Thoughts of a Freethinker

I'm nearly finished with the book, The Letters of Paul in Their Roman Literary Context; Reassessing Apostolic Authorship  by Professor Nina E. Livesay. The case she makes is that there was no "Paul." Instead, there were schools or groups studying under the tutelage of wealthy and literate men in the years surrounding 200 CE. These wealthy "professors" had various views, probably often self-serving, they wanted to promote in the public of that time. They used their "schools" to teach students, from wealthy families no doubt, how to write and circulate the ideas and philosophies their wealthy "professors" were all about.  A reviewer said the case made by Professor Livesay bordered on airtight. While it destroyed the narrative of Paul walking about starting churches and sending them letters that we read today he, himself, had trouble leaving behind the romantic narrative of the traveling preacher changing the world. Professor Livesay documents t...

The majority of Mormons are Republicans. They were not, however, part of the right-wing 2050 rally in DC. A prominent Mormon columnist is now cheering on the split that is taking place between that denomination and the Trump MAGA. Mormonism, like other conservative and demanding branches of Christianity, has had a tendency to latch onto whatever is popular and not think through the long-term consequences. Decades ago, devout denominations favored abortion rights. The thinking was lots of babies was a self-serving Catholic thing. Conservative Christians did not like Catholics and Jews. Then a political deal came along that conservative Protestants thought would help their numbers. It was to do an about face and be against abortion. Now when abortion rights are increasingly popular the switch does not look like a good idea.  Mormons did something similar when California voters petitioned to put gay marriage on a state-wide vote. Mormons could have said nothing. For some reason, the m...

I seems so obvious, yet it is not being reported as such. Trump was not able, and will not be able, to take Iran's uranium nor control the Strait. Iran will have both  more power and more influence than it had before it was attacked. Pundits are guessing Trump is hoping no one will notice.  Obama figured out how to deal with Iran. He referred to it with its assigned name, Islamic Republic of Iran. No other Presidents had done that. Then Obama explained to Iran why the West was concerned about nuclear weapons, that being threats on Western nations and on allies in the Middle East. At the same time, Iran explained it had enemies in the region and needed weapons to defend itself. As I recall, the two sides agreed to be quite open about activities and plans and agreed to be respectful of the concerns of the other.  Trump threw all of that mutual respect under the bus and stopped the relationship agreed upon with Obama. From day one it was threats of bomb and burn. We now see ...

  Amid constant bashing and the decline of mainline denominations, there is hope liberal denominations will survive. Conservative Christian seminaries across the country are struggling or have closed. Union, a liberal seminary in New York City, is growing . According to the link, Union has added classes in Buddhism and other of the great faiths. The outgoing President said her goal was to develop a broad approach to religion. This brings to mind the claim one sees so often by fundamentalist in Christianity. It is that the faith will stop declining soon because out there in the public is a "thirst" for something substantive like what the fundies preach. We see from Union's growth there is also interest in other aspects of religion including what other religions teach. With hundreds of TV channels we know there are hundreds of interests out there in the public. That any theological seminary is growing is quite amazing. The number of Christians is falling, The percentage of ...

The conservative hand wringing about falling fertility rates blame women. Women are selfish or put their careers before motherhood it is said. This has ignored the role men must be playing in pregnancy and family planning. It seems likely men are joining women in  wanting fewer children. Surveys show that men now spend more time doing housework and caring for children than did previous generations. This surely has to do with women spending more time at work. The positive thing about this for today's men is that the pressure to earn is spread between the genders. Many men, perhaps the majority, prefer to work at their job fewer hours and spend more hours with family. We all know couples where the major bread winner is the woman. It is not always true the men in these family units want it to be the reverse. The result is that efforts to reverse the decline in fertility will not be solved by the ideas often mentioned. That is, more time off for women after births, subsidies for childc...

A year or so ago I read a book that reviewed the decline of the practice of confession among Catholics. It used to be a regular event, monthly or maybe annually. Now it is seldom practiced except by older members. It fell out of favor, at least in part, by the sexual of a few priests. The question was planted in people's mind, "Why should I share any secret part of my life with this guy?" The link discusses the difference between the practice of confession and that of talking to a licensed therapist. It would be wise if every branch of Christianity became aware of how confession, put in the hands of an untrained and dangerous person, can do great harm. Catholics are not the only branch of Christianity that uses a form of confession to control its members. Other branches, often called "high maintenance", that control through confession are Mormons (now called Latter Day Saints) and old order Amish. On the web one can listen to stories of abuse from the practice. ...