Thoughts of a Freethinker

This weekend there was yet another article on a large Christian site reporting on the decline in Christian numbers. Like some others the study was conducted and written, not by a group hostile to Christianity, but by an evangelical organization. For some reason it is now in style or popular for Christian organizations to make glum reports about what is happening to Christianity. While it is laudable these Christians truthfully report what the declining numbers they never go very far into the bigger question, why? When we look at the history of where Christianity came from, how it got so large and why it is declining, it no doubt is painful to discuss what happened.   Many observers argue the lucky break for Christianity was the conversion of the Roman pagan dictator Constantine to Christianity. Constantine ruled the Roman Empire from 306 to 337 CE.  If Constantine had remained pagan, or had converted to some other religion, would Christianity ever spread across the globe?...

Ross Douthat, a columnist in the New York Times, wrote a long article a while back about the drifting nature of Catholic ideology. It seemed to me to represent much of Protestantism as well.  A friend of ours who is a practicing Catholic said the adult lives of her several children and their children is much different than was hers. Her life centered on church life. Events at the church and friends at the church were front and center. There were not many other things going on in her life. Some of her children do not affiliate with any church. Those that do slip it into their lives whenever there is room but it is not a high priority. They attend occasionally but not much more than that. The center of their lives are other things and other issues. Her observations were something of a metaphor for Douthat's article. Big sections of all branches of Christianity are drawn to issues outside of theology and the social life of the faith. In the Catholic branch we have those preoccupied wi...

I came across an article from 2015 that challenged Christians as to the source of their version of Christianity. While the issues have changed somewhat in the six years since it was written, the thrust of the article remains valid today.  The U.S. version of Christianity, with a few exceptions, is based on current fetishes of the Republican Party. The fetishes mostly involved moral dislikes of conservative people.  Back in 2015, the moral world was predicted to collapse is gay marriage became approved. During that period of time denominations were splintering over the issue. The Methodists are still dividing up the spoils of what was once a huge denomination. There was too much religious buffoonery back in 2015. That the Methodist Church is splitting up over gay preachers and gay marriage tells us there it still too much buffoonery.  Today, the buffoonery is about people who change their gender. People have done this since the beginning of time. All of a sudden, it's the...

I look forward to reading columns in the New York Times by Ross Douthat. He is a converted Catholic. He writes a lot about the Catholic Church and, to me at least, sees the Catholic Church as an outsider sees it. Today's column speculates on whether the future Catholic Church will be more liberal or less.  Douthat notes the Catholic Church has been going through cycles that mimic France of the 1700's. France went through revolutions followed by counter revolutions. People became uncertain what was coming next. None of those revolutions or counter revolutions, however, predicted the France of today. Today's France came from events of the more recent history. Douthat reviews the past few decades of his church. There was a Pope in the 1960's who was determined to modernize it. Out went many traditions including Latin Mass. In came guitars. Then a couple of recent Popes, one was the previous Benedict, dumped the modern and tried to bring back the old. Now Francis sees these...

Word has it a mega church has inked an agreement with Face Book to advertise its message, collect funds and split them with FB. We will see many more of these church advertisements of FB, I am guessing. And, why not. It's a money win win. It is interesting to observe how fast parts of Christianity adapt to some things but are unable for others. I remember when I was a farm boy listening to my uncle talk in our church. He was visiting back in the Midwest while a missionary in Alaska. He praised our church, also his own, because it did not have syncopation in its music. Decades later I watched Pat Robertson say sinful church music had a "strong base beat." These two were run over not long after by electric guitars, driving rhythm and screens. Now the concert style church with mostly music and short sermons is the deal. The irony is that many churches who encounter God in this rock setting are unable to be contemporary about women's and gay rights. New technology for tal...

I remember the first time I heard the narrative we are all broken souls and in need of being helped. It was a told to me by a Pentecostal elected colleague. He told me he wanted to see our entire city come to the realization we are all broken souls and unit together in accepting the salvation of Jesus. I was dumbfounded and did not know what to say. I had never heard this particular interpretation of reality even in my childhood evangelical church.  Reading a review of a book written by a deep Christian I was taken back to that conversation. The case made by the Christian was that one not should go around asking for evidence of a god or questioning the historicity of the Bible. The evidence and historicity does not exist and there is no point in looking for it. Instead, we are to acknowledge Christians are required to believe and get on with it. The book author argues that people who leave the faith were never believers in the first place. If they had been genuine Christians they ...

To understand why a growing portion of us here in the U.S. and in Europe are sliding away from Christianity it is helpful the review parts of the Bible. The part one could say is most central to the faith is the crucifixion and Resurrection of the main character, Jesus. When one reviews the four versions of the crucifixion it is so obvious they were embellished over time for propaganda value. The propaganda message was Jews are the villains. In the first Gospel written, Mark, Pilate asked Jesus if he is the King of the Jews. Jesus says nothing. Then Pilate goes to a crowd, we don't know why there is a crowd there, and asks the Jews. The Jews say to kill him. it seems unrealistic the person sent to run the country for the Romans asks the crowd such a question. Pilate has no reason to be popular, no elections there. The next Gospel written was Matthew. That version is about the same except a little item is added to raise the tension. Pilate's wife passes a note telling Pilate Jes...

Reading about the Republican running for Governor of Virginia, Glen Youngkin, I was struck by how similar anti abortion zealots are to the anti integration conservatives of 1950-1970. They are soldiers of God, fearless in the face of opposition. Unless they are campaigning for voters. Then they need to be dishonest . A little dishonesty while serving the god of anti integration and abortion is a good thing. There is a tape of Youngkin answering a question, why is he in his campaign not railing out against Planned Parenthood and the money it receives from government? Youngkin replied he needs independent voters to win in Virginia. Biden won Virginia by 10%. It has been Republican but is trending Democrat. Youngkin said that once elected and successful in bringing a strong Republican majority to the Virginian legislature anti abortionists like him can go on the offensive.  Youngkin's strategy of hiding his anti abortion views to win votes is identical to the private school movement i...

One of the many twists and turns in Congress, Statehouses and communities to stave off the integration God was so much opposed to was private schools. The book I just finished was about South Carolina. When integration became the law and the federal government declared it would not be possible for communities to just go on as usual with separate schools for black and white children private schools popped all over South Carolina. Sometimes an angry group of white parents would announce a new school without preparation. They would open the doors and hustle up staff as the went along. The publicly stated reason for the private schools was to improve education. Those local leaders with the experience to say the right thing would never say it was to avoid integration. The "family," they would say is so important their children need to study at family oriented schools. Once in a while there was a candid remark by a person too young to be schooled in proper presentation of white Chr...

I read an article today claiming Jesus favored a free market for labor and not socialism. The parable is supposed to be a lesson in the morals of wages.  As I recall, the story tells of one set of workers who made a deal early in the day and went off to work. Later in the day another set of workers showed up and were paid the same amount as the first but for fewer hours. The first group complained. Jesus is quoted as saying (paraphrasing), "A deal is a deal. You who started early should take you pay and be quiet."  The author of this post ignores the places where Jesus was quoted as saying the rich man should give up all his money. Also ignored are the parts where Jesus supposedly talked of helping the poor.  The author also said "economists" agree setting one wage for all makes for lazy workers. I'm not aware that any economist has said this in an academic paper. What I do know about was Britain's attempt at equal wages for all. During a period decades ago...

I have not blogged for a couple of weeks. My computer failed, the problem took a while to diagnosis and then the part was slow to arrive. Now when it is all fixed I'm at the annual fly in of my type of airplane. With all the greeting and catching up with everyone since two years ago there isn't much time for blogging. All this said it was impossible not to notice complaints against a Catholic university who invited President Biden to speak. The outrage is over his support of abortion rights for women, though he does not endorse abortion personally. There is nothing better for a Catholic university, or any university, to be seen as important enough for a President to make an appearance there.  As I mentioned in recent blogs, supporters of racial segregation thought any official or individual could not be a Christian if he/she endorsed segregation of schools. After all, they said, God would not have put different races on different continents if he wanted them to intermarry. This...

Southern white Christians were skilled at making the religious case for segregation. Perhaps they made a better case than Christian integrationists.  Segregationists didn't just toss out one sentence from the Bible here and there. They started with the broad arching message. Why, they asked, would God have put the races on different continents if he wanted them to produce mixed race children? Not only did he put them on different continents, he dumped oceans and mountains in between the races. It's self evident God did not want interracial marriage. How could a real Christian believe otherwise? The Biblical endorsement of segregation is so extensive I can't cover it all. Here are a few. In Genesis Adam and Eve's son Cain killed in brother Abel. Cain had to be segregated. A mark was placed on him so he could be identifies and kept apart from others. The story was about about black people. The New Testament talks of the day when Jesus will return. All nations will be gath...

In my field of economics, a book called The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith in 1776 blew away previous understanding of where wealth came from. Previously, religion was said to be the source of prosperity or lack thereof. Smith said, no, wealth of a nation comes from its limited land, labor and tools producing more than it did before. Recently the book "The Turnaways" dealt a fatal blow to some of the anti abortion arguments. These included false arguments that women suffer mental anguish over abortions and that abortions are unsafe. I have not seen these old arguments made as much since the book was published.  A case is made often by Christians that the faith never changes. Also, it is said the U.S. is a Christian nation. On the topic of U.S. history, it is said slavery and segregation was defended in the South for economic reasons and by racial prejudice. Professor J. Russell Hawkins makes the case justification for slavery and segregation was based on religion. If we use ...

"The fundamental beliefs of religion do not change with the fashion of social thinking or even with the personalities of church leaders."  This is from a state wide Methodist newsletter in South Carolina. Most anyone reading it would know it referred to gay marriage. Or, it referred to abortion. It was written in the 1950's. Millions of right-minded Christians knew it referred to the Bible's clear lesson that integration of black and white people is a sin and God demands segregation. Orthodox Christianity at that time taught government was to keep the races separate in schools, churches, swimming pools and restaurants. God had made the world with separate races. White people did not hate the Negro, it was often said, it's that the Christian religion forbids interracial marriage. It's identical to "I have nothing against gay people. It's just that my religion does not allow me to bake a cake for a gay wedding (or stay in my motel or get married in my c...

Another poll came out showing the decline in Christian denominational identity and an increase in "nones", those who claim no identity with any branch of the faith. News about the decline in so regular and predictable it's almost not news. There were a couple of interesting twists, however. "Mainline" branches showed a small untick and now outnumber the deep evangelical numbers. I have said since forever the Christianity that survives this change will be the liberal, not conservative, branches. Here is why this is inevitable. Let's say you are a church member who attends more or less regularly. You believe there is a God and was a Jesus. Also, you believe there is sin and an afterlife of some kind. And, you enjoy church except for this: The preacher/priest rails against abortion, homosexuality, bi sexual and trans. Further, there are a few members who talk this way during after-service coffee. This makes you uncomfortable. You know and like a few gay people ...

There was a kerfuffle a year or two ago among conservative Christians about a new Bible that eliminated gender. That is, it took out references to God as being of a male gender and other such changes. Conservatives said this was changing the "word of God" and was terrible. It turns out conservatives, those who claim the "word of God" never changes, do quite a bit of rewriting the Bible themselves. They have the same objective, in some cases to make it less offensive in contemporary times and in other cases to make it conform to their own views as to what it should say. One of the devious ones came from realizing that if ancient leaders in the faith had slaves it implies it's OK to have slaves. So, someone came up with the bright idea for the Bible to call slaves "bondservants." Thus, ancient religious leaders did not have slaves as we used to believe, they had something different, "bondservants."  And the there were problems with that fictiti...

Here is survey which points to a lower fertility number than the current one which is already low and falling. This survey questioned both men and women. Most surveys question only women. I've discussed here often that fewer children and a lower population appear to increase the odds of human survival on the planet earth. Sure, there are questions raised about this. Not every single one has been answered with 100% certainty. But when the problems associated with a smaller population are compared to the problems of overpopulation it's a rock solid conclusion too much population is worse. The problem with a lower birth rate is simple: Taking care of old people is a labor intensive industry. With a smaller labor force it will be harder to staff care facilities. Perhaps technology will help with some of this care. There is a positive fiscal note. With fewer people needed to take care of children more are available to take care of old people.  One of the ironies of this drop in birt...

Today I received a widely circulated email announcement recruiting a new director for an organization called the National Network of Abortion Funds. I received it because I donate as much as I can to this organization. The outgoing director has been there for several years.  In reading through the material I was surprised to learn this organization has 60 employees. It gives away most of its money to on-the-ground efforts to keep abortion available but also has enough money to support a large and aggressive staff. This is something mostly not reported on in the general press. Probably it is safer opponents of abortion do not know that much about the organization or where it is located. Opponents of abortion have a history of burning abortion clinics and killing doctors.  Knowing about NNAF helps me understand how small specialized women's rights organizations operate. There is one I have discussed earlier which specializes in defending women who have had miscarriages but are a...

I would answer that question with, no, not all of Christianity is a cult. Yet, it is an age-old question without a final answer. When people follow a leader, do what the leader orders even when it harms themselves and do not question, is that always a cult? Or is it a cult only when the beliefs of the leader are far outside the mainstream of current thinking? Is strange current thinking never a cult? The link points out that cult followers are often idealistic people. They want to change the world for the better. This is a trait shared by nearly all people of all religions and nearly all people of no religion. In this way a slice of society is seeking a cult leader to abuse them.  Most atheists, in my observation, think of Christianity as a mechanism to control people. In the Bible Jesus sounds very much like David Koresh of Waco, Marshall Applewhite of Heaven's Gate,  Jim Jones of Jonestown and Rev. Moon when he was quoted in Luke as saying, "If any man comes to me and h...

What evidence we have indicates the number of abortions before Roe, when abortions were illegal in many states, was about the same as it became after Roe made them legal. Now, anti women religious groups are passing bills again making abortions expensive and hard to acquire. Pharmaceutical abortions are growing and can be supervised on line. The coronavirus crisis added development of internet access and mailed pill pipeline. It is now ready in the Roe shutdown states. It is said on various sites anti abortion activists are "worried" about governments' inability to stop abortion pills from being easily available. Why did they ever think they could make a big dent in the number of abortions? They were not successful before Roe, they will not be successful now. Anti abortion legislation and enforcement can make abortions more expensive and require more time and effort to obtain. But the math of abortion versus the math of raising a child make the cost of abortion mostly not...

In 1837, Hans Christian Andersen wrote The Emperor's New Clothes.  In the story, a vein Emperor who loves fine robes has his clothes stolen by swindlers. The swindlers tell everyone the Emperor's new clothes will be so fine they can only be seen by the wisest of eyes. As the Emperor parades naked down the street important people compliment him on his splendid clothes. Only when a small boy remarks, "The Emperor has no clothes" does the crowd roar with laughter. This tale is a metaphor for the conservative bishops who parade around in fine robes. They are being laughed at because they declared President Biden cannot be given communion for his refusal to impose his religious views on women. This all began with the election of a Catholic President Biden. Protestants like Obama don't matter as much because they are not in the "real church." Biden has Catholic credentials so this give Bishops indigestion. When the Catholic President said he supports abortion ...

In 1879, Democrats were segregationists and Republicans forward looking integrationists. Southern Democrats had put themselves in powerful positions and spoke for the Party. Democrats were mad because they had lost the recent Presidential election and progressive Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was President. They were resolved to see to it black people were restricted from voting. They passed a law the place harsh penalties on any state or local official who did not exercise restrictions on  allowed black people to voting. Republicans at the time were intimidated by Democrats and assumed this law would be passed and signed by the President. If not, Democrats would override any veto and that would be that. Those who wanted black people to be voters would learn who had the power. But, Republican Hayes turned out to be a formidable adversary to Democrat segregationists. He promised to place National Guard troops at polling stations and to veto any bill advancing or maintaining segrega...

Religion makes people feel unique and special. Reality have as a goal making you feel it is the only true one. This means no religion, including your own, is anything unique or special. But wait, you might say, mine is Christianity. The Bible was written by God. He said we are to not worship any other gods but him. Then there was Jesus. He said he was God's guy and you need to talk to him about anything that comes along. He also promised that if you are sucked into his orbit you can sin and will be forgiven.  We need to remember there were religions, like Hinduism, that are older than Christianity. That religion has literature and gurus going back to before those of Judaism. If being old makes Judaism and Christianity valid what about the age of Hinduism. I dare say every atheist sees both Christianity and Hinduism merely passing fancies in the ancient parade of religions. Nearly every Christian, and I suppose Hindu, see their religions as finally the true faith that should replace...

The Evangelical Covenant Church of America, the denomination I grew up in, certainly has changed since my time there. It has endorsed a position that white people are guests of native people in the U.S.A. and should conduct themselves accordingly.  The original name of this denomination was the Swedish Evangelical Church. Some form of it started in Sweden in the 1800's as a revolt against the Lutheran state church. The Lutheran state church of the time was considered by conservative Swedes to be corrupt. The trademark of the denomination in my time there, at least in my tiny community, was piety. There were so many rules and so many kinds of sin. It was movies, ballroom dancing, alcohol and driving a tractor on Sunday. A few years ago I attended the final service in my home church. A small part of the service was a video from the President of the denomination. He tried to lament the closing of  a church that had existed for over 100 years but the demeanor was more like, "It...

It is amusing to read sometimes on Christian sites that new archeology discoveries "prove" the historical validity of the Bible. There are discoveries that some claim might be evidence of Biblical events. But there are many more discoveries that raise questions. My own prediction is the field of archeology will become Christianity's biggest enemy. A few years ago an Egyptian archeologist started poking around a pyramid that others had long abandoned. It was a pyramid away from the famous ones and had been robbed of its mummies and jewels generations ago. The scholar moved debris and saw color in a crack. The wall gave access to a hoard of coffins and history undisturbed for over 4,000 years. There have been articles and documentaries about the find. The article I like was just published in The Smithsonian.  Most titles are similar to "The Secret Tombs of Saqqara." It turns of Christianity was a late comer to using an "afterlife" to play with people...