The Path Ministry

  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: The Difference Between War and Hell Today we are going to talk about the phrase “War is hell” and offer a counterargument. For that counterargument, I would like to quote an exchange between Hawkeye and Father Mulcahy in the television series M*A*S*H: “Hawkeye: War isn’t Hell. War is war, and Hell is Hell. And of the two, war is a lot worse. Father Mulcahy: How do you figure that, Hawkeye? Hawkeye: Easy, Father. Tell me, who goes to Hell? Father Mulcahy: Sinners, I believe. Hawkeye: Exactly. There are no innocent bystanders in Hell. War is chock full of them — little kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for some of the brass, almost everybody involved is an innocent bystander.” America is a violent country. We have been at war for 222 out of 239 years. That is 93% of the country’s history, and it is partly because we have such a hard time seeing other people as humans, only potential enemies. War has shaped our culture, and our culture, in turn, cele...

Today’s topic is the Virtue of Effort and how it applies to communication. We are talking about the distinction between saying what you mean and meaning what you say. We are not saying that one is superior to the other; we are just going to examine those concepts and unpack them a little. “Saying what you mean” and “meaning what you say” are not the same thing. The difference lies in the directness of the language used to convey the message. Consider how some people will talk around a subject without naming and addressing the subject itself. They may mean everything they are saying, but they are not really saying what they mean. What they mean is being hidden in subtlety and euphemism. For example, somebody can say something about the fact that alcohol can lead to liver damage, when what they really mean is: “Al, you are an alcoholic and I am worried about you.” They may mean what they are saying about the dangers of over-consumption, but what they really mean, underneath that, is un...

Core Tenet #4 & Scientific Literacy Today we are talking about Core Tenet #4 regarding scientific literacy and how it applies to two topics that are often misunderstood by the average layperson: the distinction between sex and gender, and genetically modified organisms. GMO’s are actually everywhere. Unless you somehow own a tame wolf, coyote, or fox, your dog is a genetically modified organism. The strawberries you find in the store, unless they were picked wild, are genetically modified organisms. Oranges and most other citrus fruit are the result of thousands of years of genetic modification. Bananas were barely edible before human intervention created the berry (yes, bananas are berries) we know and love today. Prior to its domestication and modification, corn would have about ten kernels per ear. If we really had to label foods that do not occur “naturally” as a “GMO” you would have to stamp half the produce department. It is called “selective breeding” and we have been do...

  How to be an Antiracist, Part Two This week we are revisiting a book we have discussed before: How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. We are going to be unpacking a couple more ideas from the book and delve into them a little; we will talk about current racism as well as the history of racism in America and how it continues to hurt our brothers and sisters of all different colors. One of the worst things about growing up in a redneck state full of white supremacists is that I never had the pleasue of meeting and making friends with people from diverse backgrounds. Everyone I went to high school with was either white or Latinx, all the white kids were members of the same Mormon church and grew up together, and most of the Latinx kids went to the Catholic church and kept to themselves. Because of all of this, I am able to really see modern American racism for the first time in my life. It is ugly, and it is beneath those of us who choose to walk the Path.  Having a Black...

  September 17, 2023 Integrity & Self-Reflection The topic of this sermon is a quote from Aristotle and its relevance to practicing the Virtue of Integrity: “The most important relationship we can all have is the one you have with yourself, the most important journey you can take is one of self-discovery. To know yourself, you must spend time with yourself, you must not be afraid to be alone. Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.” I lived alone for the first time at the age of forty-two. Until then, I lived with people: family at first, with four siblings plus my parents, and then there were romantic partners, some of which became spouses, and various housemates. Because I did not know what it would be like, I was afraid of being alone. Eventually, I was kind of shoved into a position of living on my own, and during that time, I learned a great deal about myself that I never would have learned otherwise. I recommend spending some time in solitude and self-ref...

  The Body and the Soul Some time ago, during one of our more philosophical conversations, my daughter, our own Deanna, reminded me of a statement I have seen online: “You do not have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.” This idea fits well with Path doctrine regarding bodily autonomy. Core Tenet #3 tells us that our bodies belong to us, as vessels for our true Selves, and what we choose to do with them is our own business. This quote has often been misattributed to C.S. Lewis, but the idea that your Self resides in your spirit rather than your physical incarnation has been around for hundreds of years. One of the first and possibly clearest iterations of this idea came from a paper written by Rev. Dr. R. Thornton in October of 1881. He wrote: “ We should have taught more carefully than we have done, not that men are bodies and have souls, but that they are souls and have bodies. ” It was denounced as a Spiritualistic idea, not a Christian one, but the Path is a Spiritua...