Thoughts of a Freethinker

One of the most manipulative techniques in Christianity, and other religions, is using religion to give people meaning to their lives. If life needs some "meaning" to a person the church arrives and says, "The purpose in your life is to serve an imaginary god. That god wants you to give him (us) your money."  I've always wondered about the constant presence this question, "Why am I here?" Close to me all of my life have been people with diagnosed depression. To them, at least some of the time, life is gloom and pessimism. They seem not to have a purpose in their lives. Some of these have been Christians but the purpose posed by the faith did not help. The famous book, A Purpose Driven Life, was written by a prominent preacher. It, too, preached one finds purpose by serving the Christian God. His own son died by suicide as a young adult. The additional question is what primitive people might have wondered their purpose in life was supposed to be. If peo...

Among those 13-18 years old when asked "Can people of many religions go to heaven" the answer is yes, 66%. This in spite of a passage in the Bible where Jesus was supposed to have said, "..except through me.." (Jesus and Donald Trump seem like the same full-of-themselves people). What is the problem here? Is it that young people have never heard Christianity is the only true religion, or, have heard it and think it is bull shoot? For sure it is the latter. It is the latter because the majority of citizens in the U.S. have at least some critical thinking skills. They are used to taking what advertisers and politicians say with a grain of salt. Over time Christianity has become just another of these. Really what I'd like to know is how their parents react to these Gen Z views? My guess is that most parents will say, "That makes sense." They say this because it is what they themselves have always thought. But, unlike Gen Z, the parents never felt free to...

Today there is an encouraging story of one woman who saw she was being manipulated by Trump and his friends in QAnon.  She is encouraging others to notice the manipulation and leave. Of course, most who think like the conspirators in QAnon are not members. They just think like QAnon. I chatted with a lady today who is a friend of ours. We spend evenings occasionally with her and her husband.  She wore a Trump mask all the time before the election and sometimes talked at length about her religion and conservative politics. Just to open the conversation today I asked her if she and her husband had been able to schedule vaccinations. No, she said, they would not be getting vaccinations. In a round about way she let me know the vaccines are very suspicious and deep state might be behind them. It's just too dangerous, she said, for she and her husband to take them. We wished each other a good day and went on our way. I'm quite sure this friend visits conspiracy websites where she ...

Among the court cases by churches against restrictions on holding services we see some successes and some failures . Always churches which want to open complain that bars and restaurants are not shut down. I don't know what goes into the rules as to what remains open and what kind of businesses are closed. There is one rule that should be followed by all businesses whether allowed to open by government or not. The rule is "stay closed if opening poses a risk to those who enter."  We all know some businesses are deemed more "essential" than others. Government does not take a preacher's word for it that his/her business, a church, is as essential as a hospital. Preachers, like all of us, like to think their work is important. This turns out to be a hard sell to public officials. In spite of that lots of them have been allowed to remain open. A better solution is for preachers and other church officials to assume science is correct and agree that holding a chur...

What is the best definition of "Religious Freedom?" It is freedom to discriminate . That sums it up.  It is difficult to see how this can be explained to those Christians advocating "Religious Freedom" except to discriminate against them. Only by being on the receiving end of discrimination can they understand what it is. If Christian were turned away from apartments or motel rooms because only because they are Christian it might help. Being turned away from medical services could help too. Or, anti abortion women about to give birth could be required to watch a video of women crying because they were turned away from abortions. Or, maybe it would be helpful if every newly pregnant woman was told the probability of her death was higher if she gives birth than if she has an abortion. Added for good measure would be a required viewing for 10 minutes of the funeral of a woman who died in child birth. There is a lot of leeway in the private sector to discriminate. Peopl...

  I have said here often, as have others, Rudy Giuliani should make available the sources of his claim there was fraud in the recent Biden victory.  Giuliani has said at least 50 times that a voting machine company, Dominion, illegally doctored the outcome and Trump would have won had it not done this.  Giuliani is said to have a net worth of $45 million. The lawsuit is for $1.3 billion. Perhaps Giuliani has liability insurance that will help if he loses. In any event, it appears he will have to disclose whether there is or is not any evidence of fraud by Dominion. So far he has been more comfortable lobbing accusations than he has providing evidence. He seems to have a disconnect from reality. Here is what the Trump/Giuliani tribe is up against. Probably since the beginning of elections those with fewer votes have complained about the vote counting. Jimmy Carter got his start in politics by forming a group to monitor election counting in rural Georgia. He was succe...

New Mexico has a long standing law against abortion. The law has been ignored since Roe because it is in opposition to Federal Law. Now, a majority of the public and its legislature wants to be certain abortions remain available even if Roe is overturned. The link suggests support is present in its legislature to make this happen. The abortion political world is filled with theories about what the future will bring. Those non profits and branches of Christianity such as Catholicism opposed to abortion promise the future is bright. This is necessary to keep money rolling in and for those so employed to keep their jobs. A version of that strategy was used by Trump. He said he would run again in 2024 and money rolled in. He isn't saying much since the attack on Congress. My guess is he, like the anti abortion groups, will come up with a promise of some future victory to keep the gullible sending him their money.   New Mexico is one of the states listed by anti abortion that will ...