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Showing posts from July, 2025

The Undocumented Catholic Underground

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There have been reports about the impact of roundups of illegal immigrants on the Catholic denomination. It has been hurting the numbers. Today a small window into that subculture appeared. It is quite emotional and illustrates that the round ups have a significant impact on parishes in areas with large immigrant populations.  I wrote a few days ago about parishes with smaller numbers showing up at mass because feds find it easier to arrest them. The link, however, is about the underground care illegal families provide for each other in parishes where many members are undocumented. The link tells of women who are working feverishly to meet the needs of undocumented families. There is childcare, hunger, translation needs, transportation and a host of other things that volunteers help families with. This is mostly the work of women. These women in the link complain, however, that clergy take credit for the care "the church provides" while it is actually not the church providing...

Strange Things in Religion Keep Coming

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U.S. history and probably world history is filled with people who felt some divine calling, organized a religion, or a subset of some existing religion, set up shop and began fulling the calling that had been phoned into them. Only a few decades ago, this was the ultra wealthy founder of the Dominos Pizza chain. He had heard from above he was to use his wealth to set up university and a surrounding little city that taught and practiced an austere version of Catholicism. Eventually he moved the entire enterprise to Florida where it sits today, a far smaller place than his vision had instructed him to build.  Then, there was Navoo, Ill where Joeseph Smith had been told to establish his wives and religion. After he took another man's wife the man killed Joeseph. Not to worry. Brigham Young took over. He and his many wives moved on to Utah where the Mormon church guards $250 billion. In the reading material you will learn Joeseph unearthed some stones with a message written on them. He...

Which Parodies of Jesus are OK

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There is "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "The Passion of Christ." A search engine just listed for me the top ten movies about Jesus. Jesus is a profit machine and those in the entertainment industry go for it. At an atheist conference I saw a stand-up comedian do a show as Jesus. At a pride parade in Ireland included a fellow dressed at Jesus.  The link says those responsible should be punished. Ridicule, apparently, must be directed only at Satan.   Christians pretending to know what Jesus said or how he said it have been plying their trade since the New Testament was written. The book of John was written long after some other books. It has many of the same stories but in John, Jesus is quoted page after page. While not even the earliest written books of the New Testament claim the authors personally heard Jesus say anything, writing done even later had many more verbatim quotes. This is why people like myself roll the eyes when I see the words, "Jesus said.......

Christianity is Not About God/Jesus, It's About Sin

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On my bookshelf is one I've discussed here many times, "God is Not One." The author, a professor of religion, summarizes what ordinary worshippers in the major religions think their religion is about. That is, he ignores arguments from books and seminaries. Christianity, he says, is about one thing, sin. That is the topic churchgoers worry about and talk about. A commenter used to argue with me saying no, the faith is about forgiveness. That's ridiculous. There is no forgiveness if there is no sin. Everything in Christianity starts with sin. Today sin was highlighted by a Christian columnist. Eve sinned when she ate the apple. Both Adam and Eve were ashamed of their sinful appearance, naked. They tried to cover up their sinful bodies with leaves but God said no, that's not even cover. Here are proper garments to wear so you don't have to offend me with your sinful naked bodies. Jesus' clothes were removed so his death could be linked with the sin of nakedn...

Advice from Prominent Christians: Don't Support Anyone Who is Gay

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It is laughable how many times a publicly known Christian has criticized some other public expression of support for gay people. Always present is the deep desire to shame and look down on others. A U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle publicly condemned a fictional TV character for being gay. A comedian asked, "Does the Vice President realize she is a fictional character?" Country Western singer Amy Grant attended a gay marriage ceremony of a close relative and was criticized. The dufus Franklin Graham is having a cow just now because video home improvement couple on You Tube is renovating the home of a gay couple with children. Shame,      says Franklin Graham, on the video producers for making a living while treating every customer with respect. Everyone who has studied the issue of discrimination against gay people knows discrimination, selecting some group to look down on and be considered evil, is part of both human history and Christian history. I'm sure every ...

Abuse in Religions is a Thing on You Tube

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I've been surprised at how many You Tube producers focus on abuse inside organizations in the world of religion. Perhaps it is the same in other countries as well. The style of these videos is "long form." They are not short cuts to the point. People are interviewed for hours, three to five. There is a search of childhood for clues about what is going to happen to them. Then slowly it dawns on women they are being sexually abused and overlooked even though they are major contributors to the effort.  Alongside abuse is discrimination based on gender. Women are passed over for responsible positions, especially for positions of clergy or clergy-like. It is my theory any branch of Christianity or other religion that forbids women from the highest positions of power sets the stage for sexual abuse. Of course, it appears everywhere but most institutions today do not have codified rules that require discrimination. We all know, religion is much about emotions. Testimonies about ...

Have You Ever Registered For and Attended a Christian Conference

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I have atheist friends whose hobby is attending right wing Christian conferences and conventions. They enjoy chatting it up with friendly Christians, making notes of the absurd ideas presented and reporting the experience at gatherings of atheists. Today on a Christian site was an article by a former Pagan who converted to Christianity and attends atheist/Pagan gatherings. The author tries to convert but has little success. He writes that people are not very interested in hearing about the faith, though he claims a convert or two.  The link author claims to have been a Pagan previously and eventually converted to Christianity. I'm surprised at how many people there are on You Tube and who write on line that searched several faiths looking for "the truth." The link author claims he found "the truth" in Christianity. So many other left Christianity and found it somewhere else.  Christians use the term "the truth" so often it's kind of nauseating. The...

What Does "Separation of Church and State" Mean

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It's always helpful to hear a different perspective on old arguments. I enjoyed reading one today, even though I didn't agree with it. This was a short essay on why some do not believe separation of church and state means keeping religion out of government and politics.  The link restates what it claims was the meaning of separation of church and state for 3/4th of U.S. history. It was only that no one can be forced to any particular faith and no tax money given to any religion. The point the Baptist author was making was it did not include keeping religion out of the public square. It was Baptists, he argued, not secularists, who drove the argument because they were pushing back against the high church of the Queen and Anglicans.  The American Baptist denomination is the oldest one that was born in the U.S. Today, conventional wisdom tells us it is a branch quite similar to mainline protestants like Methodists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Lutherans, etc. I've known ...

Christianity Must Face This: People Don't Trust Churches or Preachers

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An item recently in the news is the "Johnson Amendment." This refers to an IRS exemption for churches because they are not "political" organizations. It is said to mean preachers cannot, or should not, endorse political parties or candidates. The link warns that even if the Johnson Amendment is ruled unconstitutional churches would help themselves by not endorsing one party or candidate and rejecting another. This advice is based on surveys that show most church goers or those who have stopped going to church do not like heavy politics in church.  Churches and their preachers/priests should consider where the heads of their audiences are before they approach the pulpit. They need the review what surveys reveal. They need to say to themselves, "The public does not believe what I have to say." Also, "The public does not trust the church or any other institutions." "Those listening to me are wondering what's in it for me." When I say, ...

A New Sin for Your Sin List: Human Composting

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If one wants a good eye roll, read any one of the many columns each day on Christian sites that use, or paraphrase, the most common one in all of Christianity, "What this means is..." There is a dufus who describes himself as a Christian intellectual who today blasted in modern concept of human composting. There are so many sins it's hard pound a new one into the sin box.  I believe use of "sealed" vaults that caskets are put in is a practice that came along in my lifetime. I remember seeing disturbing advertisements when I was young of a grieving woman with a picture of what supposedly is in her mind--a casket in the ground when it was raining. I wonder if religion was part of selling those expensive burial vaults. I've read that when they are dug up for various reasons they are all leaking. If the idea was to protect the body so it could be air mailed to heaven there won't be anything left, buried in a vault or left to compost in the soil.  Cremation n...

Why Christianity Is Getting Smaller and Less Important

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There was a widely used book about culture and economics back when I was teaching economics. It talked about the constant churning in the economy which happens for many reasons, technology, tastes, culture and the other things we talk about here. He had a sentence that fits the state of Christianity and most religion today around the world. He said change is so powerful efforts to stop it are like toothpicks stuck in front of a bulldozer. The decline of religion is like that. Revival gatherings, charismatic preachers, politicians and fear of hell are but toothpicks.  I've finally finished the book Why Religion Went Obsolete; The Demise of Traditional Faith in America. Of the many dozens of articles and books I've read and videos I've watched, none provided the clear explanation of author, Professor of Sociology at Notre Dame Christian Smith, provided. The culture that brought Christianity to be popular is gone. The culture that replaced it does not accommodate, in fact is h...

The Bible is Not Clear About Gender

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From the Christian right's point of view, finding the Bible unclear about any issue the right has labeled as clear is an unforgivable sin. Now, it has happened with gender. Reading all of the Bible and reading it in its original languages (even though these languages change over time just like English) a writer finds many references to the two genders vague. There appeared to be some accepted characters in the Bible who were gay and other times the concept of gender is fluid. One part of Genises that has had non believers chuckling is that God took a rib from Adam and made Eve from it. The rib was male. Eve was a trans.  There so many bits of scripture to have fun with. God is said to be bigger than male or female. But, of course, since God is referred to as "father" God has to be male. God could be either depending on which part of the Bible one reads.  In summary, it is ridiculous to conclude the Bible divided clearly humans into male and female. 

Trump is Desperate to Blame Someone Else. He's Decided its Powell

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As a recall, every President, Democrat and Republican, has criticized the Federal Reserve and whomever its Chair happened to be. Many, perhaps the majority, of Senators have done this too. My friend, former Sen. Byron Dorgan, did this. I never discussed it with him.  The reason, as readers here know, is because the F.R. influences (does not set) interest rates. The F.R. Board Chair is appointed by a President but technically cannot be removed by the President. Trump has threatened to try to fire the Fed Chair but do not think for a minute he will do this. Actual firing of Powell, if he could or did do this, would not serve Trump's interests.   The economy shows signs of slowing. I think the consensus of those who speculate on this data think the slowdown will continue getting worse. This, no doubt, has been mentioned to Trump. The consensus also has an explanation as to why this is happening. It is Trumps crazy tariff increases. Trump seems unable to grasp his tariffs are...

Is The Great Gatsby About Religion

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This is the 100th anniversary of the book that ranks among the classics in this county. Probably everyone who reads this has read that book or seen one of the movies. I've done both because I can't stop. Everyone, including myself, thinks they understands the message of the book. It never occurred to me anyone could think of it as a book about religion, especially the Catholic denomination. I should have been smarter and remembered whatever a reader has in his/her mind is what will be seen in the story. That's me, I have class on my mind. If I were a devout Catholic I would see that.  According to the link, F. Scott Fitzgerald was dumped by a girl because of class. He grew up in Minneapolis and his ethnic heritage including the Catholic denomination is in his name. He lost interest in the church as a young man and never returned. That did not prevent the Catholic author of the link to read into Gatsby religious themes. The story is a confession, it is that wealth does not b...

Who Knew: Trump Cuts are Hurting Catholic Programs at Military Bases

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Providing Catholic services, baptisms, etc., at military bases and to the communities near the bases has been subsided in various ways by the Federal Government. Now, these subsidies are evaporating . The cuts are especially obvious in Southern states that have lots of military bases.  These are states that voted for Trump by big majorities. The link talks of grants to fund churches combined with community centers near military bases. The churches and centers were enthusiastically endorsed because they gave a sense of community to families who move around a lot. Some of the stories are about facilities who active planning was underway, staff being trained and many decisions made in anticipation of promised money. Locals say they are confused about what happened. From my decades in as an economics professor, the entire saga now playing out is a catastrophe without equal. During other economic downturns, government policy was used attempting, not always successfully, to offset proble...

Christianity, the Religion of Lists

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I grew up in a fundamentalist Protestant denomination that discussed at length the relative importance of various "sins." While I was too young to discuss this with adults I knew about the discussions from friends and my parents. The latter did quiet eye rolls about this preoccupation. I never heard it said in our farm home, "That is a sin." I've discussed here many times the history of certain sins rising on what I call the "Sin Leader Board." High on the Leader Board just now is trans. Trans will slide down and eventually off the Leader Board when power and money need a new leading sin.  It turns out there is another list that is fun to read about. It is the many "signs of the second coming." Years ago on this blog several commenters discussed their alarm (or joy, never sure which) that gay marriage was such an evil sin it was a sign that Jesus would soon return. I suppose trans is on the list for the end of times now that the faith has los...

Mesoamerica Remains a Fascinating Mystery

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During the first few hundred years CE Christianity was mostly a tiny cult. Then a dictator of the Roman Empire gave it the green light and it started slowly to grow. In Central America, and other places as well, a lot of change was going on as well. The written records of this latter area are mostly destroyed by invaders but the story of the area and the people that lived there is slowly being revealed through archaeology.  I wish it were possible to know what the religious and/or spiritual lives were among the Incas and Aztecs. Apparently, there were different religious factions. I wish also it was possible to know where these people came from before they were in South and Central America. The natives of North America are equally interesting. Both groups lived on this continent for many generations and were sophisticated societies. White invaders brought guns, diseases and a will to destroy the native societies along with their histories. Weather changes may have changed their for...

Jesus' Competition Includes Mushrooms

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As individuals around the world find substitutes for the orthodox religions, old friends are showing up. The anti Viet Nam war psychedelics are living on in home "churches." My theory about our current time is there is a large underground growth in new experiences we might call new religion, new spirituality or new ways to cope with whatever life throws at us. Besides basement "churches" inhaling mushrooms, such as the link, sales of occult objects has been booming in recent years. Maybe the two overlap. With such diverse things going on with so many groups it's likely none will be under one umbrella like, for example, the Catholic denomination. This lack of stadium events and press releases could mean lots of growth underground. Even now, polling has shown a steady increase in the group that does not identify with any religion, the NONES. The NONES have become larger than all non Christian groups combined. Yet, no one knows if there is any unifying trait and wh...

Who is a Bigger Threat Than Satan

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The Satanic Temple organization understands perfectly the whacko Christian community. It knows how to push Christian buttons. Christian zealots, on the other hand, do not understand their smarter rivals, the Satanic Temple.  The Satanic Temple organization is starting up churches, youth groups and medical abortion clinics. If one could pick three kinds of activities that push more Christian buttons than these I don't know what they are. In cities that they judge would most hate a youth group in its schools or a "church" on main street they move in. Local city councils and school boards in these places are certain they can refuse zoning or requests by students to form such groups. The refusals make good headlines. Then, the Satanists win. I suppose this brings in donations and on it goes.  The link askes a reasonable question, who are these communities protecting their children from? It is not from predatory clergy. There are a fifty or more cases of predatory clergy liste...

Everyone Has Their Own Private Religion

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                                An article appeared today in the Christian press lambasting a Catholic politician in England who voted against the official Catholic position on something. The politician said the vote reflected his own "private religion." The link said, paraphrasing, no Catholic has a right to his/her "private religion." This article follows up on a poll done recently that asked Protestant preachers whether or not they disciplined church members who sinned. Not surprisingly, 80% of so did not. My guess is the other 20% did not either but felt they should make this claim anonymously. The people in the pews pay the bills. They discipline the preacher, not the other way around.  The issue of "private religion", or individual conscience, was on display during Biden's presidency when some clergy refused to give communion to him and others. Those, like Biden, wanting communion simply got it fr...

Some Christians Scoff at Psychic Readings. Believe Prayers Instead

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                                                       Periodically on religious sites I read condemnations of "Psychics." The old joke was the fortune teller who read about you in a crystal ball. There are palm readers, tea leaves, and as discussed in the link , those who receive energy from the earth. The latter is associated with paganism.  Driving across the country side I often see "prayer works" signs along the road. The one above is a yard sign for sale a $27.50. I've not seen one for sale that says, "palm reading works." Maybe there is a business opportunity there. We all know there have been competing spiritual ideas chasing after the gullible since forever. The Ten Commandments include one with the backstory of these ideas. It says, "Thou Shalt Have on other Gods Before You," admitting there were other gods, or hucksters promoting oth...

Religion, Once About Peace, Now Associated With Violence

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The book I'm reading, Why Religion Went Obsolete, discusses not theological issues but cultural changes in how religion is seen in society. Decades ago, mostly the author says before 1990, the view by the public of religion was religion is good. Around 1990 a multitude of forces made religion seem not good. This included on-line life, later marriages, later careers, scandals in the faith and others. One was an increase in the association of religion with violence.  When I began this blog, about a dozen years ago, the attack called "9/11" was still in the news a lot. I remember writing about my exasperation with leaders like President W. Bush who called for "prayer." He gave a speech, not in some venue known to exude rational and secular thinking to offset the whacko religious views of the Muslim attackers, but in the National Cathedral. Can't people see, I wrote, that the whacko attacks on the World Trade Center (I was in that complex years earlier) were the...

What is Artificial Inteligence

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The way AI is talked up in the press makes it sound like it is something new and powerful. I don't claim to know much about it but see it from an outsider's point of view. It is actually just faster and more comprehensive access to information that is already, and has been for a while, stored. It is not "powerful" in the sense of new ideas or strategies. One could argue, I'm sure, there are creative ideas about which information to use and how to use it. This is something different, it seems to me, than creating something that did not exist before. More discussion is showing up about the costs of storing and retrieving all this data. It takes huge amount of electricity. This use of electricity requires water for cooling. I heard the in the State of Virginia data centers use a huge percentage of the total power generated in the state. In some states without large amounts of water that is becoming a limiting issue. Then there is the issue of locating the data center...

Jesus was Baptized in Arizona; I Didn't Know That

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In the Arizona desert is an area, maybe there are several, where, in the 1600's, a priest spread the Catholic faith among the indigenous people living there. The locals had their own religion so apparently the priest made up stories to link Catholic dogma with whatever myths were already there at the time.  The Catholic hierarchy built expensive churches in this area where indigenous people were on the edge of survival. These churches still stand but are mostly without clergy. Priests come from large cities in AZ periodically to conduct rituals. In the link, a local man explains why he worships in the Catholic church whenever a priest is able to show up. He says it gives him a sense of his linage. Jesus' cousin lived in there in the desert centuries ago and baptized Jesus himself in one of the local rivers. Eating the ceremonial desert fruit is what Jesus did and is carried on by the locals today.  This is a reason to wonder why Christianity takes millions of dollars from its ...

War Inside the Republican Party

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  I don't want to overstate what I have learned in my long life; everyone learns things. What surprised me when I became a mayor and people made appointments to tell me their side of the story, were the splits in the business community. Looking at the community's business community from the outside as I had done up to that point, I had the impression it was of one mind. That is, it was united on the policies of taxes and the way the city spent its money.   Various factions came in to explain to me other factions were making too much money. The link makes the case there is a split between MAGA Republicans and corporation Republicans. About three decades ago corporate CEOs began paying themselves exorbitant salaries. I wondered when shareholders would put a stop to it. Instead it has been getting worse and worse. The link says the amounts corporate executives take for themselves has become a drag on the economy. Other business circles, like MAGA, see these salaries and the extra...

Religion: Slippage from Theology to the "Moral Person"

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One of the frequent criticisms made by conservative Christians about "today's Christianity" is that it does not teach the "real" faith. That is, it goes light on the theology of sin and Jesus dying to forgive sins. By getting one's sins forgiven by Jesus one can spend eternity in heaven and avoid eternity in hell. The book I'm reading, Why Religion Went Obsolete, says the faith was about this theology almost entirely until about the 1950's.  Slowly another version developed. This other version was featured in what is called the "mainline" denominations. Such denominations are some Presbyterian, some Lutheran, some Methodist, Congregationalist, etc. The new version of the faith is one about being a moral person. It's about Christians being "good people." It teaches that Jesus was a moral person. It was this good-person-Jesus that is important instead of Jesus forgiving sin. This new version of Christianity was so popular these ...

Thirteen Tenets of Christianity Most Don't Buy Today

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Slowly but surely the popular press is catching up to understanding how and why people do not believe the tenets of Christianity, or, those of most other faiths. When I write about why people don't believe I cannot help remembering the hundreds of times I have been in atheist gatherings or discussing things on line with atheists. I think the most common explanation as to why people leave the faith is simple, they just cannot believe its stuff anymore. This simple explanation does not sell books or bookings on a lecture tour. Certainly, books and lectures which try to determine why people cannot believe are useful. But when all is said and done, people see bull shit. Game over.  Along this vein, an article summarized recently what it is the public now has trouble believing. I thought it would be worthwhile to review what are the scoffed at tenets Below are the 13 tenets listed in the popular press that are a hard sell in the U.S. today: 1. The Earth is the center of the universe. 2....

Winona MN Priest Case Settled, $7 Plus Million

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Clergy who take advantage of the mythology planted in the heads of the unsuspecting are everywhere. The mythology is we priests were named by Jesus to run the church. We are the ones with authority over others. A terrible example was one in the Diocese of Winona (MN).  In Winona a young man was befriended by a priest and sexual relations continued for several years. The young man suffered from the experience and sued the diocese. I don't know more details. Versions of the story, we know, have been repeated across the country. It happens in both Catholic and Protestant churches. I think the over-arching theme is that religion can have a hold on people and clergy can and do use that for their own selfish purposes.  While I'm sure the diose of Winona has some money stashed away and buildings that can be sold I also hope current members of the dioses will pay for some of the settlement. If you are a member of the church and do not use your influence to make it a law-abiding instit...

Illegal Immigrants, or Children, Don't Go to Church

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Federal troops and agents have been rounding up immigrants in churches. Children of illegal immigrants now are at risk as well. A priest in Los Angles reported a significant number of young people in his conformation class did not attend their conformation for fear of arrest. Los Angeles County is roughly 10% illegal immigrants and families. If you were a federal agent at the management level and those above you needed large numbers to appease the politics of the Trump Administration, what better place to arrest large numbers fast than at a church service. Spending time going to the kitchens of restaurant and running down dish washers who escape out a back door does not yield the big numbers needed. Neither does going into apartment buildings and having no one respond to knocks on the door.  One would think Christians in the Trump Administration would object to arresting people just because that came to church to worship Jesus. There are high level people who brag about the Christi...