Thoughts of a Freethinker

I don't know what she expected but the Archbishop says it is hurtful that some are leaving the Church of England because of her attraction to women. One thing I like in her public comment was she finds those who object are "confused" about the role of gender in the faith. It's almost sarcastic because the right always says about gay and trans people they are "confused." I've had it said to me about atheism.  When gay/trans people stay with religion one has to know they are REALLY religious. They carry an unshakeable conviction the invisible being exists and is their true friend. Further, they, like their enemies, have read the Bible and see their lives are not in conflict with it. They are OK with the intellectual and personal parts of the deal.  Where, then, do the gay haters in the faith fit in? They are convinced the Bible condemns gay/trans humans. They cannot site anything except isolated references that are not specific condemnations. Further, one ...

Recently in Scotland, an anti-abortion group staged an arrest of an elderly woman. The case has not gone to trial. It is an attempt to overturn a law against harassing women entering hospitals for abortions. We have seen versions of this in the U.S. for decades. A law was passed in Scotland which places limits on how much anti-abortion protestors can harass women entering a hospital for an abortion. In the U.S. these shameless protestors shout "prayers" at women. They approach them wanting to tell them of the "sin" they are about to do.  In Scotland, an elderly grandmother of selected to be arrested at a hospital that performs abortions. She knew the law prohibited approaching and harassing women within a specified distance from the facility. She carried a sign which said she was not protesting but if a woman wanted to talk with her about abortion she was available. This is not unlike the U.S. practice of shouting prayers. Being arrested, of course, gave the woman a...

Pope Leo gave his first Christmas mass . Like all Pope Christmas masses it got lots of press. We have to remember there is not much news at that time of the year so the Christmas Mass fills in the space.  I always take a look at news items that cover Popes' Christmas Mass. Pope Francis gave nice ones. But, his predecessor, Pope Benedict, was a little bonkers. One year used the Christian Mass to rail at the sin of homosexuality.  Let's consider the demographics of that Benedict mass. Five to ten percent of the Catholic denomination is gay. Add to the gay members their parents, siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews. It seems to me Pope Francis understood the numbers and spent his career trying to undo the damage done by Benedict. A few of Benedict's appointees were canned. Others, like NYC Cardinal Tim Dolan aged out and are being replaced with better people. Pope Francis' deal with the Benedict men was, "OK, you can be right wing nut cases. Just don't speak abou...

Wife and I spent our usual Christmas day at our daughter's house near us. Three college-age granddaughters were there.  Two of the granddaughters and wife and I were visiting when wife gave me her pleading look and asked, "Would you get me a cup of coffee?" I immediately went into the schtick the two of us do every day. I replied, "Getting men to do what you want is what Eve did. Eve and women gave us the Original Sin and that's why we have to work today." She usually replies, "Poor Adam. So stupid." Our little inside joke caught our granddaughters off guard. One asked what that is all about. I realized that since they went to a liberal church when younger and have not been back since they did not know or remember the Original Sin story. So, I started to tell them the story. "Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden when this talking snake told them...." I couldn't finish the sentence because the granddaughters started laughing loudly ...

When Trump was a television star, he created the illusion of a brilliant boss. That mythical boss knew which contestant should move up and which should be fired. It wasn't "real" but an illusion of something that looked real. Now his stock is falling as well as the stock of MAGA. They are not falling because of bad luck. They are falling because Trump cannot see the politics has an element of illusion and a President needs to use illusion to make himself look good or distract from the bad.  Trump and MAGA arrived with the notion we were getting a bad deal in trade, grocery prices were too high, we needed more manufacturing and the borders were too porous. These were illusions. Trade terms were good for us and for China, grocery prices had gone up because of the covid bailout and would correct themselves by production and consumers avoiding the highest priced items, manufacturing would not return and the borders allowed lots of illegals that worked hard for little and lowe...

In a speech to a right-wing Christian group about December 21st, VP Vance said the criticism of the right needs to stop. It is divisive. Instead, he said , we need to recognize we are a Christian nation. He noted others are here, like his Hindu wife Usha, but the country needs to come together under Christianity and stop fighting. And, it's around the Christian right, not the left. There was slavery for 400 years in the U.S. It was endorsed by the Christian right of that time. I suppose it was said back then, "Let's unit around slave ownership. Let's stop fighting about this." VP Vance's Christian Right wants us all to unit around banning gay marriage, trans and all abortions. The country did not unit around slavery and will not around depriving others of their rights. Demonizing groups works for a while in the U.S. but not forever. For most of his adult life JD Vance did not belong to a church. He is a rather recent member of the Catholic branch. It's lik...