The findings from Pew Research are clear: the importance of religion in the lives of Americans is shrinking. Yes, there are lots of problems with institutional religion. In the face of cultural changes, I think it’s important to consider the relevance of the teachings of Jesus even as the importance… Read More »Is Jesus Relevant?
There are many things in life I just don’t understand. One of them is how people misrepresent the heart of a religion — any religion. Whether it’s Judaism, Buddhism, Islam, or Christianity, some followers of each path are likely to take minor themes from the religion out of context, blow… Read More »The Politics of Christianity
Churches and synagogues are closing. Fewer people attend weekly services than in the past. Is this the end of religion? Or is something else happening? The following is a text version of this blog. What’s happening with religion? Is it falling apart? Is it becoming more conservative? Is it becoming… Read More »Is This the End of Religion?
Questioning what we’ve been taught and digging deeper into what we believe is necessary to form a healthy spiritual life. What questions should you be asking? Join me in this video as I explore the questions we ask about faith as we deconstruct dogma and reconstruct a better-integrated spirituality. The… Read More »Deconstructing Religion to Reconstruct a Spiritual Life
WWJD? What Would Jesus Do? How about this? What would Jesus want us to do? Anyone who seriously reads the New Testament gospels will be uncomfortable when they realize what Jesus actually wants from his followers. The following is a text version of this posting. Some years ago, there was… Read More »What Would Jesus Want?
Many people were raised in conservative religious contexts and as adults grow beyond the confines of their childhood belief systems. Sometimes, a question comes up for them: what if they were actually right all along? This question could reflect unresolved spiritual abuse. In this video, I am discussing how growing… Read More »The Religious Conservative: What If They Are Right?
Killing your ego? Denying yourself? Transcend yourself? Some spiritual and religious teachings seem to convey a sense that there’s something wrong with being the person you are. Yet, psychology stresses the importance of affirming who you are. In this brief video, I explore what it means to have a healthy… Read More »Killing the Ego? Is that Spiritual?
Both religion and spiritual practice are sources of division among people. The divisions are often about what people believe as well as the ways people practice. The divisions are based on a binary set of options: one is right and the other is wrong. Yet, what’s true in all the… Read More »The Universal Truth in Religion and Spirituality
