Facets of Our Lives

I had originally intended to title this post "On Religion", but upon introspection, the issue is dogma as much as it is religion, and I believe I'll explain this adequately later. If you've read the prior posts in this series, you will probably have many assumptions about what I intend to say. You're probably right. Let's dive in. Merriam-Webster defines dogma as follows: a :something held as an established opinion; especially :a definite authoritative tenet b :a code of such tenets pedagogical dogma c :a point of view or tenet put forth as authoritative without adequate grounds a doctrine or body of doctrines concerning faith or morals formally stated and authoritatively proclaimed by a church Dogma, in a non-religious sense, is not damaging in and of itself. It is only as benign or malignant as its content, as well as how it is applied directly and indirectly to a population. For that matter, secular humanists subscribe to a certain level of non-re...

I am an atheist. I say this without shame or reservation. This essay will discuss my history and the contradictions and circumstances that have led me to this position. My family history has included several examples of individuals changing religions because of who they wished to marry. These were various flavors of Christ-centered religions, so it wasn’t terribly jarring to the individual in terms of philosophies, but mostly in terms of rituals and rules. I was baptized as a Methodist, although my mother tended to refer to us as Protestants. When my mother remarried, she converted to become Roman Catholic in order to marry in my stepfather’s Catholic church. My brother and I followed suit, and I was confirmed at age 14. From a very early age, I questioned what I was being taught in the Bible in Sunday School or Catechism classes. First, it was the usual, “who did Cain marry?” Apparently, she was from the Land of Nod. I guess this was a suburb of Eden or something. No reco...

On Friday, 22nd July 2011, Norway endured coordinated terrorist attacks in the city of Oslo and the nearby island of Utoya. I am writing this post on Saturday, as information is still being discovered, determined, and evaluated. The death toll is currently 93* as of this writing, with the vast majority of the victims being teenagers at a youth camp. The man suspected to be responsible for this chaos has been additionally identified as a Christian fundamentalist, concerned about non-Christians being present in the country. A friend on Facebook wrote, Well when we stop focusing on important issues like banning marriages, smoking, and the right to live as individuals maybe we will find time to stop the hate. My response was, It's not the hate, it's the continued arrogance and ignorance. Do away with those, and the hate goes with it. And it's just that simple. Humanity continues to work under the premise that one group is inherently better than another, and we al...

First, thank you all for the feedback regarding Post 5.5 - Evangelical Arrogance . Much of it has been through e-mail and other private methods, but all of it has been civil, supportive, and without attack or malice, irrespective of your personal beliefs -- so again, my deepest thanks. It also led to this question from Facets reader, Deirdre Pape: I would be interested to know if any of your friends that don't follow a religion were raised in a specific faith?  I was raised Catholic but no longer believe in organized religion.  But even so I struggle constantly about not raising my children in any faith.  I think it would be hypocritical to enroll them in CCD or go to church but I also wonder if I am depriving them of some sense of community.  Any thoughts on this? I invite you all to respond to Deirdre's question. Here is my response for myself personally. I was raised in a multi-Protestant and Catholic background. Despite observing various faiths over time, my...

I believe there are forces at work in the universe that we cannot see or understand. I believe there are forces for good and evil, whether originating from living beings or otherwise, but they are there. I believe you get back what you put out there, one way or another. You can call this karma, God, whatever - but my beliefs and feelings are pretty simple, so I can see goodness in people who call themselves religious or spiritual, no matter how they might choose to express that, provided they are living their lives in ways that do not harm other people directly or indirectly. For me, it's about justice, compassion, empathy, and a generous amount of common sense. I don't need a mythology or a book to let me do this - I am a thinking, feeling, educated human being. As such, I believe in the American separation of church and state. We do not live in a theocracy. I feel you should believe what you want and worship whatever deity you feel you need to, or not . This is at the core ...