John Beckett
Patheos
Plano, TX, United States
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John Beckett Newsletter
Subscribing to the newsletter helps you stay up-to-date on the latest from John Beckett. Simply enter your email, and click "SUBSCRIBE!” From time to time you will also receive Speacial Offers from our partners that help us make this content free for you. You can opt out of these offers at any time. → Read More
A Workable Response To Fascism
I cannot save the world from fascism and I do not intend to die trying. I'm working to put my own mask on first, then help others to breathe as the cabin depressurizes and we continue to head downward. → Read More
What It Means To Work With The Gods
Some polytheists find this phrase insufficiently reverent: “you don’t work with a God, you worship a God!” Others find it too deferential: “I do my own thing for my own reasons.” Regardless of how you feel about “working with” the Gods, it’s worthwhile to examine this phrase and its theological implications. → Read More
The Morrigan Calls People In Different Life Situations
I see Her calling people who are young and inexperienced – and a few who are old and inexperienced – who’ve never been in a fight in their lives. But with study and practice they can grow into warriors, or people who support warriors. → Read More
Books Are Wealth and That Brings Me Joy
I get not hanging on to things you don’t use. I go through my closet every season and either throw away or donate the stuff I’ve stopped wearing. But when I heard that Marie Kondo had said that everyone should have no more than 30 books, well, them’s fightin’ words. → Read More
This Is Progress, Even If It Doesn’t Feel Like It
As a progressive Texan, this election brought me the emotional devastation of being so close and yet so far. I’m going back to my religious work now, but I’m going to stay engaged with mainstream politics, because this country and its people are too important to abandon them to Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. → Read More
How Do I Know If A God Is Calling Me?
Being called can be a great thing, but it’s not winning the lottery. It’s more like being drafted into the army – oftentimes the army of a country you didn’t even know existed six weeks ago. These are the signs that a God is calling you into Their service. → Read More
A World With Many Religions is Better Than a World With Only One
Even if there is One True Way, we have no way of knowing which one it is. If your standard is certainty, your only honest alternative is to be an agnostic and accept that you can know nothing. Or perhaps, choosing the “right” religion isn’t what’s most important. → Read More
A Letter To Those Trying To Convert Me
If you go about your religion (or lack thereof) and respect everyone else’s right to do the same, this isn’t directed at you. This is for those who turn their religion into a competitive sport. You don’t have the One True Way, and you aren’t going to win. → Read More
What Makes Paganism Pagan?
What is it that makes Paganism Pagan? The answer lies in all the complicated – and at times, conflicting – usages of this problematic word throughout the centuries. → Read More
8 Things to do for Lughnasadh as a Solitary Pagan
Many traditional activities for Lughnasadh are designed for large groups, but many Pagans are solitary practitioners, either by choice or by necessity. Here are eight things you can do to celebrate Lughnasadh as a solitary. → Read More
Your Place in the Resistance, Your Place in the Restoration
If you want to be a hero, here’s your chance. But this is not a binary choice – there are more possibilities than hero or collaborator. If you’re not up to heroic deeds, then do what you can do. Find your place in the resistance, and find your place in the restoration. → Read More
Do You Really Want A Homophobe To Bake Your Wedding Cake?
I would not throw the Masterpiece baker in jail. But neither would I tell the couple he refused to serve “it’s no big deal – just go somewhere else.” Because this is a big deal. We cannot allow bigotry and homophobia to go unchallenged. → Read More
Trump, Jeffress, and the Jerusalem Embassy – This is Why We Need Separation of Church and State
When an fundamentalist preacher represents the United States at the dedication of a new diplomatic building in a foreign country, the First Amendment is violated. For Donald Trump, this was a political payoff that didn’t cost a dime out of his own pocket. → Read More
“They’re Confused” – Why Common Sense Is Often Wrong
Any time “common sense” is invoked, a flashing red light should go off in your head. Most times that means “stuff we assume is true but haven’t really thought much about.” And when you hear someone say “they’re confused” you’re probably hearing a clash of worldviews – unstated assumptions about the world and the way it works. → Read More
The Storm is Strengthening – Put Your Faith In Deeper Things
We’re a quarter of the way through 2018 and the message I’m getting is: “the storm is strengthening.” We have a little time – a very little time – to prepare before the next wave of challenges and high strangeness hit us in the face. → Read More
The Impact of Human Activity on Sacred Sites
27 years of modern Druid processions have worn a path into the ancient grounds of Bryn Celli Ddu. Is this a bad thing? Or is it the good and proper result of the interaction of a living place with the people who love her? → Read More
How I Know My Paganism Is Real: 8 Key Events
These are the key events on my Pagan journey that caused me to change my foundational assumptions about the world and the way it works. I know my Paganism is real, but I do not insist you take my word for it. Have your own religious and magical experiences and decide for yourself. → Read More
Get Over Your Fear of Religion!
All some people seem to want is a vague and trite spirituality that makes them feel good and tells them everything’s going to be OK whether it really is or not. But if you want a deep spiritual practice that will help you handle life’s challenges, build deep and meaningful relationships, and change yourself and the world, you’re going to need religion. → Read More
Toward Deeper Rites: The Obligations of our Seasonal Celebrations
Good religion is joyous religion, and Paganism should always be a religion of wonder and joy. But as we move toward the Spring Equinox we would do well to remember the obligations of our seasonal celebrations. May we fulfill them with honor and integrity. → Read More