Thoughts of a Freethinker

Religion, all the religions of the world, have always been in constant flux with churning and confrontations inside their walls. At least that is how is appears to me. Humans ventured or were forced out of their old geographical confines and settled elsewhere. In the new place they started new gods and forgot about the old ones. I would guess that in every single case the new god, created in the minds of the relocated tribe, approved of the people who believed in it. Something just like that process is happening today. There are people leaving their former god, maybe creating something new, and people changing what their current god thinks. In all cases, the god approves and loves the people who created the god in their minds.  A perfect example is found in a series of articles now being released by mega Christian author, Rick Warren ( The Purpose Driven Life ). Warren has been very successful at not only selling books but preaching and establishing a series of churches in California.

Religion plays a role in many societal problems. There are people who are happy, maybe happier, because of their religion so that is on the plus side of the scale. When religion actually plays a role in harm it must be acknowledged. For decades I have heard that Christianity and Islam discourage people from getting professional help for mental problems. This harm done to people should be called a sin. Recently a Muslim doctor related his experiences with Muslims who believe it is against their faith to seek medical help for mental problems. I wish it were possible to know how many people suffer needlessly from mental illness because their religion frowns on professional treatment. It surely must cross or be close to the million mark. When I first started blogging a decade or so ago a man from Bismark, ND, wrote to ask please stop my blogging because, "It will stir up trouble. Just leave religion alone." To me, it is a public service to point out the dangers of certain aspects

I have heard there are factions within both the Catholic hierarchy and lay people. They have to do with what was brought over from Europe versus what developed separately in the U.S.   While I can't claim to know a lot about this, the parts of the link I can understand are fascinating. In the U.S. have been two competing factions. One has wanted the European Catholic Church to be transplanted to the U.S. The other wants U. S. Catholicism to fit into U.S. society without being looked at as some outside source. This is seen in issues addressed even today. The schism seems permanent.  The European Catholic Church was one where the monarchy and Pope were joined at the hip. There was no reason to wring hands over separation of church and state because they were one and the same. The Dictator wanted it known he, and only he, was chosen by God to rule. This confirmation was provided by Popes. The Pope needed the revenue and armies to serve Catholic purposes. An illustration of the Europea

I've been wondering if the women's clinic in Fargo has been receiving patients from Texas and Mississippi. Today I received a  report on the clinic that was in Fargo when I was Mayor but moved a year ago ten minutes to the east in Moorhead, MN. There was also an interview with the manager of the clinic in Duluth, MN. Duluth, of course, is another "out of the way place" like Fargo-Moorhead. I sent some money to the Fargo clinic a year or so ago to help defer the costs of moving. I had never heard the story about the financing of the move. Tammy, the wonderful owner and manager of the clinic, said in the link the only workable property they could find in Moorhead was beyond her reach financially. Ultimately, she had to buy it but did not know how she would pay for it. Out of the blue, a supporter offered to start a GO-FUND-ME and to Tammy's amazement it quickly raised one million dollars. If ever there was an example of resolve and support for abortion rights, that

In the Bible, Paul says that to convert others to the faith, fit in and act like you are one of them. It's OK to deceive, to ignore one of the Ten Commandments, as long as it's sells the faith. Pope Benedict told Chinese Bishops his church is not in China to change its government. Pope Francis follows the same policy saying almost nothing about China. All of this is different than the conservative Catholic/Protestant strategy in the U.S. Here, the Christian zealot preaches against the prevailing culture, points out its sins and condemns loudly. It's like they arrived from a different country to change this one.  To some extent, the character in the Bible called Jesus advocated selflessness. This was to give to the poor, heal the sick (and don't send a bill), the good Samaritan, etc. There was also the control element, Jesus said bow to me or you are toast. The appealing part of the character, however, was not the Jesus with a whip but the Jesus with a message was selfle

Over and over preachers, priests and pundits emphasize it is critical to Christianity that the resurrection of Jesus be considered a true historically accurate event. The problem is the story gets so complicated people doze off. And, it is very self serving. If I were to explain Christianity to a person who had never heard of it the tale would have to be something like this (apologies if I do not get the story exactly correct): The Bible was written by God. God said there are behaviors, even thoughts, that are something called "sin." Humans all commit sin so it cannot be avoided. But, there is a monopoly, one firm only, which can wipe sin off your record of life. The firm is called Christianity. If you commit to buying from this firm, and this firm only, it will take care of sin. If you do not get this sin wiped off your record there is an imaginary place called hell where you will spend your years after death. The firm offers a better imaginary place for your after death yea

This morning there were two headline news stories about the Christian Church in the U.S. Both stories were about prominent Protestant denominations.  One article was in the Iowa statewide paper, The Des Moines Register.  This article covered in depth Methodist churches leaving the main Methodist national organization, United Methodist Church. The article treats the break away of churches as a calamity which it definitely is not. The split, as most people know, is over rules prohibiting gay marriages and gay pastors. The number of churches leaving is quite large in an absolute sense. Yet, it is only about 11% of Methodist churches in Iowa. It is an even smaller percentage of members because the churches leaving are mostly smaller rural ones with older members. The fiscal impact of these smaller rural churches leaving the larger organization, however, is positive. Salaries of Methodist preachers comes from a centralized pot. This means that small dying churches are often subsidized by ot

For all their holier-than-thou rhetoric, forced birth political operatives like Ralph Reed will be dropping their demand for a national ban on abortion. They are dropping it because Trump wants them to drop it. Reed's comment was that (paraphrasing) "We want a nation-wide ban on abortion. But, for practical political reasons, we are supporting the Trump position of bans by states instead of a national ban." Reed's waffling position is exactly what we who want equal rights for women want him to make. It simultaneously frightens people across the country while disappointing forced birth zealots. Perhaps a few of the latter will not vote while the former will be motivated to vote. A good formula for upcoming elections.  Trump said publicly after Roe was reversed and some states started to ban abortion while various operatives advocated a national ban that all this was carrying opposition to abortion too far. Many abortion operatives thought Trump was ready to carry the

A regular columnist on the Christian site, Christian Post.com lamented that Christians have not been successful in convincing people that being gay, lesbian or trans is a sin. Instead, such folks are accepted more now than they ever have been in our U.S. history. His point was that civil laws against gay marriage, book banning and all the other silliness that has transpired has done nothing to change the course of the acceptance of diversity. Prohibition of alcohol did nothing to curb the desire of the public to buy it and prohibition was abandoned. The link points out that full throated opposition to gay marriage probably gave a boost to legalizing it.  Precisely the same point can be made about abortion. To those of us who have understood since day one abortion is something needed and those who need it will obtain it regardless of laws and religion, the idea of legal abortion bans have always seemed peculiar if not fool hardy. To eliminate abortion, it is imperative individual women

A wonderful article relates the experience of a devout Christian. A friend was diagnosed with cancer at the same time she was diagnosed with a mental illness. Church members sent food and support to her friend. She suffered in silence. I recall watching Pat Robertson's 700 Club 20 years ago. A talented young woman was his co-host. She disappeared. When she came back as a guest months later, she was not interviewed by Pat but by a new host. She said she had suffered severe depression and advised viewers to get professional help. Pat came on and was visibly unhappy. Mental illness is a human flaw like sin that needs Jesus, not doctors. I've never seen this discussed, by I think the prejudice some Christians have against gays and trans people comes from the same flawed mythology. People's minds are full of sin. Sin can be conquered by kneeling before Jesus. Gay or trans are just another version of sin. Pray the gay away. Illnesses like cancer deserve sympathy. Mental illness a

When it comes to who is right about what the Bible says is the true Christian faith, there is a shortage of people who admit they are not certain and a surplus of those who are certain absolutely their version of the faith is the true faith. It would be helpful if someone could come up with an iron clad information about what constitutes the true faith. This has not happened and, of course, never will. There is no shortage of advice about how to sort through the various claims. The link provides ten warnings of false teachers. It then cautions against taking a few of them, not all, and making judgments. We've had many comments of this blog from those we feel infinitely qualified to judge the validity of the faith of others.  One of the warnings tells to beware of those who are "quarrelsome." Man, do we have readers that are quarrelsome. And, of course, I'm quarrelsome too so why wouldn't readers be the same? Then there are the word correctors, people who are obse

Christians often atheists want to be religious but instead want practice their sinful lives without penalty. The U.K. now polls lower than any other country in religion. We should see lower morality than any other country. Can anyone measure or see this lack of morals? If there is no evidence of this the entire premise that Christianity helps society in any way. I came up with one measurement of the respective moral standards comparing the secular U.K. and Christian U.S. The U.S. has a former President who was determined by a jury to have abused a woman. The U.K. holds no such high moral standard. Here is something other might think reflects low moral standards. London has a big gay district.   That is considered by some Christians to be the highest ranking of all sin. Wait, U. S. cities all have gay bars. Some, like where I live, has a nightclub-like place with regularly scheduled drag shows. No help there in the case against a more sinful U.K.  Here is another avenue to pursue, gre

It's fun to visit a place where I lived for about a year when much younger. In many ways NYC has not changed in 50 years. The stores, shops and buildings have turned over and been remodeled several times. Back when I lived here the city did not work very well. It still doesn't.   Sixty years ago I heard of an area called "Little Italy." I went there to see an Italian festival. Back then Little Italy was considered a center of the gangster world. Since then I've read about the specific Italian restaurants the mafia leaders would gather at every evening. There were long dinners with business and crime decisions on the agenda.  Today, the Diocese of New York is headed by Archbishop Dolan, one of the shadiest characters in the Catholic enterprise. He originated the ruse of taking Diocese money and hiding it in "Trusts" so judges ruling in favor of children molested by priests might not find it. He tried to pull this off in Milwaukee. A judge said in effect,

I've had a commenter or two on this blog argue Catholic clergy cases of molesting children are false. Paraphrasing, "Too much time has passed is one theme. You can't trust children's words. It is now adults making these accusations and their motives are simply money." It is as if laws and the legal system is stacked against clergy.  The truth is, law, the legal system and society in general are stacked against children. The system is stacked in favor of child abusers.  I've been reading a book about children who were, strong indications point toward this, killed in church- sponsored children's care institutions. They were called "Orphan Homes" through quite often a parent was alive or a close relative was available to take care of the child. Most of these institutions were Catholic but other denominations had such facilities. Catholics had the most. They were in several countries including the U.S. Many in Ireland, England and Australia. Governme

Father Charles Coughlin started preaching on the radio in the early 1930's to raise some money for his Detroit parish. His radio station owner suggested he branch into politics. His broadcast audience was thought to 30 million when the entire U.S. population was only 120 million. He comes to mind just now after demagogue and liar Tucker Carlson was fired from Fox News. Father Coughlin broadcast the same kind of material and had an audience far larger than Carlson's. Carlson doesn't like trans people. Coughlin hated Jews. The Pope during WWII would not condemn Hillter's treatment of the Jews. Some priests hide Jews and save their lives. At the top of the Catholic Church, however, there was a lot of "let's see who wins the war before we take sides." An anti Jew priest like Coughlin would not have been out of place.  Today's version of Caughlin are the priests who rant and rave against abortion. Instead of being against the Jews they are against women and

The demographics of a society move so slowly the changes are almost not noticeable. Watching data about Christian church participation is like looking at a test tube in a lab. The reactions in the tiny test tube tell use what happens out in a world where large quantities of the chemicals react to one another. Church membership is like the test tube, or, the canary in the coal mine who dies and miners run for their lives. Data , like that for Southern Baptists keep coming in and confirming that the variables which push the data live on. A most telling statistic is 33% of the membership of Southern Baptist churches is over 65 years old. The general population over 65 years of is 22%. The same must be true of all the large denominations in Christianity including Catholics. The Pentacostal Assemblies of God headquarters in Springfield, MO. laid off 47 employees a years ago and said more layoffs might lie ahead. I cannot find data on its church attendance or membership.  Rural to urban migr

It was as  predictable as the sun coming up. The majority of women will not stand for banning abortion. A sizable part of Republican voters are demanding abortion be abolished nationwide. Both DeSantis and Trump know they should not be known as "ban-all-abortions-nationwide" candidates. Trump, for all his faults, had the where-with-all to say this in broad daylight. DeSantis tried to hide this view by signing a bill that would end nearly all abortion in Florida in the dead of the night.  Trump signaled his support of letting states decide and appointed Supreme Court Judges who overturned Roe. However, he made a problem for himself. By appointing these judges, he created the impression he is anti-abortion. To be anti-abortion is to believe abortion is murder. If it is murder, it must be banned nationwide. To say states should decide abortion or no abortion is not really anti-abortion. It is, instead, straddling the issue. To say it is ok for abortion to be available in some st

Mainline Protestantism has no precise definition. Those who have left it claim it left them. Mostly, they are referring to gender. Those who stay believe it always was ready to accept gay members and some branches held gay weddings a decade or more ago. Those who have left in a huff say it changed and only they cling to the original tenets. These tenets include discrimination and judgementalism.  The claim of many is the old mainline Protestantism was a form of civil religion that was broad enough and flexible enough to bring Catholics and Jews into it orbit of influence. Religious holidays became both religious and civic. Events involving governing the country were highlighted in the National Cathedral. We need this civil religion, it is said, because it allows the country to move forward more or less with a notion of the "common good."  Without a doubt, there needs to be some concept of the "common good" or there will be no agreement on laws, taxes or how public m

Recently a woman who helps women before and after their abortions, call an abortion doula, wrote a book and sat for an interview . What she does on behalf of women who need abortions but have been told all of their lives they are sinful murderers is wonderful.  She points our the obvious. While abortion is a taboo subject in many circles there are so many of them they happen in these circles where no one dares discuss it. She insists, "You or someone you love will have an abortion." The abortion doula gives advice and assistance when there is the usual physical pain. Sometimes practical help is needed with other children, laundry and grocery shopping. They help round up money when that is necessary for travel and abortion fees. Because they are neither an abortion provider nor a woman seeking an abortion they are good sources of testimony at legislative hearings in states. Male legislators often generalize about women seeking abortion, mostly concluding they are bad people wh

So many things are going on in the field of religion it makes one's head spin. I was amazed to learn of an entire small world of Muslim woman publishing, holding conferences and speaking about a genderless Allah. We are so used to hearing about parts of the Islamic world where girls are not allowed to go to schools. That's not the case everywhere or with everyone. In the news recently has been rebellion among some Muslim women about required hair covering. From what I understand, the rebel behavior is so widespread religious authorities found it impossible to pound home their powers. We know widespread disregard for laws makes laws quite useless. Prohibition was like that. I think ultimately abortion will be the same. Women in Islam make the same observation about language as do many in Christianity. That is, when the male gender is used constantly in literature it is easy for males to assume they should be in charge. While it is said the Christian God was quite gender neutral

I'm posting this late because I had a marathon day driving to a funeral, attending the funeral and related events and driving back. Twelve hours all told.  On the way home I was mulling over how different today's funeral was from one I attended two weeks ago. Both pastors were about 50 years old.  Two weeks ago at a Lutheran Missouri Synod church the pastor talked about the deceased, what he had done during his lifetime and how great it was for anyone who had known him. I think he said as if an afterthought something like, "If there is an afterlife this great fellow deserves a good spot." Today's funeral was Methodist. The lady pastor made very pointed reference, three times I think, to the story that Jesus had defeated death and that is why the deceased today has defeated death and all his loved ones present will defeat death and everyone will live happily ever after. She really enjoyed saying that. Afterwards, it made me recall a poignant experience of famous au

It's a fun time, at least an entertaining time, to be a fan of commentary on religion. While I have grown tired of reading commentary by atheists who mostly plough old ground, commentary by Christian keeps getting changing. The search is on by pundits for what to do about declining numbers and where the faith's problems lie. There is a constant parsing of the various ways Christianity can side-step the approaching bulldozer of declining numbers. The link is a long narrative of disagreement. One side says the successful way forward is to hammer home the old-time religion. Paganism cannot stand up to the Bible that theory goes. The link author, however, thinks this is naive. The new paganism reflects new ideas in the culture and is not so easily defeated he writes. His solution, oddly enough, is to rally around prolife because it is universal in its righteousness.  The interesting thing about making "prolife" the poster of Christianity is that it is a fork in the road f

Fromer Congresswoman Liz Cheney just placed an anti-Trump ad in New Hampshire. It appears she intends to run in one or more Republican primaries. The ad is far more biting against Trump than anything Christy has said or done.  She has always called herself "prochoice." But, she adds, it is an issue to be left to the states. This is the same position Trump has taken recently. Certainly, it is not the position of much of prolife politics nor that of several Supreme Court members. They want to control women with a nation-wide ban on abortion. As political theater, this is another fascinating slicing and dicing of the Republican vote. The first slicing was anti-abortion/more government vs women's rights/less government. Now the anti-abortion/more government is being sliced again. Cheney is slicing off state by state abortion rights from the national abortion ban group.   I think Cheney's thinking goes like this: She cannot win the nomination. But, she is thinking, someone

To understand why many Republican women are leaving the anti abortion camp and moving across the street to where "God's Worst Enemy" lives, abortion rights, we have to look at the long arch of abortion politics. I have on my shelf a book written by a woman who visited several countries where abortion is illegal. In most places women in prosperous urban areas were not concerned about abortion. It was easily available to them even though "illegal." Probably there is some thinking like that in North Dakota. "Abortion is available a few minutes away in Minnesota so why worry?" I know women in Fargo who had abortions when it was illegal before the Roe v Wade decision. They had to travel but could do so.  Now, however, in some states where abortion was legal before the overturn of Roe it has become increasingly difficult to travel to where abortion is available. Upper middle class women who before could navigate getting an abortion for themselves or for thei

One of the most fascinating political stories in recent weeks was that five women Senators in the South Carolina legislature, three of them Republicans, gave the bird to men trying to control women's lives. From the Senate floor one said to the men in the House and Senate Chambers, "We women do not need your protection." A prolife student group left plastic backbones at the doors of their offices asking the women to get "backbones." The women took the "gifts" to the Senate floor and held them up. "I had a backbone before," one said, "Now I have two." The men in the S.C. House and Senate are still trying to get a six week ban on abortion. A day or two ago they reintroduced the six week ban with the usual provision of arrest of anyone helping women arrange and abortion and medical people give abortion services. The new version exempted women from any prosecution. Reading about the five women, I'm certain they will give the bird to

Everyday there are more stories about Christian being harassed or killed in other countries. A regular one is Nigeria, Africa's most populus country. It seems to me Christianity could make it better for Christians in the countries where they are being murdered by making Christianity everywhere a beacon of freedom and kindness toward all human beings. A good share of the faith does not do that. In the U.S. the largest denominations harass women, gays, trans and an ever changing variety of people they demonize. In Nigeria, they themselves are demonized. Christians should not be demonized in Nigeria. Gays should not be demonized there and in other African countries either. Then we get to the U.S.  Gays cannot be clergy in most branches of the faith. Women cannot be clergy in the two largest denominations.  We know Christians were are at the forefront of slavery and segregation. There were Christians trying to end it. A faith based on good will toward human kind would not have the firs

It's encouraging to see a sign, "ALL ARE WELCOME" on some churches. Often there is a backdrop of the rainbow flag.  Anyone who follows religion in the U.S. knows this sign is code language for "gays, trans, bi, whatever, we will not condemn you or consider your sexual orientation a 'sin'." It's sad all churches cannot put up such a sign. The signs are usually there, I've learned, because of votes by Board members or entire congregations. Maybe there are many times when some members wanted the sign but it was voted down. When majority votes were for the sign probably many others in the church were angry. Maybe some left that church.  Decades ago I was on the "Outreach Committee" in First Presbyterian Church in Fargo ND. A matter reached us, perhaps from the Assistant Pastor, that another downtown church had been hosting monthly gatherings a local gay group for some time. This was quite gutsy in the 1970's when it was still OK to bash

Christianity's numbers are falling, no one disputes that. Yet, no one can dispute the political power reflected in the overturn of Roe v Wade. How can these two opposites be happening at the same time? The New York Magazine attempted to address this recently. The author admitted the odds of continuing growth of power and influence seems unlikely. Still the Roe overturn happened when it should not have happened. Does this mean the Christian Right is unstoppable? The most honest answer is we don't what lies in the future. We do know events that happened in the past and can speculate on whether they are informative about the present. Recently, the State Legislature in Texas passed a law requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in every school. As the link says, in certain ways the religious right has never been less popular but never been more powerful.  If there were one explanation, for me it is gerrymandering legislative districts. As the majority moves left the legislative

Bible Belt South Carolina and milk toast Nebraska failed to pass draconian anti-abortion measures. More and more in state legislatures, women of both parties are squaring off against Republican men. This is the perfect political theater for abortion rights to win. The tally is now eight wins. Abortion rights has rightfully become the canary in the mine. If you are a woman, or, a man with a female partner and you both have plans for a career and family, what would you use as an indicator of a state where the woman would have the best opportunities? The best indicator would be abortion rights. The same with nationwide groups deciding where to hold their annual convention. Goodbye states with right wing religion in their governor's chair and legislature.  Not directly related, but local news here all carried a story about a high school scholar who, along with several other kids, received awards from our religious right Governor. She lately has been on her high horse about what books s

Anti-abortion zealots have for decades tossed the "murder" word at abortions. Never do they discuss  women they have killed indirectly by their zealotry. As I've discussed here before, they do not discuss death risks to women because the health of women never crosses their minds.  A noteworthy news items is the Biden Administration's warning to hospitals that if they refuse to provide an abortion and this is likely to place a woman in an emergency medical condition the hospitals may be in violation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). The two hospitals warned are the Un. of Missouri, Kansas City and a St. Joeseph Missouri hospital.  The case in point was a woman whose fetus was not survivable and was headed toward sepsis and infection. Doctors said an abortion was imperative or the woman's life would soon be at risk. The hospital would not allow the abortion because nerves in fetus tissue were still firing. This, the hospital (and clergy and

I'm reading a book about Europe when German troops invaded and occupied several countries. The Germans and their local supporters were the minority. But this minority held the power.   Those who opposed the German invasions and occupations set up systems oppose those in power. It was often many different cells of people looking for small opportunities to harm the invaders which raised the cost in blood and treasure of maintaining the discipline needed to run the countries. When the U.S. came these pockets of resistance worked with allied forces. Probably all of us think if a foreign power successfully invaded our country and took over its government we would be working in the underground to overthrow the invaders. In reality, as learned from reading about WWII Europe, individual people had their own unique sets of costs and benefits. If you had small children and elderly parents to support, you might decide to keep your head down and say and do nothing subversive. The same if you s