Thoughts of a Freethinker

Whether you are someone who likes it or does not like it, we are all about to experience quite a big event, That is the election of Zohran Mamdani to be the Mayor of New York City. Mamdani is a Muslim and is opposed by many Democrats in the city as well as many across the country.  All of the handwringing by both liberals and conservatives about him made me reminisce about the "firsts" I have experienced in my long life. A few that come to mind are Jackie Robinson, 1st black pro baseball player, Jack Kennedy, 1st Catholic President, Obama, 1st black President, Pete Buttigieg, 1st out gay cabinet member, 1st female VP candidate and 1st female Presidential candidate, 1st person to walk on the moon. etc., etc.  The link was written by a MAGA columnist who thinks the U.S. should have limited immigration so the likes of Mamdani would not have gained traction. The "mistake" was made 30 years ago, the author says, when lots of immigration started. Of course, this is a misr...

  We all know Jesus was supposed to have said it is easier to put a camel through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to get into heaven (Matt 18:24). Today, that passage is null and void. It's now OK to be rich. A study of sermons in mega churches, mostly in one but the pattern seems broader, found many that approved of being rich. Even though the congregation of the studied church was not wealthy, preachers wanted to be sure the wealthy would pass through the eye of the needle. I've read that money, especially being rich, is discussed in the Bible for than any other topic. While no doubt there are conflicting messages about wealth, the over-riding lesson is that money plays with the heads of people and the kindest of all people are those that give it away. When it comes to "obeying what's in the Bible" or "basing our denomination or church on the Bible" it is never about money. Readers know about the many denominations that have seen a group ...

In the mid 1700's, Portugal was booming. It was on a major trade route and the economic circumstances of the time put it in the driver's seat. The  Catholic Church glopped onto the economic prosperity and claimed authority in the Europe's theology which implied the world's theology. Good was being rewarded, evil punished. Then, on Oct. 31, 1755 , an earthquake hit Lisbon that remains one of the longest and most damaging in known history. The death toll was 60,000 people. The next day, November 1 , the world was baffled at how God's favorite city could be punished. There is a claim by some historians this event marked the beginning of secularism , including atheism , in the west. It is even claimed the earthquake steered the founding fathers in what became the U.S. away from being a " Christian nation ." The link says the event changed "the Christian narrative " in all of Europe. A universal claim coming from behind pulpits everywhere today, ...

Women are leaving their Christian churches in large numbers. Why wouldn't they? They have been treated as second class for centuries. Where they are going we cannot be certain. An "answer" came on line today . Christians will argue women are treated as equals to men in the faith. There do not explanations of how to reconcile with the Bible. For example, why did the story tellers in Genesis start the story of humans with God making Adam from clay (and giving him life by blowing into is nostrils)? That is, if Adam and Eve were "equals," God would have made each out of clay. I guess God was short on time, flipped a coin and men won. Then, as I enjoy writing about periodically, it was Eve, not Adam, who first put a finger in God's eye and ate the apple. They she persuaded the less intelligent Adam to eat it which, not understanding the situation, ate the apple. They did not "both sin" as some Christians claim. One sinned then persuaded the other. Women...

I've never seen a list of the plethora of religious demands in the workplace. It's not all Christianity . Religions from around the world have landed here and many make demands to be accommodated at work.  For some Muslims , it's accommodations to pray five times a day . For anti-abortion pharmacists it's to not fill prescriptions for abortion medicines. There is refusing to take work shifts on some day of the week. There preachers who refuse to perform weddings for gay couples. With women finding work they enjoy in fields where women did not formerly work , a demand I had not heard of is being discussed, refusing to work with a woman when no one else is present . This includes electricians climbing, drilling holes, stringing wire and setting up boxes for homes.  I can't put myself into the heads of people who have these passions about religion. It's not hard to see, however, the cost placed on the rest of society when some demand extra accommodations. Others h...

Mixed in with the articles talking about the "murder of unborn babies" has been, just recently, a couple of long posts by well know figures pointing out the failure of the entire anti-abortion political machine. All the billions of dollars donated and politicians elected has made no dent in the number of abortions.  The new topic is the falling birth rate and problems that go with that. This, of course, is not "murder of babies" or pictures of babies and has little to no political juice. The link points out what has been obvious to so many others, abortion is not a simple thing. Implied is another truth, saying it is "murder" never had much cache and has none today. Decades ago, the smartest person in the room said liberal women will have abortions so their numbers as a political group will fall. Women who do not have abortions will grow into a political force that will eventually ban all abortions. This simple prediction has not come to pass. Neither has ...