I confess that I am one of those strange people who thinks about God a lot. I am also inclined to believe that when we think about God, we think too small. This is because we start from a place of traditional God definitions. We start with the God of our great grandfathers, determine what…
Church historian and author Diana Butler Bass suggests that the questions people ask of religion have historically been "what?" questions. What should I believe? What do I need to know? These are questions religion is uniquely situated to answer. They are the questions of my patents' generation, a generation born before, during, and shortly after…
...unless you are willing to admit our flaws. Americans are a horribly inconsistent bunch. We expect things we have no reason to expect, for which there is no evidence of even te possibility of manifestation, but not only do we expect them we also become enraged when we don't get them. Some of that is…
In a world where institutional religion is mortally wounded, we can feel as if we are in an authority void. This is especially true of people who have belonged to authoritative traditions, wherein people become accustomed to pious proclamations from on high telling them what to believe. In traditions with a stronger emphasis on doctrine,…
Let's be honest. Nobody cares. Nobody really wants to provide spirituality services to heterosexual white males. In fact, I would go so far as to say that, while white males dominate spiritual leadership, they are among the most under served spiritual consumers. Think about it for just a moment. We regularly see advertisements for every…
How often do we hear that from academics, especially in the field of spirituality and religion? I have heard it so often I want to vomit every time yet another insecure academic trying to justify their professional existence announces what does and does not constitute "proper" spiritual practice. Whatever currently popular spiritual trend catches their…
God is dead. At least, one version of God is dead. Do you know how you can tell? Is there anything alive that doesn't change? Nope. Everything alive is changing all the time. New cells are being made to replace old cells that die. Every living thing ages, even if almost imperceptibly. If a living…
As someone who has been in the religion and spirituality biz for a long time now (cue the old guy jokes), I can tell you that the most frequently asked question in religion is some version of the title to this post. Why didn't God ______________? You can fill in the blank with anything you…
I know this is asking a lot, but I wonder if we might have an honest discussion about religion. This project will require laying aside our sacred cows for just a moment and electing to suspend knee-jerk reactions for a bit. I know those things are difficult for just about everyone, but the potential reward…
Somewhere along the way, our society has gone to hell in a handbasket. We drink and drug ourselves into oblivion on a regular basis, a horrifying number of us have been sexually assaulted either as children or adults - sometimes both. Corporations are people, kids are bringing guns to school on an almost daily basis,…
Craig Bergland 