Thoughts of a Freethinker

Anti abortionists and anti gays branches of Christianity are always pushing to have their ideas about religion put into laws. They want laws banning abortion and gay marriage, two ideas which originate in religion. They never seen to consider the consequences of inviting government into religion. It's as if they are telling themselves, "We are so holy. It's good for us to use government against our enemies. They will never have the opportunity to use government against us." Good luck with that. Christians in Scotland are so mad . The government is paying for a campaign against ideas held by many branches of Christianity. These Christians would have been better off just bragging about their own mighty moral standards and leaving everyone else to decide on theirs. The government is sponsoring ads addressed to people who are prejudiced against ethnic minorities, atheists and gays. The ads tell such people Scotland is a country that does not endorse prejudice. The...

The retired lead prosecutor in the investigation of sexual abuse in Pennsylvania's Catholic Churches had sexual abuse very close to him as a child. While he, himself, did not suffer from actual abuse the boys he grew up with did. They hated to see the end of a basketball game come because they did not know which would be selected by the Catholic coach. Some boys, he recalled, even began to shake. This took place in a Pennsylvania Catholic Grade School whose Principal was a priest. Boys complained to the priest about the coach. Nothing was done. The prosecutor says he now knows sexual abuse in Catholic schools and churches was going on in several places in Pennsylvania. A Grand Jury just released hundreds of pages of testimony. One of the ironies of theses stories is that there are Catholics who are angry this truth is coming out. When the prosecutor, still a practicing Catholic, released to the press the intention to investigate the Church he experienced hisses and catcalls...

There is currently a tweet going around the world by a young man who is filled with joy because his parents accepted fully his homosexual orientation. The parents followed the Jehovah Witness faith but eventually left it. The story is not all that unusual. I heard countless versions in my decades of advocating for gay rights. Unfortunately the stories do not always end happily like this one did. This is an important story because the young man reviews the psychological damage done by his parents and their church. A huge part of Christianity still preaches that homosexuality is a sin. There is bound to be a trail of psychological damage done by parents or preachers who tell gay young people this untruth. While Jehovah Witness might be considered an outlier within the Christian faith, its approach to homosexuality is not that unusual. The young man in the story was advised by officials in the faith the depression he was experiencing from his parents' rejection could be lifted...

One would think that when a Pope visits one of the faith's marque countries which has recently fallen off the wagon it would merit some special attention. But, the Pope's visit to Ireland a few months ago was quite brief. He hustled through the parades, listening sessions with abuse victims and visits with public office holders. Then back to Rome. As Fenten O'Tool of the Irish Times   put it, he left more of a mysterious man than before he came. Then recently, the U.S. Bishops held a conference where they wanted to address to problem of sexual abuse and implement reforms. Under consideration was lay member oversight and other measures. It was hoped the church would regain respect in the U. S. and there would be no more hiding of abusers by moving them from place to place. The Pope ruled Bishops could not offer solutions to the problem. Coming up is a world-wide confab of high ranking clergy from across the world. There has been speculation the Pope wants to introduce...

Some Jewish organizations have adopted a statement urging publications of the Bible and other prominent religious works  include a warning about anti-Semitic content. The new wave of violence against Jews needs to be addressed with some kind of tangible response, the groups say. Vice President Pence has further alarmed Jewish leaders by hosting a prayer by a leader in a group that claims to be Jewish but adheres to a Christian view of Jesus. The Bible's story of the crucifixion is one of the cruelest and manipulative in literature. The Romans are the problem early in the story. Then, slowly, it becomes not the Romans but the Jews. And, as the Jews are portrayed more and more the enemy, the regional Roman Ruler, Pontius Pilate, is portrayed as a sensitive ruler caught in a dilemma caused by the Jews. These portrayals of Pilate and the Jews is not corroborated with any other source. It appears manufactured for but one purpose, to demonize Jews. That there was a ruler named Pontiu...

I've read that what makes casino gambling so appealing is uncertainty. People don't know what lies ahead of them in the game so they go forward. About 2% of the population has some level of gambling addiction. It seems to me uncertainty about death is similar. If this uncertainty bothers a person maybe going forward into religion helps him. There is an old saying that doing something is always better than doing nothing. Casino gambling often involves rituals as does religion. I've read that people believe there odds go up if they gamble at certain times of the day. The uncertainty is a form of mystery. There is plenty of mystery in both religion and gambling. A couple of  mysteries are what happens after we die versus figuring out why sometimes people win big. Games of chance seem as old as humans as does religion. Churches are designed to encourage the mood or mystery wanted by religious leaders. We all know about the lights and noise in casinos and how it is de...

Climate change deniers often say today's warming and its problems are part of a natural cycle and not caused by human activity. A shortage of nitrogen in plants across the globe may be the result of excessive carbon caused by human activity. As has been said here before, the rate of global warming is unprecedented by any know evidence. The decline of nitrogen in plants and its effect on insect pollinators is something quite sobering. Pollination is necessary for our food supply. The extra sunlight available to plants cranks up their growing speed. This, in turn, uses up nitrogen. Lower nitrogen levels have been found in wild and volunteer plants, sometime thought of as "weeds." (As one horticulturalist said, there are no weeds. There are only plants in the wrong places.) The resistance to admitting there is man made global warming is a mystery to me. The stakes of it are so large our food and even national security are in play. Of course, in saying this probabl...

When Christians invaded and conquered the Americas, they brought with them a narrative about gender which was new to the native people here. The Christian opinion, derived from the from the Bible, was that there were only men and women. A later version was that marriage was between one man and one woman, even though the Bible has men with several wives. Native people did not see gender in this way. They had terms for people who were neither male nor female. A person's worth to the tribe was the contribution made, not some foreign notion of gender. Imposing Christianity by the gun or sword on native people was one of many dark areas of the Christian faith. Even today there is in the news a story of a young man who was killed trying to push Christianity on a tribe who neither needed nor wanted it. I suppose there will be all kinds of weeping over what happened to him. There should be weeping about the overbearing arrogance that permeates the faith and causes followers to thin...

Thirty years ago The New Yorker  pushed an article entitled "The End of Nature." It was based on  interviews with scientists who were convinced the earth was warming and humans were the main cause. We would, they said, experience large flooding, extreme climates and large areas now populated would become uninhabitable. Since then we have had political wars culminating in President Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. But, the events predicted 30 years ago and reconfirmed in later studies, floods, extreme weather and more uninhabitable areas, have happened almost exactly as predicted . Except it is happening faster. While the climate has warmed in the past, it has never warmed this rapidly. The difference is carbon emissions. Just now we are seeing California's Malibu become uninhabitable. I've read there are insurance companies that will no longer insure buildings there. Each year 24,000 people leave Vietnam's Mekong Delta because sea wate...

In the sixties and seventies there was "the Jesus movement." It was hard for me to understand but it has been described as latching onto " revolution " instead of what was then conventional Christianity. Young people road around in buses, took off their clothes, lived communally, talked of peace and flowers but had their own concept of Jesus. Like today's youth they were suspicious of wealth, corporations and wars. My wife and I were young faculty and had plenty of conversations with those young people. I remember talking with our Presbyterian pastor about hippies. He was mostly an open minded fellow but he said he had a problem with hippies because they were so focused on themselves and not on the broader world. I gave him my view that this was mostly incorrect. They had a broader view of society but it was different than conventional wisdom. He thanked me for explaining that. There were churches who latched onto those young people back then. The church...

As church membership and attendance at church services continues to drop there is much finger pointing inside the faith. In the Catholic church some say the decline is due to liberalization that dating back some 30 years. Others say it is the past conservative Popes who drove people away. Then all blame the child sexual abuse scandals. In Protestantism there is something similar. There are conservative branches claiming numbers would reverse if their version of the faith was the only version. And, liberals are doing the same. Evidence is that none of this really explains the decline. The descent originates from the same cause as its ascent. This is cultural change. The culture of the Middle East 2,000 years ago and later in Europe gave rise to Christianity. That culture is now moving somewhere else that is not the old Christian religion. If anyone were to ask my advice, I would advise them not to believe Christianity came from some great truth. For 98% of human history people h...

I was surprised to read that one religion is the fastest growing among non Christian religions in some small Nordic countries. It does, however, fit our computer centered lives today. The religion is updated versions of Paganism . Most people in the U.S. think of Paganism as something long dead--maybe something in the "Museums of Religions." We know the Bible treats it as an arch enemy from days of the Roman Empire. Yet, Paganism has fit the needs of humans longer than has Christianity. All religions are products of the culture where they are found. Christianity came along when much of the public was looking for something better than the Roman Empire and the Pagan faiths which were associated with it. Roman rulers, in turn, thought it would be smart to partner with a one god religion instead of those that had several gods. A dictator had trouble convincing people he himself is a deity if there were 50 gods to pal around with. With one god a dictator can slip over into b...

I've been following the growing phenomenon of people who leave houses and apartments to live in cars, vans and recreational vehicles. The number is now estimated at one million. Evidence shows it is growing rapidly. It is driven by the economics of our country as well as its phobias, fears and myths. No one has done a census of those living on wheels but there are endless Face Book, web sites and videos to learn about them. I have two books written by van dwellers. My guess is the majority of those on wheels have either some college or college degrees. I find them to have "middle class values." There have always been prosperous people who lived full time in large motor homes or pricey trailers like Air Streams. The new people live in cars, vans and panel trucks. To accomplish this and to be comfortable requires solar collectors to run refrigerators, cell phones and laptops. Most try to live without paying fees for campsites, a practice called "boondocking." ...

It is hard for atheism to complete with religion because religion offers so many different products. Atheism just offers one, you live your life and then you die. Religions, on the other hand, are a cornucopia of products and if one shops around he/she may find something to like. Just within one religion, Christianity, you can find a variety of promises and can pick the one you most prefer. The most popular product, of course, is the escape-death option. The largest part of the faith promises a life of bliss after you die. To insure this promise it's best to tithe. While billions of people have died since this promise was made, there is not one single example of someone who got what was promised. The product and promise remain for sale. There is a related promise called the "prosperity gospel." In that product you can do well financially by believing. The preachers that sell this are themselves wealthy. This product has more going for it that the eternity brand be...

One of the foolish mistakes to come out of conservative Christianity was to make abortion a religious issue. By ramping up the idea that one fertilized cell is a human being with all the rights of we humans born long ago this branch of Christianity set itself up to lose. It has lost members and ultimately their argument. More profitable would have been to move on to some other "sin." A couple of generations ago Christianity made the same mistake with alcohol. It took its view that drinking is a sin far out of the church and into the political sphere. Prohibition became the law of the land. It made illegal boot legging both profitable and common. Prohibition became the subject of ridicule and was overturned. We're on exactly the same path with abortion. Abortions using medicines are easy to do. The medicine to bring about a medical abortion is easy to acquire. An international site, womenonweb.org has made the abortion drugs, misoprostol and mifepristone, available...

Is the universe functioning in a way that will forever support humans or are humans a fortunate accident? If we knew the answer we might know more about the future of humans. It would not matter whether there was a "designer" of the universe or not. In the Bible it says humans rule everything. I would paraphrase this as humans can do whatever they want and the earth will not be harmed.  If this were actually true the earth should be designed so that humans could exploit earth's air and water with no harmful consequences. That is to say, the earth would clean up or self clean after humans polluted the environment. This must have been somewhat true when there were only a few humans and their waste was composted in land and water. Today, tons of plastic are in our oceans and air and water are under pressure. Certainly, the earth has done well to support humans. But there is still no reason to think humans are important to the earth. Humans continue to think they ar...

If you were born into a family and community where the only religion was Hindu or Christianity, you would likely grow up as a Hindu or Christian. A logical question, however, is why was your family is or was Hindu or Christian. First, let's look at what did not happen. A Hindu god or Christian god did not walk around converting people from other "fake" religions. Instead, ancient people worried about food and shelter to survive as well as plants that healed illnesses. The food and shelter came from plants , animals and weather. Our ancient ancestors wondered why they had these plants, animals and weather that kept them alive. The notion these assets came from some place they could not see appealed to them. What other explanation was there for thunder, rain and seasons? Our ancestors began to envision beings that looked something like themselves but were invisible. We now call these gods. Plants were especially important. That humans figured out what they would eat...

Many analysts and ordinary citizens scratch their heads at the alignment of people who call themselves religious but who vote for the non religious Trump and his political allies. It is now becoming apparent Trump and these voters are something we can call the post Christian right. Trump calls himself religious but mostly ignores religion personally. His voters do the same. The least likely to attend church are those we call blue collar and lower middle income. That group is over represented in the rural and semi rural districts the middle U.S. These areas gave Trump the thin numbers he needed to tip over the electoral college. This past week the House tipped over to Democrats. The change happened because of support in the suburbs. These suburban House districts, carefully gerrymandered in past years to elect Republicans, are where the largest church membership remains. The majorities there do not relate to claims of being religious while ignoring religion like Trump and his core...

There has been a long running effort to remove an admitted Canadian atheist from her position as a pastor in a Christian denomination. The story is a fascinating look into what might been the long term future of the Christian religion. The Pastor, Gretta Volper of the Toronto West Hill United Church, has been the preacher there since 1993 a few members of the church complained to the head office of the United Church of Canada. I gather the United Church of Canada is similar to the Untied Church of Christ in the U.S. but a little less doctrinaire. The UCC of the U.S. is not very doctrinaire. There is a requirement in the United Church of Canada that a board of officials interview Pastor Volper to determine the validity of complaints against her. After the interview that committee issued a decision that Pastor Volper's ministerial credentials be taken from her. The reason given was that the Pastor went "too far" from the Church's official statement of beliefs. ...

The "prosperity gospel", a message that God/Jesus will bless you with money if you just sign on, is ridiculed by many in Christianity. Yet, it seems to be growing. Church goers who were polled said that four out of every ten preachers used that message. A couple of the most famous prosperity gospel preachers are Creflo Dollar and Joel Osteen. Both of them are very wealthy. They use their wealth to make the point that being a Christian can bring you economic benefit. What can be said about what seems to be a growing attraction to the view that God/Jesus wants you to do well financially? If four out of ten preachers are spreading that message, six out of ten are not. Both groups must have their reasons. Comments on my blogs have said prosperity is not the true message of the faith. These folks say there is not evidence believing in the tenets of the faith brings one, or are meant to bring one, economic success. Such critics probably make a valid point. If you took all...

I began advocating for gay rights in the mid 1980's. Over that long period I've had wonderful experiences and other experiences one might call "interesting." Recently I recalled some correspondence with a lady whose pastor told her to write me and straightened me out. She emailed me because my name and address appeared on the national site of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Eventually, I learned the lady lived, maybe still lives, in northern Minnesota but was well acquainted with the Fargo-Moorhead area. She has a daughter who is lesbian and who has a long time partner. This incensed her mother who was writing me. She wanted to blame someone for her daughter's homosexuality. Why not blame those trying to help parents who advocate for equal treatment of homosexual citizens. This woman seemed not to study or read up on things herself but listened to anyone in her circle of people. Her second and current husband told her the reason her dau...

One reason religion, many different religions, are so popular is that they fill a need for some people. If you are a person who feels the need for approval, and you do not receive enough approval from those around you, an invisible god floating by in your mind and offering approval is something you might reach out and grab. The phrase, "God's plan for me," is one I have seen in the press and heard from friends and relatives hundreds or maybe thousands of times. I don't argue with someone who makes this statement, but privately I wonder if it is a healthy thought. There are two potential problems with thinking a god has a plan for you. One is there is no evidence verified by independent observation there are any gods. If there is no god there is no plan for you. The second problem is even if some version of a god exists, this god may not have a plan for you. He/she may not even know you exist. I've heard the Bible tells us we are not to "know the mind ...

The first book ever written about the war  against women in the 1920's has just been published. The book chronicles the life of a woman accused and jailed for spreading a sexually transmitted disease. So virulent was the hatred of women they were picked up for acting flirtatiously or for simply being a waitress. There was also an effort to silence women who joined a peace movement in the 1920's. After the First World War there was much sentiment in favor of arming the country. Conventional wisdom was that a big military would prevent another war. Women who organized to promote negotiation were hounded and criticized. In the Christian world, the war against women started in the Bible. Eve encouraged Adam to eat the forbidden apple. This, even though the talking snake warned her not to. So it was Eve, and by default all women, who are responsible for the "original sin" and the wrath of God. It is not surprising that those who made up the stories in the Bible had...

The faith teaches humility. What humility actually means is not easy to discern. There are endless articles about it. What has been called "The Benedict Option" is still widely discussed in the Christian media. It is about a century old monk named Benedict who advocated general withdrawal from society in order that the faith be preserved in its present form. It was brought up in a controversial article about a year ago as an option today's believers should consider. The Benedict Option requires a certain kind of humility, however, that is difficult to come by. It is withdrawal from the public square. Some in the faith advocate that withdrawal now. To withdraw from publicly advocating against abortion and gays would be carrying out the "Benedict Option." That would require humility. It is not going to happen. It is not going to happen because being against gays and abortion is an ego driven enterprise. It is all about, "My moral plane is higher t...

I've been encouraged by the new writing about atheism, even though it is not always hopeful. One new article discusses those who were conscientious objectors during the Second World War and Korean war. During the military draft, young men were asked, "Do you believe in a Supreme Being?" This question was baffling to those who had studied the great philosophers and Greek Gods. Instead of answering yes or not they sometimes checked neither and wrote long essays recounting the arguments about whether "supreme beings" were in the mind or existing in some separate place. If the person said, for example, he believed there is a supreme being but that being exists only in his mind what was a draft board made up of local citizens to make of it? Eventually, the quality of those essays had to be judged as if they were assignments in a literature class. But what remained was the view that anyone taking conscientious objector status was not a patriotic American. Acco...

I read the most thought provoking article recently written by a devout lay Catholic. He discussed the circumstances of clergy and the resulting sexual misconduct. It starts with the way the church is organized and how it is run. The life of a priest is boxed in in several ways. First, there is the requirement of celibacy. What we might call the natural or common desire to share an intimate life with someone is blocked off. The professional occupation of being a priest is not like most others. The priest is at the mercy of his Bishop, not only for a paycheck, but often for living quarters. He can be fired without cause at any time. Many of us have had bosses that were impossible to work for. Priests no doubt find this on occasion also. But, the priest has sold his soul and has few alternatives to look for another job or another boss. He might be stuck living with other priests and not able to discuss his frustrations about a Bishop. Certainly, he has no wife to vent to. Then, ...

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think the reversal of old religious dogma in Ireland reflects what is happening in the U.S. Ireland has had two ground breaking national referendums recently. One legalized abortions. The other legalized blasphemy . Both passed by two to one margins. We all know Ireland has been known as a rock solid Catholic country. The Catholic Church has had an out-sized influence on laws and life. But, the big as the margin of public support for church ideas has evaporated and the majority opposes laws that come from religion. Catholic hierarchy put lots of money and effort to keep laws against "sin" in place, only to be laughed at. Making blasphemy legal is a most interesting development. Blasphemy is defined in various ways but a typical one is "defiant irreverence." Jesus is quoted as saying that to doubt the "Holy Spirit" is blasphemous and unforgivable. Another version might be cursing God. In the U.S. hardly a person would thin...

Even though branches of Christianity officially oppose abortion plenty of women who identify as Christian do not agree. About 3/4 of the women who have abortions self identify as Christians. Catholic women account for about 1/3 of abortions. Add the Protestant and "born again" and its 3/4 of all abortions are performed on Christian women. When 3/4 of abortions are chosen by Christian women it is difficult to conclude anti abortion is a Christian belief. Similarly, it is hard to conclude opposing "artificial" birth control is a Catholic belief when nearly all Catholics practice it. These numbers explain much of what is going on in today's society. It explains, for example, why Christian church membership among the young is falling. Perhaps supporting a church is seen as supporting your enemies instead of your friends. It also explains anti abortion politics. One could ask, "Why don't anti abortion preachers and priests just work on persuading t...

I've had a lot of experience with Rev. Moon's original church, the Unification Church. It has a new name and a new twist . The new name is the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. Membership was growing during the period of the 80's when I was a Mayor. About half a dozen Moon staff were located to Fargo and some would schedule a visit every month. I learned from them they spent a lot of time selling things on the street. They also made contact with families who were estranged from their children who had joined the group. I could never grasp what Rev. Moon was all about or what his appeal was. He said he was a Christian. When he died in 2012 his wife, Han Hak-ja took over the ministry and now presents a clear message. Pastor Han says that Jesus was supposed to have lived on and been the world's savior. But because of a historical accident, according to Han, Jesus was never able to fulfill his mission. There is hope, however. That is because Ha...

One seldom reads on Christian sites an acknowledgment that the practices of early Judaism were also practices of Paganism. It was refreshing to see a comparison between the practices of Paganism and Judaism. Paganism was mostly a local religion so there were many variations. The Pagan practices we know about were similar to those of Jews discussed in the Bible. One would guess we know only some about what went on back then. One practice of both the Jews and Pagans was human sacrifice. Why would two religions, one with many gods and one with only one, practice the same ritual. The answer has to go back to the sources of both faiths. Both faiths sprung from the cultures and mores of that period in history. Neither came from a sovereign god--both versions of gods came from the minds of humans. The monotheism made sense to the Jewish culture that was under siege by its neighbors. It needed a unified society. Polytheism worked well for the Romans. They wanted to conquer new countr...