Category: Spirituality

• The Night My Racism Confronted Me At The Amen Corner

  Am I racist? I try very hard not to be. But then, it’s not up to me whether I am a racist or not. It’s not up to me if I’m being a misogynist or prejudiced in any way. It’s up to whomever my words or actions offended and struck as bigoted. That is where […]

  A L Katz

  February 2, 2023

  Culture, Feminism, Magical Thinking, Racism, Religion, Showbiz Stories, Spirituality

  Bill Cobbs, Brooklyn Academy Of Music, Centre Stage Theater, Fathers and Sons, Gospel At Colonus, Gospel music, James Baldwin, Jewish Culture, Misogyny, Racism, Racist, The Amen Corner, The Outer Limits

• Maybe A “War On Christmas” Is A Good Thing

  I grew up Jewish in America. That’s probably why Christmas always feels like I’m crashing someone else’s party. And the person whose party I’m crashing doesn’t like me very much. Strange thing is, the party aspires to be a celebration of a spiritual ideal while actually celebrating something else entirely: consumerism. There’s nothing wrong with […]

  A L Katz

  December 5, 2022

  Atheism, Culture, Religion, Spirituality

  Atheism, Christmas, Consumerism, Declaration of War, Ghetto, Growing Up Jewish, Hebrew School, Horror Movie, Reindeer Games, Religion, Tay Sachs Disease, War On Christmas

• I’m Grateful To Hebrew School For Making Me An Atheist

  Let me stretch that out a bit: I have always been grateful to Hebrew School for making me the atheist I am today. Now, in all fairness, I suspect I was an atheist when I dropped from the womb. Hebrew School didn’t make me an atheist. But, it did close the deal. Whatever lingering doubts […]

  A L Katz

  August 20, 2022

  Atheism, Culture, Magical Thinking, Religion, Spirituality

  Abraham and Isaac, Anarchy, Atheism, Canaan, Catholic School, Eternal Life, Hebrew School, Jewish Culture, Lithuania, Philadelphia, Vilnius, Yahweh

• Religious Institutions & Sex Scandals Go Together Like S & M

  Today we learned that the Mormon church faces yet another sex scandal. Maybe it’s just how it is. Religious institutions and sex scandals go together. As the AP reported: “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was hit with several lawsuits Monday for allegedly covering up decades of sexual abuse among Boy Scout troops in […]

  A L Katz

  August 4, 2022

  Atheism, Culture, Magical Thinking, Religion, Sexual Assault Survival, Spirituality, The Nature of Evil

  Boy Scouts, Catholic Church, Kenneth Copeland, LDS, Monotheism, Mormon Church, Mormons, S&M, Sexual abuse scandal, The Club, The Wizard Of Oz

• The Ravages Of Magical Thinking

  Think magical thinking isn’t potent? Magical thinking is threatening our democracy in real time! Left unchecked, it will bring down the greatest experiment ever in human self government. To be fair, magical thinking now threatens lots of the world. Maybe it just feels like the bulk of its focus is here. Right wingers don’t look […]

  A L Katz

  July 23, 2022

  Atheism, Corruption, Culture, Freedom, Magical Thinking, Racism, Religion, Spirituality

  All Men Are Created Equal, America's Founders, Conservatism, Data point, Deist, French Enlightenment, Magical Thinking, Originalism, Oz, Randy Lovejoy, Self Government, Tikkun Olam, White Supremacists

• Jesus Christ, Oppressor

  I was six years old the first time I learned how Christianity oppresses. A Christian told me I deserved to die because I killed Jesus. The person informing me of this was ten. What made it especially disconcerting was how she said it so nicely. It was a fact of life, as basic as breathing. […]

  A L Katz

  July 2, 2022

  Atheism, Corruption, Culture, Freedom, Magical Thinking, Religion, Spirituality, The Nature of Evil

  Anti-Semitism, Bar Mitzvah, Council of Nicaea, Do Unto Others, Hebrew School, Holocaust, Jesus, New Testament, Paul The Apostle, Religious Education, Sunday School, Tikkun Olam, Yahweh

• Why Is American Christianity So Effin’ Crazy?

  Lordy, I hope that’s not a revelation (or a whole Book of Revelation): American Christianity is effin’ crazy. Over the course of its history, Christianity has twisted a simple message – “Do unto others” – into the justification for murdering non-adherents (especially Jews). Talk about transubstantiation! The amount of carnage committed in the Prince of […]

  A L Katz

  June 5, 2022

  Atheism, Corruption, Culture, Magical Thinking, Racism, Religion, Slavery, Spirituality, The Nature of Evil

  Catholic Church, Christianity, Do Unto Others, L Ron Hubbard, Manifest destiny, Mormonism, Paul The Apostle, Prince of Peace, Proselytization, Road to Damascus, Scientology, Vikings

• We Still Live In What Carl Sagan Called “The Demon Haunted World”

  Occasionally, I write horror movies for a living. I don’t see the Bible as a book of religious inspiration, I see it as a launching pad for horror movies. In my career, I’ve worked with both Billy Friedkin (director of “The Exorcist”) and Richard Donner (director of “The Omen”); those are two of the biggest […]

  A L Katz

  March 4, 2022

  Atheism, Culture, Religion, Showbiz Stories, Spirituality, The Nature of Evil

  Ann Druyan, Carl Sagan, Faitheism Project Podcast, Horror Movies, Magical Thinking, Pandora's Box, Richard Donner, The Bible, The Demon Haunted World, The Exorcist, The Omen, William Friedkin

• A War On Christmas? More Like Christmas Declared War On US!

  When you first enter the world famous “Pantheon Of Nonsense”, one of the first rooms you come to (and how can you miss it, there’s so much light coming from it?) is one marked “The War On Christmas”. Inside, the room feels both enormous and yet crushingly small; it’s such a massive complaint about nothing. […]

  A L Katz

  December 16, 2021

  Atheism, Culture, Magical Thinking, Religion, Spirituality

  Blood Libel, Christmas Spirit, Christmas Story, Commercialization, Faitheism Project, Faitheism Project Podcast, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Pantheon, Paul The Apostle, Podcast, Saturnalia, War On Christmas

• There’s A HUGE Difference Between “Christians” And “Followers Of Jesus”

  Question: How do you get from “Do unto others” to “Onward, Christian Soldier!”? The truth is you can’t. Even a humble atheist can “do unto others”. A Christian soldier? They do unto others before others can do unto them. That’s their idea of Jesus. In other words, they have no idea of Jesus or, whatever […]

  A L Katz

  November 22, 2021

  Atheism, Branding, Culture, Religion, Spirituality

  Atheism, Blood Libel, Catholic Church, Do Unto Others, Life After Death, Mormonism, Onward Christian Soldiers, Original Sin, Paul The Apostle, Sheol, Yahweh