Why This Blog

Why This Blog
I am writing this Blog for several reasons:
1- I want to weaken the power of religion in America because it is dominated by very conservative people. The religious right has taken over the Republican administration and I fear moving our nation and the world in a self destructive direction. They have a Biblical agenda which emphasizes the afterlife and hopes for Armageddon. They do not value the long range survival of humanity. They do not value conservation, population control or world peace.
2-The human race is entering an era where survival issues will become prominent. Population is projected to increase to about nine billion and level off in 50 years. A population of nine billion is unsustainable. Resources such as oil and fresh water are starting to run out. There will be great difficulties with these transitions. Without realistic approaches to solve these problems, human civilization may fall into destructive chaos. We need realistic solutions based on science and human values. We do not need religions preventing population control or Biblical hopes for Armageddon.
3- On a personal level, I want to justify my transition from a devout Catholic to a non religious humanist.
I believe that Catholic indoctrination was in injustice to me and has done great harm to many.

Who Wrote the Bible

At the Academy of LifeLong Learning my most interesting course was “Who Wrote the Bible” given by a minister who describes himself as a liberal Evangelical. His treatment of the subject was very learned and fair. It reinforced my earlier judgment that very little in the Bible is well documented and reliably true. Moses didn’t write the book of Moses, and the four gospels were not written by the stated authors.
To me, a most revealing study was the comparison of the confession of Peter in Matthew (chapter 16, v. 13-20) and Mark ( Chapter 8, v. 27-30). It was important to me because as a Catholic school student, I had to memorize the version in Matthew because it established the authority of the Church and Infallibility of the Pope. I can still remember it: verse 18: “And I say to thee thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys to the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
The quote is extremely important since it shows Jesus’ intent to establish a church and gives the Catholic church authority through the pope, Peter, to judge and forgive or condemn all things on earth.
The problem with the comparison is that the quote appears in Matthew, but not in Mark. But, in both, the introductory sentence appears: Mark: ‘And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answered and saith unto him, thou art the Christ.’ Matthew: ‘He saith unto them, But who say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God.’ Then there are two paragraphs inserted. One is that quoted above. Then, both Matthew and Mark end with a sentence to tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
So, it is obvious that the extra paragraph was inserted into Matthew’s gospel to give the church authority. It must have been inserted later, because the gospel of Mark is known to have been written earlier than the gospel of Matthew. And, Mark has by tradition been identified as a companion of Peter. So, why wouldn’t Mark have known about such an important saying of Jesus? The saying is false and added by someone intent on giving the church power.