Religion and Spirituality – Page 8 – Glen's Parallax Perspectives

Few Americans know Constitution prohibits religious litmus tests for officeholders.

July 31, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The Pew Research Center released survey results on a religious literacy poll which found that only 27% of Americans surveyed knew that the Constitution prohibits any religious litmus tests for officeholders. The article I have linked below came from a great non-profit organization that vigorously protects the separation of church and state. I enjoy reading materials from — and financially supporting — Americans United for the Separation of Church and State (www.au.org). SEE THIS ARTICLE: https://www.au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/study-says-americans-have-a-few-things-to-learn-about-non-christian-faiths?utm_source=blogdigest&utm_medium=email

How We Got into Our Current Crisis

May 24, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

I wrote an insightful article in 2017, and it is still valid, so I updated it only a little and posted it here. I’ll write another proposing remedies for how to get out of this crisis. Look for that within the next few weeks. How We Got into Our Current Crisis

Insightful articles about liberation aspects of Christianity

May 11, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The Winter 2019 issue of the Veterans for Peace publication (at this link — http://www.classwars.org/PeaceTimesWinter2019.pdf ) — ends with an amazingly smart article about liberation as the core message of what Christianity is supposed to be about. The article starts on the final page (page 24) and continues two pages earlier (page 22). This article — https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/22/1828233/-What-kind-of-Christian-was-the-Rev-Martin-Luther-King-Junior?detail=emaildkcs — supports the kind of Christianity that MLK believed and practiced. The article’s beginning starts slow, but it improves when it lays out seven principles. The author cites an article by someone else, and it is in the context of being an “evangelical.” […]

Republicans and the Religious Right want to impose their theocracy upon the U.S.

April 30, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment PROTECTS our right to practice — or NOT practice — any religion with freedom from any governmental support or opposition. The “separation of church and state” is clearly required. For 75 years an excellent organization — Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, www.au.org — has been protecting us from abuse by people who want to impose their religion upon us, and it has been protecting religion from governmental interference too. It works both ways. But some people want to tear down the “wall of separation” and use our tax dollars to fund […]

Do not let assumptions about “human nature” interfere with the bold social and political reforms we are working toward.

April 25, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Sometimes when we work to significantly improve our society or our politics, people will try to inhibit our efforts by saying, “You can’t change human nature.” They assume that “human nature” is fixed and impervious to improvement. Actually, history has proven otherwise. People have indeed made radical progressive changes, and we can accomplish more. We do not need to “change human nature.” If we change our society so it will function better, people will change for the better too. So, for example, instead of assuming that “human nature” causes people to be greedy, let’s change our economic system and our […]

The Southern Poverty Law Center identified 28 hate groups in Washington State

April 13, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

People who live in Washington State tend to think we are more enlightened than the rest of the nation. But the Southern Poverty Law Center (www.splcentner.org) has identified 28 hate groups in Washington State. Sure, some might be small. But they can be dangerous. Decent people need to figure out various ways to make our local communities more welcoming and to discourage the kind of mean-spiritedness, bias, etc., that can cause some people to join up with hate groups. Here is the SPLC’s article: https://www.splcenter.org/states/washington

Gandhi’s Soul Force Vows

March 31, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Gandhi’s Soul Force Vows (Re-envisioned by Mel White) Published on page 13 of the July-August 1998 issue of Fellowship Magazine, published by the Fellowship of Reconciliation www.forusa.org 1. Vow to Truth I promise to seek the truth, to live by the truth, and to confront untruth wherever I find it. 2. Vow to Love (Nonviolence) I promise to reject violence (physical violence, spiritual violence, psychological violence) and to use only the methods of nonviolence in my search for truth and my confrontation with untruth. 3. Vow to Absorb Suffering I promise to take on myself without complaint any suffering that […]

Right-Wing Christianity is the OPPOSITE of what Jesus taught and practiced!

March 1, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Americans claim they love Jesus, but actually they hate his politics. See this article: https://www.opednews.com/articles/Though-Americans-Claim-to-by-Mike-Rivage-Seul-American-Capitalism_American-Culture_American-Foreign-Policy_American-Terror-190223-511.html Mike Pence, the Dominionists, and their theology of power pervert authentic Christianity. See this article: https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/01/30/a-theology-of-power-mike-pence-and-the-dominionists/ Jerry Falwell Jr. says Jesus’ teachings don’t apply to politics. A great progressive non-profit organization, Faithful America (www.faithfulamerica.org) sends smart, conscientious e-mails. In early January 2019 they sent this: “In a Washington Post interview this week, Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University, said that a poor person never gave anyone a job or gave anybody charity “in any real volume.” He argued that Jesus’ teachings […]

“Spiritual and Conscientious Groundings for Doing Good Work”

February 3, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

The February 2019 interview on “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” TV series (see below for info about watching it through your computer or TCTV channel 22) provides insights and examples for different spiritual and conscientious paths people can take throughout their lives that inspire and motivate them to do good work for peace, social justice, and other meaningful purposes. We can make our world a better place – and improve our local communities too – by drawing upon intangible motivations to inspire and guide our efforts. Many people do good work because they are moved by motivations grounded far below the merely […]

Insights into fundamentalist Christians’ support for Trump

January 25, 2019 GlenAnderson 0

Many people don’t understand why a large majority of evangelical Christians support Trump. Several persons have written articles that provide smart answers to that question. I already posted to my blog a very thorough article about the worldview that currently dominates the U.S. Part of that article explains the merger between the Religious Right and the Republican Party that occurred in the 1970s-1980s and has persisted since then. OPEN THIS LINK — http://parallaxperspectives.org/tv-programs-part-2-of-choose-a-better-worldview-to-build-a-better-world — and see the thorough summary I wrote for NOVEMBER 2018 and also DECEMBER 2018. Look at the table of contents for each, and then read the religion-related […]

The VERY BEST, MOST PROFOUND critique of Trumpism & our current crisis I’ve EVER seen!!!

December 23, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Chris Hedges is an amazingly knowledgeable and insightful journalist who writes thought-provoking — and sometimes disturbing — articles about our nation and the world we live in. Just before the November 2018 election, Chris Hedges spoke to an audience. He provided BY FAR THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE and MOST PROFOUND analysis of Trumpism and the U.S.’s current crisis that I have EVER seen! What we’re experiencing is far from “politics as usual,” so merely electing Democrats is NOT anywhere near what we need. Chris Hedges’ speech begins by explaining how economic elites have severed social relationships and social sustainability in order to […]

Trump’s nominee for Attorney General wants to impose “God’s Law” upon America. That’s UNCONSTITUTIONAL!

December 18, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Right-wing Americans are whipping up fears that state governments might impose Sharia law upon us, even though that is utterly unrealistic. However, the right-wing Christian equivalent — fundamentalist “God’s Law” is a real and present danger. Trump’s nominee for U.S. Attorney General — the top law enforcement official in our nation — actually is on record saying he wants to impose “God’s Law” upon our nation. He is a right-wing Christian fundamentalist. His proposal is BLATANTLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL. It violates the First Amendment’s absolute requirement that the government and religion remain separate. An excellent non-profit organization, Americans United for the Separation […]

PART 2 of “Choose a Better Worldview to Build a Better World”

November 30, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

Our nation and world are in a horrible mess. The December 2018 episode of “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” TV series examines how to solve the problems. A person or an entire society has a “worldview” — a way of seeing reality — that strongly directs their behavior and public policy. The worldview that currently dominates the U.S. government and society has caused escalating greed, corruption, cruelty, oppression, war, and other bad things. Instead, we need to replace that worldview with its opposite — a worldview that is humane, compassionate, peaceful, fair to everyone, and environmentally sustainable. An unjust society seeks to […]

A blistering critique of U.S. politics! PART 1: “Choose a Better Worldview to Build a Better World”

October 30, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

You can watch the November 2018 episode of the TV program for my series “Glen’s Parallax Perspectives” through a link on this blog post — or on TCTV cable channel 22 in Thurston County. (See info below.) This is PART 1 of a 2-part topic, “Choose a Better Worldview to Build a Better World.” It focuses mostly on the problems. PART 2, the December 2018 program, will focus more on solutions. SEE THE LINK BELOW for a VERY THOROUGH, BLISTERING CRITIQUE of the worldview that has increasingly dominated U.S. politics. Parts 1 and 2 of this program explains that the […]

Insights into evangelical Christians who sold their souls to Trump

October 21, 2018 GlenAnderson 0

This article dated October 14, 2018, is titled, “The Retribution for Evangelicals Who Sold Their Souls to Trump Is Coming.” It lays out the problem but does not do much about the “retribution” part of the title. Near the end of my November 2018 TV program (and in the essay about it that I’ll post to my blog in late October) I mention that during the 1970s and 1980s the Religious Right and the Republican Party actually merged into one movement so the Republican Party could capture and dominate a huge political base, and so the Religious Right would have […]