Thoughts of a Freethinker

David French, formerly a leading figure in the Christian right, has come to realize conservatives Christians self-destruct when they use the faith to condemn innocent people like gay and trans. A few years back he refused to acknowledge the gender of a trans economist. He recently changed his view on this and used the proper female pronoun referring to the formerly male man. "What are French's self-serving motives?" the right-wing blogosphere is screaming . Let's review. An adult male decides to make known publicly what he has known privately since he was a small child: He is a she. For this woman, the change is a bit more complicated than others who make known their actual gender. She was a public figure as a man and now is just as prominent, or more prominent, as a woman.  The religious right seems more concerned with their inability of stop people from changing pronouns than they are with the societal consequences. What are the consequences to the rest of society w...

From the book Why Religion Went Obsolete is a list of benefits the author often hears when those he interviews and from written material. Each reader can decide for herself whether each is commonly believed or not. Hear is the list: 1. Morals. 2. Positive psychology (good/positive feelings) 3. Getting along with each other 4. Modeling (models of good people0 5. Moderation 6. National Solidarity The book is about cultural attitudes toward religion and how the culture no long supports religion as it once did. The list above is how the culture saw religion in the 1950's. The author devotes 20 pages discussing these which we can only touch on here I've read several books about our founding fathers, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton, Franklin, etc. It is often said our founding fathers were Christians therefore our nation is Christian. The basis for saying these men were Christian is they said things in speeches and letters about God or the deity. I never saw that any of them w...

As more women leave the Mormon church the male leadership seems to be asking, "Why is this? We've always said our women are beautiful. Yes, we had lots of rules for women that did not apply to men, but we men needed these rules and we tried to be fair to women. Don't women understand this? OK, we have to look at a few of rules we men established for our women." They have modified the uncomfortable and unattractive dress code for women's underwear.  The link shows that back in the 1960's the dress code for women was not much different than what non Mormon women wore. But in the following decades men decided women must not show their shoulders in public and their bottoms must be very covered. The result was hot, uncomfortable and sometimes unhealthy clothing. Recently, the exodus of women changed men's minds about the morality of these absurd dress codes. Tank tops are now allowable.  Other changes in Mormons over time included allowing black members and gay...

When Pope Leo spoke to a large group of current and future priests he projected the personality type he wanted to see in Catholic clergy. He wants to see joyful and happy-appearing clergy. If they are not happy he then wants them to share their feelings with their faithful. A reporter chose to contrast that message with Francis who often told clergy to tend tbeir flocks and not get too tied in knots over theology and internal church politics.  The respective messages are not completely different but not quite the same. Francis' message was one of service to the faithful. Leo's is a message of self-image to future priests. Leo wants young men to see themselves as very likeable and the jovial center of attention in the parish. Perhaps that was his experience in parish life and he liked it. Francis' parish life probably was one of commiserating with some in his parishes who were poor and doing what he could for them. The two experiences were different. Leo's effort has som...

Decades ago, the right-wing panic button was interracial marriage. Racial integration happened and that button was removed from the keyboard. Twenty years ago it was gay marriage. If there was gay marriage the "institution of marriage" would be destroyed. Humans would start marrying cows. Gone is that button. Lately, trans has had a button. But the new one will be Islam. Consider the MAGA reaction to the primary victory in the New York City Democratic primary of a Muslim. There will be efforts to pass laws against Muslims holding public office. Maybe readers have had different experiences, but I have had several Muslim friends and consider them totally fine people. They have no use for others "who claim they are Muslims but are not really of the faith." That is to say, people who consider themselves Muslims look down on branches different than their own just as Christians do to each other. Just as many Hindus are convinced theirs is the only true religion so do some...

A U. S. House member from Florida backed enthusiastically Florida's anti abortion bill. It passed. Then she had a problem pregnancy and needed an abortion. She was certain the abortion by pill would be best for her and asked doctors for it. Initially, doctors refused. They and their attorneys thought the anti-abortion law, 30 pages long, would put doctors in jeopardy if they gave Representative Kat Cammack an abortion.  The lawmaker became angry. She found the text of the bill on her phone and read parr of it to the doctors. Of course, the part of it she read was the part which gave doctors permission to terminate a pregnancy when it was clear the pregnancy endangered the woman. She did not read the parts which carry on the rights of the fetus and destroying a fetus is murder. Her doctors knew Rep. Cammack who wanted the abortion would not pay their legal bills if some zealot anti-abortion group went after them. They knew, also, the legislator would not pay their grocery bills if t...

  A family friend became a Lutheran minister late in life. She shared some of the experience from the "inside." One of the things was how locked in some in her congregations were to what happened during a church service. Experimentation was risky.  During the decades I was a regular church attendee I was no different. After years of going though the service, nodding and moving on from people I did not know or did not really want to engage in conversation with I looked forward to chatting with those I liked at the coffee time after the service. Then, like a bolt of lightning, this new fade came into churches. In the middle of the service the preacher would say, "Please greet the friends sitting near you." There was uncomfortable mumbling and handshakes and it was back to the service. I hated that. Shaking hands is unsanitary, making conversation without getting acquainted was not meaningful. Sometime people would say something religious like "God bless you"...

Hair is a BIG topic in the Bible. We all know Sampson's strength came from his hair. Women are advised in various places not to cut their hair. God knows the hairs in your head. Catholic women are to cover their hair in church. The She-Bears killed children who made fun of a bald man. We know other religions are even more crazy about hair, Sikhs never cut their hair.  The word "hair" or "hairs" appears 733 times in the Bible. I wish I could ask readers why hair is talked about so much. I have my own theory.  When conservative Muslims take over a country, like they have done in Afghanistan, one of the first things that happens is "hair police." These are usually men who walk about measuring the length of men's beards, too short or too long. Women's hair is be covered. It is a symbol of control. Christianity is no different. Since ancient times the ruling class used hair to control the lesser classes. I would guess women's hair is mentioned m...

In one way it was almost stunning to learn how many churches have preachers who have other jobs and are paid little or do it voluntarily. Then I started remembering how many such churches and individuals I've known in my own narrow life and realized it's quite a few.  The entire Mormon church is run largely by volunteer clergy. The breakaway versions run on volunteers also. I suppose the paid preacher concept came out of Catholicism where, as we all know, clergy are not well paid but take a "vow of poverty." A few are quite wealthy.  The model of a traditional Christian church is unsustainable. The expensive building is underused. A full time paid preacher needs to bring in new paying members as others die or leave. I've read it takes a membership of at least 100 active and paying members to afford a full-time preacher. Churches often have only 50 members.   The economics of a church make it inevitable that small ones will be run by low budget volunteers. What r...

  A three judge Federal Appeals Court ruled against a Louisianna law requiring the Ten Commandments be posted in every public school. We don't expect such a ruling coming out of the Bible Belt. Anyone who reads them, however, should realize a.) they are mostly about religion and b.) they include material not appropriate for children. Decade after decade there are whackos promoting putting the Ten Commandments in schools and homes.  I have on my shelf a book about a Ten Commandments crusade from the 1950's. A judge in Minneapolis got the notion that putting the Ten Commandments in homes improved the behavior of teenage boys. He persuaded his fraternal order to fund publishing and mailing them to parents across the U.S. Of course, the benefits were always his imagination and were never seen in real life. The version of the Ten Commandments he used then appeared on stone monuments that were displayed across the country.  Today we are reliving the folly of the 1950's with a b...

It's always been amazing to me the amount of emphasis placed on "science and math" while so little attention is on disciplines which see things more clearly. The latter are the social sciences. (A disclaimer, there is controversy about using the term "science" when discussing the study of cultures and societies. It is science in some ways, art in others. What falls under "science" is criticized by some in the social area because it makes subjective decisions there is order when this is not known.) The link is an example of a social scientist seeing something missed by much of the political and academic world. It is a discussion of what is meant by "development" or by the term also used, "progress." We could add into the confusion the phrase "standard of living." In the newspaper today where I live is a big article about changing the classification of two busy local highways from being "state highways" to "in...

For good entertainment, I recommend reading justification for making Adam and Eve an actual account of actual people. The link author correctly identified the dilemma.  If one regards the story as history, many will regard the believer as bonkers. If the tale is dismissed as a folk tale, much of Christianity goes out the window.  The link author also lamented the faithful not buying as fact the Adam and Eve folk tale because by doubting its historical validity also inserts doubts about the Original Sin. As we all know, the Adam and Eve tale informs us there was no sin before Eve foolishly bit into the apple and encouraged the not-so-smart Adam to follow her example. Without that story, the link author suggests, we have no record of when sin was introduced to humans. Without sin there is no eternity in hell. Without eternity in hell there is no club to control people and get their tithe. The link author almost panics at the prospect of not treating Adam and Eve and their introd...

So many Catholics, so many saints. But the saints have been mostly from one area of the world, Europe. If religions are not inventions of local cultures we would expect saints to do miraculous things wherever there are human beings. European saints suggest a European religion. Catholics on the continent of Africa are now demanding more saints. It is amusing this is request that has to be made by Africans. If these African holy persons performed miracles that justify sainthood, why didn't the Vatican act. Did God not tell them about it? Were there African people who did not believe these were miracles but just random events? The Catholic rule has been, though recently changed, that clergy were to investigate every miracle brought to the Vatican's attention. My guess the Vatican heard about all the claimed miracles but shrugged off those in Africa. I remember that Pope Benedict wanted more saints. Looking at the process as an outsider, making a saint is a costly affair. The rules...

I have a book on my shelf to read soon that dives deeply into why Christians are leaving churches. I suppose it will review polls which ask, "What is your religion?" So many answer with "None." I'm sure this is not the only book available and many more will be written. I wonder if any will be as good as the You Tube site, Mormon Stories.  That site has long, I mean looong, interviews probing into the minds of people who left Mormonism. Perhaps readers here are also interested in the steps people go through as they unbelieve what they once believed.  One woman explored the question by speculating on how much being a member of the Mormon church was intertwined with the rest of a person's social, political and professional life. Perhaps, she suggested, when it becomes obvious the entire narrative of Mormonism, Joseph Smith talking to Jesus, the "plates" and polygamy are all an evil and outrageous scam, this may be easy to dismiss if everything else is...

The book I'm reading about fires in California reviewed the extensive use of fire by Native Americans to enhance the soil and control the damage from lightening fires. Natives set fires regularly to help control weeds and enhance the soil for their food growing. Along with fire they had a lot of knowledge about horticulture and bred plants to increase productivity. California was taken from native populations by Spain. The first white people to move into the area were Jesuit priests. According to historical accounts, these Jesuits set about converting natives by moving into areas, learned the local language and worked Christianity into the indigenous religions. The Spanish government, however, did not see the riches coming to it they expected from the armies they had sent there. The Jesuits were making things worse by helping the enemy, native people. Word came down that all Jesuits must leave the area or be imprisoned by the Spanish government. In place of the Jesuits, government ...

Near Dallas is a planned community for Muslims. Or at least there were such plans. When Republican Governor Abbot heard about the community, he hit the roof and started investigations and making threats.   Down the street from me here in Iowa, the ACLU has filed suit against the Governor for refusing to allow the Satanic Temple from joining other religions who have holiday displays in the Capitol. Our Baptist Governor said it would be harmful for children to see a display of Satan. The Governor's theory about children seeing something "bad" reminded me of one of our granddaughters. She knew nothing about church or churches as a preteen but attended some civic event at a Catholic church. Afterwards, apparently having noticed the ever-present crosses with hanging Jesuses, she asked her mother, "Why are they so mean to Jesus." Christians have been pushing emotional buttons since day one. The main button is death, "If you are scared of death join our group. Non...

  Since universities became huge there have been complaints about what goes on inside them. This is kind of thorny for taxpayer supported ones. Governors and legislatures allocate money to them, why can't they dictate what goes on inside them? Taxpayer supported universities require a level of intellect in the public that often is not present. What and where can free speech he practiced? According to a report in a student newspaper, a group from the Un. of Nebraska performed a drag number that mocked Catholic Mass. The report said the performance was in a nearby church.  If I had been in the room when Christianity was choosing a long-term strategy I would have argued against portraying it as a faith of high integrity and moral standing. I would have said portraying yourself as the panicle of moral standards will invite ridicule.  Some sites that deal with the Bible and sin say men dressing as women has always been a preferred theme of theater since far back in history. If...

The Pope recently spoke of reconciliation and peace. A columnist wrote the disunity and discord within and, presumably, outside the church are the work of Satan. Since when is backing down, compromising and extending the hand of friendship only the job of those who disagree with right wing Christianity. Where is the "Art of the Deal" in abortion and gay rights? The idea of compromise to the right is, "We get what we want, no one else gets anything." Of course, it will make up a claim that what it wants is what God wants.  The Pope would go a long way in his quest for eliminating discord by announcing the Catholic Denomination will no longer participate in efforts to outlaw abortion. And, it will no longer refer same sex sexual relationships as immoral or sinful. Even if the denomination did not expunge it nonsense from official documents just setting nonsense aside and not promoting it would go a long way toward reducing "discord and disunity" and promotin...

  Another ten-year survey of populations around the world and their religions was released recently. It showed a continuation of the pattern we have discussed here for years: Islam grew the most because of high birth rates, not because of conversions. Christianity grew a little because of high birth rates in Africa. This growth, also, was not due to conversions. Christianity dropped all over the West. There is a group, however, that has a low birth rate but grew anyway. They grew from conversions. That is the group called the "nones", no religious affiliation. You would think Christians and Muslims would wonder why nones are growing so much and what they themselves could do to stop losing people to those nones. Binge watching interviews with ex Mormons got me to thinking about all Christians and, for that matter, all the religions of the world. The leadership in the Mormon denomination has been obsessed in recent times by the fact most other Christians do not think of Mormons...

 I can't seem to stop binge watching interviews with people who have left the Momon church. Today I watched an interview with a man with adult children. In the interview we hear him  tell of his near suicide when he was a missionary for the denomination in Poland. The moderator said suicide attempts and thoughts have come up often in experiences of these young people they have interviewed These young people are far from home and pressured to do work that receives constant rejection. The man when young was faced with a year and a half of rejection by people in Poland who were Catholic and had no interest in this strange new faith. His family were so proud of him being chosen to go on this experience he felt he could not return before his two-year obligation was finished.  According to information on this site, the Mormon hierarchy does not expect the missionary work done by their young people to generate many new converts. Instead, it is thought that once a young person ha...

  A woman in her 40's, Jennifer Lyell,  died of a stroke this week. She had been a rising female star in the Southern Baptist Convention until she decided to go public with her experience. He experience was that as a student in a prominent Southern Baptist Seminary she was befriended by a professor. He groomed her for sex, using among other tricks, Bible passages. He was married but their affair went on for several years. He found a job as a pastor. When she went public with her life's story the faculty member, then a preacher did not deny but said he had received forgiveness from God. Lyell, however, was condemned as a harlot and had to abandon her goal of being a missionary. She went on to become an attorney but her case in Southern Baptist kept coming up for years. There was the injustice but also the push back by men in the denomination who wanted no success from women no matter the issue. The public criticism of Lyell was so long-standing and vicious she said a few years ...

Cause and effect conclusions in politics are open to anyone. We all use it whether we write a blog like this one or read one. A historian took on the task of presenting Trump as part of an ongoing thread in U.S. religion and politics. The critic said this was a noble effort but the author had cherry picked individuals through history to find big egos who were thought to represent broad appeal.  Everyone, supporters and detractors (like me), agree Trump has support because millions of voters have grievances. People are always trolling the political landscape looking for some way or someone to address these grievances. We would go quite far into the weeds to list the groups and the grievances; they have been discussed a gazillion times.  Those of us on the losing side like to point out that Trump has made no progress in helping his group with their grievances. Probably most such people are worse off because of Trump. As we see prices and taxes go up as well as some unemployment ...

  One of the threads everywhere in atheist feeds is a "debate" which pitted Jordan Peterson against "20 Atheists." To understand such an odd thing one needs to know that Jordan Peterson is, or was, a psychologist who became a huge figure in popular culture. He had, maybe still has, a big internet following, writes, does lecture appearances and is attributed with a high IQ. He reappeared after a serious illness a few years back he announced he is a Christian. This was celebrated on the Christian internet. "If a fellow this smart believes this stuff the rest of us are not so stupid."   Peterson was in front of cameras many times portraying Christians as smart people. Someone came up with the idea that Christianity would get tremendous publicity if Peterson appeared in a room full of atheists and backed them all down. Victory for Jesus was predicted. The event went south for Christians, however. The atheists pressed Peterson on what he actually believed. Did ...

Social change in the most interesting topic known to man. Where have we been, where are we going? Every time something new pops up it's fun to poke into it to see what it's about. One is called the Druid Fellowship. While it is a tiny Pagan group its thinking has some potential. It intends to tell people, "If you feel you don't fit in, we're your group."  When I was first a mayor so many decades ago, one of the many things I was surprised about were the people who stopped me on the street or came by to visit who seems like very prominent and well liked in the city but had something they wanted to tell me. It was that they wanted to be accepted by their group but were always pushed aside for its most prominent positions. The first mystery was why they felt the need to tell me, of all people, this? Did they tell this to every mayor because the position of mayor held some kind of authority? Or, did I attract them in some way as a person who could help them with t...

It was refreshing to read the commentary of a father, a devout Mormon, whose three adult children have lost the faith. His instinct is to argue with them. But he says he does not. One thing of the many things about our times different than those 50-75 years ago is the frequency of people switching branches of the faith or leaving all of the faith. It was always happening but today it is more common. Reading statistics about it is one thing, dealing with friends and family changing is something else. My wife and I have two adult children. When they became young adults we discussed between us how we would react if either of them had a spouse with religious views than ours and our own child went in that direction. We both agreed we would not object. It didn't, or hasn't yet, happened so that has made it easy. Our extended family has seen a little of it without unresolvable problems.  The Mormon link author points out a mistake many in his faith and those in other faiths make. It i...

All of writing about religion and politics is finding the perfect metaphor. Today there was a perfect one describing how so many Christians who believe there is a way to bring huge numbers back into the fold. It describes Christians as standing on the shore watching their ship sail into the distance having futile conversations of how to turn it around. The conversations bring up polls which claim young men are returning or polls saying many who have left remain "spiritual". The ship pays no attention. The link discusses a book by a sociologist that will be covered here later. It also brings up the question as to why those Christians who write and speak in public are unable to understand what has happened. They search for an answer but cannot find one because they still do not understand the problem. The problem is that the Christian message of sin, forgiveness, the Bible and the afterlife are ideas of a previous time. The culture has moved on and the faith is stuck in the pas...

Day after day are stories about Trump thinking he can score political points by attacking Harvard. He may very well be scoring some points. An additional Trump motive come from massive pleasure he gets when making some he regards as important bend to his will. Whether by canceling some Federal contracts or sending home some foreign students can he make Harvard bend to his will or change it much in any way?   I have my doubts.  Decades ago, there was a perhaps fictious exchange of views between a monied alum of some small college and a new faculty member in history. The monied alum welcomed the new young historian and said, "Welcome, professor. I hope you will be teaching only Christian history and not the other stuff." The professor replied, "Certainly I will teach only Christian history as soon as you require our math faculty to teach only Christian mathematics." The point is the universities have always been mostly run from the inside and outside forces face big o...

For reasons not fully explained, the President of right wing Fuller Theological Seminary felt obligated to explain the seminary's position on gays. It is, of course, that Fuller welcomes only straight people and only allows heterosexual marriages among its students and faculty. Apparently there have been some public statements by faculty supporting same sex marriage. Fuller is among the most conservative religious organizations so one can imagine the fire aimed, not at the faculty member, but at the President for allowing such a heretic to be employed there. The statement by Fuller's President went out of its way to acknowledge that all in the Christian community do not agree with Fuller on homosexuality. He did not follow up with the traditional thing that anyone disagreeing is absolutely wrong. It was a tepid opposition to gay marriage and homosexuality.  Apparently, it is now OK for Christians to disagree. While Fuller puts on a face of a successful seminary college, it has ...