Category Archives: Church and state
Covid19 goes to church
St. Paul, in urging more-or-less faithful Jewish Christians, reminded them (Hebrews 10:25) “to stir up each other in love and good works, not neglecting to meet together.” That’s evolved in practice to mean no less frequently than on Sundays. In … Continue reading
Fighting COVID-19 with prayer
About three weeks ago President Trump appeared at a campaign event in a Miami megachurch where congregants had been urged to attend by their “Apostle” Guillermo Maldonado. Like a number of fundamentalist churches across America, official White House warnings against … Continue reading
Lying for god and party
The antics and lies of President Trump have for three years distracted Americans—including me—from better use of our time. I established this blog in the pre-Trump bliss of mid-2013 chiefly to address church/state issues and the immorality of religion. The … Continue reading
Republican leaders on church-state separation
Politicians and individual voters change their views over time. Seeking consistency in any party is certain to be a confusing search even from year to year, much less over a few decades. For example, in the 1930s there was great … Continue reading
The Great Wall of Cyrus…uh, Donald
Why isn’t Donald Trump’s unfitness obvious to everyone? A majority of Americans have found his approval ratings, though low, still persistently higher than his competence, personality, and truthfulness would seem to support. Can it really be that one of every … Continue reading
Happy anniversary, Bill of Rights!
Today, December 15, is the 227th anniversary of the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. The first of these ten began with the following words: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or … Continue reading
Creeping toward theocracy
Slightly over half the world’s religionists are Muslim or Christian, each powerfully motivated by belief that a loving/vengeful god entices with paradise and threatens with horror. To each camp, the other is anathema. Adherents of each are convinced of a … Continue reading
Islam: religion or political ideology?–Part 3
This concludes a series of three posts that together address the claim that a growing Islam population in America is a danger due to its being a political ideology flying under a false flag as a religion. I’ve pointed out that while … Continue reading
Islam: religion or political ideology?–Part 2
My most recent post (April 13) began to address a reader’s claim that Islam is not a “true religion, but a political ideology masquerading as a religion . . . incompatible with the Constitution.” I argued that defining religious doctrines … Continue reading
Islam: religion or political ideology?–Part 1
“Is Islam a true religion or a political ideology masquerading as a religion?” One of my blog’s “followers” in early 2017 posed this question in the comments section of my February 25 post, titled “So-called religious liberty bills.” My reader went … Continue reading
Science and religion in Louisiana
I’ve written more than a dozen posts in this blog on the clash between science and religion, as well as more than two dozen on Christians and Muslims using their beliefs to bully and control others. In the United States no … Continue reading
Legislators set to abuse religious freedom . . . again
State legislatures are busy again considering so-called “religious liberty” bills, and the year’s just begun. Over 160 bills have been filed by legislators around the country thus far. Seasoned observers, after years of watching politicians’ sausage-making, are not fooled by … Continue reading
Theocracy’s poster boy, Alabama’s Roy Moore
Alabama’s twice-deposed judge, Roy Moore, exemplifies such a distressing feature of present day America that I admit to a little schadenfreude in view of his recent sexual behavior problems. Innocent until proven guilty applies to state action in a court, … Continue reading
Church donations trump secular ones by IRS
In case you’ve missed the news the last couple of weeks about the Johnson Amendment, named after Lyndon Johnson, its promoter, let me catch you up. The provision requires a few pages to understand, but in general it establishes that … Continue reading
So-called religious liberty bills
Here in Georgia and in state legislatures around the country, “religious liberty” bills are once again in the air. These bills propose to protect rights which proponents claim are slipping away—Americans’ religious freedom. Well, not really “religious freedom,” for that’s … Continue reading
“God-given” rights—2
This popular term in the United States is as incumbent on politician-talk as mouthing the obligatory “God bless America” at the end of each speech. I’ll skip past the self-serving implication of a speaker’s allying herself or himself with God … Continue reading
Islam – 3
In my recent post, “Islam – 2” (Sep. 14, 2016), I promised—with ample provisos, I trust—to share thoughts on how Americans can reduce one source of their fears about our growing Muslim population and to do so without sacrificing one of … Continue reading
Islam – 2
In my post “Islam – 1” (June 28) I promised further “musing” about this fraught topic. Of more than 130 in this blog thus far, these posts on Islam involved the most time and led to the most consternation. Americans’ … Continue reading
Islam (1)
I was asked to subject Islam to the same degree of critique I aim at Christianity. Although I’ve frequently explained that Islam is already included in my criticisms of “Abrahamic religions” (or more broadly, “theistic religions”), I must admit having … Continue reading
Sincere religious belief
The Christian Right has become greatly attached to this phrase. The most recent application is whether a business owner should be compelled to conform to the law if doing so is unacceptable in the owner’s “sincere religious belief.” Lately, freedom … Continue reading
Flirting with theocracy
Fundamentalist American Christians as a group can no more be trusted to mean “religious liberty” when they say it than the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea can be trusted to really mean “democratic.” My home state of Georgia, accustomed to … Continue reading
Religion in the public square
The term public square has become popular in Religious Right language in recent years. There is a great deal of umbrage taken that liberals and atheists have pushed religion out of the public square. Many Christians complain about the “attack” … Continue reading
Blasphemed lately? Watch your back!
The word blasphemy is not as frequently heard in the Western world as it used to be. But among the faithful the concept has not gone away. (Christians often condemn blasphemy in words and deeds while avoiding the seemingly archaic … Continue reading
What good are Christian soldiers without an enemy?
Christians, most of whom are well meaning, seem unable to grasp how bullying it is to use the power of government to support their views. Christians, like Muslims, Jews, Atheists, and all else are totally free to practice and argue … Continue reading
America chose liberty this week
For those who think their Bible trumps the Constitution in civil matters, this week has been disappointing. The theocratic lunacy of presidential candidate Mike Huckabee and other Christian fundamentalists appeals to and multiplies the ignorance of those who think “freedom … Continue reading
Religious freedom to refuse service?
The current flap over refusing service to gay couples goes beyond refusing marriage licenses. One example is Jennifer Schoenrock of Waynesville, Missouri, a court clerk in Pulaski County, who is quoted as saying she will refuse to issue marriage licenses … Continue reading
National Prayer Breakfast 2015
Despite the warnings of our founders about mixing religion and government, proponents of religion call upon government to support their teachings whenever possible. That runs from the schoolroom to the halls of the White House and Congress. Well, it isn’t … Continue reading
Freedom of religion requires freedom from religion
Among my memberships, I’m a life member of the Freedom from Religion Foundation (atheists and agnostic members) and a member of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (religious and non-religious members). I believe I am more committed to freedom … Continue reading
E pluribus . . . . whatever.
In a recent Sunday New York Times column, Thomas Friedman opined about the advantages of pluralism over separatism in sociopolitical organization. He mentioned the official motto of the United States, e pluribus unum. When I was a child, I learned … Continue reading
Our national day of prayer
Today, May 1, is the date pronounced by the Congress for Americans to pray for the nation. Prayer has long and widely been rumored to produce results, but has never been demonstrated to do so. True, prayer can surely be … Continue reading
Atheists in public office
The framers of the Constitution that officially created—and as amended still governs—the United States of America were sensitive to the detrimental effects of government entangled with religion. The Constitution is not anti-religion by any means, but it is neutral about … Continue reading
The Big Ten (no, not university sports)
What tragedies, social dysfunctions, and evil trends would be prevented if only American schools, courts, city councils, and the public square would post the Ten Commandments . . . or so the faithful—and, curiously, the not so faithful as well—would … Continue reading
Public education: Using the bully(ing) pulpit
Most Christians don’t mean to bully with their religion nor do they think of themselves as bullies. After all, they’ve been taught to believe that their religion is gentle and loving, the very model of “good will toward men.” On … Continue reading
Being civil about gay marriage
About macro-economics, I’m moderately conservative. About freedom of lifestyle, I’m hyper liberal. It may, therefore, seem inconsistent that I am opposed to gay marriage. Let me explain. Gay marriage is controversial only due to the entanglement of religion in civil … Continue reading
John just thinking . . . . 