Thoughts of a Freethinker

This is the 100th anniversary of the book that ranks among the classics in this county. Probably everyone who reads this has read that book or seen one of the movies. I've done both because I can't stop. Everyone, including myself, thinks they understands the message of the book. It never occurred to me anyone could think of it as a book about religion, especially the Catholic denomination. I should have been smarter and remembered whatever a reader has in his/her mind is what will be seen in the story. That's me, I have class on my mind. If I were a devout Catholic I would see that.  According to the link, F. Scott Fitzgerald was dumped by a girl because of class. He grew up in Minneapolis and his ethnic heritage including the Catholic denomination is in his name. He lost interest in the church as a young man and never returned. That did not prevent the Catholic author of the link to read into Gatsby religious themes. The story is a confession, it is that wealth does not b...

Providing Catholic services, baptisms, etc., at military bases and to the communities near the bases has been subsided in various ways by the Federal Government. Now, these subsidies are evaporating . The cuts are especially obvious in Southern states that have lots of military bases.  These are states that voted for Trump by big majorities. The link talks of grants to fund churches combined with community centers near military bases. The churches and centers were enthusiastically endorsed because they gave a sense of community to families who move around a lot. Some of the stories are about facilities who active planning was underway, staff being trained and many decisions made in anticipation of promised money. Locals say they are confused about what happened. From my decades in as an economics professor, the entire saga now playing out is a catastrophe without equal. During other economic downturns, government policy was used attempting, not always successfully, to offset proble...

I grew up in a fundamentalist Protestant denomination that discussed at length the relative importance of various "sins." While I was too young to discuss this with adults I knew about the discussions from friends and my parents. The latter did quiet eye rolls about this preoccupation. I never heard it said in our farm home, "That is a sin." I've discussed here many times the history of certain sins rising on what I call the "Sin Leader Board." High on the Leader Board just now is trans. Trans will slide down and eventually off the Leader Board when power and money need a new leading sin.  It turns out there is another list that is fun to read about. It is the many "signs of the second coming." Years ago on this blog several commenters discussed their alarm (or joy, never sure which) that gay marriage was such an evil sin it was a sign that Jesus would soon return. I suppose trans is on the list for the end of times now that the faith has los...

During the first few hundred years CE Christianity was mostly a tiny cult. Then a dictator of the Roman Empire gave it the green light and it started slowly to grow. In Central America, and other places as well, a lot of change was going on as well. The written records of this latter area are mostly destroyed by invaders but the story of the area and the people that lived there is slowly being revealed through archaeology.  I wish it were possible to know what the religious and/or spiritual lives were among the Incas and Aztecs. Apparently, there were different religious factions. I wish also it was possible to know where these people came from before they were in South and Central America. The natives of North America are equally interesting. Both groups lived on this continent for many generations and were sophisticated societies. White invaders brought guns, diseases and a will to destroy the native societies along with their histories. Weather changes may have changed their for...

As individuals around the world find substitutes for the orthodox religions, old friends are showing up. The anti Viet Nam war psychedelics are living on in home "churches." My theory about our current time is there is a large underground growth in new experiences we might call new religion, new spirituality or new ways to cope with whatever life throws at us. Besides basement "churches" inhaling mushrooms, such as the link, sales of occult objects has been booming in recent years. Maybe the two overlap. With such diverse things going on with so many groups it's likely none will be under one umbrella like, for example, the Catholic denomination. This lack of stadium events and press releases could mean lots of growth underground. Even now, polling has shown a steady increase in the group that does not identify with any religion, the NONES. The NONES have become larger than all non Christian groups combined. Yet, no one knows if there is any unifying trait and wh...

The Satanic Temple organization understands perfectly the whacko Christian community. It knows how to push Christian buttons. Christian zealots, on the other hand, do not understand their smarter rivals, the Satanic Temple.  The Satanic Temple organization is starting up churches, youth groups and medical abortion clinics. If one could pick three kinds of activities that push more Christian buttons than these I don't know what they are. In cities that they judge would most hate a youth group in its schools or a "church" on main street they move in. Local city councils and school boards in these places are certain they can refuse zoning or requests by students to form such groups. The refusals make good headlines. Then, the Satanists win. I suppose this brings in donations and on it goes.  The link askes a reasonable question, who are these communities protecting their children from? It is not from predatory clergy. There are a fifty or more cases of predatory clergy liste...