{"id":5011,"date":"2021-08-08T10:47:28","date_gmt":"2021-08-08T09:47:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/?p=5011"},"modified":"2021-08-07T11:18:33","modified_gmt":"2021-08-07T10:18:33","slug":"reflections-on-fundamentalism-and-paganism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/reflections-on-fundamentalism-and-paganism\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflections on Fundamentalism and Paganism"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_5012\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5012\" style=\"width: 965px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/?attachment_id=5012\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5012\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-River-Min-Sketch-of-Percy-R-Cratt.jpg\" alt=\"The River Min - Sketch of Percy R Cratt\" width=\"965\" height=\"711\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5012\" srcset=\"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-River-Min-Sketch-of-Percy-R-Cratt.jpg 965w, https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-River-Min-Sketch-of-Percy-R-Cratt-300x221.jpg 300w, https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-River-Min-Sketch-of-Percy-R-Cratt-768x566.jpg 768w, https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-River-Min-Sketch-of-Percy-R-Cratt-700x516.jpg 700w, https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-River-Min-Sketch-of-Percy-R-Cratt-332x245.jpg 332w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 965px) 100vw, 965px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5012\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The River Min &#8211; Sketch of Percy R Cratt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The statues by which some faiths pray<br \/>\nTo help or to for them intercede<br \/>\nAngers those of a fundamentalist streak<br \/>\nWho see such as an evil deed.<br \/>\nThe statues that came down with a thundering crash<br \/>\nAs militants chanted &#8220;God is great&#8221;<br \/>\nCaused the world look aghast at Afghan sacrilege<br \/>\nCommitted by fanatics of the Islamic State&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>A hundred years before or more<br \/>\nOn the River Min, along the Chinese coast,<br \/>\nSome Anglo Irish women preached too<br \/>\nA faith known well to most&#8230;<br \/>\nThey sent their converts home to smash<br \/>\nTheir idols there apart<br \/>\nHow many more of such were lost<br \/>\nAs they unbinded feet and mind and heart?<\/p>\n<p>Many a grotto at an Irish roadside stands<br \/>\nOften beside a Holy Well<br \/>\nFanatics too told to our folks<br \/>\nPraying there, they would end up in hell.<br \/>\nThe Buddhism we that know today<br \/>\nThe auld Zen and the Ying and Yang<br \/>\nIf far from the faith that was practiced that day<br \/>\nWhen the Church bells there first rang.<\/p>\n<p>A child to the preacher woman asked<br \/>\nWhat is it. the source of your faces smile?<br \/>\n&#8220;The light of Christ&#8221; was the reply<br \/>\nAs the preacher to talk stopped a while.<br \/>\n&#8220;You have no man to rule you down,<br \/>\nTo govern you&#8221;, was the retort the child had<br \/>\nA truth that would make modern feminists proud<br \/>\nThough it would make the auld Buddhism look bad!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_5013\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5013\" style=\"width: 915px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/?attachment_id=5013\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-5013\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-new-church-in-the-city-of-Kien-Ning.jpg\" alt=\"The new church in the city of Kien Ning\" width=\"915\" height=\"783\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5013\" srcset=\"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-new-church-in-the-city-of-Kien-Ning.jpg 915w, https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-new-church-in-the-city-of-Kien-Ning-300x257.jpg 300w, https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-new-church-in-the-city-of-Kien-Ning-768x657.jpg 768w, https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-new-church-in-the-city-of-Kien-Ning-700x599.jpg 700w, https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/The-new-church-in-the-city-of-Kien-Ning-332x284.jpg 332w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 915px) 100vw, 915px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-5013\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The new church in the city of Kien Ning<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The statues by which some faiths pray To help or to for them intercede Angers those of a fundamentalist streak Who see such as an evil deed. The statues that came down with a thundering crash As militants chanted &#8220;God is great&#8221; Caused the world look aghast at Afghan sacrilege &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3582],"tags":[4445,2456,4446,304,4447,4440,4449,811,4448],"class_list":["post-5011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith","tag-budda","tag-buddha","tag-buddhism","tag-china","tag-china-river-min","tag-kien-ning","tag-primitivism-movement","tag-religion","tag-river-nin","column","twocol"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7EI4f-1iP","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3060,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/listen-not-to-the-song-of-the-merrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":5011,"position":0},"title":"Listen Not to the Song of the Merrow","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"31st July 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Men of Erin, and all men, who in Erin you may be Listen not to the Merrow song that sounds with such beauty Swim not in the waters as she and her spell song does entice The wiliest of wiley ladies whose wiles are tantamount to vice For weak of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Irish Heritage&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Irish Heritage","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/ireland\/irish-heritage\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Girl dressed as a Merrew in Shop Street in Galway: according to tradition they can herald a forthcoming death like a Banshee (normally a river or lake dwelling variety), or lure men to their deaths like the Siren of European mythology, and there are tales of mortals marrying merrew as well!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Girl-dressed-as-a-Merrew-in-Shop-Street-in-Galway.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Girl-dressed-as-a-Merrew-in-Shop-Street-in-Galway.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Girl-dressed-as-a-Merrew-in-Shop-Street-in-Galway.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1174,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/arrived-in-the-post-2015-horse-fairs-of-ireland-calender\/","url_meta":{"origin":5011,"position":1},"title":"Arrived in the post &#8211; 2015 Horse Fairs of Ireland Calender","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"20th November 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Arrived yesterday in the post was the 2015 Horse Fairs of Ireland calender from Siobhan English, heres a photo of yours truly with it... https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/siobhan.english2?fref=ts The calender can be got from Siobhans website, and as well as my humble verse - retitled \"Long May Horses Walk the Streets\" to make\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Blog&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Blog","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tomas with the 2015 calender from Horse Fairs of Ireland","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Tomas-with-the-2015-calender-from-Horse-Fairs-of-Ireland.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5216,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/walking-in-belturbet-by-ernes-side\/","url_meta":{"origin":5011,"position":2},"title":"Walking in Belturbet By Erne&#8217;s Side","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"7th July 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"From the well the calf it leaped As unwisely the widow chose For ease her load not too long to carry In a holy well to wash her clothes: - It is a belief that if sullied A holy well of water will dry Though it has been a plentiful\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Holy Wells&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Holy Wells","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/ireland\/holy-wells\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Story of the Calf of Gowna on Turbet Island walk in Belturbet","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Story-of-the-Calf-of-Gowna-on-Turbet-Island-walk-in-Belturbet.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Story-of-the-Calf-of-Gowna-on-Turbet-Island-walk-in-Belturbet.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Story-of-the-Calf-of-Gowna-on-Turbet-Island-walk-in-Belturbet.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Story-of-the-Calf-of-Gowna-on-Turbet-Island-walk-in-Belturbet.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Story-of-the-Calf-of-Gowna-on-Turbet-Island-walk-in-Belturbet.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/Story-of-the-Calf-of-Gowna-on-Turbet-Island-walk-in-Belturbet.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2476,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/restless-sidhe-of-keeraun-hill\/","url_meta":{"origin":5011,"position":3},"title":"Restless S\u00eddhe of Keeraun Hill","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"2nd January 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Keeraun Hill is a fairy fort, or ring fort, or Danish fort, call it what you will outside Banagher in County Offaly in Ireland. A mast is erected on it, due to its commanding of the area, which is probably why it was situated their originally for defense reasons. However...\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Banagher&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Banagher","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/banagher\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Keeraun Hill, near Banagher in Co. Offaly, Ireland Photo: Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh (c) 2012","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Keeraun-Hill.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Keeraun-Hill.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Keeraun-Hill.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/Keeraun-Hill.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3376,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/world-poets-quarterly-vol-71-haiku\/","url_meta":{"origin":5011,"position":4},"title":"World Poets Quarterly &#8211; Vol 71 &#8211; Haiku","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"2nd June 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Today arrived in the post a copy of the World Poets Quarterly, Issue 71, published last August in China, containing a number of haiku I had submitted sometime around this time last year. A pleasant surprise in the post! It never ceases to amaze me to see my name in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bibliography&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bibliography","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/bibliography\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Haiku of Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh published in the World Poets Quarterly","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-06-12.46.21.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-06-12.46.21.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-06-12.46.21.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-06-12.46.21.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-06-12.46.21.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-06-12.46.21.jpg?resize=1400%2C800 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1467,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/little-lake-big-dreams\/","url_meta":{"origin":5011,"position":5},"title":"Little Lake, Big Dreams","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"14th February 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The little lake, water lapping, little future Local lads, big dreams and ambitions Far away fields were greener than the stoney ones of home, On America they set their heart as their mission. New land, new opportunities, they built a new little town Done well, it grew beyond that from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Gander Around Galway&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Gander Around Galway","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/travel-poems\/gander-around-galway\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ducks on the River Corrib at Menlo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Ducks-on-the-River-Corrib-at-Menlo.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Ducks-on-the-River-Corrib-at-Menlo.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Ducks-on-the-River-Corrib-at-Menlo.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Ducks-on-the-River-Corrib-at-Menlo.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/Ducks-on-the-River-Corrib-at-Menlo.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5011"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5015,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5011\/revisions\/5015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}