Monthly Archives: May 2023

Q Q with Tom Power

Vivian Rashotte - CBC Arts

Posted: 10 Hours Ago Last Updated: 10 Hours Ago

In Rainn Wilson's new book, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution, the actor writes about the intersection of art and faith, and what happens to our world when we move away from spirituality.

Wilson has been a member of the Baha'i faith since childhood, but as a young actor, he rejected religion and spent many years as an atheist before reconnecting with his spiritual side.

"I had no room in my life for God," he told Q's Tom Power in an interview. "I thought that was just a ridiculous concept. I swiftly turned to being an atheist. I didn't want morality in my life. I didn't want the religion of my parents in my life. I wanted to live a bohemian life in New York City and I did for many years. And it was great. It was wonderful until it wasn't as wonderful anymore, and I started to get extremely unhappy."

"I dealt with kind of a mental health crisis of my own in the '90s, when I was in my 20s, living in New York City. I was overwhelmed, anxious, depressed, dealing with addiction, loneliness, disconnection. And, you know, about the 47th time I woke up at 3 a.m., staring at the ceiling going, 'What does it all mean?' I thought, 'Well, maybe, just maybe, I've thrown the spiritual baby out with the religious bathwater. And maybe, just maybe, I have been premature in rejecting anything and everything to do with religion and spirituality.' And that started me on a quest."

Wilson's struggle with his faith mostly had to do with morality, and strictures around sex and drugs and alcohol. "I wanted to do things for myself, I wanted to be selfish, I wanted to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it," he said. "I didn't want to think about other people. I didn't want to think about trying to make the world a better place and be of service and pray and meditate. I wanted to have maximum fun."

Faith isn't something you typically hear about on red carpets or in entertainment magazines. In fact, it's a bit of a risk for celebrities to publicly discuss religion or be candid about their beliefs.

"Hollywood is rife with hypocrisy for any spiritual person," Wilson told Power. "The Office was on the air for one reason only, and that was to sell stuff during commercial breaks. So I was part of this giant, capitalist enterprise of NBCUniversal just trying to make gobs of money. And guess what they did? They made gobs of money. But I will say the greater service is that we made people laugh."

WATCH | Rainn Wilson's interview with Tom Power:

Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution was inspired by an experience Wilson had trying to pitch a show about God (titled The Notorious G.O.D.) to Netflix.

"I had a great sizzle reel and pitch deck, we had episode ideas. We wanted to look at God like AI. And what's a modern conception of God? How do we reimagine God in the modern world? How do different cultures look at God?" he recalled.

"At the end of the day, it was rejected across the board. And I'll never forget, at Netflix, they said, 'Sorry, the topic is too controversial.' You can have television shows with like half-naked models throwing garbage at each other and getting drunk that's fine! But having conversations about God and the meaning of life and what's beyond is too controversial. This is how upside down our culture is right now."

From Wilson's perspective, we all have a spiritual responsibility to bring joy to others, whether that be through the art we create or through acts of service.

"What helps me when my head hits the pillow is a deep understanding that one of my sacred jobs is to bring joy and squash cynicism," he said. "I think joy can be harnessed for good. I think it's a superpower. It's a service to others. And you don't have to be an actor [and] you don't have to be a sitcom star to bring joy to people."

The full interview with Rainn Wilsonis also available onour podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Interview withRainn Wilsonproduced by Vanessa Greco.

Vivian Rashotte is a digital producer, writer and photographer for Q with Tom Power. She's also a visual artist. You can reach her at vivian.rashotte@cbc.ca.

Continue reading here:

Rainn Wilson says our world needs a spiritual revolution - CBC.ca

Americans are becoming increasingly secular, with nearly 30% of adults reporting they are not affiliated with any specific religion, according to a 2021 Pew Research Center survey of the religious composition of the United States.

The number of secular Americans is 6% higher than it was five years ago and 10% higher than a decade ago, the survey found. The respondents who reported "no religion" are those who describe themselves as atheists, agnostics or "nothing in particular" when asked about their religious identity.

Greg Epstein, the humanist chaplain for Harvard University and MIT, is among those who identify as atheist. He recently spoke to ABC News' Phil Lipof about his own journey to humanism and how people without a religious faith are making sense of their purpose and the meaning of life.

PHIL LIPOF: So, thank you very much for being here. This book, "Good Without God," has been out for quite some time, almost a decade. And I know you're writing more, but talk about your spiritual journey. You were raised in the Jewish faith.

Greg Epstein: Yeah, I'm culturally Jewish. And thank you for having me by the way. It's an honor to be here. I'm culturally Jewish. My mom was a refugee from Cuba whose family had also been refugees to Cuba. My dad was also the son of refugees from Eastern Europe. And I was raised in New York City in the most multicultural, multiethnic, multireligious neighborhood -- Flushing Queens -- in maybe even society ever created, ever envisioned at that point. And that was so influential on me -- the idea that at the end of the day, we're all so alike. We're all so human.

LIPOF: Catholicism and Islam and Judaism. Be a good person. Don't kill, you know, be kind to your neighbor. What's the difference?

EPSTEIN: So there are moral and ethical teachings, great moral and ethical teachings, in every single one of the world's major religious traditions, and I honor that. And if you're a religious person, I honor you. I'm not asking you to change. I'm not suggesting that you should change, and I don't think humanism is either. The idea is that for those of us who really, sincerely believe that human beings created religion, that the world can best be explained by science without reference to theology, there's just plenty of ways for us to pursue goodness and truth and beauty and community as well.

LIPOF: Well, let's then speak just about Judaism for half a second, because that's the faith you were raised in. Mine as well. I know that there are rabbis, and I believe clergy across all religions, but specifically rabbis. And I guess -- I should -- specifically my mom, who is concerned that the more people move toward spirituality, the less they move away from the traditional aspects of a religion. And with a religion like Judaism, 15 million Jews across the world, not a billion. She and other clergy are concerned that the religion might disappear. You say?

EPSTEIN: I say, Judaism is a beautiful identity, heritage, culture, community as well as religion. Half of the world's Jews describe themselves as non-religious or secular. And I'm actually ordained as a rabbi myself. I was ordained by something called the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism. After five years of intensive study, including a year and a half in Israel, and actually becoming a humanist and really kind of becoming firm in my atheism and my secularism, my humanism, my not being religious, made me more interested in my own cultural background and my own family's history.

LIPOF: I'm curious. At these schools, these amazing institutions, Harvard, MIT. You split your time between the two, you're chaplain there. When kids talk to you about the meaning of life and what they should be doing with their lives, how do you approach that?

EPSTEIN: I think these days there are so many people who have concerns, and I'm meeting with as many as I possibly can make time for, to talk about concerns about meaning and purpose in life, because people are really afraid of the change that is coming down the pipe in society, whether it's climate change or technological change or other kinds of change, including changes in our belief, in our religion. It's just, people are really worried that the world is not what it used to be, and what is it becoming?

LIPOF: And a lot of times when people are concerned, they go right to religion. People get more faithful, sometimes, when they're trying to make sense of these things. But you go in a different direction. So how do you guide someone?

EPSTEIN: For me, I think that being a humanist means really thinking deeply about how we are all only human, how there is no one right way to be a human being to, you know, to live and to love. But there's so much that we can do for one another and with one another to make life better for everyone.

LIPOF: Greg Epstein, thanks so much. We do appreciate you taking the time.

EPSTEIN: Thank you so much. Great to be here.

See the rest here:

Harvard's humanist chaplain speaks on finding meaning and purpose without a religious faith - ABC News

"Reject Christian Nationalism. Keep religion out of government." That's what the billboard near the State Capitol reads in all caps. In smaller type is the name of the group that paid for it: Humanists MN.

The sign has been getting plenty of attention. When a local Reddit user snapped a photo of it and posted it with a "Found in St Paul, MN; Proud to live here!" caption earlier this spring, it garnered nearly 50,000 upvotes.

No matter your take on the First Amendment and its clauses, however, the billboard likely prompts a question: What's a humanist?

That's something Ellie Haylund, president of Humanists MN, finds herself answering often, even though her organization calls themselves the state's largest group of nonbelievers.

"So many people have not heard of it," Haylund said of humanism. "But as soon as you describe it, most people I know, say, 'Oh, that's me, I didn't know there was that name for it.'"

Humanists don't believe in a god. Instead, they unite around shared ethics and values such as compassion, critical thinking, civic engagement and sustainability and come together for service projects and community gatherings. The American Humanist Association's slogan is "Good without a god."

"I always tell people that I would rather label myself or define myself by what I am, not by what I'm not," Haylund said, explaining why "humanist" is a better fit for her than "atheist."

While sharing a name and certain qualities with the humanist movement of the Italian Renaissance, the type of contemporary humanism that Haylund is a part of had its beginnings about 100 years ago. Author Kurt Vonnegut was one of the more famous adherents. It's now gaining new energy and momentum among the growing number of people who identify as having no religion, Haylund said.

Humanists MN, which has several hundred dues-paying members and thousands of more casual adherents, has been around for 36 years. Billboards (which cost the group more than $7,000 for three months) are part of an effort to gain visibility and spur action on the separation of religion and government. The local organization put up its first billboard ("Good without a god") last year.

The group also successfully encouraged Democratic state legislators to start a Secular Government Caucus in Minnesota. Formed last October, the caucus aims to counter what its members say is a growing push to impose Christian beliefs in government. It includes legislators who are outspoken nonbelievers as well as lawmakers who are religious and support the separation of church and state.

Co-chair Rep. Mike Freiberg, DFL-Golden Valley, recently invited Humanists MN program coordinator Audrey Kingstrom to the House. Legislative sessions usually begin with a prayer, but Freiberg asked Kingstrom to give a "secular invocation."

She used the occasion to make a point:

"Be mindful that the moral authority by which you govern only exists when everyone's voice is heard and respected, when informed reason and verifiable evidence undergirds your decisions, and when compassion, cooperation and civility guide your process," she told the room. "Hold fast to these noble aims and this shared purpose. So may it be."

This month, Humanists MN returned to the State Capitol along with the humanist congregation First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis and Or Emet Minnesota Congregation for Humanistic Judaism as part of an annual event they call the National Day of Reason. They gathered in the basement for croissants and coffee and invited other groups of nonbelievers, including the Central Minnesota Freethinkers, Jews for a Secular Democracy and Minnesota Atheists.

One of many humanist gatherings around the country on the first Wednesday in May, the breakfast aimed to counter the much more prominent annual National Day of Prayer, which falls on the following day.

Rep. Athena Hollins, DFL-St. Paul, one of the secular caucus' co-chairs, said bringing dozens of nonbelievers to the Capitol was important.

"I was raised agnostic. And so I didn't realize that that would be a big deal in this space," she said. "It's become clear to me now, though, that me even being 'out' as being a secular person is kind of revolutionary, which is strange. I'm very respectful and I support everybody and their religious beliefs. But I just think that the decisions that we make and the policy that we need needs to be reflective of all people, and for that reason we need to be making it secular."

The breakfast's featured speaker was Wisconsin lawyer and "American Crusade: How the Supreme Court Is Weaponizing Religious Freedom" author Andrew Seidel. On his way to the Capitol, he drove past the humanists' billboard and took note.

He stopped to snap a photo and share on Twitter, weighing in with a little wit:

"Check out the @humanistsmn billboard just a few blocks from the MN Capitol. 'Reject Christian Nationalism. Keep religion out of government.' Can I get an amen?!"

View original post here:

Minnesota humanists take out billboards to spread the secular word - Star Tribune

HISTORY

STEEPLE CHASING

by Peter Ross (Headline 22, 400pp)

The east window of Morningside Parish Church in Edinburgh depicts the four evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. 'Two or three of them,' notes the church's minister Derek Browning, 'look decidedly female.' This is because Edward Burne-Jones, the artist responsible, 'used his mistress as a model'.

Browning is, of course, a believer. But several of the people in Peter Ross's tour of the country's churches are not.

One atheist explains: 'I needed beauty in my life and I found it inside churches.' Even some who retain a faith still reject organised religion. A stonemason at Gloucester Cathedral hated the 'hypocrisy and sanctimoniousness' of Catholicism, while Ross himself 'left the church, but churches never quite left me'.

He still loves them as buildings and his travels make for a very interesting book.

Some of his destinations are the superstars. At St Paul's he learns that when its predecessor was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, burning sheets of paper fell 20 miles away.

At nearby St Mary-le-Bow, the famous bells are each engraved with a biblical quotation, their first letters combining to spell 'D WHITTINGTON'. Meanwhile, St Mary The Virgin in Whitby is now so famous because of a certain book that 'a sign has been placed on the door advising visitors to please stop asking for directions to Dracula's grave'.

But most of the venues are run-of-the-mill. The poet John Betjeman was a fan of what he called 'church crawling' (visiting several in a day) because he said it 'introduces you to the history of the country'.

At St Lawrence's, in the Norfolk village of Harpley, he sees a name scratched into a window. It might be 'Joseph', but the word next to it is definitely 'hanged' a friend or relative wanted to commemorate the criminal who had been denied a proper memorial.

Bats are big fans of churches, though not (contrary to the old phrase) of their belfries, which tend to be too windy and noisy. Their accumulated body waste gets to be a problem, so sonic devices and stuffed owls are used to deter them. One church even persuaded someone with a motorbike to 'run up and down the nave to try and kill them with carbon monoxide'.

We discover which cathedral has the tallest spire in the UK (Salisbury), and where cathedrals get their name in the first place they're simply a church that contains the seat ('cathedra') of a bishop. Then there's the reason that Old Saint Paul's in Edinburgh has 33 steps down to the street it's one for every year of Christ's life.

Throughout the book there are reminders of the threat faced by churches, now that the religion which built them has become less relevant to most people. Between 1969 and 2021, the Church of England disposed of 2,013 churches, 500 of which were demolished.

A vicar visiting St Mary's Church in Tissington, Derbyshire, announces as he climbs into the pulpit: 'I've been warned not to sit down, because of the woodworm. So I shall stand.'

There's also the sheer barminess of much that goes on. In Westminster Cathedral, you'll find the entire embalmed body of St John Southworth (executed in 1654), his face covered with a mask. During the annual ordination ceremony, 'new priests lie face down in a line along the nave, like jets readying for take-off, while Southworth lies on his back among them'.

But whatever we think of religion's practitioners, we can't deny that their buildings are still a huge part of the landscape. Almost half of the Grade I-listed buildings in England are parish churches.

For a small minority, churches are still a way of life. Though even some of those are having second thoughts.

As one of the monks at Pluscarden Abbey, in Scotland, tells Ross: 'I sometimes think it would be quite nice to have a wife. Or even a pair of socks.'

View post:

Even atheists need the beauty of churches - Daily Mail

The Islamist group Persaudaraan Alumni (PA) 212 has called for the cancellation of Coldplays upcoming concert in Jakarta, scheduled for Nov. 15, 2023 at the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Stadium. The group says that the British bands support of the LGBT and atheist movements go against Indonesian values and that they would take action to prevent their performance.

PA 212s deputy secretary-general, Novel Bamukmin, said that his group is ready to stage a massive protest if the concert goes ahead, including blocking the venue and surrounding the airport when Coldplay arrives. He said that this action would be similar to what Islamist groups did in 2012 when they opposed Lady Gagas concert in Jakarta, which ultimately led to its cancellation over safety concerns.

I urge the committee and promoter to immediately cancel their intention to bring Coldplay. If they still insist, then we will hold a big action by blocking the location or we will surround the airport, Novel told reporters on Saturday.

If they end up holding a concert, it means that we support them campaigning for LGBT and atheism. Especially since this is close to the 2024 general election. This rejection is a form of us maintaining national unity.

Novel also hoped that the Indonesian government should take action to prevent the concert from taking place in Indonesia as it was a matter of national security and dignity.

The government must act quickly to reject Coldplays concert in Indonesia next November. This is for the sake of guarding national unity, he said.

Coldplay is renowned as a champion of progressive values, including LGBTQIA+ rights, even if frontman Chris Martin once admitted that he was very homophobic as a kid.

Martin said he has distanced himself from religion, which left him mentally scarred, but has calls himself an alltheist a believer in everything. But thats probably too novel a concept for Novel and his PA 212 pals to grasp.

At any rate, the Jakarta Metro Police said that they are ready to secure Coldplays concert while firing an indirect warning at PA 212 not to bring politics into the event.

There is precedent for conservative groups spoiling the fun in Indonesia. As previously mentioned, in 2012, pop star Lady Gaga was supposed to perform in Jakarta. However, she faced fierce resistance from conservative groups, including the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), which is now defunct but whose members formed new groups like PA 212. Police eventually denied Lady Gaga a permit to perform, citing security concerns.

More on #ColdplayinJakarta

May 11, 2023

May 10, 2023

Originally posted here:

Islamic group PA 212 rejects Coldplay's Jakarta concert over band's ... - Coconuts

I do not watch any news programs on cable or broadcast television. That includes all the major news outlets and public broadcasting.

The news presentations are always slanted in one direction or another sometimes overtly and other times they are very subtle. If you understand how Nazi Germany played to the Germanic psyche or the Soviet propaganda machine of the Cold War, you can recognize the way we are being indoctrinated every day.

Reread "1984" with an open mind if you doubt me (and it hasnt been removed from the library).

"Garage Logic," hosted by Joe Soucheray, started out on KSTP AM1500 quite a few years ago and has morphed into a weekday podcast with over 1,000 programs to date. The premise of the program is that any problem can be solved in the garage where you just use common sense to analyze daily situations, events and issues to put everything in the proper perspective.

Listeners can submit their opinions and comments in emails and the program has many regular contributors. A few days ago, one of the regular contributors, Rob from Ramsey an atheist offered this.

I want to alert you to a terrible revelation Ive had to accept. As an atheist it has always been my hope, that as we evolve as a country, we would shake off the shackles of religion and simply move into an era of new enlightenment, knowledge and the drive to do whats right and good for each other for the simple sake of being kind people. No heavenly reward; no threat of brimstone. Just being good people because we should. We would behave better as we became enlightened.

"Well boys, that aint happening. With our move away from spirituality, we seem to have discovered new gods to worship. The new Catholicism is climate change. The new Protestant faith is gender identity. And the new Islam is equity, CRT (critical race theory) and equality.

"I really hope the Jews sit this one out because I cant take much more.

"We are devolving into self-obsessed, violent cult members who seem to think reality is whatever we make it regardless of facts and other people's views. We are behaving worse than I can ever remember and seem to have shattered our moral compasses.

"Joe, I used to be able to debate the big guy in the sky with folks over a beer and we would still be friends afterward. Nowadays, if I call someone with a better beard than me a man by mistake, I might get shot or at least canceled.

" . Sadly Joe, I have to admit my realization and confession. I am an atheist longing for a return to religion and tradition. We were a better people then.

I cant honestly add much to those words, other than to marvel that this is coming from an atheist one who recognizes that in spite of his disbelief in a supreme (spiritual) being, we were a much better society and country when we had more believers.

Our government, our social institutions, our public (and some private) education systems and our major media outlets are all complicit in driving wedges into our society so we abandon our spirituality and instead put our faith in a liberal, progressive and godless socialist system.

I think I read once if you put your faith in things of this world, you will always be disappointed.

We are well on our way to just that and we have let it happen to this point; and if we let it continue, we will have only ourselves to blame.

Thats the way I see it.

Echo Journal Columnist / Pete Abler

Go here to read the rest:

As I See It: The absence of spirituality - Pine and Lakes Echo Journal

WASHINGTON (BP) Nearly half, 47 percent, of the global population believes that religion does more harm than good, Ipsos said in its latest poll on religious beliefs and tolerance, though the firm did not explore the reasons behind the perception.

In the U.S., 39 percent of respondents expressed the belief, Ipsos, a multinational research firm, said. The perception is most common in India, at 73 percent; in various Western European countries, ranging from a high of 70 percent in Sweden, to 66 percent in Great Britain and low of 49 percent in Italy; and in Japan, where 52 percent agreed with the perception.

The belief is lowest in Thailand, a largely Theravada Buddhist population, polling at 27 percent. South American countries were also among the lowest, ranging from 39 percent in Colombia to 32 percent in Peru.

Japan saw the biggest growth in a negative view of religion, growing by 26 percentage points since the Ipsos 2017 Global Advisor survey, followed by Sweden, where the number grew by 8 percentage points. The largest dips were seen in Hungary, dropping 16 percentage points to 37, and in Argentina, dropping 16 percentage points to 33.

Ipsos based its findings on a survey of 26 countries through the Ipsos Global Advisor online survey platform, conducted between Jan. 20 and Feb. 3. Ipsos interviewed 19,731 adults ranging in age from 18 to 74, depending on the country, including online and in-person inquiries.

Large generational and geographical variations were seen among the countries studied, with questions focused on the prevalence of religious affiliation and practice, religious beliefs, the role of religion and the extent to which it defines personal identity and morality.

Most geographic differences tend to follow a similar pattern, opposing a highly religious Global South to a mostly secular Global North, Ipsos said in releasing the data. However, major generational shifts are emerging in many of the 26 countries surveyed where younger people are less likely than older adults to identify as Christian, especially Catholic, and more likely to identify as Muslim or of some other faith.

In 11 of the 12 countries where at least 15 percent of respondents identified as Protestant, Evangelical or simply Christian, Gen Zers those born in or after 1997 are less likely to identify as such when compared to boomers, those born in or before 1964, Ipsos found. In Belgium, Italy, Peru, Poland, France and Chili, generational gaps exceed 20 percentage points.

Generational differences vary when it comes to not having a religion, i.e., identifying oneself as either atheist, agnostic or just spiritual, Ipsos said. In nine countries, Gen Zers were more likely than boomers to say they had no religion.

When asking whether respondents believed in God as presented in the Scriptures, Ipsos did not separate the Bible from the Torah nor the Quran. In the U.S., 52 percent of respondents said they believe in a God of the Scriptures, 22 percent professed a belief in a higher power that is different from God as presented in Scripture, 12 percent were atheist and 16 percent wouldnt say.

In other findings, 52 percent of respondents expressed a belief in heaven, but it was not clear whether they had in mind a heaven as expressed in the Bible or the Quran. Nearly half, 49 percent, believe in supernatural spirits, while 41 percent believe in the devil and/or hell.

In addition to the U.S., Ipsos included in its study Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chili, Colombia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand and Turkey.

Results are availablehere.

Read the rest here:

47 percent globally say religion does more harm than good in Ipsos ... - Kentucky Today

Component images generated by MidJourney

In 2009 atheist biologist Richard Dawkins offered a scientific test to decide between Darwinian evolution and intelligent design (ID). The results are in, and as guest Casey Luskin explains on a new episode of ID the Future, the evidence has broken strongly in favor of intelligent design. At the time Dawkins presented the test, he was confident that comparative DNA evidence supported Darwins tree of life and its idea of universal common ancestry. He made the point in his 2009 bookThe Greatest Show on Earthand in two interviews. As heput it, The single most convincing fact or observation you could point to in favor of Darwinian evolution over against ID would be the pattern of resemblances that you see when you compare the genes of any pair of animals you like and then plot out the resemblances and they form a perfect hierarchy, a perfect family tree. And the only alternative to it being a family tree is that the intelligent designer deliberately set out to deceive us in the most underhanded and devious manner.

But 14 years later the picture looks very different. Dr. Luskin details the various ways that the rapidly developing field of phylogenomics is uncovering data that powerfully fits the ID model of lifes history and strongly undermines the idea of universal common ancestry via mindless evolution. As Luskin says ina recent Evolution News article, Now, years later, scientists have sequenced a great number of whole genomes. And as a consequence, they know that Dawkins was wrong. Every gene does not deliver approximately the same tree of life. On its own terms, the Dawkins test for evolution has come up for ID.

So why havent evolutionary biologists given up on universal common ancestry? Luskin says that some have, while others reflexively invoke auxiliary hypotheses and employ question-begging computer models to generate tree-like ancestries in the face of contrary data. Luskin compares the behavior to astronomers who protected the dying geocentric model of the solar system by invoking epicycles to explain away contrary astronomical data. Better to let the Dawkins Test speak for itself, Luskin says. Download the podcast or listen to it here.

FREE: Download the free mini-book Top Five Evidences for Intelligent Design, by geologist Casey Luskin, by going here.

Link:

The Dawkins Test Returns an Answer: Intelligent Design - Discovery Institute

OKLAHOMA CITY Oklahomas state superintendent must also demand that the Bible be removed from public school libraries if he continues his push to ban books containing graphic pornography, an advocacy group said.

In a letter to Superintendent Ryan Walters, officials with the Freedom From Religion Foundation wrote that the Bible contains nearly 150 verses displaying a pornographic view, yet other books the Republican official has publicly targeted do not contain the graphic sexual content from which he wishes to protect children.

In a statement, the group said Bible verses contain sordid tales of victims forced to marry their rapists, graphic sexual depictions, and countless references to sperm, intercourse, menstruation, homosexuality, bestiality, adultery, and whores.

The best solution is to allow a diversity of viewpoints in school libraries and trust students to explore topics themselves. But the Bible must go if the Department of Education continues to believe Oklahoma law requires it to remove any books containing sexual content, the group said.

We want to make it clear that we are adamantly opposed to banning books, Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said in a statement. But the religious zealots cant have it both ways. They cant scour books looking for sexual references or content to offend them regardless of literary or social value and context then say that the true obscenity found in The Bible must be judged differently.

In response, Walters said he has a hard time taking any atheist group seriously that tries to compare LGBTQ-themed books like "Gender Queer" and "Flamer" to the Bible.

The Madison, Wisconsin-based group, which has more than 40,000 members, focuses on upholding the constitutional separation between church and state.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson didnt reference 'Gender Queer' when drafting any of our founding documents, Walters said in a statement. It is disappointing that this is even a discussion. One cannot rewrite history and force liberal extremism under the guise of religious freedom. I will continue to defend our faith while its under attack by woke radicals.

State Rep. Melissa Provenzano, D-Tulsa, said Oklahoma is comprised of many different faiths, and state policy needs to respect them all.

She said the groups request is fair, and that theres been a push for similar action in other states where leaders have attempted to ban books in school libraries.

It is shocking, but so appropriate, she said.

State Sen. Rob Standridge, R-Norman, said the Bible is "different" than the books Walters is attempting to censor.

He said the Bible does not use the same graphic sexual depictions in pictures, images or written descriptions as the books Walters is targeting. He also questioned how many public school libraries actually have Bibles on their shelves.

Theyre essentially trying to remove the rights of parents to protect their children from obscene material, Standridge said. And to bring the Bible in the conversation is again despicable because their only goal is to somehow put pornography in front of children. I dont understand why an adult would want to do that.

State Rep. Kevin West, R-Moore, acknowledged there are verses in Psalms and the Song of Solomon that may not be appropriate for some children, but he fears the Bibles removal could affect access to other literature.

If were going to consider some of that, even in the adult-version Bible, as graphic and pornographic, then I think theres a lot of books that would wind up being taken out because theres a lot of symbolism and different things like that, he said.

He said lawmakers want to ensure that any content on school library shelves is age-appropriate, and said the Bible should have a place on the shelves, as long as its an age-appropriate version.

State Sen. Blake Cowboy Stephens, R-Tahlequah, said hell never support removing the Bible from school, and said he finds it humorous that the advocacy group is calling for the removal in a state that embraces a very conservative way of life.

I will take my last breath in defending keeping that Bible in front of every person thats on this planet because I believe its the best book that was ever written, Stephens said. I love the Lord and I love his work.

Janelle Stecklein covers the Oklahoma Statehouse for CNHI's newspapers and websites. Reach her at jstecklein@cnhinews.com.

Read more:

Advocacy group: Bible must be banned if other books stripped from ... - cnhinews.com

[1/4] A security guard stands next to the Trinity icon at the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius in the town of Sergiyev Posad, Russia, July 18, 2022. The famous icon, which was created by Russian painter... Read more

May 16 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to hand over the historic 15th-century Trinity icon from a museum to the Russian Orthodox Church because of its importance to believers, the Kremlin's spokesman said on Tuesday.The Church, whose conservatism Putin has espoused as part of his vision for Russia's national identity, is one of the most ardent institutional supporters of Russias war in Ukraine.

Its head, Patriarch Kirill, said last year that those who died fighting in Ukraine would be purged of their sins.

Icons are stylised, often gilded religious paintings considered sacred in Eastern Orthodox Churches.

Andrei Rublyov's Trinity, one of the holiest and most artistically important Russian icons, is thought to have been painted to honour Saint Sergius of Radonezh in Sergiyev Posad, near Moscow. It depicts three angels who visited Abraham at the Oak of Mamre in the Book of Genesis, the first of the Bible.

The icon has been transferred several times during periods of internal strife.

In 1929, the authorities of the officially atheist communist Soviet Union put it in Moscow's Tretyakov Gallery. During World War Two it was put into safe storage for a time.

In 2022, the work was moved for religious celebrations back to a monastery in Sergiyev Posad: the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, spiritual centre of the Russian Church and a UNESCO World Heritage Site."We could only dream that this sacred object would be returned to the Church, so that our people could pray before [it]," Kirill said in an address to the Church's ruling Holy Synod, expressing his "deepest gratitude" to Putin.

The Moscow Patriarchate said in a statement that the icon would be displayed for a year at the Christ the Saviour Cathedral in central Moscow before returning to Sergiyev Posad.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: "This concerns a large number of believers in our country, for whom this is a very sacred object. For these, our believers, of course, hiding it in a museum doesn't fulfil their desire."

On Sunday, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg said it would transfer the tomb of Alexander Nevsky, a 13th-century prince and saint of the Russian Church, to another Russian monastery, in an effort to bolster national unity.

Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

More here:

Putin gave Orthodox Church famed icon because of its importance ... - Reuters