If only God hadn’t made women . . .

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From Karen Armstrong’s A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam:

A religion which teaches men and women to regard their humanity as chronically flawed can alienate them from themselves.  Nowhere is this alienation more evident than in the denigration of sexuality in general and women in particular.  Even though Christianity had originally been quite positive for women, it had already developed a misogynistic tendency in the West by the time of Augustine.  The letters of Jerome teem with loathing of the female which occasionally sounds deranged. Tertullian had castigated women as evil temptresses, an eternal danger to mankind …. Augustine is clearly puzzled that God should have made the female sex: after all, “if it was good company and conversation that Adam needed, it would have been much better arranged to have two men together as friends, not a man and a woman.” Women’s only function was the childbearing which passed the contagion of Original Sin to the next generation, like a venereal disease.  … Western Christianity never fully recovered from this neurotic misogyny …

The similarities aren’t because of god, they’re because of our brains

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From Karen Armstrong’s A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam:

The notion of an enlightenment that was impersonal, beyond human categories and natural to humanity was also close to the Hindu and Buddhist ideal in India … Thus despite the more superficial differences, there were profound similarities between the monotheistic and other versions of reality.  It seems that when human beings contemplate the absolute, they have very similar ideas and experiences.  The sense of presence, ecstasy and dread in the presence of a reality – called nirvana, the One, Brahman or God – seems to be a state of mind and a perception that are natural and endlessly sought by human beings.

Early feminism

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From Karen Armstrong’s A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam:

Today it is common in the West to depict Islam as an inherently misogynistic religion, but, like Christianity, the religion of al-Lah was originally positive for women. During the [pre-Islamic period] … the majority were on par with slaves; they had no political or human rights, and female infanticide was common.  Women had been among Muhammad’s earliest converts, and their emancipation was a project that was dear to his heart.  The Koran strictly forbade the killing of female children and rebuked the Arabs for their dismay when a girl was born.  It also gave women legal rights of inheritance and divorce: most Western women had nothing comparable until the nineteenth century.  Muhammad encouraged women to play an active role in the affairs of the [community of believers], and they expressed their views forthrightly, confident that they would be heard. … One of their most important questions was why the Koran addressed men only when women had also made their surrender to God.  The result was a revelation that addressed women as well as men and emphasized the absolute moral and spiritual equality of the sexes.  Thereafter the Koran quite frequently addressed women explicitly, something that rarely happens in either the Jewish or Christian scriptures.

This is what climate change looks like

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Scientists are masters of understatement:

Findings of relatively slow tree migration rates in response to historical changes in climate (potentially < 100 m per year) are unfortunate in light of model predictions of how fast tree species will need to migrate to track current climates under climate change scenarios.*

Dead Conifers on West Mesa after Cedar Fire (May, 2004) Photo by Heather Karnes-Schmalbach

Dead Conifers on West Mesa after Cedar Fire (May, 2004) Photo by Heather Karnes-Schmalbach

Dead trees in Thornham, Norfolk

Dead trees in Thornham, Norfolk

Aerial view of the once lush forests of the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska.

Aerial view of the once lush forests of the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska.

Dead trees show the beetles' paths through an otherwise healthy forest. (USDA Forestry Service)

Dead trees show the beetles' paths through an otherwise healthy forest. (USDA Forestry Service)

Peter Essick/Getty Images

Peter Essick/Getty Images

Dead ponderosa

Dead ponderosa

*Aitken, S N, S Yeaman, J A Holliday, T Wang, and S Curtis-McLane. “Adaptation, Migration or Extirpation: Climate Change Outcomes for Tree Populations.” Evolutionary Applications 1, no. 1 (2008): doi:10.1111/j.1752-4571.2007.00013.x.

Forgot?

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I had a fantastic birthday.  I made red velvet cupcakes and someone brought a chocolate-pomegranate cheesecake that was unbelievably good (I ate the leftovers for every meal until it was gone).  Someone made me a blue coffee mug that is so pretty it makes my coffee taste better.  Then, everyone at least pretended to enjoy playing Balderdash, which is one of my very favorite games.

cupcakes

Christmas was pretty good, too.  I wore a lovely dress, so that put me in a great mood straight away.  I spent most of Christmas at my grandmother’s – via Skype.  While I wish I could have spent more time with my brother and sister, Christmas-on-Skype is way more pleasant than Christmas-in-person with my family.

I got all kinds of fantastic gifts: lemon and lime curd (time to bake scones!), lots of adorable (and warm) socks (who doesn’t like green argyle?), The Settlers of Catan (which might be more fun than Balderdash), garlic stuffed olives (I eat them by the jar), and fancy whole wheat flour that makes delicious eggnog pancakes and perfect bread.

I know you’re feeling terrifically guilty for forgetting to get me both a Christmas and a birthday present.  Luckily, you can assuage that guilt and save the world AT THE SAME TIME: Just head over to Population Connection and donate!  Population Connection is all about curbing population growth. Their work makes it clear that they understand the connection between women’s rights and reduced fertility rates.

If saving the world isn’t your thing, but you think I’m awesome, the Migraine Research Foundation is another good place to send your hard earned money.  I’d like for there to be new drugs for me to try once I get health insurance again. Or a better explanation for the root cause than “something happens and the brain stem doesn’t like it.”

If you don’t have cash to spare, but do any of your shopping online, you can still support the Migraine Research Foundation through Giving Pal.