Thoughts of a Freethinker

Years ago there was great optimism in Christian leadership about the internet. There were countless articles about how the net would allow the gospel to be spread far and wide. Those in charge thought the net was like the traveling evangelist or the Christian TV evangelist. They made it easy to click on Bible verses or past sermons. Now a reality is setting in. The net is harming Christianity. Before the net Christianity appeared everywhere there were already newspapers, TV, books and magazines. There was so much access to Christian propaganda it might have been impossible to pound in more. Where the internet excelled was in non-Christian or anti- Christion information. Besides information that challenged the faith, it offered entertainment that competed against spending time in church. This latter is now being recognized and the faithful are being warned to limit their use of the net.  That Christian leadership did not see this coming is in some ways astounding. Yet, if they thems...

Maybe you have heard the Dave Dudley song about the pool shark. "He played like a man with a broken arm..." until the wager was large enough. Then he revealed his skill and took all the other guy's money.  Trump was sort of that pool shark against Hillary. He bumbled around and it was predicted to lose. Many of us were surprised by his win. By all reports, he too was surprised. The recent delay called by a Trump appointed judge is thought by some to be a tide turning in Trump's favor. The link explains why it is not. For one thing, even if the delay is successful, it keeps Trump's misdeeds in the news longer. It seems inevitable his misdeeds will be in the news through the next election. The link explains that when the Federal Government notified Trump or his attorney there was reason to believe documents belonging to the Federal Government was in his home there was a simple solution. Trump could have asked for, and by all accounts would have received, immunity fr...

The steady decline of belief in Christianity continues to be written about along with ideas about how to reverse the trend. As everyone interested in the topic knows, there is tension between those who want to change the faith to accommodate changes in society and those who think changing the faith, at least their particular version of it, is abandoning it altogether. Prominent evangelical Russell Moore has written another good piece explaining his take on the declining faith.  There is an old saying, "You can't fit a round peg in a square hole." Most Christians don't believe there can be such a thing as a round hole. They are convinced the hole is square but the hole just doesn't know it. If the hole is told over and over, "You are round, just read the Bible. It says you are round." This will make the hole round.  Surely, it is undeniable religions are born to fit the culture they are born into. I know that is hard to accept if one is convinced the Chri...

A political consultant who plots numbers from many sources says he has never seen what he is seeing now. He was blind-sided by the Kansas vote to preserve abortion rights. Now he is astounded by the numbers of women showing up in voter registration across the country.  He points out something that was little understood before. There is a big difference between "We are going to outlaw abortion" and an actual decision to outlaw abortion. The decision changed the number of voters and how they vote.  As an aside, there are bloggers like myself who are certain there will never be a second coming. Or, if there were such a crazy thing, most of the public would laugh it off. That is because an actual person appearing as "God" has happened many times--people blow it off. Yet, many of these same people think fondly of the "return of Jesus" in their religious lives where they are free to imagine it in whatever way it provides them pleasure. It is being noted everywhe...

I predicted on this blog some years back women's computers and phones would be inspected by law enforcement.  Some scoffed. Today, this is being discussed as a method to track women, abortion medicines and clinics. The only question remaining is whether law enforcement will have any restrictions on whose and what phones it will have access to. Will law enforcement have the right to inspect any woman's phone at any time? Those who advocate forced births want to track every woman is pregnant or is suspected of being pregnant.  I have read that already, women are using a friend's computer or phone to inquire about abortion medicine or abortions themselves. The word is out on the street of this terrible invasion of privacy. For decades, forced birth people have argued Roe was a wrong decision because it was based on privacy. Yet, there is no better issue to base the right to abortion upon. If a woman does not have privacy about her body whatever and where-ever does she have pri...

The National Republican organization seems to have spent itself broke and is not facing the campaign season with much less money than Democrats. It happened, not due to direct theft, but to pointless spending . Mitch McConnell thinks Senate Republicans will have a hard time getting the majority that had been predicted. We know no one can predict the drift of a society's values and preferences nor the politics that flows from it. One thing I've both experienced and followed is the role of money. It is apparent one leading Republican Senator became enamored by big tech and its ability to find small donors. It was successful in raising surprising amounts of money but chasing more of it depleted what had been raised. Overspending on technology is like overspending on TV. It can soak up huge amounts of money but sometimes yield nothing. Decades ago, those leading the Democratic Party in ND saw a close race coming up. According to polls, Democrats had been gaining. The Party was out ...

While history does not always repeat itself, in many cases it does. How often, for example, does the public in the U.S. support large increases in either taxes or the powers of government? A pro-life writer in Austin, TX points out what has been discussed often on this blog. During the long period before Roe, there were very few prosecutions of abortion providers. We know there were millions of abortions. Now there are legislators who tell the public, "We passed this draconian law against abortion. You can send us money and vote for us."  These same legislators are not throwing huge tax dollars toward enforcement. Mostly, they are the same politicians who oppose expanding government powers. If one were to list all the state laws across the U.S. that are not enforced, it would require a heavy book. The link author points to a law in Maryland which makes adultery a violation. There is a fine. Is this completely ignored law what lies ahead for abortion?  Mississippi and Texas ha...