July 2008

“Mr. President, how many bibles will you be taking to Beijing?”

Free speech means you have the right to publish or say what you want. But you are responsible for providing your own forum and your own publicity.

Decrees sound angry to me. Desperate. The ones that don’t sound angry just sound silly. I’d rather sing the blues to deal with my pain.

It was a wide ranging discussion about the Church, my upbringing, my exit from the church, the philosophical problems posed by my parents’ claim to speak for God.

Think what you will of Marquis de Sade’s well-deserved reputation for libertinism and amorality–his still-scintillating rants on God and religion are so eloquent, I can only step back in awe.

Religious beliefs are not factual and thus cannot ever be supported rationally. They can cause people to commit inhumane acts or acts that are just plain incomprehensible.

If you choose to tear down such signs, the law is on your side. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1984 upheld Los Angeles’ municipal code ban on political advertising on utility poles.

The belief that’s most central to religious hubris is that human beings can use our minds and voices to manipulate matter. From tales of Jesus’ affirmation “Lazarus, come forth,” to the fall of Jericho, all religious adherents dream of wielding this magical power.

“We all braced for a nuclear war and it didn’t happen. And the justification was that it was all averted through prayer, but to me it just didn’t wash. At some point I began to realize whoever my mom was talking to wasn’t right. And I wasn’t about to live my life based on it anymore.”

Growing up, the fanatics were always a thorn in my side. Their dour-faced conservatism, unquestioning acceptance of the “teachings,” unstylish clothes and monastic demeanor betrayed a woundedness and inability to enjoy their human existence.