"Good Witches", according to Frank L. Baum

When these people drew near the house where Dorothy was standing in the doorway, they paused and whispered among themselves, as if afraid to come farther. But the little old woman walked up to Dorothy, made a low bow and said, in a sweet voice:

"You are welcome, most noble Sorceress, to the land of the Munchkins. We are so grateful to you for having killed the Wicked Witch of the East, and for setting our people free from bondage."

Dorothy listened to this speech with wonder. What could the little woman possibly mean by calling her a sorceress, and saying she had killed the Wicked Witch of the East? Dorothy was an innocent, harmless little girl, who had been carried by a cyclone many miles from home; and she had never killed anything in all her life.

But the little woman evidently expected her to answer; so Dorothy said, with hesitation, "You are very kind, but there must be some mistake. I have not killed anything."

"Your house did, anyway," replied the little old woman, with a laugh, "and that is the same thing. See!" she continued, pointing to the corner of the house. "There are her two feet, still sticking out from under a block of wood."

Dorothy looked, and gave a little cry of fright. There, indeed, just under the corner of the great beam the house rested on, two feet were sticking out, shod in silver shoes with pointed toes.

"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" cried Dorothy, clasping her hands together in dismay. "The house must have fallen on her. Whatever shall we do?"

"There is nothing to be done," said the little woman calmly.

"But who was she?" asked Dorothy.

"She was the Wicked Witch of the East, as I said," answered the little woman. "She has held all the Munchkins in bondage for many years, making them slave for her night and day. Now they are all set free, and are grateful to you for the favor."

"Who are the Munchkins?" inquired Dorothy.

"They are the people who live in this land of the East where the Wicked Witch ruled."

"Are you a Munchkin?" asked Dorothy.

"No, but I am their friend, although I live in the land of the North. When they saw the Witch of the East was dead the Munchkins sent a swift messenger to me, and I came at once. I am the Witch of the North."

"Oh, gracious!" cried Dorothy. "Are you a real witch?"

"Yes, indeed," answered the little woman. "But I am a good witch, and the people love me. I am not as powerful as the Wicked Witch was who ruled here, or I should have set the people free myself."

"But I thought all witches were wicked," said the girl, who was half frightened at facing a real witch. "Oh, no, that is a great mistake. There were only four witches in all the Land of Oz, and two of them, those who live in the North and the South, are good witches. I know this is true, for I am one of them myself, and cannot be mistaken. Those who dwelt in the East and the West were, indeed, wicked witches; but now that you have killed one of them, there is but one Wicked Witch in all the Land of Oz--the one who lives in the West."

"But," said Dorothy, after a moment's thought, "Aunt Em has told me that the witches were all dead--years and years ago."

"Who is Aunt Em?" inquired the little old woman.

"She is my aunt who lives in Kansas, where I came from."

The Witch of the North seemed to think for a time, with her head bowed and her eyes upon the ground. Then she looked up and said, "I do not know where Kansas is, for I have never heard that country mentioned before. But tell me, is it a civilized country?"

"Oh, yes," replied Dorothy.

"Then that accounts for it. In the civilized countries I believe there are no witches left, nor wizards, nor sorceresses, nor magicians. But, you see, the Land of Oz has never been civilized, for we are cut off from all the rest of the world. Therefore we still have witches and wizards amongst us."

The complete text of Frank L. Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is at Project Gutenberg here.
The pic of Glinda from the play Wicked is from here.
The laughing, broomstick riding "Ipswitch Witch" pic is from the Sexy Witch blog, as is the black and white "Studio Witch" (from 1915) who looks a helluva lot like Alyson Hannigan!

What they mean by "dialogue"

"On the permanent validity of the Church's missionary mandate"

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
[Matthew 28:18-20]

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues.
[Mark 16:15-17]

"Dialogue is a two-way communication. It implies speaking and listening, giving and receiving, for mutual growth and enrichment. It includes witness to one's own faith as well as an openness to that of the other. It is not a betrayal of mission of the Church, nor is it a new method of conversion to Christianity. This has been clearly stated in the encyclical letter of Pope John Paul II "Redemptoris Missio". This view is also developed in the two documents produced by the PCID: "The Attitude of the Catholic Church towards the Followers of Other Religious Traditions: reflections on Dialogue and Mission" (1984), & "Dialogue and Proclamation" (1991).
[Official history of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue]

The document referred to above, Redemptoris Missio, is subtitled "On the permanent validity of the Church's missionary mandate." It begins with the statement that "The mission of Christ the Redeemer, which is entrusted to the Church, is still very far from completion. As the second millennium after Christ's coming draws to an end, an overall view of the human race shows that this mission is still only beginning and that we must commit ourselves wholeheartedly to its service."

Redemptoris Missio raises the following questions:
1. Is missionary work among non-Christians still relevant?
2. Has it not been replaced by inter-religious dialogue?
3. Is not human development an adequate goal of the Church's mission?
4. Does not respect for conscience and for freedom exclude all efforts at conversion?
5. Is it not possible to attain salvation in any religion?
6. Why then should there be missionary activity?

However, the seriousness with which these questions are posed is given away by the title of the section in which they appear: "Jesus Christ, The Only Savior." But just in case there is any room for doubt, as soon as the these questions are listed, the next subsection is titled: "No one comes to the Father, but by me."

Redemptoris Missio makes abundantly clear the agenda behind all "charity" work, all "social activism", and all "dialogue" whatsoever, from the standpoint of Christianity. These are merely part of the arsenal of spiritual warfare, the end goal of which is, as it has always been, the downfall of all other, false, religions and their replacement by the lurid fantasies of the creed-making fishermen.

In true Orwellian fashion, the Church's project of extirpation is framed in terms of "universalism":

"The universality of this salvation in Christ is asserted throughout the New Testament. St. Paul acknowledges the risen Christ as the Lord. He writes: 'Although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth - as indeed there are many 'gods' and many 'lords' - yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist' (1 Cor 8:5-6)."
[from the subsection "Salvation in Christ is Offered to All"]

"The God whom Paul wishes to reveal is already present in their lives; indeed, this God has created them and mysteriously guides nations and history. But if they are to recognize the true God, they must abandon the false gods which they themselves have made and open themselves to the One whom God has sent to remedy their ignorance and satisfy the longings of their hearts. These are speeches which offer an example of the inculturation of the Gospel."
[from the subsection "The Spirit Directs the Church's Mission"]

"The Church contributes to mankind's pilgrimage of conversion to God's plan through her witness and through such activities as dialogue, human promotion, commitment to justice and peace, education and the care of the sick, and aid to the poor and to children. In carrying on these activities, however, she never loses sight of the priority of the transcendent and spiritual realities which are premises of eschatological salvation."
[from the subsection "The Church at the Service of the Kingdom"]

[The very cool Cyborg illustration is by Sean Wang.]

Sharia World: A Brief News Round-Up

Iran: #1 Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43 year old woman, awaits the carrying out of the death sentence placed on her as punishment for an "illicit relationship outside marriage." The method of execution will be stoning. Source: Guardian.co.uk. Also: read this story over at CNN.com: it recounts the mind-bogglingly sadistic details of Sakineh's case, and includes a video-taped plea from her son.
#2 While the stoning of Sakineh has still not been carried out, Iran has moved ahead with the criminalization of the mullet. This story inspired Guy Walters, writing for the UK Telegraph, to ask "Can Iranian mullet-wearers be granted asylum?"

Nigeria: Niger State governor, Dr. Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu, has declared that "sharia law cannot be practised unless there exists a shariah penal code", and enforcement of this penal code must have the full backing of the state. In the same speech, Aliyu also insisted that violations of sharia law include "failing to keep promises, coming late to appointments, deceit and telling lies." Source: AllAfrica.com.

Ingushetia (Russian province): "At an Ingush conference for Muslim scholars and elders this week, attended by Yevkurov, the money a groom must pay the bride's family for her hand was increased from 12,500 roubles (265 pounds) to 40,000 roubles (851 pounds), the local government said on official website." Source: Reuters Africa.

Indonesia: Nine Islamic groups have announced that they intend to organize an armed youth militia to enforce Sharia law, and, in particular, to use force to prevent people from choosing their own religion: "so that there is no more room for apostasy." Source: Christianity Today. Also see this long detailed post at the Barthnotes blog -- it contains numerous other links to media sources including Associate Press, the Maylaysia Star, the Jakarta Globe and more.

Egypt: "Nasr Hamed Abu Zeid, a prominent Egyptian scholar once accused of apostasy for his contemporary interpretation of Islam, has died. He was 66." Source: The Canadian Press. The story goes on to explain that:

Abu Zeid came to the public eye in 1995 when Islamist lawyers filed a suit against him, demanding he divorce his wife because his writings insulted Islam. A court ordered Abu Zeid to divorce, and the couple refused and fled Egypt for fear of being attacked by Muslim fundamentalists.

The case outraged secular Arab intellectuals, who saw it as an attack on freedom of expression.

Abu Zeid later appealed the ruling and won, but remained abroad, spending most of the last fifteen years in the Netherlands.

UK: "What isn't wrong with Sharia?" asks Maryam Namazie, writing in the pages of the UK Guardian:

The demand for the abolition of sharia courts in Britain, as elsewhere, is not an attack on people's right to religion; it is a defence of human rights, especially since the imposition of sharia courts is a demand of Islamism to restrict citizens' rights.

Rights, justice, inclusion, equality and respect are for people, not for beliefs and parallel legal systems. To safeguard the rights and freedoms of all those living in Britain, there must be one secular law for all and no religious courts.

More on Nergal's case

First up, here are four items (all from online Metal-oriented publications) with quite a bit of good background information. They are all fairly recent, but only the first one is from after the case against Nergal was dismissed:

From Blabbermouth (June 28):
BEHEMOTH Frontman Off The Hook In 2007 Bible-Tearing Case
From MetalObsession (May 4):
Behemoth – Adam “Nergal” Darski (interview with Nergal)
From Blabbermouth (April 20):
Polish University Professor Discusses Charges Against BEHEMOTH Frontman
From RadioMetal (April 19):
Behemoth On The Burning Stake Of The Inquisition

Second of all, here are links to all of the relevant posts I have done so far on Nergal's case in particular, and freedom of expression in Poland in general (chronologically with the most recent items at the top):

June
"Music that is so extreme, so politically incorrect and so evil." (Nergal interview)
Blasphemy Case Against Nergal "Dismissed"
Doda in Kluczbork: "Those Who Expected Scandal Were Not Disappointed"
Doda: "Forbidden Fruit Tastes Better"
Doda Elektroda & the Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski
May
"I could release certain emotions through this sinister evil music." (Nergal interviews)
Sex, Religion, Art, Music & Freedom of Expression in Poland
Doda Elektroda says Bible written by drunks. Which, apparently, is some kind of crime in Poland.
March
The Kids Are Alright (In Which I Praise Extreme Pagan Metal)
Early March, 2010 Blasphemy World Roundup!!
Interview With Nergal of Behemoth, in English
Behemoth Frontman Formally Charged For Insulting Roman Catholics

"When we die as martyrs" (submitted for your disapproval)

This is some very serious WTFage:



Q: Is this shit for real?
A: Fuck yes it is.

Q: Who the fuck made this shit? Al fucking Qaeda? Hamas? Hezbollah?
A: It is made by a Jordanian child-oriented multimedia company called "Birds of Paradise".

Q: Birds of fucking Paradise?
A: That's right. According to their website, Birds of Paradise "aims for every Arabic and Muslim child through its programs." They are quite proud of the fact that they have reached "many Arab and international countries such as Canada, Britain and more."

Q: C'mon, quit fucking with me. What is this evil shit really?
A: It really is a video produced by a Jordanian based company that:
(1) "was established to meet the different needs of Arab and Muslim children."
(2) "represents the best parenting, educational, entertaining programs and songs that suit children and every family member."
(3) claims that all programs and songs are "examined carefully and thoughtfully"
(4) is committed to "Connecting childhood with Heaven and Peace."

Q: I don't fucking believe you.
A: Here is a background article produced by the Investigative Project on Terrorism. They also have a nice piece on the Deep, Longstanding Terror Ties of the "charity" group behind the Gaza Terrorist Peace Flotilla.

OK, folks, that's all the time I have right now for Q & A. But here's another seriously WTF video featuring the irrepressible young star of "When We Die As Martyrs":

"Music that is so extreme, so politically incorrect and so evil."

One final contribution to Pagan Values Blogging Month . . . . .

The interview below with Nergal of Behemoth first ran in Metal As Fuck back in February of this year. Much of the interview focuses on Nergal's trial for the crime of violating Article 196 of the Polish Criminal Code which prohibits actions that "offend religious feelings." In case you missed it, the charges against Nergal were dismissed just a couple of days ago.

Behemoth's Nergal takes time out of conquering the world to speak to MAF

It would be hard to find another band that keeps up a touring schedule like Behemoth. We talk to Nergal on one of his rare days off about touring and being the clergy's Enemy Number One.

The phone crackles into life, and despite the band's on stage presence, the fires of hell are not unleashed; instead Adam Darski a.k.a Nergal answers quietly – it is morning after all.

Behemoth have just finished a gruelling tour of Europe, doing 34 shows in 35 days. Being a co-headlining tour with Devildriver meant 60-minute shows for the band.

‘It was pretty rough to be honest, it’s pretty exhausting to perform that long and it’s physically very demanding. It’s very brutal, after a few weeks you feel exhaustion and it shows. While on the bus one would get the flu, and eventually everyone would get sick, so it was pretty rough. Other than that, it was a great tour – a crossover audience because Devildriver draws a pretty different group of fans, so it was very good and beneficial to both bands.’

For anyone who has seen a live Behemoth show, it’s no surprise that each band member gives everything they have on stage. Keeping up a touring schedule that sees the band play a show almost every night leaves very little room to recover and prepare for the next venue.

‘Now that we don’t have to worry about moving our own equipment because we have a professional crew,' Darski said. 'We can now chill and do whatever we want and in most cases it’s just generally talking with friends, talking to girlfriends. Usually after a show I’ll grab a cab, go downtown, do some shopping and just chill out and try to relax. If there is a day off, I’ll usually try and watch some movies, just to keep myself entertained. Nothing in the sense of heavy partying, because that’s not what I’m into anymore. I’d rather have a decent sleep and get ready for the next show, because our shows are so demanding. It would be a huge disrespect for the people who buy tickets if I was hungover and not capable of putting on the best show I can.’

The band’s latest release Evangelion has proven to be a massive success for the band. Even though extreme metal as a genre accounts for a very small proportion of albums, the new record has made people sit up and take notice. Recently in Poland, the album was listed as the Number 1 seller in a large mainstream chain store, outselling releases from the likes of Michael Jackson and U2. Could it be more than just the pride Polish people have for Behemoth?

‘It definitely is encouraging. Seeing music that is so extreme, so politically incorrect and so evil, and it’s just selling and people dig it and people start to understand it – and I’m not talking about the masses that dig our music. The Apostasy sold 8,000 records, while Evangelion sold 15,000 in the same time period – it’s a huge step up and a great feeling.’

Poland has a very rich history of extreme metal bands. Could the fact that it is a country that counts its population of Catholics as one of the highest in the world per capita be an influencing factor on this?

‘It’s probably frustration,' Darski laughs. 'I don’t know, I’m looking out the window right, and all I see on one side is rain and grey, and I see a huge cross from the church that is 50 metres from my home. I have many reasons to be pissed off and to be unhappy, and to try and release my anger and frustration.

'It’s something in the air in Poland – there must be a reason why the Polish people and musicians try to create music that is so extreme. There isn’t much power metal here, or other genres to be honest. It’s 80% death and black metal – it’s very brutal, yeah.’

Anyone with knowledge of European history will know that Poland is a country that has endured a lot of conflict and occupation by foreign powers. It could be that the prevalence of extreme metal – music that always speaks its mind and meets controversy head on – stems from the fact that you want people to have their own opinion; you don’t want things to be forced on them by the establishment. Darski is quick to agree.

‘The way I see Behemoth is that I like to think that we can be a tool to free people. And I’m not saying that were on some sort of mission and trying to change things on a big scale – no.

'It’s cool if I get to hear or see that people who listen to Behemoth get the same feeling. If they read the lyrics and say “oh shit – I’ve never seen things like this”, they kind of open their eyes and make up their own mind. And that’s cool you know – that’s one of the main reasons we make this music – we do it for ourselves but if there’s people who can use it as a tool, it’s awesome, it’s a good feeling.’

Behemoth's popularity has not gone unnoticed by the very people that the music warns you about. Poland’s strong Catholic community – or at least the public leaders, have been very outspoken about the Behemoth stage shows and extreme music in general. By law, it is illegal to desecrate a religious icon in Poland, or perform acts that could be considered as an offence to the church.

Political organisations groups such as the All-Polish Committee for Defence Against Sects act as a watchdog and publically go after people and bands who are, in their eyes, dangerous and promote murder and Satanism. This was just one of the attacks aimed directly at Behemoth – that their music entices their fans to commit murder.

Adam Darski is not one to be afraid of controversy, and ready to speak his mind. Back in December 2007 during a concert in his home city of Gdynia, the frontman was said to have pronounced the Catholic Church as “the most murderous cult on the planet”, then called the Bible a pack of lies and tore it up on stage.

This was when the All-Polish Committee for Defence Against Sects, as well as the conservative political party Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc (Law and Justice) were required to make a very public denouncement of Behemoth. They even went so far as to call for Darski's arrest. All this despite bassist Orion (Tomasz Wróblewski) stating that the band had been doing this for two years prior. After a formal complaint was lodged with Polish authorities, the case was dismissed two months later.

One man in particular has taken a very vocal interest in Darski: Ryszard Nowak, who is the leader of the All-Polish Committee for Defense Against Sects. After calling Nergal a criminal in a public interview, though, it seems that the Babylonian god from whom Darski takes his stage name had had enough. He took Nowak to court over his statements and won. The court ruled that Nowak had to make a public apology for his remarks, and pay Darski an undisclosed sum – one which he directed be made to a local dog shelter. It must have been a surprise for Darski when the courts ruled in his favour.

‘It was surprising on one hand, but you know what, the whole thing with Ryszard Nowak – the way I see it, and the way the majority of people who use their brains,' DArski laughs, 'see it. It is no longer a clash of different religious sides – it’s not a religious conflict – it’s a war between stupidity and narrow mindedness and backwards thinking against the opposite. Obviously I represent the open mindedness and liberation. So that’s the way the people saw that, that I’m not necessarily satanic, they don’t like the music – but I’m right.' He laughs again. 'You know, things change and I think that were on the right track to get to the right spot.’

This wasn’t the end of the attack on Behemoth however, with the case being reopened (this time by Prawo i Sprawiedliwosc) in January of this year, to investigate whether the tearing up of a bible constitutes a crime.

Darski recently won the Gdansk Young Culture Creators award, which recognises young people for their contribution to a country’s culture - a far cry from the allegations that keep following Behemoth.

‘It’s funny – it’s a big contradiction. On one hand there’s all these accusations of us being Public Enemy Number 1, we should be prison, we should be stabbed and burned. And then on the other hand we are winning everything on the way. It’s crazy and awesome at the same time. On one hand we are doing something very artistic and it’s always recognised and respected by a renowned group of people – the Behemoth fans. And now it seems like the big people in the mainstream media recognise that there is a band that does something for this country and it's good and quality – and it's art, and it's recognised in the world. And that’s a good feeling; it’s something that is in a way humorous.

'In one of the biggest polish magazines, The Activist, we picked up the award for the best band, and we picked up awards with all these big pop artists. It’s awesome, it’s good.’

Extreme metal is not what anyone outside the metal fanbase would consider a popular genre, yet this clearly shows that the talent in creating the music is being recognised for its artistic merit, despite the fact that it is not considered mainstream.

‘I see this as a very positive thing, and it seems to be a very European way of thinking. People’s minds are open to hearing new stuff, things they are not used to.’

Fans of Behemoth know that their live shows are a very intense experience. The band has always been known for their elaborate stage costumes and make up – and bucking the trend of where some black metal musicians take their corpsepaint make up skills to comedic levels – sometimes intentionally and other times not.

During the interview, Darski comes across as a quietly spoken person, a far cry from the brutal visage of Nergal (named after a Babylonian god) on stage. If a Behemoth show doesn’t leave you with the hair on your neck standing up, you may want to check your pulse rate to see if you are alive.

It must be a difficult task to separate the beast Nergal from Adam Darski and go back to everyday life, considering the punishing tour schedules.

‘Not really,' Darski laughs. 'People can’t see me smiling a lot. When I’m on stage, wearing the mask and makeup – I can’t stop laughing and smiling when I see the energy and see the people going completely crazy for us. I think wow, that’s awesome, it’s killer and I just can’t stop smiling.

'It’s not like there is someone completely different there, but then again it’s like two different sides of one coin – it’s still one coin. It’s just a different attitude.’

Something not widely known, at least not outside the Polish gossip press, is Darski’s relationship with Polish pop star Doda (Dorota Rabaczewska). It may seem odd that the leader of what is arguably one of the biggest extreme metal bands and enemy number one for religious conservatives is dating a pop star. What it has led to, however, is the fact that even regular weekly press, normally full of articles and badly photoshopped images of actors and starlets, now features photos of the frontman. Darski is quick to dismiss the notion.

‘You know... it is what it is, I don’t really care about it. I’m in it for my relationship, I’m not in it for the public relations – it is great PR, but I just don’t analyse it.’

Finishing the European tour in late December, the band only had a few weeks to relax before starting a new tour of the US in January, to be followed by shows in Greece and Turkey in March. Darski happily reveals that Australian fans are about to be treated to another round of Behemoth after that – a (recently announced) combined tour with Goatwhore and Job for a Cowboy.

Behemoth are also confirmed for the Summer Breeze 2010 festival in Germany, and are doing a 12-week festival tour, with both festival and side shows. Playing big festivals, in front of tens of thousands of fans must be a very different feeling to playing a club gig with a more intimate setting.

‘Obviously it is different, it’s more open – it’s crazier in many ways. I enjoy both though. To me though, a club with a 1,000-person capacity totally packed and sold out – that is the best.’

Being involved in a genre like extreme metal would lead people to believe that most musicians would only listen to metal. Darski reveals that it is not only pounding drum blasts and piercing guitars that help him enjoy his days.

‘Oh wow, I listen to a variety of stuff that I enjoy like electro new wave gothic stuff which is awesome. I don’t think most Behemoth would dig it,' he laughs, 'because it's odd stuff. The new Alice In Chains is fucking awesome and other bands like Catharsis are absolutely amazing. So, yeah, there’s definitely a lot of killer metal music too.’

A constant touring schedule means Behemoth gets to share the stage with many bands. You could play the six degrees of separation game with Behemoth and come up with almost every extreme and heavy metal band in the world.

‘We’ve toured with most of the big bands, but we still haven’t played with Metallica. If one day we stand on the same stage as Metallica it would be a huge thing for us,' Darski laughs.

Coming to the end of the interview, Darski has a simple message for the Aussie fans.

‘I know the new album is out on Riot, I just hope you all grab a copy and enjoy the record. I can’t wait to come back; I have nothing but great memories from Australia. Come down to the show if you have a chance.’

We wouldn’t miss it for anything.

"We're not sinners, we're just disconnected from the Divine Life-Force." (My contribution to Pagan Values Blogging Month)

"Go see Avatar: the most demonic, Satanic film I've ever seen .... See, in that movie it is a completely false ideology, it is a sermon preached. It is the most popular movie ever made. It tells you ... that we're not sinners, we're just disconnected from the Divine Life-Force. Just classic, classic, classic Paganism. That human beings are to connect, literally, with trees and animals and beasts and birds -- and that there's this spiritual connection that we're all a part of, and we're all part of the Divine. It presents a false mediator with a witch. It presents false worship of created things rather than the creator god. It's the absolute antithesis of Romans 1:25"
[Pastor Mark Driscoll, of Mars Hill Church]

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
[Romans, 1:25]

The Plato Code?

Jay Kennedy (a visiting scholar at the University of Manchester) has produced a detailed study of what he claims are regular, objectively quantifiable, "musical" patterns in the works of Plato. These mathematical patterns, according to Kennedy, are strongly Pythagorean. A quick look at Kennedy's own "Introduction for Scholars" to his work justifies, in my opinion, taking him and his work seriously.

Although there are some real problems (surprise!) with how Kennedy's research is being hyped in the media, there are some very positive aspects to what he is up to. The important thing to remember, however, is that Kennedy's "discovery", in fact, merely confirms the predominant view of Plato and his philosophy that held sway for well over 20 centuries, and which was only very recently replaced with a new "scholarly consensus".

Here is what Kennedy has to say in his own words:

The distance between 'neo-Platonism' and Platonism has been steadily diminishing since the work of Dodds. This work implies that the reports among Plato students that he was a Pythagorean in some strong sense were correct. This reaffirms the views among some neo-Pythagoreans and neo-Platonists. How is the history of the reception of Plato now altered?

Hinduism: "The best surviving of the great Pagan traditions"

David Frawley is founder and director of the American Insitute of Vedic Studies. Though American born, in India he is recognized not only as a Vedacharya (Vedic teacher), but also as a Vaidya (Ayurvedic doctor and teacher), Jyotishi (Vedic astrologer), Puranic (Vedic historian), a Hindu acharya (Hindu religious teacher) and a Yogi.

Dr. Frawley is the author of numerous books, including Tantric Yoga and the Wisdom Goddesses (a book on the Hindu Goddesses known as the Mahavidyas), Awaken Bharata: A Call For India's Rebirth, and How I Became a Hindu.

Frawley's vision of Hinduism is expansive and inclusive while being solidly rooted in Vedic tradition. He is one of the most articulate proponents of the view that Hinduism and Paganism share a very real and deep kinship. The following is from a new essay by Dr. Frawley: A Universal Vision: Hinduism's Path to Unity (just published online at the patheos.com website -- go to the link to read the whole thing!):

Hinduism is probably the oldest continually practiced religious and spiritual tradition on the planet, with its roots going back over 5,000 years. In fact Hinduism has no specific point of origin or end. The basis of Hinduism can be found not in a particular prophet or prophets or in a single book but in the eternal, in the cosmic mind itself, accepting a variety of great teachers and teachings over the long course of time and the different types of human cultures. Hinduism has never rejected any aspect of human religious aspiration, whether it is the use of images, a variety of rituals, or many techniques and approaches to meditation.

Hinduism is the third largest of the world's major religions, with over a billion adherents worldwide. It is the largest of the non-biblical traditions. It is the largest of the pagan traditions and the best surviving of the great pagan traditions that once dominated the world and traces of which remain everywhere. It is the largest of the native or indigenous traditions being rooted in the land and life of its peoples. Hinduism is firmly rooted in nature and honors all aspects of the natural world as sacred. Its holy places are not simply sites of important human religious activity but sacred mountains, rivers, rocks, trees, and flowers.

Yet perhaps most importantly Hinduism is the largest of the world's ‘pluralistic' traditions. It does not emphasize one formulation of divinity, one prophet or savior, or one holy book for all. It honors a variety of great gurus and their various books and teachings. Under its vast scope it can embrace a great variety of religious views and practices. This makes Hinduism the largest of the world's non-proselytizing religions. Hinduism does not seek to convert the world to a single belief but holds that we should honor the unique divine expression in each person and in each culture. It gives people the freedom to follow whatever spiritual path they find valuable. Hinduism can even accept atheists as part of its honoring of freedom of thought and inquiry.

For more on the relationship between Hinduism and Paganism see: Hindus and Pagans: "A Return to the Time of the Gods".