Skeptical Faith

Google Image In the book, “Young Adult Catholics, Religion in the Culture of Choice,” the authors include a wealth of data on attitudes and beliefs of a range of young people, from believers to former believers to people who profess no religious faith. Even in 2002 when that book was published, there was plenty of evidence that religion was losing its hold on young people. The trends supported by those data continue, according to a 2018 report by the Pew Research Center. “A growing share of Americans are religiously unaffiliated,” it says. “We recently asked a representative sample of more than 1,300 of these “nones” (people who respond “none” on the question of religious affiliation) why they choose not to identify with a religion.” The most common reason is that “they question a lot of religious teachings.”   I suspect they’re not talking about doctrines like the Trinity or Jesus’ dual nature. They are more ignored or misunderstood than doubted. No, I suspect they'...

Google Image I recently listened to an episode of the National Public Radio program, This American Life, in which a couple of commentators discussed the Fermi Paradox. One of them said that the lack of an answer to the Fermi question, “Where is everybody?” made him sad. For those of you who, like me, were unaware or had forgotten about the Fermi Paradox, it’s the question raised by physicist Enrico Fermi (1901-1954): If there’s such a high likelihood of life on other planets, why haven’t we found the evidence? The commentator said he imagines the vast emptiness of the universe and feels lonely. He acknowledges that this is an esoteric feeling that few people, even astrophysicists, would take seriously. But the commentator said he genuinely felt that loneliness and I don’t doubt it because I believe those kinds of feelings are common, though not, perhaps, in the context of the Fermi Paradox. Pervasive Loneliness and alienation are pervasive, according to social scient...

Google Image I write these weekly blogs hoping that they help people who have given up on God or religion see things in a new light. That includes using clear and direct language to help them overcome the negative images of religion in society. But it seems that for every blog I write, the media reports dozens of stories that provide many people with reasons to reject God or religion. The latest is the revelation that a two-year grand jury investigation in Pennsylvania resulted in what is being called "the largest, most comprehensive report into child sex abuse in the Catholic Church ever produced in the United States." The report says over 300 priests abused children over a period of 70 years, that officials found over 1,000 victims but that there are likely many more that haven’t been discovered. Cover Up And, says the report, bishops and other church leaders covered up the abuse, persuading victims not to report it and law enforcement not to investigate it....

Google Image The first thing my four-year-old grandson, Brett, asks when he comes to our house for a visit is, “Where are my cars, Abue?” That’s short for the Spanish “abuela,” meaning “Grandmother.” My wife, Amparo - Brett’s abuela – quickly hands them over. The cars formerly belonged to Brett’s Dad, Sean. They’re a 24-piece set of Hot Wheels cars, trucks and buses that fascinate Brett. The interesting thing is they’re beat up and paltry compared to the huge stash of newer toys Brett has at home. But he’s always excited to play with the Hot Wheels. This isn’t only a childhood phenomenon. How often have we gotten excited about something new only to lose interest after a few weeks or even days and go back to the tried-and-true? Our closets, garages and basements are full of stuff in which we’ve lost interest. We don’t want to give them up, of course, but we don’t use them or even think about them.    Truth is, we are seldom satisfied. We always want more or somethi...

Google Image Besides sports and some “reality adventure” shows, about the only TV I watch is on Netflix because I’ve become intolerant of commercials. I haven’t, however, brought myself to watch a popular Netflix series called “Godless.” According to a TV-news web page, it’s a seven-and-a-half hour western about a man “who hides out from a violent outlaw in a town populated almost entirely by women after a deadly mining accident wipes out most of the men.” The official trailer depicts a stereotypical small town in the 1800s where “law and order” is not high on the agenda. “It’s Godless country,” says one of the actors in the trailer. Prevalent, Predictable and Tiresome It also appears to follow the trend of extreme violence, and that’s why I haven’t watched it. Some violence on TV and in movies is inevitable because life is sometimes violent.   It’s just that’s it’s become prevalent, predictable and tiresome. I’m intrigued, however, by the series’ title, “Godless,...