Thoughts of a Freethinker

There have been reports about the impact of roundups of illegal immigrants on the Catholic denomination. It has been hurting the numbers. Today a small window into that subculture appeared. It is quite emotional and illustrates that the round ups have a significant impact on parishes in areas with large immigrant populations.  I wrote a few days ago about parishes with smaller numbers showing up at mass because feds find it easier to arrest them. The link, however, is about the underground care illegal families provide for each other in parishes where many members are undocumented. The link tells of women who are working feverishly to meet the needs of undocumented families. There is childcare, hunger, translation needs, transportation and a host of other things that volunteers help families with. This is mostly the work of women. These women in the link complain, however, that clergy take credit for the care "the church provides" while it is actually not the church providing...

U.S. history and probably world history is filled with people who felt some divine calling, organized a religion, or a subset of some existing religion, set up shop and began fulling the calling that had been phoned into them. Only a few decades ago, this was the ultra wealthy founder of the Dominos Pizza chain. He had heard from above he was to use his wealth to set up university and a surrounding little city that taught and practiced an austere version of Catholicism. Eventually he moved the entire enterprise to Florida where it sits today, a far smaller place than his vision had instructed him to build.  Then, there was Navoo, Ill where Joeseph Smith had been told to establish his wives and religion. After he took another man's wife the man killed Joeseph. Not to worry. Brigham Young took over. He and his many wives moved on to Utah where the Mormon church guards $250 billion. In the reading material you will learn Joeseph unearthed some stones with a message written on them. He...

There is "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "The Passion of Christ." A search engine just listed for me the top ten movies about Jesus. Jesus is a profit machine and those in the entertainment industry go for it. At an atheist conference I saw a stand-up comedian do a show as Jesus. At a pride parade in Ireland included a fellow dressed at Jesus.  The link says those responsible should be punished. Ridicule, apparently, must be directed only at Satan.   Christians pretending to know what Jesus said or how he said it have been plying their trade since the New Testament was written. The book of John was written long after some other books. It has many of the same stories but in John, Jesus is quoted page after page. While not even the earliest written books of the New Testament claim the authors personally heard Jesus say anything, writing done even later had many more verbatim quotes. This is why people like myself roll the eyes when I see the words, "Jesus said.......

On my bookshelf is one I've discussed here many times, "God is Not One." The author, a professor of religion, summarizes what ordinary worshippers in the major religions think their religion is about. That is, he ignores arguments from books and seminaries. Christianity, he says, is about one thing, sin. That is the topic churchgoers worry about and talk about. A commenter used to argue with me saying no, the faith is about forgiveness. That's ridiculous. There is no forgiveness if there is no sin. Everything in Christianity starts with sin. Today sin was highlighted by a Christian columnist. Eve sinned when she ate the apple. Both Adam and Eve were ashamed of their sinful appearance, naked. They tried to cover up their sinful bodies with leaves but God said no, that's not even cover. Here are proper garments to wear so you don't have to offend me with your sinful naked bodies. Jesus' clothes were removed so his death could be linked with the sin of nakedn...

It is laughable how many times a publicly known Christian has criticized some other public expression of support for gay people. Always present is the deep desire to shame and look down on others. A U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle publicly condemned a fictional TV character for being gay. A comedian asked, "Does the Vice President realize she is a fictional character?" Country Western singer Amy Grant attended a gay marriage ceremony of a close relative and was criticized. The dufus Franklin Graham is having a cow just now because video home improvement couple on You Tube is renovating the home of a gay couple with children. Shame,      says Franklin Graham, on the video producers for making a living while treating every customer with respect. Everyone who has studied the issue of discrimination against gay people knows discrimination, selecting some group to look down on and be considered evil, is part of both human history and Christian history. I'm sure every ...

I've been surprised at how many You Tube producers focus on abuse inside organizations in the world of religion. Perhaps it is the same in other countries as well. The style of these videos is "long form." They are not short cuts to the point. People are interviewed for hours, three to five. There is a search of childhood for clues about what is going to happen to them. Then slowly it dawns on women they are being sexually abused and overlooked even though they are major contributors to the effort.  Alongside abuse is discrimination based on gender. Women are passed over for responsible positions, especially for positions of clergy or clergy-like. It is my theory any branch of Christianity or other religion that forbids women from the highest positions of power sets the stage for sexual abuse. Of course, it appears everywhere but most institutions today do not have codified rules that require discrimination. We all know, religion is much about emotions. Testimonies about ...

I have atheist friends whose hobby is attending right wing Christian conferences and conventions. They enjoy chatting it up with friendly Christians, making notes of the absurd ideas presented and reporting the experience at gatherings of atheists. Today on a Christian site was an article by a former Pagan who converted to Christianity and attends atheist/Pagan gatherings. The author tries to convert but has little success. He writes that people are not very interested in hearing about the faith, though he claims a convert or two.  The link author claims to have been a Pagan previously and eventually converted to Christianity. I'm surprised at how many people there are on You Tube and who write on line that searched several faiths looking for "the truth." The link author claims he found "the truth" in Christianity. So many other left Christianity and found it somewhere else.  Christians use the term "the truth" so often it's kind of nauseating. The...