Graham Cracked

Well folks, this post is to announce the probable end of this blog…my source seems to have run dry. Of course Billy Graham himself died years ago, but his organization kept his syndicated column running for many years after, with someone or many someones continuing to put out material for his syndicated column allegedly in the style of Mr. Graham. At some point my local paper stopped carrying it, but I could still find it on Billy’s website. Sensing the end might be near, I copied all of the questions and answers that were there, and have been using that material the past couple of years. When I ran out of questions to answer at last, I went back to the website where, as I had expected, no more answers were to be found. All traces of the column had vanished. Billy Graham was gone, and only Franklin Graham remained. Billy was no prize, and Franklin is certainly not an upgrade. But without any questions from Billy to answer, this blog also has lost its reason to go on. It will, however, continue to exist, and hopefully be of some use to whoever stumbles upon it in the years to come, assuming there are years to come and the internet isn’t completely taken over by AI and the forces of darkness.

I can’t promise I won’t return with bits in the future, so if you are subscribed you might as well continue to be, even though I will be brightening or darkening your days far, far less often. I do plan at this point to post at least one more column after this one, in which I will plug my other blogs, some of which will have related content, that is to say expressing my views on religion and the meaning of life. (Spoiler alert: religion sucks, although many if not most of the humans who are duped by it do not. The meaning of life, our lives as mortal creatures that is, is our responsibility not to discover but to create.) After that, who knows. The other blogs of which I speak were started years ago, when I was younger and more ambitious, but most of them have lain fallow and need to be dusted off and reassessed, as I decide which ones are of interest to me still. “Graham Cracks” has been by far my favorite to do, and ended up taking up almost all of the time I cared to devote to blogging, which was usually, but not always, just an hour or two on Saturday mornings. Then as now, I probably should devote more time to editing to catch the grammar and spelling errors that have snuck through rather than just cranking out entries as they occur to me, but, then as now, I probably won’t. I like to imagine that finding a run on sentence or a dangling clause that makes no sense gives you the reader a sense of superiority and me the writer a dose of humility, that is it would if I went back and reread past posts more often than I do.

So, the reason for this post is to say farewell, at least for the time being, and perhaps to sum up a little bit.

Religion, I believe, does far more harm than good. It is an unnecessary evil. It keeps people from thinking for themselves. It can make them complacent in the face of harm both to themselves and in regards to issues affecting all of us, by teaching that everything is a part of God’s plan, that He will take care of us, and nothing bad or evil is permanent or can’t be fixed (by Him) and that at the very least by being complacent, worshipping sycophants we’ll be rewarded with eternal life and endless joy and happiness, which He is currently withholding from us until we pass his loyalty tests. It’s all absurd. It’s all nonsense. Filling our heads, and worse, our children’s heads, with it is a recipe for leading a misguided, inauthentic life, in which we are guided by delusions rather than an appreciation of how miraculous and precious our actual lives and universe are, or could be if we would just open our eyes and see.

Then there are those who use religion not as a comfort to themselves, but as a cudgel to beat other people with, and justify their doing it. Most, if not all, of the damage we do to each other is in service to the belief that their religion (or country or race, often tied to one religion or another) is the only true one, and that all other religions, or non-religions, other races, or other countries, are inferior or heretical, and must be removed, subjugated, or completely destroyed. Religions divide us, and there will never be world peace as long as there are religious practitioners who think the God they or their ancestors made up is telling them not only what they need to do to get to Heaven themselves, but what they need to do to others in order to please their imaginary God. I’m opposed to all religions in the grand scheme of things, but more than willing to support coexistence or even admiration for any religious practitioners who, even if their motivation is in error, who use their religion as a basis for making themselves the best people they can be, by which I mean they are filled with compassion and sympathy for others, even more so when they devote at least part of their time and energy to truly helping others, not by merely spreading religious propaganda but by providing shelter, comfort, food, and necessities to those who need it. None of the good things we can be doing require religion, but it is undeniably that many religious people do good work, even though they are doing it under the auspices of organizations that are doing harm at the same time. If I was homeless and in need of a good meal, I would see the good and ignore the evil, but I would be more grateful for a meal that came without the lies attached.

I will say there is nothing in these posts that represent any official position of atheism. This is because atheism has no official positions. There are atheists who have tried to make a religion out of atheism, it can’t be done because Atheism by definition is nothing beyond a lack of belief in any God or gods whose existence has been proposed. IIf people want to get together and unite over common beliefs as to what constitutes proper conduct or attitude or actions, with atheism as a core value, this can be done; but atheism itself can’t be confined in this way, because there are no Holy texts, or authority upon which to base it. (Spoiler alert: religion has no such authority either, unless you accept its own, unverified claims. All alleged holy texts are pretty obviously nothing more than the works of the men who wrote them. They may include beautiful and/or wise ideas along with the inaccuracies and appalling horrors, but they are the beautiful and wise and horrible and appalling ideas of humans, not supernatural beings.)

As to the cosmic question of where we come from, why reality is what it is, whether or not we even perceive reality as it truly is, and whether the universe was created by some other being or beings or came into being on its own or always was, I have no idea. Atheism can’t answer those questions. Religion has made up answers that give humans a sense of importance, purpose, and security that are wishful thinking at best. The atheist position of not knowing is more honest, even if people find it less satisfactory or more frightening. The truth, whatever it is, remains true whether we accept it or not. Whether we understand it or not. Whether we believe it or not. If you are going to believe in a God, a Heaven, a universe created for our benefit, at least understand that you could be wrong, just as I could be, and give other humans the right to decide for themselves, the corollary of which is that you don’t have the right to decide for others. If there is a God, and he is all powerful and just as so many claim, let Him do his own persecuting, punishing, and killing, here or in his afterlife. Future generations, if there are any, will thank you.

Lose Weight, Exercise, Read Better Books

The Question:

Every year I come up with a long list of New Year’s resolutions, but then I end up not keeping even one. I’m sincere when I make them, but then they somehow fall by the wayside as time passes. What’s my problem? God must be very disappointed in me.

The Answer:

Nah, God doesn’t care. God can’t care, being nonexistent. The person who needs to be upset with you, and should be to a certain extent short of depression, insecurity, homicidal or suicidal thoughts, is you.

Your problem is a common one, and may even be close to universally shared. Many of us, myself included, struggle with making changes, big and small. We procrastinate, lose focus or discipline, often not even knowing what we truly want, or why we want it. We fail, again and again. If it’s any consolation, many people, philosophers and scientists who study the brain and human behavior don’t believe we have free will; they theorize every “decision” we make isn’t a decision at all, but rather the inevitable consequence of every thing that has gone before: our experiences, perception, and genetic makeup making every choice not a choice at all…but rather an inevitability. Of course, many other people, including philosophers and scientists, disagree. Either way, or perhaps someplace in-between where we have some choice but less than we imagine failure to keep New Year’s resolutions or do many of the things we think we want to do when we think we want to do them is so common it must be considered a feature of the human condition.

Perhaps there is some survival advantage for the species, or the individual, in hesitation, uncertainty, refection, and resistance to change so that the tribe, or the culture, doesn’t tip one way and then another in instability and uncertainty rather than building on what has worked in the past, and because it worked in the past, ought to continue working, more often than it doesn’t. Or perhaps it is a result of evolution that has taken us through many stages of brain development and hasn’t been significant enough to matter…yet. Perhaps now that we are capable of destroying ourselves, flaws in our instincts and behavior patterns will come to matter more, at least to us and the other species who could perish along with us if we can’t react to the warning signs, that is i if we can’t overcome the primitive instincts that lead us to see some humans as our tribe and the rest as our enemies, and the belief so common among us that some benevolent deity is overseeing the whole mess, and that whatever happens is part of his plan and for the best, and that somehow its all being staged for the benefit of those who worship him, who will, naturally, be taken care of with the gift of eternal life in some other world just waiting to welcome us, as long as we believe in the right god or gods. 

Christians would tell you to turn it over to their God and that guy will put you on the right path, and if you can convince yourself this isn’t nonsense, or already believe it thanks to childhood programming, it’s possible this could get you moving in the direction you want to go. This is a placebo effect of course, but if it works for you or others its difficult to question it and you may not want to. We’re only human after all, and we may not have any choice in the matter.

I would like to say the focus and resolve you are missing can occur without resulting to a placebo effect. Perhaps reading this post will be the final step you need,, perhaps its just another in a line of events and observations nudging you in the right direction you want to go. Or, perhaps countervailing influences and your own nature will prevent your ever getting there. The point is, it’s up to you to make the changes you want to make. Or, maybe it isn’t. Seize the day. If you can.

Direction

The Question:

I joined the Army straight out of high school, and I’ve had three tours of duty overseas. But now that I’m out I feel useless, and no one seems to care much about my military service. It’s very discouraging. Can God help me?

The Answer:

God can’t help you, because he doesn’t exist. Belief in God may help you, because it can give you a sense of purpose you are currently lacking even if you are pledging your life or allowing it to be guided by an absurdity. Religious people, like military people, are more than happy to tell you what you ought to do. It isn’t the best or most honest way to live, but most of us rely on ideas, systems, and structures outside of ourselves, and if you have some common sense and an ethical or moral code that takes in the rights and welfare of others, believing in an imaginary God who is just and loving isn’t the worst choice you can make. It isn’t the best choice either, but perhaps for you it’s a necessary one.

That no one seems to care about your military service should not have been a surprise to you. Were you expecting a hero’s welcome, or cushy jobs and lifelong benefits to magically appear as the nation turns its grateful eyes to you? We haven’t been in that kind of war, the kind of war that unites most of the nation and feels like it had to be fought since 1945. All the wars since, and most of the wars before, have seemed morally questionable or politically divisive, the product of failing government policies, and the hubris of our leaders. While some have been gung ho for every war, declared or otherwise, others have been opposed, even to the point, particularly in Vietnam, of treating returning veterans with hatred and disdain. Stories of our own troops committing atrocities, even if they are not widespread, don’t help. 

My personal view is that soldiers who are honorably discharged should enjoy some benefits because of their service, including pensions, medical coverage, school expenses, insurance, loans and so forth, And,  if they have enlisted as foreign nationals, they should be granted American citizenship. Nor would I ever insult a soldier in public, nor spit on one as was done after Vietnam, any more than I wold behave disrespectfully to a member of any religious organization unless they behave disrespectfully toward me, or toward others. But to expect more than this, from me, or the general population, is to ignore the fact that there are 18 million military veterans in the United States, and more than 2 million on active duty or in the reserves, and we all have lives of our own. Those of us who never served, as well as the 20 million who have or are serving. What do you expect of us?

You have to lead your own life. What you do with it is primarily your responsibility, not everyone else’s. You can embrace a new chapter, perhaps for the first time as the master of your own destiny, or you can find a group, such as a church, or return to the military, or a paramilitary group of former or wannabe soldiers, or some other organization or movement, in which they will tell you what to do and what to believe. Let’s face it, between living at home and being in the military, being directed may be all you have ever known, and maybe the only way you are capable of functioning, or being happy. I hope this isn’t true for you, but it may be; you certainly won’t be lacking for company, if you decide you don’t wish to direct your own life. I just hope, if you choose this sort of path, that you pick an organization or cause that isn’t full of ideological, fanatical, self-promoting dickheads. Maybe give freedom and autonomy a chance first, and not look to others for validation or purpose? 

The Rat Race

The Question:

Every year I tell myself that I’m not going to get caught up in the Christmas shopping crush—but every year I hit the stores as soon as they open the day after Thanksgiving. I’ll probably do the same this year. I know this isn’t a spiritual question, but why can’t I be more self-controlled?

The Answer:

It takes willpower, and the true desire to change.

You have to believe that the alternative you are striving for is truly better for you than the path you are on, and be willing to take the criticism and judgement that could and probably will come from others. 

Grow a spine, or a pair. Follow your heart, your mind, or your dreams. Have a plan, not just an idle wish. Or accept the fact that you don’t really want to change badly enough to make the change. There’s nothing wrong with hitting the stores as soon as they open the day after Thanksgiving. There’s nothing right about it either. It’s something you can do, or not do, and the world will keep on spinning, taking no notice of you.

Falling Dominoes

The Question:

People keep urging me to vote but I think it’s just a waste of time. I care what happens to our country and all that, but I don’t think one vote makes any difference. And anyway, Jesus never said anything about voting, did He?

The Answer:

Jesus never said anything about a lot of things. We don’t know if he even said any of the things he is supposed to have said, since nobody who was alive when he was supposed to have been alive wrote anything down, or if they did those documents have not survived. All of the alleged words Jesus was supposed to have spoken were recorded by people who never met, saw, or heard him speak. We don’t know if Jesus ever existed at all.

But assuming there is some actual person behind the stories, and that the Bible, and other stories of the same age and provenance that were not permitted to be in the official Bible because some church authorities who were cobbling the Bible together 300 years later voted they weren’t in line with their vision of what Jesus ought to have said. In other words, not in line with what the Christians of their time believed. Hundreds of years later.

But think about it—everything you take to be Holy Scripture, and everything that you take not to be—ended up in the Bible as the result of a vote.

You’re correct that it doesn’t matter if a single person like yourself doesn’t vote. Most elections aren’t decided by a single vote, or a handful of votes. But some have been. You can look it up sometime, when you’re less busy.

It doesn’t matter, I suppose, if I vote either; I live in a state that leans heavily red, and in most elections the candidates I favor (Centrist, or leaning left) have little chance of winning. But they do win, sometimes. And they will never win, if people like me don’t vote for them. If you are the bad sort of Christian, that is to say one who believes in Right Wing Political Christianity, supporting all sorts of other things Jesus never talked about (like abortion, gay rights, Christian nationalism) then I particularly urge you to stay home and not vote.

I vote to register my opinion. I vote to let the politicians know that we don’t all approve of what they are doing. I vote because an election might be close enough for my individual vote to matter. I vote because if only a few people vote, its much easier for elections to be controlled by only a few people. If only a few people vote it’s much easier for politicians to ignore the voice of the people. It’s much easier for them to impose whatever agenda they have, with little or no accountability to anyone but people who believe only what they believe.

I am reminded of what the late NFL quarterback John Brodie said when he was asked by a reporter why he, a quarterback with a million dollar salary-which was a lot of money at the time-risked injury by holding the ball for extra point and field goal attempts. He said, because if I don’t, it will fall down.

That’s how it is. If we don’t vote, it will fall down. All of it. If you truly don’t think it matters if your government officials are authoritarian fascist monsters (or left wing woke eco-terrorists) by all means, don’t vote. Don’t do anything to nudge the government in the direction you think it ought to take. Bring back the monarchy. Elect a President for Life, let him suspend voting. Surrender to the Nazis. Was taxation without representation really all that bad, when you think about it? Make America Great Again, by not using your voice. Let others decide. They probably will anyway, so why do anything to stand in their way? After all, in the time it takes to vote, you could be doing so many other things that aren’t as big a waste of your precious time. Like binge-watching The Man in the High Castle, for example.

Better Worlds

The Question:

I was startled to read the other day about Christians who are being persecuted in some countries. Why is this? Christians want to make the world a better place, don’t they? So why would anyone want to kill them?

The Answer:

Christians want to make the world a better place…for Christians. The problem with this is people who aren’t Christians have different ideas about what would make the world a better place. 

The record of Christianity (and most religions) towards making the world a better place is not a good one. Christians use to want to kill nonChristians, and some of them still do what to, the only thing lacking being the political power that they used to have to do so. Christianity’s history is darkened by centuries of persecution, torture, and murder of anyone who dared to speak out with different vision of what would make the world a better place, particularly but not exclusively focused on those who imagined a better world would not include devoting their life and resources to an imaginary overlord and an imaginary future world of mindless blissful happiness and forcing others to do the same, while some of the leaders of the cult enriched themselves at the expense of the flock. (Shepherds don’t take care of sheep for the sheep’s sake; they do to make a living for themselves.) Christianity didn’t spread to the rest of the world because it was full of wonderful, compelling ideas; it spread because it’s practitioners had better armies and weapons, and the will to use them, much as Islam was to do a thousand years later, and is still trying to do, in at least some of its versions, today…just like Christianity.

Christianity has championed, fostered, spread, and protected ignorance, prejudice, discrimination, and sexual abuse throughout its long history, and continues to do so. This is not to say that most Christians are evil; they aren’t. Some are drawn to Christianity because they are, or want to be, good people. Others because they want to be rewarded and not punished in an afterlife they’ve been brainwashed into believing actually exists. Many more are there simply because it was the social or cultural environment they were born into. Christians who practice their faith in private, or in the company of others who share their beliefs, the harm they do to the world is minimal, and you can even argue the overall effect is positive, if indeed fearing God and Hell keeps them from torturing or murdering people. But if their faith (or their faith leaders) requires them to torture and murder people (“heretics”, “non-believers”, “atheists”, Jews and Muslims, Christians of the “wrong” denomination) it’s hard to see why anyone would think they are making the world a better place. Same goes for every other religion, as well as any non-religion that preaches or teaches violence, hatred, and exploitation of people who aren’t like them is the path to a better world. 

Land of the Free?

The Question:

As we celebrate Veterans Day, it’s grieving to watch our country—our national treasures of liberty and freedom—our foundation being destroyed. We immigrated to the United States in the early 20th century and have been blessed to become citizens of America and serve in the U.S. military. We’re grateful for a local church who put their arms around us and loved us to Jesus. As time grows dark in America, and holding up the name of Jesus can land us in court, are we right to keep sharing the Gospel?

The Answer:

You have come to the place you are at by making the same mistake some Christians have been making ever since the nation was founded: this is not a Christian nation. This is a nation founded on the principle of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and freedom FROM oppression, coercion, and taxation without representation. Christians, whenever they attempt to make over the government in their own image, overstep their rights. This type of Christianity, or this type of any other religion, is incompatible with a nation that treasures liberty and freedom. I am highly skeptical of your claim that merely “holding up the name of Jesus” can land you in court. What can land you in court (or at least could, before the nation took the dark turn it has more recently since the time when your question was penned) is using any position of authority, as a representative of the government, say, or a public school) to attempt to impose your own religion, whatever it might be, on others. 

Freedom of religion means you are free to practice your religion, whatever it is. It doesn’t mean you are free to step on the right of other people to do the same. It is one thing to practice and also advocate your religion as a private citizen. The government should insure your right to do so. But at the same time, the government should take no stand regarding your religion or any other, so long as your religion beliefs do not infringe on the rights, or health and welfare, of anyone who does not share your faith. The government should be neutral. This is for the protection of your religion, everyone else’s religion, and the growing number of people who practice no religion.

Think about it. In Christianity alone their are more denominations, often with beliefs that completely contradict each other, than you can count. If you are going to have a Christian Nation, it stands to reason we would all have to agree on what those beliefs ought to be, and the chances that the official government religion would be exactly the same as whatever you believe are pretty small. Is abortion a sin, and should it be a crime? Not all Christians agree. The Bible says slavery is okay. It also says women should have no voice in church, that you shouldn’t eat shellfish or cut your hair. Should you be required to handle poisonous snakes to prove your faith? How about speaking in tongues? Jesus said the true believers should abandon their families, and only follow him. Do you believe there are witches, or that adulterers ought to be stoned? How about killing disobedient children. I your brother-in-law dies, do you think you should be obligated to take on his widow as a second wife? All of these things are in the Bible, and there are at least Christians in the world who think we have to follow them all. If it’s in the Bible, and the Bible supplants the Constitution, how can you object to all of them being adopted, or imposed on everyone, regardless of what they may believe themselves, on penalty of imprisonment, fines, even torture, or execution? Even short of that, should our Christian government be Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, or what, exactly? Or are we not better off, ALL OF US, being allowed to follow our own consciences, and beliefs…with the government staying out of it, EXCEPT to protect us all from the overstepping of bounds on other people?

The times are growing dark in America, but it isn’t because religious people are being prevented from spreading their religion. It’s because they are more often under the current administration being allowed to, to the detriment of American ideals, AND to the detriment of the principle of freedom of religion. 

Choose Your Own Adventure

The Question:

I am studying the early church and my professor claims that the Reformation is what saved Christianity. Does that mean that before this change people were no longer experiencing the new birth—salvation in Christ alone?

The Answer:

I guess I have a problem with the idea that Christianity was ever “saved”. Saved from what, or for what, is the question I would have, and I wonder who gets to decide. Christianity has “survived” over the centuries, but has not remained the same. The early Christians would not recognize the Christians of the Middle Ages, and the Christians of today would barely relate to the the Christians of most of the previous centuries except in the broadest outline, and possibly not even then. The variety of sects with different beliefs who exist today have trouble enough recognizing Christianity in each other…and most would not accept at least some of the other denominations they share the planet with as being “Christian”. Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans, Christian Nationalists, and others…did the reformation save any of them, all of them, or none of them? What you have today is a hodgepodge of faiths all calling themselves Christian without agreeing on anything as to what it means to be a Christian, including your claim that Christianity means experiencing the new birth, and salvation in Christ alone.

One Message

The Question:

If you could deliver just one message to the youth of our world, what would it be? It seems like they have so many problems that we never faced when we were growing up, and I wish I could help them in some way to get on the right track.

The Answer:

I wonder what constitutes one message…do you mean a single phrase or motto, or can I expand it to contain multiple ideas that are interconnected and of a piece? If you mean a single phrase, sentence, or motto, I will decline to answer and admit failure, because I think a simple answer is too open to misunderstanding, as likely to do harm as good. For example, I snuck a peak at Billy’s answer. He said “life’s highest joy comes only from knowing Christ and seeking to do His will—and then I would urge them to commit their lives to Him without reserve.” Right away we can see more than one message, but not enough to help anyone, because of its vagueness. Followers of Christ are all over the map, from people who genuinely care about and are compassionate toward others, to authoritarian monsters who have no qualms about outlawing, punishing, and even killing people who don’t meet their approval…all in the name of a God they can’t even produce for anyone to see or hear. People who claim to know God and follow him can be found who disobey every single one of his alleged commands, proudly and openly, from love thy neighbor to judge not, lest ye be judged, to welcome the stranger, to my kingdom is not of this world. 

So, what’s a better answer? I can only summarize here, but I hope it would be of some help to the youth of the world, if the youth of the world were inclined to seek help, which of course is the first step. Giving advice to people who aren’t looking for it is usually a waste of everyone’s time. But if the youth of the world were to ask me, I’d say something along these lines: truth matters. Science matters. History matters. Integrity matters. Honesty matters. Compassion matters. Virtue, Honor, Reputation may sound like old-fashioned words but they all matter. Happiness should not be your principal goal, it is best not to seek it directly because it is, like all emotions, an internal state, responses to stimuli, in a sense not even real. Emotions are transitory states of mind, never entirely under our control, nor a true representation of the world outside of ourselves. Money and fame should not be your principal goal either, if it can’t be acquired honestly or without doing harm to other people. Nobody lives forever, and death is final. You can’t take anything with you when you die, because you aren’t going anywhere and neither is anyone else. So, live like this life matters. But also live like you aren’t the only person on the planet. We are social animals, and the idea that animals can work towards a civilization in which there might someday be liberty, justice, opportunity, security, and health for all is a far greater idea than any other. If we don’t want to be mistaken for baboons or other monkeys, we need to act better than they do. We don’t need to organize the whole tribe around Alphas, or around tribes at all.

Popularity Contest

The Question:

As a literature teacher, it is stunning to read the great literary works that society is so proud of, yet the Bible—the bestselling book of all time—is set aside as archaic and culturally outdated. While the Bible contains a great deal of tragedy, it also contains beautiful poetry, amazing history, and biographical intrigue.

The Answer:

Perhaps the reason the Bible is set aside as archaic and culturally outdated…is because it is archaic and culturally outdated. Not to mention scientifically inaccurate, contradictory, and while it may contain beautiful poetry in part, the history is hardly amazing (or accurate), and biographical intrigue is hardly the hallmark of great literature; its the hallmark of bad biography,  The great works of literature are, without, exception, works of fiction. If you’re saying the Bible ought to be judged as a work of fiction, I’d say you’d be on solid ground,. but in my opinion even as a work of fiction it doesn’t measure up to the works that make up the canon for most literature teachers, the ones who don’t have a religious bias to promote.

if you are going to base your assessment on the fact that it is the best selling book of all time, you need to wrestle with the fact that the next best selling books of all time are the Quran, the Book of Mormon, the Bhagavad Gita, and Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung. It’s almost like the best selling books of all time have little to do with literature and much to do with indoctrination.