Are Counter Protests Missing The Point?
Photograph by Steve Helber I’m the kind of person that loves conflict, and confrontation, and disagreement because I think that it is one of the best ways to uncover and discover deeper truths that neither…
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Why I Won’t Celebrate Canada 150 or Canada
When we celebrate someone’s birthday it’s a way of acknowledging a person’s life. Another year. This seems good. A way to validate an individual, a way to affirm their existence and value in the world….
The Desire to Convert Is Disingenuous
Art by David Hayward (Naked Pastor) I was raised in a religious tradition that emphasized trying to make converts to our belief system. Conversion was a central pillar of my upbringing. There was opportunity at…
Belief-Based Institutions Are Not Sustainable Or Effective
Art by David Hayward (Naked Pastor) I’ve been trying to understand and appreciate the role of institutions (the definition I’m using for institutions is “a society or organization founded for a religious, educational, social, or…
Moving From Thinking To Experiencing
I can feel myself slipping. By this I mean, that I am starting to lose my (perceived) foothold on who I am, what I am doing and what everything is. Since I can remember, I…
A Discussion On Faith
A few weeks ago, Josh Walters, John Silvestri and myself were invited to join the Sarnia- Port Huron – Freethinkers for a public dialogue. There was the three of us and three folks from the Freethinkers…
On Rejection of God and Christianity
Christianity is a complex system of belief, rituals, lifestyles and systems. It makes no more sense to reject Christianity as it does to reject God. Some would say if you reject specific beliefs (such as Jesus’…
A Timeline Of Things I’ve Held To Be True
Growing up as a white, middle-class, charismatic, straight, cisgender, Christian male has been quite a ride. I’ve been blogging since 2004 and have published an equivalent of 1.5 War and Peace novels (838,208 words). I…
Needing To Be Strong is Lonely
Last year, when my mother was in her last stages of liver failure and suffering from hepatic encephalopathy, I found myself in some of the most chaotic and difficult circumstances that I ever could have imagined. She…
Tradition as Automation
When we are thinking, we have two parts of our brain. We have the Neo-Cortex areas, which we will call ambassadors and the subcortical areas that we will call primitives. The ambassadors of your brain…
The Remedy To Feeling Controlled Is To Be Anchored
I wrote this last year working my way through the Enneagram. However, after really diving into it I’m realizing many more things about myself that have made quite an impact on me. One of these…
Self-Awareness Or Insecurity?
I see two kinds of insecurity. The first kind of insecurity is one that thinks of oneself as dumb, bad, evil, a failure or a screw up. It’s a view of oneself that is about your…
Learning to Value the Temporary
My moments of greatest distress have always come from when a relationship is shifting and changing. A friend moving, a break-up, a client firing me, a fight….all these things cause me anxiety. (I’m only beginning…
Nina The Octopus
Once upon a time, somewhere miles and miles beneath the surface of the ocean, there lived a young octopus named Nina. Nina spent most of her time alone making strange creations out of rocks and…
Life, Death, and Their Unveiling at Christmas
Christmas rips open facades. It uncovers what lies beneath. Wheat and weeds grow together. Cold and hot water are gushing from the same spring. Joy and suffering bring the same tears. Those that have eyes that…
Hebron, Palestinian Resistance and Israeli Propaganda
Today we took a tour of Hebron and Bethlehem. There is quite a bit of history of these two places and they each have their own specific history with Israel. We set out to meet…
My Tourism Of Settlements
There is an ease as I stroll Through settlements I visit It feels like home My curiosity is in what I consume The way it tastes when it goes into my body The satisfaction, the…
Identity vs Meaning
Identity and meaning are two different concepts that I have been thinking about lately, especially in how they connect. I have some friends who were raised as Christians. Overtime, as they read and grew they began…
Why Aren’t Old People Suicide Bombers?
In our first day in Bethlehem, Palestinian territory, we met a Palestinian Christian gay man who gave Josh a haircut and introduced us to his mother who only could remember French. He gave us a…
The More You Acknowledge Your Brokenness The More You Can Love
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. I never understood this quote when I first heard it. I got the kind part, but not the battle part. I think most of…