Thoughts of a Freethinker

A long essay appeared recently about what churches with declining  numbers are doing. Decision makers are trying to figure this out. When studying declining church membership, I've noticed a tendency to categorize why people leave. Was it due to unfriendly church goers, an opinionated preacher, too much politics, etc.? People who leave often give such reasons or questionnaires ask people to choose one from a list made up by Christians that include them. To get at more important reasons, let's compare the journey of a doubter today versus one decades ago. Decades ago a doubter sat in the pews and had thoughts he/she was sure no one else in the church had. Further, he/she had friends in other churches and was certain none of them had such doubts. Doubts about the faith were not appropriate topics to bring up if one's circle of family and friends attended church. When the doubter was at home, and had the chance to reflect on these doubts, what could he/she do to resol...

The hand wringing continues about what to do about declining church membership. One solution is to stop referring to the Bible as the faith's authority. Most women, and hopefully most men, will no longer put up with the restrictions placed on women in the Bible. In 1 Timothy the Bible explains how sinful Eve was. She defied God's instructions about eating the apple and then persuaded Adam to sin. Timothy explains all women are responsible for this sin but have a path out.  It is to have children. This explains why here on the blog when I advocate for gender equality I hear from the faithful I do not understand that God made differences in men and women. When I press for the difference I learn the difference is that women can have babies. This makes them unable to be Catholic priests and preachers in some Protestant groups. It is stated clearly in 1 Timothy women are not to have authority over men. I have heard it explained the reason there are not women priests or preac...

If ever there was simple explanation as to why Christian numbers are falling, denying communion because of politics has to be one of the big ones. Presidential Candidate Joe Biden reportedly was denied communion in South Carolina because he supports abortion rights. Biden's position on abortion is that he personally is against it but does not believe he should legislate away women's rights when they disagree with him. This, of course, is a view that enrages anti abortion zealots who want to impose their religious views on everyone. When clergy decline to make rituals available to politicians they are holding their noses high and passing judgement on others. Polling show this is exactly what many who leave the church complain about. Whether it is gay marriage or abortion, the self righteous are the least attractive Christians and encourage those who are leaving. I've often wondered, when a clergy is accused by a creditable source of child abuse, is he denied communi...

I just finished reading a monumental book, Small Growth; From Microorganisms to Megacities by Vaclav Smil. On the book cover is an endorsement by Bill Gates. Smil is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Manitoba. Smil is a person who scans the horizon and picks out things to study that are of great importance to humankind but are mostly overlooked in politics and by other academics. The book is 600 pages of small print, maybe 100 graphs and 120 pages of footnotes. (I did skim over parts.). I came across it in The New Yorker.  It is reasonable to ask, "What important issue could one study that has not been studied to death in the past?"  The topic is the sustainability of humans on planet earth. Smil does not condemn anyone and the book is not about politics nor about ideology. But, the message ultimately is about these things. The book starts by discussion Malthus and returns often to him. As you will recall, Malthus said population tends to grow...

No one, not even the most religious among us, can say religion in the U. S. is growing. The only conclusion is that it is becoming smaller.  There are daily articles on how it should fight back to it "rightful" place of growth and dominance. Books are being given away which sound the alarm of a godless society. One popular narrative used in articles written by those of the religious right is that its problems are being caused by either supernatural beings, like Satan, or, by scheming and sinister forces of the left. Maybe some say the two have joined forces. The possibility that religion itself is the cause of its decline never seems to come up when religious people write about it. A prominent New York Times writer today said the main problem in religion is its dogmatic "blowhards." These are the anti gay and anti women/abortion zealots. This group does seem to harm the faith but probably they are not the main problem. As the link points out, the problem o...

Occasionally, maybe less frequently than in the past, Jesus is quoted as saying, "The poor will always be with us." The modern political meaning is that money spent trying to help the poor is wasted. The passage is in Mark 14:6-7. A poor lady comes up to Jesus before he is killed and pours expensive perfume on him. He is quoted as saying don't worry that she wasted her money, the poor will always be with us. No one claims to have been present when Jesus was killed nor claims to have heard the various things it is claimed he said. Some versions of the story in the Bible are incompatible with other versions. And, in the context of whatever point the Biblical authors were trying to make or what audience and purpose the quote was supposed to address, it may not have meant the Jesus character was against welfare for the poor. All kinds of groups use the Bible for their own ends and political conservatives use it here to put a Jesus face on anti welfare. Scholars critic...

Ken Ham is the force behind the Noah's Ark replica in Kentucky called the Ark Encounter. He is also on a speaking tour and promotes his businesses. His is a literalist and promotes this view of Christianity. Everything written in the Bible is factually correct. He says that if a Christian starts to doubt any part of the Bible then all of the Bible is open to doubt. That is why it is a requirement to believe God created the world in six days. As he says, if one doubts the six day creation one has opened to believing Jesus told lies. Ironically, right next to the article about Ham was one by a young man who was a literalist but who lost his faith and is now an atheist. One of the issues he confronted himself with was this: If there was no Noah flood then how can I be certain there was a resurrection? I've asked that in various ways here for years. That is, if the horrific God in the Old Testament did not flood, kill and torture as it says he did why are we to believe ther...