Silly Season: Part 1
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, silly season is “a period marked by frivolous, outlandish, or illogical activity or behavior.” This could mean a laidback summer with no school and lots of vacations, but to me, silly season is about fundamentalist Christians’ incessant talk about the “End Times.”
This is the first part of a six-part series about the Christian apocalypse, in which a resuscitated Jesus and his angel army will end civilization and maybe even the universe, usher in the messianic age, and take 144,000 of the elect (who the elect are is debatable) someplace where they’ll live eternally.… Read more >
Religions and Cults
One Sunday morning, in an adult education class, I was talking with someone about one of my recent blog posts that stated that Mormonism is a cult. One man, a Mormon who attends my church, denied this vehemently.
I believe that religions like Mormonism, Roman Catholicism, and fundamentalism continue to fan the flames of anti-LGBTQUI hostility.… Read more >
Invented Gods: The Great Magician
This is the final part of a six-part series about the many different invented gods that Christians worship. Personally, I prefer to worship Creation. You can find Part 1 here, and Part 2 here, Part 3 here, Part 4 here, and Part 5 here.
I have asked Christians why they believe in their versions of God and Jesus.… Read more >
Invented Gods: The Great Planner
This is the fifth part of a six-part series about the many different invented gods that Christians worship. Personally, I prefer to worship Creation. You can find Part 1 here, and Part 2 here, Part 3 here, and Part 4 here.
Many see God as the Great Planner or Master Puppeteer who masterminds every detail of all seven billion–plus human lives on earth.… Read more >
Invented Gods: Damn It
This is the fourth part of a six-part series about the many different invented gods that Christians worship. Personally, I prefer to worship Creation. You can find Part 1 here, and Part 2 here, and Part 3 here.
I suspect Damn It is one of the more popular gods because I hear lots of folks invoking him daily.… Read more >
The Power of Quietude
In 1922, the grandparents of my wife, Annie, bought a cabin without indoor plumbing, electricity, or refrigeration located above Bass Lake in the Sierra Nevada in California. The cabin has stayed in Annie’s family ever since.
In late September 2019, Annie and I drove more than six hours from Irvine to the cabin to reminisce about all the wonderful summers Annie spent there since 1942.… Read more >
Invented Gods: Mr. Fix-It
This is the third part of a six-part series about the many different invented gods that Christians worship. Personally, I prefer to worship Creation. You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here.
I suspect you have heard people say “Turn your troubles over to God,” implying he will fix them.” I’ve also heard “God save the King or Queen” or “God bless America” or “God bless you” or “God loves you.”
How about “Jesus died for your sins” or “Jesus saves”?… Read more >
The Church of Latter-Day Homophobes
I recently gave a talk on the Reverend Dr. George Johnson’s newest book, Silence Is Not the Answer, and I spoke of its “relevance to Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Roman Catholics, and morons.” Oops! I meant to say Mormons—what a bad Freudian slip. My audience laughed, but I was embarrassed and apologized profusely.… Read more >
Invented Gods: Big Daddy
This is the second part of a six-part series about the many different invented gods that Christians worship. Personally, I prefer to worship Creation. You can find Part 1 here.
I have a difficult time saying the Lord’s Prayer—for many reasons.
- Jesus never said the prayer we use in church, which is in English and has Christian stuff added in.
Liberty U—a Nasty Misnomer
Liberty University was founded by Jerry Falwell Sr., a fundamentalist preacher who also started Moral Majority, a self-appointed, self-righteous, judgmental hate tank.
Moral Majority was part of the religious right—which is neither. But I do give it credit for keeping homophobia alive and well.
To keep all this judgment and hatred going for generations, Falwell started Liberty University (then Lynchburg Baptist College) in Lynchburg, Virginia.… Read more >
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