Thoughts of a Freethinker

The science of studying tree rings is expanding rapidly. More scientists are being added and locations where samples are being collected is expanding. By taking samples from nearly all continents scientists can plot the historical pattern of the jet stream and the presence of volcanic ash. They also reveal large electrical storms. Today those storms are thought to have been severe enough to knock  service from today's satellites. By studying ancient trees, even ones which died long ago but were preserved is certain climates, the history of climate and the history of human migration can be understood. Perhaps the preference of certain religions over others will be revealed as well. Religions come from cultures. A society's economics, how it makes a living, its housing and food supply is part of its culture. When the climate changes the livelihood of the culture may change. Its people may migrate. Of course there were other factors causing change such as domination by anot...

In Christianity, "sin" is the most important threat to humans. As we all know, sin causes a hypothetical deity to push us toward an eternity in a hypothetical hell. Untold millions of dollars and countless hours are spent warning us of this nonsense. All the while, there are facts that could be addressed. A new disease could wipe out humans. We could be wiped out by environmental changes. Some of these can be influenced by our behavior. If we could make it a sin to harm the environment or increase risk of human decline religion would make at least serve some purpose. Evidence shows there have been at least six periods in the earth's history when almost all species were wiped out. If there were another, would humans be among those surviving or would it just be some insects? Churches could help extend the presence of humans on our globe by starting with the basics. First, they could teach that we have not figured out for certain what caused the universe to come in...

As a new candidate for President, Barack Obama, dipped his toe in religion. He had criticized other Democrats for not bringing up the topic. He tried bringing it up by making a positive statement about his religious beliefs. That was a mistake. He soon learned the right wing scoffed at his church, his pastor and any references he made to religion. "Obama's church is not Christian'" they crowed. He did not know how to handle it. I read eight of the many people running to become the Democratic nominee have proclaimed themselves to be religious. I was impressed by the way one, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, handled the topic. Instead of proclaiming his faith, like Obama, he went on the attack. He said (paraphrasing), "My Christianity does not take rights away from gay people and women." This is the correct way to handle religion the Presidential campaign of 2020. And, there are countless ways to expand on the theme of what "my reli...

I discussed recently an article in The New Yorker  by a Catholic writer in one of the New York City Boroughs. Within a bicycle ride from his home are about 10 Catholic churches. Some are closed or about to close. Nearly all of them have been touched by the Catholic Church sex scandal. The writer wondered, like other Catholics if things will be set right again. He worked on his article for months interviewing church members and high ranking clergy including New York City's Cardinal Doland. At the end of a long article the writer concludes that secrecy in the clergy will keep scandals alive without end. The same is true in government. We just saw the U.S. Attorney go out of his way to make a significant part of the Special Council's Report secret.  The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan was perhaps unequaled in experience and wisdom. He had worked in government before becoming a high elected official. He said there must be a constant effort in break into the secrecy o...

Recently a fire destroyed a McDonald's restaurant. Only the statue of Ronald was left untouched. Is Ronald McDonald a sacred figure and that is why the statue did not burn? The same thing happened when a Catholic church burned, a Mary statue remained. If it a stupid to believe Ronald McDonald is a protected sacred figure while believing the statue of Mary did not burn because she is really a divine figure? We could wonder the same thing slices of toast where the Virgin Mary appears. Or, where she appears in a window some kids hit with a baseball. These appearances are so important there is a Catholic Church requirement that any such claim must be investigated and a report written up by a member of the clergy. I've heard you can buy a toaster that claims to produce the Virgin Mary with every slice. Are clergy required to write up a report on every piece of toast made by thousands of toasters? One of the best spoofs of these "miracles" is the now famous "Fl...

Occasionally I read a full-throated  attack on the reports of declining Christian numbers. All the numbers from surveys are about the same. Thus, when one pundit says Christian numbers are declining and another says they are not we have to look more closely at what each is saying. We need to remember the obvious about these survey numbers. The surveys are asking people, "What is going on in your head?" To the extent respondents are willing to truthfully reveal what is in their heads the surveys are accurate. Science has not figured out how to see inside the mind of another person. Those who claim Christian numbers reflect a strong and healthy Christian presence interpret the decline as merely a more accurate accounting of what has always been the case. That is, they say, a significant number of people who attend church have always been people who were indifferent to the faith but participated for other reasons. In past surveys they self identified with a branch of Chr...

As far back as the 1950's, it was pointed out the people of every country tend to look at themselves as all good and other countries as all bad. That is going on now in the U.S. about China. Of course, the Chinese feel the same way about themselves. It just is not that simple. Trump seems to feel there is political advantage to picking a fight with China over tariffs. The truth is China's protectionism is not that bad. Several countries have weighted average of tariffs higher than China. They are Argentina, Brazil, India, South Korea, Indonesia, South Africa, Turkey, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Mexico. Decades ago as a college student I remember learning the circumstances where tariffs were acceptable. One was called "Infant Industries." Tariffs protected emerging industries, it was said, until they had the economies of scale to compete. China uses that same argument for its tariffs today. It needs a prosperous middle class and assembling smart phones will not get...

For several years, my wife and I have spent Easter weekend in Providence, RI. Our son and granddaughter live there. Since my wife does not enjoy flying we either take the train or drive. This year we drove. Every year I'm taken aback by how little the City of Providence celebrates Easter as a religious day. There are few signs of it around the city. Stores, restaurants and coffee places seem to regard it as just another Sunday. Rhode Island is, according to polls, the most secular State in the U.S. It was founded, as you may remember, by religious outcast, Roger Williams. He was a Puritan preacher. But he believed in fair treatment of Indians and strict separation of church and state. Williams was the black sheep of the religious family at the time. His city of Providence seems to continue that tradition. When I travel I occasionally paste stickers I purchased from the Freedom From Religion Foundation on Gideon Bibles I find in motels. The sticker reminds readers there is...

An internet headline say the Satanists are bedeviling conservative Christians. Perhaps nonbelievers have found a lane to derail certain built in advantages Christianity has had. When the Red River Freethinkers tried to get a Ten Commandments monument removed from Fargo's (North Dakota) City Hall mall Federal judges just could not get into our argument that it was important to us or anyone else. If we had a legitimate grievance we it should have been raised long ago. A judge admitted it is a Christian monument but it does not offend our religion because we do not have one. It always seemed to me that if an entirely different religion took issue with the tax payer funded advertising for Christianity it would be removed. But, other religions in and around Fargo have not expressed interest. This seemed to be true with many issues in many places in the U.S. Now, an innovative group has come up with a new idea. They say they are Satanists-- worshipers of Satan. They have had mor...

I suppose if you asked the average Christian, "Why are you religious?" he/she would find that a peculiar question. Yet, it is the most important question of all. I have expressed here many times that I do not think studying religious tomes, comparative religions or the Bible are important activities. My view is this literature is but a passing bit of history in the parade of human history which is not 2,000 years old but over 200,000 years old. Only occasionally does one find articles addressing the totality of religion in human beings. One such article showed up recently and confirmed my understanding. It explains that long, long before there were written "documents" telling us what we are to believe, there were religious thoughts. The expression of these thoughts probably came through the shaman instead of through documents. It was about feelings tapped into by the shaman, not feelings disguised in religious documents. Humans have anxiety about the future....

Today's news is filled with the Mueller report. It should be filled with economics. I found it humorous when President Trump told farmers he would negotiate a "new trade deal" with China that would help farmers. Farmers were selling shiploads to China--several different commodities. There were few restrictions placed on these U.S. products and farm prices were held up at least in part by these exports. When Trump said he wanted U.S. manufacturers to have more opportunities China and raised tariffs on Chinese goods China said it would buy ag products elsewhere. And it has. This was as predictable as the sun coming up tomorrow. Now the inevitable harm Trump's harm did to U.S. agriculture is slowly coming to be  understood by farmers. They are beginning to see they have been taken. Farm financial conditions are the worst they have been for decades and farmers now understand the "trade deal" might help others but will be a bad deal for them. They don...

It is possible for a congregation to hang together even if members disagree on gay marriage. The White Memorial Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, NC is thriving with about 4,000 members. In 2015 the national Presbyterians voted to let every member church decide for itself whether to hold gay marriages or not. The majority of White Memorial voted to hold gay marriages but none have yet been held. After the vote, pastors and members at large made a concerted effort to stress "love thy neighbor." They focused on this part of the faith instead of the so called "sanctity of marriage." In the article I read, pastors in the church mostly avoid bringing up the topic of gay marriage because they do not want to annoy conservative members. A goodly share of the people who voted against allowing gay marriage remained members. The Barna polling groups says 44% of pastors polled are reluctant to discuss LGBT topics. They simply avoid this topic. White Memorial Pastor Chr...

The interplay between ethnic studies and studies of the religions of various ethnic groups is changing every year. The former model was to separate religious studies from studies of ethnic groups. As I have pointed out here repeatedly, religions come from cultures, not visa versa. The religions of native Americans was much different from Christianity. I have read that when they were forcefully converted the version of Christianity they latched onto was altered to fit better the remaining religious beliefs held previously. The same is true for slaves from Africa who were converted to Christianity by the white people who owned them. Since the 1960's fields of African religion have developed in Departments of Religion and Black Culture have developed in Departments of Anthropology. Finally, scholars in the two departments are combining their knowledge and developing explanations of the black experience in religion and culture together. The same thing is happening between the d...

The most poignant piece I have read about sexual abuse among Catholic clergy was written recently by a devout and practicing Catholic writer. He is a father of three children, attends mass in Brooklyn and grew up in the churches which have produced abusers. It appeared in The New Yorker. The article explains the new approach taken by Arch Bishop Tim Dolan in the New York Diocese. This approach is to farm out settlement of abuse accusations to a third party paid by the Diocese. The firm hired was the same one that made payments to survivors of the 9/11 attack. This move has some advantages to both victims and the Diocese. Some victims will receive payments even though the statue of limitations has times them out. The statue of limitations may be lifted for abuse victims but no one can be sure he/she will receive justice for harm committed long ago. Those who receive compensation must agree not to pursue the Diocese in court so it benefits by taking some allegations off the table....

I'm an old guy, so 1960 seems like a year not too long ago. It was that year Bob Jones, founder of the now famous Bob Jones University gave a speech that explained why God wanted the races separate. He said God does not want interracial marriage. The reason he gave in that speech was that God had different people in different locations on the planet earth. He put different races on different continents. If he had wanted to mix the races he would have done that when he populated the world. He did not. Obviously he wanted to keep the races from intermarrying and from polluting the races.  That is why it was imperative to have five year old child go to segregated schools. God wanted schools to be segregated as well as hotels, swimming pools and drinking fountains. For whatever reason, most Christians today have forgotten that racial segregation had it roots in the Christian religion. Racial segregation and, to a large extent, racial discrimination are in our past. The races a...

Terrible ideas religion has promoted were supplied by the cultures gave rise to these religions. Thus, it is not altogether fair to blame them on religion. The roll of religion was to give these terrible ideas legitimacy.  Several religions have terrible ideas. I'll list just a few of these bad ideas. Chosen People.  So far as I know, every culture thinks it is special. The religion cultures produce reinforces the false notion people there are more important than people elsewhere. The "chosen people" concept is present in groups we call cults. Calling popular religions cults makes enemies. The similarities cannot be denied. Heretics.  This is a label for religions different from our own as well as those who have no religion. Heretics need to be converted or brought into proper alignment by military conquest. I think all the major religions have used force to bring heretics into the true faith. Blasphemy   This means some ideas, religious or related to religi...

Al Mohler is the President is the President of a Southern Baptist Seminary. He is quoted a lot on conservative Christian sites. That Mohler holds a high ranking position is the result of a cue some years ago where more intellectual types were fired and people like Mohler moved in. He recently wrote a book about what "true Christians" must believe and why. To me, the book reveals the weakness of the faith and explains at least some of the reasons his own brand is declining in popularity. Mohler says there are three recitations that contain the message of Christianity, the Apostle's Creed, Ten Commandments and Lord's prayer. Then, because he considers himself as authority on such matters, he explains what the parts mean that make no sense. One is where Jesus "descends into hell." How could Jesus, who did not sin, go to hell? And, if he was in hell, why did he ascend into heaven. Remember, a true Christian must believe everything in the Apostle's ...

Trump has been widely quoted as saying we need to keep out those from other countries because, "..our country is full." This is exactly the opposite position of anti abortion crusaders. They claim we need more babies. Taking two positions completely at odds with one another is not unusual. Anti abortion politics tells us we need more young people to fill labor positions and support the elderly. This argument is made sometimes by the very people Trump hates, those advocating for more immigrants. It is true our population is aging. This means fewer young people to support but more older people who are past their working years. Trump is too much of an intellectual lightweight to understand age demographics. What he understands is how to split constituencies to make the fight among themselves. That is what he is doing here. People who migrated here a least a few years ago, legally or illegally, do not like new immigrants. New people will work for less and could take thei...

Predicting how groups will vote is a preoccupation of pundits in the U.S. The interest currently is speculating on  how the growing group called "nones" who claim no religious affiliation will influence future elections. It was predicted back in about 2010 nones would constitute 25% of voters by 2050. The group is already polling close to 25% now. It has been growing nonstop. The 25% number is a benchmark because it approximates the number of Catholics as well as the number of white evangelicals. The impact of nones does not match the impact of other groups such as evangelicals because a larger percentage of evangelicals vote than nones. If the number of nones keep growing and evangelicals do not the none influence will rise. Those two trends have been the history of the last few decades. The future of the two groups depends, of course, on how diverse their respective voting blocks are. Christians do not all vote alike nor do non Christians. The view that many Chr...

When the relatively unknown Mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Pete Buttigieg, announced for President I like most of you wondered why he thought he had any chance at all of competing. Now I understand. Buttigieg has been in the headlines everyday this week. He picked out a villain and is going after him. Surprisingly, the villain is not President Trump but his smooth talking smiling Vice President, Mike Pence.  Both are from Indiana and know one another well. The technique that is driving religious conservatives to distraction is one Ronald Reagan used against liberals. Young liberals during Reagan's campaign used ideology to champion their cause. Their thing was that making money was not a noble activity. The conservative business community that Reagan represented had been painted as self serving and uncaring. Along came Reagan speaking the language of idealism. Our country can be the shining city on the hill, he said, if each person is allowed to thrive without being held b...

A  Florida preacher has written a book about what he considers a plague on the Christian church. It is people who attend church, claim Christianity as their faith but are neither impressed nor interested in what is called "The Gospel." He wants church members questioned. If they give the wrong answers they need to leave the church. There are so many versions of experts on what is the true faith. Every new one that comes along is branded as not authentic. Every old one is criticized be every other old one. I would guess that nearly all churches have many people sitting in the pews saying to themselves, "Jesus says only through me. What an egotist. And, Jesus was dead and came back to life? I doubt that." When asked by the preacher or a pollster, that person knows the right answer is not the one he holds secretly in his head. The preacher mentioned above told an interviewer he has judged some church members to not be of the faith. Then he talked to them and foun...

Nothing illustrates falling interest better than what is coming out of commercial broadcasting and print. CBS is planning to cut a program about religion that has been broadcast since the 1940's. The New York times has cut its staff assigned to religion from two to one. Religion per se remains influential with legislation denying equal rights to gays and women doing well in many state governments. It is the supporting infrastructure, churches and theology, that seem on the decline.  A few years ago there was a big drop in the number of articles about religion published on the web. Now it has fallen again. The economics of publishing discussions about religion are not promising. Advertising pays for publication either on the net or in print. As the publishing business became more and more competitive profit margins grew smaller. Advertisers do not see opportunities to market products to the smaller and smaller audiences that make up religious people. I read an article toda...

To the non religious an all powerful god is almost amusing. Whether it is the Judaeo/Christian God or one of the many others it seems like odd thinking. I was reminded of how implausible an all powerful god is while reading an article in The New Yorker.  It is about two different periods in earth's history, the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods. I must mention not all scientists in this field agree about the following. The earliest, Cretaceous, was when dinosaurs and many other plants and animals lived. Then, 66 million years ago, a large asteroid struck near the Yucatan peninsula. The asteroid was six miles across and made a crater eighteen miles deep. The explosion was so large material hotter than the sun spread across the Northern hemisphere. The entire continent of India was set on fire. The sun was blocked for a long time. Nearly every living thing on the planet earth died quite quickly. Evidence of the explosion has been located in soils around the world. The most re...

When we read the Bible or read about the Incas in South America we see many of the same things. During what is claimed to be the period of the Jews and early Christians a group dominated areas of South and Central America. The group is called today the Tiwanaku. The Tiwanaku have not been studied as much as the later Incas. But they or a previous group visited a sacred island dating back to 2,700 BCE. Like the Jews and Christians of that time, the Tiwanaku and Incas sacrificed animals to their god or gods. The animal the Tewanadu gods preferred was the Llama. Not surprisingly it was also the animal preferred by the humans. The sacrifice was of young Llamas that were easier to carry. To Middle Eastern Christians it was lambs. Evidence from archaeology indicates the later rulers of the Incas made claims of heritage back to the Tiwanakus to appear legitimate. Christians used the Jews in the same way. The Tiwanakus were long gone before the Spanish invaded South and Central Ameri...

A milestone has been reached in North Dakota when a Hindu priest offered a prayer opening the legislative session and some legislators protested by leaving the room. A legislator and Lutheran pastor said he did not want to worship a "false god." The story made national, perhaps international, news. A story like this receives national attention because it is about a mind that is closed and unable to perceive that the other party considers the Lutheran's god also to be false. The Hindu priest, however, had the wisdom not to say such a thing. The Lutheran pastor/politician has conviction but not wisdom. We all know the god of the Hindu priest was worshiped and consider "real" by followers long before the Jewish/Christian god came along. That history alone should garner respect from politicians. The Lutheran pastor/politician should recall that over half the world's population considers his god to be a false one. It would be powerful is he, or anyone wit...

I follow the Salt Lake City newspaper for news about the Mormon branch of Christianity. In some ways the Mormon faith seems like Christianity with a modern twist. It had a founder who, in modern times, received secret instructions just like the claim attributed to Jesus 2,000 years ago. If such a thing was not absurd 2,000 years ago why should it be absurd now. The barn door was left open. That open barn door continues to serve Mormonism well. As times change its theology is able to keep up. This week it happened for  children with gay parents. Mormons will now allow these children to enter the church without question--changing a policy that has been in place for four years. This was allowed by an innovative Christian concept, "ongoing revelation." The President of the denomination is named as the person with authority to receive revelation. If "revelation" was received in ancient times by characters in Bible stories why could it not happen now?   If stories ...

Just when you thought you have seen the most ridiculous religious behavior ever, there is a better one. Usually, it is some far right Protestant nut case carrying on about his self righteousness. In this case, some Catholic priests in Poland started a bonfire and tossed in several sinful items. One was a stack of Harry Potter books. We can see clearly what our country, or any other country, would be like if religion took over completely the government. Keeping religion out of government is the goal of many of us. If this Catholic group was in government, the most popular fiction series ever would be gathered and burned. Control of thoughts is big in much of religion. It reminds me of Vice President Dan Quayle. He had a public tizzy foot over the TV show Murphy Brown. As I recall a fictional character was pregnant but unmarried. A nightly talk show host plainly reminded the VP, "It's a fictional character." Years ago a colleague on the Fargo City Commission cham...

During the years I have blogged, an accusation keeps coming up that I have a mental illness. That the person making this diagnosis might be the one with a mental problem never seems to occur to them. There is an ancient "illness" for doubters in the Bible. It is that they suffer from a "hardened heart." I came across a new one today. It is that people who doubt the tenets of the faith have a "doubt addiction ." Doubt and in the form of critical thinking is taught in schools today. With increasing amounts of advertising in our faces it is healthy to have doubt. Apparently, however, doubt when reading the Bible or listening to a preacher/priest is a "doubt addiction." Both the "hardened heart" and "doubt addiction" are part of the Christian package. This package claims it is normal to believe in the faith's tenets and not normal if you have doubts. It is a curious position when one notes that over half the world...

Often readers of my blog that what St. Thomas Aquinas wrote was so powerful he would defeat any atheist or any competing Christian view today. This turns out not to be the case. A current Professor of Philosophy wrote of the philosophical problems embedded in the current Western version of God. He summarized the various definitions of God as, "A being believed to be the infinitely perfect, wise and powerful and ruler of the Universe." This is a western version of a god and would not match the definition in other cultures. Since the god definition came from philosophers, this version has been called, "The God of the philosophers." Among philosophers, the Western version of a god runs into many logical problems. An elementary one dealing with the god's omnipotence is called the "Paradox of the stone." It begins with the question, "Could God make a stone too heavy to lift?" If he made such a stone but could not himself lift it he is not...