The Religious Views of Michael P. Garofalo
The Librarian of Gushen Grove
Red Bluff, California
Cloud
Hands Blog
Green Way Research
Mind-Body Arts
A Short Biography of Mike
Garofalo
The Good Life
Lifestyle Advice from Wise Persons Philosophy Recommended Reading
My Catholic School Education Short Notes Bibliography Links Don't Ask, Don't Tell
In my normal daily life, I avoid discussing religion with other people. I don't ask them about their religious beliefs and practices, nor do I tell them about mine. I emphasize discussion of good and admirable topics upon which we all can generally agree, and I try to display good manners. I try to show tolerance and respect regarding religion, and expect the same behavior from others. I interact peacefully, productively and in a friendly manner with other people by following the advice of "don't ask, don't tell" regarding religious beliefs and practices. Also, if you want to be successful in America, it is best to avoid discussing your non-religious ideas.
I am a philosopher, secular humanist, progressive, and atheist. If this annoys you, then stop reading here. If you are an adult, curious, open-minded, of a rational and skeptical disposition, inclined towards humanism, and are concerned about the negative effects of all religions then please read on. Many people are now ready to resist the religious bullies in our world.
My parents made me attend private Roman Catholic schools in East Los Angeles from the 1st to the 12th grade from 1950-1963. My parents made me learn and profess Roman Catholic beliefs, and participate in Catholic religious rituals and sacraments until I was 15 years of age. I was "educated" by hard-nosed and authoritarian Irish Christian Brothers in high school who taught us well in mathematics, physical science, the Catholic religion, and language arts. They taught us no biology and their social studies perspectives were adjusted to their Christian versions of history. They emphasized obedience to school and church authorities, faith, conformity, sexual abstinence, piety, fidelity, and our duties to others.
By 1963, I found little consolation from or affinity for Roman Catholic Christian theology, rules, rituals, politics, and the old ways. I found authoritarian priests very annoying to me. I have for five decades thought that the Judeo-Christian-Islamic doctrines, the Abrahamic desert faiths, are confusing, dogmatic, antiquated, male-chauvinist, anti-scientific, unjust, often ludicrous, and largely irrelevant to my interests and intellectual pursuits. I have not belonged to any church or attended any religious services as a believer since I was 15 years of age. I believe that spiritual practices and studies are a private concern.
Since 1963, I have followed a solitary spiritual path with my guides being writers and leaders from many non-dogmatic spiritual traditions. Ethically, I am a secular humanist, libertarian, and liberal. I don't think anyone needs to believe in the different dogmas or creeds about the supernatural or belong to a religious organization to be a decent person, find happiness, and lead a productive, satisfying, constructive and good life. I love the beauty, precision, power, and grandeur of science, reason, and philosophy. Spiritually, I lean towards naturalism, hedonism, biophilia, Zen-Taoist-Buddhist Eastern philosophy, NeoPagan Druidry, and mysticism. I thoroughly enjoy poetry, literature, fiction, myths, symbolism, lore, music, and art. My solitary spiritual and mystical practices include taijiquan, yoga, gardening, walking, meditation, chi kung, art, poetry, tarot, ritual, and music .
When I was 15 years of age, I used books from local County and City libraries to learn about Western and Eastern philosophy, intellectual history, science, politics, art, and the various religions of the world. I majored in philosophy at California State University at Los Angeles from 1963-1967, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy. I also took and passed 30 units of Master's degree classes in philosophy at California State University at Los Angeles from 1974-1978. I minored in business administration. I have been a student of comparative religions since 1961. These early studies greatly influenced by spiritual outlook.
I have worked for 46 years in libraries, and earned a Master of Science in Library Science from the University of Southern California in 1968. This has given me ample opportunity to peacefully interact in metropolitan Los Angeles and rural Red Bluff, California, with all types of persons with many types of religious, spiritual, political, and philosophical beliefs. Also, I have been able to read thousands of books about science, natural history, Western and Eastern philosophy, intellectual history, biographies, art, literature, psychology, and the various present and past religions around the world.
Karen and I were married in 1967. As for our own two children, we sent them to public schools, never took them to church services, and asked them to, within reason, cautiously respect the various religions, but to think and decide for themselves about religious and spiritual matters. To call a four year old or eight year old child a "Catholic" or a "Moslem" is an injustice to the inherent goodness, spaciousness, and freedom of a child's mind. Naturally, as all good parents do, we tried to model and instruct them in the virtues needed for a productive, social, and happy life.
Since I was fifteen, I have always been attracted to Zen, and other Chan Buddhist outlooks insofar as Zen often does not stress or actually dismisses beliefs in the conventional concepts of the supernatural. I was drawn to perplexing Zen and Taoist sayings and poems that poke fun at "spiritual" understanding, dismiss the gods, and make people think outside the box. I have also found charming the Neopagan religions that show sincere reverence towards our Earth, Nature, living beings, and natural phenomenon. I don't believe that spiritual practices necessitate a literal belief in specific supernatural beings or forces to help any person experience awe, humility, ecstasy, profound insights, sublimity, wonder, gratitude, peak experiences, vitality, enthusiasm, beauty, joy, and goodness. I enjoy the myths and metaphors from polytheistic religions, and any spiritual path without a sincere appreciation for Goddesses is just not interesting to me. As a gardener, I have experienced deep and altered states of consciousness, and benefited from mystical insights, while engaged in gardening activities. I do not however, consider unique and/or profound personal experiences, unverified personal gnosis, by others or myself, to be a reliable guide to truth or wisdom.
I have researched Neopagan Druidry since 2003. I favor the outlook of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD) from England. They accept those who view supernatural beings or realms as archetypes, metaphors, and fictions. They encourage a love and respect for the natural world, seasonal celebrations, tolerance, poetry, mysticism, open-mindedness, sensuality, and an earth centered spirituality. I took the OBOD course for the Bardic Grade. Since Neopagan Druidry encourages the appreciation and study of the lore and myths of Goddesses it is of interest to me. Again, I am a solitary about religious/spiritual practices and studies and don't "attend" or "belong" to any church.
I have taught Ta'i Chi Ch'uan and Qigong since 2000; and Yoga since 2004. I have a good understanding of these mind-body practices and their theoretical and spiritual foundations. I have an affinity for philosophical Taoism, as well a delight in Eastern myths and arts.
I favor a secular culture, freedom from religion, freedom of religion, separation of church and state, peaceful coexistence, tolerance, and free thought. Politically, I tend to be what is called in America an "independent." I am fiscally conservative, want limitations on federal war powers, favor zero population growth, support environmental causes, support numerous libertarian issues, and believe that everyone (including churches, companies, the very rich, the poor, and the elderly) should pay federal, state, property, local, and sales taxes. I voted Democratic in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections because the Republicans in power had run up huge debts, led us into a costly, unwise and unjust war in Iraq, don't support birth control and family planning, want to reduce taxes for more people, and pander to religious fundamentalists wanting America to be a "Christian Nation."
The facts of history clearly demonstrate that organized religions can be dangerous, can be poisonous, have caused much suffering and tragedy over many centuries, repress women, retard the advance of science, are authoritarian, are anti-progressive, and economically exploit people. Since the dogmas of organized religion are mostly based upon faith, exclusivity and authoritarianism, they tend towards unreasonable excesses. Religions are often successful businesses, advertise constantly to get more customers from the cradle to the grave, misrepresent and lie to keep their customers, lobby and threaten politicians to get preferential treatment, and, like all businesses, want to drive all their competitors out of business and don't want to pay any taxes. In my opinion, it is best to not participate in or support any organized religion.
At one level of my life-stance or worldview is a deep respect and support for logic, pragmatism, naturalism, facts, reasoning, objectivity, verifiability, repeatability, coherent theories, open-mindedness, prediction, mathematics, and statistical methods. All of these methods, of course, are the hallmarks of the physical and biological sciences, pure and applied sciences, pragmatism, and modern technology. At this level I am a free-thinker who shares many of the philosophical and non-religious views so persuasively and emphatically expressed by Dan Barker, Jeremy Bentham, Luther Burbank, André Comte-Sponville, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, John Dewey, Albert Ellis, A.C. Grayling, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, David Hume, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Ingersoll, Paul Kurtz, Corliss Lamont, John Stuart Mill, Thomas Paine, Madalyn Murray O'Hair, Ayn Rand, Richard Rorty, Bertrand Russell, Carl Sagan, George Smith, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and many other intelligent, hard working, courageous, forthright, dynamic, honest, fulfilled, and wise persons. These free-thinkers give me hope!
Overall, for me, science trumps religion when it comes to matters of fact. Nevertheless, wholesome and authentic human existence involves many complex matters such as ethics, politics, families, work, economics, beauty, emotions, intuition, personality, etc; and, these some require intelligent thinking and pragmatism other than found in the sciences. A Big Mind also requires a bit of fuzzy logic, creativity, fictions, playing outside the box, playfulness, imagination, and wishful thinking.
So, don't keep the faith, free your mind, think, maybe become a Bright, and find happiness and the Good Life.
Cloud Hands Blog Green Way Research Mind-Body Arts A Short Biography of Mike Garofalo The Good Life
Lifestyle Advice from Wise Persons Philosophy
"Speaking of today, I do not consider it
intellectually respectable to be a partisan in matters of religion.
I see religion as I see other basic fascinations as art and science, in which
there is room for many
different approaches, styles, techniques, and opinions. Thus I am not
formally a committed member
of any creed or sect and hold no particular religious view or doctrine as
absolute. I deplore missionary
zeal, and consider exclusive dedication to and advocacy of any particular
religion, as either the best or
the only true way, as almost irreligious arrogance. Yet my work and life
are fully concerned with
religion, and the mystery of being is my supreme fascination, though, as a
shameless mystic, I am
more interested in religion as feeling and experience that as conception and
theory."
- Alan Watts, In My Own Way, p. 61, 1972
Recommended Reading
Bibliography, Links, Resources
Topics: Free Thought, Agnosticism, Atheism, Anti-Religious Arguments, Humanistic Thought, Secular Humanism, Skepticism
I started reading books on this topic in 1961, when I was 15 years of age. Books still in my home library are coded 'VSCL.'
Here are the many books that I have read since 1961 that have influenced my thinking on organized religion:
Dawkins, Richard. The God Delusion. Mariner Books, Houghton Mifflin, 2006, 2008. Index, notes, bibliography, appendices, 463 pages. ISBN: 978-0618918249. VSCL. A bold, incisive, convincing, and clear minded critique of religious beliefs and religions and their negative and pernicious impact on our communities, societies, nations, and the world. I've read this book more than twice, and find it uplifting, brave, and to the point. His analysis of the negative social and moral effects of religion are accurate.
Dennett, Daniel.
Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
Epstein, Greg.
Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe
The Four Horsemen of the New
Atheism (Free Thought):
Richard Dawkins, 1941-;
Daniel Dennett, 1942-;
Sam Harris,
1967-; Christopher
Hitchens, 1949-2011; and, now, possibly,
Ayaan Hirsi Ali,
1949-.
Fundamentalists of Christian, Islamic, and Hindu Persuasion. Count on them
to want to demonize and punish those who disagree with their religious beliefs.
They support making their own moral, social and religious
views the law of the land. These fellows are often enemies of Free Thought:
Steven Andrew,
David Barton,
Jerry Falwell,
Billy Graham,
Ayatolla Ruhollah
Khomeini,
David Lane, Sayyid Qutb, most
Popes,
Pat Robertson,
Oral Roberts,
Rick Warren,
Birgham Young.
Gardening and Spirituality.
Compiled by Mike Garofalo.
The Good Life
Compiled by Mike Garofalo.
Grayling, A. C..
The God Argument: The Case against Religion and for Humanism
Harris, Sam.
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
Hitchens, Christopher, 1949-2011.
God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
The Humanist Alternative:
Some Definitions of Humanism
Hume, David, 1711-1776.
Dialogues and Natural History of Religion
Jacoby, Susan.
Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism
Kurtz, Paul.
The Humanist Alternative:
Some Definitions of Humanism
Lamont, Corliss,
1902-1995. The Illusion of Immortality.
New York, Continuum, Frederick Ungar Book, Half-Moon Foundation, 1935, Fifth
Edition in 1990. Notes, index, 303 pages. ISBN: 0804463778.
VSCL. I first read this book in 1962. The case against an "immortal
soul" or survival of a personal consciousness after death is clearly and
persuasively presented. We humans are subject to a finite life, mortality
is certain, and there is a finality to death that is unavoidable.
Historical religious views to the contrary are presented and refuted.
Lifestyle Advice from Wise
Persons Compiled by Mike Garofalo.
The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality
Philosopher Without Gods: Meditations on Atheism and the Secular Life.
Edited by Louise M. Anthony. Oxford University Press, 2007. Index,
references, notes, brief biographies of contributors, 315 pages. ISBN:
9780199743414. VSCL.
Reasoning and Philosophy
A Philosopher's Notebooks. By Mike Garofalo.
Russell, Bertrand,
1872-1970.
Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects
Smith, George H.
Atheism - The Case Against God.
Tao Te Ching by
Lao Tzu I first read in 1961. The philosophical views of Laozi
and Zhuanzi appealed to me from an early age. The religious practices of
later Taoists from 300 CE onward were fascinating, as are those of the Neopagan
religions; however, I don't really "believe" in their supernatural and
superstitious views and dogmas. My childhood experiences of the magic,
ritual and pomp of Roman Catholicism probably influenced me in my appreciation
for the esoteric and magical aspects of Taoism and Druidry.
Virtues and the Good Life Compiled by Mike Garofalo.
Watson, Peter.
The Age of Atheists: How We Have Sought to Live Since the Death of God
VSCL = Valley Spirit Center Library, Red Bluff, California
by Richard Dawkins 
by Christopher Hitchens
by Carl Sagan
by Daniel Dennett
by Corliss Lamont
by Sam Harris
by George H. Smith
by David Mills
by Victor Stenger 
by Susan Jacoby 
by Sam Harris 
by Richard Hofstadter
by A. C. Grayling
by Paul Kurtz
by
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
by Madalyn Murray O'Hair 
by David Hume
Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris
The "Four Horsemen" of Free Thought in 2009
Comments, Short Notes, Observations
When I am in a more sarcastic, critical, negative, a belligerent anti-religious mind, I might sound like this:
Why am I not a Christian in rural Red
Bluff, California? Bible thumpers are boring. Prayer is useless.
The death of one man cannot absolve everyone's sins. A religion with a
cross for torture as its symbol is repugnant to me. Eating the body and
drinking the blood of a man, even symbolically, seems a cannibalistic ritual to
me. People sitting quietly and tolerating foolish lectures and rants
(i.e., preaching) without complaint seems cowardly and dishonest to me.
Churches smell of hypocrisy. Church doctrines are antiquated, unneeded,
and often just unfair and wrong. The bad taste of male chauvinism lingers
in my mouth after attending church services. Christian hymns are seldom
appealing to me. Christians worship only a Father and Son; and lacking a
Divine Mother and Daughter seems very sacrilegious to me. Preachers and
priests seem too pompous, overconfident, and bossy to me. I don't have the
energy or enthusiasm for hating and condemning all the people in the world that
don't agree with me. I don't dislike or find gay persons evil. I
don't think we live in a "Christian Nation"― thank goodness. The "Holy
Bible" is not a very good or inspired work of literature, and the Koran
is worse. Churches attract too many ignorant, uneducated, and slavish
people. Jesus of Nazareth is simply dull and uninspiring to me― he could
not even write his own story. Mohammad was illiterate. Miracles are too rare to be useful to most
of us. Immortality is an illusion. I don't "believe" in the Bible.
The absurdities, contradictions, and unscientific views of Christians don't seem
to bother them. Churches take in money but they don't pay taxes. Churches
here are illegal fronts for right-wing conservative political action groups.
I don't share the enthusiasm for all the talk about the Original Sin, sinning,
sinfulness, sinful souls, evil sinners, and punishing sinners. Eternal
damnation for petty sins seems cruel beyond belief. Jewish history and
myths are very uninteresting and barbaric to me compared with Greek, Chinese or East Indian
myths and lore. I don't find most Christians very charitable, tolerant, or
open-hearted. Indoctrinating children in religion seems to me an unhealthy
child rearing practice. One book is never enough for me. Any person
can be good and wise, and never attend any Christian church services.
Sure, I might be wrong about some of my opinions, or exaggerated, or overstated
my views regarding Christian
churches; however, church people never will acknowledge that they might be wrong
because they say they know the "Truth". In the end, I just have far
better, more interesting, and more productive activities to occupy my limited
free time rather than associating with Christian or Islamic believers.
1/15/2014
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Last week, I saw a truck in rural Red Bluff with 8 right wing political and Christian religious stickers advertising the owner's viewpoints. One sticker said "Eternal life is God's Gift." Of course, we all know that "eternal life" means eternal punishment in hell for all those who don't subscribe to his peculiar beliefs. Hardly, a consolation or reward or gift. What religion, among all the competing religions condemning all other other religions, should I choose to guarantee a pleasant eternal life. Thank you "God," but I will pass on such a dubious gift. Another NRA sticker on his truck said "In Guns we Trust." Even I think such a statement is spiritually corrupt and blasphemous. I own some pistols and rifles, locked up in a closet, but I don't worship guns, I do believe that gun controls are sensible, and I never think that our peace and prosperity are due to local yokels wanting to brandish their precious weapons pretending they are real soldiers preparing for battle. This dullard yahoo must be watching too many Bonanza and Roy Rodgers wild west rerun episodes on his TV. Another sticker said, "Some finally turn to Christ in the eleventh hour. I hope they die at 10:30." Another mean spirited Christian spitting on others - a member of the American Christian Taliban. Why would I want to break bread or share a pew with a jackass like that?
3/1/2014
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The Cosmos Series Returns (3/16/2014) Posted to the Cloud Hands Blog
The National Geographic Television Channel (FOX) is now presenting a new 2014 version of the famous "Cosmos" series each Sunday. It is now narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson.
By Carl Sagan
(1934-1996). Introduction by Ann Druyan, and Foreword by Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Reprinted by Ballantine Books in 2013. Originally published by Random House in
1980. Index, recommended reading, notes, 432 pages. ISBN: 9780345539435.
VSCL. The most popular science book of the last 50 years. The TV series,
Cosmos (1980), has been viewed by over 500 million people.
By Carl Sagan. New York, Ballantine Books, 1996. Index, references, 457
pages. ISBN: 9780345409461. VSCL. A thorough investigation of pseudo-science
in contemporary life. 
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Unraveling and Warding Off Delusions
I recently read completely, for the second time, the bold, incisive, and clear minded 2006 book by Richard Dawkins called "The God Delusion." I agree with and support most of his accurate and decisive criticisms of religious beliefs and their negative effects on our world. This book is essential reading for the 20% of Americans who say they have no religious affiliations and beliefs. We need to be informed and speak out clearly..
By Christopher Hitchens. Twelve, 2009. 336 pages. ISBN: 978-0446697965.
VSCL. A strong critique of the negative impact of religions. Uses many
historical facts from the last 100 years. Wide ranging and penetrating
arguments. Includes an intense criticism of Islam, Catholicism, Evangelical
Christianity, and Zionist Judaism. 
April 3, 2014
Posted to the Cloud Hands Blog
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My Experiences with Roman Catholic School Education, K-8, 1950-1963, in East Los Angeles
From the first grade until the fourth grades, I was a pious Catholic boy who was thoroughly indoctrinated in Roman Catholicism.
When I was nine years old, I worried myself into sleepless nights while thinking about how I was going to be tortured in hell for all eternity because I ate some meat on a Friday. A few years later, the Catholic Church changed its mind and said it was not a mortal sin to eat meat on Friday. What a pathetic and sick joke on a child!! Shame on those cruel flip-flopping priests, bishops and nuns!!
When I was ten years old, my teacher nun, a devout anti-Semite, frequently made unfavorable and negative references to Jewish people in her lectures ... Jews killed Jesus, Jews are anti-Catholic, Jews are rich and don't share with the poor, Jews use evil magic rituals, Jews are blah blah blah ... you know about all that Jew-hating diatribe. A friend of mine, Barry, was Jewish. A few years later, I attended his Bar-Mitzvah. He and his family were good people in my estimation. Even then, I knew in my heart that my nun teacher was a prejudiced liar and just mean; somebody unworthy of respect. Catholic nuns were full of much nonsense, and given free reign to pervert the truth to their liking.
When I was eleven years old, my nun teacher frequently read to us very graphic stories about the torture and murder of Catholic Saints by Romans and infidels. The Catholic martyrs were supposed to be our heroes. Around the same time I read in history books and encyclopedias at our local County library about how Catholic clerics had supported and blessed the practice of slavery of Africans in the New World. Millions of human beings had been imprisoned, enslaved, exploited, worked, starved, tortured, and killed with the active support and blessings of Catholic and Islamic clerics. In later years, I learned about the many historical atrocities sponsored and supported by the Catholic Church by reading library books; however, all of these Catholic Church caused evils were never mentioned or discussed in any of my Catholic school K-12 classes. For example, it took until 1998 for the Pope to "apologize" for the Catholic Church's cooperation and complicity with the Nazis in Germany. Indeed, the Roman Catholics since 500 CE were far more evil and horrific than the hand-full of Romans that created a few hundred saintly Catholic martyrs. Shameful intellectual dishonesty!!
When I was eleven years old, I told my nun teacher that I had attended church with my Grandmother Blaize in a Lutheran Church. The nun told me forcefully that my grandmother was going to burn in hell, and so would I if I ever went to Lutheran Church services again. I liked my kind grandmother, and decided then myself that my teacher was unfair and wrong. Shame on those rigid, dogmatic, and heartless weird hooded nuns!!
When I was twelve years old, I would confess to a priest time after time about my mortal sin of private masturbation. I was chided by the local Catholic priest confessor for my inability to not indulge in impure actions while alone, and reminded that I would be burning in hell for my sinful lusts. By the time I was thirteen years of age, I just decided that most priests were power hungry jerks, sexually deluded, and unworthy of being my spiritual or moral guides. Decades later, we learned that Catholic bishops in California were hiding pedophile priests and brothers as directed by the Pope, and not taking civil action against these true perverts doing really nonconsensual "impure actions" with minors What a mentally sick, hypocritical, illegal, and lying bunch of clerics!
When I was thirteen years old, I got into serious trouble with the nuns. Another boy had written a clever bawdy spoof of some popular rock lyrics of the day. We boys passed the written parody around and got a good laugh. Our teacher snatched the paper from one boy's hand. Then, all hell broke loose. The Principal and parish priest called eight of us boys in for a stern and severe lecture. We were disciplined and threatened with expulsion from school. Each of our parents were notified and the incident was greatly exaggerated. My father screamed at me, severely whipped me with a belt, punished me, and threatened to send me to reform school. Naturally, I was very frightened and hurt. Inside my mind, I thought myself unjustly and cruelly treated for a minor and insignificant matter, i.e., reading a mildly bawdy poem. (Of course Jehovah had condemned all humanity for evermore to toil, suffering, and death because two people ate an apple from his tree.) The incident confirmed my belief that my parents, priests, and nuns were somewhat insane about sexuality, prone to being cruel to children, and all addicted to wanting to control others. From then on, when these kinds of unpleasant incidents would occur again, and they did often, I would just say "Yes, Sir" out loud and obediently to avoid confrontation; but, in my mind I would say "You are stupid jerks and fucking dictators, and someday I will be free to ignore you, and I will." I became very skilled at hiding.
I could give my reader many more examples of the indecency and intellectual and spiritual bankruptcy of Catholic schools from 1950-1963 in East Los Angeles, but I don't want to bore or annoy myself even more.
In my Catholic high school, I kept my opinions about the worthlessness and evils of the Catholic religion to myself. I dutifully and respectfully participated in all the worthless, in my view, Catholic services, rituals and prayers. I got straight A's for four years in all my religion classes. I knew how to play their games, hide, keep my mouth shut, stay under the clerical radar, and avoid getting into any trouble with the short-tempered, mean and strict Irish Christian Brothers at Cantwell High School in Montebello, California. I witnessed these mean teachers physically abuse students. I saw the light at the end of the tunnel - graduation from that intellectual and spiritual prison in 1963. Some prisoners can improve their minds and rehabilitate themselves, and I did; unfortunately, most of my fellow students in that Catholic mental hospital and prison were religious recidivists. Yes, those nuns and brothers taught me by rote how to do math and read satisfactorily and how to act properly and give the appearance of obedience and conformity; however, they were spiritually and morally deficient in many ways. I do have my share of faults, both back then and now; however, these nuns, brothers, and priests were supposedly "teachers" and "models", but greatly failed in that task. I have socially tolerated, but have never respected them again for five decades.
I will say, unequivocally, that my K-12 Catholic School education and upbringing can, for me, be fairly characterized as sectarian indoctrination, full of superstitious nonsense, tainted by unwholesome meanness, sexually repressive, authoritarian, intellectually dishonest, and guided by uncreative rote learning practices.
Later in my life, based on my personal experiences, comments from others, and reading, I found that Christian preachers and Imams and most religious teachers are mostly cut from the same cloth as their Catholic counterparts: dogmatic, rigid, wanting to indoctrinate children, hypocrites, prone to cruelty, superstitious, hateful of people of other faiths, right wing supporters, liars, authoritarian, and petty businessmen seeking financial benefits from their zombie worshippers. Of course, there are always exceptions to my strong opinions, but given enough time and the right circumstance, these skunks will very likely come out of the dark bushes.
Back then and now, of course, there are many decent and kind persons who are also deeply religious or spiritual. Many persons belong to liberal churches and are not narrow minded and anti-progressive. Many wisely ignore their clerics. We share many of the same moral and humanistic goals in our society. We try to be peaceful, productive, egalitarian, virtuous and progressive individuals. Therefore, in my daily life, I rarely share my religious views with others, and do not proselytize for secular humanism or atheism in my daily life; because, I want to survive, be successful, get along with others, and keep the peace.
Some people tell me that the Roman Catholic Church in America has changed and reformed and improved since the 1950's. I seriously doubt this contention. I have no need whatsoever to return to that quagmire of superstitious humbug, moral equivocation, flip-flopping petty rules, or kneel and kiss the ring of His Holiness. And most Protestant Christian and Moslem churches and clerics are just as bad or worse in my opinion.
From 1963-1967, I attended California State University at Los Angeles were I found liberation, Enlightenment, freedom from oppressive religious ideas, coeducational involvement, progressive ideas, actual history, philosophy, adult and wise teachers, and true intellectual delight. I found a path to a much happier life, free of unneeded religious baggage.
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This webpage was last updated on June 20, 2014.