Tag: Religious Beliefs

What Happened To Separation?

Before I go any further let me state here and now….when it comes to religion I just do not care….it is a personal practice and should be left to that….it should not be forced onto anyone by anyone for any reason.

If you will recall the first amendment states….The first clause in the Bill of Rights states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”

And yet the Donny show wants religion at work….

Federal workers now have broader leeway to pray and discuss their faith at the office under new guidelines from the Trump administration. The changes, outlined by the Office of Personnel Management, permit employees to share religious beliefs and try to “persuade others of the correctness of their own religious views,” as long as they don’t cross into harassment, per Politico. Supervisors can also encourage religious expression, including prayer, without fear of violating workplace rules.

  • OPM Director Scott Kupor framed the move as a step toward making federal workplaces more accommodating for employees of all faiths. The White House noted that similar language appeared in a Bill Clinton-era memo.
  • Reaction has been mixed. Supporters like Andrew Walker of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary say the policy simply reinforces basic constitutional rights, provided no one is coerced or harassed. “To me, that’s simply reaffirming the First Amendment,” Walker tells Politico.
  • On the other side, advocates for church-state separation voice concern about potential pressure in the workplace. Mikey Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation warns the new rules might blur lines between personal faith and professional advancement. He questions whether employees might feel compelled to conform to a supervisor’s religious preferences, framing it as a potential constitutional conflict.
  • Still other critics note that allowing religious talk in the workplace also raises the potential for more conflict. “The more religion is allowed into the workplace, the more likely it is that differences of opinion are raised,” Stefanie Camfield of HR firm Engage PEO tells the Washington Post. “In the current political environment, these types of differences have a way of turning into arguments. In some cases, it leads to outright hostility, which makes it more likely that an employee will feel singled out and discriminated against for their beliefs.”

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5423969-trump-memo-religious-expression/

I am sorry if this upsets anyone but I refuse to step anywhere near some ‘prayer group’ if I were at work….I would be paid to act in the interest of my country not some form of religious missionary work.

This needs a challenge but that would be a fart in the wind for the political hacks we have at SCOTUS are worthless and not working in the interests of the Constitution or this nation.

+++Off I go to get juiced(chemo) so this will be it for today I will be trying to shake off the funk afterwards….have a good day and a better weekend….+++

Peace.  Out.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The BLITZ Is On!

****Warning this post may offend the ‘righteous’ but I take the Constitution seriously and for that reason I felt I had to re-post this piece****

As I stated I firmly believe that the first amendment is being violated by d/bags in the states by mandating religious issues in our schools.

This is a re-post from my blog that aggravates as much as possible.

Christian Bullshit At Its Best

All this is a concerted effort by christian nationalist to drive home their thoughts of supremacy.

Ever hear of Project Blitz?

Probably not so let me introduce you….

Project Blitz….

The guide instructs Christian nationalists to work in three phases.

First, they are supposed to pass bills that are expected to receive the least opposition. These “religious heritage” bills encourage or force public schools to offer Bible classes and display “In God We Trust,” as well as mandate the creation of “In God We Trust” license plates.

This first seemingly innocuous phase is meant to build enough momentum to pass “religious history and freedom” bills, which purport that America was, is, and will always be a Christian nation. Examples include “Year of the Bible” and “Christian Heritage Week” bills.

After grabbing this “low hanging fruit,” Christian nationalists move on to more dangerous bills that undermine equality by allowing discrimination in child welfare and religious refusals in health care.

There is so much more….read on…..

https://www.blitzwatch.org/

These religious zealots are doing what they accused Muslims of wanting to do 15 years ago…..any mandate on any religion is not in accordance with the Constitution….you can justify it any way we choose but the fact is it is a violation of our rights.

Someone needs to step up,besides the ACLU, and bring these policies down around the ears of the d/bags that pretend to be ‘christian’.

Enough said!

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Changing Religious Landscape

It is a Sunday and time to look at the trends in our society.

I am always interested in how Americans choose to embrace their religious affiliations. Not because I am a religious person but rather how the times are changing and so is the religious beliefs of our people.

This is a study made along those lines….

A growing number of Americans are switching religions, Axios reports. According to a Public Religion Research Institute Poll, almost a quarter of Americans follow a different denomination or tradition than the one they grew up in, including those who switched to no religious affiliation. This trend is supported by a 2022 Pew Research Center study, which projects that religious switching will continue to reshape the American religious landscape in the years to come. With a variety of factors contributing to this shift, such as changing personal beliefs, dissatisfaction with religious institutions, and the influence of friends and family, the landscape of religious affiliation in the United States is transforming rapidly. As the Religion News Service reported in 2014, the reasons behind this trend are complex.

Certain elements in making such changes are common: People often change churches, switch faiths, or leave religion altogether due to personal experiences, evolving beliefs, or dissatisfaction with the way religious organizations handle social issues. And as individuals encounter new communities and ideas, their religious perspectives may adapt accordingly. This shift in religious affiliations has significant implications for faith-based organizations, as they must adapt to the changing needs and expectations of their congregations to remain relevant and maintain membership. As this trend continues to evolve, the American religious landscape will undoubtedly face new challenges and opportunities in the coming years.

It will be fascinating to see just how the major religions handle a changing climate for religion.

This survey could answer some of the questions…..

This is an interesting snapshot on the state of religion in America: As of 2022, not quite half of Americans have no doubt that God is watching over them, which is a little startling in that that number topped 60% in 2008, just 15 years ago. As the Hill reports, citing the General Social Survey conducted by the University of Chicago’s NORC research group, about a third of Americans—34%—never go to church, but about three-quarters of Americans classify themselves as spiritual and believe in things like life after death. Not surprisingly, churches, in terms of membership and attendance, took a hit during the pandemic—as did belief in a higher power. Findings from a recent study by the Public Religion Research Institute also add some interesting findings. Highlights:

  • Most Americans are still Christian, and white Christians have stayed static at 42% over the last five years. It’s worth noting: that number was 54% in 2006 and 72% in 1990.
  • Christians of color make up 25% of the nation’s population.
  • Only 7% of Americans do not believe in God, per the Hill. “Belief is very stubborn in America today,” say Ryan Burge, who studies faith at Eastern Illinois University. Another 7% are agnostic, meaning they think the answer is unknowable. The remainder believe but have doubts to some degree.
  • Mainline Protestantism is “collapsing,” says Burge. Nondenominational Protestants, however, clock in at nearly 15% of Americans and “are the second-largest religious group in America today, after Catholics.”
  • The percentage of those who are religiously unaffiliated has risen to 27% from 16% in 2006.
  • The number of Americans who worship in other houses—including Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or Unitarian Universalist—has held pretty steady at 6%.

Check out the full NORC survey here, or the PRRI study here.

Let’s not forget the massive sexual abuse report on the Catholic Church….

In 2018, a grand jury report was released in Pennsylvania naming 300-plus “predator priests” in the state accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 children over a period of seven decades. Partly inspired by those revelations, then-Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan started a probe in her own state, releasing what the AP calls a “blistering” partial report on the matter before she left office in early 2019. Now Kwame Raoul, who took over for Madigan and continued the investigation, has released the numbers his office uncovered, revealing more than 450 Catholic clergy across Illinois’ six dioceses, including the Archdiocese of Chicago, sexually abused 1,197 children between 1950 and 2019.

The 696-page report released Tuesday was compiled by 25 staffers based on more than 100,000 pages of diocese documents, as well as 600 confidential interactions with survivors. The report added 149 names of accused clergy to lists of child sex abusers that the dioceses themselves had already IDed either before or during the AG’s investigation, reports the New York Times. The paper notes that none of the total 451 accused are currently in active ministry, and at least 330 of them are thought to now be dead.

Have a good Sunday and a safe Memorial Day

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–29Sep21

There are reports that Americans are moving away from organized religion….the numbers are declining….Christians may not be the only religion suffering from the loss of faith…..

Ex-Muslims are publicly flaunting their rejection of Islam as never before: a steamy tell-all memoir tops the country’s best-seller lists. One video (with 1.5 million views) shows a copy of the Koran ripped into pieces; another video shows a woman in a bikini cooking and eating bacon; and blasphemous cartoons of Muhammad.

Beyond such provocations, ex-Muslims work to change the image of Islam. Wafa Sultan went on Al Jazeera television to excoriate Islam in an exalted Arabic and over thirty million viewers watched the video. Ayaan Hirsi Ali wrote a powerful autobiography about growing up female in Somalia and went on to author high-profile books criticizing Islam. Ibn Warraq wrote or edited a small library of influential books on his former religion, includingWhy I am Not a Muslim (1995) andLeaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out (2003).

Behind these individuals stand Western-based organizations of ex-Muslims that encourage Muslims to renounce their faith, provide support to those who have already taken this step, and lobby against Islam with the knowledge of insiders and the passion of renegades.

Together, these phenomena point to an unprecedented shift: The historically illegal and unspeakable actions among Muslims of open disbelief in God and rejection of Muhammad’s mission has spread to the point that it shakes the Islamic faith.

https://nationalinterest.org/feature/atheism-among-muslims-%E2%80%9Cspreading-wildfire%E2%80%9D-193924

This is surprising to me…..my time in the Middle East I observed that Muslims were some of the most devout religious followers that I had ever met.

This will play little in the media when the next bug-a-boo with Islam arises…..after all there is an election on the horizon and fear will be a powerful motivator to generate votes…..most American need an enemy to get their ‘patriotic’ juices flowing.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–28Sep21

I read a lot and in that time I read some really crazy theories and stories…..and this is just one of those…..

Could the Afghans be the lost tribe of Israel?

Periodically over the past two decades, newspaper headlines have raised the tantalizing question of whether the Pashtun tribes who make up most of the Taliban are in fact our long-lost relatives, descendants of the Israelites who were cast into exile by the Assyrian empire more than 2,700 years ago.
 
While the possibility of such a connection may strike some as fanciful, a cursory look at the evidence suggests that it cannot and should not be dismissed out of hand.
The Pashtuns, or Pathans, are said to number in the tens of millions, with the bulk living in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. They consist of several hundred clans and tribes that have fiercely preserved their heritage amid waves of foreign conquest and occupation.
 
Prior to the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the region, many of the Pashtuns declared themselves to be what they referred to as Bani Israel (Sons of Israel), an oral tradition that their ancestors passed down through the generations.
 
Whatcha think?
 
Me?
 
Could care less.
 
I Read, I Write, You Know
 
“lego ergo scribo”

The Devil–What You Know Is Wrong!

It is Halloween and if normal there will be all sorts of creatures out and about…..and that included “devils”…

Speaking of the Devil….what you think you know is probably wrong……

The Devil is one of those figures that pretty much everyone has heard of, and pretty much anyone who’s heard of him has a good idea of what his deal is. They know what he looks like, what his real name is, what his secret origin story is, and all about how he wages war against God for the souls of humankind from his blazing kingdom of the damned in the depths of Hell.

And while for many people, the Devil is a folkloric figure or even just a metaphor, many others believe in a literal Devil who has real impact on the world. So even though it would be impossible to be “wrong” about a folkloric Devil, if you want to believe in a biblical Devil, you should know what the Bible does — and more often, doesn’t – say about him. Spoilers: all the things you know from the first paragraph are wrong.

The Devil isn’t God’s archenemy

In the popular conception of the Devil, he is the embodiment of pure evil, and as such, he’s God’s opposite number. The idea is that God and Satan are constantly at war with each other for the souls of humanity, each sending out their angels against the others’ in order to destroy their greatest enemy. This view, however, isn’t supported by the Bible at all. As the Encyclopedia Britannica points out, it’s only in post-biblical Jewish literature that Satan becomes an adversary of God. The idea of Satan as the ruler of fallen angels who rebelled against God simply does not exist in the Hebrew scriptures.

The idea of more or less equal forces of good and evil battling against each other likely entered into Jewish (and subsequently Christian) thinking as a result of the Jews being exposed to the more dualistic religion of Zoroastrianism when they were exiled to Babylon in the 6th century B.C.

While in the New Testament Satan is portrayed more clearly as an enemy of God, he’s still not anywhere close to equal in power. The best he can do is try to tempt Jesus into abandoning his mission of salvation and worship him, all of which Jesus resists without much effort. It’s only weaker-willed humans like Judas who succumb to Satan’s power. Satan and his minions don’t stand a chance against Jesus.

….Read On…..

Read More: https://www.grunge.com/268331/things-people-get-wrong-about-the-devil/

Happy Halloween and just pleased to able to make that wish in person….

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Do We Need Religion?

The weekend and I thought maybe a little debate would be good for the soul….

Before we start…please this is a debate…..if you cannot logically and rationally state a case then move on…..

I read a piece in a journal entitle “Public Discourse”…..and I would like to hear opinions from my readers…..please read the article before going off on some mindless rant……

A great irony of the Jewish and Christian faith traditions: One must be willing to accept suffering and sacrifice for a greater purpose that transcends one’s particular material and sensual needs and desires. Counter-intuitively, it is these transcendent qualities of faith that eschew utilitarian aims for a greater purpose that create the circumstances for greater material well-being.

“Too much religion is bad for a country,” asserts Max Boot in a recent Washington Post op-ed. Boot cites a number of indicators—average GDP per capita, unemployment rates, poverty rates, homicide rates, life expectancy, infant mortality, education, and degree of political liberties—that suggest that “less religious nations are much better off.” Indeed, Australia, Sweden, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Japan, some of the least religious nations in the world, rank best in the aforementioned categories, while many of the most religious nations in the world (the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Thailand, India, Nigeria) are among the worst. America represents a unique case in this regard, being both wealthy and developed, but more religious than her Western counterparts. Would she be better off if her religious practice were to decline to levels found elsewhere in the developed world?

Would America Be Better Off without Religion?

Me?

I do not think it must be front and center of society…..it is a personal decision and should remain just that…..personal…..but I will say I do not think organized religion has done society any favors of the centuries from the past.

But here are a few things about religion and government….

The separation of church and state has come under scrutiny again this summer after the Supreme Court sided with religious conservatives in a series of rulings. One of the rulings allows states to fund religious schools indirectly, while another protects religious schools from federal employment discrimination lawsuits.

Americans have been debating where to draw the line between religion and government since the country’s founding. And even as the percentage of religiously unaffiliated Americans rises, church and state remain intertwined in many ways – often with the public’s support.

Here are eight facts about the connections between religion and government in the United States, based on previously published Pew Research Center analyses.

8 facts about religion and government in the United States

I believe it is time for true Christians to take back their religion from those extremists that only use it to further their agenda.

Right-wing extremists continue to promulgate falsehoods about religion in American society. Their claim that the United States was founded as a Christian nation is easily refuted by noting that the word “Christian” does not appear in any of the founding documents. The First Amendment unequivocally prohibits the government from the establishment of any state-endorsed religion. John Adams reaffirmed this succinctly in 1796 in the Treaty of Tripoli: “The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.”

Nonetheless, the fearmongers of Fox News and other right-wing propaganda outlets continue to peddle hate, suspicion and exhortations to violence to stand against the infamous, but nonexistent, “War on Christianity.” Christianity is dying in America as a result of the internal corruption, hypocrisy and deceit of those who claim to be the stalwarts protecting their faith.

https://www.courier-journal.com/story/opinion/2020/09/28/genuine-christians-must-speak-up-takeback-dying-religion/5841981002/

“Everybody wants to go to Heaven but no one wants to die”

Your thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Blame It On Gay Marriage!

There has been so many things that have been blamed on the institution of gay marriage……but the best is that this pandemic is God’s revenge on humanity for gay marriage.

A religious leader in Ukraine has done just that…blamed gays for the pandemic…..but there is a twist here……

leading church figure in Ukraine who previously described the coronavirus outbreak as “God’s punishment” against gay marriage has contracted COVID-19.

Patriarch Filaret, leader of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate, is in a stable condition in hospital after it was announced on September 4 that he had contracted the virus.

“We inform you that His Holiness Patriarch Filaret of Kyiv and All Rus-Ukraine tested positive for COVID-19 during planned testing,” the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate said in a statement.

https://www.newsweek.com/patriarch-filaret-coronavirus-gay-marriage-ukraine-1530261

If there is a God then he has proven that he has a sense of humor…in my book.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A Closing Sunday Thought

It is a Sunday and what better time to ask the probing question of the ages?

For a thousand years (probably more) there have been those that have predicted the end of the world…..most of which has been just total BS…but wait…there is yet another Biblical scholar that has finally figured it all out…..

Professor Tom Meyer, an expert in Bible studies and Middle East languages at Shasta Bible College and Graduate School in California, explained exactly when it is all going to go down to the Daily Express.

“According to the ancient Hebrew calendar, the year isn’t 2020 AD but rather 5780, meaning 5,780 years have passed since the God of the Bible created the heavens and the Earth,” revealed Meyer.

“The starting date comes from a genealogy within the book of Genesis. Genesis 5:1 through 6:8 is a written account of the descendants of Adam including their ages at the time of the birth of their firstborn son.

Bible Scholar Has FINALLY Figured Out When The End Of The World Will Actually Happen, Maybe

2240?

It is much better to predict far into the future that way you cannot be ridiculed when it does not happen and besides none of us will be around to see if he was right.

Was Jesus black, brown, white or what?

Like I said….a probing question for here in the so-called West….he is depicted as a white guy with blond hair and blue eyes…..but the region that he is supposedly born and raised in is not noted for its blond hair or blue eyes….or for that matter white skin.

So back to the question…was Jesus black, white or other?

Ever since controversial Black Lives Matter activist/commentator Shaun King called for all white European images of Jesus to be torn down because they promote white supremacy, a simple but provocative question has presented itself: Was Jesus white? 

The Bible doesn’t reveal Jesus’ skin color, but what we do know is that he came to earth as a Jew born in the Middle East. 

“Jews have always been considered white under the U.S. Census Bureau standards,” says Charlotte Allen, author of the book, “The Human Christ: The Search for the Historical Jesus.” “Suddenly there’s kind of a movement among radical leftists to say that all these people are not white.”

https://justthenews.com/nation/culture/black-white-or-other-debate-about-jesus-race-about-more-skin-color

A debate should ensue….to me it does not matter nor is it a probing question that I would spend time contemplating….but to some I am sure there will be some consternation over the question and the answers.

If you would like to share your thoughts then please do so….all comments are welcome as long as they are respectful.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“He Is The Chosen One”

I try to stay away from posts on religion but from time to time I read something that makes me sick and just have pass it on to my readers.

I keep reading this Christian and that who say that Trump is somehow the “chosen one”…..even prominent politicians like Rick Perry….

President Trump took a ribbing over the summer when he referred to himself as the “chosen one.” Trump later called the remark sarcastic, but it appears Rick Perry disagrees. In an interview with Ed Henry of Fox News, the energy secretary said Trump was indeed “the chosen one,” reports the Hill. “God’s used imperfect people all through history,” he said. “King David wasn’t perfect. Saul wasn’t perfect. Solomon wasn’t perfect.” Perry said he gave Trump some information on those Old Testament figures during a conversation about a month ago. “I said, ‘Mr. President, I know there are people that say you said you were the chosen one and I said, ‘You were.'”

Perry elaborated on the point: “I said, ‘If you’re a believing Christian, you understand God’s plan for the people who rule and judge over us on this planet in our government.”

Or that anyone that opposes Trump is in league with demons…..

…pretty standard fare among Christian right opinion leaders and politicians. But at roughly the same time, we got an indication from two other prominent Trump fans that it’s not enough to endow this strange and heathenish figure of manifold wicked ways with the cloak of divine sanction; his critics must be cast in the same apocalyptic drama as instruments of demonic forces. Seriously. Veteran adviser to Republican presidents on matters moral and spiritual, Peter Wehner, scathingly writes it up for The Atlantic:

During his November 21 interview with [Franklin] Graham, [Eric] Metaxas, a Salem Radio Network talk-show host, asked the son of the late evangelist Billy Graham, “What do you think of what is happening now? I mean, it’s a very bizarre situation to be living in a country where some people seem to exist to undermine the president of the United States. It’s just a bizarre time for most Americans.”

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/11/christian-right-leaders-trump-critics-possessed-by-demons.html

Who but a demon would want to impeach Trump?  https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinions-who-but-a-demon-could-impeach-gods-chosen-one/ar-BBXkciD

Then there is the Trump supporter that answered a question like this….

“If Jesus Christ gets down off the cross and told me Trump is with Russia, I would tell him, ‘Hold on a second. I need to check with the President if it’s true.'”

But watch the video for yourself…

I am not a religious person by any stretch of the imagination…but I still cannot see how anyone that is a “Christian” could even think  along these lines…..

For me there is NO room for the religious readers in politics….they should stick to hell fire, brimstone saving souls or just singing….modern religion has proved that they are not the way to a better country for all its people.

I am leery of anyone labelled the “Chosen One”….it has been BS for centuries and probably the same today.

“Lego Ergo Scribo”