Don’t Give Me that Old Time Religion!

I’ve had enough of the suffocating grip religion has on our politics, morals, laws, lifestyle and culture. As an agnostic or skeptic, I’ve spent my life bending over backwards to accommodate the beliefs of religious people who see the world differently than I do. But the relentless march of the theocracy movement in this country has crossed a line. You can’t just conjure up a deity and then proceed to dictate rules, laws, and acceptable behavior based on this fictional creation.

I’ve tiptoed around expressing my views on religion and politics out of fear of causing offense. But no more. My wife and many of my friends adhere to a religious faith, yet I can’t ignore the looming threat that organized religion poses.

Religion isn’t just a personal belief system; it’s a force that threatens the very fabric of our society. We must push back against its encroachment into our laws, our institutions, and our lives. Enough is enough. It’s time to stand up and challenge the tyranny of religious influence.

At my age, I fear that dangerous religious thinking will have an influence on how I may choose to die or how I can control my wishes on medical care as I am dying. Keep your “God” out of my life!

(The Alabama Chief Justice Who Invoked God in Deciding Embryo Case: Chief Justice Tom Parker has long been revered by conservative groups as an architect for the overturning of Roe v. Wade.)

Abortion Shield Laws: A New War Between the States

Doctors in six states where abortion is legal are using new laws to send abortion pills to tens of thousands of women in states where it is illegal.

“Control of women’s bodies is the endgame. And some religious conservatives won’t stop until that goal is achieved. For that reason, intervening victories — like the overturning of Roe v. Wade — will never be seen as enough; they will only intensify a blinding sense of righteousness.”

Charles M. Blow NYT

Alabama’s I.V.F. Ruling Shows Our Slide Toward Theocracy

picure by AI

The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism by Tim Alberta (Book Review)


My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I believe everyone, regardless of their religious or non-religious beliefs, should read this book. Its importance and critical insights extend far beyond the confines of any particular faith or ideology. What is being preached in many white evangelical and Christian churches holds significant implications that reach beyond their walls.

“In the year after Trump left office, polling repeatedly showed there was one demographic group most likely to believe that the election had been stolen, that vaccines were dangerous, the globalists were controlling the US population, that liberal celebrities were feasting on the bloods of infants, that resorting to violence might be necessary to save the country: white evangelicals.”

The author starts off the book by describing events that took place at his father’s funeral services. Alberta’s father was a respected minister and many of the people who were at the services were longtime friends and associates of the family. Instead of his father being respected and the family comforted, Alberta was castigated for writing articles that certain members of the church felt were derogatory towards Donald Trump. Alberta was accused of treason.

So unlike many other authors who could’ve written this book, Alberta had “skin in the game.” I think that he wrote the book as fairly as he could given the topics, the people involved and the consequences to not only religion but to our country.

Alberta was able to draw portraits of both Jerry Fallwells Senior and Junior, Ralph Reed, Stephen Strang, Paula White, Robert Jeffress, Charlie Kirk, Herschel Walker and Doug Mastriano to name a few. He describes the changes that have taken place at Liberty University. Sadly most of those changes have had deleterious effects on both students and teachers.

Donald Trump has assumed an almost godlike status within the white evangelical movement, despite his controversial behavior and moral character, including multiple marriages and allegations of sexual misconduct.

Alberta also describes the efforts of various ministers and politicians who are attempting to separate religion from politics. The tide has certainly been running against them. Many ministers who attempt to focus on Bible studies and religious topics without introducing politics into their sermons find that many parishioners leave and gravitate toward politically charged sermons. Funding dries up and churches close that just preach the word of God.

This book has been described as the best nonfiction book of 2023. It is a long book, 452 pages in hardback, but an interesting and informative read from cover to cover. This will be one of the books that historians 30 years from now will read and review critically in order to understand the fraught intersection of politics and religion in our era.








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Pickleball Musings

One can often get a feel for how competitive a team or players are by viewing how they warm up.

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Few things unnerve your competition more than when your games and shots become unpredictable and they are unable to adjust.

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Marketing ploy or good advice? Replacing paddles older than one year to take advantage of new technologies to generate increased power and spin.

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Coincidence? Most winning doubles teams share long histories of competition and practice together. (Nationally: Johns Brothers, Ben and Anna Leigh, Locally: Troy and Kristin Clemmer, Manny Lai/Alex )

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Expand your game and shot selections after mastering the basic shots. Keeping improving your game by changing your game and grips. (View YouTube videos of the two handed forehand volleys and groundstrokes by Riley Newman and Troy Clemmer).

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Networking (meeting/playing new people) improves your career prospects and your pickleball game. 

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Due to the increased volley speeds generated by newer paddles, avoiding hitting “out balls” has become an “unforced error” to mindfully minimize.

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Due to the increased volley speeds generated by newer paddles, wearing eye protection is a must. (I don’t play at an advanced level generally, but I’m amazed at the increased speed of volleys and have barely avoided injuries when standing at NVZ at intermediate play. A lot of power generated from Joola and Gearbox paddle models).

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The greater pickleball player of all time is not playing yet.

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The new attempts to eliminate or revise the drop serve at the professional level seems as wise as the attempt by the NCAA in the 60s to eliminate the dunk in college basketball. (50 extra IQ points to those readers who understand this reference.)

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Review: The Harding Affair: Love and Espionage during the Great War by David Robenalt

The Harding Affair: Love and Espionage during the Great War by James David Robenalt

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The affair between Warren Harding and Carrie Phillips was actually very boring. Evidently there were lots of love letters and correspondence between the two. And I do mean boring love letters and boring correspondence. I pretty much skimmed over those that were published in the book. The book contains some interesting history about Republican politics in the years of Taft and Theodore Roosevelt. Harding found himself caught in the middle of that political squabble. There is also some interesting history and commentary regarding the United States entering World War I. Just like World War II, there was great antipathy on the part of the American public to be involved in the war. In addition, there was a great deal of sympathy for Germany.

Based on the book, Harding appears to be a capable senator, hard-working and capable of compromise. He was a very good speaker and in demand for his abilities. However the shameless way that he pursued Mrs. Phillips does not present him in a good light. Given that his wife was constantly in bad health, one could understand his need for female companionship. But Mrs. Phillips was a needy and manipulative woman. The book covers allegations that she was a spy for Germany in World War I. Based on the book, it appears the only certain thing that could be alleged was that she was very sympathetic for the German cause and attempted to persuade Harding towards that end.

I slogged through the book more for the historical morsels around the time of World War I than for the less than sordid details of Harding’s affair(s). This book did provoke an interest in reading a book written about the Harding presidential administration.



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Mental Burps

I’m not sure what would be more frightening – – a huge asteroid headed for a crash landing on earth or the prospect of a Trump re-election in November?

Looks like Sports Illustrated is going out of business. It was the premier sports magazine in my youth and early adult life. The swimsuit issue normally published in the beginning of the year always generated some controversy and interest. And there were some great sports writing and photography in the magazine.

I used to love to buy magazines like Playboy, US News and World Report, Tennis, Money, Runners World, Men’s Health etc. I can’t remember the last time I went into a bookstore to buy a magazine. I can’t remember the last time I went into a bookstore to look at magazines.

John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster and Sam Houston were cited as Profiles in Courage in the book by John F. Kennedy. Tim Scott, the senator from South Carolina, will never be cited for his courage. How low must the performance, moral and integrity bars for Senator Scott to endorse Donald Trump?

One past regret in my life: that I did not take measured risks in my early adult years.

Books Reviewed

Brief thoughts and comments on books and reading…

My tastes are changing as I have become older. I want to be more entertained, less provoked and upset. More fiction, preferably historical fiction, less politics.

Speaking of books that provoke and upset, I have no interest in reading any more books about the Trump presidency. I get it after reading about a dozen books on his administration: he was an awful President and a horrible human being.

In fiction, I continue to read stories where the main character is a man in his 60s and 70s.

My sources for reading material: My Library, Kindle (less than $5 books) Barnes and Noble… I now belong to a new library that will hopefully provide me more opportunities to find books that I am interested in reading. I haven’t bought a book at Barnes and Noble for about time months. Price of their books are often too high and often not worth the price.

How I scout books before I read them? I read reviews from Goodreads, Kirkus, and Amazon. Sometimes books are previewed (maybe the first chapter) and I’ll read the previews to see if it catches my interest. If possible, I try to see the Table of Contents for a book. Often that provides a preview of the contents of the book and if I may find interest in topics covered.

I rarely read non fiction books cover to cover anymore. I tend to skim through sections of a book where I have no interest, am already familiar with the content or bored.

I enjoy collecting aphorisms and seek books about aphorisms. If I am to write a book, it will be aphorisms that I create about life, aging, religion, money, marriage, friendship, etc.

I prefer to read books less than 200 pages. Reading a book that is more than 500 pages is a mental marathon that I can rarely finish.

My universe of reading topics continues to shrink. There are so many things now that I have very little interest in, including politics, self help, health issues, money and finances, Trump etc.

I really don’t need most self improvement books. At 71 1/2, if I haven’t figured things out by now, I never will.