I'd Like To Hear The Other Side Of That Story

In my old hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee there is a major thoroughfare named after a very old mission to the Cherokees (I proudly boast Cherokee blood in my lineage) that was named after David Brainerd, the renowned missionary to the Native Americans.

 

That mission became obsolete after the Cherokees were removed from this area in the 1830s in what became known as the Trail Of Tears. And so much for what the Bible did for the Native Americans around here!

 

Puritan preacher and Bible scholar Jonathan Edwards edited Brainerd's personal journal and preserved for us this account of Brainerd's thoughts on some natives and their "powwowing" he had observed: 

 

Their monstrous actions tended to excite ideas of horror, and seemed to have something in them peculiarly suited to demon worship. Some of them, I could observe, were much more fervent and devout in the business than others, and seemed to chant, "peep and mutter" with a great degree of warmth and vigour, as if determined to awaken and engage the powers below. I sat at the distance of about thirty feet from them, undiscovered, with my Bible in my hand, resolving if possible to spoil their sport, and prevent their receiving any answers from the infernal world. I sat and viewed the whole scene. They continued their hideous charms and incantations for more than three hours, till they had all wearied themselves out, although they had in that space of time taken sundry intervals of rest. At length they broke up, without appearing to receive any answer.

 

Ah, yes, "with my Bible in my hand" ready to straighten out those savages. 

 

 

A Man And His Truck

My old Chevy S-10. It's an old truck. A good truck. I bought it used and have proudly driven it for years now. Before I bought it I had driven my old Chevrolet Lumina (again, obtained second hand) for over a decade and a half. I finally sold it in an effort to downsize my life. Keeping two vehicles insured and maintained gets to be extravagant when you are a single guy like myself. It was like losing a member of my family, and I did wait until my truck "grew" on me before I made that big change.

 

Yesterday I took my truck to the shop. It needs an oil change and some minor repair work. When I went to check under the hood recently, I noticed that the hood release was frozen (or perhaps the cable is broken altogether - I'll find out later today) leaving me unable to gain access. That's not good. And then there is the door handle on the driver's side. I can't operate it from the outside, but it works fine from the inside. For some time now I've simply entered on the passenger side or, weather permitting, left the driver-side window down so I can reach in and use in the inside handle. Clumsy, but doable. The thought did occur to me that if the handle on the passenger side broke in the same way I would be unable to enter my truck at all, so my procrastinating and miserliness had to end eventually or risk an even bigger problem.

 

But as I said, this is a good truck, a trusted friend. It's over twenty years old now and - like its owner - has a body that is beginning to show its age. When the motor or transmission starts to go down I will have to face a decision about whether to invest in it or replace it. Truth to tell, at this point I'm leaning towards investing in another motor or transmission. Time will tell.

 

You know what I like about my truck? It simple and basic. Just the way I like to live my life. Many people are impressed with the latest technology and gadgetry. My Lumina was not modern when I sold it. But it had more bells and whistles than I care for. It had electric windows, which I despise. In fact, the last two years I drove it I had problems with the window on the driver's side. Many was the time when in order to get that window back up I had to open the door, place a toe on the button in the "up" position, straddle the door and with one hand on either side of the glass, inch it repeatedly upward. I'm sure to observers it must have looked as if I was practicing the Kama Sutra with my car, but I didn't want to spend the money to have the panel taken apart to have it worked on, I should have, I suppose, but I was able to make it just fine with the other windows open in warm months, or by using the a/c. (That's a quirk about me: I don't like to spend money to fix minor things if I can work around them.)

 

One of the first things I checked when I looked at my truck when I was considering buying it was to see if the windows had crank handles. When I saw that it did that almost made the sale before I had even given it a drive! Simple, simple, simple, Frankly, I wish Ford would put out a modern version of the Model T. That might even be enough to get me away from the Chevrolets that I have owned for most of my adult life. Automobiles are not status symbols for me. They are practical necessities. As I said, I like them simple. 

 

When I crawled out of bed this morning, still a bit groggy, I grabbed the cat food and headed out to feed my cat friends. The empty parking place where my beloved truck usually sits at first gave me a shock. "Oh yeah," I thought as I recalled having put it in the shop yesterday afternoon. I expect to have it back this afternoon, serviced and with the minor repairs taken care of. And did I tell you how simple and without lots of bells and whistles this vehicle is? I may outlive my truck, but for now it sure does impress me as a worthy companion. But who knows? Maybe somewhere out there right now exists a simple vehicle waiting to enter my future. For now I'm not looking that far out. 

Are Our Public Schools The Place For This?

Tennessee again. This time Rep. Andy Holt has sponsored the "Religious Viewpoints Antidiscrimination Act." One of my local newspapers describes the implications of this bill as follows:

  Local school boards would be required to let select students voluntarily express their "religious viewpoints," be they Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Wiccan or atheist, at football games, school assemblies and graduation ceremonies under a bill moving in the House.

 And if you have concerns about this, well, "then you're expressing your problem with the First Amendment and not with my bill," says Rep. Holt.

 It just seems to me that since Christianity is far and away the major religious tradition here in this neck of the woods, it will get the lion's share of the focus and promotion. I'm also curious about how the "select students" thing might work. I do think this type of thing is a needless distraction from our school's primary function: to educate the students.

On The Supreme Court And "Obamacare"

I remember my thoughts when so-called "Obamacare" was passed. At the time I wrote here that I was uncomfortable with it, and in the face of some of my fellow liberals rejoicing I expressed my feeling that a poorly constructed package had been cobbled together with more emphasis on "getting something done" than getting the job done correctly. I felt then and feel now that it was a missed opportunity.

We can almost see the handwriting on the wall that this Supreme Court is going to split, most probably on the side of striking down the individual mandate. If that goes, it's hard to see how much of the rest will stand inasmuch as that was how some of the major changes were going to be paid for.

But we shall see in a few months.

It is still beyond shocking to me, it is outrageous, that of all the modern, civilized nations the United States stands alone in not having a national health service for the protection of its citizens. The Affordable Care Act is a poor substitute.

Worst Resurrection Theory?

Easter is near and Jesus' (alleged) resurrection is being widely discussed again. Into the mix comes a new book and claim by a "Cambridge academic" (an art historian) "that the image on the cloth fooled the Apostles into believing Christ had come back to life, and the Resurrection was in fact an optical illusion." This novel theory is advanced by Thomas de Wesselow in his soon to be released book The Sign: The Shroud of Turin and the Secret of the Resurrection.

Who is this going to convince? The true believers in orthodox Christianity will not give it a second thought before dismissing it out of hand. Skeptics, who have been totally unconvinced by scientific attempts to date the Shroud of Turin to the days of Jesus, will be derisive in spirit. Some of us will grant de Wesslow points for originality and that entrepreneurial spirit but little else.

But really, who could possibly be impressed by this?

We all will go on thinking as we did before this "explosive new theory" was unleashed (I'm kinda partial to the swoon theory to account for the resurrection belief) and life will go on. But it does make an interesting little Easter news item.

How's This For Paranoid Stupidity?

Inasmuch as atheism already carries its own opprobrium, is generally understood by most Americans as a synonym for evil, that as a group they are generally understood to be the scum of the earth, you might think one wouldn't feel the need to make further negative observations and accusations. But no, on Monday's show Glen Beck and his guest, Blaze religion editor Billy Hallowell (never heard of him, by the way), have used the above the diagram to observe that "the new, official Atheist symbol and the original Anarchist symbols" bear a striking resemblance.

Well, so what?

This tidbit comes from The Blaze's article You and God Are Under Attack: Beck Breaks Down Atheism and the Religious Left. Read it for yourself and see what a paranoid and ridiculous thought pattern these folks have.

If the symbol thingy wasn't stupid enough, get a load of the following quote from this article:

One wonders why the vast majority of outspoken Atheists aren't content to operate within a "live and let live" framework, but rather proactively seek out opportunities to disparage or challenge their ideological opposites.

I wonder why the "revealed" religions haven't adopted the "live and let live" philosophy. But since they don't, why would they even wonder why others wouldn't?

Mainstream Scientists Are Ignorant Liars

That amazing claim is the gist of one letter-to-the-editor writer in today's edition of my local newspapers. Go there to read his full diatribe. This is in praise of Rep. Bo Watson's "Monkey Bill" which I wrote about last week.

Our writer lays out what he feels is scientific evidence that evolution is a tissue of errors. Well, actually, he sums it up this way:

The history of evolution is one of hoaxes, lies, errors and falsification: Piltdown Man, peppered moths, the evolutionary tree, embryo drawings, spontaneous generation, etc.

If nothing else we are treated to the ramblings of a poor soul who has a faulty understanding of both the nature of evidence and principles upon which modern science is built.

His final paragraph is this:

This theory would have been discarded long ago if evolutionists did not desperately want it to be true. Scientific inquiry and free speech are threats to their faith. This is -- unfortunately -- why Bo Watson's bill is necessary.

Let me see if I can improve on that to better reflect the truth of the matter.

This theory of direct creationism would have been discarded long ago if believers did not desperately want it to be true. This type of religious faith is a threat to scientific inquiry and free speech. This is why Bo Watson's bill is an assault on our intelligence and is totally unnecessary.

See, isn't that better?

This Is An Improvement? Oklahoma's Quest For An Official Motto.

What the heck? For a very long time the state of Oklahoma has gone under the motto, apparently unofficially, "Labor Omnia Vincit," or "Labor Conquers All Things."

Not a bad little saying. If you want something in this life you have to work to obtain it. My folks taught me that when I was young and yours probably did, too. Good, honest labor is not only character-building, but personally satisfying as well. The things we work hard to get are treasured all the more dearly than those things which fall into our laps. Anything worth having is worth the effort of working for it.

But now the state House in Oklahoma has passed a resolution that would make the state official motto "In God We Trust."

Somehow I just don't see that as an improvement. Give us honest labor, not platitudes.

Why do so many religious people spend more time talking about their faith than demonstrating it by their actions? Don't tell me. Show me.

Mystic Lands, First Leg Of The Journey

The first leg of my tour of Mystic Lands is now complete, taking in the first two segments, Greece: Isle of Revelation and Egypt: Cycle of Life.

My plan is to take in 2 or maybe 3 segments each Sunday until I have worked my way through the entire set.

I'm not going to do a review, as such, on this series (at least not for every segment). For one thing, I'm so captivated by the breathtaking cinematography that I don't want to look away long enough to take notes. I want sit in my favorite chair with my mouth wide open in amazement. Which is more or less what I did. What I do want to do is write a little about my impressions of the material contained on these discs.

As for the Greece segment, again, it is absolutely stunning in beauty. Lots of shots of the ancient ruins from back in Greece's Pagan hey day. Personally, I wish there had been more about this, more of Zeus and Athena and the other Olympians, more about the Delphic oracle. All too soon it seemed we were dealing with Christianity. Now this impression may be because, having been a Christian earlier in my life, this subject is already very familiar to me.

And if you are wondering why this segment is called Isle of Revelation, well, that is because one of the Greek Islands, Patmos, is where, according to Christian tradition, the Apostle John received The Revelation of Jesus. That is well covered in our little trip through Greece.

All in all this was time well spent. I will say that so far I'm finding these segments mostly introductory. They are too short to offer much depth. I do think anyone would find out the basics, from which they could dig further if they cared to. If they had included more details, casual viewers would probably get bored. So the coverage is just about right for what it is.

Now let me briefly hit on my "tour" of Egypt. This segment begins in modern Egypt, with Islam being the major religious influence, and then moves back to their very intricate earlier religion. Of course there are the pyramids and the majestic Nile River. There are details about the pharaohs being seen as intermediaries between God and man. There is an explanation that the Egyptians perfected the art of embalming in order to preserve the soul's homes so the afterlife would be a pleasant experience. Early Egyptian religion is very complex. Don't expect more than the highlights here. But again, too much detail would be beyond the attention spans of casual viewers.

I'm beginning to feel as if this was money well spent (I paid just $14.95 for this set, brand new). I will keep my readers updated as I travel on through this set.

Jesus Wore A Hood

The Trayvon Martin case has reopened a wound in our country that has never healed, that is, racism in the land of the great melting pot.

One Chicago minister, Rev. Michael Pfleger of the St. Sabina Catholic Church, led his members in a protest against the perceived racism involved in the Martin shooting case and took specific aim at journalist Geraldo Rivera's suggestion that Martin would not have been shot had he not been wearing a hoodie.

An article in the Chicago Tribune contained the following quotes from Rev. Pfleger:

"America, we demand you deal with race," Pfleger preached. "We demand you protect our children."

During the service, dozens of children and teens locked arms, forming a circle around the altar. One held a sign reading, "We are all Trayvon Martin."

"Let this be a moment of conscience, let this be a moment of enlightenment, let this be a moment of truth, America," Pfleger said. "Be who you say you say you are. Be outraged when any child dies; that's our child."

Pfleger challenged the idea that children wearing hoodies should be treated with suspicion.

"Jesus wore a hood," Pfleger said. "Is he suspicious?"

Not only is it likely that, according to traditional dress of the times, Jesus wore a hood, he also most likely was dark skinned.

He is probably our nation's best known religious icon. Would he be welcome in your neighborhood? I wonder....

Warring For God

Yesterday's Missoulian, a daily newpaper of Missoula, Montana, contained an interesting letter-to-the-editor discussing religion and nonbelief. A reader wrote the following:

Wouldn’t you think it’s “godless” people who would have started all the bloody, horrifying, hate-fueled wars down through time? After all, atheists and agnostics don’t have supreme beings or personal saviors to teach them how not to hate. Or kill. Without benefit of divine guidance, it seems atheists and agnostics would be completely free to disenfranchise, persecute and even kill those who don’t disbelieve the same way they disbelieve.

Instead, sadly, tens of millions of our brothers and sisters around the world have been killed, are being killed, and will be killed in wars because it’s the religious people who can’t universally accept, trust and love one another. Even Hitler said it was “God’s will” that he protect his country from the Jews.

I’d feel much safer if non-religious people were in charge from now on (and I’m not referring to force-fed “communists”).

While I think this type of argument is a bit overstated (the atheists Stalin, Mussolini, and Pol Pot sprang immediately to mind), it is nonetheless widely true that "it’s the religious people who can’t universally accept, trust and love one another."

That is beyond sad.

Here is the way I think about it. Religion - or spirituality if you prefer - must include an inclusive attitude that embraces the dignity and inherent worth of all peoples. Doing "the right thing" is treating everyone with the same consideration and respect that you and I desire. I can't conceive of anything less being very saintly.

That attitude would take care of the writer's main complaint.

Today I Begin A Journey (Of A Sort)

Recently I happened upon a six dvd set called Reader's Digest Must See Places Of The World, Mystic Lands at a price I could not resist. The blurb on the back of the package box says:

With brilliant cinematography, Mystic Lands chronicles a diverse array of sacred sites around the world. Viewers can explore the vibrant mystic traces from ancient cultures-from tannic meditation amidst the Shangri-La beauty of Bhutan, to the never photographed Zoroastrian eternal flame growing bright for 2,000 years in Iran, and from the wonder of the Taj Mahal in India to the seemingly sinister sights of Voodoo in Haiti. These lands are shrouded in mystery, your ticket to adventure.

Sounds right about down my alley. After I do a little work here on my computer I plan on ripping off the plastic and digging into this set of dvds. This series is over six hours long, so I don't anticipate watching more than several programs - unless I really get enthralled!

I find sacred places all around me, whenever I get away from the hustle and bustle of the maddening crowds and into nature's cathedrals. The study of the various religious cultures has always interested me. Once (back in my Christian fundamentalist days) I felt pity that so many people didn't have "the truth" and struggled in the darkness of their regional deities and sacred places. Now I've come to my senses and realize that all of the earth, indeed all of the Cosmos, is sacred if you look at it aright. That people down through history have looked out at their native homelands and seen so much of the same thing, places of awe, reverence, and that inspired a feeling of divinity, is for me a confirmation of my pantheism. The myths, that is the details, differ in many respects, but the message everywhere is the same: we are children of Mother Earth and Father Sky, the Great Spirit, the Ground of all being, the One, whatever we choose to call it.

Ol' Doug will never have the money and time to visit all the places I will "visit" in this set - Jerusalem, Egypt, Greece, Iran, India, Australia, Bali, Myanmar, Bhutan, Peru, Anasazi, Haiti - but maybe this will give me a taste, a small glimpse into the magic of far away lands where the divine is experienced and is a traditional way of life, just as it is here where I live, if we seek it.

I'll let you know how it's going as my journey progresses.

Paint Yourself Into A Corner And You Will Look For Any Old Crack As An Escape

First off I have to write that I dislike exclusive religions. The religion of my youth - a very conservative form of Christianity, which is quite common where I live - taught there was only One Way, and that simply being a moral and kindhearted person wasn't enough to place you in good standing with God.

I found a little article this morning, written by Tom Lovorn, TH.D. of God's Storehouse Baptist Church of Richmond, Va., and dedicated to the question of what happens to young children and mentally challenged folk at the time of the Rapture. It brought back unpleasant memories of my prior mindset.

In this article Dr. Lovorn writes:

Jesus and the New Testament writers plainly teach that no one will be saved from eternal punishment without believing that Jesus died to reconcile them to God. Therefore, they must repent of their sins and call on Jesus to save them. However, your question is a valid one: What about those unable to ask Jesus to save them? I think if they're unable to understand they're sinners and need a Savior, then surely they're unable to reject Jesus. If they're not accountable for their sins, theologians call them "safe in Jesus," declared righteous by his grace. If we believe children who die under the age of accountability will be safe in Jesus, then I think they will be transported to him at the Rapture.


Ah, the old "age of accountability" theology. I remember it well. I and those like me, children of fervently religious Christians, were rushed into the "age of accountability" by constant sermons on sin and Hell and eternal punishment. We were urged early on to make a decision for Jesus.

I did that on April 30, 1970, when I was ten years old. I remember that date because I wrote it in my Bible. Unfortunately I can't remember the date when I for the last time closed that chapter of my life and said "no more." Probably I can't for two reasons. It was a gradual thing, and there were many periods of relapse and reexamination.

As deeply moving as I find the concept of God or Logos or Source or - to use the theologian Paul Tillich's well-known phrase - "Ground of all being," I am no longer able to entertain the idea of a deity who inaugurates and oversees eternal punishment with anything other than my highest contempt. A doctrine so contrary to the very nature of the majority of spiritually minded people, which troubles their minds enough to force their spiritual leaders into doing a pious tap dance in order to avoid the clear implications of their theology just doesn't seem to be very commendable.

Theologians have painted themselves into a tight little corner and are forced to look for an escape route. The Rapture is a cruel teaching and so is eternal damnation. Anyone who could imagine himself leaning over Heaven's banister and looking over at the depth of the human suffering of those (some who would be loved ones) who "didn't make it" and doing so with a spirit of consent has serious psychological issues. And that is why the desperate search for escape cracks is an ongoing endeavor.

It appears obvious to me that a different concept of God is needed, not an effort to rehabilitate the old concept.

Proof Beyond A Reasonable Doubt That The Devil Exists

Yesterday's edition of one of my local newspapers published an interesting letter-to-the-editor. One of my neighbors wrote in suggesting that we should be thankful for comedian and social commentator Bill Maher, and he tells us why:

Because Maher proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the devil is alive and well and has his army of miscreants out there are spreading his word, and Bill Maher is of one of his more visible. (Paul Krugman is another one.)

Providing I take some nausea medicine, I try to watch Maher's show from time to time. At the conclusion of each show, I always ask the same question: "Where was the lightning bolt?"

The Christian God, as you know, has no sense of humor. Humor is of the devil. Using humor to look at the inadequacies of human nature and society is an insult to the Creator. (Oh, and Krugman is a liberal economist. The majority of my neighbors will also tell you that liberalism is an evil straight from the pits of Hell.)

Now why would a follower of God listen to the Devil's minion that way? Is he wondering where that lightning bolt is or just watching in hopes of finally seeing it strike?

Something New For Me. Check It Out

The grandest thing for me about blogging are the friendships I have made and enjoy. Each one of my cyber friends and readers is very important to me. Many of you are bloggers also and are listed over to the left under my Blogs I Like section. (If you have a blog and I have missed it, or if you are getting ready to start one, let me know and I will be happy to add you to my list.)

Along this line I recently got acquainted with a new cyber friend and fellow blogger, Kerry Miller-Whalen of Heady Brew. Great blog, by the way, with some interesting thoughts direct from her "headspace" which I find interesting and think you will, too.

Recently she initiated a series of posts on the topic of Rest. She graciously invited me to participate, so I did write out and send her a short piece that contained some of my thoughts on the matter. That guest post - the first one I have ever done - has just gone up today,and I want to invite all of you to check it out. And while you are there, check out some of Kerry's witty writing. Just tell her Doug sent you.

I know I'm hoping to make some new friends there, and I'm sure Kerry would be happy to get to know my readers as well.

I Am A Pagan

While I didn't question it much as a young child, as I got older I began to wonder about the wisdom and goodness of a god who decided to save some of his children from damnation if only they would believe an elaborate system of religion, and this only propagated by word of mouth from supposed prophets. What a way to do business!

Upon mature reflection it just seemed reasonable to me that on a matter of such grave importance the Almighty would have chosen a more effective means of getting the word out. Perhaps God could have emblazoned his message of salvation across each morning's sky, stamped it upon every rock, or spoke it into the wind that blows across the landscape so that each of his creatures could receive it personally.

But no, according to many religious traditions, the Almighty chose the faulty medium of chosen humans. He put his words into their mouths and we must accept them on faith. A not easy task when you consider religious history and how many "prophets" have spoken so contradictorily down through the years.

But what if everything we needed to know about the sacred is contained in nature itself, if the Cosmos is the true Bible?

Here I want to quote Gertrude Bonnin, perhaps better known to many by her Lakota name Zitkala-Sa (Red Bird), who was an influential Native American writer and musician of last century:

A wee child toddling in a wonder world, I prefer to their dogma my excursions into the natural gardens where the voice of the Great Spirit is heard in the twittering of birds, the rippling of mighty waters, and the sweet breathing of flowers. If this is Paganism, then at present, at least, I am a Pagan.

Yes, then I am a Pagan, too, for it is in nature that I hear the voice of the gods.

And that quote of Zitkala-Sa's is from her essay Why I Am A Pagan, which, happily is online, and can be read here. I heartily recommend it to my readers.

Ten Commandments Judge's Campaign "Resurrected"

Roy Moore is something of a folk hero down here in my portion of the country. Yesterday I received in my e-mailbox an appeal for money to help get him reelected to the top spot on Alabama's Supreme Court. Said e-mail touted Moore's unlikely victory after having been outspent and with the polls showing him far behind the competition. Here is a link to a little story that goes into more detail about Moore's stunning victory.

Moore is best known as the Ten Commandments Judge for the debacle he created by having erected a two-plus ton granite monument prominently featuring two tablets containing the Ten Commandments. Moore's monument was soon the subject of a lawsuit because of church-state concerns. Moore was ordered to remove the monument but refused, and having thumbed his nose at the very law of the land he had sworn he would uphold, he was removed from office.

Roy Moore then and obviously still enjoys the support of like believers, folks who think our nation was founded upon the Judeo-Christian tradition and should govern according to its precepts. So, flaunting the law is something praiseworthy when it comes to supposedly obeying the God of Abraham. While the story I linked to above called Moore's stunning victory the result of a "perfect storm" of circumstances, the e-mail made clear that it was understood to be divine intervention. And so will most believers consider it.

Now Moore is the Republican nominee for Chief Justice of Alabama's Supreme Court and Bible Belt Christians could not be happier. Others of us are quite disappointed that our neighbors are so eager to reelect a law breaker to that important post.

It's Springtime!

It's official now. Spring has sprung. Persephone has been reunited with her mother Demeter after her yearly stay with Hades in the underworld and in gladness Demeter is greening the land again.

Spring is a special time for the young and the young at heart. It's a special time of year for me, my favorite.

I lack the words to adequately describe the joy I feel with Spring's arrival, but William Blake certainly captured something of the mood in his poem To Spring, which I include below and dedicate to all lovers of this time of year.

To Spring

O thou with dewy locks, who lookest down
Thro' the clear windows of the morning, turn
Thine angel eyes upon our western isle,
Which in full choir hails thy approach, O Spring!

The hills tell each other, and the listening
Valleys hear; all our longing eyes are turned
Up to thy bright pavilions: issue forth,
And let thy holy feet visit our clime.

Come o'er the eastern hills, and let our winds
Kiss thy perfumed garments; let us taste
Thy morn and evening breath; scatter thy pearls
Upon our love-sick land that mourns for thee.

O deck her forth with thy fair fingers; pour
Thy soft kisses on her bosom; and put
Thy golden crown upon her languished head,
Whose modest tresses were bound up for thee.

Tennessee's "Monkey Bill"

My former home state, which last century brought us that great sideshow popularly known as the Scopes "Monkey Trial," is at it again with some legislation that some say echo that famous trial.

The Tennessee House and Senate have now passed legislation proposed by Chattanooga politician Bo Watson which he says will protect teachers who are "helping students understand, analyze, critique and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories.” And this bill passed by wide margins, 70 to 23 in the House and 24 to 8 in the Senate.

In these parts creationism is very popular. That was an understatement. The God of Abraham is such a vital part of southern culture that anything which seems to be in conflict - the science of origins in general, unfortunately - is not well received.

And it isn't that the Bible Belt is made up of mostly uncouth hicks who have no science knowledge at all. Sure, we have lots of those folks among us. But the water has been greatly muddied by the philosophical idea of Intelligent Design masquerading as science. That has largely replaced the older alternative of Creation Science.

Personally, I don't think science class is a good place for debates. And the true intent of this legislation is all too obvious.

How Does God While Away The Time?

It is no longer news that modern Christians (other than the fundamentalist variety) have made peace with evolutionary theory. I believe the last book I read along those lines was Dr. Francis Collins' The Language of God, wherein he really went after Intelligent Design creationism.

Now the thing about evolution is that it takes time. Lots and lots and lots and lots of time.

And the more one thinks about God as a person like we humans, except on a much grander and holier scale, the more the idea of God creating the universe and his capstone of creation - which is to say us - through long and slow process of evolution, the more it seems an absurdity.

The God of the great theistic religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) is quite active in the affairs of humans. Yet we are to imagine that he spent millions and millions of years waiting for humans to evolve into his image in order to have a relationship with them?

Of course, he had his angels. And perhaps, it has been suggested, he created other universes with other creatures that he had relationships with. But still, for the "people of the Book," it seems no less interesting a question than that which was posed to the theologian/philosopher Augustine concerning what God was doing before he created the universe.

I'm not suggesting this is an unanswerable objection to the concept of theism. But it did bother me a lot when I was a theist. Evolutionary creationism just doesn't seem as straightforward and logical as direct creation.

On Reductionism

When I was young a child, before I started grammar school, I received a wonderful present one Christmas. It was an old Fisher-Price toy grandfather's clock. How I loved that toy and was fascinated by it! I spent hours winding it up and watching the hands slowly spin around the highly decorative clock face as the old song My Grandfather's Clock played from within. I kept it for years.

Then one day I came home from school and my younger brother, who had not yet started school, had gotten hold of my prized toy and literally took it apart. He was always more the mechanic than I. I was an artist. But I then found myself staring at the various pieces that once made up my beloved toy.

Oh, I had outgrown that toy somewhat. I had learned how to tell time by then. But I still loved to wind it up and listen. I still held it from time to time and thought of all the joy it had brought me. And now it was in pieces and beyond repair. The thrill and pleasure for me was in the toy itself. The thrill and pleasure for my kid brother was in finding how things work.

In a way that demonstrates the way I tend to look at life in general. The sum of it all is greater than the individual parts. The scientific method is something I have great respect for and which does inform my thinking about things. Yet I can't help but find holistic thinking more emotionally satisfying.

After all, the ingredients are hardly the cake itself. Knowing how to bake a cake is well and good, but shallow without the ability to enjoy eating one. One does not go to the theater to see the costumes, props, and sets, but rather to enjoy the play itself. We don't love the bags of skin, muscles, and bones - we love the people.

I love life and embrace it in all its fulness.

Squirrels In Brogans

This is absolutely my favorite time of year. Spring. Yeah, I know it's not official yet, but it has come early for many of us. The temperatures for the past couple of weeks have been nothing short of delightful, with warm days and slightly cool nights. This is window-opening time! Let in some fresh air and release the stagnant indoor air of winter.

Saver that I am, I go as far into the season as I possibly can without turning on the air conditioner. (Likewise, in the fall I will go as long as I can without heat.) Living alone as I do, it's convenient, not to mention comfortable, to go around the house in just my boxer briefs. I keep a robe handy if I have to answer the door or go outside to feed my animal friends. I keep the blinds closed on the sunny side of the house to keep out sunlight heat and use fans to keep the air inside moving if it gets too warm. This really helps with my utility bills.

This is also pollen season. I'm blessed in not being troubled overly much with sinus problems. Yesterday it rained and cleaned the air, making that morning freshness all the more invigorating for me. I live near the woods and find that scent of damp mother earth and rain-rinsed trees with just a hint of wild flowers something of a spiritual experience.

Then there are the sounds of nature. This morning I awoke while it was still dark. The birds were out in force singing so loudly I'm surprised they didn't make themselves hoarse. They shut up fairly early as night falls, but really like to get an early start.

Sleeping with my windows open is an experience also with regard to nature sounds. There are lots of woodland creatures about. I paid to have the leaves of fall and winter mulched up a while back, but no matter how long I wait more always fall and others blow into my yard from my neighbor's yards. These leaves dry and become crisp and brittle and then the sound of critters creeping around looking for food (or burying it) makes a sound which a sleepy brain can misinterpret as a prowler creeping about the yard.

How many times have I peeked out my bedroom window to catch a would-be burglar only to see a possum sneaking around in the dark? Many. And during the day I swear I hear kids walking through my yard, only to spy squirrels. Squirrels!! Making so much noise in the dry leaves that I had to check to make sure they aren't wearing boots. (They aren't, by the way.)

All too soon it will become too warm for me to make it without the air conditioner. Once the windows come down and I seal up the house, I will be cut off from nature and the goings on of the litter critters who live all around me, and whose activities I observe as the sound of their foot steps draw me time and time again to the window with all the curious wonderment of a small child.

On the other hand, I will still have all the spiders, ants, flies and other insects who attempt to share my home with me. These guys I find less charming.

Did Jesus Believe Genesis?

Without properly understanding Genesis, there can be no understanding of morality, epistemology or salvation.

Wow. Now that's a tall claim. But it is the way Ed Hensel, of Holy Fire Publishing, begins his blurb for Dr. Charles L. Sanders' new book Did Jesus Believe Genesis? Sanders, Hensel points out, has "a doctorate in biophysics, has served as a researcher and professor at Battelle Northwest Laboratories, Washington State University and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology." Which makes the claim "Dr. Sanders remains true to his conviction that the Bible is our source for truth" all the more surprising.

I cannot now recall just how many hours I spent as a young adult giving creationism, the straightforward reading of the Genesis "account" of creation, one last look before dismissing it as just another childhood fantasy that I had outgrown. I do know I studied Morris and Whitcomb's The Genesis Flood carefully for over a year.

Certainly I was then and even now impressed by the sheer ingenuity of those who can take a mountain of evidence and with breezy audacity proclaim it just an illusion - and can actually persuade others of their delusion.

The problem with creationists of this variety is that they don't follow evidence where it leads, but rather take their preconceived idea as the proper conclusion and work backwards, shoehorning and misrepresenting the evidence until it appears to support their idea.

We might be persuaded to cut Jesus some slack because he lived two thousand years ago and came from very humble beginnings and likely had little if any formal education. But what can we say about those in this modern age who supposedly have drank deeply from the well of human knowledge and still prefer ignorance?

I Couldn't Stop

While studying my Bible when I was a youth I had stumbled onto 1 Thessalonians 5:21, wherein the Apostle Paul wrote "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." It became something of a personal quest for me. Once I got started I couldn't stop. In fact, I still can't. I notice, however, that it led me and Paul into quite different directions.

A Little Trip To My Future

A good friend of mine from work asked to take my picture on his cell phone. He then ran it through an app he had downloaded (I believe it is called Aging Booth) and voilà: the above is the result. Supposedly I have been aged thirty years (which would make that a suggestion of what I will look like at age 82).

Thanks Teron, for taking away my optimism about my future! The thought of what a chore it would be to look in my mirror long enough to comb my hair and shave that face is mind boggling.

The truth is, that app placed on my face fourfold the wrinkles that are on my mother's face at age 79 or that were on my dad's when he died at 72. And neither developed jowls like I am predicted to develop. It slightly grayed my hair a bit more, but that seems likely based on what I now see when I look in the mirror. But what the heck happened to my lips? Where did they go?

Well, considering the alternative of dying younger (too late for me to die young) and leaving a better looking corpse, I willingly trudge on with a weary eye towards my future.

Some things, I think, are just better left unknown. (Just in case, I had better start a savings fund for a face lift.)

Groper Poll: "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." Agree or disagree?

The above is one of my favorite Einstein quotes.

Yesterday's post was about strawmen. Strawmen are easy enough to stomp down. If we can easily dismiss those who disagree with us our own opinion should seem the obvious choice. Right?

When the question of whether religion and science are compatible is raised it just seems to me, unless one is insistent on using strawmen to make the case, it deserves more consideration than it usually gets.

When one takes a historical perspective, religious thinkers have clearly been "doing science" and making contributions to that enterprise from the beginning.

Ever hear of Monsignor Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître? Wikipedia has a short but good entry on him here and from which I quote the following:

Monsignor Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître (17 July 1894 – 20 June 1966) was a Belgian priest, astronomer and professor of physics at the Catholic University of Leuven. He was the first person to propose the theory of the expansion of the Universe, widely misattributed to Edwin Hubble. He was also the first to derive what is now known as the Hubble's law and made the first estimation of what is now called the Hubble constant which he published in 1927, two years before Hubble's article. Lemaître also proposed what became known as the Big Bang theory of the origin of the Universe, which he called his "hypothesis of the primeval atom."

He is just one example. The truth is, some the greatest names in the history of science belonged to religious thinkers.

As for the latter part of Einstein's quote, of course nonbelievers have performed a valuable service by challenging creeping superstition. Religion is riddled with sloppy thinking and bad ideas. These ideas must be challenged and defeated, and nonbelievers certainly do their part to accomplish this. Those of us who are sympathetic to the human religious impulse should be no less diligent.

For my part I agree with Einstein about this. And I think this science versus religion discussion usually generates much more heat than light. But I would surely love to hear my reader's thoughts about this much in the news discussion.

Atheists Are Evil And Religious Believers Are Stupid

And with those two stereotypes firmly in place the impasse in dialogue is fixed.

Those who are confirmed atheists wonder why religion or spirituality matters to anyone; the religious wonder why atheists spend so much time combating something they don't believe is true or necessary for forming a practical worldview.

I consider myself something of an accommodationist. I'm an atheist in the sense of not believing in a theistic God (which for me is mostly a philosophical issue), but at the same time I do find meaning in religious expression, which, I readily confess, is mostly a romantic or idealistic expression.

Alas, that position wins me few if any friends on either side of the dialogue.

I'm neither a big fan of using science to prove God doesn't exist, nor of using philosophy to prove He does.

In my worldview God or gods are symbols and metaphors. In the end I'm agnostic because I don't feel the knowledge is available to definitely settle the question of the existence of gods once and for all.

This very contentious discussion reminds me of the old story of a Methodist circuit rider who, being caught in a great thunderstorm, prayed to God that He provide more light and less noise.

Only I would address that petition to one another rather than to God.

Just Find The Rocks

The Christian Post has given details of a Brazilian television commercial for the energy drink Red Bull that has created a stir there - and evidently here, too - by bringing into question the miraculous aspect of the tale of Jesus walking on the water.

Their dispatch gives the following description of the controversial commercial:

In the cartoon ad, Jesus and two of his disciples are sitting inside a small fishing boat. Jesus suddenly gets up and with frustration says: "Well guys, that is it! Nothing is going to happen today! I am getting out of here!"

He leaves the boat and walks on the water.

"Oh Jesus, how can you do this?" questions Peter, one of the disciples.

"Do what?"asks Jesus.

"You are walking on water," replies Peter.

"Be cool Peter, he only took one Red Bull. Red Bull gives you wings!" another disciple interjects.

"No! That is not it!" replies Jesus.

"Could this be another miracle then?" they ask.

"There is no miracle here! You just have to be smart and find the rocks to step on," Jesus answers in the controversial commercial.

What is it about religious faith that renders it humorless when it comes to looking at itself?

Speaking as one who came from a conservative Christian religious tradition I can tell you there is a certain amount of intellectual discomfort that comes from holding belief in the miraculous while living in a world where such tales as this one seem nothing short of ludicrous. The miraculous world of the Bible we heard about every Sunday morning bore no resemblance to the world we had to endure Monday through Saturday, wherein the laws of nature seem quite rigid and fixed.

For me, finding the rocks, or relying on the natural world I can actually examine for myself, just seems a better way of arriving at truth than belief in the supernatural.

A Hindu In The Bible Belt

My local newspaper yesterday in its opinion pages featured a letter-to-the editor from a Hindu reader who was pleading for religious tolerance. Good luck, my friend, down in this neck of the woods.

The writer is troubled because he feels

Rama, Christ, Allah or Yahweh -- these are all names for God. We have failed to recognize that, although each religion has its own teachings, the very foundation of all religions is love.

If only it were that simple. If only all religions were all the same except for having different names for God and different rituals and so forth.

This letter writer further suggests

If we are bound together in love, not trying to convince others that our religious beliefs are the only way, then we can stop child hunger, we can stop homelessness in Chattanooga, and we can cease all our wars.

All this can be achieved, if only we appreciate the unity in the teachings of each and every religion.

As a Hindu in a primarily Christian city, I have sort of been forced to do this, but if we can all do this by choice, our society would exist in peace and harmony, devoid of any conflicts that are in human control.

It goes without saying, I think, that the human choices for their gods is as faulty as their own worst character traits. These gods are often jealous, vengeful, petty, and even cruel. God's followers are often, like this writer, more tolerant of other religions than He is. If it were true that the foundation of all religions is love, these things could not be.

Now I do think it is possible to come up with some form of religion or spirituality that practices what this writer longs for. But I believe it entails leaving behind the old traditions and traditional ideas about God. Otherwise there is too much baggage.

My Fortunes

Well, yesterday was my haircut day so I got that annoying little rountine-breaking task out of my way at 2 p.m. My hairdresser is not a morning person, doesn't begin her workday until 11 a.m. and sometimes noon, and the earliest opening I could get was the 2 o'clock one.

But I was ready for something to eat by the time she finished and being that there is a nice little Chinese restaurant right next door, and being that I had been craving one of their spicy chicken dinners, I went in to place a carry-out order. For some reason, if you order dinner there before 3:00 the egg roll and soup (I always get egg drop) are free. I beat that deadline with several minutes to spare so did not have to choose between forking over the extra dollar for those two "fixings" or bypassing them altogether.

Anyway, I only had a ten-minute drive to get back home, so my food was still pleasantly warm as I ate it. And afterward I spied there in the bottom of my bag three Chinese fortune cookies. I can't resist looking at my horoscope if I read the newspaper and can't help but look forward to reading my fortune if I eat Chinese. These things are, of course, purposely bland and broad in scope, designed that way so they fit everyone.

Just once I would like to crack open the cookie and read:

The meaning of life and true purpose of the universe will be revealed to you in a vision at 6 p.m. tomorrow. Please have a pad and pencil in hand in order to take notes.

In fact, whenever I take my lady friend out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant and she nudges me and asks what my fortune is, I will invariably come off with something like "your lover will engage you in a prolonged and intense lovemaking session before bedtime tonight" - or some such thing. And invariably those fortunes always fall flat! Too specific. Too practical. (No, that isn't all we guys think about; but having gotten sustenance out of the way we tend to move right on down the list.)

However, I was by myself yesterday and spent a quiet Saturday at home alone. I enjoyed my spicy chicken dinner and proceeded to open my cookies to get my fortunes as soon as I had finished eating. I received the following fortunes:

You will soon be getting some good written advice.

You will be rewarded for being a good listener this week.

People in your surroundings will be more cooperative than usual.

Ah, lovely. I hope the first will come true in comments from my readers. The second will always be true because I believe goodness is its own reward, and kind interactions are always a reward for both parties. That third would seem to me nothing short of miraculous if it has any reference to my job, which takes up the bulk of my waking time throughout the week.

Oh, well. I guess they had to put something inside those cookies; they taste absolutely awful.

Welcome, Miley Cyrus, To The Adult World

I had noticed the brewing brouhaha over a recent Tweet by Miley Cyrus that had approvingly quoted physicist Laurence Krauss when he said:

"You are all stardust. You couldn't be here if stars hadn't exploded... So forget Jesus. Stars died so you could live."

The egg (I'm being nice here) immediately hit the fan and she is now learning the lesson that in our society (and others like it around the globe) you just don't say negative things about religion or religious icons without facing the consequences. She was promptly attacked by adults who proved that most never really fully outgrow that childish habit of taunting others who look at things differently.

But I think Miley showed some wisdom in a response Tweet:

"How can people take the love out of science and bring hate into religion so easily? It makes me sad to think the world is this way. Like Einstein says 'Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.'"

You go, girl!

That sad truth is that for many people - make that way too many people - religion and hate fit together, to use Ingersoll's old phrase, "like the upper and lower jaws of a hyena."

In my opinion that isn't religion at it's best. Religion at its best recognizes the unity of the human family and provides a positive, uplifting understanding of the cosmos. And certainly I agree that Einstein nailed it with "religion without science is blind." The inferiority of revealed religion compared to the scientific method is readily apparent to the thoughtful mind.

Sometimes A Potato Is Just A Potato

I'm not going to provide much in the way of commentary on this one for, I think, obvious reasons. A friend of mine showed me a picture she had taken of a potato and I asked her to send me a copy for my blog (thanks Tiffany!).

So now all of you can marvel with me over one of nature's amazing designs. Or perhaps it's just our marvelous pattern-seeking minds "seeing" things which really aren't there. We do that a lot when surveying nature.

What About Angel?

Strange place it is, the world of those who believe God takes an active role. I grew up around these people. Usually it is inspiring to think God has an eye on you and directs your path. Then sometimes life happens and you are left to make sense of it all.

Take this past weekend's tornado outbreak, for example. Many believers came through unharmed. Some lost property but were thankful that their lives were spared. Some didn't have their lives spared.

Where was God and what was he thinking?

Televangelist Pat Robertson, who is never shy about sharing his holy insight with us, stepped up to let us know that "[i]f enough people were praying He would’ve intervened."

But they didn't so He didn't, I suppose.

Rev. Robertson, what about Angel Babcock, the beautiful fifteen-month-old baby girl who was the sole survivor of her immediate family - her parents and two siblings - after tornadoes blew through the South and Midwest, only to die after being removed from the life support that was keeping her alive after suffering traumatic brain injuries? Is she to blame for not praying? Was it the fault of her neighbors for not praying hard enough to turn those storms away?

For myself I can accept that nature is indifferent to human needs and desires. But the idea that God is a person and is supposedly all-knowing and good and either causes or allows such things as this repulses me. It was the Achilles' heel for my faith.

Update: Since posting the above I found and read this story about Angel which reports that an eyewitness said Angel's family was "last seen lying in the hallway of their mobile home holding hands and praying as the tornado approached." That to me makes Robertson's comments only more obnoxious and offensive.

When The Storms Of Life Are Raging

Last April we had a severe weather outbreak with many tornadoes and severe thunderstorms devastating the area. One small town near here was almost completely wiped off the map. Lots of people lost homes and many lost loved ones.

We had another similar event this past Friday. When all was said and done this event was not as severe as last April's. Not as many tornadoes, not as much property damage, not as many lives lost, not so many people lost power. Of course there were still some very sad tales to come from this as covered in the media.

Again I was among the fortunate. While the world around seemed in great peril, I came through unscathed. I stood on my front deck and watched the storms - that were worse just to the north of where I live - blow through. I followed the continuous coverage of this event on the tube. Having gotten up quite early Friday morning, I finally threw in the towel and went to bed around 10:00 p.m., while the thunder and lighting raged, the winds blew, and the rain fell. Placing my future in the hand of the fates, I awoke refreshed early the following morning sound in body and with my electricity still on.

I won't lie and pretend the memory of last April was not still on my mind as much as everyone else's. My normal Friday routine is usually to go to the bank after work to deposit my check and then drop in at the grocery store next door to the bank to get some supplies. This time I skipped the store just in case the well predicted storms knocked off my power. I didn't want to lose a freezer full of groceries. Of course I didn't want to lose my home or life, either!

Perhaps it is times like these when I most miss my childhood faith. There was a comfort that came with believing I was special to God, that He watched over me with loving care as "now I lay me down to sleep." That the Lord and his angels kept watch over me as I journeyed along made me feel that nothing would happen that we couldn't handle together. Sure, being human I still experienced anxiety from time to time. But if God chose to "take me home" in a tornado, a car wreck, sickness, or whatever, He would surely give me the grace to go through it.

Now I realize that only the percentages protect me. The same odds that make me reluctant to spend hard-earned money on lottery tickets because of the huge probability I will lose allows me to face things like this past weekend's tornado threat with - if not perfect serenity, then at least - the comforting understanding of the odds against my becoming a statistic.

But I sure don't feel I have that "edge" that being a child of God supposedly brought me.

In dealing with my family and friends who are believers I find that it is that emotional pull that carries the day with them. Intellectual and philosophical objections carry practically no weight at all with them. There are standardized pat answers for every mental difficulty the theist faces with their faith, even if it is no more than the lack of human understanding in comparison to the superior wisdom of an all-knowing God.

My mother trusted God last April and again this past Friday. And He brought her through. At least in her thinking. What's more, He comforted her during her long hours of anxiety, because she talked with him the entire time. The existence of a personal, providential God is not an open question at all in her mind.

The theist may have a narrow view of things, but it is beyond assault because it is self-sustaining. Its biggest and onliest real proof that it is true is undeniably that feeling of inner confirmation of that which they believe. That faith brings great comfort to many like my mom and my dad, too, while he was still alive.

It seems to me from my personal study of the best of today's crop of theistic apologists that the bulk of their efforts are aimed at proving that God's existence is reasonable, as opposed to being obviously true. They need but to do that and emotions will pick it up from there and carry the day for most folks.

And that's just the way it is.

Note: I took for my post title the opening line of the old hymn Stand By Me. It was a favorite of mine back in my Christian days.

Can We Know Nothing About Jesus?

I suppose I take a somewhat conservative stance about Jesus of Nazareth. I'm not a mythicist and accept that he was a historical person. Being a naturalist I can't buy into the miracles and prophecies and such, but I will for the sake of the argument acknowledge a Jesus something similar to the guy the gospels present. I'm aware of the current trends in Jesus scholarship, but on this matter it seems everyone has something of an agenda.

But this story I was reading about Dr. Susannah Cornwall (of Manchester University's Theological institute) and her new book Intersex and Ontology: A Response to the Church, Women Bishops and Provision is certainly interesting.

Dr. Cornwall feels that

“It is not possible to assert with any degree of certainty that Jesus was male as we now define maleness. We cannot know for sure that Jesus was male, since we do not have a body to examine.”

I don't necessarily disagree with the good doctor there, but I don't know that I will spend any more time thinking about that than, say, the idea that Jesus was actually a visitor from outer space something similar to the way the idea is presented in the Ancient Aliens television show.

Certainly this will provide the fundamentalists and more conservative Christians something else to get angry about.

Mean

I suppose most of us liberal thinkers would like to think that our liberality extends to our hearts as well as our minds. That's why most of us bear the accusation of being a "bleeding heart liberal" rather proudly. I don't really know how to characterize conservative thinkers except maybe as staunch protectors of traditional views and values. In recent decades it seems to me that they have become more and more righteous about their task.

What got me to thinking about all this are two recent news stories and many of the responses they received. I love getting the news, but for me the big thrill of internet news and opinion editorials is being able to read the comments of other readers. These comments often remind me of the casual water-cooler type of talk that I encounter about a host of issues on any given day at work. They are also helpful glimpses into the minds of the common folks.

First, I refer to the now infamous "slut" remarks made by conservative idea man Rush Limbaugh. Frankly, I have little else but contempt for the rude, crude, and obnoxious manner in which he expresses himself. On the rare occasions I have read or listened to him and thought that he might actually be onto something his over the top deliveries turn me away from further consideration. His fans, however, love that very thing about him.

As I scanned comments from obvious Limbaugh fans I kept hoping for some conservatives who would speak out and say, "hey, that's cold and cruel and totally unnecessary." But mostly I read amens. Many not only agreed with him but ratcheted up the rhetoric a couple of turns. It occurred to me to wonder how those same people might be offended by someone talking about their daughter or sister the way they and Limbaugh spoke of the young woman he attacked.

And I read about the sudden death at a way too young age of conservative blogger and troublemaker Andrew Breitbart, a man I found repulsive in his handling of truth. Conservative commenters seemed oblivious to his underhanded way of doing business. On the other hand, I was repulsed by many of his non-admirers who practically rejoiced over his demise and even cracked jokes about his postmortem appearance before the judgment bar of the Almighty and the imagined sentence to the inferno.

It seems we almost can't disagree without being disagreeable. All of us may not go the extremes I've mentioned here, but I can think of more times than I care to recall that I have resorted in my posts to insults and name calling in responding to people who held ideas I just have trouble stomaching. I thought about how I tend not to do that when I'm disagreeing with a person one-on-one. When I'm staring directly into another set of human eyes, eyes that can reflect hurt and shock, it's not so easy for me to be glib, as it is when I'm angrily writing a post about some "idiot." (In something of a defense I'll say that my written words lack the force of my spoken words, being unaccompanied by facial expressions and voice inflections that make clear that I'm not being that serious.)

I'm not unaware that many folks can be totally obnoxious one-on-one and remain totally unmoved by physical signals of having inflicted emotional pain on another. I'm not taking a bow here because I don't go that far. It's just a matter of degree. I still feel convicted by my conscience.

The more I reach out to other people the handier I find it to take them, if possible, into my bosom (figuratively speaking) and treat them as friends. And if I find we disagree, I should treat them as a friend with whom I disagree, not as an enemy to me or to "The Truth."

I have formed a number of good friendships with people who disagree wildly with me about politics and religion - those main two controversial topics that comprise the bulk of my blogging efforts. I formed these friendships by not being heavy on the ad absurdum and general vitriol. I don't suggest it has always been easy, but maybe you really can't fight fire with fire.

Also, I admit that I'm getting far enough along the trail of life to start thinking about what my legacy will be. I don't want to be remembered as a mean person. What's more, I don't want to be a mean person. Honestly, it is perhaps a throwback to my religious fundamentalist upbringing that it is far too easy for me to take some things too seriously. Being "right" shouldn't be more important than being kind, should it?

You can imagine that I get told a lot that I'm being prayed for. I never complain or chastise people for that (unless they are obviously condescending). I take it as a sincere expression of caring. So what if I fear petitionary prayer is probably useless? It is thought that counts to me. If someone wants to share their religious testimony with me, I don't care, and only start to bristle if they go overboard.

I can have long and profitable conversations with political conservatives about their concern for the overall state of our society and the threat of too much government interference in human rights, even find areas of agreement. Granted I detect their "slippery slope" style of argument more readily than I do the liberal's - but our differences often seem more about methods than goals.

Perhaps the disagreements aren't as serious a matter as the way in which we disagree with each other. For example, it amazes how some people can get so worked over matters that really have little or no impact on them or their loved ones, but do it anyway because it is consistent with their overall religious or political outlook.

All of this isn't to say that truth (small "t") doesn't matter. But it probably matters most to those who are seeking it. Millions upon millions go and have gone through life willingly ignorant about a broad range of subjects and are and have been happy for their journey.

However, on many matters what you don't know or know incorrectly can harm you. There is a need to be truthful. Can that not be done altruistically? We shouldn't be too heavy handed here. I'm reminded of something the French philosopher Denis Diderot said: "It is very important not to mistake hemlock for parsley; but not at all so to believe or not in God."

I have a desire to purge the meanness from my personality.

Another Way Of Looking At Religion

The subject of religion could not help but fascinate me, coming as I do from a religious tradition where lives are centered on the concept of God and our proper place in the divine scheme. I have over the years come to a point where I feel "special revelation" is a thing to be critically examined and rejected. It seems to me that most of the bad aspects of religion revolve around a "divine truth" that must be accepted by faith alone, apart from our human capacity to use reason.

The late Anglican priest and professor of divinity William Inge long ago wrote a book titled Truth and Falsehood in Religion in which he penned the following thoughtful passage:

Let us then go back to the beginning—to the dawn of the religious consciousness. I am convinced that those who have traced the beginnings of religion to a single source, are mistaken. Neither the dream-hypothesis, nor "animism," nor (with Statius and Petronius) the simple feeling of vague fear, will account for the birth of religion. And to speak (with Max M. Tiller) of the desire to establish relations with the Infinite, is to introduce a word which has not proved very helpful in religious philosophy. I should rather say that the raw material of religion is the sense of some Power beyond our control, on which we are dependent, yet not so absolutely dependent as to be incapable of entering into mutual relations with it.

For some that power is a mysterious and undefinable Way, for others it is an underlying Logos back of the universe, many understand that power in a personal way, and there are those of us who just find something divine about the Cosmos itself. Some seem to opt out of thinking about it this way at all.

For me, as I wrote above, this subject is an abiding fascination

Death Of A Radical Theologian

It may or may not be true that God is dead, but it is true that influential theologian William Hamilton, one of the leading voices of the Death of God theology, has gone the way of all flesh, dead at age 87.

I remember being a child in the 1960s watching my mom practicing the song If God Is Dead, Who's This Living In My Soul on her Martin Guitar, preparing to perform it at our little church. Which she did on several occasions. I didn't understand the song or why it was necessary to rebut such an absurd notion. Even as a child I knew that God had always existed and always would.

There was preacher in our church whom I heard on several occasion describe the morning he was in his kitchen making his morning cup of coffee when the news that God had died came on his radio's morning news. I'm sure that was an item about the 1966 Times Magazine cover and article about the Death of God theology. He made it sound more like one of those news flashes that occur when any well-known person dies.

It was years before I was old enough (and brave enough) to explore such radical ideas for myself and finally gain understanding of what this was all about.

For Hamilton the death of God served as a metaphorical explanation for a problem that has vexed many thoughtful God-believers, the apparent unjustness - from a human perspective, of course - of the world. That God had created everything and pronounced it good and then allowed sin into his universe only went so far in making the problem of pain digestible to the religious soul. How can a good God stand by and watch the wholesale pain and suffering, the outright evil in abundance, and allow it to go on and on and on?

The problem became real for him when he was a teenager and an explosion caused from the manufacturing of a pipe bomb killed two of his Christian friends but left a third, an atheist, unscathed. He eventually became a non-theistic Christian, highly attracted to the person and teaching of Jesus, but unable to recognize an intervening God behind the universe.

His controversial idea, after it was widely propagated, brought him both fame and notoriety. But for those of us who were brought up as conservative Christians but later grappled with the tough subject of theodicy and who listened to these "radical theologians," his efforts are greatly appreciated. While the song I mentioned above, which was quite popular on country-themed radio stations back then, displayed an appalling lack of understanding and under-appreciation for the depth of the problem.