Steel City Skeptics

This week, Christianity Today featured a recent survey by the Barna Group, which identified places “where the fewest people follow Christian beliefs and practices, as measured by a list of more than a dozen factors.”  The most post-Christian cities were in New England, with Santa Barbara and Seattle not far behind.  As Don Loomer observed “People hardly think about [God]…If the sun’s out and the surf’s up, you say goodbye!”

The article goes rank 100 metropolitan areas in terms of whether they attend church, have read the Christian bible recently, or “made a commitment to Jesus”.  While Pittsburgh was not in top 10 of “post-Christian cities”, it come in a respectable 36 out of 100, well ahead of Johnstown-Altoona-State College (53), Cleveland-Akron-Canton (67), and other nearby cities.

Of course, the authors try to look for the brighter side of the survey, as when Eliezer Perez made the rather odd statement that “Post-Christian doesn’t mean anti-Christian.  If it’s post-Christian, then that means there is Christian.”

In reality, it seems to confirm to what we know about religion in the US, as well as in Canada and western Europe.  The numbers of citizens who find solace in religion is shrinking and that time enjoying friends, reading an engaging book, exercising and socializing will do more for the mind and body.  It will be interesting to see how much a drop the next edition of the survey will report in regard to religion in America.  We won’t be surfing in the sun in Pittsburgh, but I am sure the numbers will continue to fall.

Summer has officially arrived. And that means that it’s time to start preparing for the premier event of the summer – PFC’s annual Canoe Trip and Shrimp Boil Picnic. This will be the 13th year for the Canoe Trip and the 11th year for the Shrimp Boil. The date has been set for Sunday, August 25th; the pavilions have been rented, and reservations have been made with the Outfitter. All that is left is for you to make the appropriate reservations at http://www.pghfreethought.org

For those who have not participated before, let me describe it. Those going on the water meet at Youghiogheny Outfitters in West Newton at 9:30am and are transported upriver to Smithton where the group will “put in”. This is a relatively leisurely float down the middle Youghiogheny River, from Smithton to West Newton, a distance of approximately seven miles. Depending on the current, time on the water is about four hours. (Last year’s went a little quicker because with all the rain, the current was a little faster.) There are no real “rapids” on this section of the river, just some navigable shallows, so it is very newbie- and beginner- friendly. If you have a child who wants to learn to canoe or kayak, this is an excellent opportunity for them to learn under your supervision, with gentle waters, and a large group of fellow travelers.

About halfway along the river journey on a wide sweeping curve to the right, there is a boat ramp on the left bank for Cedar Creek Park. If you are joining in the shrimp boil, or just want to join everybody for lunch, pull your watercraft out there and set it out of the way. Turn left and walk back upriver about 150 hundred yards and you will find the PFC picnic. Of course, no one is required to participate in the shrimp boil to enjoy the camaraderie of the group, but it sure is a lot of fun – and quite tasty. The menu consists of shrimp, andouille sausage, redskin potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, and French bread. Dessert is Cajun-style bread pudding with rum sauce. (Since everything is cooked in one pot, there is unfortunately no way to offer a vegan option. But you are welcome to bring your own food and eat with the group at no cost.) Food should be ready sometime between 12:30 and 1:00. After lunch, those kayaking/canoeing get back on the water and continue downriver to the outfitter’s boat ramp in West Newton where your car is waiting for you.

For those not going on the water and just coming to the picnic, Cedar Creek Park is located off of PA Rte 51 near I-70 in Rostraver. After you pass the Rostraver Township Municipal Bldg, you will pass three houses and come to the Park entrance. There are TWO entrances, about 50ft apart. Take the second entrance and follow that road as it meanders through the park, about a mile. When you get to the bottom of a relatively long hill, the road will make a quick zig-zag right then left as it crosses over the bike trail. Continue on between the bike trail on the left and pavilions on the right until you come to pavilions number 18 and 19. That is where you will find us. For those who would like to ride bikes instead of canoeing or kayaking, that bike path that you crossed over is part of the Great Allegheny Passage that goes from Pittsburgh to Washington, DC.

Prices are the same as last year: $32 for a single kayak, $53 for a 2-person canoe or tandem kayak, $14 for transport of your own canoe upriver, $12 per adult (12 and older) for the shrimp boil, $8 per child (6-12), 5 and under are free. For those with small children, a canoe can accommodate two adults with one small child under 60 lbs. The sooner that we know who and how many are planning on participating in what activities, the better we can be at organizing and making this event happen as smoothly as possible. So let us know as soon as possible if you can.

By now you may have heard about worse invocation given in recent years, right here in our own State of Pennsylvania. It was the given by first-year Representative Stephanie Borowicz (Lock Haven, PA), which amounted to Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus (13 times), followed by the entirely false claim that this nation was “ founded on your principles in your words and your truth.”

In fact, the Christian lineage among our founding fathers is very weak with John Adams explicitly stating “the Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.” Also don’t bother wasting your time finding how many time the word “Jesus” appears in the founding documents. You won’t find it in any of the official founding documents. To matters even worse, State Rep. Brian Sims, the only openly atheist lawmaker in the PA House has not been allowed to give the invocation because of lack of faith.

Rep. Borowicz should apologize to the House and particularly to the state’s first Muslim legislator, State Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, who was officially sworn in and had family members in the gallery during her Jesus rant. This was a very sad day for Pennsylvanians everywhere and needs to amended as soon as possible.

We know that Catholic schools in Pennsylvania are fading in popularity. Part of this transformation is the changing demographics with the growth of the “Nones”, as well as less interest in programs that indoctrinate and proselytize, rather than serve all students regardless of background.  As in most states, Pennsylvania tax dollars were generally directed to public schools, rather than religious schools with very few exceptions.

However, that pattern of funding public schools through a mixture of income taxes and property assessments, as well as grants from the Commonwealth is changing. In a recent article in Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Deb Erdley note that Catholic schools can address their declining enrollment with tax credit scholarships that support religious education.

A quiet change in the law in 2014 that allowed individuals to divert their state taxes to the tax credit program helped fundraisers in the Greensburg diocese boost their tax credit bonanza to about $1 million this year.

“That was a game changer,” said Michael Lucotch, director of development for the Greensburg diocese. “It allows participants to redirect their personal income tax obligation to a Catholic school of their choice for use as tuition assistance.”

If that was not bad enough, it gets worse.

Unlike many scholarship programs, the tax credit-funded program is not limited to low-income families. Under state guidelines, a family of four with two children could earn up to $116,216 a year and still be eligible for aid. The eligibility cap grows by $15,608 a year for each additional child.

How are these programs allowed to exist?  Public funds should be directed to public schools. Those who want to have their children indoctrinated need to do so at their own expense.   And, if you think indoctrination is to harsh of a term, take a look at some recent arguments in support of indoctrination.

In regard to allegations against the former ‘Bishop of Pittsburgh’, Donald Wuerl, the Washington Post reported this week

WHEN ALLEGATIONS came to light last year of sexual abuse and inappropriate conduct involving children and seminarians by Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who succeeded Mr. McCarrick as leader of the Washington archdiocese, expressed shock and denied prior knowledge. Now it turns out Mr. Wuerl was presented in 2004 with an account of Mr. McCarrick’s alleged misconduct, which he relayed to the Vatican.

Then: nothing.

In the ongoing tsunami of revelations about the Catholic Church’s willful blindness, conspiracy of silence and moral bankruptcy on clergy sex abuse, this particular revelation may count as little more than a droplet — although it does involve two of the highest-ranking and most prominent American prelates. However, it also encapsulates characteristics that continue to dog the church nearly two decades after the scandal burst into the open: callousness directed at victims; an insistence on denial and hairsplitting; and the hierarchy’s preference for treating allegations as internal matters, as if the world’s 1.2 billion lay Catholics were an irrelevance.

It is hard to believe that Cardinal Wuerl has not been removed from his position, asked to pay retribution to his victims, and charged with crimes in a court of law. Even the conservative talk show host, Hugh Hewett, recently described Wuerl as “The Con Man in the Cardinal’s Cap”.

While the Steel City Skeptics would argue that all who wear the pointy cap are con men with regard to the truth, Wuerl is clearly at the top the game. I would also argue that prison time is not out the question as more details come forth. The Catholic church has failed to police its own, but there is not reason that civil authorities cannot proceed under civil laws. The sooner, the better.

This week, the Freedom from Religion Foundation filed a complaint about the painting of 9/11 cross, which has been posted in a waiting room within the Camden County Courthouse.  The complaint was not taken well by the County  Commissioner:

“This is something that’s been here for quite a while, and I don’t think we should have to take it down just because of others’ opinions,” said Melanie Thompson. However, Camden County Presiding Commissioner Greg Hasty says the painting is not coming down. He cites a federal court ruling in 2013 which said the Ground Zero Cross was allowed to remain on display at the 9/11 Museum because there’s no evidence the display of the historic artifact entangles the government with religion.

One can argue whether, or not, two steel beams meeting at 90 degree angles has a special meaning in a building that was built with hundreds, if not thousands, of such beams throughout the structure.  That said, it is more telling to see previous responses to the actual 9/11 cross.

Father Brian Jordan call it a message.  Now here was God explaining Himself. It was a revelation, proof that “God had not abandoned Ground Zero,” even as the awful excavations continued.

Another website described 9/11 cross this way:

And yet, something did arise. Digging amid the ruins of Ground Zero, where the Twin Towers had collapsed only a month before, one of the rescue workers discovered something he felt to be a miracle. Two steel beams from the wreckage had fallen together, and landed in the form of a cross. The cross was set upright in the middle of the wreckage, to cast its shadow—literally and symbolically—over the scene. News spread quickly, and soon firefighters, police officers, and construction workers were making “pilgrimages” to the cross, to pray and reflect on the 9/11 attack. In that bleak landscape of despair, the “Hero’s Cross,” as it came to be called, became a source of spiritual strength. At a blessing service before that site, a Franciscan friar offered these words: “Behold the glory of the cross at Ground Zero,” he said. “This is our symbol of Hope. Our symbol of Faith. Our symbol of Healing.”

So what do we do with the claim that “there’s no evidence the display of the historic artifact entangles the government with religion?” 

Personally, I can see how the museum might display it as an artifact, just any good history museum might have display of Zeus and Jupiter, without implying it to be an endorsement to the idea. However, to put the cross in the Camden County Courthouse waiting room is just not the same.  It is clearly pushing one religion.  To argue otherwise is just wrong.

And, by the way, it is not even that good of a drawing…

There has been a depressing fight going on in Ozark, Missouri, over a large lighted cross in a public park to celebrate Christmas.  The rather ugly, lighted 20+ foot cross was constructed around a utility pole and is part of a drive-through holiday light display in Finley River Park.  The problem with the lighted cross is quite clear from past rulings by the courts: The government must remain neutral with regard to religion, allowing secular symbols, such Santa Claus, reindeer, and snowmen, while disallowing religious symbols (see County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union, 492 U.S. 573, 1989).

Source: https://media.ozarksfirst.com

The city agreed to take down the cross after receiving a complaint from FFRF, but then immediately backed off that agreement, and will be leaving it up and lighted for this holiday season.

The placement of the 20 feet tall Christian cross is not only a clear violation but also just the wrong symbol. According to the myth, baby Jesus was born in a manger on Christmas day.  The whole execution-on-the-cross comes much later in the story, so in what way is the cross any part of the Christmas story?

Adding to the temporal misplacement (Christmas is not Easter) is the most recent Federal court ruling on the matter, issued in September of this year. In that case, “three U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals judges ruled to uphold the lower court’s ruling that the city maintaining a cross in a public park was unconstitutional, and the cross must be removed.”

As for Ozark, Missouri, why not represent the secular icons of the season, of which there are plenty to go around?  Let Christmas be the season of reindeer and Santa Claus.  Let utility poles be poles.  Even though Ozark sits in Christian County, Missouri (a true fact), it still needs to respect that there is a well-established separation of state and church to uphold.