Zeus Worship Now Legal in Greece

zeus-story.jpgAfter a 1600 year moratorium, it is now once again legal to worship Zeus in Greece. Ellinais is a group of lawyers and academics who have fought in the courts to bring back part of Greek history. The worship of Zeus had previously been illegal.

In mythology it’s generally accepted that the “Gods” of ancient Greece died when their worship ceased. Or more correctly they “faded” because they were not needed anymore. The followers of the ancient Greek Gods did not have liturgy or set “rules of living”. These beliefs gave way to the monotheistic religions of the God of Abraham which is reflected in Islam, Judaism and Christianity.

It’s interesting to note that the start of the final blow to the worship of Greek Gods was Constantine’s conversion to Christianity in the 4th century. Also of note, the followers of the Greek Gods did not have a set order of creeds or sets of social protocol.

I learned something new. Did you know that at the beginning of the Olympic games when they light the flame at Olympiad, that this is actually an invocation of Apollo, the Ancient Greek God of Light? For this reason many church officials refuse to attend. Most Greeks are currently baptised as Orthodox Christians.

CNN Article Excerpt:
Christianity rose to prominence in Greece in the fourth century after Roman Emperor Constantine’s conversion. Emperor Theodosius wiped out the last vestige of the Olympian gods when he abolished the Olympic Games in A.D. 394.

Read the CNN article on Zeus worship making a comeback.

The Olympian Gods of Greek Mythology

In Greek Mythology, the Olympians are a group of 12 gods who ruled after the overthrow of the Titans. All the Olympians are related in some way. They are named after their dwelling place, Mount Olympus. The Olympian Gods are: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Hera, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hermes, Artemis, Hephaestus.

Overcoming the Saboteurs of Spirituality

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
– Nelson Mandela

No punishment anyone might inflict on them could possibly be worse than the punishment they inflict on themselves by conspiring in their own diminishment.
– Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak

Quotes from Chapter Three (Resisting the Resisters) of “Messy Spirituality” by Michael Yaconelli.

Creation vs. Evolution Debates

creationtalk.jpgWe have a little buzz of activity in the Creation vs. Evolutioin debate forums at CreationTalk.com – This site is a free public discussion forum for evolution, creationism, intelligent design and related topics. Currently on this forum is a healthy mix of creation and evolution supporters that are debating each other with gusto.

If you have any interest in these areas please checkout this forum. It’s also a good place to learn about the art of debate. Several of the members on this forum are extremely well-read, studied and come from a wide variety of scholastic backgrounds and religious beliefs.

Greeks Build First Computer in 3rd Century BC

antikythera.jpgAntikythera page for related discussions.

The ancient Greeks had built an analog computer in the 3rd century BC. Many agree that for a thousand years afterward no mechanical device was built more sophisticated than this. The destruction of the Library of Alexandria is also still a hot topic with debates about who was responsible, and how much it’s destruction contributed to the Dark Ages and the apparent halt of scientific discovery. Read background on the Wikipedia Byzantine Empire.

This discovery was made back in 1902. In 2006 new x-ray studies revealed increased sophistication of the device and more text on the outer casing available for translation.

An ancient astronomical calculator, built around the end of the second century BC, was unexpectedly sophisticated, a study in this week’s Nature suggests. Mike G. Edmunds and colleagues used imaging and high-resolution X-ray tomography to study fragments of the Antikythera Mechanism, a bronze mechanical analog computer thought to calculate astronomical positions.

The Greek device contains a complicated arrangement of at least 30 precision, hand-cut bronze gears housed inside a wooden case covered in inscriptions. But the device is fragmented, so its specific functions have remained controversial. The team were able to reconstruct the gear function and double the number of deciphered inscriptions on the computer’s casing. The device, they say, is technically more complex than any known device for at least a millennium afterwards. The text is astronomical with many numbers that could be related to planetary motions, and the gears are a mechanical representation of a second century theory that explained the irregularities of the Moon’s motion across the sky caused by its elliptical orbit.

Antikythera Greek Mechanism Page

Wikipedia Antikythera Information

Wikipedia Byzantine Empire

Federal Way, WA School Blocks Al Gore Film

gore-truth.jpgExcerpt: This week in Federal Way schools, it got a lot more inconvenient to show one of the top-grossing documentaries in U.S. history, the global-warming alert “An Inconvenient Truth.”

After a parent who supports the teaching of creationism and opposes sex education complained about the film, the Federal Way School Board on Tuesday placed what it labeled a moratorium on showing the film. The movie consists largely of a computer presentation by former Vice President Al Gore recounting scientists’ findings.

Read the Seattle PI Article on Blocking An Inconvenient Truth.

Clarification on Isaac Asimov Quote

oblatespheroid.PNGHere is an Isaac Asimov quote I was a little unclear on, and a following explanation from a member at one of my forums. It came up during an evolution-creation debate. More info on oblate spheroids.

When people thought the earth was flat, they were wrong. When people thought the earth was spherical, they were wrong. But if you think that thinking the earth is spherical is just as wrong as thinking the earth is flat, then your view is wronger than both of them put together.
Isaac Asimov, 1988.

My statement: Please clarify, I thought the earth was an oblate spheroid.

Answer:

An oblate spheriod, and slightly pear-shaped, to boot. So yes, it’s not a sphere. But it’s much closer to being a sphere than it is to being flat. More importantly, the determination that the Earth was a sphere was done by observation and experimentation. It is incorrect only due to the limitations of the observational equipment.

The Earth being flat is quite obviously wrong with the smallest amount of investigation. The Earth being spherical is wrong when examined quite carefully and precisely. There is a quantitive difference in the “wrongness” of those two positions.

It’s like Newtonian mechanics is wrong, but still useful for terrestrial movement. A spherical earth is a useful simplification for navigational purposes. A flat Earth is not a useful model for anything much.