Category Archives: Essays

Singularitarians Who Might Congress

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I was re-reading an old column this morning, that I wrote for what was then “Adventures in Poetry” (“What Wes Won’t Do“) while Wes took a break, in which I referred to having discovered a site for Congrescent Singularitarians. Curiosity re-sparked, I googled to see if they were still out there. Alas, the only remaining mention of Singularitarians ever congrescing is mine. Singular Singularitarians are still all over the web, tho’, and here are ten that should definitely be invited to any congress that may be held in the future: Top 10 Singularitarians of All Time.

On the Separation of Church and State

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If the government tells any church what to do, people lose freedom of religion. If any church tells the government what to do, people lose freedom of religion. If anyone gains the power to enforce your own religious beliefs by law, you will regret it, because the moment the people who disagree with you outnumber your supporters, they will use the precedent you established to enforce their own religious beliefs on you. Continue reading →

Is There a “Left-Wing Fundamentalism?”

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“Fundamentalist” is a term sometimes used to refer to anyone who is intolerant of other’s beliefs. Fundamentalism is “not so much an ideology as it is an attitude, an attitude of intolerance, incivility and narrowness,” says Walter Shurden, professor of Christianity and director of the Center for Baptist Studies at Mercer University. “It is an attitude that says, ‘We have the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and we are going to impose it on you and control the system so that you will have to knuckle under to it.'” As anyone who has ever attended a meeting of two or more activists can attest, that attitude can be found at all points on the political and religious spectrum. Continue reading →

The Psychology of Fundamentalism

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Fundamentalism is a religious movement, a theological & philosophical stand, a political and social force. I regard it most basically as a particular variety of psychological development. Fundamentalists of all religious and political varieties share the same character traits. It is the psychological character of the fundamentalist that is at the root of the ideological interpretation termed “fundamentalism,” not an intellectual or spiritual concept. Continue reading →

God & Natural “Law”

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Isn’t it amazing how precisely the bridge of my nose is determined by the shape of my glasses? Just look — come on over to Seattle anytime, and look. The bridge of my nose fits into that gap in the frame of my glasses smoothly and comfortably and at exactly the right angle that, when the earpieces are hooked over my ears, the lenses are at the optimum viewing level and angle for my eyesight. Isn’t that amazing determinism?

That is as logical an argument as saying that the universe is determined by physical laws. Continue reading →

Respect for Life

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Respect for Life
thoughts by Anitra L. Freeman

One thing I have observed in the “Whales Good : Makah Bad” discussions is that many people seem to base their “respect for life” on “respect for consciousness” — the more intelligent something is, the more you must protect and defend it, and the more it behaves in the manner you consider to be socially and ethically intelligent, the more you will respect and defend it.

I believe in respecting life, period, and respecting people, period. Continue reading →

God & Morality

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Meaning & Morality
thoughts by Anitra L. Freeman

When we want our own way
so much we sacrifice our souls to get it
who wins?

Where do we get our sense of morality?

Does God tell us what is right?If everything that we know of right and wrong comes from God, how do we know that this is God speaking? Maybe it’s the Devil, or Jerry Falwell, or Charles Kuralt. We have to test the spirits, right? So, if we have a way of testing the spirits, we have a way of knowing right from wrong — independent of what any other spirit says. Continue reading →

God, Meaning and Morality

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Meaning & Morality
thoughts by Anitra L. Freeman

Power
can build
pyramids, roads and prisons
and can’t make anyone
forgive.

God is very real to me. God is adorable. God is the biggest, brightest and most beautiful Being in creation — how can I help but love God?

I do not feed hungry people because God tells me to. I don’t even feed hungry people because I love God and God loves other people. I feed hungry people because they’re there and I can. I love God because, what else could I do? I feed hungry people because, what else could I do? Continue reading →

Theological Themes in Science Fiction

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From the beginning, many science-fiction novels have examined the tension between science and religion. If humans are indeed on our own in a mechanical cosmos, are we going to become our own gods? (Men Like Gods by H.G. Wells) Are we going to meet gods Out There to replace the ones we lost to the science that got us Out There? (If the Stars Are Gods by Greg Benford) Or do we need gods at all? (Soviet science fiction) Continue reading →