Question for Diwali: Why does Hinduism extol vegetarian diets?

November 3, 2023 By Richard Ostling

THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: In the leadup to Diwali, the Festival of Light on November 12, an article by Richa Karmarkar, the Hinduism specialist with Religion News Service, brings the faith’s vegetarianism up to date. First, it observes that Hindus can make good use of the increasing availability and variety of plant-based mock “meat” under such brand names as Beyond Meat and Impossible. Second, the article reports on an interesting futuristic issue that faces Hindu authorities: Will meat be permissible... Read more

Questions: Does secrecy help the church? Does it work?

October 19, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWERS: In almost every case, No, and No. This issue erupted in the news with the surprise decision by Pope Francis to clamp unusual strict secrecy upon the Synod of Bishops he has summoned to the Vatican this month. (The Synod’s second and concluding session will occur a year from now). This indicates that church leaders the extent to which bishops are facing internal difficulties. The media typically portray Francis as a relatively liberal pontiff. But it... Read more

Question: How many members do major U.S. religious groups have?

October 2, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: Well, that’s impossible to say with any accuracy since there’s no one agreed-upon statistical source and some groups do not collect or issue good numbers. We do know two things for sure about the U.S. 1) It remains predominantly Christian despite a recent decline, and 2) There’s been notable growth in non-Christian religions through immigration and conversion. Recently, some noteworthy new numbers about U.S. Christianity became available. We’ll review those below, but let’s begin with complexities... Read more

Question: Is Ukraine a “Just War”?

September 23, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: The good news for Russia’s Vladimir Putin: A significant national leader announces that his invasion of Ukraine is a “just fight” that will end with “a great victory in the sacred struggle.” The bad news: The speaker is North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, so what’s “just” is defined by probably the most despised despot on the planet and what’s “sacred” by an atheist who works to exterminate all religion. Each international conflict raises the matter of... Read more

Question: Why Did the Bible Accept Slavery?

September 8, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: There’s been intense discussion of this never-ending issue in 2023, as we’ll see. In essence, defenders of the Bible explain that slave-holding was a fundamental aspect of society as far back as the earliest written annals we have, well before biblical times. Due to the existence of that powerful reality, the Bible did not and could not attempt to overthrow the sinful system but worked against its evils. Fact is, slavery was so ingrained that it... Read more

Question: Why Did Early Christians Choose Only Four Gospels?

August 19, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: During the formative first centuries of Christian history there were some 40 texts in circulation that could be considered “gospels,” according to one scholar, while another counted as many as 70. Marvin Meyer of Chapman University decided a dozen such non-biblical gospels merited inclusion in an 2005 anthology, while others have proposed different listings. Early Christians dismissed what they judged to be “apocryphal” texts, meaning of doubtful authenticity, and recognized only the familiar quartet of Matthew,... Read more

Question: What do Jews believe about the death penalty?

August 7, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: There was relief last week when a unanimous Pittsburgh jury approved the death penalty for the man (not to be dignified here with a name) who in 2018 massacred eleven worshipers at the Tree of Life Congregation, in the deadliest act of anti-Jewish violence in U.S. history. There’s a strong aversion to capital punishment in the teaching across the branches of Judaism but, as we’ll see, this is not absolute, and Judaism’s biblical and textual tradition... Read more

Question: “If God is Good, Why Do Animals Suffer?”

July 18, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: The question above was the sub-headline for a recent cover story in Christianity Today magazine by Calvin University theologian John R. Schneider. It’s a twist on the age-old problem defined as follows by the eminent Christian intellectual C.S. Lewis in his best-selling classic “The Problem of Pain”: “If God were good, He would wish to make His creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty He would be able to do what He wished. But the... Read more

Question: Where is biblical Mount Sinai located?

July 5, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER: Why would anyone wonder about the sacred spot where God through Moses revealed the Ten Commandments and other biblical laws? Just look at the name. Doesn’t everybody know that Mount Sinai must of course be on the Sinai Peninsula and, specifically, at a long-venerated location there? And yet a New York Times feature on June 25 reported that since Saudi Arabia opened up to tourists in 2019, some U.S. Christians have regularly traveled to the nation’s... Read more

Question: “Did Jesus Have Brothers & Sisters?”

June 22, 2023 By Richard Ostling

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THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER The quote above is the headline for an article this month by Ginny Baxter, the “Woman to Woman” blogger on patheos.com. She figures “the answer is a definite ‘maybe’.” See www.patheos.com/blogs/womantowoman/2023/06/did-jesus-have-brothers-sisters/. On this age-old but ever-debated topic, The Guy would answer that it depends on what church is fielding the question. From ancient times, Catholicism and Orthodoxy have said no. They believe in Mary’s “perpetual virginity,” meaning that she and husband Joseph never had sexual relations... Read more