Your Local Church
Your local church is not interested in walking away from religion. Its parent organization, its pastor, and its people all have vested interests in maintaining the delusion of the existence of God. For the parent organization, whether that might be a conference, a synod, a diocese or whatever, it is truly all about the money. Any church that fails reduces the income of the parent organization. For the pastor, it is huge: his life-work and life-purpose are on the line, not to mention his salary and his retirement benefits. Unpaid church leaders have their own personal identities wrapped up in church. Some get their need to be important fulfilled through their position in the church. Church provides an opportunity to teach and lead, care for others, and have a...
House of Cards
With a house of cards, every card props up the others around it. The house is fragile because the cards are merely leaned against one another. There is no bedrock and no concrete foundation. A house of cards collapses when a card or two is pulled from the bottom. The church is like a house of cards. It has no bedrock beneath it; no concrete foundation. Oh the buildings do, but I’m talking about the very basis for belief. In order for the church to stand, a few foundational premises must stand. 1. Man is inherently sinful and needs salvation. 2. Blood sacrifice is a good way to bring about salvation. 3. There is an afterlife. Let’s look at each one of these: 1. Man is inherently sinful and needs salvation. The creation story of Genesis is a myth....
Healthcare Costs
All the talk about the “Affordable Healthcare Act” or “Obabmacare” (whichever you prefer to call it) makes me question whether the actual problem is being addressed. The current healthcare solution makes health insurance more available and more affordable. What a great thing. If you don’t look any further. I’m not knocking the effort but from my experience, the difficulty in obtaining affordable health insurance is a symptom of a much bigger problem–the cost of healthcare is simply too high. This legislation treats the symptom, not the cause. When my first child was born (1990), the hospital promised us prenatal care and delivery for $4,000. We got the childbirth classes and the free diaper bag. After it was over, they...
His Most Reverend Excellency
I don’t rub shoulders with too many “high-ups” in the Catholic church, but if I did I might be tempted to suggest that they tone down the self-aggrandizing titles. We had a function recently where the person giving the opening prayer was the “Very Reverend _____, Vicar of ____.” I wondered what made him very reverend, and, “wouldn’t any reverend want to be very reverend?” I looked up the Wiki on this and to my irreverent delight I found that one might also aspire to be: “His Most Reverend Excellency“–when he enters, you should stand and remove your hat and you may kiss the sacred ring at the greeting and again at closing . If he is your bishop, you may kneel when kissing the ring (bowing at the...
Religious Education is Bad
Wow, how can religious education be bad?! Almost all educators would agree that teaching critical thinking skills to our students is paramount. Religious education is contrary to that very basic premise of teaching and learning. Religion is false–The world was not created in 6 days. The earth is certainly more that 6,000 years old. Sacrificing a person by killing him on an altar or a cross is pointless. There is no evidence of heaven or hell. Noah couldn’t have built a boat that could contain all the species of the earth and provide the food, temperature, and habitat so those specimens could survive. I could go on and on. The point is, these things are false. In a typical Catholic school, students are required to take a full-year religion class every...
It’s About the Money!
What does religion cost me? A lot! The money you give to the church is money out of your pocket and into your pastor’s. Your church’s biggest budget items are likely to be the pastor’s salary and the building. If your church is larger, there might be a second pastor or possibly other staff too. As you become a core member of the church, you will feel increasing pressure to give more and more. Trust me, I know firsthand. If I asked you to give me 10% of your gross income, would you have questions of me? “What are you going to do with it?” “What kind of return should I expect?” If I lie to you, would you cut off the money? You should. It doesn’t “come back to you ten-fold.” That is a false claim by some...
When and Where Religion is Useful
I wrote this for an online discussion for one of my classes. The prompt was about how religion helps maintain stability in societies. I think in small, non-literate societies, religion is useful for stabilizing the society and perpetuating the culture. Some of its institutions can facilitate education by traumatizing children enough that they remember everything they’re taught. It puts a name on shared beliefs and values and gives people something in common and a reason to gather and work together. It also incorporates myths about how and why the natural world works for people who don’t know or understand the scientific explanations, and addresses the supernatural, which natural science can not explain or prove even exists. It can also placate...
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