Thoughts of a Freethinker

The largest denominations in Christianity, Catholic and Southern Baptist, both exclude women from the pulpit. There are other less significant denominations as well. There can be only one reason for doing this. That reason is the self-interest of men.  In reading the various views on this topic, I've concluded those who publish and are instrumental in influencing denominations fall into two camps and use two types of reasoning. One camp, that prevents women from holding the preacher title, uses this reasoning: Women have never been preachers. Jesus had male only disciples. Therefore, it must mean we men are to be the only teachers of the faith.  The second group, which sees no reason for the Christian faith to exclude women from the pulpit, is made up of scholars who go back to the writing that may (or may note) best reflect what original writers said or meant. We must remember always there is no original writing, only that recopied many times. Further, from the early availabl...

Suddenly, Republicans need votes from women and their supporters. To avert a political disaster, they are supporting over the counter birth control, subsidies for low-income mothers and a few other practical and enlightened policies .  For some decades, Catholic religious beliefs have been adopted by many protestants. This allowed several political victories against women. Birth control was considered by some conservative Protestant politicians as bad as abortion. They are now separating themselves from Catholics to save their own hide.  Liberals have been saying for decades there is nothing more "pro life" than paying for medical services for women, even before they are pregnant. Paying for healthy diets and watching for signs of problems while pregnant is as "pro life" as laws against abortion. What has held public assistance back has been the anti women politics of some parts of Christianity and subsequently of the Republican Party. Statistics are clear that low ...

Any careful observer of current and ancient history can see the obvious sequence: Culture changes, religion changes. It is happening under our noses at this moment. It is in the interests of Catholic clergy to see this truth backwards. A veteran academic recently summarized centuries of right wing Christian political passions. The link reviews a site called "First Things." It is a site that tries to provide a valid history of merging the Catholic Church into the body of politics to control everything about the lives of ordinary people. One of its clear summaries of that is  But the Catholic Church also has built into its DNA an all-consuming survival instinct, an awareness that evolution and entropy also are its enemies  as an institution . From this fear, certainly for conservative Catholics, flows a consistently urgent desire to control this flux that is absent from nearly every other (non-Abrahamic) religion in the world. For this reason, the conservative Catholic onto...

All my life I have seen economic development programs such as roads, mining and pipelines barrel through areas Native Americans have testified are sacred places to them. And all of my life I've heard branches of Christianity wail about their rights to "religious freedom." I've never heard those Christians demanding their rights not to fill abortion or birth control prescriptions say anything on behalf of protesting native sacred sites. So far as I know, the only white people defending native people's religions have been liberal Christians and atheists. I suppose some of this difference in respect between Christians and native religions comes from Christianity not having scared locations. I don't claim to know much about this but I believe Muslims face east for prayer and have locations that are sacred. Native Americans apparently have places they believe there are places where the divine lives.  I've been around Christians who scoff at Muslims, Hindus and ...

There is an old saying in politics, "Voters will admit you helped them in the past. What they want to know now is 'What have you done for me lately?'" That is illustrated so well in an article posted on the Atlantic site. Trump is so stupid he did not recognize anti-abortion politics would not end with appointing Supreme Court judges that overturned Wade. This group insists on eliminating all abortion. After that, it will demand no birth control. After that no women in the work force.  After he lost the election, Trump blamed the anti-abortion voters. They "didn't deliver" he said. From their point of view, they had helped him but he himself was the reason he lost. Anti-abortion operatives do not understand they hurt Trump. They hurt the Republican Party in the midterms. Now, they think they are in a strong bargaining position? Hardly.  The well-paid leaders of nonprofit anti-abortion groups know how to play the money game. They pretend they are in a goo...

I watched Trump on a live stream from Waco for a while yesterday. It was hard not to gasp when he all but read the Bible and made it refer to himself. Paraphrasing, "There are those who want to destroy you and our country. It is only I who stands in their way. I am the one standing between you and the destruction of all that you value. I have made the ultimate sacrifice for you.  I left my comfortable life in New York City for this, to be pummeled in the press and now to be unfairly indicted. I have made this sacrifice because I love you."  He repeated the "I love you" several times. There are sites where his recorded speech can be seen to check on my accuracy.  The idea Trump expressed about himself is strikingly similar to what the Bible claims Jesus said, (John 14:6), Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me. There are a dozen or more passages where we learn Jesus gave his life, or at least a weekend of h...

Commenters on this blog often use the word "evil" to condemn some activity or person they do not like. I suppose the most frequent activity the is "evil" is abortion. Probably gay marriage or homosexual acts have been called "evil." Homosexuality has slipped off the leader board of sins lately and trans has moved up to the top. I would guess many Christians in the U.S. would call trans "evil" today. I'm not an authority on theology so I can't identify specific sins listed in the Bible that reach the lofty category of "evil." The word "abomination" is used for a label against homosexual acts. I don't know if this is synonymous with "evil" or not.  I dismiss this anyway because I've read "abomination" is a poor translation from the original language texts.   Recently I read a "call to arms" on a Christian site which says the world is falling to evil. Christians should recognize this ...

The liberal German Catholic Church has been driving conservative Catholics plus the Pope up the wall. I've never understood how it could continue to make known its support of gay marriage and gay priests while at the same time being scolded by the Pope. Can't a Pope give orders? I now have at least some understanding of what is going on in Germany and why it continues to do whatever it wants while the Pope and conservative Catholics have a cow. Germany has adopted what might be referred to as a "method of governance" called the Synodal Path. But it uses the word "synodal" in a way that is different from its use in the rest of the huge Catholic hierarchy. In the traditional use of synodal, there is a process of gathering information from all relevant sources, lay, clergy, etc. and moving it up a chain to clergy who then decide if there will be changes.  In Germany, what is called the Synodal Path has two separate groups gathering grassroot views. One is the G...

In the early 2000's, seven women were on a boat on the Danube. With them were two Bishops from Germany. The Bishops ordained the women. The women had received the same legal ordination as men. That is, the authority that was given Peter by Jesus was in place and passed on to these women. After the Seven Danube had taken their vows, two were made Bishops. Carrying with them the linage from Peter this group has ordained others. There are over 200 women priests and bishops.  Of course, Catholic hierarchy quickly tried to stamp out what it considered heresy. It excommunicated the male Bishops that started it all as well as anyone else down the line it could stomp on. But the linage from Peter remains. These ordained women carry on the faith.  The prohibition of women only began about the year 1,000.  An argument is made there was many women clergy before then. When did the church began its men only practice and what are the true and legitimate rules? One of the women who is n...

The colleagues of anti-abortion politicians are the religious politicians in Iran, Afghanistan and other like countries. Some similar countries in the immediate past were Ireland and Chile.  During 20212022 six different countries liberalized abortion. The power of women prevailed over that of dufus men.  There has been lots of news lately about women in Iran casting off their head scarves in defiance of religious leaders and their laws. From what I've read, the government has admitted defeat.  Only occasionally is there news about education of women in Afghanistan. When the Taliban retook power from the sad government George W. Bush thought he would put in place, Taliban leaders remembered only how things were when they were in power years earlier. Back then, they prohibited schools for girls. They declared they would reinstate this ban and things would return to how they had been earlier.  But, women had seen opportunities while the U.S. was running things. They ha...

Recently, the City of Calgary, Canada, passed an ordinance making it not legal for protestors to block the sidewalk used by the public to enter a public building. Since its passage, the ordinance has been used to arrest some protestors including a local preacher. What could go on in a public building that would generate so much passion protestors and a preacher block an entrance and allow themselves to be arrested? The answer is trans . At this moment in all of the North American continent any mention, display or performance of trans gets the Bible juices flowing.  The link story is about a program in the public library in Calgary that features men in drag reading stories to children on Saturday mornings. The preacher arrested said this is a dangerous practice. He and others tried to block the entrance to the city's library.  Men dressing as women is comedy apparently as old as human beings. The Bible tells of it being done back then.  Since there is no data showing child...

I like to look at websites of Christian colleges and universities. What actually is going on in these places cannot be found on the Welcome page. There you will find pictures of student enjoying themselves on the campus. The implication is students study one of the advertised majors and find good jobs and good lives forever after. To find what students think and talk about one need to look at the back pages of the campus' website for "student organizations" or "student life." No matter how vehemently the denomination declares homosexuality to be a "sin", its colleges and universities will almost inevitably have a LGBGT support group on campus. The presence of gay rights groups and academic treatment of the topic is more obvious at places that carry a religious label but are known as "research universities." These include campuses such as Notre Dame and Holy Cross.   The link is about a featured event at Notre Dame. It is a discussion about h...

A group of women who researched the role of their gender in Christianity's expansion into Africa and China says women need to be allowed to be pastors in every part of the faith. Christianity should be called the religion of NO. The most visible parts of it are the two biggest denominations, Catholics and Southern Baptists. In these to two NO is the operative word. NO women as clergy, NO gays as clergy and NO gays in most any other capacity, NO abortions and a few more NO's. Both of these denominations are fast losing members. Other more liberal groups are losing members but the most amusing are the conservatives.  Catholics and Baptists are determined to offset their lost numbers in the West by gains in Africa and China. They seem to think women on those continents want to be passed over and looked down upon like they are in the U.S. Women taking on the highest-level positions is a world-wide change and denominations who ignore this change will be relegated to the dust bin of ...

I have relatives who are Jews as well as friends. I've never asked any of them directly, "Do you believe a God exists?" but I've often wondered. One told me he lost his interest in the faith while he was in high school because memorizing huge amounts of material took too much of his time. Yet today he observes many rituals of the faith. Anyone interested in the generic question, "What role does 'faith' play in my life if I don't believe there is a god" might enjoy reading this link. It is an interview with about ten people who refer to themselves as Jews but are atheists or agnostics. I saw in their responses to questions like "Do you pray?" parts of my Jewish friends and relatives. Like Christians, their answers to the question, "Do you pray?" was varied. Some pray though they do not believe there is a God or gods. Others never pray.  Several joked that even though they pray, they know the act of praying is always, "Beg,...

Pope Francis originally planned to remain as pope for three or four years. Now, ten years later, he says he is Pope for life. During his ten years he has discovered corruption and nasty deeds inside the clergy which keeps him soldiering on.  Five years in he defended clergy in South America against accusations of widespread child sexual abuse. He got his education in blunt news that abuse was widespread. He has tried without total success to root out abuse of children. Now, however, abuse of adults by clergy, especially adult women, has become an issue he has to battle. He knows the next Pope could be a person like Benedict who simply turns away from these internal evils and hides them from those in the pews. He sees Benedict's fans circling overhead like vultures waiting for him to die so the corruption can resume. No wonder he now vows to be Pople for life.  He has recognized bashing homosexual people is not a good strategy for keeping members. Gays leave the church but they...

I read almost daily on Christian sites that Christians should read and use the Bible in all aspects of their lives. This is in their politics, personal and professional lives. It is often said that U. S. Christianity is "Bible Based." I have seen billboards along highways advertising individual churches which say, "Ours is a Bible-Based Church." It is my understanding the two broad branches of Christianity, Catholic and Protestant, approach the Bible differently, Catholics relying on clergy to explain the Bible's message while Protestants are to read it directly. With all this focus on the Bible, why do surveys show people are reading the Bible less than in previous times? Some historians conclude U.S. society has been far more focused on Bible reading than was Europe. In the U.S. the founding fathers liked the community harmony they thought the Bible taught and spoke well of it. The ebb and flow of the Bible's influence and the various directions of the pub...

One interesting thing I've experienced doing this blog for several years is the naiveite of some in the forced birth camp. When I first pointed out it is inevitable women will be jailed and prosecuted for having abortions some in the old school of anti-abortion said "impossible." "Women have never been seen as the cause for abortions," they said. "Women are the victims of those doctors who perform abortions. These doctors persuade women. Left alone, no woman would have an abortion." I've pointed out here repeatedly the only person completely responsible for an abortion decision is the woman. To say a state of the country can have a successful forced birth law without prosecuting women is absurd. Now, there are legislators in South Carolina who are ready to put women who have abortions to death. It matters little that bills calling for deaths of women who have had abortions are not past at this time. For years, many thought Roe would never be overtu...

A group that apparently includes both laity and clergy, Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal, has been working to prevent future sexual scandals in Catholic clergy. Reading the link, I gather the group sees the big problem facing the church are wayward priests, both gay and straight. In an indirect way the link author says the group wants computer surveillance of clergy to catch any trolling for sexual link ups. The link says the groups wants to be certain this practice stays within existing secular laws.  This recommendation was quickly challenged by another Catholic. Will "catching offenders" eliminate the bad publicity of wayward priests? And are wayward priests the biggest cause of downward trending numbers? The author of the first link above was apparently a founding member of Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal. While he is laity, he held a position for the conservative U.S. Conference of Bishops for several years. His views reflect those of conservative Catholic Bis...

Conservatives in the Catholic Church have turned back efforts to liberalize its position against birth control for a long time. There have been efforts to change but they never quite made it to the finish line. A change may be coming . The current official stance is all but laughable. Over 90% of Catholics practice artificial birth control. How can one conclude the "Catholic Church" does "not believe in birth control" when Catholics themselves actually believe in it, i.e., do not believe it is a sin? Catholics (and some other branches of Christianity like Southern Baptist leaders) have a passion for controlling first the lives of their members, then later, the live of the societies they live in and finally their governments. This passion is so strong many people hesitate to criticism this control and only violate secretly. Those who try to hold on to this control, mostly white males, find its better to maintain a facade of control rather than admit they have failed....

We've had Republicans who hate homosexuality turn out to be gay. Those who hate abortions have paid for abortions. And, those who say men in drag harm children have appeared in drag. I won't even start on Tucker Carlson of Fox News who has lied about several things.  Often non believers pokes fun at anti drag show religious crazies by showing pictures of Bob Hope and Milton Burle doing a drag skit. Conservative reaction is always something like, "But they were not trying to confuse children about gender like current drag queens are doing." My answer would be how do you know what either Hope/Burle or today's drag queens are trying to accomplish. As far as I know both are harmless entertainment. Men dressed in drag in the Bible and have been doing so for as long as there has been recorded history. Then there is the question of what exactly does a man have to wear to be dressed as a woman. Is it the skirt instead of pants? Is it make up of any kind? Is it high heeled...

Many states have now prohibited a Christian-based "cure" from homosexuality call Conversion Therapy. Research found it not only failed to change sexual orientation but caused psychological harm. It took several years of this harm before the public and legislators figured this out. Similar to conversion therapy is the long-standing treatment of alcohol and drug abuse that goes under the name, Alcoholics Anonymous. Known as AA it is widely believed to be very successful. Belief in its success was not based on rigorous research but on stories passed around. This belief in its success remains common for judges often require those addicted to use only AA for their treatment.   The success rate of AA has been compared recently to the success rate of those alcoholics who participated in no program whatsoever. The recovery rate was the same.  Add to that the principle of separation of church and state. Defenders of AA often say something like, "Those at AA meetings are not requi...

A physician with a lifetime of treating, studying and dealing with people's minds believes religion as we have known it is on the way out. He scoffs, however, with the notion atheism can replace it. Humans need something which religion has fulfilled. Atheism is not a replacement, he says.  He has observed cultures and their various religions have given humans a way to deal with questions that otherwise do not have answers. There is a need to "know" where we came from. He makes an interesting observation that humans have had a need to see the world as through "us versus them" eyes. Religions and cultures have instructed humans who "we" are and who those "them" are. His argument is that the human experience up to this point in time has been that cultures and imaginary gods have filled the need for an over-arching "parent" that instructs and guides. However, this period in the maturity of human experience has come to an end he believes...

In all the seriousness of debate inside Catholic clergy about whether a new pope should be from the liberal or conservative wing, a constant is the folks in the pews. If they are leaving a new pope replacing Pope Francis will have little influence over the course of the denomination. It seems unlikely either a conservative or liberal Pope to follow Francis will change the direction of church attendance and revenue.  I'd enjoy going to Italy and talking to people in cafes and on street corners to hear what they think of the Catholic Church. The Vatican, of course, is surrounded by Italy. If any country in the world had a chance to gage the importance of the Catholic Church, or of Christianity in total, it would be the home base. There, the daily comings and goings, meetings, pronouncements and daily business would be on the nightly news.   It turns out attendance in Italy at Catholic mass has fallen more or less at the same rate as church attendance around the western worl...

I suspect there are other news accounts like this and more to come. A columnist traveled with a group of young women from Texas, where they could not get abortions because they were too far along, to New Mexico where the abortions were legal. I found their individual stories interesting but it is sad money has to be raised, I have sent groups such money, to pay for this travel. It's ridiculous.  The backdrop to this is a draconian Texas law written to clearly signal it is worth risking a patient's life in order to save a fetus . Even when a doctor can see conditions will probably develop threatening the mother, the doctor cannot do an abortion until the mother's fever reaches an alarming level. To do so earlier might cost the doctor his/her license. This applies even in cases where the fetus is already dead or will die at birth. Some women are now taking the State of Texas to court. Prospects for success are not good because Texas Republican judges are steeped in Republican...

The Bible says (I'm going by recollection here) God made Adam and then made Eve from one of Adam's ribs. Several contemporary Christian right notions are canceled out by what God did when he made Eve. If only he had made Eve out of mud and breathed life into her these problems would not be here. First of all, there is the argument against evolution. It says God created everything that exists from the git-go. Wait, Eve was not there when Adam was created. Eve, then, started as something else and had to evolve into what she became. That is evolution.  Then there is this claim God created two genders and swapping out one and replacing it with another is a mortal sin. It is the main issue Republicans are running for office as we speak. That is the evil called trans. I've never seen the claim that the rib God removed to make Eve was a female rib. It had to be male because it came from a male. God made it transition to female. How could anti trans be a Republican Party mainstay w...

In politics, fog does not always disappear when the sun comes up. Some political agendas keep spreading new fog so it hangs on. Today, far right religious leaders are fogging up our country on purpose.  Polling data shows people who regard themselves as very religious are the group least likely to be concerned about climate change. When you think about it, this makes sense. Action to limit climate change may require limits to population. It may even require a shrinking population. What could damage forced birth politics more than that? And there is the "heaven" and "second coming" thingies. If life on earth for good Christians will end soon why waste time taking care of earth? Enjoy the good life that comes from pollution. "Others are sinners--not those of us preparing for Jesus' return. The worst sinners are those who doubt and question." It's ironic what some Christians say about atheists, "Atheists want to continue enjoying their sins. If t...

I think a universal lesson of history is that when the church gets involved with politics it damages both the church and state. In contemporary times, previous Popes warned clergy not to take accept positions of power in secular governments. They did it anyway. The current Pope wants good numbers in China so badly he agreed to allow the Chinese Communist government to appoint some clergy leaders. Even though numbers of Catholics have been growing in China they still represent a small percentage of the population. I've read young people are leaving the church as they are elsewhere.  In Nicaragua, the church has had a complicated relationship with Daniel Ortaga. He has pledged to be against abortion but to an outsider it appears his goal is using the church to help himself--a practice centuries old. In 1983 Pope John Paul, while in Nicaragua, admonished a Cardinal for taking a position in the government of the Sandinistas. About the same time, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger penned a posit...

One thing you can count on from the political/religious right is when they say "We want less government" they actually want more. Now they want to prevent children and teachers from using the "she" pronoun for children who identify as female but who's birth certificate lists them a male (and visa versa).  There is a problem with this. A professor at a Catholic university recently explained why God should not be referred to exclusively as "He." She says God does not have a gender. That is, God is bigger than a gender. If this idea of a genderless God gains traction in the faith, it will present an interesting problem in some states. Legislatures are passing bill saying there are only TWO genders. All references must be referred to with one of these two pronouns.  If there is a religion section in history or social studies and the teacher feels he/she cannot discuss God as either male or female, what pronoun will she be allowed to use. Further, she may c...

There is some concern being expressed that a Federal Judge, known for his hatred of abortion, will rule to outlaw use is mifepristone. This is a drug which, when taken by pregnant women, triggers a miscarriage. According to a post written by attorneys with lots of experience with this matter, it will change nothing if he rules to outlaw access to this drug. To outlaw mifepristone, the Judge would need to write about something other than an emotional distaste for abortion. He is widely known for his animus toward abortion. To actually put an outlaw in place he would need to put forward evidence the Food and Drug Administration had done something wrong when it approved the drug 23 years ago. This is a tall order because the drug has been proven safer than penicillin or Viagra. Mifepristone is one of the most studied drugs in being sold today. Laws give the FDA a lot of authority over approval and disapproval of drugs. Federal judges with axes to grind do not automatically overrule the FD...

I keep writing about this even though it is old news. It might be good to review the arguments about why this decline does not seem reversible. I use the word "seem" because we cannot know the future for certain.  When I started blogging about this decline, commenters often said the decline was temporary. It is like young people feeling their oats and separating from their parents. When they themselves have children they will see the wisdom of their parents and return to the faith. A decade has gone by and it's not happening yet.  My wife and I had the honor of a private visit with Muhammad Yunus while we were in Bangladesh. Yunus received the Noble Peace Prize some years ago. My wife's former student in Bangladesh made arrangements for the meeting.  Yunus travels the world and takes note of what is happening. When we were there the smart phone was in its early years of use. Yunus predicted it would leap-frog societies over several societal obstacles to change. It wou...

My understanding of the founding fathers' attitude toward church and state is they were suspicious as to how to put the brakes on religious zeal. Nearly all of them seemed to believe church going citizens would behave themselves better than the opposite. I've never read about any of them saying Christians had "better morals" than non Christians, though somewhere one may have said that. Today, what are called "right wing" Christians want to impose national laws codifying their beliefs about gay marriage, abortion and trans. They are almost uniformly criticise by what are considered "main line" denominations. It was refreshing to read a statement recently by someone representing the Lutheran Missouri Synod which criticized Christian nationalism. There are not enough such statements.  Yet, truth be told, mainline Christian denominations have served as the gateway to Christian nationalism for decades. It was not "right wing Christians" who dr...