Thoughts of a Freethinker

A family member passed along a video by a woman who works with people frightened about leaving Christianity or becoming acquainted with other paths like Paganism. She is Brittney Hartley who refers to her approach as nononsense spirituality.  In one of her videos she explains why VP JD Vance and other prominent Catholics talk on and on about the failing birth rate. They point to South Korea which seems to be headed to a population so small the country may have to change or be absorbed.  Hartley points out that secular people treat the low birth rate as the choices of individuals and that human existence on earth most likely happened by a series of somewhat random events. That being the case, humans might, in a million or so years, experience another series of random events that eliminate us from earth. It is not a threat to anyone or any current set of people. Many people in the religious right, however, consider themselves so indispensable it is imperative they do not die. Ch...

Some Buddhist monks are walking from Texas to Washington DC for peace. They had not yet taken all the publicity from Melania's documentary about herself or Trump's roundup of humans, but they have potential to call attention to something more noble than shooting people. The simple act of walking unarmed in unusual places in an old practice with a history of success. We all know about Rev. Martin Luthur King's walks. Gandhi was another who stood unarmed in front of armed police. Filling the streets with shouting and angry people has its place. So does the unarmed noble walker.  The effectiveness and reason for effectiveness is not hard to see after events unfold. We can understand today why King and Gandhi made such a difference. It's another thing to come up with the idea of protesting in this way, convincing others to do it with you and then winning the public relations war that follows. King defeated Sheriff Bull Connor. I think all readers would like to see an end to...

  It's fun to see real progress where some stuck in the past have prevailed. An example is a woman was recently named the Arch Bishop of Canterberry. Unfortunately, there was a loud protest . At her installation ceremony, a right-wing priest shouted out a protest. Instead of the mostly progressive Church of England, this sounds like the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. I remember a well-known Southern Baptist preacher saying, "We in the SBC can bend a little on a few issues. We absolutely cannot allow women preachers." Popes have said there will never be Catholic clergy.  That women cannot be clergy is either a power play or a misreading of the faith's teaching of both. The highest positions in all of society are shared by both men and women. How could it be different in Christianity? The Church of England is, of course, the church of England's government. This makes it even more sensitive to current cultural forces than the Southern Baptist Conv...

The German Catholic Church is the wealthiest of any country. Rome needs its share of that wealth. Germany, however, needs to guard access to its cash flow. This cash flow requires that Bishops alien with popular political values. We have to remember the European way of paying churches. It is for the government to collect a voluntary payment earmarked for the church and turn it over accordingly.  Pope Leo has pledged to hold the "One Church" together. He says this with even more conviction than did Francis. The German Bishops see this as their checkmate. Rome will have to allow gay marriages by priests and women as priests as Germans demand. Rome will have to either approve or find some way to ignore. It needs German money more than German Catholics need Rome. German Catholics see a church of the future as one which has a lot of democracy. How clergy and the public together see things will lead to its version of the truth. This is a good way, also, to keep government in the mi...

When Trump won office there was an uncomfortable amount of inflation. Grocery prices were up because covid had harmed production of some things and people had pent up demand from staying at home for a year or two. When things opened up, and salaries available, it helped pull prices up. As I write this, Trump is 10 minutes away from my place trying to put out the political fires he set. If Trump had paid attention to history, or, had advisors who paid attention, he would have predicted production would rise, demand would level off and inflation would largely disappear. He could have said during his first six months, "I am working night and day to reduce inflation" even though he did nothing. Prices would have leveled off or come down and he could have taken a bow. Easy-peasy.  Instead, he started fiddling with tariffs. The existing tariffs were the result no doubt of hundreds of hours of talk around the world and piles of correspondence. All countries thought they should get a...

When one is outside the faith, interesting personal stories are ones of people leaving the faith. It's all but impossible to be interested in people who found happiness by going deep into Christianity or any other religion. This one is about a man who tried his best to leave homosexuality behind be doing every Mormon duty assigned to one who grew up Mormon. He, like so many others, thought the deeper they dove into their religious indoctrination the better the chance their same sex attraction would disappear. Instead, he found happiness in a hobby of drag performing and giving away the money he received. I've read about and known quite a few same sex attracted people who tried over and over to stop the attraction by use of prayer and faith. Once in a while one reads about someone who lives as a heterosexual because homosexual acts are sin. If such people are happier living this way let them do so. The only foolish part of it is believing homosexual sex is a sin. This is made-up...

Pope Leo is not in DC now at the annual "March for Life." The Vatican press office released some remarks he made recently about abortion, creating the image of him being on board with the program. Some things are changing, however, in anti-abortion politics and fund raising. At the end of the press release it is noted the Pope is not demanding laws against abortion which has been the decades-long message. That backfired with the overturn of Roe and made abortion increasingly available in some states. The new narrative is that the public needs to be "persuaded." The Pope's view that anti-abortion is part of a "healthy society" could rightly be called political misdirection. He does not say equal treatment and opportunity for women is part of a healthy society. The practice of treating women as second class members of society, no women clergy, will forever be a part of the decline of Christianity, Catholic and Protestant.  An anti-abortion post in the Na...

The huge amount of money being spent on poorly trained ICE agents and the deaths and turmoil they cause is so unnecessary. With enough money and will the numbers of people entering our country illegally can be stopped. I've read it has already been largely stopped.  There are currently a large number of people in the U.S. who are here without citizenship papers and are not in the process of getting them. What should we do about them? Mostly, nothing. Let's let demographics take care of the issue. They will live out their lives and not be replaced with other illegal people. Eventually the numbers of people without legal status will be much smaller. The problems caused by illegal people is tiny compared to the problem caused by trying to track them down.  When I make this argument that the issue of undocumented people will solve itself, I'm guilty of leaving out the most important variable. That is politicians getting elected. To the politician, especially Trump, this is not ...

When I think about religion I think of what happened to TV networks. I grew up with three of them. Then there were a dozen. Now, if we include You Tube and its knock offs we have thousands of content creators each with a following. Each has many characteristics of a TV network. It has viewers and sells something giving it an economic base.  If our interests are so varied why would not the same thing happen in religion? It is happening. Non denominational churches are replacing churches of the various denominations. Each of these will surely drift in its own direction of rituals and beliefs. I've mentioned here many times that Paganism is not united under one god but many. The trend toward non denominational churches was discussed by a demographer who studies trends in religion. He thinks this tread is an important one and I agree. Let's remember that state legislatures in every state as well and DC have lobbyists. This requires a lot of money. Large religious groups like Cathol...

How could it be that a state prison could ban one holy book read by millions of people while allowing another, the Bible? Such a law has been in effect in Florida for several years.  So many people are incarcerated in the U.S. it has become a huge political, social and business industry. When it got big enough, Christianity decided to go into prisons to recruit followers and hopefully reap donations and later members. From federal prisons down to local jails people were paid to pray. I've heard over and over again from jail wardens that having a chaplain and volunteers in Christianity come in to preach and pray the level of stress and intensity of inmates was reduced.  This is exactly the argument made by clergy in the Hindu faith in Florida. There is testimony that reading the Hindu religious tome and doing Hindu religious rituals helps Hindu prisoners cope with their incarceration. I suppose the Christian jail wardens and chaplains worshipping in the Hindu faith is the pathw...

Many times a month there are posts on the web about the " benefits to society of church attendance." One can learn that the church has been a place where people of different political views became friends. You can learn that those who attend church live longer and divorce less. There are entire books devoted to why society and democracy are better off if most people attend church.  I suspect every one of these articles and books was written by a person who attends church. They enjoy church and cannot imagine someone sitting in church and being miserable. If these authors/speakers could understand that church is voluntary and people normally do not do something voluntarily that makes them miserable they would understand why pointing out the societal benefits of church is pointless.  I pointed out in the discussion following the link above that going to church is for some like going to a restaurant and ordering a dish you dislike. People just don't do that. Then there is th...

It not hard to see the reasons a young priest might get discouraged. There are failing parishes. The average age of priests is rising. This inevitably loads younger ones with more work.  While there are lots of parishes with crowded masses, the general trajectory of the denomination in the U.S. is down. There are regular stories of combining parishes and selling buildings. On top of that are the bankruptcies caused by abuse court cases.  The Catholic hierarchy, and perhaps a large portion of Catholics in the pews, refuse to recognize that priests are part of the labor market. To attract and keep employees of any kind an employer needs to pay market wages and provide a reasonable work environment. If the salary is not high enough to finance the training necessary to apply rational prospects will not apply. They may leave the job is they don't see a good financial future. In the case of priests, celibacy is also required. Maybe evenings sitting around with some boring guys is no...

The link discusses a sermon delivered by Martin Luther Kind at Riverside Church in New York City. I'm not immune to a little name dropping, I was at that event. While I did not understand at the time the significance of King's address, reviewing it now is sobering. King spoke against those who use force and cloak it in moral and religious certainty. He talked about violence being given divine sanction. That was part of justification of slavery and segregation. Now it is used against immigrants and Democrats.  King said there is nothing holy about domination. Trump and his circle hold domination as the highest of callings.  The higher calling, King said, is to subvert those in power by being the face of justice. It is good today to remember those who integrated lunch counters toward that end. King himself walked along a highway to Selma in full view of those with guns and clubs. There were beatings and deaths.  Tension and resolve are present in Minneapolis as we speak. I ...

These days there are many articles on Christian sites that lament its decline. Many advise Christians to read and tell others the literal reading of the Bible. There is the belief that if people in the faith say the same old thing, but say it louder and more often, more will believe it. This has not helped. Another approach is funded by a wealthy Catholic. He paid for many ads a few years ago, some still appear, aimed at lapsed Catholics. The ads pleaded, "Come home to church." Millions of dollars gone. Numbers are still falling. Then there is the cheerleader approach of the link . This fellow says that after the Romans sent lions after the Christians in the Roman Colosseum Christian numbers went up. I've read there is no real evidence Christians were ever eaten by lions but the myth this happened lives on. The link plays on the theme of Christians as victims, one of the old standards, but they are so devout the faith rebounds.  This brings up the question, are Christian ...

Christian and secular archeologists continue to compete in story telling of ancient times. The press releases of Christians always strike me as propaganda. New technology, and of course money, is creating a new field of archeology that holds promise of figuring out the past. It is underwater. It is so logical to realize there are great archeological site in shallow water. Human had to live near water from their beginning. Oceans, lakes and rivers rise and fall. Rising waters swamped cities and divers can find what they left behind. Sometimes cities were drowned because earthquakes broke water free and the swapped cities where people left quickly. The artifacts have been preserved by the water itself.  Some of the underwater artifacts reflect the religious views of an ancient time. One reference was of a statue of a Greek God. The Greek Gods seemed to have been worshipped roughly 1,000 years BCE. It appears to me they lasted longer than the Judeo Christian one had been around. Looki...

It's hard to imagine that there would be a conference about one topic, the coming invasion of the U.S. by the Muslim religion. There was such a conference in Texas. One speaker was the famous Steve Bannon who told the audience Muslims are coming to take Texas.  In reflection, perhaps such a conference could be held in many places. A couple in the atheist group I belong to mentioned during breakfast discussion several times that they were attending sessions of an anti Muslim organization. They would drop phrases from the Koran about taking over the world. The first time they brought this up there was kind of a collective eye roll from the dozen or so present. The next time there was push back by those of us who know Muslims and they claim most in the faith do not consider the Koran literally. They stopped bringing up the topic. All readers know there are crazies in Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and in all religions. Experience shows the crazies gain by being victims. Steve Bannon is...

A well-know pundit, Joe Carter, tried to reassure Christians the future is neither bright nor bad for the faith. He talked about the polls I discuss here often. He told believers there are polls and indexes that make it appear Christianity is failing and others that claim it is in resurgence. He advised Christians that polls can collect objective information and be accurate in their own way but various things can be happening at various places and times the push them in one direction or another. I agree with him on that. My thing goes back to money and I wish he would have gone there as well. While various cross currents are present at any time those who benefit from taking money from Christians will always be promoting the bits of data showing success. Honest Christian pundit should warn believers that those who promise growth in the Christian faith cannot guarantee success. If donors want their money to go some important successful goal experience shows money spent on growing numbers...

One of the most interesting books I have ever read was about six economists in history who, in certain ways, changed the world. In the intro chapter the author pointed out the power of the ideas. None of the economists in the book held political office nor fielded armies. They simple pitched simple ideas that cut through the chaos of the time and moved events in a better direction. I'll mention a couple of the famous ones. Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations  in 1776. While there were and remain evidence he was serving the interests of the wealthy, both then and now, he pointed out the problem with the prevailing religious of that time. The prevailing philosophical thought was that wealth was bestowed on individuals and groups by God. We should thank God for good crops and good prices for some goods. Religious leaders would guide political leaders. Smith went to an economic system. He gave an example of a man who made cut wires that then shaped into nails. The man had a hous...

All of us who follow the news is upset with the killing of a woman in Minneapolis. From what we can all see on the screen, it looks like the woman who was killed by an ICE goon was the victim. President Trump, VP and thousands of others are claiming it was the ICE agent with the gun who was, or was about to be, the "victim." While reading this link   I was reminded that all arguments in religion and politics are about who is the victim.  President Trump often talks of the criticize he receives, telling us he is the victim. The link is an essay by a preacher who wants readers to learn the evil social gospel, the doctrine of most liberal Christians, which focuses on Jesus' view the poor are victims, is incorrect. There is only one victim, the link preacher claims. That is Jesus who, as atheists joke, had a bad weekend being killed and all but came out OK. Shame on anyone, he writes, who thinks there is some victim in the entire course of history other than Jesus.  As I...

Trump told Republican lawmakers to "be flexible" on abortion when making a federal health care plan. This certainly is the opposite of what a large part of anti-abortion politics is all about. It is about absolutes, no abortions. It doesn't take a political genius to see that anti-abortion is a political loser. Most anyone can see, also, that the anti-abortion crowd has signed on to the death with the Republican Party. Party leaders like Trump know anti-abortion cannot leave the party so Trump can abandon rigid anti-abortion and still have its support. Why did anti-abortion leave itself in such a hapless position? I've pointed out before here the foolish strategy of anti-abortion. It should have stuck with its old practice of trying to add many harassing costs like ultra sounds to abortions. Instead it changed to total prohibition which has backfired. Trump is not interested in pictures of babies; the only technique anti-abortion has ever had.   

While the new Pope Leo issued a nice statement against armies like those of the U.S. charging across borders to arrest and/or kill other people, he felt the need to also condemn women who need abortions. He finds is egregious they acquire the abortions is any way available to them. In the case of Texas, it means crossing the border into Catholic Mexico. The strong dominating the weak is something the Catholic Church is against, unless it means women taking orders from men. It is, apparently, "Natural Law" women, the weak, take orders from male clergy, the strong. Pope Leo's way of developing policy is like that of President Trump. Trump has threatened the Ayatollah with some kind of punishment is protestors in Iran are killed. In Minneapolis it was OK to take out a protestor.  In Pope Leo's world, it is women who are expected to expose themselves to the dangers of birth, the decision is not theirs but is the Pope's. In the link, which reviews a statement from Pope...

When one reads about the individuals that were arrested in DC on Jan. 6th one sees, not a unified group of people with one cause, but a bunch of lost souls looking for meaning in their lives. The worst possible outcome was for someone, a preacher or a President, to get into their heads and tell them to head to DC. A book goes into depth with two such people. The two profiled seem like people adrift who wanted themselves to be, or wanted to be part of something, important. They traveled across country to attend what they thought was to be a rally and it turned out to be an illegal riot. A young man who lives not too far from me here in Iowa has small children. He had a wife and a job. It seemed like life was going OK for him. But his passion was right wing politics and when he heard about the "rally" he left for DC. After being arrested he petitioned to be under house arrest rather than in jail. A judge agreed but under the proviso he could not engage in any political activiti...

David Green, founder of Hobby Lobby, revealed his goal in life recently in Christian Post. As if he is qualified to give advice to others, he said each person should not be measured by how much money they have accumulated. Instead, a person should consider what legacy he/she left in her lifetime. Obviously, Green, now 83, considers his own legacy to be passing down to future generations the "gift" of Christianity. He spends huge amounts on newspaper ads on Christian holidays preaching the tenets of the faith. He has spent countless millions on the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC. I assume he thinks that if large numbers of people visit the museum, or read his ads during Christian holidays, they will remain or become believers. Green used newspaper advertising for his Hobby Lobby stores and become a billionaire. It's obvious he sees himself as a genius in marketing. Further, if his genius in marketing Hobby Lobby was successful he is certain he knows how successfully...

Anti-abortion  groups  thought they would prevail in Wyoming . In spite of the governor talking as if he had a hallow hovering over his head saying the state must keep trying to eliminate abortion, it's still there .  Wyoming went for Trump by well over 60%. Yet, polls show abortion rights remain popular with the majority. When a large majority in a state's legislature plus a governor go in one direction and voters go in a different direction, the result often depends on whether it is a state that allows and holds state-wide votes. State-wide votes, of course, overrule whatever the majority of legislators and/or a governor want. Some states allow state-wide votes, some do not.  It turns out Wyoming allows state-wide votes. I don't know Wyoming politics but certainly it appears that if the state's politicians want to ban abortions its up hill for them. Now they have lost big in court. It seems inevitable they will lose in a state-wide vote. The odds in favor of aborti...

There are billboards across the country that say "prayer works" or "Jesus is the way." Even though those are childish, the same basic ideas are put out there by people who have PhD's and hold positions in universities. The notion the their is only one god, mine, and every other god is an imposter is so powerful it overpowers whatever intellect might be present for other topics.  The link was written by a professor in cultural anthropology. He says other religions are fake and are myths because they cannot answer all questions. Even though his field is one the looks into how other societies function and thing, he is unable to see his own forest for the trees. In the 300,000 years of human we can assume there have been stories, gods and religions that answered every conceivable question. We have to remember that until relatively recently, humans lived many hours a day, on average, in darkness. Torches were too expensive to burn in huts and caves just to look at on...

President Trump's notion he will "run Venezuela" until it is straightened out sounds identical to President W. Bush when he sent troops into Afghanistan and Iraq. We'll go in there for a short time and when we leave the country will be our friend Bush said or implied.  The U.S. was unsuccessful in both cases. A wonderful essay appeared in the New York Times  today written by a professor in Venezuela. He described the current country as one without a functioning government. Instead, it is a country run by corruption that fails to provide revenue to run the essentials of law, safety and education. People are on their own.  He is pessimistic that simply changing the person at the top will change its government when there not much of any government in place. Instead of a government, people live by hustling a little money here and a little there. My understanding is Afghanistan was a place where religion, bribes and local strong men ran that country. Iraq had a central gov...

Non church goers among those who vote for Democrats is about double the national average. Church goers among Republicans are far above the national average. We have all known this for quite a while, but few have considered what will happen if the trend continues into the future. There is a footnote to these trends, however. It is that the percentage of Republicans who do not attend church is rising. Can Republicans claim to be "God's Party" if its church goers are on the decline? In a way, the religious alignment works for both parties. The no regulations and low corporate tax people have the God voters and don't have to compromise on their goals. The God people get the corporations on their side and don't care about anything except anti-abortion and anti-gay and trans. Democrats know the numbers out of religion are trending up and can harvest votes without saying anything about religion. Critics both inside and outside the Democrat Party says it should cater more...

While I'm not an authority in religion, I try to understand it. I've never understood why Christianity is opposed to or the opposite of Communism. Some say Jesus endorsed sharing, communism, and opposed selfishness, capitalism. Another view, the one that seems most likely, is that Christianity and the economic system have little to nothing to do with one another. The internet is buzzing just now, however, about the godlessness of communism and the godliness of capitalism. That's because of one sentence delivered by New York City Mayor Zohren Mamdani, a Muslim, in his victory address. The sentence included the idea New Yorkers should embrace the warmth of collectivism instead of the cold of selfish individualism. A host of Christian clergy jumped on this phrase. They claimed "collectivism" is a communist term and the Bible condemns communism. One would have thought clergy would focus on matters of religion instead of advocating profit. Such is the faith today. We d...

Here is my tongue-in-cheek prediction for 2026: A best-selling book on starting a new religion will be published. An op ed in the Wall Street Journal  told of the author's need to find a Catholic Church every time he moved to a new city. He wrote of the pleasure he found in the services and friendships he made in parishes. Do-it-yourself religion, he wrote, leaves a hole in the soul that requires going to a church.  We know the Bible preaches that very idea. To properly conduct the Christian business there must be at least two people and more is even better. To not go to church is to be among the "unchurched" and this group needs help. There is an opportunity for new faiths.   On my bookshelf is one called Church of the Giant Spaghetti Monster. As some readers may recall this book was based on a submission to a state legislative committee which wanted to require Bible training in all that state's schools. The writer created a god called the Giant Spaghetti Monster wh...