Sometimes the Wood Does What it Wants

One of the things I dabble in—mostly for therapeutic reasons—is woodworking.  I’m far from being a master craftsman, and calling me an artist would be beyond generous.  But I’ve made enough things out of chunks of trees to have detected some patterns--and anti-patterns--in the character of wood.  Because of the Interrelatedness of Things, these patterns …

A Year in the Life of a Tree

The gold and crimson display of the autumn trees might be a good reminder to us that the later years of our life are still critical.  They do not have to be the downward slope that many portray them to be.  It is the last leg of a race that demands our best effort.  It is a time in which our greatest work may still be done.  It is a time to give every ounce of energy to the succeeding generation.

In Defense of Skepticism

One of the biggest downfalls of institutions, particularly religious institutions, is their demand for ideological homogeneity.  This mentality goes far beyond a unity of purpose and extends to the point where any disagreement, even a nuanced difference of opinion, is not tolerated.

Separation of Church and State. Until…

When government starts intruding on religious freedom, religious people are adamant that church and state remain separate—until they see an opportunity to use the government to further their agenda. And the statists are adamant that religion should have no influence upon the government—until they see an opportunity to use religious institutions to further their agenda.  …

Do You Believe in Faith?

Faith may be one of the most misunderstood and abused concepts in western Christianity.  In general, Christians have reduced faith to a prescribed, academic understanding of theology. We have to believe something or we would become paralyzed.  We all have gaps in our knowledge, and we fill in those gaps with beliefs so we can function in this world. So what is faith, and how much trust should we put in our faith?

Above Criticism?

Let’s talk about criticism.  For starters, let’s understand what criticism really is.  To criticize something or to critique it, implies that you are examining an argument or a writing or a performance of some sort, and trying to determine its accuracy or its worthiness.  While there are nuanced connotative differences between the words criticize and …

If They Believed Their Scriptures

If Christians believed their scriptures, they would care much more about the earth.  If atheists believed their scriptures, they would care much less.

Good Enough for Me

Never having been one to shy away from overstating the obvious, I can authoritatively state that I’m pretty critical of religion.  For the last two and one half years, this blog has been primarily dedicated to dismantling the lies and the walls of religion, and encouraging people to seek God outside the guilt, coercion, dogma, …

There Is No Formula!

My last few posts were a tongue-in-cheek look at the dogmatic, formulaic views of salvation by a few of the more popular Christian denominations.  I imagine that most folks who hold any of those particular views would be irate at the lampooning of their views, but would chuckle at the depictions of the others.  I …

Calvinists’ Formula for Salvation