Thoughts of a Freethinker

A devout Mormon, now known as LDS, has done surveys about why people leave that denomination. He found the explanations people gave for leaving are very different than the reasons assigned to them by those still in the faith. What he found sounds just like what I have seen among people across Christianity. When Christian pundits talk about atheists, they most often attribute atheism to a desire to "sin." This, of course, requires the atheist to believe there is such a thing as "sin." In my experience atheists who were in the faith, not all of them were in it, simply stopped believing in the concepts of invisible gods, an invisible author of the Bible or that spokespersons for the faith, priests and preachers, have more insight into such matters than the average person.  The author of the link, a practicing and office holding LDS, swamped the internet asking both practicing Mormons and ex Mormons what they thought about the other. This was not a study up to the stand...

There is a rule in the affairs of nations (well not a rule actually, I just made it up) that when religion and politics conflict with each other, no one can predict the outcome. That conflict is going on, not only in the U.S., in many places around the world. One is China. A story about a Christian preacher, a Chinese citizen, who is in jail for preaching Christianity is a case in point.  Catholics wanted bishops in China appointed the same way they are appointed everywhere else in the world. That is by the Pope and Vatican. The Chinese government decided the majority of Bishops in the Chinese Catholic Church would be appointed by the ruling government. Bishops need to be loyal supporters of the People's Party. It's obvious that if Christian numbers do rise in China it will be a version of the faith different from that in other areas of the world. Add to that a world-wide loss of interest by people under 25 years of age and we have the Great Wall stopping large growth of Christ...

I was surprised at a preacher's post on a conservative Christian post. He lamented about the modern view of God that he feels many church members have. His post surprised me at how accurate he depicted the people minds who were sitting in his pews. These people, he lamented , do not see God as condemning sin nor passing judgement on the sin of church members. Then, the preacher went on to quote scripture after scripture about that wrath of God when he sees sin.  He went on to say God is not your life coach or your Bro. God is not going wink wink at your sin or that you will try to better next time. God is about hell, fire and damnation, he pointed out and Christians should not try to take that casually. What the link misses is that most of the public, including most Christians today, just cannot buy the old time religion. To today's Bible reader, the Bibe sounds like all the other sources of propaganda trying to get our money or get our vote. The laptop and the phone added to t...

Probably few readers know of Bowling Alone  by Robert Putnam. It was discussed everywhere when it was published in 2000. I seldom see it referred to today although Wikipedia says it is frequently required reading in college social science classes.  Putnam, a retired Political Science Professor at Harvard, is credited with the term "social capital." This refers to social organizations that have existed traditionally in communities large and small across the U.S. There are fewer churches, service clubs and other groups as the years have passed. Putnam had written about what he perceived to be a general decline in happiness that he attributed to the fewer opportunities to socialize or experience community. He came up with a research project to document the decline in social capital, recording the decline in the number of organizations he had assigned to it. After considerable research to document these declining numbers, which represented a rather uninteresting book of numbers, ...

I was pleased to see the Trump guy won the Republican primary for Senate in Texas. This will set up the perfect battle of ideas that should have happened decades ago but has now arrived . It is the confrontation with a student of the Bible, Democratic Talarico, against the conventional-wisdom-Bible-talker, Paxton. An atheist with a big following on Face Book complained that the Democrats should have someone with broader appeal than Talarico. Another poster on a news site said both Democrats and Republicans should not put up such extreme candidates because the public is not that polarized. Talarico was one of his examples.  I think Talarico is the perfect guy to run in a state like Texas that has voted majority right-wing for a long time. He quotes the Bible on abortion. That is, he notes the Bible does not condemn abortion. A choir of pundits and politicians say he is wrong. But I think the political effect of him saying correctly the Bible does not condemn abortion is different th...

I don't think there is any other branch of the Jewish/Christian thread that has anything like nuns. Where did the concept come from? People in the faith have their own version of history. The economist looks for an explanation that has self-interest and a source of money.  A book and movie about local Catholics in Ireland explained how a parish supported itself. Besides local tithing, the parish operated a residence for young Catholic women who were unmarried but pregnant. The nuns who worked there were recruited from local families. It was strongly suggested to local parents who had several children they send one of their daughters to the local convent to be employed at the facility for unwed pregnant women. It was clear to some of the women who spent time there these nuns were not happy being there. Some tried to transfer out.  The facility took in laundry for money. Who did the laundry work? The young pregnant women, of course. After the babies were born, the mothers took c...

I'm nearly finished with the book, The Letters of Paul in Their Roman Literary Context; Reassessing Apostolic Authorship  by Professor Nina E. Livesay. The case she makes is that there was no "Paul." Instead, there were schools or groups studying under the tutelage of wealthy and literate men in the years surrounding 200 CE. These wealthy "professors" had various views, probably often self-serving, they wanted to promote in the public of that time. They used their "schools" to teach students, from wealthy families no doubt, how to write and circulate the ideas and philosophies their wealthy "professors" were all about.  A reviewer said the case made by Professor Livesay bordered on airtight. While it destroyed the narrative of Paul walking about starting churches and sending them letters that we read today he, himself, had trouble leaving behind the romantic narrative of the traveling preacher changing the world. Professor Livesay documents t...

The majority of Mormons are Republicans. They were not, however, part of the right-wing 2050 rally in DC. A prominent Mormon columnist is now cheering on the split that is taking place between that denomination and the Trump MAGA. Mormonism, like other conservative and demanding branches of Christianity, has had a tendency to latch onto whatever is popular and not think through the long-term consequences. Decades ago, devout denominations favored abortion rights. The thinking was lots of babies was a self-serving Catholic thing. Conservative Christians did not like Catholics and Jews. Then a political deal came along that conservative Protestants thought would help their numbers. It was to do an about face and be against abortion. Now when abortion rights are increasingly popular the switch does not look like a good idea.  Mormons did something similar when California voters petitioned to put gay marriage on a state-wide vote. Mormons could have said nothing. For some reason, the m...

I seems so obvious, yet it is not being reported as such. Trump was not able, and will not be able, to take Iran's uranium nor control the Strait. Iran will have both  more power and more influence than it had before it was attacked. Pundits are guessing Trump is hoping no one will notice.  Obama figured out how to deal with Iran. He referred to it with its assigned name, Islamic Republic of Iran. No other Presidents had done that. Then Obama explained to Iran why the West was concerned about nuclear weapons, that being threats on Western nations and on allies in the Middle East. At the same time, Iran explained it had enemies in the region and needed weapons to defend itself. As I recall, the two sides agreed to be quite open about activities and plans and agreed to be respectful of the concerns of the other.  Trump threw all of that mutual respect under the bus and stopped the relationship agreed upon with Obama. From day one it was threats of bomb and burn. We now see ...

  Amid constant bashing and the decline of mainline denominations, there is hope liberal denominations will survive. Conservative Christian seminaries across the country are struggling or have closed. Union, a liberal seminary in New York City, is growing . According to the link, Union has added classes in Buddhism and other of the great faiths. The outgoing President said her goal was to develop a broad approach to religion. This brings to mind the claim one sees so often by fundamentalist in Christianity. It is that the faith will stop declining soon because out there in the public is a "thirst" for something substantive like what the fundies preach. We see from Union's growth there is also interest in other aspects of religion including what other religions teach. With hundreds of TV channels we know there are hundreds of interests out there in the public. That any theological seminary is growing is quite amazing. The number of Christians is falling, The percentage of ...

The conservative hand wringing about falling fertility rates blame women. Women are selfish or put their careers before motherhood it is said. This has ignored the role men must be playing in pregnancy and family planning. It seems likely men are joining women in  wanting fewer children. Surveys show that men now spend more time doing housework and caring for children than did previous generations. This surely has to do with women spending more time at work. The positive thing about this for today's men is that the pressure to earn is spread between the genders. Many men, perhaps the majority, prefer to work at their job fewer hours and spend more hours with family. We all know couples where the major bread winner is the woman. It is not always true the men in these family units want it to be the reverse. The result is that efforts to reverse the decline in fertility will not be solved by the ideas often mentioned. That is, more time off for women after births, subsidies for childc...

A year or so ago I read a book that reviewed the decline of the practice of confession among Catholics. It used to be a regular event, monthly or maybe annually. Now it is seldom practiced except by older members. It fell out of favor, at least in part, by the sexual of a few priests. The question was planted in people's mind, "Why should I share any secret part of my life with this guy?" The link discusses the difference between the practice of confession and that of talking to a licensed therapist. It would be wise if every branch of Christianity became aware of how confession, put in the hands of an untrained and dangerous person, can do great harm. Catholics are not the only branch of Christianity that uses a form of confession to control its members. Other branches, often called "high maintenance", that control through confession are Mormons (now called Latter Day Saints) and old order Amish. On the web one can listen to stories of abuse from the practice. ...

We all know there are people all around us trying to get at our money. They call on the phone and advertise everywhere. If there was a contest to find the most outrageous scam that takes peoples' money, what do you think it would be? Is there a place where atheists take money and give us nothing in return? I've never heard of such a thing. Christianity is full of such scams. Christian numbers are falling. Atheist numbers are growing.,  Giving money to a church is problematic in several ways. First most, maybe 90+% goes to pay the preacher and maintain the building. The "tithe" is about paying the church's bills, not some more lofty cause.  Today I read a column by a woman who apparently makes a living listening and interpreting the dreams of Christians. Her  site advertises standard dream interpretation at $50 for 30 minutes but more advanced interpretation will cost you $75. She is so knowledgeable she can even determine whether your dream is a message from God o...

                 ] Thomas Paine was an influential figure in U.S. history for sure. He championed democracy. But he did not want religion in government. While he was known to be the author of many of the Federalist Papers urging a vote to ratify the Constitution, which included endorsement of Christianity, he later was an influential atheist. He published some of the best known and most quoted atheist statements.  This year, the 250th birthday of the founding of our country, there are the usual claims our "founding fathers" were Christians and advocated a "Christian nation." But then the name Thomas Paine comes up. They have nothing good to say about Paine but go on to laud the "founding fathers." Paine, an atheist, was a founding father.  Perhaps it doesn't matter whether Paine liked, or disliked, Christianity when he campaigned for ratification. If he disliked it and was doing a wink-wink while writing the Federalist Papers, today...

The anti-abortion industry thinks it can continue to collect money from the gullible public forever by promising to end all abortion. They are claiming that if the Trump Administration says it will enforce a decades old law the government will be start opening mail to see if it contains abortion meds and women will not be able to get the products. The Trump Administration has not agreed to do this, but crazy things can happen.  If the Post Office were to start opening mail there would be a national outrage. Abortion rights might flood the mails with suspicious but empty mailings to use up Post Office time. It would also open the door, it seems to me, to delivering abortion meds through non postal channels. Every reader knows of these which include the giant Amazon and taxi-type rides to food delivery. These do not include new ideas that could come along out of the innovative abortion rights itself. We have to remember why the anti-abortion industry is pushing the unrealistic propos...

Women are dropping out of the faith rapidly. Men between 18 and 25 are dropping out but it is claimed there has been an uptick in young single men attending church. Men run the faith for the most part. Rules and beliefs come largely, in some branches exclusively, from men, not women. Those Christians who analyze the faith recognize that women are not treated as equals in the church while treated as equals everywhere else in their lives. Yet, the idea persists that women got their wrong ideas from the women's lib and Me-Too movements.  The idea that women should be treated as equals in the faith did not come from "women's lib" or the "me-too" political activities. It came from parents telling their daughters they can do whatever they have a passion to do. If it is to be the boss, that's what girls will do when they grow into women. That's what boys have always done, why not girls?  It is really hard to understand religious leaders, men and women, who ...

No doubt there were influential people demanding "Christian Nation" when the U.S. was formed. There have been people drumming it up ever since. Now, Trump has a wink-wink day of prayer scheduled. Yet, the largest "denomination" in the U.S. today is "No Religious Affiliation." Christan numbers are falling. Trump's tongue-in-cheek political trick will not make a "Christian Nation" nor will all the other tricksters doing similar mischief. It seems recently there have been posts everyday banging the drum that 250 years ago founders intended a one religion country. This notion is all the more ridiculous when we learn several of those who helped write the documents and later form its government knew precisely how to form a "Christian nation." They knew because they came from colonies that declared an official religion. I read recently some of these founders did not like what they had experienced with a state religion. Overriding this was ...

There are various ways to explain how and why Christianity became so successful. The most common explanation of nonbelievers is the Roman Dictator, Constantine, converted and that's why there is Christianity. Believers, however, say "Paul" traveled around starting churches and the faith spread from that. The "Paul" story was claimed to have happened shortly after the alleged death of Jesus. That is, it started about 50 CE.   Writing and doubts about "Paul" were present in the 1800's when Dutch scholars of that time did not believe a "Paul" wrote any part of the Bible. It is obvious, scholars wrote, the writing was not that of actual letters and it was written between the years 150 CE and 200 CE, not 100+ years earlier. The writing was done, the Dutch concluded, by trained writers who used the letter genre to market the faith. The "letters" were a technique popular around the year 200 CE used by many to persuade the public to ado...

A Catholic writer pointed out something about cultural change and current events I had not noticed. He notes the irony that as Catholic numbers continue their inevitable decline, fewer marriages, baptisms and mass attendance, only one religious figure remains in the news. It is the Pope. There is no Jerry Falwell or prominent Protestant of any stripe quoted or in play. Even as it gets smaller and has less money the Catholic denomination's influence as a moral commentator has gone up.  The link points out the long history of the prominence of Episcopalism. Certainly this high church version of Protestantism has had a long and successful history in politics. Many readers are too young to have known the period when leaders like Eisenhower were Episcopalians. There have been other Protestant celebrities, Bishop John Shelby Spong for example, but so far as I can tell none are in the media regularly today on issues related to governance. From what little I understand about Catholicism, t...

I haven't walked the midway of a fair for several years. Are there still carnival barkers hawking the show behind them in a tent? The barking technique I remember is to create excitement, to exaggerate the performance and sell tickets. I see the term carnival barker is in Wikipedia.  A large swath of Christianity is carnival barkers in front of an imaginary tent bragging about what goes on in the show behind them and selling tickets. Today a technique that is decades old but apparently still a money maker is shouting about Planned Parenthood. "Planned Parenthood is why there are abortions. Send me money and I will shut it down. Planned Parenthood is evil. I fight evil...." This carnival barker is a mega church preacher in California, Mark Driscoll. He never points out Planned Parenthood exists, not because of evil, but because women want abortions and pay for them. It is women he should call evil. But that will not make him any money.    Benny Hinn is a carnival barker wh...

Religion and my field of economics have been competitors since way back. We are competitors because each of us thinks we know best who should decide how money is used. Adam Smith published "The Wealth of Nations" in 1776. He was a professor but had been a preacher. His message upset those in religion. He said national wealth comes from individual people making decisions in their own best interests. Religion had always taught God was the source of all wealth and the church knew best what money should be used for.  An interesting article appeared today by a nun who lives in a religious order. She explained how those who live in her order "buy" things. Actually, they do not buy things but request personal items from the chief nun who decides if it is really needed or not. It reminded me of Amish women who make videos of Amish life after the have left that community. Husbands hold all the family's money in conservative branches and hand over to the wife only what th...

A surprise report published by the Vatican today confirmed what I have thought for years. I've never seen a certain silent policy discussed explicitly so don't take my word it is official or documented. It is hinted about only.  It starts with a project birthed by the late Pope Francis called "synodality." It is the same process used in all kinds of situations and projects. Before a new building is built architects hold meetings to hear many ideas about what should be included. State, local and federal governments hold hearings and listening sessions. Pope Francis signed off on money for holding listening meetings all over the world. The comments would be summarized and consolidated the submitted periodically in Rome. Francis knew this would result is lots of pressure to accept gays, women and married priests in ways not permitted currently. He knew conflicting positions can and will continue to exist within the denomination. New positions are adopted without the old ...

The books of the Bible attributed in the Bible to Paul have been doubted for at least a thousand years. Evidence by scholars is that readers of the Bible before a thousand years ago did not even consider they were actual letters written by an actual Paul. Back then it was almost universally understood written material was penned by people other than the name used. In the case of lectures or literature in general, they knew a published and circulated "letter" was written as literature to be widely circulated but never sent as a letter. A powerful case that the Paul "letters" were written as persuasive religious literature was made in a new book I am reading. It is The Letters of Paul in their Roman Literary Context; Reassessing Apostolic Athorship by Nena E. Livesey. Livesey is a Professor Emerita at the University of Oklahoma. (I must warn my hard copy cost $100 from Barnes and Noble. Maybe there is a cheaper source.)  Professor Livesey meticulously follows how the ...

Today the Wall Street Journal did something extraordinary. It published an article by a prominent Hindu who pointed out the asymmetry in the U.S. in what is called "Religious Freedom." Religions which include the duty to proselytize their theology are favored. Those religions which preach that to proselytize is wrong are treated as lesser. President Trump appointed a board to "officially" monitor "freedom of religion." He appointed almost no members from religions that do not proselytize. Needless to say, there is no one from the large atheist organization,  Freedom From Religion Foundation. Perhaps Hindus or other faiths have stepped into the firing line before against the dominant Christian forces, but I don't recall it. Since becoming involved in the politics of faith it has become obvious to me atheism, even if organized and forceful, will not push aside the abuses of Christianity in the U.S. I wrote years ago what is needed is for some other relig...

My wife and I were both academics in what is called the social sciences. Readers know the term "science" in social science is rightfully considered controversial. Whether these disciplines, sociology, psychology, political science, economics, etc., are sciences or not is unimportant. What is important is the study of humans and their success in the animal chain, their frequent mistakes and their tendency toward self-destruction.  When I heard a preacher named Rick Warren sold millions of copies of a book called The Purpose Driven Life , I wondered what that purpose is? I learned he thinks the great purpose is bending a knee to something both invisible and often harmful. That is religion. There is a life with a greater purpose--studying and working toward survival and well-being of human beings. I can't say for certain what this is, just that we should work at figuring it out. That's what the social sciences do. A fascinating change is taking place that is not addresse...

It seems like every day this year some old rule that has been followed for decades is on the chopping block. One is discrimination. Now running on TV where I live is Republican candidate for governor. Speaking in the ad the candidate says he will not allow the state's universities to hire "foreigners." The salaries and requirements of universities today are such natives often do not apply for those jobs but foreign-born people do. I wrote several letters both as a mayor and professor requesting special permission for professors from other countries. They helped staff the place. A national news item today was about Texas governor Greg Abbot. He said he would pull funding from a municipality that runs a park. The park is rented to groups. A Muslim group wanted to rent the park for a large family gathering. The women would wear burkas and the men appropriate Muslim dress. This group infuriated Gov. Abbot. He is threatening to pull state funding that the park has received. He...

The so called "Right to Life" political group has a great opinion of itself. I can't say how many times I've one of them say or read what was written, "We're for life. We don't believe in killing innocent babies." But when one brings up killing innocent adults, the conversation ends. A study looked at the health and quality of life of several countries including the U.S. The length and quality of life in social medicine and abortion rights countries is better than that in Christian dominated U.S. The interest in 40,000 deaths in car wrecks has no potential for raising money or generating political juices. Nearly all of them could be prevented. The link compares the health of people in many countries. As mentioned, the health in many European countries is better than that in the U. S. As I understand it, however, the health of the demographic cohort that I am a part of in the U.S., good income and education, is the same as Europe. The average health a...

The majority of weddings have not been in churches for years. Couples just don't see the church as central to this big event. Gay couples are not welcome in the majority of churches, so that's out. Now a survey is telling us marriage as an institution is not seen as an important event in young peoples' futures. Christianity unwisely tied its survival to the institution of marriage and the sands of time have are burying it. I've been watching pod casts of women in conservative branches of the Amish. While there is some courtship the young men and women are suggested by the family and leaders. This is the "government" in Amish life. Couple are paired according to the interests of the family and community. Government, not the church, ran marriage in ancient times. Government marriage was the tradition, thus the true "traditional marriage." That is, today's marriage in a Christian church is not genuine traditional marriage.  In today's society, t...

Despite Trump's taking powers from Congress and practicing self-enrichment, the political right sees evil in the new Pope and U.S. Democrats. A columnist noted that David Axelrod, not a Catholic and an advisor to President Obama, was given an audience with the Pope. Three days later, the link notes, some Bishops in the U.S. released a statement favoring assistance for the poor. How could the bishops so quickly release a liberal position after a visit from Axelrod if U. S. liberals and the Vatican were not one political unit working in secret, the link author asks? The link author correctly says neither the Pope nor Axelrod released any information about what was discussed. This normally is not done after visits with private individuals. Now that most of Pope Benedict's anti-abortion and anti-gay officials have retired and appointees of Pope Francis are the majority, the face the Catholic faith is one of the kind parish priest. The new face is one about concern for the poor and...

Immediately after the Friday ruling in Louisianna abortion drug providers filed a challenge to the ruling. Drug companies say they want the Supreme Court to overrule the lower court's decision.  As I understand it, the lower ruling was handed down because of safety questions over the use of the drug mifepristone. The challenge will present evidence about the safety of the drug. We are all wondering, of course, whether safety was ever the reason for preventing use of the U.S. mail to distribute the medicine or if it was really religious opposition to abortion.  The drug mifepristone is also used to control high blood sugar. Its use is so common there should be a good record of its safety or lack thereof.  One can be sure health problems from use of mifepristone to prevent a birth will not be compared to the risk of giving birth. Giving birth has a long record of being dangerous to women. This fact is seldom brought up in abortion politics. Yet, what could be more important...

Could it be devout Christians are the most gullible people in the world? Recently, a gay man published a book about the folly of Christian anti-gay therapies. A woman who makes her living in anti-abortion politics just published an old saw carrying the message: Even though all the money you gave us to stop abortion in the past resulted in more abortions, keep sending us money. There is a small army of gay men who enrolled in Reparation Therapy, pray the gay away, and left when they remained gay and wrote about it. They did not just say it left them gay. They tell of the mental harm they experienced because of it. The "treatment" apparently stresses the individual's will to stop same sex attraction. When the inevitable failure happens, it is not the program that is blamed, it is the gay man. Forced to blame themselves for something they have no control over, self-worth plummets. Suicide among these men is much higher than the national average.  I attended a couple of lectu...