BREAKING BREAD #2: Coffee with a Wiccan

Hello, my favorite readers!
I started a blog series a couple years ago where I interview people of different faiths and get to know their beliefs. I called it Breaking Bread because I love the idea of having community over a meal and in the New Testament that was referred to as breaking bread together. In this conversation I just want to listen, instead of debate or argue. I want to hear about someone else's journey and learn more about a faith that is unlike my own!

Last time I interviewed my friend Rose who is an atheist and you can read more about that here. Today I interviewed my friend from high school, Ariana Elizabeth. She has been a Wiccan for a long time and wanted to share some of her story.  


For those of us who aren’t familiar with Wicca, how would you describe it?

Let's see, well, Wicca is a nature based religion, although I prefer to call it a type of spirituality since that tends to upset less people! It is a branch of Paganism, which is an umbrella term that covers several other practices such as Shamanism and Druidism, just to name a couple. So anyone who is Wiccan is also Pagan, but not all Pagans are Wiccan. Wiccans are also called witches, but that has a negative stereotype associated with it. From my personal experience, every Pagan or Wiccan that I have ever met follow their own paths, no two Wiccans are alike! There are just too many different paths to explore, and it is one of the least strict religions out there.

At its core, Wicca is a love of nature; to worship the sun every day and the grass beneath our feet and mother earth. From that basis, any belief can be practiced. There is no sacred book or temple to worship at. Our temples are the forests and the rivers that cover the earth. I myself am an Eclectic Green Hedge Witch. (That sounds like a mouthful haha!) What it means is that I don't follow the old traditional path of Wicca which would require me to be initiated into a coven (a group of witches) by another member. I practice Wicca by myself or with a group (Eclectic) and I also narrow the specific studies of my path to herbs and plant related teachings (Green). Other kinds of studies that other Wiccans learn are tarot cards, spellcraft, or gemstones. A hedge witch refers to home related focuses. My life revolves around my home; it is the heart and center of everything I do.

As for worship, there is no one god in Wicca. We worship a Goddess and a God that can go by many names, but the importance is the masculine and feminine aspects of each. Because of my Irish roots I tend to focus on the Celtic gods when casting, but I had another coven member a few years ago who focused on Egyptian gods, and a third who preferred Greek. No set of gods is better than another and the fact that we had an affinity to different ones didn't affect our magick.

What is the difference between magick and magic? 

The "k" is added to magick in order to differentiate it from street magic; the type that involves card tricks and disappearing acts. It also gives it a bit more credibility as new age religions are becoming quite popular now. The use of the letter “k “also gives the word a mysterious feeling. Much like how we differentiate a Faerie, a magickal being that lives in the woods and other places of nature, from the typical fairy from fantasy books such as Tinkerbell from Peter Pan. With the increase of media in our society, it is important to differentiate our old ways from the stories created for children.

What was your journey to becoming a Wiccan? 

I feel as if I have always been on this path, even though I might not have known it when I was younger. I was 15 when I first discovered the term "Wicca". My best friend and I were playing make believe and needed some spells to defeat the bad guy, so I started searching on the internet for spells. As silly as it seems, I am so thankful that we were so imaginative even at that age. Once I read one article about Wicca, I just couldn't stop. The more I read, the more it felt as if all the pieces of my life began to fall into place. I had always been a witch for Halloween since I was 2 years old, and I liked making healing potions in the yard with rain water and leaves. It wasn't until later on that I found out my grandfather had been a high priest (coven leader) back in England before my family moved to Canada. So all along it had been in my blood and I had no idea!

How do these beliefs affect your everyday life?

Well, another common practice between witches (though not all of them) is the Three Fold Law, which is very similar to Karma. Basically, whatever you put out there into the universe comes back at you, so I try to live everyday being as generous and happy as I can. I love to volunteer and help people where I can in the hopes that good things will one day come my way. 

I also think that having a spiritual or religious practice (regardless of which one) is a very healthy outlet for anybody, especially teens trying to get through high school, so it couldn't have come to me at a better time. I truly believe that “what is meant to be will be” and that helps me to de-stress about a lot of things which are ultimately out of my control. I also incorporate the witches’ eight Sabbats (holidays) into my everyday life. These Sabbats follow the harvest cycle of the year and begin with the witches new year, Samhain on October 31st, and follow as such: Yule (December 21), Imbolic (February 2), Ostara (March 21), Beltane (May 1st), Midsummer (June 21), Lammas (August 1), and Mabon (September 21). For example, every Yule my family and I create peanut butter and seed holders for the birds and squirrels, to help them get through these cold winters as well.

What are some "myths" or stereotypes about Wicca that aren't true?

The first would probably be the idea of devil worship. Pagans don't even believe in the devil. We don't have heaven and hell, in fact most of us believe in reincarnation. We do have the symbol of the stag to represent masculine energy and the energy of the forest, and so the antlers can often be mistaken for devil’s horns. The second stereotype is probably the idea that witches can turn people into frogs and silly things like that. Yes, we do perform spells, but a spell is nothing more than a prayer. We include props such as incense and ritual tools, but these all represent something in nature usually, and intent is the biggest factor we focus on. Even with no props, the intent of a spell or prayer is what makes it effective. We do spells for luck, or healing, or to help us get a new job. While there are witches out there that practice magick with the intent to hurt people, I do not associate with such whack jobs and prefer to pretend they don't exist. However, it is important to note that being Wiccan does not make them like that. They could just have easily chosen to be an extreme Christian or Muslim. Faith has no responsibility for their choices of how they use it. Also, we don't ride brooms haha! I do have one, but it is used as a ritual tool used to "sweep" the space where we will be working magick; a representation of sweeping the space clean of negative energies.

What would you say to someone who was interested in becoming a Wiccan? 

I would say congratulations! I hope they find what they are looking for in Wicca. Also they can check out a few informational websites and books about the subject to make sure they understand what it is about (such as it is not about curses and black magick).  I would also encourage them to prepare for a lifetime of studying. Everything in Wicca has a meaning; every ritual tool, herb, gemstone, color, and scent. Everything means something, and it can feel daunting at first, but there is no pressure, since everyone learns at their own pace, and if they find a particular topic of interest, then they can focus on that.

Thank you for helping us to learn more, Ariana! 

If you or someone you know would like to talk about their spiritual journey on this blog, please comment or message me and I would love to talk to you. 

Why is Laura a Feminist?

Feminism is a huge F-word in the Christian sub-culture. It brings to mind images of angry women burning bras in the street or the hate-filled ideology of misandry - women who can’t stand men.  They picture a lot of rage and prejudice against males. Western culture has made such a mockery of feminism so that when I ask people about what they think about it – they say “I support gender equality but I don’t like feminism.” 

That is the equivalent of saying I am sleepy but not tired.They are the same thing. It’s just that feminism is seen as a bad word. Some people would rather say that they are an egalitarian or simply a women’s rights supporter. I have even considered not calling myself a feminist because of the terrible connotations.

Then I realized something.

Christianity is a huge swearword in this culture. It brings to mind images of angry people burning witches at the stake or the hate-filled ideology of Westboro Baptist Church.  They picture a lot of rage and prejudice. Western culture has made such a mockery of Christianity so that when I ask people about what they think about it – they say “I like Jesus but I don’t like Christianity.” Some people would rather say that they are spiritual or a Jesus follower. I have even considered not calling myself a Christian because of the terrible connotations.

Both feminism and Christianity have a bad history and reputation. However, as any Christian can tell you, Christianity has done some great things in this world and has carried out the mission of Jesus in our own human way. 

Feminism has also done great things.  Women in the west can now wear pants, vote, drive, work outside of the home, and even become pastors! Just as true Christianity is about love, true feminism is about equality for all genders. (hey, don't those goals seem like they would complement each other really well?) Some may say that feminism has completed its task and now it is completely unnecessary or it is now going into overdrive and castrating the men of society.

I feel like I should address the latter first. There are extreme feminists who would very much like to see men die out. They paint a caricature of a man, throw darts at it, and injure many guys in the process. Now anyone who knows me knows that I really like hanging out with guys because I have things in common with them that I don’t with females and we can talk about our dissimilarities as well. Obviously I don't hate men. However, I do call myself a feminist much to their chagrin. They think that it is not important in today's society.

Is feminism unnecessary? No, Western society does not have full gender equality. It is close but it is still lacking. A recent study showed that women with a 4.0 GPA earn as much as men with a 2.0.  In the Women's Media Center study (p.40), women made up 28.8% of characters with speaking parts in the 100 top-grossing films of 2012. In American politics, only 20% of the members of the Senate, Congress, and House of Commons are female. Canada is only slightly better with women representing 25 percent of the 308 seats in Parliament. There are also more subtle ways that gender inequality is active in the West. These are things such as body-shaming, rape culture, and the ever-controversial friend-zone.

Now, that is just in our backyard. Let's talk about where feminism is absolutely necessary. 

Women in India must go to relieve themselves in groups by the cover of darkness - holding it for 14 to 15 hours a day - and are at risk of being raped or killed. Sex-selective abortions (or gendercide) are killing hundreds of thousands of girls in China and India. Female genital mutilation (FGM) happens throughout the Middle East and Africa. So called "honor killings" end the lives of 10,000 women a year in India, which is encouraged by their government. Every year, an estimated 14 million girls aged under 18 are married worldwide with little or no say in the matter. 

Western women are a minority in the world. The majority of the world is in desperate need of gender equality. Yes, the West has gained a lot of equality and women have more freedom, but it does not stop there. We need feminism. I don't really care what you think about the friend-zone, but I do care that you are at least aware of the abuses against women around the world. The ones I have listed above are huge issues. 

So this is why I am a feminist. Women are not being treated fairly in the majority of the world. I don't burn bras or hate men. I love human rights, and women make up half of humanity. Christianity also plays a huge part in my feminism as well and I may write a post about that sometime or you can just read Sarah Bessey's book Jesus Feminist. I want to end with a quote from that book which I really resonate with.

“But as long as I know how important maternal health is to Haiti’s future, and as long as I know that women are being abused and raped, as long as I know girls are being denied life itself through selective abortion, abandonment, and abuse, as long as brave little girls in Afghanistan are attacked with acid for the crime of going to school, and until being a Christian is synonymous with doing something about these things, you can also call me a feminist.” 
― Sarah Bessey 

Holy and Holistic

So in the year since I have last blogged (sorry!) I have taken a full course load including two Greek classes, been on student council at my school, cooked healthy meals for myself, and learned a super important lesson. This lesson has led to a new way of understanding myself within God's ultimate plan.

I discovered that I have a very weird habit of compartmentalization. Everything goes into boxes that do not touch each other. Just like I wouldn't put chocolate and broccoli together, I wouldn't put school and family together for example. Everything is neat and tidy. Gradually this year, I realized that I have done the same process with myself.

I performed this dissection theologically. I understood from Christian tradition that I have a sin nature and a spirit nature. When humanity was made corrupt by the Fall, our very nature was split so that we desire sin as well as Christ. I am 100% sinner and 100% saint as Nadia Bolz-Weber would put it. So, I deduced, that there is a "Bad Laura" and a "Good Laura". The latter looks like Jesus when He was on earth but manifest in a small ginger girl. The former is all my anger, bitterness, and destructiveness when put into action.

In essence, I believed that there was a part of me that was irredeemable.

I would not have spelled it out that way before but it was definitely evident in how I prayed and lived. I wanted to be free from "Bad Laura". Any problems that I had were from "Bad Laura" and I just needed to control this part of me because it would lead me to death.

I'm just going to be honest with you, I was feeling broken and stressed this year. There was a lot going on that felt out of my control and I did not like that feeling. So, after being convinced by a friend, I went for counselling. I really don't like counselors or therapists. However, this guy was sarcastic and made Big Bang Theory references. So we got along great.

He told me something that I had never known. I really wish I could remember the exact words he used but I assume counselors get a bit weirded out when you take notes when they are speaking. Basically, I am a whole person. When I try to divide myself, I pull myself away from myself. (I picture the Robin Williams' movie Flubber's green goopy protagonist becoming two or more little Flubbers) That is when you have mental instability. Out of context, I think of the verse a "household divided against itself will not stand" (Matthew 12:25, NIV).

I learned that I am a whole person, fully redeemable by God.

There is no "Bad Laura" or "Good Laura". There is just Laura. She makes some bad choices but she also makes good ones. Why did I have to make it so complex? This was because of Christian dualism. Brian Walsh defines dualism as identifying “obedience, redemption, and the kingdom of God with only one area of life. It sees the rest of life as either unrelated to redemption, or worse – under the power of disobedience, sin, and the kingdom of darkness”. That's what I was doing. Looking back, I can see how discouraging it was to see half of myself as an agent of  darkness.

That side of me that I was pushing away and shutting up? That anger and destructiveness that I have? When it is redeemed in Christ, it is passion! It is a sense of justice! It is that part of me that will not sit down and let evil win. Yes, I have equal leanings to both sin and spirit, but as a whole person who can be redeemed.

I don't think that dualism has any place in the heart of Christ. Jesus was a big fan of unity; unity of believers, unity of the Trinity, and bringing us back into the dance of the Trinity. When I came to Bible College, I fell in love with the mystery of the Trinity. The Christian God is three in one, holy, holy, holy. He is so simple and yet we make Him so complex with division and hierarchy. God is whole and unified and desires for His followers to be likewise.

Understanding that I am a whole person, means that I see others in the same light. There is no person who is irredeemable in Christ. Now there's a statement. No one person, including myself, has made so many bad choices that any part of themselves is irredeemable. If I choose to see others in that way, the people who annoy me, the people who have hurt me, then I see them the way Jesus does. Redeemable and wholly loved.

God's ultimate plan is redemption and unity restored. No one is beyond the reach of His grasp, not me nor anyone. We are whole people, complete in Christ.

Soulmates, Aliens, and Jesus

"What if he's the one?"

I often imagine what different scenarios would sound like if heard by aliens. This phrase especially would boggle their three conjoined minds. The one what? 

We would have to explain to the aliens that we mean our soulmate - the person that we are destined to marry and spend the rest of our lives with.

I'm sure the aliens would still be confused. They would have many questions like "Does everyone have one of these? What if your population is an odd number?"

These are some of the same questions that I have been thinking for months. It all started with reading a quote from Plato. 

According to Greek mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate beings, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other halves.

When I read this, I started thinking. Often this kind of thinking is a process that lasts for months on and off until I find the answer I am looking for. The process began with the thought "What a sad existence."

If one truly believed Plato's line of thinking, then the sole purpose of living would be to find another person. And there can only be one person, so you must be very careful to make the right choice. North American culture really emphasizes this preoccupation with finding an ideal mate. Movies and music continually feed the perception that this is the most important priority. This could be thought of as an evolutionary instinct to ensure the continued procreation of our species, but it has become far more than that.  

Our culture's fascination with finding our soulmate is insane. It fills up so much of our media intake and much of our conversations. I am sorry to say that I find it most prevalent in the Christian sub-culture. I used to work in a Christian bookstore where most of the fiction was romance and the teen non fiction section was at least half full of dating books. Christian dating sites are incredibly popular. Bible College has gained the nickname Bridal College. 

Really think about that last line. 

Let's talk about soulmates for a second. This word implies that we have half of a soul, much like Plato's quote. However, that is definitely not Biblical. We were created whole and have the image of God in us. We are broken because of sin, but no human being can complete that work in us. Only Jesus can. We live for much more than finding one human being for own completion.

We are partnered with the Creator of the universe on a quest to bring the earth back to its original beauty. We fight dark powers that threaten the poor and oppressed. We give grace and love to those who never felt it before. This is our true purpose! 

I want to redefine soulmates. It's such a gorgeous word that I want to keep it in my vocabulary. I want to use it to describe the people in my life that I have a soul connection with. These people are just as broken as I am, but some of their pieces match mine. They can be any age, gender, or background. We sort of understand each other without saying anything. Some people may have this when it comes to spirituality, world issues, or just in the way that we communicate. A soulmate can definitely be a spouse, but he or she is one of many people who have this soul connection. Some of my soulmates are writers or singers who have expressed my fears and dreams in a way that I could not. They help me to become a better version of myself that is more able to help others. 

I want to think bigger than marriage. I'm not hating on marriage, I think it's a pretty amazing concept that two broken people can share their lives forever. However, I want to have my heart set on a plan that is greater than that. A dream that is beyond anything that we could ever imagine. I want to follow what Jesus has in mind for my life. 

Now I just have to explain that to the aliens. :)

Home

Well, I have survived my first year of bible college. I haven't been stoned for heresy or dancing. Which is a pretty impressive feat.

So I'm back in the town I've grown up in, sitting in pants that are now a little snug with that lovely freshman fifteen I'm wearing, and typing up a blog post.

It all feels exceptionally normal and yet not really. Even though nothing has really changed, it feels like everything has. Little things like the gas station isn't there anymore, or my family uses butter instead of margarine. I wouldn't have even noticed if I had been here the whole time. And I've changed too. I drink coffee in the morning and I speak differently. I have different phrases that I use and have inside jokes that no one here understands. It's very confusing.

An issue that I continually stumble on when I talk about bible college is I call it 'home'. It really frustrated me and I kept correcting myself. The house my family lives in must be my home. A dormitory can't.

 So one day when I was taking a walk, I thought about it.

Maybe home is where my stuff is? 
No. That can't be it. My stuff is equally divided

Maybe where people I love are located?
No, still divided equally.

Maybe wherever I can access the internet?
Now you are just being silly.

Then it hit me. The common denominator in both college and my hometown was myself. I remembered this really great line from Doctor Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog: "Home is where the heart is, so your real home's in your chest!" I'm not saying that my home is myself. What I am saying is that home is a concept in my head.

Home is not a location. It's how I categorize a situation. If I feel safe or comfortable in an environment, then I label it "home". I feel comfortable in my house, at college, when I am praying, when I'm walking, or even when I'm watching Doctor Who. :)

This may seem very basic to you. But when I thought of it, it all made sense. I love that I have more than one home and that is very special.

I'm curious, how do you describe "home"?

On Prayer Beads

My New Year's resolution for 2013 was to pray at least once every day. Before last year I was talking with God all the time, but (insert stereotypical teenage emotions) and my prayer life changed to become non-existent.

I really don't like that and I miss talking to Someone higher than my human problems. Praying gives me a better perspective on my life. More importantly I want to have a better relationship with the One I say that I follow and has control of my life.

When I came home from college (aw yeah college kid!) I went to the mall in my hometown and went in one of those seasonal shops. It was a Mayan craft shop and it had some awesome jewelry. So good my wallet hurt.

Then I saw this little necklace (something similar to what is pictured to your right) and I got really excited! In my youth ministry class we had read "Presence-Centered Youth Ministry" which was full of different spiritual disciplines. The author Mike King discussed how he personally uses a chotki (or a prayer rope) to help focus on God during prayer. He assigned a prayer to each bead and held each bead as he prayed.

I decided that I wanted to try this out. I call the necklace my prayer training wheels. I haven't prayed for a while and instead of falling - I want to stabilize myself. Another metaphor would be conversational cards. If a marriage was not working and the couple was not talking anymore, then perhaps they would use conversational cards. Perhaps it seems a bit dysfunctional, but I am a dysfunctional human being and I am not alone in that :)

What I do with the prayer beads is I use the two top beads as "Glory Be" beads. I recite this prayer twice for both beads:

"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end." 

Then I reach a strand of ten beads on the left side and I pray the Jesus Prayer for each of these ten beads, emphasizing a different word each time:

"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

Then I go to the ten beads on the other side and say the bridge to Hosanna by Hillsong United:

"Heal my heart. Make it clean. Open up my eyes. To the things unseen. Break my heart. For what breaks Yours. Eyerything I have. For Your kingdom's cause. As I walk from earth. Into eternity."

Then I reach the five beads in the middle. The first bead is "God You are..." and I say how I see God that day. The second bead is "Thank You for..." and I say how God has blessed me that day. Third is "I'm sorry for..." and I say how I messed up that day. Next is "Please help my friends..." and I ask for help for a specific friend that is troubled that day. Lastly, I reach the "Please help me..." and I say one thing that I could use help with to become a better person.

Then I reach the cross and say the Lord's Prayer:

"Our Father Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen."

I like being able to personalize this method and that I can have traditional prayers in it that have been used throughout time. It connects me with other believers in far different settings than me, but adding in things like lyrics from worship songs help make it less traditional. I also put in those discussion beads so that I could start talking to God about my day like I used to.

Most likely this is just a temporary measure like training wheels and conversational cards. I doubt I'll be using this necklace forever. I just want to get back into actively being in a discussion with God. The method I'm using could be called strange...but so far it's working and I feel a bit more centered.

I just wanted to share that because we shouldn't be afraid to worship God in different ways. He is a big God who has revealed Himself in so many ways. I think He rejoices when we find new and creative ways to embrace Him and show our love. :)

Regeneration

I absolutely love the show Doctor Who. It’s this amazing show that defies all attempts of genre and is just so ridiculously awesome it blows my mind. But most importantly, it has David Tennant. Whom I freakin’ adore. He plays the Doctor who is, to put it very simply, a time-and-space-traveller.

There is this one point in the show where David Tennant first appears and he’s a regeneration of the Doctor before him.  This means that because he is a completely new person he has to figure out who he is. At one point, the alien leader demands to know who the Doctor is.  And he replies:

“I don't know! See that's the thing. I'm the Doctor. But beyond that I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. It's all untested. Am I funny? Am I sarcastic? Sexy? Right old misery? Life and soul? Right-handed, left-handed? A gambler, a fighter, a coward, a traitor, a liar, a nervous wreck? I mean judging by the evidence I've certainly got a gob.”

As hilarious as this scene is, it always makes me stop for a second. It’s a very true statement. And especially now that I’m in college, it makes more sense than ever. I’m learning tons about myself here. Not only am I completely independent, it’s also a totally different environment and sub-culture than I’m used to. I no longer have my friends and family to rely on for social cues.

It’s all untested.

I have no idea how I’ll react to different circumstances. I’ve already surprised myself by my own actions. Such as publically ranting about something or performing at an improv night. It’s a curious thing to be surprised by your own actions but it’s also really exciting.

I think that God has given us an extraordinary gift. He’s given us ourselves. We get to investigate our personalities, strengths, and challenges. Understanding ourselves and how we function is something fascinating to learn about. And it always changes. 60-year-old Laura is going to be way different than 19-year-old Laura. I’m constantly going to be learning about myself throughout my life.

This sounds incredibly narcissistic, so let me put it this way. It’s as though your mom gave you a leaf-blower and told you to do some work around the yard. You are going to need to learn how to use the leaf-blower before you can complete the job. When you take the time to understand the tool then you can understand the task. The more that you know of yourself, the better you understand your strengths, the better you understand your strengths, the better a job you can do for God.

I am not advocating a lifetime in a monastery trying to figure out who you are. I would say that the best ways to figure out who you are living with God (who knows who the best version of you is), living in community (who can show you how to be the best version of you), and in reflection (finding what the best version of you means for your life). 

Right now, I am trying very hard to live this way. I do want to become a better version of myself and while it can be very difficult to figure out who I am, I'm excited to find out who God made me to be and how I can use it to do something for Him. 

But at this point in time, I'm going to go watch some Doctor Who ;)

Hit Me with a Double Double Standard

(While I'm waiting for responses for the Breaking Bread series, I had an idea for a post. Please feel free to comment and discuss!)

I hate listening to the radio. I can’t stand the fact that I have no choice of what I listen to next and when annoying commercials come on. It drives me crazy. But at work we have the radio, and nothing but the radio, so help me God. 

So, for better or for worse, I was listening to the radio when they had a comedian come on and share a brief one minute joke. I found it on the internet afterwards. 

“A man and his wife were arguing one day. It had gotten pretty intense and finally, his wife stopped and said to him, "How would you like it if you didn't see me for two or three days?"
To which he stubbornly replied, "That would be fine with me."
Well, Monday went by and he didn't see his wife. Tuesday and Wednesday came and went with the same results. However, by Thursday, the swelling went down just enough where he could see her out of the corner of his left eye.”

People who know me can always tell when I’m thinking by my face. And I’m sure, had one of those people been there, they would have laughed at my expression  because my brain kicked into overdrive. I had one question spinning through my gears. “What if you switch the genders?” 

What if I came up to you and repeated this same joke, but said the wife got her eye swollen? It’s really not funny. It becomes almost sexist. But apparently it’s not when it’s the man getting hurt. 

Just so you know this is not an isolated incident. In many different TV sitcoms and movies it’s shown as funny or not very harmful to anyone. While researching this, I found this video. It’s a little long but honestly it’s worth it. Warning: there are multiple scenes of violence. 

A guy I follow on Facebook once posted "I heard a man explaining to someone younger that it was never right to hit a woman. Good to know, here I was under the impression it was never right to hit anybody."

If people are interested I may post something about pacifism…but that’s where I stand on violence. It’s never okay to inflict pain on other human beings. All people need to be respected and should not treated as less than human. It’s never funny to actually hit someone. 

What do you think? Is it okay for a woman to hit a man? Where do you stand on violence?

BREAKING BREAD #1: Eating Goat Cheese with an Atheist

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm doing my very first blog series! Breaking Bread is going to be compiled of interviews with people I know who have different religions/faiths/beliefs other than Christian. I think Christians in general stay inside a little bubble of people who agree with their beliefs. They tend not to listen to to how other people arrived at their beliefs. This series is basically just listening to (not arguing or debating) other people's views. I'm so excited about this and hope to find a lot of people who want to talk about their beliefs!

For my first post, I am exceptionally proud to be interviewing my dear bestie, Rose Brown. She and I have been friends for over a year but she's a huge part of my life. She loves Queen, cats, reading, board games, shopping, and is getting a degree in art history. She's also an atheist and that's what she is going to be talking about today.

Rose, how would you describe your religious (or nonreligious) belief?

There’s this common misconception that there are 3 basic types of religious viewpoints, which look like this:

The general idea is that you can plot yourself on this chart in order to indicate the stage you’re at, or the stages that you are in between. However, when you take all the possibilities into account, the chart looks more like this:

Gnostic means certainty, where as agnostic means lack of certainty, or lack of knowledge. Theism means belief in a god, where as atheism means lack of belief in a god. You can use this chart to match up your levels of gnosticism and theism in order to show exactly where you stand. If I had to plot myself on this chart, I’d be in the bottom right corner. I’m an agnostic atheist, meaning that I believe very, very strongly that God doesn’t exist, but I acknowledge that there really isn’t any way to prove God’s non-existence. (In the same way that I can’t prove that Will Smith isn’t the reincarnation of Voltaire, or that there isn’t a fourth season of Arrested Development that only Barack Obama knows about. Not being able to prove that these things aren’t real doesn’t make them any more probable.)

Most atheists probably fit into the agnostic atheism bracket, since it fits so well with scientific reasoning, so they’ll very rarely go out of their way to identify themselves this way. But I try to make it clear that I’m an agnostic atheist because I think it sounds a bit less frightening. People can be very quick to judge someone by their religious beliefs, especially when it comes to something as drastic as atheism, which has some pretty scary connotations attached to it. But by saying that I’m an agnostic atheist, I make myself sound a little less daunting and scary to someone who thinks that atheists are bad people. By using a term that a lot of people aren’t familiar with, I also try to make people curious enough to ask me what agnostic atheism means, initiate religion discussion, and clear up any negative ideas they might have about my lot.

What was your journey to becoming an atheist?

This is a really difficult question for me to answer, because I became an atheist very slowly, over a long period of time. I was raised in a very devout Christian family, but I think the first bits of doubt appeared 3 or 4 years ago, when I was in grades 10 and 11. It was around this time that I had a massive epiphany. I believed in God, I was more than happy to worship and pray to him, and definitely feared of him, just like the bible said I should. But I didn’t love him, which made me feel alienated in the Christian community. While people at church were calling out Jesus’ name in the middle of a prayer, or while kids at bible camp were sobbing on the floor as they worshiped God, I remained utterly stoic.

There was a part of me that was terrified at this tiny flaw in my otherwise perfect religious life. What did this mean for my future with the church? A life without religion seemed frightening, like the idea of stepping away from the edge of a cliff and plunging into a dark abyss. But there was another part of me that was curious. Why didn’t I love God? So after this had been going on for a while, I couldn’t help but try to figure out why I wasn’t the perfect Christian that my upbringing had taught me to be. And when I finally let myself question my love for God, the answer to my question appeared.

I didn’t love God because of Christianity. Throughout history, Christianity has been responsible for some of the most horrible monstrosities to have ever taken place. The Crusades. The Inquisition. Westboro. I felt disgusted by these things, and wanted nothing to do with them. And once I accepted this, I realized that I wanted nothing to do with God either. I suddenly saw God as this furious tyrant, ready to lash out at anyone who dared to defy him, and felt that I had been right to fear him. And, following the same logic as before, the realization that I thought this terrified me. So I stashed these feelings away, and continued to go to church, pray, and be a Christian, all the while hoping that I wouldn’t be found out. But this repulsion continued to boil away beneath the surface, and it was obvious that I’d have to face it sooner or later.

Enough time passed for me to contemplate God a little more. Now that I’d opened the floodgates, everything was starting to disappear. First had been my love for God, then my respect for Christianity, and now I was losing my belief. Looking back, it was the best thing I’ve ever done, but at the time I was unbelievably scared. If you tell someone, for their entire life, that not loving God, that thinking nasty things about religion, and that considering that people like Darwin might have been right will earn them a one-way ticket to hell, of course they’re going to be emotionally scarred when they finally start to feel that way.

But I fought against the fear, and I finally started to give in. I did a bit of research about Christianity. I pottered about the religion section of Yahoo Answers. (Something I do not recommend one bit. That entire website is just somewhere for the shallowest atheists to go to bully anyone with religious beliefs.) I googled ‘how to tell your parents you’re agnostic.’ Agnostic. Not atheist. If there was one thing I didn’t want to be, it was an atheist. The only atheist I’d ever known personally was a girl I knew in grade 8, but she’d also claimed to have been to hell during near-death experiences, and decorated her bedroom with black paint and chains. Not exactly the best of role models.

After 3 years of dodging the bullet, I realized that I’d have to tell my parents. I was about to go to university, and my dad kept talking about all the Christian clubs he wanted me to join. Finally, during a particularly emotional time in my life, I told my mum that I wasn’t a Christian. I said that I didn’t know what I was, but I didn’t want to continue going to church, and I didn’t want to hide my beliefs anymore. She told my dad, and it wasn’t really talked about anymore. For a while, I felt like I was walking on eggshells, but then I began to feel relieved. The worst of it-the emotional turmoil, the fear, the secrecy-was all over, and I was suddenly at this new part of my life where I could be who I wanted to be, not who God wanted me to be. I felt free. And, for the first time in my life, I felt genuinely happy.

And then, the best thing happened. I got online. I joined several communities, and started to look even deeper into who I was, and the sort of people I belonged to. That’s when I came across the idea of agnostic atheism, and suddenly what I believed had a name, and there were other people who felt the same way I did. And once agnostic atheism came into the picture, atheism itself seemed a lot less scary.

I can still remember the first day I said the A word. It was May 21st, 2011, and I was leaving the store where I worked. According to Harold Camping, I was going to be cast into a pit of fire that very afternoon for my heathen ways, but for the first time, I wasn’t scared one bit. I was buying a chocolate bar, which I was going to eat when Mr. Camping’s prediction didn’t come true. I was chatting to my supervisor, and telling her about the chocolate-fest I had planned, when she said, “Aren’t you religious?”

And I looked her square in the eyes and said, “No, my parents are, but I’m an atheist.” And then I went home and I ate my chocolate and I listened to We Are the Champions and I didn’t go to hell. (Although I did get a nasty shock when my Dad turned on the lawnmower at the exact moment of Camping’s supposed apocalypse.)

Would you say it was more of an emotional response, or logical?

It’s a bit of both, really. Like I said before, it all started with a lack of emotion, specifically love. That eventually turned into fear, but I feel like in the end it was logic that won out. I’m not saying that a theist can’t be logical, but it was researching theology and deciding for a fact that God didn’t exist that helped me beat the terror.

It’s definitely been emotional since then, but in a good way. Through atheism I’ve found a way of looking at the world in a way that gives me joy. Once I got over the idea that we’re alone in this universe, (I’m talking about God, by the way, not aliens. I’m pretty gnostic about extraterrestrial life.) it wasn’t half as scary as I thought it would be.

The fear was almost paralyzing near the start, though. Like I mentioned before, if you tell someone that not believing in God will result in them going to hell, they’re going to panic the moment they realize that they aren’t religious. It’s basic indoctrination, and it’s present in any part of life, but most of all in religion.

To this day, even though I don’t have any major problems with religion, the one thing I cannot stand is indoctrination. I went to church for the first time in months with my parents last Christmas. For most of it, I was okay. I really enjoyed singing Christmas carols, and even managed to grit my teeth and play ‘spot the logical fallacy’ during the sermon. But there was one part where I felt a little bit sick and, had I not been there with family and friends, probably would have left. It was the bit where children were brought up on to the stage to read aloud from the bible. I couldn’t help but think that raising children in this kind of environment, where you expect them to be devout and decide their religious preferences for them, cannot possibly be healthy. Sure, a lot of them are probably going to fantastic Christians, and lovely people. But a few of them will be like me. They’ll have been indoctrinated to believe that not loving God is a sin for which they’ll be punished, and when their beliefs finally start to slip away, they’re going to be absolutely terrified, and are going to feel totally alone. Losing my religion is the most painful thing that has ever happened to me, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

How have the people in your life reacted to that?

On the whole, it’s been much, much better than I thought it would be. My mum’s first reaction was that she and my dad had suspected that something was wrong. (Although she’d thought I was gay.) A little while later, after I’d moved out, I explained agnostic atheism to my dad, and he responded by lending me The God Delusion, which he’d bought in order to challenge his faith. I kept everything to myself while I was still home. I didn’t really tell any of my friends, until quite recently and people didn’t comment on the fact that I wasn’t going to church anymore. If religion came up, I changed the subject.

But then I went to university, and everything changed. I suddenly had a chance to start over, and was suddenly surrounded by people who were a lot more open minded than in my hometown. I had a philosophy lecture, where nearly every single student was an atheist. I still remember the outrage when we studied the Ontological Argument. It was absolutely insane.

Funnily enough, I didn’t become friends with any other atheists. I think a lot of people my age aren’t very strongly convicted, so even people who were religious weren’t very loud about it. If anything, university is a chance for people to get away from their religious families for a while, and figure out who they are.

There were a few religious people there, however, and I ended becoming friends with some of them. While they were talking about their churches or synagogues, or how their religion made them feel about something, I’d respond with “I’m an atheist, so I think [insert statement here]. This is when things stopped being freaky, and just got hilarious. I’d watch them out of the corner of my eye, and see them turn quickly towards me, as if they thought I was going to grow devil’s horns and tackle them to the ground.

But once I made them realize that I was a nice atheist, everyone was okay with it. Not just most people. Everyone. I eventually started a philosophy study group with two girls-one Catholic, one Jewish. We’d start off chatting about Kant or Bentham or whoever, but we’d always end up talking about religion. And you know what? Apart from the obvious stuff, like abortion or the existence of heaven, we had pretty much the same opinions. It made me realize that sometimes, religion doesn’t shape who you are. Some people are jerks, and some people are cool. Whether or not you’re religious doesn’t have as much to do with it as a lot of people think.

How has atheism changed your everyday views?

Atheism isn’t the only part of me. I think that’s a very important thing to remember. There is a bit of a trend in humanity (encouraged by both theists and atheists) to look at someone only through a religious scope. So I think it’s important to remember that any changes to my everyday views are due to my development as a person, not just as an atheist.

But of course atheism’s contributed to my views. It would be hard for it not to. Obviously, I now believe in evolution, and don’t believe that there’s such thing as God’s ‘chosen people’. I don’t see any human as superior to another, because any biblical premise that would have made me think that in the past is now completely invalid in my eyes.

I think the biggest changes haven’t been made by atheism directly, but by the communities that I’ve taken part in since becoming an atheist. Most atheists are quite liberal. They oppose bigotry and support same-sex marriage. They believe in the separation of the church and the state. They are typically pro-choice, pro-birth control and support feminism. And when you’re exposed to these sorts of people for lengthy periods, you can’t help but begin to agree with them.

I find that overall, the biggest change in my life has been open-mindedness. When I was a Christian, everything that didn’t fit into my idea of how the world should be was wrong. Islam. Atheism. Homosexuality. Prostitution. Abortion. Anyone who was different from me was inferior. And now that I’m no longer a Christian, things are completely different. It’s not that I now accept that atheists are the good guys. I feel much more open-minded in regards to everyone. I do not believe that creationists or pro-life advocates are subordinate. If someone is different than me, I now see them as an opportunity to learn about their viewpoints, and expand my knowledge of humanity.

I don’t think that any of this is to do with atheism itself. More than anything, I think it’s due to changing from one very radical view to another. It shakes up your entire world and, for a little bit, makes you feel like an outsider. Part of me thinks that everyone should have to go through this, just so you know what it’s like to be alienated.

What could theists and atheists be doing differently?

This.

Seriously, exactly what this series of blogs is doing. Interaction between religions is vital, and has been pretty much absent from up until now. I think that the world would benefit greatly if everyone just got off their high horses, and learned more about people with different beliefs than theirs. Since leaving Christianity, I’ve seen a lot of attempts to make a connection with other religions, and it’s given me a lot of hope. But there needs to be more.

I think that even chatting with one person who has different beliefs than you is very healthy for your own beliefs, because it makes you doubt them. If you can acknowledge your doubt, and then rebuild the foundation of your belief despite it, your faith will turn out much stronger, and you’ll probably learn a little bit more about it in the process.

What would you recommend for someone who wants to know more about atheism?

It really depends. The best thing possible is to speak to like-minded people. If you’re in say, a university town, great! Track down the nearest philosophy department and have a field day. But if you come from a predominantly Christian town like I am, the internet is your friend. I seriously don’t think I would be half as confident in my beliefs if I hadn’t had access to all the amazing atheist communities that I joined.

I’ve mentioned these sites a few times throughout this blog, and I think now’s a great time to name them. First off, the Friendly Atheist’s blog. (http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/) This guy is fantastic. His name is Hemant Mehta, and he manages to post content that both promotes atheistic ideas, but also abstains from bashing religion. One of my favorite moments from his blog is when a church was vandalized by atheists, and he started a fund to help repair the damage. All the atheists who followed his blog raised thousands of dollars.

Another fantastic site that I found very helpful at the start is Think Atheist. (http://www.thinkatheist.com/) This site is a combination of blogs and forums, and has a great mix of humor, theology, philosophy, and advice. It’s a great spot to go to for support. It’s golden moment is from a year or two ago. A Christian woman created an account, and asked for help dealing with her best friend, who had just come out as an atheist. She wanted to know how to make her friend feel loved, and make sure religion didn’t get in the way of their friendship. The response was overwhelming. Every person who commented was unbelievably nice, and didn’t once chide her for her beliefs. If you’re thinking of becoming an atheist, I think that these are the sorts of people you need to surround yourself with.

At the moment, the community that I’m most involved with the the atheist subreddit. (http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/) I feel really comfortable there, because everyone is very open-minded and friendly. There is a bit of a same-sex marriage/pro-choice agenda, but the result of this is a community free from any bigotry or hatred. I wouldn’t advise diving into a site like this until you know a bit more about atheism, since it isn’t as informative as the other sites.

I think that above all, the best thing to do is research. The fact that we’ve got the internet at our fingertips is fantastic for anyone who is curious about atheism. Look up whatever you need to, and don’t think for a second that researching this kind of thing means you’ll end up being an atheist. If you end up needing it, FightingAtheist has a fantastic video on how to tell your parents that you’re not religious. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXDy1gVcWCc) And above all, don’t be scared. Trust me, it’s going to turn out okay in the end.

What is your favourite food?

At the moment...goat’s cheese. I have no idea how I lasted this long without it in my life. I feel like my conversion from Christianity to atheism would have been a lot less rocky if goat’s cheese had been involved.

But failing that, you can never beat baked beans.

Thanks Rose for sharing!

If you or someone you know would like to be interviewed for this blog talking about their religion - please message me! Thanks for reading!

Why I Wear a Cross

If you have ever met me face to face (which is a fabulous experience) then you will have seen my silver cross necklace. I never take it off. It’s just your average small cross on a twisted silver chain. It does not have the power to exorcise demons or unlock Narnia. It’s just always around my neck.

If this is your first time to my blog (hi!) then you should know that I am a Christian. I try to follow the guidelines for living that this guy named Jesus laid out for humanity. I started following him when I was around 14 and that’s when I started wearing this cross.

I want to point out the reasons that I DON’T wear a cross. 

• Fashion (people who know me would laugh at the idea of Laura following a trend – unless it’s cheap)
• Evangelism/recruiting (really not my style)
• Giving hot Christian boys a signal that I’m a follower and single (okay that one might be true)

Jokes aside, here’s the reason I do wear a cross.

One day I was shopping with my dad and I started an argument with him about the kind of toothpaste we should buy. Yes, I know it’s a stupid argument but ain’t nobody comes between me and my Crest. Anyway I was really ticked at him and I kept arguing even when another person came down the aisle. I leaned down to show my dad that this was most certainly not the right kind of toothpaste that I desired. My cross dangled in front of my glasses and I stopped. I realized that I needed to be more like the person that I claim to follow.

The real reason that I wear my cross is basically because I want to remember. It’s kind of like tying a string around your finger. It reminds me that I’m living for a purpose and that I should be showing love to the people around me. I don’t want to be a hypocrite. If I say that I am a follower of Jesus then I should act like him.

 Now that being said, there is a reason that my cross has a twisted chain. That makes it very strong and unable for me to break it. Why? Because I always pull on it when I hear about Christians who hate gay people, picket funerals, predict the end of time, make uneducated statements, manipulate people, kill abortionists, yell at Wiccans and atheists, and just being jerks. 

My eyes teared up when I typed that. I hate the fact that I share a name with those people. I always pull on my cross when I hear about those things because I want to cut my ties with them.

However, the Bible tells me that these people are my brothers and sisters. This is my family. And they are so screwed up!! But this cross around my neck declares that we are come from the same blood. And I mess up and I’m sure that my brothers and sisters are ashamed to have me in their family too. But I like to think they look at their cross necklace and remember that they have to love people, no matter how hard they pull on the chain.

My Universal Camera (or Laura's First Big Thought)

Sometimes when I’m stressing out, I pretend I have a camera. And I zoom in on my feelings and thoughts. They’re all mixed up and thrashing around in my braincells.

Slowly, and the speed is important, I zoom out. I see all of myself now. I see my mind, body, and spirit. And I zoom out farther. I see me among my friends and family.

I zoom out more until I see my town. It’s small and lets off little lights at the edge of the highway. I zoom out farther and see my province. A big large chunk of land stuck beside some lakes. 

I zoom out further and see my country. It’s a sweet little place that sits on top of another country. It’s very quiet.

I put on a special kind of lens and zoom out until I see my planet. It’s white and blue and turns ever so slowly. I zoom out further and see the Milky Way Galaxy. It’s a breathtakingly gorgeous white spiral.

I gulp before the next one. It’s the hardest for me to do. I turn the zoom control as hard as I can and I see the universe. The Milky Way is just on the edge there. I have to blink several times to try to wrap my mind around it.

I then hit it one more time. I zoom out to see the universe like a ball of yarn. All twisted and knotted. It’s full of time, matter, and energy. All the noise and action of every being is contained within it.

I can just make out the outline of a great big tri-fold spirit. They’re weaving their way in between the yarn. They are reaching out, whispering, and loving. They are gently ferocious. They created it and they can destroy it. But they don’t. They continue to love the infinitesimal creatures and pull them towards their selves. 

At the moment there is a tiny microorganism that is being evolved in a planet on the other side of the universe. They are watching and helping it along the way. 

My camera’s zoom function snaps and I’m back to only seeing myself. I inhale fresh oxygen into my lungs and exhale it out. And in that action, I know.

I know that I am alive. I know that I am cared for. I know that I have a purpose. I know that I am so very very small. And I know that there is Someone who loves me just as much as that microorganism that just recently evolved. And just like that microorganism, they are watching, listening, and helping me along the way.

Everything is small.

Everything is temporary.

Everything but this beautiful tri-fold spirit. 

 



God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. They continue to whisper through my life and yours. They desperately want to sweep away our selfishness, our anger, and our grief. They wait and call for us to come home. They are so filled with love and partner with us to change the universe. Everything that is good and beautiful in the world is their handiwork. They love what they’ve created and love to share it with all of us. They are eternal, never-changing, joyful, and intensely good.

And I think no matter what I’m facing, I’m going to try to keep the focus of my lens on what is permanent. And from the camera that I own, that is God.

(This is just how I see it. Everyone sees the universe differently. And that’s what I think God loves about us. We’re so different. Not one of us the same. I think that drives him crazy with excitement and curiosity.)

Adventures in Wearing a Hijab

The exact hijab I bought.

So I bought a beautiful dark emerald green hijab over the internet. It’s made of soft breathable material and wraps around my head and neck so my hair doesn’t show. (However, I do not have an amira hijab underneath though which is the part that hides the bangs). I bought it because I have always wanted to try one ever since I started watching Little Mosque on the Prairie. I also wanted to see how it feels to wear one in today’s society. 

It is oddly the sexiest thing I’ve ever worn. In all seriousness, I felt gorgeous wearing it. It is a more feminine article of clothing than I would usually wear. The thing is I hate wearing dresses or skirts. And I’m growing my hair out for prom and I have found that it's very uncomfortable for me to have long hair. So you have to imagine my surprise when as soon as I put on this traditional Muslim head covering, I found I was more confident in my femininity and less self-conscious of myself. 

I volunteer at my church every Wednesday and I love it there. It’s quite frankly my second home. So I decided what better place to show off my new accessory - as well as see how people react to it. Also my friend dared me to wear it in front of at least one pastor. 

So I wore it in front of three pastors.

The first pastor who saw me was my mentor, boss, and friend. She looked up and smiled and asked me what was up with my new look. She was confused and amused at the same time. And she also wanted to know why I was trying this out. When I explained to her she said “Oh” and smiled.

The second pastor was her husband and my youth pastor. I share an office space with him and I came in to get something and because he was busy it didn’t quite register that I was wearing a hijab. 

Later he came out into the foyer and when I walked toward him he doubled over laughing and asked me between giggles if I had converted to Islam. Just so you know, this is because I often try to prank people to get a reaction. And it’s usually these aforementioned pastors that I do this to.  I smiled back and said I was just trying something out. He, then believing this to be a serious endeavor, apologized for laughing and then asked me why I was wearing it. I described it simply as a sociological experiment. Oh, was the reply. 

The third pastor I wore it in front of was my senior pastor at my church. He and I don’t really talk too much but he’s a very kind-hearted guy who loves people. He made the same smiling statement of asking me if I had converted to Islam and when I said that I was trying something new, he smiled and said “Oh.”

This seems to be a common word for pastors.

Later he stopped by and we talked about how school was going for me and how excited I was for college. Like I said, very kind hearted guy. 

That night was youth group and I run the snack stand and welcome people into the church. The most interesting thing about this experiment is that not one of the youth asked what was on my head or why I was wearing it. 

They all said hi to me. I talked with some of them for ten to fifteen minutes and yet, it was not mentioned. 

I think I could’ve gone all night without it being talked about - had my youth pastor not made a light-hearted joke about it. Then people laughed and acknowledged the fact that I was wearing a hijab. Later, one girl came up and asked me why I was wearing it. 

Mainly, this was just a sociological experiment. Or at least it started out that way. But it turned into something more when I realized how at ease I felt when I wearing the hijab. I wonder if people realize how it’s not really that restricting…in fact it’s much more freeing. I didn’t have to worry about if my hair was getting greasy or if it was getting scraggly at the ends. I could focus more on what was going on around me and yet know that I still looked great. 

I wish the hijab wasn’t so controversial. It’s because of this controversy that I wouldn’t have worn it outside of my church - or in another church for that matter. I think it looks great, it’s comfortable, and it’s freeing. 

I understand that I’m talking about this as a fashion accessory and not a religious covering. I understand that Muslim women wear it, not because it looks gorgeous and it’s comfortable, but because it is a show of modesty within their culture. They believe that their hair is part of their sexuality and it’s not to be flaunted in public. It’s also a symbol of their religion, just like I wear a cross necklace as a Christian shows my faith. 

I hope it doesn’t seem like I’m undermining that. I have so much respect for the Muslim women who wear their hijab in public as a show of their religion and modesty. 

What I am saying is that the controversy around the hijab is unfortunate because I personally love wearing it and would definitely continue to wear it. And I’m quite sure that I sound like a coward who won’t stand up for what she believes in. But you know what? To me, it is a fashion accessory. Just like to a Muslim woman, my cross necklace would be a fashion accessory. 

I won’t stand up for the right to wear a fashion accessory. But I have gained newfound respect and admiration for the women who stand up for the right for their religious freedom. And I’m also incredibly envious that they get to look so gorgeous all the time. 

What are your thoughts on the hijab? Let me know in the comments below or on Facebook. I'd love to get some discussion going!