Shorthand explanations often get in the way of deeper understanding. We simplify the always-complex realities of our world in order to make sense of it, but much nuance and context is lost in these simplifications and shorthands. For example, though they say the exact same thing, this headline: Brainwashed brainwashers seeking societal overthrow who worship … Continue reading Context Provides Clarity
Tag: Religion
The Evolution of Understanding
For many thousands of years, everyone on the planet who cared to think about it knew that the Sun revolved around the Earth. It was obvious. You could see it happen every day with your own eyes. The Sun rose in the east, traveled across the sky, and set in the west in its endless … Continue reading The Evolution of Understanding
Beware: All Politics Are National
Every local, county, and state initiative across the nation is just a rehearsal for multi-state and national application.Local book bans, voting rights curtailment, denial of medical care, legislated bigotry, etcetera are just tests of whether and which people will tolerate them -- and which arguments will and won't work for and against them.What the ignorant, … Continue reading Beware: All Politics Are National
What Sacrifice?
Across the nation and around the world, in the houses of faith and the minds of the faithful, much is made of the sacrifice of Jesus, and the reverence and devotion that is owed for it. The greatness of that act, and the obligation attached to it, is the very foundation of religions followed by … Continue reading What Sacrifice?
The Answer
"If you love me,"Replied the deity,"Forget me."Tear down the houses of worship.Silence your endless prayers."Be good to others.Make the world a better place, in however small a way."And do it allWithout expectation of eternal reward,Or fear of eternal punishment."
Reality Show Idea: House Swap
I feel like this must have been done in some way already, but I don't think it has been done like this. Swap comparable homes of two families who live in racially or religiously or politically different neighborhoods. Move the families completely out of their homes, and into each other's. Follow them as they settle … Continue reading Reality Show Idea: House Swap
The Missed Point of Faith
After thousands -- even tens of thousands -- of years of practice, the faithful have always somehow missed the ultimate point of faith. The point of religion and faith isn't to spend a lifetime groveling before god, begging it to make your life better, or nagging it to intervene in affairs you ought to be … Continue reading The Missed Point of Faith
To Those of Extremist Faith
Author's note: I originally wrote this a few days after the Pulse nightclub shootings, hence some of the specific references. And though it's christian-centric, the message is universally applicable. To those of extremist faith: God's job is not your job. It's his universe. They're his rules. He is the decider. He is the punisher. And … Continue reading To Those of Extremist Faith
God, the Abortionist
Studies have shown that half of all pregnancies worldwide end in miscarriage. That means that miscarriage is not an anomaly. It is not unusual. In fact, miscarriage is the most common result of pregnancy. In 2018, the year of the most recent such study I could find, there were 140.2 million births worldwide. Another 42 … Continue reading God, the Abortionist
God Doesn’t Care About Abortion
In multiple places, the Bible explicitly states that a child isn’t alive until it is filled with the breath of life … that is, when it takes its first breath. The abortion of a fetus is not the ending of a person’s life, as the fetus is not a person – and has not been … Continue reading God Doesn’t Care About Abortion
Heath Fogelman, author 