I started reading Paul Behaving Badly: Was the Apostle a Racist, Chauvinist JERK? shortly after the Evangelicals elected as President of the US the unqualified, greedy, morally-compromised, power-hungry, sexually-predatory, non-stop liar, say-anything-to-anyone-to-get-votes including the wholesale embrace of a white supremacist platform, Donald Trump Read more
Christmas gifts: do they interfere with the real “reason for the season” of the Christ birth? Or do they just add to the joy? Dear Thoughtful Pastor: Why is your feeling about gift-giving at Christmas time? Have you found that your feelings toward gift giving at Christmas has changed over the years? In my younger, more black and white days, days of fervency for Jesus and accuracy of the message, I had real problems with the intermingling of the religious... Read more
Are unborn children without sin? The answer to this question has a lot of implications for the many faceted abortion issue. Dear Thoughtful Pastor: Can you help me with the theological underpinnings of this? Do religious folks who object to abortion believe that unborn children are without sin? I thought Christians believed that all humans are conceived and born into sin. If not, why baptize infants? Wow–that’s a question I have not thought about before. And one worth asking. The... Read more
The ugly, eccentric billionaire, his harem of nubile, young beauties, his ability to influence the world by making decisions without input from wise advisors, a tribe of sycophantic assistants whom he treats like slaves, the fantasy of the gorgeous, innocent female sexual aggressor, the slow corruption of moral principles by riches and comfort . . . while it sounds like current politics, it is actually a movie to be released November 23, 2016, Rules Don’t Apply. Rules Don’t Apply. No joke.... Read more
“Nobody really knows what the hell will happen with this election.” My “anyone but Hillary” husband and this “anyone but Donald” wife managed to have a civil and loving discussion about the election. I’m tentatively optimistic that Hillary will win. He sees possibilities for Donald. But his conclusion: “nobody really knows . . . ” On that, we agree. As we talked, I noticed again that we tend to draw opposite conclusions from what we read and observe. He thinks... Read more
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: When you were in Europe recently, did you learn anything while seeing historic Christianity that would give you insight as to how it affects your understanding of the way Christianity is practiced in the US today? After spending several weeks in a land where a town only four hundred years old is considered without historical interest, I began to recognize better our shallow roots. I gained understanding that our ignorance of both religious and secular history means... Read more
For some time, I have been chronicling the political conversations and challenges of our “when an ‘anyone but Hilary’ is married to an “anyone but Donald'” relationship. We have cast our respective votes, but many others have not. A few weeks ago, a tape was released that confirmed that Donald is, among other problematic things such as ingrained racism and a long-lasting infatuation with all things Putin, a serial predator. Shortly afterward, I dashed off a piece that asked people to... Read more
We have both voted. My husband did his early voting at the local fire station. I sent in my ballot by mail. He voted straight Republican. As for me . . . I have never in my life voted a straight ticket. I have long been an issues voter and do not think one party fully represents my thinking on any subject related to politics and governance in the US. But today, for the first time and I hope the... Read more
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: Religion has a very unifying effect on its followers. Is it even possible to separate religion and politics (that govern our everyday lives)? The Bible is used to justify every conceivable political position. But let’s assume one can separate the two. What is the mental process to do that? If I can use some passage from the Bible to convince my friends to vote the way I want them to, how do I separate those two actions,... Read more
Dear Thoughtful Pastor: The Bible says to turn the other cheek when I am affronted. How do such words apply in a world full of radicalism, threats, rampant murders, bigotry and hate? How many physical and mental assaults must a person or a group absorb before earning the right to ask this: Are you kidding me? Is the Bible–the book I grew up depending on–really that out of touch with reality? Are its followers so very obliged to stand down... Read more
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