Thoughts I don't want to have

I am a long time follower of Loki. I have memories of hearing his voice before I was in kindergarten, and that was back in the early 80s. And I have been open about my faith since right after my high school graduation. But because I follow our lovable ball of chaos, a lot of people are surprised that I am also an almost strict determinist. I believe that for the most part at least, the skein of fate is set. We may be able to wiggle in our cocoons, but we cannot escape the spiderweb. Over the years, this has led to a number of intense and heated discussions. People would get angry that they couldn't change my stance, that I had considered all of the arguments that put forth. And the conversation would usually break down into them angrily storming off. This had never bothered me, until a few months ago. My best friend found this out about me because I was listening to an Audible version of 'Determined' by Robert Sapolsky, and it led again to this discussion, and it broke down...

There is an idea, that a lot of people hold to, that humans are born innocent and undefiled by the evils of the world. That all of the issues of society, religion, and government are a result not of anything inherent in people, but because of the choices individuals make. There is even a name for this idea, "Tabula Rasa," literally Latin for "Blank Slate." Now, I have a degree in Mathematics. And one of the required courses for degrees in math at the bachelor's level is basic logic. This is not unique to any math course, but is required by them universally. The reason is simple, all mathematical proofs, the write ups mathematicians use to show their ideas, are in simple terms logical arguments applied to already established rules of mathematics. As part of this training, you are introduced to the concept of biases. And there are a lot of them, the Wikipedia list of cognitive biases has over a hundred separate entries, in 6 distinct categories. They range from So...

 I have mentioned before that I am Asatru, a servant of the Old Norse Gods for those of you not familiar with the name. I have been so since I was a young man, and over the years I have had to contend with members of several racist and bigoted groups that think because of my faith, I will naturally share their views. I don't. And none of their propaganda will *ever* work on me because of a single fact: I have an ancestor who was a respected Norse warrior who was born in the area that is now Nigeria. I won't go into detail, as the story is long, and is not the main focus of this article. But, I know that he left his village around 1160 or 1165, to travel the world and see other peoples. He eventually settled in a small village outside Storuman.  I also know that he was *black.* The reason I know this is that at one point, the Jarl's third daughter asked her father if she could ask him to marry her. Now, this was common among lesser nobles all over Europe for both their male ...

​I want to take a moment to talk about myself and something said about my faith that makes no sense once you look at it closely. But to talk about it, I need to set the stage, and to do that, I have to start somewhere else. So, I ask for your indulgence as I take you on a journey. ​Firstly, I am a long-term follower of the ancient Norse pantheon, and this post is targeted mostly at my "brothers in faith," but I think the rest of the class might want to follow along as well. I don’t think that they are the only game in town, but they suit me and my style well. ​Now, most of us are familiar with the Runes, at least in passing. I don’t think I need to—at least not in this group—drone on about their use, their meaning, or how they are written. In anthropological terms, the Runes are what is known as a "sacred alphabet": a form of writing believed to be handed down from on high, and sometimes, not by the gods' choice. ​The Runes are not unique in this respect; there ...