The Shrinking Church and the Shrinking Clergy

Last updated on: September 26, 2025 at 9:16 am By Larry Jordan

Clergy face challenges in an era of division and secularization. Clergy burnout is real, and many former clergy are NOT coming back. Some of my best friends are current or former clergy. Generally, they are compassionate and wise. They like to consider the big questions and to help others to consider the big questions. More importantly, they are willing to accompany others through the highs and lows of their lives. They include births and deaths, marriages and divorces, prosperity and... Read more

Did Consciousness Develop Recently?

Last updated on: September 18, 2025 at 8:43 am By Larry Jordan

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Humans may have developed consciousness recently. The clash of cultures and thoughts elevated the importance of language and metaphor. The physical gave way to the conceptual. The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes might be the most interesting book that I ever read. Jaynes was an American psychologist, and this book was ambitious, sweeping in its reach, widely recognized as provocative, yet speculative. In 2006, Richard Dawkins famously said that the book is... Read more

Does Spirituality Demand Activism or Pacifism?

Last updated on: September 11, 2025 at 9:18 pm By Larry Jordan

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Oneness underlies our apparent separation. Do we act or speak to proselytize people or to win an argument? Why? Do we act or speak to protect people or to seek understanding? Why NOT? Many friends hold different political beliefs and religious beliefs. For me, spirituality guides me and informs my political beliefs. But some people are simply not concerned with their spirituality. And others embrace different spiritualities that produce different political beliefs. Still others embrace political beliefs that inform their... Read more

Is “The Way” Narrow or Exclusive or Unique?

Last updated on: September 5, 2025 at 8:30 am By Larry Jordan

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What if other traditions contain some “Truth with a capital T?” What if they all describe an Ultimate Reality that is not necessarily intentional or personal or supernatural? Many religions are NOT as doctrinal, exclusive, or evangelical as Christianity. That is, they accept more diversity in their beliefs, and they hold their beliefs more loosely. For example, in Buddhism, the Buddha reportedly said, “Don’t believe anyone, even me,” encouraging his followers to rely on evidence and experience, NOT... Read more

Exceptionalism Can Be Exceptionally Harmful

Last updated on: August 28, 2025 at 9:05 am By Larry Jordan

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Do we harbor an innate sense of superiority? In recent weeks, I have been writing about exceptionalism. I challenged the bright line between humans and other animals here. I discussed the bright line between humans and machines here. And I questioned the bright lines between other countries and religions here. If we think that we are better than other animals, will we treat them better or worse? If we think that we are better than people in other countries and... Read more

Are Humans and Other Animals Altruistic?

Last updated on: August 21, 2025 at 7:21 am By Larry Jordan

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It seems reasonable to me that “unselfish” behavior in animals or humans can be similarly and variously explained by some combination of altruism, protective instincts, and reciprocal behavior. Why would we assume that humans are different than other animals, that humans are inherently “good” or “bad,” or that altruistic behavior in humans or other animals is NOT natural? Recently, we traveled to the Arctic with several scientists, including Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist and a prominent atheist. I... Read more

The End of Evolution?

Last updated on: August 14, 2025 at 7:03 am By Larry Jordan

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What if natural intelligence has reached the end of its evolution, while artificial intelligence has only reached the beginning of its evolution? Recently, I traveled to the Arctic with a group of scientists, including Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist and a prominent atheist. I wrote about Dawkins here and here and here. Dawkins is a Darwinian, and one of his best-known books is The Selfish Gene. In the book, Dawkins suggests that evolution by natural selection takes place at the... Read more

Certainty is the Great Enemy of Unity

Last updated on: July 31, 2025 at 2:19 pm By Larry Jordan

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In Conclave, author Robert Harris writes, “…The one sin I have come to fear more than any other is certainty. Certainty is the great enemy of unity. Certainty is the deadly enemy of tolerance.” Why are we so certain? Our conclusions flow naturally from our assumptions. But how can we be so certain about our assumptions? Have we tested them? In The Way, I described my twenty-year spiritual deconstruction and reconstruction. The deconstruction was not angry or judgmental,... Read more

Transcendent Experiences: Nirvana or Nonsense?

Last updated on: July 23, 2025 at 7:40 pm By Larry Jordan

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Richard Dawkins and other scientists are interested in transcendent experiences. They are NOT seeing anything personal or supernatural. Scientists are simply imagining something natural that we might ultimately be able to explain with biology, chemistry and physics. I wrote about my dinner with Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist and a prominent atheist, here. In that column, I described his considerable curiosity and his noteworthy open-mindedness. Dawkins reportedly has a very high IQ, and he does NOT suffer fools gladly. I... Read more

Mind Beyond Brain: Are We Living in the Matrix?

Last updated on: July 16, 2025 at 8:20 am By Larry Jordan

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In my writing, I suggest that the brain might be more of a receiver than a transmitter. This may explain phenomena like extra-sensory perception, near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, and past life recollections more simply than alternative explanations. I wrote about our recent trip with several atheists and scientists, including Richard Dawkins, here. In the column, I marveled at their awe, gratitude, reverence, and sense of responsibility. When I learned that Richard Dawkins would be on the trip, I warned my... Read more

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