Religiosanity

Genesis Pastor Andrew takes comments from Mike Huckabee, the US Ambassador to Israel, on Tucker Carlson's show as a jumping off point to spotlight the various levels of either willful blindness or astounding stupidity at work within the fundamentalist community and greater Israel regarding a desire to use a promise in the 15th chapter of Genesis to delineate modern borders. We also mentioned why surname Netanyahu is de facto blasphemy - especially for this war criminal.

Jeffrey Epsxxxn was a despicable person—but let’s leave the ancient god Baal out of it. Baal re-entered public discussion this week after reports revealed that Epstein named a bank account after the ancient deity, triggering a wave of misinformation about Baal’s character and role in ancient religion. In this episode, Pastor Andrew—an expert in the ancient Near East—works to clear up the confusion and set the record straight.

If causing the last Pope to slip faster into the afterlife wasn't enough, now U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance has an audience with the NEW Pope, and presents this Augustinian scholar with an English translation of St. Augustine's "City Of God." What's behind J.D.'s lame gift? Pastor Andrew breaks it all down for us.

Pastor Andrew returns from his study leave/vacation with some anthropological discoveries made in a surprising place--the playgrounds of the Czech Republic!

Pastor Andrew makes the case that the MAGA movement that elected a convicted criminal for a second term is not merely brainwashed, but is rather under a form of demonic possession, a kind that is very self-defeating.

Pastor Andrew breaks down the back-and-forth between Vice President J.D. Vance and Pope Francis. Vance invoked ordo amoris to defend his general approach to immigration and refugees, and the Pontiff (without naming him directly) "corrected" him, in an inspiring statement placing the teachings of Jesus over church dogma.

Trump's offer of refugee status to "persecuted" Afrikaans prompts Pastor Andrew, as a way to shed light on the racist dogwhistle that policy move is, to lay out the origins of apartheid in South Africa, religions' role in those origins, and also its role in apartheid's collapse.

Pastor Andrew takes us on a deep dive into one of Jesus' last words on the cross, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" and encourages us to take it in via its literary context, seeing it as "an early church attempt to preach to itself about the meaning of Jesus’ suffering."

When well-meaning leaders, anxious to adhere to the separation of church and state, lean too far in to the “zero religious education” stance, instead of calling on academia to sift through standards and material and come up with a curriculum, we get the current situation we are in—a public at large more susceptible to bad theology at best and fundamentalism, fanaticism, and conspiracism at worst. Pastor Andrew makes the plea for cold, objective, religious eduction now.

Pastor Andrew is back from vacation with a report on the phenomenon that is called "Christian Radio" but under a thin veneer it is actually "Christo Fascist Radio." On a surface it is saccharine sweet but it only hides and masks sinister dangerous American pseudo-christianity.

Recognition of the deep human history and prehistory can have a profound influence on our spirituality and religion. Humans like us (with same capacities of thinking and feeling have been on our planet for roughly 200,000 years. History starts with writing in Summer and Egypt just about 6,000 years ago. Christianity is only 2,000 years old and Judaism in its biblical format perhaps half a millennium older. Some of this meditation (and more to come) was inspired by a book "The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity" by David Graeber and David Wengrow

Pastor Andrew returns again to the topic of the state of Louisiana making it a law to have the 10 Commandments on display in all schools. He posits "Tell me which 10 Commandments you read and I'll tell you who you are." By censoring the very first commandment, they are showing exactly what kind of Christians they are, namely ones interesting in enslavement rather than setting their people free.

A moment in France's olympic opening ceremony was deemed blasphemous and mocking of Jesus and the Christian religion. The outcry was so loud and vast that the Olympic officials had to give press conferences about it, and eventually removed the clip from view online. The fervor has finally died down. Now we need Pastor Andrew to weigh in on this most potent form of "Religio-insanity." He says, "we are being shackled back into slavery under the pretension of “blasphemy.” That itself is blasphemous…using God to promote your inferior motives—political, religious—using religion not to liberate, but to control and to enslave. Jesus would be horrified.

Birds in the New Testament - and some less known mythical antecedents of well known Jesus' logia (sayings and parables)

Public displays of the 10 Commandments are back!!!!!! And Pastor Andrew is more angry about it than ever. On this episode, he discusses how this phenomenon is offensive on many different levels, not just with fundamentalists pushing their religion on others, but also theologically frustrating being that there isn't just one set of 10 Commandments, not even in the Hebrew bible itself!

An offhanded remark about the salvation of birds prompts Pastor Andrew to come to this episode with some examples, from the Bible and ancient texts, of the wisdom, cunning, and dare we say, faith of our winged friends, which leads to a larger discussion of what has led humans to feel a superiority to animals, and the Christian implication in this.

Biblical scholarship is slowly replacing the discipline of Biblical theology. More and more biblical scholars find themselves outside of the straitjacket of church dogmas and practice. Their lack of dogma yields a richer and robust understanding of the deep roots of religious history and thought.

Pastor Andrew is back LIVE with host Peter Rinaldi for the 2nd edition of ASK THE PASTOR ANYTHING (about the Bible of Ancient Times). Favorite theologians, Do pets go to heaven, Christianity in the days of Slavery, miracles as myth, and much much more! This event was recording live at Rutgers Presbyterian Church on Tuesday March 5th.

On this episode, Pastor Andrew describes, and begins to process, a spiritual crisis, or a personal spiritual realignment, that has to do with the Old Testament.

A headline reading “Breakthrough in Biblical Archeology: Israeli researchers developed a groundbreaking method using the earths magnetic field to verify events in the old testament” prompts Pastor Andrew to do a deep dive into the oxymoron of Biblical Archeology, highlighting two figures, Yigael Yadin and William Foxwell Albright, who played key roles in this phenomenon, and why it has always been about much more than just “proving” the Bible.

Deeply problematic, ugly, satanic texts about biblical jihad (passages from the Hebrew bible that no serious theologian would ever cite without significant, careful assessment of the context), are suddenly surfacing among the ranks of Israeli politics to seemingly justify what appears to be a war campaign hell bent on elimination. On this episode, Pastor Andrew reads his letter to his representatives alerting them to this danger, breaks down these (and other) passages, their origins, why they are problematic, and how their prima facie invocation is a perilous brand of Religio-INsanity.

On this final episode of 2023, Pastor Andrew posits that, the longer a two-state solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict seems more and more unattainable, the more Martin Buber's vision for a single state of two nations will be the only option.

As promised, Pastor Andrew breaks down the various geographic terms of the areas surrounding and including what we nowadays refer to as Israel and Palestine, explaining how these terms were formed, what is contested, and why it matters.

A hot button topic sometimes needs to be discussed in order to bring some sanity to it, especially if it's related to religion. Pastor Andrew carefully lays out the differences between Ant-Judaism, Antisemitism, and Anti-Zionism, and goes on the record, unequivocally, regarding where he stands.

The worst conflict between Israel and Palestine in recent memory sparks a hypothetical question for Pastor Andrew: If there were a button that would erase all the organized religions from the planet, would you press it? His answer leads into a discussion about the broader reaches of fundamentalism, which certainly does not leave Christianity unimplicated.

Pastor Andrew brings us back to the ritual that points to the origins of the word "scapegoat," throw in a mysterious possible deity named Azazel, and you have the polytheistic roots of the Yom Kippur tradition for the Jewish people! A short video about the same subject: https://youtu.be/fVWz08cvXFI

On this second episode about Hawaii, as promised, Pastor Andrew digs into the myth of Pele (Goddess of Volcanos)and her significance to the Hawaiian people even now. But first, he talks about the devastating wild fires that have terrorized the island of Maui.

After mentioning it in many episodes, finally Pastor Andrew takes us deep into one of his favorite topics: Hawaii. This epic episode dips into many aspects of our 50th state, including its history, its religion, the Polynesian people in general, the surprisingly good results of the American occupation, the surprising lack of sandy beaches, and much much more.

Last week The Supreme Court ruled in favor of "303 Creative LLC," making it acceptable for a business to withhold service from Gay people. Pastor Andrew talks about this frustrating decision, and the myriad ways in which it makes no sense.

The decision reached at the latest Southern Baptist Convention to exclude churches with women clergy is the springboard for a larger conversation with Pastor Andrew about women in the church, Christian misogyny, female deities, and much more. A short video about 1 Corinthians 14 about women to be silent during worship: https://youtu.be/vFfoJYaG8Zw And an exegetical sermon on Luke 8:1-3 - https://youtu.be/AB7UjfFcJvU

Pastor Andrew answers the questions that weren't asked (due to time)in the 100th LIVE episode, such as "Did ancient people really believe an immortal God could get drunk?," "Does someone have to believe in the Trinity to be considered Christian?" and much more!

In celebration of the 100th episode, Pastor Andrew invites the public to ASK HIM ANYTHING about the bible or ancient times! Co-host Peter Rinaldi moderates questions from the live audience, those in the YouTube chat, and anonymous questions sent in from the public! It's a fun, informative and even inspirational evening!

Baffled by the recent book bans, anti-LGBT legislation, and general fascist behavior from "Florida Man" Ron DeSantis, Pastor Andrew discusses the origins of a mindset that would think of this as acceptable, and religion's part in this insanity.

On the jewish holiday of Shavuot, Pastor Andrew takes us back to the ancient city of Ugarit to discuss KTU141, which is one of the tablets describing rituals for a holiday that could be considered to be the Ugarit equivalent of the Jewish holiday of Shukkot, and he talks about how, for every Hebrew holiday, you can find a Ugarit equivalent from which it was “transferred.”

News that Putin was ordering the handover of Russia’s most famous icon and work of art, Andrei Rublev’s 15th-century "Trinity," from the State Tretyakov Gallery to the Russian Orthodox Church, reminds Pastor Andrew of Andrei Tarkovsky's film "Andrei Rublev," which, he posits, might be a fascinating portal for the west to look into the dark soul of Russia.

Peter's traffic ticket leads Pastor Andrew into a discussion on government overreach, particularly in regard to abortion, and the hypocrisy of conservative cries for less government involvement, except of course when it comes to issues they want the government to reach into. Episode 83: We Refuse, We Resist: https://soundcloud.com/user-268177934-789175382/episode-82-we-refuse-we-resist?si=67529d72315c402a861717b23bd74870&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Consumerism in everything. "If they pay, give them (tell them) what they want to hear." This corrupted our public discourse and fostered bigotry in churches and bigotry and the big lie in politics. The latest news about the corrupt Fox News giving their audience lies (which they wanted) rather than truth. This scenario closely resembles what has been happening in many (mostly evangelical and conservative) churches for decades. Fundamentalist churches, with a significant cross-over in Fox's audience might actually be what laid the groundwork for the incessant need for avoiding the truth.

The incredible musical presentation of Theodore Dubois' "The Last Seven Words of Christ" from music director Gabriel Evans and Rutger's Choir and Chamber Ensemble sparks a conversation of what, if anything, Jesus did say on the cross, and how various versions depicted in different Gospels should be taken separately, rather than all together, which lessens the impact and intentions of each. Watch "Seven last Words of Christ" https://youtu.be/sPZnzjBYYlg

On this episode, Pastor Andrew returns us to Ugarit, this time to talk about the strange form of divination called teratomancy, which is the procedure of deriving insights into the future from the malformations of newborns. And shows how that documentation of these issues actually shows health in a society.

On this episode, Pastor Andrew poses the question "what kind of religion needs advertisements?" He discusses the 7 million dollar "He Gets Us" Jesus ad, and why we should be careful and questioning, not just with a message, but with who the messenger is.

Pastor Andrew reads selections from a sermon written by artificial intelligence which leads to a discussion about these exciting and possibly concerning advancements in technology, its crossroads with religion, and the ways people react to it.

Pastor Andrew brings us back again to the ancient city of Ugarit, this time to talk about a short cuneiform passage that briefly details (what most scholars think is) a solar eclipse. This leads into a discussion about viewing eclipses (including the Pastor's 2017 trip to Kentucky to see a solar eclipse), and the intersection of religion and astronomy, particular in Hawaii where the two have been butting heads of late.

A hike near Stony Point New York brings Pastor Andrew face to face (both literally and figuratively) with the current state of mental health care in America when he comes across the dilapidated remains of the Letchworth Village Sanatorium. He takes the opportunity to compare mental health facilities in his homeland, and to offer up ways to begin to deal with this crisis in humane and productive ways. Here is a blog which I wrote eight years ago. http://blog-andrew.stehlik.org/2014/12/psychiatrists-kid.html

Pastor Andrew promised us a story about God El, head of Pantheon, getting drunk; and he delivered. As we dives into this Ugarit myth, we learn about ancient people's relationship to alcohol (particularly wine, and its road from experimentation to temperance) and other mind altering substances.

Freshly recovered from his first bought with Covid-19, Pastor Andrew shares his experience with it, how he fared, how he passed the time, why he wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy, and speculation on why people would deny themselves the vaccine for religious reasons. Plus much more! https://www.gresham.ac.uk/ https://www.youtube.com/c/GreshamCollege https://www.thegreatcourses.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_D._Ehrman

Pastor Andrew offers up his thoughts on Francesca Stavrakopoulou's book "God: An Anatomy." Spoiler alert: he really likes it! He offers an appreciation of the maturity of the worldview, grasp of the biblical world, and understanding that the ancients were reflecting on their own humanity through the reflection of their deities. Plus much more!

Pastor Andrew returns to the Ugarit story of the twin gods Shahar and Shalim, this time to focus on another aspect of that ancient text--the circumcision of God El. He talks about the origins of circumcision as a form of marriage ritual, and how this leads right into the Hebrew tradition. Here is a YouTube sermon about Zipporah - Tsiporah Check out the previous episode about Shahar and Shalim--https://soundcloud.com/user-268177934-789175382/the-feast-of-the-goodly-gods

Pastor Andrew brings us back to the ancient city of Ugarit, this time to talk about interesting lists of Gods (KTU 1.47; 1.118 and RS 20.24). Deities numbering over 30, including...a guitar?!

We waited a month before sitting down to talk about the Supreme Court decision that the constitution does not confer a right to abortion. But now that some time has passed, Pastor Andrew expresses his feelings about this decision--morally, theologically, logically--and the steps Rutgers Church has taken to help out with this tragedy. Here's the statement released by Rutgers Church the week of the decision: Clergy of the Rutgers Presbyterian Church are without reservation PRO CHOICE! The supreme court's ruling which overturned half a century of reproductive autonomy (so called Roe v. Wade) will negatively affect the lives of millions of women and girls especially those in marginalized communities. We adamantly reject any notion that laws, courts, and judges should have power over the bodily autonomy of women. It is no one's right to limit and control a woman's personal and medical reproductive decisions. As people of faith, we must refuse and actively resist any attempts to use religion as a pretext for undermining and destroying fundamental human rights!

Pastor Andrew sheds light on a Ugaritic Day of Atonement that pre-dates the Hebrew bible by hundreds of years, which leads to a conversation and an idea for adding such a day to our calendar as Christians.