On Enlightenment

Remember the question posed to Benjamin Franklin?

"What have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" 

And now, contemplate his response:

"A republic, if you can keep it."

We need to be about the business of keeping it.

Reflect upon the Age of Enlightenment because many of those ideas birthed from that time play into why this country is even here in the first place-- and what it will take to keep it truly ours-- as in, the people.

Liberty Enlightening the World

I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore.

-- John Adams

Our nation absolved allegiance from the British Crown in order to rule itself on July 4th, 1776 by issuing the Declaration of Independence.

This event makes every Fourth of July special. Each Fourth of July marks one more year that this nation has remained free. And today, we've reached 234 years now.

Let us all contemplate how wonderful liberty is. Let us all appreciate our freedom by learning about where it came from in the first place.

Let us be grateful for all servicemen and servicewomen who sacrifice and join our all-volunteer military so that our freedom is protected.

Be grateful for the democratic process and our elected officials who participate in this great political experiment. And be grateful for our justice system. Even with the flaws and frustrations of our legal system, we could be worse off.

And be grateful that we can complain to our elected officials and even poke fun at them when it suits us, because we have freedom of speech and expression.

And, thank your God, should you believe in him (or her) -- exercise your freedom of religious expression.

And if you are a non-believer, breath in the fresh air of freedom because you may exercise your freedom of personal expression and freedom of any sort of religious oppression.

Think of how ancient Greece and Rome once stood as beacons of light to the rest of civilization. Then consider how these empires fell and plunged the world into the Dark Ages. Consider the events which characterized the Dark Ages, then think on the Age of Enlightenment and how it emerged from that period of darkness. Consider how great minds, great discoveries, and great words of expression re-kindled the flame that illuminated the dark world once again.

Know that liberty is the cornerstone of enlightenment; Liberty enlightens the world.

Think on the original name of our great Statue of Liberty. Consider how it was a gift from the French who helped us during our Revolution. Then take time to contemplate the French's role in the Enlightenment era. And take time to think about how a French sculptor took symbols from the best of world civilization and embodied them in our greatest monument of freedom -- a token given to our country to celebrate it's centennial birthday.

Celebrate this day. Eat some potato salad and barbecue. And if your vegan, eat some barbecue tofu in honor of this day.

If you had to work today, I hope you can still take time to celebrate. Sit back, relax, and enjoy your freedom -- even if you have to take a rain check and celebrate tomorrow.

(Originally posted 0n 07/4/2009, though I did change the number of years we've been free.)

The AFA is Right; Not Censoring New JC Show Would Be Unfair

I saw this e-mail today. I'll quote it first, then expound upon it:

Comedy Central set to blaspheme Christ with "JC" show

The Comedy Central network is planning a cartoon series about Jesus Christ entitled "JC."

June 7, 2010

Dear (name removed)

In its promotional material for the program "JC", Viacom describes Jesus as a "regular guy" - rather than the Son of God - and depicts him moving to New York to "escape his father's enormous shadow." The Father is depicted as an apathetic dad virtually addicted to video games and totally uninterested in his son's life.

So Comedy Central is set - unless we intervene - to blaspheme two-thirds of the Trinity on a weekly basis.

A depiction of Jesus on Comedy Central's "South Park" (Courtesy of Comedy Central)See how we expect Comedy Central to mock Christ by viewing this previous offering of anti-Christian bigotry from the show "South Park." Warning - It is offensive, but depicts the animosity the network has toward Christianity.

Yet in recent weeks Comedy Central bowed to pressure from Islamic groups and heavily censored an episode of "South Park" that showed Mohammed in a bear costume. The hypocrisy here is staggering.

Comedy Central shows more respect for Mohammed and for Muslims, who represent two percent of the American population, than for Jesus Christ and the 83% of Americans who believe in him.

We need to send a loud, clear message to Comedy Central and all potential advertisers of "JC" that this kind of insulting programming is completely unacceptable. If we speak with one voice now we can keep this program from ever seeing the light of day.

Sign our petition today and make your voice heard. This petition, with your signature on it, will be sent to the decision-makers who will determine whether this program airs.

At first I thought, "these people have no right to suppress free speech".

Then I realized something else-- the violent, threating members of Islam have already done this when the most recent South Park's depiction of Mohammad was censored on television.

This is not fair after all.

We pick on Jesus because Christians probably won't come together in larger numbers and threaten to murder. One might kill, but a community of Christians won't come together and threaten everyone with misery and death if the JC show airs and offends the majority of America.

But we won't dare say anything about Allah or his (so called) prophet Mohammad (why should peace be upon him? he certainly isn't generating peace upon us after he's been gone for centuries!).

Just that comment above could get me killed if I had a wider audience. I could have this blog pulled because I defamed the name of Mohammad.

Until our society realizes that we need to have the balls to own up to our rights of free speech, free inquiry, and freedom to criticize, then we sure as hell have no business making fun of Jesus Christ without censoring him in the same way that South Park's recent depiction of Mohammad was censored.

We must not forget where we came from. During an era of witch hunts, despotic kings and governors, kidnappers and slave traders, inquisitions, and spreading of religion by dominant force-- a beacon of reason and Enlightenment declared that enough was enough. The people wanted a government that gave a rats ass about the people, a ruler that was respected, but could be taunted, and a freedom to pursue happiness and liberty.

And the people knew that in order to have this, an environment needed to be created where someone could discover controversial truths and express them openly for the ultimate betterment of human kind.

If people can't say something negative or controversial about Mohammad, Jesus Christ, Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, or even yours truly, then we will find ourselves too afraid to point out danger when we see it. We will hold on to delusions out of fear. We will dismiss the reasonable when insanity is handed to us. We will fall into a well of ignorance and usher in a new Dark Age.

Mohammad doesn't have the right to do that to us. But until we get that into our heads, we don't have a right to pick on JC while cowering in from of Allah.

Numberwareness

I've heard the speculation that a person's perspective of human kind's centeredness in the cosmos is directly proportional with one's understanding of math.

In other words, the less math a person understands, the more likely that person will think human kind is the apex and center of the Universe. However, the more math a person understands, the more that person will realize humanity is not even a blip when considering the grand scale of the Universe. Again, this is speculation.

Among the industrialized democracies, the United States lags behind in primary and secondary education. Math does not seem to be an exception. Also, I am no exception within this scenario and I long to better understand the important skill of understanding numbers. So, to do my part to educate myself and any who will listen, I will share some interesting comparisons that I've recently read. Perhaps this information could help us put ourselves and our cosmos into perspective-- a perspective largely described using numbers:

If you count at a rate of one number per second, you will need to count for practically 12 days before you reach one million.

At this same rate, you will need to count for 32 years to reach one billion (10⁹).

To finally count to one trillion, you will need 32,000 years.

*****

McDonald's claims to have served one hundred billion customers. If you took one hundred billion hamburgers and laid them end to end, the burger chain could circle the Earth 230 times! No wonder we've got obesity problems!

And you'd still have burgers left over to stack to the moon and back!

Those people at McDonald's are some rich Mo'Fo's.

*****

If a person making $25,000 a year finds $0.25 on the side walk, then this is the same proportion to Bill Gates finding $25,000 laying around on the floor somewhere! In other words, $25,000 is merely twenty-five cents when compared to Bill Gates' wealth!

No wonder he can donate a billion dollars to AIDS research and not blink!

No wonder Gates only wants the world to use Windows!

(That Linux hater. Grrrrrr . . .)

*****

If we placed a soccer ball in the middle of a soccer field to represent the Sun, we'd have to walk about ten paces from our soccer ball to represent the distance between the Sun and Mercury. About 20 paces away from Mercury would be the Earth-- Venus would fall somewhere in between. The moon would rest about an inch away from the Earth at this proportion. Amazingly, this is the furthest any human has ever physically ventured so far.


Jupiter would be found about 130 paces away from Earth in our "soccer field rendition" of the solar system. And Pluto would end up being half a mile away from the soccer ball which represents our Sun.

The nearest star? We'd have to fly 4000 miles away from our soccer ball to represent Proxima Centauri, the closet star to our planet besides our Sun.

Now try to consider the countless stars our telescopes can see.

*****

If that doesn't put the universe into perspective, then take out the time to listen to what Carl Sagan has to say about our planet, the Pale Blue Dot:




A very humbling discourse indeed.

In light of all of this-- who are we to be cruel to one another? Who are we to think we are so much better than anyone who is different from us? Who are we to ever think that our minds are so high, that we don't have to turn skepticism towards ourselves?

Whether there be a god or not, each individual person is way too small to treat anyone else of lesser size.

To me, these humbling insights reveal the importance of "Numberwareness".


Sources:

Death By Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Raising Freethinkers: A Practical Guide for Parenting Beyond Belief by Dale McGowan, Molleen Matsumura, Amanda Metskas, and Jan Devor.

Reality check

I had the pleasure of recently reading a book by notable astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. His book is called Death by Black Hole. On page 292 of his book, he discusses how in 1054 A.D., a star in the constellation of Taurus suddenly became brighter. So bright in fact, that the star could be plainly seen during the day for weeks.

Tyson states that the star became brighter by a factor of a million if it were to be seen during the day time.

How many stars do you see out during the day time (besides the Sun)?

(And assuming you don't live where it's sometimes dark during the "day".)

Tyson also writes that both Chinese and Middle Eastern astronomers documented this event. Native Americans in the future territories of the United States made cave drawings depicting the event-- which turned out to be a supernova from some 7,000 years earlier. The light had finally reached Earth by A.D. 1054.

But somehow, the astronomers in Europe omit this event from their logs, even though they kept records of the Heavens much like the a fore mentioned astronomers.

Why?

Tyson argues that due to the authority of the Church at that time, no astronomer in Europe wanted to document a change in the Heavens. The could possibly undermine the authority of the Church. So, (let the Europeans of 1054 tell it)-- that supernova never happened!

That's the Dark Ages, for ya.

To ignore a bright light shining in your face is begging for darkness. Begging for ignorance.

I admit that ignorance can sometimes be easier to embrace. And, I will personally admit that I have embraced ignorance in the past. And I'm sure I'll make the mistake again at some point in my life.

But with a new endeavor to embrace skepticism, I try to ground myself to a system that can hopefully provide me with a reality check when I need one from time to time.

Embracing a delusion takes away your ability to "call in" and make a reality check. When that happens, you're far more likely to be exploited by someone with malformed intentions.

The following link is NOT SAFE FOR WORK, but I invite you to check out the post "The Armor of God" by Greta Christina. It's a long post, but I personally think it's worth the read. If not, at least a quick skim to get the gist of her argument. She's one of the first bloggers I've heard to use the phrase "Reality Check" in terms of religion and skepticism. So, I owe her the credit for the title of my post.

Another Reason Why We Need Skepticism

A phrase is often repeated in the United States:

A person is innocent until proven guilty.

In the past, I've found myself guilty of taking that sentiment and generalizing it to mean that all ideas or notions deserve the benefit of the doubt.

In other words:

Any given idea should be considered creditable until proven ridiculous.

But that's not quite how "innocent until proven guilty" generalizes.

"Innocent until proven guilty" really means:

The prosecution bears the burden of proof.

A prosecutor cannot simply claim that someone has committed a crime. The prosecutor must support the allegations with evidence and then argue his or her case in the Court of Law.

All claims have the same burden: an idea or a notion does not inherently receive the benefit of the doubt. On the contrary, a claimant must carry the burden of proving any claim in the same way that a prosecutor must prove the guilt of a defendant.

That is why a person is innocent until proven guilty. A person should not be punished until a thorough, justifiable argument has been made which is supported by verifiable evidence.

This is nothing more than another flavor of skepticism.

This form of skepticism is designed to deter anyone with great authority from whisking you away to some cold dungeon or tying you to a stake and burning you alive.

This mechanism prevents someone from making frivolous claims against your person-- claims which could easily condemn you to a tortuous end-of-life. All because you were simply accused.

Skepticism allows the questioning and challenging of ideas. Skepticism is simply freedom of thought. But this simple-- yet powerful-- ideal works towards protecting us from being constantly bullied by people of higher authority.

And where there is freedom of thought, freedom of expression tends to follow. These two principles serve as the vertebrae of any free society. The United States was born out of a movement of enlightenment and skepticism.

Here then, is another reason why we so desperately need skepticism. A tyrant desires an society that subscribes to unthinking belief.

But where there is skepticism, liberty is not too far behind.

Why We Need Skepticism

Angela Donovan is a psychic who predicts by May of 2010, President Obama will cause the United States to stop using the dollar as it's base currency. Better start investing in gold and making other important preparations to keep your family safe. Her books will show you how.

Skeptical?

Jack and Rexella Van Impe predict that the next pope after Benedict XVI will became the leader and founder of the New World Order. Basically, that will either make the next pope a forerunner to the Antichrist or the Antichrist himself.

Skeptical?


Robert Tilton.
Enough said.

The-End.com claims that the End Times were set into motion back in 2008 and that by May 27, 2012 the "self-rule of man" will end. You need to get a copy of their book so you can be fully prepared. You see, terrorism will continue to grow until the United States collapses and WW III will commence. [Jesus enters stage right]

At least they provide their book for free. Maybe they are at least sincere.

But still . . . be skeptical.

• You need skepticism when a preacher tells you that depression is all in your head.
• You need skepticism when a preacher tells you that you can choose your sexual orientation through determination and prayer.
• You need skepticism when the bible tells you blasphemy of the Holy Ghost is unforgivable, yet that same bible cannot give you any comfort or assurance as to whether you're guiltless of this damnable sin.
• You need skepticism when someone tells you that Hitler could be in heaven had he only confessed Jesus. However, you will burn in hell for eternity if you fail to confess Jesus no matter how decent your life might have been.
• You need skepticism when you hear yourself "speaking with tongues" yet nobody can ever understand or translate what you're saying.
• Hell . . . you need skepticism even if someone does claim to understand what you say when you speak in tongues.
• You need skepticism when politicians speak. Regardless of party affiliation or super-star status.

Even when Obama speaks; Especially when Palin speaks.

• You need skepticism when scientists pontificate about the origins of life and of the Universe. As a matter of fact, many scientists would encourage that you do this.
• You also need skepticism when people claim magnets can make a perpetual generator that can bring your electric bill down to $0, even though perpetual motion seems to defy the very laws of physics!

Excited anyway? You still want to purchase one of these generators? Well, MangiWork* will only provide you with a DIY guide to build your own for the special discounted price of $49.00. They even encourage you to resell their technology if you get one of those generators up and working!

Say . . . why aren't they simply selling the generators rather than the DIY kits? They could be making a fortune building those things!

Now, are you skeptical?

By the way . . .

If you can write a simple letter like this one, you can make six figures.

Are you skeptical?

Does that guy in Nigeria really want to give me a cut from that million dollar trust that he just inherited by dubious means? Does he really need my bank account number to cash out that money?

Remember, you may be trading your hard earned money and good years of your life paying for someone's sports car and mansion. Worse, you may be buying some sort of snake oil that could actually endanger your life! Or, talked out of real help or denied a life time of happiness because you allowed someone else to forbid you to be your true self.

Skepticism does not mean that truth or trustworthy information can never be found. On the contrary, skepticism seeks out truth and trustworthy information. Skepticism is simply the act of sending a claim through a vetting process. Skepticism simply asks the claimant to provide some reasonable evidence before expecting you to take the bait.

Unthinking belief is exactly what charlatans and confidence men want out of you. After they gain that, the rest if pretty easy.

Are you still skeptical about the importance of skepticism now?


* By the way, the MangiWork site no longer exists. But with the power of Google, you can find some YouTube videos on the topic.

If 6 Were 9

Like good ol' Jimi Hendrix said in his song If 6 were 9:

I'm the one that's gotta die when it's time for me to die. So, let me live my life the way I want to.

Those sentiments remind me of some grocery store music that I recently heard. The song went like this:

I've got a right to be wrong. I've been held down too long.

I've got to break free. So I can finally breathe.

I've got a right to be wrong. Got to sing my own song.

I might be singing out of key. But it sure feels good to me.

Got a right to be wrong. So just leave me alone.



You're entitled to your opinion, but it's really my decision.

I can't turn back I'm on a mission. If you care, don't you dare blur my vision.

Let me be all that I can be. Don't smother me with negativity.

Whatever's out there waiting for me, I'm going to faced it willingly.



I've got a right to be wrong. My mistakes will make me strong.

I'm stepping out into the great unknown. I'm feeling wings though I've never flown.

I've got a mind of my own. Flesh and blood to the bone.

See, I'm not made of stone. I've got a right to be wrong.

So just leave me alone.

To me, that song said a lot to be grocery store music.

While at the self-check out, another song came on-- Let the Music Play, by Shannon. An 80's song. If you're not a child of the 80's then . . . well, just ask yourself-- would you sing along with an 80's song out loud in a public place?

I wanted to. And the self-checkout attendant did at the top of her lungs.

And she shook it, too.

Somehow, that was all quite liberating. I realized I wasn't the only one who wanted to cut loose.


After that moment, I finally realized a very strong desire for the citizens of Jesusland to let us atheists be and treat us like the normal people we are. That same right should be extended to anyone else who expresses individuality within Jesusland.

Give me the same rights that you claim for yourself.

In other words, just leave us alone.

Geaux Saints!

The province of Jesusland in which I live does not have it's own professional NFL football team. As a result, most of the population in my province cheers for the New Orleans Saints.

Geaux Saints!

Saints gear, such as jerseys, hats, and  shirts have become quite scarce. Bakeries have even started refusing new orders because they've been inundated with special requests for Super Bowl cookies and cakes which don the Saints name and logo.

Between advertisements, electronic billboards flash the count down to Super Bowl Sunday.

Geaux Saints!

When I arrived at work this morning, I was greeted with a smile and a humongous "Geaux Saints" button.

But . . . I'm for the Colts.

Just kidding. Actually, I'm ambivalent. I'm interested in the big game and I plan to watch it. However, the only outcome I care for is an exciting, overtime nail biter. I'd hate for either team to obliterate the other. That's football at it's absolute worst.

Regardless, I wasn't all that interested in wearing my company-issue Saints button. 

Another fellow stood nearby and said that he didn't like the Saints and refused his button. The person issuing the buttons exclaimed, "I can't believe you're not a Saints fan! We need to convert you; I'm going to convert everyone to be a Saints fan. This is just like us Christians against those non-believers. You need to at least support the Saints if you haven't chosen a side!"

Was this person joking?

Yes. 

And no.

I took a button, but I never put it on. Not after that comment.

And that's precisely the crux of the matter. The citizens of Jesusland think you need to be on their side. They are right. If you don't agree, you are wrong, dysfunctional, and perhaps the weakest link in Jesusland society.  When God decides to punish Jesusland and purge the sin, the fault falls on those pesky non-believers-- be they atheists, homosexuals, or political liberals.

And apparently in Jesusland, worshiping Jesus is not enough! You need to be a Saints fan, too.

Praise Jesus!

Geaux Saints!

Just for that . . . I think I'll start cheering for the Colts.

Don't Blame the Blasphemer

Suppose a blasphemer speaks out against a deity, causing many offended worshipers to angrily spew death threats and stage destructive riots.

In such a situation, who did the most harm?

Suppose a blasphemer speaks out against any given deity and one or more of the various followers apprehend and murder the culprit.

Who was wrong?

To me, any free nation that supports a blasphemy law (national, or international) is reminiscent of a parent who is willing to do anything in order to circumvent a child's temper tantrum. Such a parent hopes to avoid all conflict because the child is in control and not the parent.

Many children hold their parents hostage in this way.

So then, at what point will the child decide to become reasonable and stop making unrealistic demands without the threat of throwing tantrums? What will finally satisfy the insatiable drive of a spoiled, rotten little child?

At what point will any sort of blasphemy law curb violent outbursts from worshipers of a deity that has been insulted? Who (or what) is protected by blasphemy laws? Who is the true victim when a potential blasphemy law is broken?

Who is the victim when someone is fined, flogged, or even place on death row for blasphemy?

Are we not all blasphemers against at least one other deity? Even theists refuse to pay honor and respect towards any deity in which they do not believe.

Yes, even the theists who desire to enforce the absurdity of blasphemy laws is in some sense guilty of blasphemy themselves!

Does blasphemy injure worshipers so horribly that they have a right to call for fines, imprisonment, beatings or even capital punishment in order to protect their faith?

Why follow a deity that can't protect his worshipers, his religion, his specially chosen leaders, or --for that matter-- himself?

Why follow such an inept being?

I dare say that such a deity is asking to be blasphemed.

And furthermore, the worshipers of such an inept deity needn't throw tantrums.

After all, it's not the blasphemer's fault that their deity cannot stand up for himself.

Table Talk

While enjoying a slab of pizza with my kids, we chatted about the events of the evening.

My son proceeded to tell me about his afternoon:

"When Grandma picked me up from school today, she told me that I couldn't watch any TV at her house".

"Oh, really? Why? You get into some trouble?" (uh-oh)

"No", he replied. "Grandma said that she wasn't watching TV to prove her love to God (read: fasting from television). She said that she wasn't going to permit me to watch any TV since it's her house and her rules."

"Oh, I see. What did you think of that?"

-- I think I even stopped eating my pizza for a moment.

"I respect what she's trying to do and all, but I don't agree with it".

"Really?" I was astonished. What a mature answer for an eight year old!

"Well son, I'm curious now. Would you be willing to stop watching TV to get closer to God?"

"Nope. I like TV too much."

Ouch!

"But what if someone told you that sometimes it takes that sort of devotion to please God?" I tried to pick my son's brain.

"I dunno. I just don't agree with that idea. I respect it, but . . . . I mean, I don't even know if the Bible is real or not. I mean, who was there to write about the first man if nobody was around but the first man? That just doesn't seem to make sense to me."

Wow! Honest . . . I didn't tell him any of that beforehand. I don't even know where he got that specific idea from-- except that I've encouraged him to question ideas and to decide for himself what he thinks of God. I didn't think that anything I said would have caused him to respond quite like that.

He still seems to believe in God. That's fine with me. But he seems willing to question ideas-- even if the ideas come from an "authoritative source". That to me is most important.

He's thinking on his own.

I don't mind if he becomes (or remains) theist. I just want him to learn to think for himself, regardless. Many theists are quite capable of doing this.

And for that reason alone (that he's learning to think for himself), I am proud of my son.

(And I'm proud of my daughter, too. She's learning how to read!)

The Way of the Open Mind

Reason requires an open mind. An open mind considers facts, even if these facts are contradictory to what one wants to believe due to bias, prejudice, preconceived notions, or mindset.

A closed mind clings to intolerance, suppressing proper reasoning power. A closed mind has established an unwise resolve and will not consider crucial facts when such information does not already align itself with the current mindset.

Where then, is the key that opens the closed mind?

Find that key and a lot of closed minds can be freed.

This post was inspired by my current reading of the book Clear Thinking. Consider reading or recommending this title to a friend.

Dependency

I was thumbing a book titled The Ideas That Made the Modern World. As I looked over the introduction, a summation of the Enlightenment caught my eye:

Thus science shatters the systems of theology and metaphysics. But it is not just the victory of scientific knowledge as such, but the scientific method and mindset, which routes the old and obfuscatory orthodoxies. Indeed it is also a question of attitude that is the key here, as indicated by Immanuel Kant in his celebrated essay, What Is Enlightenment? "Enlightenment," he wrote, "is man's emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one's understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Sapere Aude! 'Have courage to use your own understanding!' that is the motto of enlightenment."

When freethinking is absent, one must be dependent upon others for an understanding of reality concerning social, religious, or political issues. This sense of autonomy and responsibility created the fruits of the Enlightenment -- political revolutions, explosions in science and technology, and miraculous advances in medicine.

This concept made me think of when a well meaning minister told of how a church member was depended upon her too much. She would call her at the worst times in need of emotional comfort. The church member seemed to struggle with a nervous condition -- on the edge of paranoia or anxiety disorder. One evening, the church member called at an inopportune time; the minister was extremely drowsy from taking medication in addition to simply being sleepy from a long day. The minister even tried to warn the church member that she wasn't really in the condition to talk, but she didn't want to disappoint. After all, this person was depending on her.

The minister stated that though she tried her best to stay awake on the phone, she woke up to:

Minister! Minister! What do you mean they're going to get me in the morning?!

The minister never received another call from that member again.

Holding the minister to such a high standard was unfair, in my opinion. But, the member couldn't resolve her own problems herself. While we all find ourselves needing help and guidance from others, she seemed to be in a situation where medication could be in order. But, she will not pursue such an avenue because she has been trained to think that God and the clergy can fix all these problems in her life. She is depended on the establishment that runs her religious faith because free thought is highly discouraged by overt and subtle methods in many churches.

She can't think for herself. She's on a leash so tight that she can't even pursue adequate help.

But that's what the Enlightenment did -- it cut the leash of dependency with the razor of free thought.

Freemasonry and the American Revolution

The History Channel showed an interesting segment concerning the role Freemasonry played in the birth of the United States. From as early as the Boston Tea Party, Masons played a large role in the growth and establishment of the United States during the Revolution.

Interestingly, Freemasonry in the US fueled the Revolution through one of it's great ideals:

Free Thought based on Reason.

While God is acknowledged – reason – not faith – is the virtue of the Freemasons of the Revolution. This is why Muslims, Jews, and Christians all come together under a unified order. The lines of religion are blurred – making reason and action the choice stance against the challenges of life.

This rejected the religious tyranny prevalent in Europe at the time of the Revolution.

Many of the founding fathers were Masons. Masonic connections spanned across nations and this came in handy for keeping the US Revolution alive. Ben Franklin used his masonic connections to get desperately needed aid from France so that their lodge brother General Washington would not cave in during the war.

With Freemasonry so intertwined with the birth of our republic and with Freemasonry being so non-embracing and non-endorsing of any specific religion – how can we say the US is a Christian nation?

Freemasonry encouraged reason and open mindedness – the very ideals of freedom. Fundamentalist religions so often enforce closed mindedness because free thinking is quite incompatible with Fundamentalist theology.