Thoughts of a Freethinker

The concept of sin is the Achilles Heel of Christianity. Think of what is in our recent news. According to the news a police officer murdered a black man. If this death was completely unprovoked (maybe we'll learn more ultimately), the police officer committed a heinous crime. Surely in Christianity it would be considered a sin. What can the officer do to erase this sin? Merely ask for forgiveness. He has not committed the most serious and unforgivable sin of all. A Christian parody site has a thread that has been going for years entitled, "You can kill almost anyone and still get to heaven." Even though the purpose of the thread is to ridicule Christianity, it seems to have much truth to it. A far more serious sin according to the Bible is not believing in the Holy Spirit. That is blasphemy.  Why is it believers allow themselves to be painted into a corner like this? Why cannot they see whoever wrote the Bible had bad intentions? Haven't they ever heard, and can'

A familiar but still terrible practice of forcing children into full-immersion baptism thus "converting" them saw justice recently. A couple and their church agreed to pay the parents and their handicapped child an undisclosed sum for a forced baptism.  It reminded me of a story in my extended family. A few decades ago when my nephew was a little boy he was invited to another boy's birthday party. During the course of the party all the little boys underwent a full immersion baptism ritual. I don't know religion well enough the say what this accomplished. Is it that  this nephew, whom I think is not a believer, will go to heaven in spite of his non belief? Maybe if I fill my bath tub  and do full immersion can I go to heaven too. Do I need to do immersion with my clothes on? The Bible said Adam and Eve needed to cover up so I suppose that applies to me as well. Literature about Christianity is full of intense disagreements about how and when to properly baptize. On the

There are stories about atheists and Christians, Jews and Christians and in the Bible Pagans and Christians. A major world religion older than Christianity is Hinduism. I seldom read their stories of encounters with Christians. I've known dozens of Hindu, been a guest at Hindu celebrations but the experience of their lives in a Christian country I know little about. Apparently, it is often unpleasant . Apparently the Christian narrative about Hinduism is one of Christian Triumphalism. That is, a common experience of Hindus is being told Jesus won contest and Hindus should give up. Rather like Jews often hear no doubt. The link by a Hindu man tells of an invitation to a Christian church while the two were lifting a weight together. When and Hindu man declined the Christian was disgusted and stomped out leaving the weight on top of the Hindu. Hindus have their own history of intolerance. Prime Ministers of India have been assassinated by other branches of the faith. Mahatma Gandhi wa

The Disney Corporation's Pixar division will release an animation film for children with a gay main character. Disney was early in acceptance of gay customers in its theme parks and now leads with this project . Sony pictures is working on a gay themed film for children as well. With gay films and books booming we live in a new era. Disney had unofficial gay days at it amusement parks going back to the 1980's. In 2005 the Southern Baptist Convention and Family Values groups announced a boycott of Disney due to its ownership of the network that broadcast the TV show Ellen.  The show made Ellen an attractive gay character played by real life gay comedienne Ellen Degeneres. Disney continued to thrive and a few years later I recall a Southern Baptist official being asked about the boycott. It had been called off he said. I've read there have been several other "boycotts" of Disney for various films and for its policy of employee family benefits for gay employees. It s

There has been an unbroken thread of atheists and agnostics as far back as there are records of the written word. It is popular to talk about ones during the last 2,000 years because there have been so many attempts to stop them. A block from where I live is a prominent street named, "Ingersoll Avenue." It is named after one of the most famous non believers in history Robert Green Ingersoll. He died in 1899. I would say there is no non believer today that is as prominent as he was during his lifetime. His quotes that ridiculed Christianity are still used frequently today. Ingersoll was a self educated lawyer. He practiced in Chicago and later New York City. Apparently he was very successful at law. While practicing law, he has another successful career on the speaking circuit. People paid good ticket prices to hear him bash Christianity. It is estimated in today's money he earned one million dollars as a speaker some years. He had audiences as large as 50,000. I

For several years here in this blog I've argued that liberal versions of Christianity ultimately would survive while conservative ones would fall by the wayside.  When I first started saying this conservative numbers, especially among the Pentecostal branch, held their own or were rising while liberal branches were rapidly falling. Numbers back seemed unsustainable to me. I remember asking how irrational thinking could outrun rational? That is, how could more belief in invisible beings and in magical thinking outrun information and religious practices aliened with current reality? It seemed  inevitable survival in the faith would remain people who were casual about religion and who enjoyed its social life. Emotional ties to irrational thinking would slowly fall. Over time years numbers in conservative and Pentecostal churches began to fall like those of the liberal branches. Now, there is the first glimmer that a small sliver of conservative church attendees  is sliding to

A wise Chinese philosopher in about 300 BCE  expressed atheism in a way as fresh and modern as anyone today. Paraphrasing, "Don't waste you time praying. It will get you nowhere. If you think it rained because you prayed it would have rained anyway. Instead, study, work and be lucky and you will have a better life." We know from surviving writing there were atheists all over the world at that time. And, there were 100's of religious people cancelling out each other's gods. While not about what we call ancient times, I have on my shelves books by recent authors who combed through newspapers and letters, 1600's and 1700's,  in the U.S. and Europe to find references to non belief. The books were written in response to conventional wisdom that the U.S. was packed with fervent Christians from the Pilgrims to today. Today's conventional wisdom comes from history books written by the winners, not by the losers. Christians won the cultural wars during

One of the best articles about Christian conservatism appeared recently. It demonstrates why the faith is harmed by getting in over its head into political and economic issues. The link discusses the history of a site called First Things.  I read a lot of articles published in First Things to discern what the political right wing of Catholicism is up to. I was surprised to learn First Things did not begin as a Catholic political rag. The originators in 1990 intended it as an ecumenical magazine that would probe religious issues from many angles. High level thinkers in all branches of Christianity would carry on thoughtful exchanges. For a while it played its role well. One of the big players in the magazine has been a personality I have always found to be a phony, George Weigel. Weigel and another fellow drove First Things into a full-throated endorsement of President W. Bush's invasion of Iraq. Remember "weapons of mass destruction?" This stupid move was a black

Out of sight from most of us is a battle about the role of women in conservative Christianity. I've discussed here often the prohibition of female clergy. But, in some circles of the faith men interpret the prohibition of clergy to mean women cannot have positions leadership such as chairing committees or even a congregation president. An opposing view promoted by authors and public celebrities is that outside of the clergy position, men and women are equals in church affairs. According to the link, many individual churches have this battle going on. Some men see women as equals for all lay positions but some men do not. This does not make sense to many women and nearly all young people. When a child enters elementary school, he/she is soon taught about elections. I'm sure it is common for girls to be elected class president of the 3rd or whatever grade. Then a child goes to church and is told, no, women cannot be either clergy or office holder. It would seem strange and

For various reasons, anti abortion political operatives have gotten away with bald faced lies for several decades. They have been caught with their pants down with the death bed statement of Norma McCorvey, the Jane Roe of Roe v Wade. She said she began talking up "pro life" because she was paid to do so. As I wrote yesterday, even though she was paid by the anti abortion establishment she also earned some money working at an anti abortion clinic. She left the clinic when she was offered paid opportunities to be a public figure against abortion. It left me with the impression anti abortion offered her more than she was earning at the clinic. I've reviewed here my personal experience anti abortion demonstrators at the women's clinic in Fargo. One of the lies they told was my wife owned the clinic and this is why I endorsed police efforts to keep the public right of way around the clinic open as the law requires. During that period they started fake abortion clinic

The woman who wanted an abortion and became a celebrity in Roe v Wade, Norma McCorvey, appears in a documentary saying she became a right-to-life celeb because she was paid to switch sides. Her confession was taped shortly before she died in 2017. The documentary will be seen world wide soon. She said anti abortion operatives paid her and she said what they told her to say. The documentary will not settle forever the question of what Norma McCorvey thought about her abortion. It will, however, stop right to life political operatives, including some who have commented here, from claiming her remorse is common among women who have abortions. They also will not be able to claim she went forward with her case believing abortion was wrong and thus made Roe v Wade a bogus court decision. Several years ago her attorney, Sarah Weddington, spoke in Fargo and about the experience changing the entire course of a woman's right to an abortion. As I recall someone during the Q and A asked

This is an example or how negative publicity can have a positive affect. I don't watch television much or keep track of what goes on there. Probably I would never have heard about this TV series but for big stories about it on religious websites that I follow for blog material. The series was produced by a gay minister who is also a film producer. He seems to have a knack for finding the most explosive buttons to touch. In this case he ended up being a preacher in the South, he grew up there. According to promotional material he talks to many gay people about their life there and how it has changed over time. The producer claims the majority of gay people in the U.S. live south of the Mason-Dixon Line. According to the promotional material the documentary will show there are thriving gay communities in the deep South. The South has many contradictions. Alabama has one of the largest and most active atheist groups in the U.S. Most years we visit friends and family in Atlanta.

There is a big discussion about whether taking communion with others on a computer screen is really communion. The Eucharist or communion ceremony, in which symbols for blood are used, surely must go back before recorded history. The Bible is full of blood references. Today we would call a ceremony involving the exchange of blood a "blood oath," an oath of loyalty. New members of the Cosa Notsra share blood in a blood oath. There are written stories of blood oaths in other realms over a thousand years ago. Christian first modified its blood oath by substituting wine for blood. Then in the holy cause of temperance, some Protestants substituted grape juice for wine. The question today is whether another substitution can happen, clergy on a screen instead of in person.  Catholics and others very big on communal rituals while another branch that sees the faith, the Baptists, see faith as an individual thing.  In the communal branch the bread and wine are not the genuine

It is a long and dark tale, but the Green family who own Hobby Lobby have been found to be crooks on behalf of Christianity. The Green's net worth is estimated at over $5 billion. When they launched an effort to develop the "Bible Museum," a facility they hoped would present the history of  Christianity on a quality level similar to those of the Smithsonian, there was a bottomless pit of money. The tale of the Bible Museum is very long and complicated. At the heart of it is something simple, greed. The Greens put their faith in a renowned professor who held the ultimate perch of integrity. He was to assemble their collection of papyrus from the centuries following the alleged time of Jesus. Their mission was to document a trail of Bible papyrus dating back to Jesus. They had $5 billion and everyone knew this. The renowned professor left a good paying position in the U.S. to go to Oxford which had the largest collection of ancient papyrus in the world. Oxford and t

Methodists have resisted breaking apart. Apparently there has been some official steps to break up but there are still groups scrambling to head off the split. Christianity is helped by these splits. Methodism needs to get on with theirs. The faith has always morphed and maybe is morphing faster than ever. There are so many ways of interpreting the Bible one can find one that fits any particular time and place.  Think of fashions in clothing, how they change, and we can see the Bible. When one way of understanding the Bible seems out of date a new one emerges. The faith runs into trouble, however, when interpretation of the Bible is not allowed to change. That is happening now in the Catholic denomination. The former Pope Benedict faction is trying to stop reforms that are needed. These include married priests. The wealthy German branch refuses to condemn gay clergy. Pope Francis' strategy is being less dogmatic about theology and rules. He prefers a vague style of dealing

Woman need abortions for a variety of reasons. For the sake of simplicity, I'll generalize and tie abortion to economics. That is, women need to time the births of their children because of the income lost while pregnant and/or the expense of birth and childcare. Opponents of abortion claim money should not be a reason for the death of a fetus. Yet, most of them are anxious to trade deaths of children and adults for money. The lives of children and adults seem to have no value to them. I've discussed the opposition by politically conservatives to distancing during the coronavirus epidemic. If other measures to save lives, like reducing the speed limit, my guess is the most opposition would come from people who call themselves "pro life." Powerful data showing of "pro life" hypocrisy was revealed recently in a study of cancer deaths in Obamacare states. Surely no one in their right mind would dispute that early visits to medical professionals catch

Cultures make religion, that's the way it has always been. An ex Muslim lawyer explained recently that if Jesus were presented as being of the global East he would be embraced by populations now Muslim. He says the faith needs to recognize how the East sees Christianity. Christianity is an excuse for invasion and colonization. The cultures are much different as well. The East, he says is very communal while the West in about individualism. Thus, we see Islamic prayers done in large groups with choreographed kneeling. While we in the West think of ourselves as concerned about what others think of us, in the East groups effectively shame individuals and they lose all honor. The link's theory is that Jesus could be seen as restoring the honor of those who suffer its loss by liberating or lifting the shame. The author thinks the language attributed to Jesus is the language of the East. The author's ideas would be good for missionaries to consider. From what I have re

The number of married people per 1,000 people is now the lowest it has been since records of marriage began. I'm wondering where cohabitation fits into any Christian denomination today. I don't recall ever hearing of a denomination which says anything like, "God approves of you living together outside of marriage." Now, many churches can add cohabitating couples to their list of those condemned to hell. Are cohabitating heterosexual couples as sinful as cohabitating gay couples? I don't know about such technical differences. Marriage rates are lowest among low income people. Church attendance is lowest among this same group. Marriage and church are for people who can afford them. If the Christian faith wants to regain its numbers it needs to solve this problem. My guess is it cannot. This is another example of the faith putting its money on the wrong horse. It, or much of it, made the same mistake with interracial marriage, birth control, abortion, women c

I know the standard line in the faith is that all are born sinners but we in the faith are better off knowing that and asking forgiveness. In other words, we are on a higher moral plain than everyone else. It would be an improvement if the position the church takes on good behavior was actually its behavior. Instead, those in the faith reflect views in the culture, good and bad. Unfortunately, it is often bad. The link is a beautiful essay by a man who is gay and had to put up with condemnation as a child from his priest and the parish's holier-than-thou lay committees. It is a tragic story played out many thousands of time in churches of most Christian ilks. The Christian faith has a litany of singling out certain groups and labeling them as inferior. Churches in the South used the faith to justify slavery and later segregation. Today many branches do not allow women to be clergy, another version of "women are inferior." Some, mostly men, think women who seek abor

After decades of putting on a "holier than thou" face with anti abortion in its platforms, the righteous mask of the Republican Party has come off. We now know it is a party that places a higher value on money than on adult human lives. It is a sin for poor women to seek abortion. It is Godly for a Republican majority to approve spreading a deadly disease among the public. While this fact has been reported reluctantly in the general press, it was finally featured in the New York Times. Countless times in the past the Republican Party has supported policies that endanger human lives. It has always been in favor of bombing suspected hideouts. It supports highways for cars which are more dangerous than public transportation. It stops public healthcare for low income people which inevitably has to lead to more deaths. Now, it pushes to allow churches and businesses to open when the deadly virus is around us. But, it calls itself the party of "life." All of this

One of the leading writers in the popular press about Catholicism is Ross Douthat. He is considered a conservative Catholic and has written a book critical of the Pope. To me it seems a good observer of insider games being played. The link is over a year old, before the Amazon conference, but seems just as relevant today. The Pope seems ready for married priests. He also wants for focus on advocating for the poor from his history as a Jesuit priest in South America. In the U.S. we know there is a faction that wants more focus on sexual sin and a faction that wants to be more liberal on social issues. In Germany, where lots of money pours into the church, there is a unified liberal operation defying the Vatican. There are other factions different yet from these in Africa and China. All these factions believe they are on the brink of breaking through and will own the next Pope. This Pope has cleverly avoiding a complete schism in the church by being vague about where the church

Abortions by telemedicine have been done for years. Telemedicine of all kinds growing. New restrictions are being placed on abortion and more women are now learning about getting abortions through this technology. A New York Times writer followed one woman through the process and interviewed others. One she interviewed called herself 100% pro life but said she could not endure  postpartum depression another time. One system being used by women in states with many restrictions is to drive across the border to another state, get a motel room and handle the matter from there. No doubt there will be innovative solutions more advanced than this as time moves on. The virus problem as made demands for more telemedicine. No doubt anti abortion forces will try to hold back progress in abortion but it may be more difficult now. Some Governors are trying to reduce the liability exposure of doctors. This insurance issue of course raises the cost of health care. It may be the public is wil

I've heard that at debates between Christian and atheists the atheist debater often asks the Christian, "Tell us what the messiah will look like and how we will know absolutely for certain it is the messiah and not an impostor." The Christian has said the faith teaches the return as an absolute truth but is unable to describe in anything but vague Medieval language how we will know the "messiah." An Israeli official announced the messiah would return by Passover and cure the coronavirus. Passover came and went, no messiah. But, there is still hope. The messiah showed up somewhere else and people have actually talked to him. The link is to a Christian talk show host who warns us neither the Jewish messiah nor the Muslim are the "real" messiahs. They are impostors, he warns. He goes on to say we must wait for the real one. Like those who defend Christianity in debates, he cannot tell us how we are to differentiate between the fake and real Christ

I recently read and tried to understand a science article about the distant future when the sun burns all its energy, explodes and scorches the earth. The end of the earth theories interest me because of the religious concept of burning in hell or living in a heavenly paradise for "eternity." As if a burned up earth is not depressing enough, this article explained that science fiction-like concepts of escaping to another galaxy are becoming increasing unlikely. This is because the universe is expanding and if there are plans to reach a hospitable planet in another solar system it either is out of reach or will be before humans can reach it. I don't know where heaven and hell are located. I've read they are in the spiritual world but to me that still has to be somewhere. If they are within our solar system they will be fried like earth. If they are in some other system they will drift away, only to be fried by some other sun with it burns out. If hell is located

Right wing religious group win more court cases than they should, in my view. But secular efforts are at times successful too. After all, prayer in public schools by teachers is prohibited and gay are permitted to marry. Right wingers are forever taking Planned Parenthood to task for allegations of wrongdoing. Though some charge somewhere along the line may have had validity, I can't remember any. The allegations I know of have all been tossed out by courts and public opinion. The same cannot be said of the crooked parties called "pro life" that picket clinics and or try to indoctrinate the public. Recently one of them was found to owe the State of Texas $15 million for money received but work not delivered. Recently, religious groups have been going to court for the right to spread coronavirus in their churches. They seem unaware the virus will spread elsewhere after it spreads in church. A California court has ruled the Governor can shut down church worship as

Most everyday one can read of another church or another preacher/priest who claims it is a religious right to hold church services without distancing. There  are some who refuse to stop shaking hands of other physical contact as a part of church. Today there is one who takes the cake. This is a Christian member of the State House of Representatives in Ohio. He refers to Genesis 1:26-27 where it is claimed God made man in his own image. Face masks cover up what God intended for all to see, he says, the face. Thus, government cannot require all to wear face masks and the Representative himself will not wear one. Readers need not remind me the nut case does not represent all of Christianity. Neither do the preachers insisting they be allowed to hold services that can spread sickness and death. Neither do the snake handlers and those who pass out on the floor during worship. And, I need not be reminded branches of the faith who claim believing will bring them prosperity represent

If one looks at what is taught in a Department of Religious Studies what does he/she expect to find? In previous decades I would have expected to find classes in Bible History, Denominations in Christianity, Ancient Religions of the World, etc.  These remain in many Departments of Religion. But in others, there are many courses about cultural forces which gave rise to religious ideas. This enrages some like the author of this  link . Courses in a religious studies department should be about religion, he writes, not about women's rights, gay rights, income distribution, sociology and class distinctions of today. For others in the U. S. classes and topics have changed. There are courses which study cultural forces that gave us religion. The link complains there is no national standard for what is taught in a department of religion. Enrollment in these new courses is bigger than it was in the old. In addition, conferences dealing with the cultural issues surrounding religion a

I say here often the 2020 election will be about abortion. Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York City is a good example of why that is the case. I've discussed Dolan's history before. He is in the Catholic faction of former Pope Benedict. Pope Benedict has had little interest in the lives of ordinary people. Instead, he was and remains engrossed in details of Catholic politics and theology. For example, he used his Christmas message once to warn the faithful about the evils of homosexuality. It appears he made several mistakes approving pedophile priests to be moved around instead of turned over to law enforcement. Dolan gained favor of Pope Benedict when he created a phony trust fund for cemeteries in order to hide assets of the Milwaukee Diocese. He intention was to put Diocese funds out of reach from law suits over sex abuse by Diocese priests. The courts stopped him but Pope Benedict promoted Dolan to the New York Diocese. Now he is again doing Benedict's bidding by

I read a Christian article explaining why it is necessary to be patient when waiting for God to answer your prayer requests. This is what one has to do when the prayer he/she prayed was heard only by him/herself. It reminded me of what politicians always say when they are running for their second term in office. Think of the upcoming Presidential election. It looks like everything will be worse when the President runs for reelection than it was when he first ran. Thus, he will be blamed for these failures. He will campaign on needing a second term to finish what he promised to do. It is the same line used in the Bible. There are other tricks used in the Bible and by the faith for failures. We can't know the mind of God is one. God works in mysterious ways is another. They all add up to, "I need a second term in office to fulfill my promises." Critical thinking allows one to see the parallel between the Bible and a political campaign. Fortunately even grade school

None of us knows the future, but we can look at the past and see if it tells us anything. Big variables in the future of the institutionalized church have always been, and we can assume always will be, discretionary money people have available to give and the birth rate. There are people today predicting the virus will lead the public to another revival. Others, that it will lead to more rapid decline in the institutional church.  The link author believes that the recession in 2008 was a dividing point between growth and decline of the church in the U.S. Because of uncertainty, people had fewer children. The result of fewer births is now resulting in fewer church members. We have discussed often here also the lower percentages of young people staying with religion as they move into adulthood. Another demographic trend that is thought to reduce church participation is the drop in percentages of marriage. For whatever reason, couples that live together and do not marry are much