally harm insects, crops, and even themselves during their wanderings [4].
Vas is followed by the "Robe Offering Day" (Kathina), a festival in which lay Buddhists express gratitude to monastics [7, 8] and make a great deal of merit by offering alms and other requisite supports. Lay Buddhists bring donations to temples, especially new robes for nuns and monks [7, 8, 9] and one particularly sturdy robe, which the local Sangha awards to one monastic who has best observed the Rains.
The Vas tradition predates the time of the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama [1]. It was a long-standing custom for wandering ascetics (shamans or shramanas) in India to not travel during the rainy season, as doing so might unintentionally harm insects, crops, and even themselves during their wanderings [4].
Many Buddhist ascetics live in regions that now lack a rainy season [8]. Consequently, there are places where Vas may not typically be observed [8]. In other places, regardless of the weather, it is a time of year for intensive practice and study. More
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