Thoughts of a Freethinker

By some estimates, the majority of "nones", who do not claim any particular religion, are dominated by people who simply have no interest in religion. They are not interested in atheism nor in Christianity. They are not annoyed by prayers of public officials but they don't think the prayers are to anything or anyone. I have a distant relative who explained his apatheism to me years ago. As I recall, he said he is a "lazy atheist," has no interest in religion nor any interest in discussing atheism.  Believers may like apatheists better than atheists like me who blog about the shortcomings of religion. But, I don't see apatheists as hope for Christianity's falling numbers either. They have no interest in discussing hell and an afterlife because they have already heard about these and find them boring. The link written by a devout Christian tells of his apathiest friend whom he was unsuccessful in converting. The author surmised the best approach for the C...

The Lutheran Church of Sweden, the nation's state church, now accepts trans people as equals in church membership and as Christians in good standing. It is one branch of Christianity that does not adopt the sin-of-the-week like so many Christian denominations in the U.S. Its explanation was straightforward, this denomination is about the people in it. We have trans people. Therefore they are us.  That simple logic should guide all of the faith. Instead much of it points to those some dislike and condemns them. These decades the "others" are gays and trans. It might be helpful to explain why some very large Christian groups in Europe are so bullet proof in taking stands abhorrent to some denominations in the U.S. It's simple, follow the money. In the U.S. the money comes from those in the pews. When they don't like gays and trans the church responds by not liking them either. In Europe, the government collects donations for the churches. Churches take the pulse of...

There are women who oppose abortion. But, men carry the flag. It is male clergy and male legislators who are the leaders in trying to stop abortions.  A great story, perhaps a metaphor, for the anti abortion futility of men was women entering medical schools during the last half of the 1800's. Just as clergy and legislators today are going to great lengths to stop women from having abortions, doctors, professors and male medical students physically tried to bar women from attending medical school lectures. In the link , the Dean of a medical school resigned when required to give lectures where students included women. An eyewitness account of a medical lecture in 1867 told of male medical students making cat calls, throwing wadded paper, hissing, spitting tobacco and badgering women as they arrived and left the building. News about the ruckus went all over the country. They goal of the protestors, of course, was to make it so unpleasant women would be discouraged from the field of ...

Why not pray? It might help and can't hurt, can it? I found a short essay on Face Book that argues against praying. Modified a bit it goes like this: Prayers are dangerous. Prayers are a way for people to convince themselves they've done something when they've done nothing. Prayers seem to absolve people of taking responsibility of demanding change. Prayers pass the buck to an imaginary being. Prayers ensure the problem will persist. I've wondered if any conservative Christian person has ever prayed, "God, help me understand why atheists don't believe you exist. And, help me accept my gay child and treat her with the love and respect she needs to be successful in her life." While this prayer is heard by no one but the prayer it would introduce the humility a person needs to understand humans unlike him/herself. Liberal people would say such prayers easily.  Homosexuality has a lot of prayers associated with it. Gay Christians probably pray for God to accep...

When it comes down to it, anti abortion religion is about controlling women, period. Women are controlled when they have more babies. More babies are more money for clergy. In short, controlling women is job security for male clergy.  The link is a written by a Catholic woman who has long been active for reproductive rights. She is joined by about 60% of Catholics who oppose reversing Roe. She was surprised herself at what a strong hold her priests had on her emotions when faced with an inevitable decision to have a hysterectomy.  She writes that when doctors finally concluded that the only way to fix the pain she had suffered for a long time was removal of her reproductive organs she could not stop her mind from remembering the endless sermons about women. What makes a woman different from a man, she had learned from childhood, was her reproductive organs. She was put on earth to have babies. She was not put here for her brains or for whatever she might contribute to the comm...

I have read for years commentary the "God" referred to in the Bible could be female. I assumed that those who made this argument simply were not Christians/Jews and concluded since no one has ever seen or talked to this imaginary being it could be non gender specific. Now, however, reading A Most Peculiar Book; The Inherent Strangeness of the Bible by Kristin Swenson I understand at least a little more about it. She makes the case that when one goes back to what may (or may not) be the original writing which was in the Hebrew Old Testament there are unorthodox ideas. She translates that writing in a possible plural god as in gods, and an Adam and god which were not gender specific. Referring to the creation story she writes This story suggests God is both masculine and feminine, just as human beings are both male and female. You can debate this--the Bible invites such discussion--but there is no avoiding the fact this text suggests a a deity that isn't strictly male but r...

A Christian and Social Psychologist speculated recently on what benefit non believers might receive from not believing in the cross. He reviewed what other Christians commonly say about atheists, they just want to sin. Then he riffed on his own theories, they want to feel smart, they do not want to be constrained, etc.  He explained what such people are missing. By believing in the cross, he said, believers receive forgiveness, etc. But, he said, because atheists are unwilling to accept the sacrifice of Jesus they do not receive these benefits.  This author has a different take on Christianity than most others in that he does not assume the entire population of non believers is preoccupied with a desire to sin. Yet he, like the others, has no clue about the mind of the non believer. Most people who do not believe a Jesus, or any of the others, who came back from being dead do not "choose" to doubt. They are unable to believe it because it is nonsense. If they have made up th...