Skeptical Faith

Google Image I’ve written about sexual subjects only a few times in the 12 years I’ve been writing this blog. Why? Shouldn’t every aspect of life be included among topics meant to help people searching for God? Yes, but when it comes to religious teachings, I believe sexual values have traditionally been overemphasized. “Morality,” in fact, has often been used solely to refer to sex. But current sexual mores – at least as portrayed on TV, in movies and streaming video – are, in my opinion, hard to sync with Christian or Jewish ideas of right and wrong and with the goals of people searching for God. Dramas, sitcoms, crime shows inevitably view sex as little more than recreation. Whenever romance is portrayed, it almost always includes one or more sex scenes, often on first encounters or dates. Merely Reflecting Reality? Producers of these shows will undoubtedly say they are merely reflecting contemporary reality. That’s partly true in so much as their shows portray a segment of s...

Google Image Years ago, a young work colleague told me she had stopped going to church and no longer considered herself a Catholic. She wasn’t very specific about her objections to her former faith. She simply didn’t see the need and was disenchanted with the church, which was under siege because of the revelations about priests who abused minors and bishops who covered it up. When I asked if she had ever considered the church as family, she looked puzzled. I mentioned that I had begun to think of it that way after the embarrassment and disgust I felt about the priest revelations. Tension, Disagreement, Conflicts I told her I thought about a typical American family and the interactions among its members, the tension, disagreements and conflicts as well as the mechanisms many families have for holding the family together. Those dynamics are different from those we use when dealing with non-family members. In most cases, at least when families are “functional,” we cut much more s...

Google Image I was a latecomer to “The Chosen.” I finished watching season 4 only a couple of weeks ago. I had thought it was probably just another pious portrayal of Jesus that was long on devotion and short on history. I’m glad my resistance didn’t persist.   For those of you unfamiliar with it, “The Chosen” is an historical  television series “created, directed, and co-written by filmmaker Dallas Jenkins ,” according to Wikipedia. “I t is the first multi-season series about the life  and ministry  of Jesus of Nazareth . Primarily set in Judaea  and Galilee  in the 1st century, the series depicts Jesus' life through the eyes of the people who interacted with him, including the apostles, and disciples  of Jesus, Jewish religious leaders, Roman  government and military officials, and ordinary people. “The series stars Jonathan Roumie  as Jesus alongside Shahar Isaac, Elizabeth Tabish, Paras Patel, Noah James, and George H. Xanthis, a...

Google Image I grew up on Sacramento Street in St. Joseph, Mo., and it only recently occurred to me how the street probably got its name. St. Joseph, if you recall, was the starting point of the Pony Express, that odd service that 165 years ago carried mail by relays of horse-mounted riders  from St. Joseph to Sacramento, CA. And even though I grew up Catholic, it never occurred to me that “sacramento” means “sacrament” in Spanish. Most of us, in fact, never give a thought to the religious meanings of lots of places in the U.S., like Los Angeles (The Angels), San Francisco (St. Francis), San Diego (St. James or Jacob), San Antonio, TX (St. Anthony), Santa Fe, NM (Holy Faith). Those places, of course, were named by the early Spanish-speaking settlers. But what does “sacrament” mean? Like me, many Catholics of my era may recall the lengthier catechism definition. But at the risk of oversimplification, I believe a sacrament is basically a sign of something holy. Catholics and some...

Google Image David Brooks, one of my favorite writers - who was considered a conservative until the Trump era - believes the president is the archetype of contemporary paganism. I know this may offend some religious people, but I think what Brooks has to say is close to the values of the gospel. “The pagan values of ancient Rome celebrated power, manliness, conquest, ego, fame, competitiveness and prowess,” Brooks wrote in a recent New York Times column, “and it is those values that have always been at the core of Trump’s being — from his real estate grandiosity to his love of pro wrestling to his king-of-the-jungle version of American greatness.” But Brooks acknowledges it’s not just Trump. “It’s the whole phalanx of authoritarians, all those greatness-obsessed macho men like Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. It’s the tech bros (the macho tech workers in places like Silicon Valley). It’s Christian nationalism, which is paganism with worship music.” Christian Nationalism (Christian Nation...

Google Image I understand that my weekly blog is counter-cultural, and for some of my friends and acquaintances, it may even be embarrassing. You just don't talk or write about God, and religion - especially as often as I do. That’s why I was intrigued by a recent article in the New York Times entitled, “Why Is It So Hard to Talk about God?” It’s an interview by Times writer Lauren Jackson with Krista Tippett, creator and host of the radio program,  On Being , a nd author of a book called, Why Religion Matters—and How to Talk About It. Jackson believes religion “dominates American politics and culture, but many people struggle to talk about it — especially with those who might disagree with them.” I’m not sure about the first part. In what sense does it “dominate” our politics and culture? Rarely Discuss Religion But I believe it’s evident that most Americans rarely discuss religion with others, a view that is backed by a Pew study  from 2019. It’s a taboo subject...

Then Bishop Prevost, Now Pope Leo XIV in Peru Google Image There’s a remarkable passage in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, that book in the Bible that recounts Christianity’s first years, in which the apostles were gathered in a room with Jesus after his resurrection. They asked him: “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Why remarkable? Because after spending three years with Jesus, the apostles still seemed to misunderstand his mission. Jews of Jesus’ time had for over 60 years been chafing under the rule of the Romans, whose pagan culture clashed with Jewish dogma and practice. Many in Jesus’ time believed the Messiah would restore the Kingdom by driving out the Romans, and the apostles – even after following Jesus and listening to many sermons and seeing many miracles – were no exceptions. Jesus didn’t answer their question directly, except to say that only his Father knew what was in store for them, and for the world, and that they would be...

Google Image I have mentioned in a previous blog that in the newsroom of the newspaper where I worked for 22 years was a sign that read, “If your mother says she loves you, check it out.” The idea, of course, is that reporters should be skeptical. But skepticism, I believe, should not be limited to reporters. It's healthy and should apply to matters of faith as well as other areas of life. That’s the reason this blog is entitled, “Skeptical Faith.” Some may be skeptical of my skepticism. After all, I'm a practicing Christian, a believer who has chosen to accept some things – mostly beliefs where the evidence is weak – on faith. But I don’t see that as a disqualifier as a skeptic. After all, atheists and agnostics also accept many things in life on faith (though “religious faith” may be different in many ways). What Accounts for the Doctrines? I often think about how Christianity got started. What accounts for its doctrines? For that, I tend to rely as much on science – hi...

Google Image My beloved paternal grandmother, Julia, who died in 1957, had what I’ve heard identified as “late-onset Alzheimer’s.” In other words, she had a kind of dementia that happens late in life. My parents decided to take her out of a nursing home, and my mother vowed to care for her in our home. At first, it was relatively easy. Julia was able to do much for herself. But her dementia progressed rapidly, and she was soon bedridden. My mother - with my father still working and none of us five children able to provide much help - struggled to bathe her, get her to the bathroom, feed her and make her comfortable. In just a few months, Julia was unable to think rationally, and she began a sort of mantra, shouting over and over from her bed, “c’mon, c’mon, c’mon.” A metaphor? It was heart-breaking, and irritating, but thinking about it now, I see it as a sort of metaphor for the constant mental state in which many of us live. We’re always thinking about what comes next, what tom...

Google Image If you have been attending Catholic Mass or a Christian service, at least weekly, as long as I have, you will have heard the same stories from the Bible over and over. And it may surprise you to see something new in a reading you’ve heard that often. That was the case a couple of weeks before Easter when I heard, for perhaps the 80 th time, the story in the Gospel of John about “the woman caught in adultery.” It’s a remarkable story, even though it’s a matter of debate among Scripture scholars whether it is an original part of the Gospel of John. That doesn’t mean it lacks authenticity. It may mean that it was a story about Jesus that was added later than the original composition of the gospel of John. If you recall, the context is the continual attempt by the religious authorities to undermine Jesus’ ministry. Jesus is teaching in the temple area when the scribes and Pharisees bring a woman “caught in the very act of adultery.” Presumably, their hands are filled with...

Paddy Moloney, Google Image I’m an amateur musician, with the emphasis on amateur. Over 50 years ago, I taught myself to play the guitar, learning the chords and a couple of “picking” methods, and thereafter learned to play the penny whistle, or tin whistle, after taking lessons from a real musician so I could play Irish music. I never really mastered either instrument (and I’m not just being modest) and have often wondered what it would be like to have done so. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to play the guitar like Chet Atkins or Cat Stevens? Or play the penny whistle like Paddy Moloney? Symphony orchestras and country bands are full of accomplished musicians. The NFL, MLB and NBA are full of skilled athletes. Many mechanics and tradesmen have mastered their trades. Many scientists and teachers have acquired an expertise in their subjects and are able to help others do the same. All these people are not only skilled but passionate about what they do. Endure Tedium Writes David ...

Google Image Jason Blakely grew up in a middle-class family in a suburb of Denver. His father was a fierce critic of religion, though not an atheist. His mother was a practicing Catholic, but silent about her faith. Early on, he went to church but was less than enthusiastic. He perceived many of the Christians around him as less sensitive to human loss and suffering than the secular progressives he knew (and he counted himself as among them) and less responsive to injustice. Blakely, who is now an associate professor of political science at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA, recently wrote an article in America Magazine called, “An Atheist’s Conversion.” Among Millions He was among the millions of young people – according to polling – who were active in their churches and synagogues until their teens but no longer attend. A few have changed religions, but many are no longer interested in religion or are atheists or agnostics. Blakely’s conversion was tortured, marked by inner...