Category Archives: Religion

This week we learned that Jewish institutions insist upon the Protestant Church apologising for its founder’s views of the Jews. The Jewish Algemeiner writes that “the 500th anniversary of the Reformation would be the ‘perfect time’ for Protestant leaders to recognise and apologise for the ‘horrific antisemitism’ of their movement’s founder, Martin Luther.” Continue reading →

Commentators on modern Jewish history are often puzzled by the animosity of secular Jews toward gentiles. Particularly puzzling is the scale of Jewish ‘revolutionary’ violence towards Christianity and churches in particular. It is no secret that Bolshevism set many churches ablaze. Continue reading →

I was born a Jew and grew up in The Bronx in New York City. At the age of 13, I was Bar Mitzvad. As I grew older, I became more and more disenchanted with religion as an institution. I became aware of the historical role religion played in the life and destiny of man, a history which demonstrates wars, deaths, and destruction all in the name of God. Continue reading →

By all standards, human rights abuse in Pakistan particularly against the Shia population is taking a horrendous momentum with the government keeping silent on the ongoing bloodbath. Continue reading →

On April 3, I posted an article on religion (“Freedom From Religion”) in which I differentiated between an individual’s right to worship whom he/she wants and how to worship from the destructive history of organized religion. Historically, organized religion has served as a tool of the ruling class to control the masses of people and as a vehicle for wars and intolerance of “others.” Continue reading →

I am seriously distressed at the choice not to mention the speed with which John Paul II was canonized as if to seal a reactionary agenda which, in essence, defines what the Catholic Church has been standing for in the past couple of decades and has stood for more than a thousand years since the message of its founder, a carpenter’s son, from a remote village corner, crossed the arid West Asian landscapes and became a religion of the Roman empire. Continue reading →

The 115 voting members of the College of Cardinals moved with great alacrity to send a signal that they meant to shake up the church. In a two-day conclave, a speedy election voted in Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, to succeed Pope Benedict XVI. And, at least for appearances sake, he became the first South American ever to grace the papal throne. In fact, he’s the first pope since 741 A.D. not to come from a European country. Continue reading →

Out of the blue on Monday, Pope Benedict announced his retirement, giving as his reason, “In today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.” He is stepping down on February 28. Continue reading →

The message of Islam is first and foremost a message of Unicity of the Creator and by correlation Unity of the Creation. In that particular context, the unity of the believers and that of Muslims specifically. Continue reading →

As ordained priest, theologian, psychotherapist and professor of psychology Dr. Daniel Helminiak noted in his book, What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality, the literal approach to interpretation “cannot use the Bible to answer pressing questions of our day.” Doing so leads to cherry-picking and selective reading and a host of contradictions, not to mention actions that today would be seen as criminal. Continue reading →

As a boy I went to Public School 18 on Leonard Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which was just across the street from St. Mary’s Church and elementary school. It was convenient, my mother said as my father worked on dinner, to just cross the street on Wednesdays for religious instructions in preparation for my First Holy Communion and several years later, Confirmation, that is, being inducted into the Army of God. Continue reading →

Two recent events brought the debate about civil equality back into the headlines and, once again, threaten to turn a country supposedly dedicated to human dignity and equal rights for all Americans into a state in which religious jingoism and biblical literalism attempt to dictate civil law. The observation was made by ordained priest, theologian, psychotherapist, professor of psychology, and author of What the Bible Really Says about Homosexuality, Dr. Daniel Helminiak, in a May 15, 2012, CNN article: Continue reading →

I’d like all of you self-righteous anti-gay crusaders to look into the eyes of fourteen year-old Kenneth Weishuhn, Jr. Continue reading →

In recent years, the religious right have moved even further to the right—to the fringes. Some have even expanded their war on women’s reproductive rights to where they are condemning contraception. They even held congressional hearings on the subject. This is despite the fact that 99 percent of American women who have ever had sex have used contraception, including 98 percent of Catholic women. Continue reading →

It is a simple design, useful in the construction of grand buildings, or as a small platform from which to hang trouble makers. It has also become the world’s most recognizable religious symbol. Continue reading →