Thoughts of a Freethinker

Religion, all the religions of the world, have always been in constant flux with churning and confrontations inside their walls. At least that is how is appears to me. Humans ventured or were forced out of their old geographical confines and settled elsewhere. In the new place they started new gods and forgot about the old ones. I would guess that in every single case the new god, created in the minds of the relocated tribe, approved of the people who believed in it. Something just like that process is happening today. There are people leaving their former god, maybe creating something new, and people changing what their current god thinks. In all cases, the god approves and loves the people who created the god in their minds.  A perfect example is found in a series of articles now being released by mega Christian author, Rick Warren ( The Purpose Driven Life ). Warren has been very successful at not only selling books but preaching and establishing a series of churches in Californ...

Religion plays a role in many societal problems. There are people who are happy, maybe happier, because of their religion so that is on the plus side of the scale. When religion actually plays a role in harm it must be acknowledged. For decades I have heard that Christianity and Islam discourage people from getting professional help for mental problems. This harm done to people should be called a sin. Recently a Muslim doctor related his experiences with Muslims who believe it is against their faith to seek medical help for mental problems. I wish it were possible to know how many people suffer needlessly from mental illness because their religion frowns on professional treatment. It surely must cross or be close to the million mark. When I first started blogging a decade or so ago a man from Bismark, ND, wrote to ask please stop my blogging because, "It will stir up trouble. Just leave religion alone." To me, it is a public service to point out the dangers of certain aspects...

I have heard there are factions within both the Catholic hierarchy and lay people. They have to do with what was brought over from Europe versus what developed separately in the U.S.   While I can't claim to know a lot about this, the parts of the link I can understand are fascinating. In the U.S. have been two competing factions. One has wanted the European Catholic Church to be transplanted to the U.S. The other wants U. S. Catholicism to fit into U.S. society without being looked at as some outside source. This is seen in issues addressed even today. The schism seems permanent.  The European Catholic Church was one where the monarchy and Pope were joined at the hip. There was no reason to wring hands over separation of church and state because they were one and the same. The Dictator wanted it known he, and only he, was chosen by God to rule. This confirmation was provided by Popes. The Pope needed the revenue and armies to serve Catholic purposes. An illustration of t...

I've been wondering if the women's clinic in Fargo has been receiving patients from Texas and Mississippi. Today I received a  report on the clinic that was in Fargo when I was Mayor but moved a year ago ten minutes to the east in Moorhead, MN. There was also an interview with the manager of the clinic in Duluth, MN. Duluth, of course, is another "out of the way place" like Fargo-Moorhead. I sent some money to the Fargo clinic a year or so ago to help defer the costs of moving. I had never heard the story about the financing of the move. Tammy, the wonderful owner and manager of the clinic, said in the link the only workable property they could find in Moorhead was beyond her reach financially. Ultimately, she had to buy it but did not know how she would pay for it. Out of the blue, a supporter offered to start a GO-FUND-ME and to Tammy's amazement it quickly raised one million dollars. If ever there was an example of resolve and support for abortion rights, that ...

In the Bible, Paul says that to convert others to the faith, fit in and act like you are one of them. It's OK to deceive, to ignore one of the Ten Commandments, as long as it's sells the faith. Pope Benedict told Chinese Bishops his church is not in China to change its government. Pope Francis follows the same policy saying almost nothing about China. All of this is different than the conservative Catholic/Protestant strategy in the U.S. Here, the Christian zealot preaches against the prevailing culture, points out its sins and condemns loudly. It's like they arrived from a different country to change this one.  To some extent, the character in the Bible called Jesus advocated selflessness. This was to give to the poor, heal the sick (and don't send a bill), the good Samaritan, etc. There was also the control element, Jesus said bow to me or you are toast. The appealing part of the character, however, was not the Jesus with a whip but the Jesus with a message was selfle...

Over and over preachers, priests and pundits emphasize it is critical to Christianity that the resurrection of Jesus be considered a true historically accurate event. The problem is the story gets so complicated people doze off. And, it is very self serving. If I were to explain Christianity to a person who had never heard of it the tale would have to be something like this (apologies if I do not get the story exactly correct): The Bible was written by God. God said there are behaviors, even thoughts, that are something called "sin." Humans all commit sin so it cannot be avoided. But, there is a monopoly, one firm only, which can wipe sin off your record of life. The firm is called Christianity. If you commit to buying from this firm, and this firm only, it will take care of sin. If you do not get this sin wiped off your record there is an imaginary place called hell where you will spend your years after death. The firm offers a better imaginary place for your after death yea...

This morning there were two headline news stories about the Christian Church in the U.S. Both stories were about prominent Protestant denominations.  One article was in the Iowa statewide paper, The Des Moines Register.  This article covered in depth Methodist churches leaving the main Methodist national organization, United Methodist Church. The article treats the break away of churches as a calamity which it definitely is not. The split, as most people know, is over rules prohibiting gay marriages and gay pastors. The number of churches leaving is quite large in an absolute sense. Yet, it is only about 11% of Methodist churches in Iowa. It is an even smaller percentage of members because the churches leaving are mostly smaller rural ones with older members. The fiscal impact of these smaller rural churches leaving the larger organization, however, is positive. Salaries of Methodist preachers comes from a centralized pot. This means that small dying churches are often subsidi...