Bryan Murphy's Blog - Posts Tagged "religion"
From Hypatia to Malala (haiku)
Men’s minds warped with God-burnt hate
“Uppity” women
Cold moonlight on graveyard shift
“Uppity” women
Cold moonlight on graveyard shift
The Dan O'Brien Project
I'm proud to have my work currently featured there. The whole of Dan O'Brien's site is well worth a visit.
http://thedanobrienproject.blogspot.c...
http://thedanobrienproject.blogspot.c...
Giveaway
#GIVEAWAY: Houlihan’s Wake is already no. 2 in Goodreads’ best “Books Set in Mexico” Listopia. And it is #free today and tomorrow, Sunday 22 September and Monday 23 September, from Amazon: http://amzn.to/13CvdsE (USA), http://amzn.to/14vH5jJ (UK), http://amzn.to/1fpyLXr (Canada), http://bit.ly/14vITJy (India), etc.
Angels versus Virgins
My latest short e-book is an antidote to fundamentalism, as well as a story about soccer, society and growing up. http://amzn.to/1vaWwap For young adults and others interested in the future.
Introduction to Freemasons
We have a splendid post on Freemasonry over on the Write Room Blog, http://www.thewriteroomblog.com/?p=2637, in which Canadian author Clayton Bye makes it clear that in North America, the Freemasons are good guys.
Over here in Europe, it is not always so evident. In the UK, Freemasons are often seen as a bit of a joke – “grown men prancing around in fancy dress” – although there are concerns about the prevalence among them of high-ranking police officers, who might form bonds inside the lodge with dodgy businessmen. Italy has had real problems with a lodge called P2 that tried to subvert its fragile democracy. That, however, was a secret rogue lodge, run more like a personal fiefdom by its main man. In stark contrast was the role played by Freemasonry during the fascist days in Portugal: when the dictatorship finally fell, the leader of the new centre-right political party (PPD) stated bluntly that “the Freemasons saved my life” from the former régime.
I was very interested by Clayton’s statement Freemasons have to profess belief in a God, though it does not matter which one. In the e-book I have just released, “Angels versus Virgins”, http://amzn.to/1vaWwap, that precise demand is the basis for the new order established in a future Britain following a religious revival. I didn’t get the idea from the Freemasons, nor from Alcoholics Anonymous, but from our former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who seemed to get hooked on it after taking our country into a war that has yet to end.
If you have any experience of Freemasons or Freemasonry, do hop over to the Write Room Blog and join the discussion.
Over here in Europe, it is not always so evident. In the UK, Freemasons are often seen as a bit of a joke – “grown men prancing around in fancy dress” – although there are concerns about the prevalence among them of high-ranking police officers, who might form bonds inside the lodge with dodgy businessmen. Italy has had real problems with a lodge called P2 that tried to subvert its fragile democracy. That, however, was a secret rogue lodge, run more like a personal fiefdom by its main man. In stark contrast was the role played by Freemasonry during the fascist days in Portugal: when the dictatorship finally fell, the leader of the new centre-right political party (PPD) stated bluntly that “the Freemasons saved my life” from the former régime.
I was very interested by Clayton’s statement Freemasons have to profess belief in a God, though it does not matter which one. In the e-book I have just released, “Angels versus Virgins”, http://amzn.to/1vaWwap, that precise demand is the basis for the new order established in a future Britain following a religious revival. I didn’t get the idea from the Freemasons, nor from Alcoholics Anonymous, but from our former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who seemed to get hooked on it after taking our country into a war that has yet to end.
If you have any experience of Freemasons or Freemasonry, do hop over to the Write Room Blog and join the discussion.
Boko Haram v. Malala
Boko Haram, the Islamo-fascist movement that is currently terrorizing Northern Nigeria and other states on its porous borders, is a collection of murderous, brain-dead bastards. However, in its depravity it has got one thing right: it has identified the enemy that can destroy it, though only in the long term, namely secular education, whose banning it trumpets in its very name. This was also recognized by another Islamo-fascist organization, the Pakistani Taliban, when they attempted to murder a girl who stood up to their attempts to deny all girls an education. Fortunately, they failed, and in so doing made Malala Yousafzai a global hero. Those two antagonists encapsulate the battle of the 21st century, a battle over books. Books that must never be changed or challenged, whatever the real-world evidence suggests, versus books that present current knowledge with a rider that it is neither infallible nor complete. To put it another way, fiction masquerading as non-fiction versus non-fiction that acknowledges its own limitations. Either way, it’s all about books.
Virus Flash
The Day Before
The Pope was dead. The luminaries of the Christian world´s largest Church gathered in Rome and were sequestered in the heart of the Eternal City until they would succeed in choosing a new leader.
“I’m getting out of here for a day. Want to come?”
It was natural for Cardinal Healy to have struck up a friendship with Cardinal Varela. Not only were they by far the youngest at the Conclave, they were also both from the New World, Healy being an Irish-American from Saint Paul, Minnesota, and Varela hailing from São Paulo in Brazil.
Cardinal Varela coughed a few times, then drew breath and answered, “I am with you. But how we get away? And back?”
“I know some hidden passages. This place is riddled with them.” Healy’s eyes gleamed with more than the slight fever he had picked up.
“They will miss us, no?”
“No. There’s nothing on today. Just the Chamberlain droning on about procedure.”
And so the two young cardinals went out into the city, unobserved.
The Chamberlain, Cardinal Grugliasco, however, did not drone on about procedure. Instead, he came straight to the point.
“I am joyful to announce my conversion to the one true, true faith, to which I submit, and for which I shall be a martyr. Yes. I have infected myself with a virus that will soon kill me. We are taking this rare opportunity to eliminate the foremost members of our main rival, in numerical terms. Most of you already have the virus, and it will kill you, too. All of you. It dies with its host, so the killer disease will spread no further than this sealed environment; we are not mass murderers. My dear Cardinals, I urge you to convert while you can, to turn your pointless deaths into meaningful martyrdoms. If you do, you too will receive the martyrs’ rewards in Paradise.”
Later, while the few Cardinals who still had the strength were slowly beating Grugliasco to death, Healy and Varela were tucking into rich Italian cuisine in a crowded Roman restaurant.
Healey beamed as he dried his pale face with his napkin. “Sure, it’s good to be alive at a time like this, eh?”
“Indeed.” Varela reached for his blood-stained handkerchief yet again. “Life is wonderful!”
The Pope was dead. The luminaries of the Christian world´s largest Church gathered in Rome and were sequestered in the heart of the Eternal City until they would succeed in choosing a new leader.
“I’m getting out of here for a day. Want to come?”
It was natural for Cardinal Healy to have struck up a friendship with Cardinal Varela. Not only were they by far the youngest at the Conclave, they were also both from the New World, Healy being an Irish-American from Saint Paul, Minnesota, and Varela hailing from São Paulo in Brazil.
Cardinal Varela coughed a few times, then drew breath and answered, “I am with you. But how we get away? And back?”
“I know some hidden passages. This place is riddled with them.” Healy’s eyes gleamed with more than the slight fever he had picked up.
“They will miss us, no?”
“No. There’s nothing on today. Just the Chamberlain droning on about procedure.”
And so the two young cardinals went out into the city, unobserved.
The Chamberlain, Cardinal Grugliasco, however, did not drone on about procedure. Instead, he came straight to the point.
“I am joyful to announce my conversion to the one true, true faith, to which I submit, and for which I shall be a martyr. Yes. I have infected myself with a virus that will soon kill me. We are taking this rare opportunity to eliminate the foremost members of our main rival, in numerical terms. Most of you already have the virus, and it will kill you, too. All of you. It dies with its host, so the killer disease will spread no further than this sealed environment; we are not mass murderers. My dear Cardinals, I urge you to convert while you can, to turn your pointless deaths into meaningful martyrdoms. If you do, you too will receive the martyrs’ rewards in Paradise.”
Later, while the few Cardinals who still had the strength were slowly beating Grugliasco to death, Healy and Varela were tucking into rich Italian cuisine in a crowded Roman restaurant.
Healey beamed as he dried his pale face with his napkin. “Sure, it’s good to be alive at a time like this, eh?”
“Indeed.” Varela reached for his blood-stained handkerchief yet again. “Life is wonderful!”
