Topic: Fahrenheit 451 & the Rise of Anti-Intellectualism This week’s sermon is about the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, published in 1953, and what it is really about according to its author. This book is often misinterpreted as a warning against the evils of censorship, but Bradbury states that it is about the rise of anti-intellectualism in American society. He believed that the television would be the beginning of the end of our collective IQ’s, and if you look into our history, he had a point. People believe what they see on television, even when it is complete bullshit. We are seeing an attitude of “my ignorance is as good as your knowledge” around scientific concepts that should not even be a matter of debate. Scientists and researchers who have spent their lives learning about something see their work dismissed in favor of the incoherent ramblings of some random actor that is only good at dressing up and playing pretend but has enough money and charis...
Topic: Sympathy for the Devil Let me start by saying that I do not believe in the Devil as an independent entity. The only thing more irrational than an imaginary friend is an imaginary enemy. Evil is within the hearts of humankind, and the only hell is what we create for ourselves here on Earth. That being said, it seems to me that the Devil character in Christian mythology is at least an equal to the God character, if not more powerful. God seems incapable of just blinking the Devil out of existence and eliminating “evil” from the world for all time. Devils and demons can possess people and make them do things they wouldn’t ordinarily do, violating their free will, which God apparently cannot do. In some ways, Satan is nicer to humanity than God is. The God character in the Christian Old Testament commits genocide, wipes entire cities from the face of the Earth, and strikes people down for breaking the pettiest rules, even if they don’t actually know what rules they ...
Topic: Core Tenet #6 On Gender Identity & Sexual Orientation This Tenet teaches us to use an individual’s preferred name and pronouns, even if we do not yet understand why. For those who are fortunate enough never to struggle with identity issues, the experiences of a trans person, or anyone using a different name than the one they were given, can be confusing and therefore frustrating. We automatically dislike anything we do not understand, but it is our responsibility as followers of the Path to put in the Effort to ask questions until we do understand. It is also our responsibility to exercise Patience and Compassion when we are asked to address an individual in a way that is different than what we are used to. Trans people in today’s society face multiple challenges. Research indicates that over eighty percent of trans teens have attempted or considered suicide. Some states literally deny that they even exist in any official capacity. Others simply do nothing t...
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