Thoughts of a Freethinker

We all know there are a gazillion surveys and interviews going on at any one moment. From these books and articles are published. I think it's correct to say doing survey work at either the professional level with random sampling or doing amateur work with volunteer survey are both cheaper and easier than it was in past times. Publishing or publicizing the results is also easier than in the past. There is a popular thing in our culture now also about knowing what's behind the door. We want to know, not just what happened, but why. I myself am deeper into this than many others. All of us need to remember there are things going on we cannot understand or will not understand until a long time from now.   A woman journalist just published a book about women leaving the Christian faith. Surely there is no variable in the faith more important than that. Many studies have found mothers have more than fathers in influence over the direction the child takes in faith. It is also true th...

My late brother explained to me various aspects of being a doctor. One was that when a tragedy happens, especially when it ends in a death, survivors feel they must blame someone. That is, random bad luck does not fill emotional need of the moment. The doctor's job is to listen to these explanations usually without arguing. I don't claim to have powerful insight into humans, but I have license like everyone else to toss in my two cents. Perhaps we all need someone or something to blame for every bad thing that happens whether it is about someone close to us or society at large. When something we don't like comes along, we need a universal and safe villain. It can't be ourselves, that would be painful. But it can't be someone we know either because then there is obligation to link cause and effect. So, we humans scan the invisible horizon and grab whatever is available. We find Satan or something else invisible.  Reading the link, written by what seems a self-promoti...

The Rutherford Institute in an old name in political and legal disputes. It's former leader claims it was established to defend the rights of all religious people in all religions. He now says he disapproves of Rutherford's current work to defend only right-wing Christianity and right-wing political causes. One should not allow the camel's nose to get under the tent. Back when it started, Rutherford defended all religions. Today, we know, right-wing groups defend only Christianity and demonize other religions. If you would like the freedom to be a Muslim, don't depend on Rutherford for help. You are on your own. The ignorance of religious groups, be it anti-abortion, anti-gay or anti Muslim, is astounding. It's leaders cannot understand they need allies. The fewer the allies and the more enemies the lower the changes for success. Right wing religion, Catholic or Southern Baptist, would have more members if they embraced gay people and women who have had or need abor...

There are few women who have unimaginable wealth neither seek nor are given wide publicity. A study of their foundations and what is known of their interests, however, reveal forces of change.  A couple of the best know women who are big players in philanthropic generosity are Malinda French Gates and McKenzie Scott. Their wealth came from Microsoft and Amazon respectively. Looking at the list of places they have given money one can see social change at work. A lot of money goes for women's health and promoting opportunities for low-income people. While we can't say for certain these patterns are different than they would have been for men, I think most would agree their interests and patterns are different than most ultra wealthy men. I've always been interested to know if there are "back channel" donations and, if so, where they go. Specifically, I've wondered if there are private donations from billionaire women to funds that pay for poor young women to tra...

I try not to bore readers with stories of being the mayor of the largest city in a small state. It was so long ago, who cares? Today, however, I will mention that several times individuals made appointments to see me for the specific purpose of praying for me.  As I recall, the visits had a pattern. The visitor thought he/she was the only person who had pondered the need to come in and pray for me. It was like the weight of my own salvation was their individual responsibility. They saw themselves at the center of events that would determine my ultimate fate in eternity. The visits would begin with visitors thanking me for the appointment and me thanking them for coming in. Eventually, I would try the line, "And what would you like to visit about today?" That would bring up the sins I was committing or were going on in the community that I should stop. Of course, my liberal views on abortion and gay rights were relevant. There was a legal porn store, shows at the city-owned au...

A woman in New York State was told her five-year-old son was required to be vaccinated. The mother refused, not on the basis of evidence about the effectiveness of vaccinations, but on a religious theory. Vaccinations, she told the court, violate God's plan.  God made humans to be separate from animals. Vaccinations take fluids of animals and mixes them with the blood of humans. Because God set humans aside and made them different from animals this violated the woman's religious rights.  This is a peculiar religious theory. First, humans were originally animals and then became something else through evolution. Second, humans have eaten animals since day one. To eat animals, even eating them raw, does not seem to violate her rule. I wonder if the woman has ever eaten a rare steak. Drinking milk from animals or eating their eggs doesn't seem to violate God's rules. On a hot day, a human who rides a horse bareback sweats, so does the horse. This mixing of fluids outside th...