UbiquitousRat.net began as two blogs that I maintained separately: the first was called “Cool Religion”; the second was all about my gaming hobby. Sometime back in 2010, I combined the two blogs into this single site.
What’s this blog really about?
There are two dominant strands on the blog, although more recently one of them has become clearly dominant:
- Spiritual ideas and an exploration of the meaning behind religious behaviours.
- The ongoing struggles of an aging roleplayer who likes tabletop roleplaying games.
What this is really all about is my inner angst and exploration of what it means to be an imaginative human being.
Cool Religion?
Sitting on the tram I watched two tall, suited men step on board. They were immaculate and they wore clear name badges, like the type you see at cheesy business conventions. I was curious to notice that everyone standing in the carriage, some 40 or 50 individuals, all unconsciously moved away from these benignly smiling, suited young men. What was going on? What had they done to deserve such thinly disguised fear and derision as was etched onto the faces around them? I watched the interaction with interest…
I’ve long been somebody who has been fascinated by the various spiritual and religious ideas that circulate our culture, this blog shares an exploration of the major religions and world views. This is the kind of stuff that, in the UK at least, your children are discussing in schools… and that most adults totally fail to really engage with because we are just too busy.
You need to understand that, originally, this started out as a blog from the pen of someone seeking answers and understanding, not a judge or evangelist. Certainly the author holds religious views and beliefs… but these are not the focus of the posts.
The aim here will be:
- Discovering and exploring the major faiths and spiritualities of Planet Earth.
- Uncovering the opinions and ideas of adherents from various world views.
- Giving space to both the consensus and differences between faith groups.
- Seeking to encourage authentic understanding between faith groups.
- Remembering to give the minority of atheists and agnostics a space in the dialogue.
No, religion is not generally regarding as being a “cool” subject – it’s a topic usually avoided on the streets, in the workplaces, and while entertaining at a dinner party.
What is required in Britain, it seems, is some understanding and “coolness of head” when it comes to the subject of religion. If there is one thing that people are nervous about in the UK these days, it seems, it is the fear of radical religiously-inspired violence and terrorism. If there is one thing that gets folk’s proverbial goat it is someone peddling religion on your doorstep.
It is the belief of this human being that through fostering understanding and tolerance, sharing knowledge, and encouraging dialogue that we can start to defuse tension and fear. This is, therefore, a space where we hope that religion will be cooled and shared.
Roleplaying Games?
Back in the early 1980s, my friends and I would play games together – RuneQuest, Traveller, Dungeons & Dragons, Star Frontiers, and Rolemaster mostly. This began my life-long obsession with roleplaying games.
When I went to university, in 1989, I effectively lost contact with my friends. In 1994, when I got married, I began working for Games Workshop in the tabletop wargames industry. Yet from 1998, when we moved to Nottingham (UK), I found myself very much back in the roleplaying hobby – I started to more consistently play and Games Master for new-found friends.
The original posts on roleplaying were simply about my week-to-week struggles as a gamer. This theme has continued through until today, although most of my posts in recent years have been focused on gaming.
You can read all about my unfocused and rambling hobby, a journey through many games and failures, through the majority of the posts here. In recent months, I’ve been rediscovering my love of the hobby after a period of burnout and you can read all about the ups and downs of that too.
This is a personal blog. It’s not meant to be much more than catharsis for me… but some people seem to enjoy the posts. Comments suggest that I’m not alone in this weird and wonderful hobby.
Game on!
