Thoughts of a Freethinker

It's easy to generalize about who runs the Catholic Church and how. It is run by the Pope and his Bishops the claim is made. The history of the U.S. Catholic church, however, is one of very different Catholic groups. The Catholic faith arrived from different parts of the world and different times in the U.S. each setting up shop to reflect where and when they arrived. Each had a different history. These differences set the stage for the disagreements that remain in the faith today. Early on Spanish armies forced Catholicism on native people in Mexico and the states of California, New Mexico and Texas. The thrust of this Catholic brand was the Virgin of Guadalupe. Later the French version came to the Midwest and this version was different than that of the Southwest and West. Still later came the version from England and Ireland that landed on the East coast. Still later was a wave of immigrants from Germany and Ireland.  Today 1/5 of the U.S. are Catholic. Those who are Democrats h

Much is yet to be written about the breakup of the huge Methodist denomination. A large batch is forming an anti gay "Global Methodist" denomination. Among the liberal groups some are affiliating the liberal denominations, others going independent and yet others forming new denominations. In reading about all of this , it is apparent all groups have one thing in common. Each believes God in on their side.  The African branches I recently wrote about also know God is on their side and not on the side of white Westerners. They know, for example, they are at war with witches and evil spirits. Western Christians mistakenly think the great war is against the global Satan. The Pope agrees with the latter.  It isn't as if conservative Methodists are going around saying God agrees with them and liberals want to think of God as abstract to these worldly issues. According to the link liberals, too, are claiming directly they are doing what God expects all people to do. It's not

Everyone who follows numbers knows Christianity in Africa is growing while it is declining in the West. Many pundits conclude that while the center of Christianity has been Europe and the U.S., it will be Africa in the future.  This would mean it had the votes to impose its version of the faith at gatherings such as conferences. It has already done this in the Methodist denomination. I've been trying to understand what kind or brand of Christianity is most popular in Africa and what Africa might impose in the West if and when it has the power to do so.  Some things jump out about African Christianity. The growth of Christianity there is not attributed to conversions by white Western missionaries. Instead it is from indigenous denominations and a high birth rate. One development celebrated in Africa is the breaking away many decades ago of churches from the missionaries' denominations to form indigenous African denominations. The cross is not as popular a symbol in Africa as in

I always thought Christianity would be replaced with something that had a charismatic personality at the front. This is not necessarily a good theory however. Donald Trump is regarded by some as a deity. Whenever an actual human being is attributed with divine attributes cracks in the person's character start to show up. The same reason Jews did not take to Jesus is that he did not deliver what they wanted. Any human that shows up "at the end time" will have the same problem, not good enough.  So what could take the place of Christianity as it slides downward in popularity? The answer is in symbolism and imagery. It could be that people don't really worship Jesus, they worship the cross. It could be people don't really believe abortion is murder, the worship the picture of the fetus. Symbols and images play with people's minds. The practice of tarot is booming. New ideas for tarot cards and the use of old cards was popular in the 1960's. It fell off for a

I came across a page advertising books for people who feel doubts about their faith. There are lots of them. One of them, Before You Lose Your Faith; Deconstructing Doubt in the Church.  (The Gospel Coalition) was discussed on a site which covers many aspects of Christianity from fundamentalism to atheism. I also looked up the book itself to see what its promotional material claimed. While I will not part with my money to buy such a book, I have an ongoing curiosity about this topic. Christian numbers are falling. What is the Christian establishment doing about this? That is, what are the giant Southern Baptist Convention and Catholic Church doing to stop the bleeding? The Gospel Coalition  which published to book does not include any women or Catholics in its governing body. It is heavily weighted with what appear to be Southern Baptists and fellow travelers. The statement of purpose said the Coalition is "Reformed" whatever that means. Thus, the Gospel Coalition is a proxy

President Biden's decision to pull U. S. troops out of Afghanistan illustrates the limits of technology. There is an indigenous population in that country which opposes the war lords. The troops opposing the war lords are those employed by the Afghan government. What are the prospects those fighting on behalf of the government will be able to hold onto some part of that country? If things had been done differently , the odds would be much better. The mistake of the U.S. has been to teach military techniques to the natives which use money and technology that will not be available after the U.S. leaves. By not studying the culture of Afghan people and providing them with equipment and military techniques which mesh with their available level of money and technical capabilities we have left them in a no-win situation.  The U.S. method of fighting the Taliban is to called drone strikes or airborne missile attacks. Without these the government army is headed for defeat. The Taliban uses

Actor Richard Burton once said, The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself. How could any literate person not see the truth in that simple statement. You can see it in the history of shifting positions of all kinds of issues and it is no different at this moment. Just now a big portion of the Methodist denomination is separating because it hate gays. It is claiming gay marriage violates something in the Bible, a false claim. Then, we see frantic attempts to stop abortion. These play to emotions that we should train ourselves to think of the fetus as a human being then transfer out affection for babies to fetuses.  Both of the above links are the same in that both are made up of believers who receive personal pleasure from looking down on other people. Before the gay issue, the Methodists now leaving the denomination were happy with what it had to say. But, when the opportunity presented itself of feel superior and withhold somethi

One of the most interesting thing I remember about the rise of Ronald Reagan was an observation about idealism. While business interests had long campaigned for lower taxes and less regulation, Reagan used words about idealism to promote these ideas. A shining country on a hill, the individual is the strength of our country, etc., was his schtick. He was really only about lower taxes and less regulation but use of words from idealism caught liberals off guard. Now, right wing religious zealots and alarmed because the secular left is using idealism just like they have done since forever. The right does not like it. The link says critical thinking taught in schools today is more dangerous than secularism because it teaches equality and fairness as a moral value.  The Governor here is Iowa is an enthusiastic Trump supporter and expresses herself much like Trump. When unaccompanied minors were piling up at the border and there was talk about distributing them to various states for school a

I don't know how many times it has been discussed here and many other places. The marriage between right wing religion with its anti abortion and anti gay passion has to divorce at some point. Corporations must attract, not repel, customers and employees. Being mean to either will see corporations pack up their belongings and say goodbye right wing religion. When the split began publicly right wing religion started saying it moved out first. The first big moves I recall from religion against big business was when anti gay fanatics said lots of gay people showed up at Disney World and it should turn them away. They called for a nationwide boycott. Then a year of so later the person who had announced it said, "Oh, I guess that is over." Another boycott way back was Ford Motor Company. I think that was for benefits provided provided gay employees. That turned out to be a source of laughter also.  Still, in Congress, conservative religion supported the same politicians as th

A recent review of the impact of humans on our environment gives us a good overview of what is taking place. Surprisingly, humans have not spread over additional earth land mass much in the last 12,000 years. What has changed is our abuse of the environment. In the past 12,000 years humans roamed the various areas, left them, then returned and more or less left the percentage of the earth they occupy about the same. This tells me is that the percentage of the earth available to humans is finite. There are not large new areas where humans can live.  What has changed is the measurable effect humans have had on the environment where we live. It is possible to track the rate at which insects/animals went extinct in ancient times. Scientists feel they have a fix on the rate of water pollution and top soil loss. These scientists estimate we are depleting the sustainability of resources needed to produce food at a rate of over 50% above sustainability.    Much of what we eat depends on river

It is impossible to refute one fact about abortion. One fetus life saved is not a net of one life saved. Saving one fetus does not cause one human to die. But several saved fetuses cause one person to die.  There are various statistics but one is this: States with the most severe laws against abortion have seen an increase in death of pregnant women. They die from various causes but for several unwanted pregnancies a pregnant woman dies. The rate of pregnant women's deaths is lower in states that allow abortions. The often made remark by anti abortion protesters, "I'm for life" means "I'm for fetus life." It does not mean that person is for human life in general. There are a lot of political juices in anti abortion politics. If the same juices were present for the health of well being of pregnant women we might see some progress. As it is, the rate of death of pregnant women is as high in the U. S. as in the countries former President Trump called "

If anti abortion cranks could get off their emotional bandwagon and think strategically they might get somewhere. They can't stop talking about "it's a baby." They think everyone involved is or will be preoccupied with this emotional notion. Instead, they need to realize everyone involved does not see it this way. A potential father or mother might be preoccupied with another thought, "It's a pile of bills to pay. And, I might lose my job." Perhaps they can think of nothing else. That is, the notion "It is a baby" may not enter their minds because their minds are filled with the job and bills. The anti abortion cranks could do something about this thought pattern. They could advocate the public pay those bills . The link is not about abortion but about child support payments by the bread-winning parent. Usually this is the father, now divorced, who is behind in child support payments. The entire article is negative about what happens when a cou

In the Old Testament is a tale of Moses coming down from a mountain and finding his followers dancing and having a picnic by a calf made of gold. There are other references in the Bible about gold, like the wise men bringing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The cross is displayed endlessly and at anti abortion political events pictures of fetuses are held high. Catholic churches have endless statues of Mary. Currently under construction is the largest   statue   of Jesus on the North and South American Continents. It is even larger than Touchdown Jesus in Indiana.  The golden calf made Moses so mad he ordered 3,000 people be murdered. I suppose he "loved" his followers but believed in "tough love." What is unclear to me is how to separate "worshipping" a statue, picture or other physical object and from people just looking at it in admiration? When believers enter a church, kneel and "cross themselves" in front of a statue or symbol would i

In what appears to me to be a clever maneuver, a Bishop in Germany has announced some large events to bless gay married couples. The is in direct defiance of the Vatican's declaration of no marriage or blessing ceremonies for gay couples.  There are several events at different locations and the dates of the events have not been clearly declared. I assume the couples will not be named so there are fewer grounds to terminate priests and Bishops who make appearances. There is an old technique used often to make things appear differently than they are. Some 20 years ago at my alma mater,  Iowa State University, a group of students wanted to rename the football stadium for a black player who was killed there by players from the Un. of Minnesota. His name was Jack Trice and it had happened in 1923. The administration at the time had other plans and refused the renaming. The students said the stadium would become "Jack Trice Stadium" if everyone used this term. Sure enough, in a

 I've been reading a book about the last days of the Roman Empire. The author and everyone else who writes about it admits we cannot know for certain every detail about what happened. There are only sketchy engravings, partial surviving documents and other bits of information. The broad outline, however, fits so many other historic events it is easy to see what must have happened. Ironic, too, is how similar that time is to the present when we watch the change from one dominant religion to something else. Recently a professional writer summarized his life long experience of watching the influence of Christianity. It has gone from stores closed on Sundays and outlawing publications with nudes to increasingly rapid drops on religious affiliation and growth of no-religion adults. He reviewed the many explanations for the decline, we have discussed all of them here, but he summarized what polling has shown. People today are less likely to believe fantasies of resurrections, miracles,

Where did the idea come from that one group of humans had the right, since birth, to rule over another group of humans. We know that was true in slavery found in the Bible and to a large degree in segregation. We know it was true in India and many places in the ancient world. But, where does it exist today and why? In parts of Christianity. Currently it goes under the name complementarianism.  Complementarianism was born in the 1970's in response to growing rights and opportunities for women. Religious men invented a theological argument that women must remain "in their place."  It starts with God who is assigned a male gender. After that the God character is assigned the title of "Father" and those under him are assigned the role of children. After that, what's the pecking order? You know it well. It is for men in a relationship with women to be in charge and for women to gladly and cheerfully accept that role. Millions of women do just that. They have bee

The Bishop of the Crookston Diocese has resigned due to his cover up of sexual abuse. The Diocese has already paid out millions of dollars to victims. I know someone who received a substantial payment from the Diocese. All the while there have been deniers, even here on this blog, that sexual abuse was going on and that it was being covered up. It was. I know a priest in the Red River Valley who early on did not think wide spread abuse could have happened. He said confessions are required of priests and they would have told superiors and it would have been stopped immediately. That priests, or anyone else, would reveal secrets in confession is part of the mythology and imagination of the Catholic Church. Is the point of confession that people are made better by lying to a priest? I would guess every state in the U.S. has now had cases of both priests who sexually abused and Bishops who covered it up by moving priests from on diocese to another. The Catholic Church has paid out nearly

It's taken a long time, but huge corporations have begun to recognize their future of low taxes and less regulation is not secure in the hands of religious and social conservatives. When Trump suckered religious conservatives, including anti abortion and gays, into his orbit corporate CEO's started looking for the door. A group of them met on ZOOM this past weekend to stop the erosion of voting rights now being attempted by states across the country. I spent my career as a college prof in economics. The discipline of economics has always had a hard time fitting into the academic world. It started with Adam Smith in 1776 where he used the market to explain how everyone, employers and employees, were made better off all seeking their own self interest. This was contrary to most of what might have been called economics back then. Mostly how well off anyone was was thought to be due to the benevolence of gods. Markets and conservative thinking were thought to be the solution to eve

Those who defend abortion do not usually engage in the moral and ethical arguments surrounding abortion. They know the arguments, but probably do not want to go into complicated points when there is a good simple one to make, women's rights. I agree with their strategy but sometimes it's good to point out abortion is a practice with moral and ethical arguments that destroy their holier-than-thou opponents. There are about 250 laws across all states complicating abortions. Justice Roberts said in a decision he is open to more of these. The strategy is to raise the cost in both money and inconvenience so fewer women can manage to obtain abortions.  The moral case is made against abortion that includes such statements as "babies (fetuses) are innocent," "heartbeat is the beginning of human life," "the fetus has no voice in the decision" and others. The same exact arguments can be made for other medical procedures. Anti abortion operatives do not brin

I just finished a book, Alaric the Goth. Alaric was a hero among the Goths who led a destructive invasion of the city of Rome. It was toward the end of the Roman Empire. The very limited information about Alaric and the Goths tells us the Goths were part of the Roman Empire's collection of countries and cultures. The Romans were experts is some ways at running their empire. Their military was better than anyone's, they negotiated collection of taxes and they exerted some pressure to conform but left some issues about religion and culture to their conquered areas.  The Romans were were unsuccessful in one respect. They looked down on some groups who had been led to believe they would be full partners in the Empire. The Goths were one of these. Goth frustration with being treated as outsiders after supporting the Empire gave Alaric the support he needed to sack Rome. I also reread tonight an article about the friendship between Frederick Douglass, the towering black attorney, and

When one encounters, as I do often here, strongly held views about philosophers of ancient times it is refreshing to follow the chain of thinking that brought most of us to where we are now. I hope I can more or less accurately trace the thread . It starts with the question, "Who started institutions of higher education in the West and why?" The very earliest were religious ones. They were started to ponder ancient philosophers of Western societies. It is claimed Plato established Christianity, even though he lived and wrote some 400 years before the alleged time of religious character, Jesus. Attending early universities meant studying religious philosophers. In the U.S. the earliest universities were established to train preachers.  In the mid 1880's, the German philosopher Nietzsche published a book in which he declared God to be dead. That phrase was on the cover of a prominent news magazine a few decades ago. That God is dead threw into disarray the prevailing intell

It is entertaining to read all the various views about Biden's Catholicism. He seems not interested in debating "what is right" or what others think his version of Catholic dogma but instead attends mass regularly and claims to have the faith on his mind often.  Those Catholics hand wringers about his advocacy of abortion rights and gay rights say this proves he is not a "real Catholic." He is instead someone who is influenced by the prevailing culture. He wants individuals to have rights and those rights should be placed  before the "teaching" of the church critics claim.  The link carries on that Biden is "an American Catholic." This priority of the individual over the faith is a weakness, the link claims, of Catholicism on this continent. What foolishness it is to believe the "American Catholicism" comes from a self centered and selfish source while the "real Catholic faith" comes from somewhere that is more important a

After decades of fearing voter backlash from higher taxes, Biden has sized up his Republican opposition and decided taxes can go up and Democrats can get elected.  What is the calculation Biden has made? It is a calculation about religion, which also goes under the title of "cultural wars." Biden sees his victory along with declining church membership tied to the increasingly religious Republican party. The coast ahead looks clear for bigger government and higher taxes to pay for it. The Republican Party is playing right into his hand. The corporations we see putting their backs up in Georgia against legislation to limit voting is a signal the marriage between the low tax corporate sector and the religious right is headed for a divorce. Corporations tolerated the religious right when is generated the votes they needed to keep taxes down. Now they have concluded the religious right is helping to raise taxes and cause more regulation. In my old age various experiences and thing

I'm reminded each Easter about how many people, who could spend their time doing something useful, spend their time talking about the Christian "afterlife." They write books and columns . They stand behind pulpits. They shame others. There have always been some who argue they are happier in their lives knowing they don't have to die and will happier after they are dead. This tells me they are not really happy now.   The link was written by a member of the Catholic clergy. He carries on, like endless articles about Christian death do, with hair splitting issues on death. Did the ancient Jews, including the Bible's main character, Jesus, really believe in a "heaven?" Did they believe people were inventoried in another location until the end of times and then got the afterlife award? It is all ridiculous. When we're dead, we're dead. Get over it. That said, I'll admit the concept of an afterlife is helpful to many Christians. For many it is a wa

My Grandmother's brother, my great Uncle, was a Christian missionary in China. His name was Obed Johnson. He grew up on a farm about two miles from our family farm. He was in China for several years and established a church there. His former church in now used by some business. His contribution to a Christian China is gone. If there are Christian descendants anywhere there we don't know about them. The Catholic Church and other Western denominations continue to spend lots of donated money trying to establish their religion in China.  I recall as a child back in my little evangelical church in Iowa there was a dramatic announcement that two missionaries from our denomination had been killed in China. I suppose the hat was passed to help the families.  Christianity is not the only religion trying to shoe horn its way into China's huge population. Islam was once a huge religion there, only to be stamped out, like much of Christianity, by the cultural revolution. I'm sure s

While this blog has been writing for a decade about the decline of Christianity in the West, the broader media only this week awoke to discuss it widely. That is because a new poll now shows a majority of the U.S. is no longer made up of church members.  Of course the question is raised, "What does this mean for our country?" Is it a terrible thing that affiliation with religious organizations is declining? Or, is it a good thing? The plain and simple fact is, it is a good thing. It is a positive development. It may save our society. The moral principles of much of Christianity are simply inferior to those of much of secularism. One always has to be careful not to over generalize because there are many kinds of Christianity and secularism. There are many kinds of governments as well. There have been governments run by secular parties which have been bad. Russia comes to mind. But most of the prosperous counties today are secular and do not repress religion. England, Australi

I've been writing here for a decade about why anti abortion zealots need to align themselves with Democrats instead of Republicans. Anti Abortion is a dead end when it is advocated by Republicans. It is a dead end because if abortion of all kinds in all places is outlawed, a more extreme position than reversing Roe, costs of raising children from unwanted pregnancies will inevitably land on tax payers. While he says this only indirectly, that is the message of pro life New York Times columnist, Ross Douthat.  Anyone following this issue knows the pending issues. First, there is a case that is, or was, headed to the Supreme Court. The decision to rule on the case has been delayed. No one knows for certain why a decision to hear or not hear has not been forth coming. The case, if successful, would severely limit access to abortion. Some speculate the predicted opposition to abortion "promised" by Trump's appointments may not be there. Years ago I remember a pithy obser

While the election of Joe Biden will change many things, it was not the most important issue emerging from the election. The most important thing to emerge (in my opinion) is the realization of an absolutely huge reservoir of voters out there who may (or may not) continue to vote in future elections.  Trump garnered a record number. But his number was swamped by Biden and democrats. The immediate problem this caused for Republicans was the likelihood it would happen repeatedly for ever more. This made imperative a strategy be cobbled together immediately.   I looked but could not find the quote I recall from a prominent Republican Senator who said something like, "Under the demographic circumstances we have today, Republicans can never win another nationwide election. That's why we need to do something."  To stay in the game Republicans have to adopt one of two strategies. A.) Align its views with the majority of voters or B.) prevent significant numbers of the majority f

There is much discussion of the refusal by a female actor to portray a lesbian. She was dismissed from the performing company. Actors commonly don't get parts they might prefer. If they are in an acting company the management choses parts. She sued and the lawsuit was tossed before it began. It is a mystery why religious people go into careers where it is almost inevitable they will be asked to perform tasks that violate their faith. If you are a truck driver and had a religious hang up with contraception it seems absurd you could refuse to haul a load because it included contraceptives. Each person's religious hang up cannot become the law of the land if our country is to function. Yet, I suppose we have or will see such demands.  It would be in the national interest to make a list of religious taboos the are practiced in the U.S. Every reader knows a few. I don't think any of us knows them all. Think first of all those in the field of medicine and reproductive rights. Ano