I once was a fundamentalist, with a puritan-like streak; one of the major influences which got me out of it were the Inklings, especially C.S. Lewis, and the value they gave to myth: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/my-journey-from-fundamentalism-to-comparative-theology/

Religious traditions, like Christianity, tend to have authorities which the faithful are expected to  listen to and  obey, however, those authorities have limited and not absolute authority (Christians are expected to follow their conscience). When those with authority demand total, absolute obedience, that tends to be the mark of someone engaging abuse, be it physical, spiritual, or psychological:  https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/navigating-the-tension-between-freedom-and-obedience/

In Mississippi, there is a bill which will imprison every captured “illegal immigrant” for life. This will free the state to use them as a slave labor force. Christians must not stand and do nothing; they must fight against this evil: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/mississippis-bill-a-step-towards-modern-day-slavery/

We must destroy all the idols in our heart, all the ideologies which come out of hate, all the biases and prejudices which have us deny others their basic human dignity, as those idols get in the way of our relationship with God: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/idols-in-our-heart-jan-26/

Egotistical pride is a very insidious disease, leading people to do all kinds of evil, but the solution to it is not self-hatred: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/the-dangers-of-pride-and-self-hatred/ 

The spirit of Sodom and Gomorrah is that of a selfish exploitation of the world by those who think they have a right to treat everyone and everything as a plaything of their own because they believe themselves to be great: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/from-sodom-and-gomorrah-to-today-the-struggle-for-justice/

So many Christians have given in to Trump and Trump’s desires, they  have given in to the darkness instead of stand for the light, for the spirit of anti-Christ instead of the way of Christ: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/my-country-tis-a-thee/

Sts Macarius the Great and Macarius of Alexandria both demonstrated the kindness and compassion all Christians should engage:  https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/the-christian-way-kindness-compassion-and-community/

For the feast of St. Antony the Great, my patron saint, I felt the need to reflect upon a couple of the saying attributed to him: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/wisdom-from-abba-antony-for-his-feast-day/

The world around me seems to be going mad, and it often seems many of my fellow Christians are the ones making the madness worse with their support of extreme ideologies and those who promote them like Trump, Putin and Musk:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/the-madness-of-our-times/

St. Antony the Great’s theological anthropology, following the anthropology of his age, can be used to show us the errors of racism and sexism:  https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/how-can-we-address-racism-and-sexism-through-spirituality/

Christianity teaches us that to know ourselves fully, to know who we are as a person, we are to do that in and through our relationship with Christ: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/finding-our-purpose-self-discovery-through-christ/

Seeking holiness through individualized purity leads to pride and malice; holiness requires us to be communal, because it requires love: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/embracing-imperfection-a-path-to-true-purity/

With the new Jubilee Year begun right before Christmas, I’ve been thinking about the way the Jubilee in Scripture promoted the good of the  poor and the oppressed as well as my own journey to Italy during the Great Jubilee of 2000: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/thinking-about-the-jubilee-year/

Jesus’s Baptism is called the Theophany, because it is seen as one of the primary revelations of the Trinity in Scripture because at it, each of the persons of the Trinity make an appearance (or a kind of appearance): https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/jesus-baptism-unveils-the-mystery-of-the-trinity/

St. John the Baptist spoke for God, presenting to the world the God-man, making him not only to be a prophet, but the last of the pre-Christian prophets: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/john-the-baptist-the-last-prophet/

The song of the Little Drummer  Boy has been my favorite song of the Christmas time since my youth, but it is only as an adult that I found new ways to understand and interpret the song, confirming its value to my own spiritual path: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/the-little-drummer-boy-a-symbol-of-love-and-acceptance/

God did not create us as embodied creatures, creatures with spiritual and material qualities, in order to have us seek to abandon our material bodies as if they are a prison to our souls: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2025/01/gods-commitment-to-the-material-universe/

Christians should know that government is meant to serve the needs of  the people, to promote the common good, which is why it must not be treated as a profit-making business: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2024/12/government-is-not-a-business/

Christians should know that government is meant to serve the needs of  the people, to promote the common good, which is why it must not be treated as a profit-making business: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2024/12/government-is-not-a-business/

Invitation to participate in a study: Attitudes toward Masturbation

(posted with moderator permission; thank you!)

Hi all, my name is David de Jong, I'm a professor at Western Carolina University. These days, my research focus is solo masturbation, and I’m inviting folks to participate in a brief study. I ran a similar study on a similar topic in February/March 2024. But this is a different study, and it is fine to have participated in both. When this particular set of studies is all wrapped up and published, I’ll return to post an update for y’all. In the meantime, here's the invite:

Researchers at Western Carolina University are inviting people to participate in a 10 minute study.

The goal is to better understand attitudes towards masturbation. You will be asked personal questions about masturbation and sexuality in general.

To participate, you must be 18 or older. You are welcome to participate regardless of whether you have ever masturbated.

We ran a similar study on the same topic in February/March 2024. This is a different study, and it is fine to have participated in both.

Your responses are completely anonymous. No identifying information is collected.

If you are interested in participating, please follow this link:

[link removed due to recruitment cap met for this location]

Thank you!

Edit:

I’ve been asked a few times to clarify why I’m posting this to subs with religious orientations. Because the study is about assessing attitudes towards masturbation, it is important that the sample includes people reflecting a wide range in those attitudes.

And that includes folks who are religious, because we know that religiosity interacts with sexuality in interesting and important ways, particularly around things like masturbation.

For those of you who check out the survey, you’ll see quite a few questions that ask about religious beliefs and related issues.

Happy to answer any more questions!

David de Jong

Paul’s zeal led him to do wrong, but also, when he saw the wrong he did, helped him change his ways, while Herod used religion as a tool for his own ambition: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2024/12/the-difference-between-paul-and-herod-zeal-vs-ambition/

It was only after I became Catholic was I able to reconsider many of the naïve biases I held as a Protestant and come to understand and accept what science taught us, such as the fact of evolution:  https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2024/12/embracing-evolution-a-catholic-perspective-on-creation/

Christ is born! How can we glorify him if he are willing to neglect him as he is found in the poor, the migrant, and the outcast? https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2024/12/from-manger-to-mission-living-christs-love/

Christians have often been presented a depiction of Mary which undermines her greatness, a depiction made in order to justify the subjugation of women; we must resist that depiction and turn to the greater tradition, and recover the way Mary is understood in it, so we can likewise promote women and their proper role in Christianity and world history: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2024/12/marys-empowering-legacy-authority-and-holiness-unveiled/

God, by becoming human, joined the large, extended family of humanity through Mary: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2024/12/the-extended-family-humanitys-shared-journey/

We all have our own unique gifts and talents. It is important we find out how we can put them to good use, not just for ourselves, but for others: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/henrykarlson/2024/12/spiritual-growth-through-love-and-service-to-others/