--- Buddhism in Denver ---

It's not surprising, given the Asian populations in Denver, that there are many, and a great diversity, of Buddhist churches. I believe I've found all the denominations I know about within the Denver area.

Most of my Christian friends have been adamant that Christians should avoid nonChristian religions. Yoga was verboten since it smacked of Hindu. But, then, that doesn't go very far in explaining why Paul quoted nonChristian philosophers in his letters (I Cor. 15:33 and Titus 1:12) and in Acts 17:28.

I find three Christian Buddhist churches in the Denver area (http://www.mayusanctuary.com/index.cfm/id/26/Denver-Centers): Contemplative Outreach of Colorado, Loretto Spirituality Center, and Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church. Looking at the Loretto site, it might be more accurate to call their form of Christianity "contemplative Christianity" and leave the "Buddhist" tag off. I find the Buddhist message, to live a non-grasping lifestyle, to be a needed anodyne for modern Christianity.

I set off early March to check out the small Buddhist temple just off Estes Street. The people I met spoke only a little English and with difficulty but they were friendly. I did gather that there was a monastic community in the Denver area.

                                              [Buddhist Association of Colorado 030817]

On 7/20/18, I hiked over to the Ross-University Hills Branch of the Denver Public Library where they were having a program on Buddhism. The program was put on by a local organization called Active Minds and I applaud the library and Active Minds for presenting informative, educational presentations to the community.

The presentation was quite introductory, but enjoyable for me in that the presenter had traveled in areas of the world where Buddhism is a majority religion, and he shared personal anecdotes. He also included contemporary issues, such as the awkward interactions between various forms of Buddhism, the Chinese government, and Muslim communities. I had not heard that the Dali Lama has decided that he may not reincarnate this time. That may not mean much to Christian and secular populations in the West but it could be earthshaking for adherents of Tibetan Buddhism - which could turn into something that is simply earthshaking.

Ripples of causation - that's karma and we have to deal with it regardless of what our religion is.

The Domo Japanese Restaurant is a mixed adventure. I ate there on my hike from Auraria West Station to 10th Street and Osage Station.  The raman dish was large and full of many interesting thinks. I'm sure I saw dicon radish and chicken but I'm not sure what the rest were. As for the three sides, I didn't ask questions and thoroughly enjoyed my lunch. Afterward, I wandered through the garden. There were several shrines there. I saw several offerings placed before the statues of Buddha, so they can certainly be seen as places of worship.

Perhaps the outreach ministries they support for refuges from Myamar should be considered acts of worship, also. Collection boxes for the Akido Humanitarian Active Network were located in close proximity to the shrines.

You may be interested in checking out the Domo's websites.

http://domorestaurant.com

There are several Buddhist cultural centers in Denver, in addition to the Domo Restaurant. See my blog: A Trip to Asia for my account of a visit to Little Saigon.

Also see the blog: Terminus: Union Station for a description of Sakura Square.

Are any of your neighbors Buddhist? If so, they don't proselytize but most of the Buddhists I have known have been happy to talk about it. Perhaps there is even some public Buddhist art in your area or a lecture you can attend. Other religions are part of your world and, since they certainly affect you, often without you even knowing, it's a good thing to be interested.

--- The Dead Sea Scrolls ---

Coyote and I visited the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. We chose a weekday afternoon so the museum was not packed. Fragments were located under glass in a circular counter. These pieces of paper and parchment are over 2000 years old so special measures have to be taken to keep them from just falling apart. No camera flashes, for instance.

Most of the volume of the exhibit was context - the history and geography of the region. The jars that the scrolls were found in were also amply represented.

The artifacts were presented in their Biblical context, which surprised me. I keep saying that Denver is a secular city and I keep seeing and hearing things that contradict me. Of course, it is secular in comparison to where I came from - the Bible Belt - but religion is quite alive and well in Denver.

For a time, the Dead Sea Scrolls were thought by academicians to have been completed after the first century because of the startlingly accurate depictions of the life and crucifixion of Christ in the book of Isaiah, which was there in it's entirety (with several copies). But when the finds were dated as coming from the intertestamental period, that sorta threw a monkey wrench into the current theories.

If you want to see some highlights, check this site - Overview and Sneak Peek.

http://www.dmns.org/dead-sea-scrolls/overview

Look quickly because this is a traveling exhibit.

If you have a local museum, it likely hosts traveling exhibits. Check one out. Traveling exhibits are there and gone but they usually have special appeal and draw large crowds, so you might want to attend on a weekday if you can.

--- Local religious studies ---

                                                           Iliff School of Theology

There are many religious schools in Denver at every level. I chose two to visit. Iliff School of Theological is convenient, being right down the street from me. It's also large, in size and reputation. The Denver Seminary is also convenient since the next leg of my light rail hikes takes me near.

The Iliff School of Theology is a beautiful campus with the Front Range as a backdrop. It is surrounded by Denver University, which would give the mistaken idea that it is part of the university, but it is its own entity. It has an interesting history. It was founded in 1892 and is one of thirteen United Methodist Church seminaries in the United States as is obvious by the flame-and-cross symbol displayed prominently on the tower out front, but it has broadened it's interests to several other denominations and even has a Buddhist department.

Like many of the religious schools in the area, a current focus - it seems the major focus - is social justice. They are doing a lot of work toward improving quality of life globally. The Iliff Stories section of their website (https://www.iliff.edu/iliff-stories) makes interesting reading.

It's the end of the quarter, so things are going to be slowing down now, but they invited me to come to some of their events and I might take them up on it soon.

                                                   Evans Chapel at Denver University

Denver University has an extensive program for its students' spiritual life. I've picked up several brochures outlining several resources that I'll be checking out over the next few years. There is a folder listing many places of worship in the Denver area. It emphasizes the great diversity of the region. Some of the resources listed are for many Christian denominations and Sihk, Baha'i, Taoism, Zoroastrianism...this could keep me busy for awhile. I also noticed that the Iliff School of Theology has a labyrinth. I'll be visiting that sometime.

                                                          Denver Seminary photos

The Littleton to Oxford Station hike gave me the opportunity to double up on my projects. The Denver Seminary is just a little south of Littleton Station, so I made a slight detour to check them out.

I spoke to some folks in the administration building. They were friendly and we had a nice conversation. No one was aware of the current research trends but referred me to a faculty member who referred me back to the Seminary webpage.

https://denverseminary.edu

There is a lot of publication coming from Denver Seminary but the range of topics is broad. I think I sense a trend in apologetics, exploration of the relevance of Christianity in the modern world, and mission work.

They gave me an informative folder about their programs. It looks like Denver Seminary would be a fun place for a person interested in Christian theology to study. There were several groups out in the commons talking and individuals reading.

Are there any institutions of religious study near you? I find them interesting places to visit, especially if you come from a different tradition. The principle of 80% listening and 20% talking generally serves me well in such situations. I never argue my own perspective. I'm a learner.

--- Pagan Christianity ---

"Pagan Christianity"

That phrase always confused me. Pagan is supposed to be the opposite of Christianity, but, of course, I had to look.

There was evidently a time when "pagan" meant "rural" or "close to the soil". The impression I get is that "pagan" was the Roman equivalent of "redneck".

I am a very orthodox Christian, in the sense that I can, in all good conscience, read the Apostle's Creed in a crowd. But since an early age, I've had what I describe as shamanic experiences. Modern Christians seem to have a problem with the concept of "Christian shaman" but if you study the life experiences of shamans across the world and compare them with the life experiences of Old Testament prophets and Christian mystics, you see that there is very little difference. Take a shaman, change "spirit guide" to "Holy Spirit" and - boom! you have a mystic.

A big difference between modern Christianity and early Christianity is that the mystic element has been deleted. The church still uses the language, but if a person mentions that they had been attacked by a demon, things would get suddenly frosty. An early Christian wouldn't have bat an eye at that. Demons exist as a topic of discussion in a Bible class, but not out in the real world where things are....well, real.

And nature isn't a cooperative mind as it seemed to be to early Christians. Flowery language in the Psalms about nature worshipping God can be ignored as "poetic imagery" (although some of the "imagery" makes absolutely no sense as "poetic imagery.") but when someone like Paul states that nature looks forward with us to the return of Christ, I have a hard time accepting that he's being poetically flowery. His usual allegories concerned soldiers and sports.

Frank Viola Author and George Barna coauthored a book called "Pagan Christianity" that explored the prechristian and folk roots of many modern Christian practises and traditions. It's a good read and seems a little edgy about all that. I don't have a problem with it except maybe the parts that drive people from the church - the parts that smack, in modern times, of elitism.

Maybe I'm a pagan Christian.

--- My apologies ---

The need to know is inherent in the human mind. Not "want" - "need". It's a security issue. If there is a question, then there must be an answer and, if that answer isn't forthcoming, then a human will make a best guess and call that the answer. It's at the basis of many of the mental biases that people that study the mind know exists, but most people never even suspect. It's at the basis of most of the isms. We need to know that what we are doing is reasonable. Racism, nationalism, Marxism, Republicanism - we believe what we believe because our group has all the answers and, if it doesn't, then the world becomes a scary place where things can't be firmly established.

Central to a person's worldview is their religion, or lack thereof. Is there a God, or something else out there that we can rely on? What happens to us when we die? Does the world go on forever or is there an end out there somewhere? These are important questions and most of us need to know that we can be confident in the answers we possess.

Can't blame people - the world is a scary place.

But when personal answers won't do - when subjectivity has the reputation of less-than-certainty, for questions this important, we need certain answers, and that means answers informed by objective study.

Most people who study questions like, "Is there a God?" realize that, inconveniently, there is no way to objectively test it. There are subjective answers but God is an individual and not a trained animal that can be called on to do tests. And were a being called God of a mind to do so, there are always ways to explain the test results away.

But, if you take away a person's religious beliefs, the fear is (and it's a real existential fear at the core of a person's being) that the security answers they have about the universe, the validity of their moral decisions, about death, about all of life and relations with others, will simply crumble to dust.

Can't blame people - it's a reasonable fear.

The answer is apologetics. It's an answer that is usually encountered in religious studies and conversations, but it's just as prevalent in secular sciences. I once overheard a group of research scientists. One of them said (almost verbatim - as much as my memory will allow), "We must defend the theory of evolution at all costs."

I believe that what happened to lead to the biological diversity we see in the world today  involved evolution. I believe that, not only because science says so but, also, the Bible tells me so. Phrases used in Genesis sounds surprisingly like evolution. It doesn't say, "let there be animals", it says, "let the earth and the oceans bring forth animals."

But I, for one, don't know. Mainly because I can come up with alternative mechanisms that would lead to the same state of the world today, and, primarily because - I wasn't there to see it.

How quickly "science" forgets that science is based on first hand observation. The further one gets from that first hand experience - historical evolutionary biology, scientific history, quantum physics - the further one gets from science and the nearer one gets to philosophy.

Can't blame people - they need to know.

But there's apologetics.

Science takes observations of the real world and carves out explanations that fit those observations, and science is always ready to let go of the most cherished beliefs if there is a hint that the theories don't fit observed reality.

Apologetics takes what one believes and forces observed reality to conform to it. You can  support any system of beliefs - simply pick and choose your evidence. There are people today, and they're not stupid people, who believe that the world is flat, and their beliefs form a rational and consistent theory of the world. It's easy enough to say that the work that has been done in space is a conspiracy to hoodwink people. You can explain a curved horizon as atmospheric optics.

I am often embarrassed at the tact the church (frankly, all the churches, religions, isms) takes to "prove" that the Bible is inerrant, that God exists, that we have a hope in an afterlife that is - pleasant. They try way too hard. Does anyone outside our circle pay much attention to these arguments. A few, yes. But dig deeper and the telling point is not the arguments (For instance, C. S. Lewis is a major example of an atheist dragged "kicking and screaming" into Christianity. For a detailed account, read his "Surprised by Joy"), but the experience - the personal subjective experience of something that "science" can't quite get at.

Science has it's power. It's a great thing, but at it's best it humbly recognizes it's limits and allows the stage to philosophy, art, literature, history...

Science is objective, but it relies on subjective experiences - observations - to get it  going.

I observe my world and then I test my observations, as far as they can be tested, and from there my worldview springs.

I have a belief. I believe that my subjective experiences give me real grasp on the world, and that's good enough.

How much of your worldview is based on subjective experience and how much on the objective testing of those experiences?

There's a movie starring Tom Cruise called "Eyes Wide Shut." How far can a person move through life and not observe the world around them?

As you explore your world (as I hope you are doing - that's the heart of this blog) and your understanding grows, how much of it would you be willing to let go of if you were to find that it did not adequately explain your experiences?

--- Some developments ---

Religion and politics

It's like shopping - if you see it and want it, you'd better get it then, because there's a good chance it won't be there the next time. Of course, that's not really the way it is but it happens often enough, and would be expected to by pure chance, and is irritating enough that it just makes a lot more noise.

I was looking forward to checking out the Fellowship of Anglo-Saxon Heathenry and now it seems to have disappeared and that seemed to be the only accessible Norse based religion in the Denver area. I'm pretty sure that there are other individual adherents of Asatru, but I've been acquainted with those before - the organized group was provocative - I wanted to know.

I've known three Asatru (everyone I've known associated with Asatru called individual adherents "Asatru", but I don't know if that is formally correct or not) and found them to be personable, if a little gruff. They don't proselytize but are not particularly secretive about their religion. There are many good webpages about the religion so, if you're interested, the information is easily available.

On other fronts, I'm volunteering for a door-to-door canvas for a state political campaign, so I should have some adventures to post on that between now and July.

I've also started exploring the rails around Denver. Transportation is social. It's how we establish face-to-face contact and, in Denver, the rails are at least spatially central. The light rail system connects all parts of the Denver Metro area with a web that ties together bus lines, streets, waterways... For instance, the north-south line from Mineral into downtown Denver parallels both Santa Fe/CanAm highway, the South Platte River, and the Platte River Trail, three of the main arteries for traffic, water distribution, and foot/bicycle traffic in Denver.

My modus operandi is to start at Mineral Station, the southernmost point on the light rail and hike from one station to the next, one link at a time, and then take each rail line clockwise, exploring what goes on around each link.

Mineral Station has been my way station to Waterton Canyon. Today, I walked from there north, instead of south. Now, I've walked all of the Platte River Trail from Mineral Trail to Bear Creek Trail. I'll detail that trip in the next blog.

So, do you know any Asatru or are you an adherent - and what can you tell me?

Have you ever done anything that required you to knock on doors? Did you enjoy it or hate it, and what did you learn about human nature?

Are you going to be active in the upcoming political goings-on? I've heard that our last presidential election saw the smallest turnout of voters in the history of the United States, and a lot of people I know were quite unsatisfied with the results. Do you know how your political machine works? There are many windows into the guts of the machine - you might want to take a peek.

Do you have a light rail or bus system near you? To quote Dr. Suess, "Oh the places you'll go!"

--- Churches on Bear Creek Trail ---

I grew up in the southeastern United States, the area known as the Bible Belt. There was no problem finding a church and, furthermore, if you had a definitive preference as to which denomination of Christianity you wanted to take part in, that church was there. In Selma, I was  a member (and still am) of the First Baptist Church at Lauderdale and Dallas (there were two First Baptist Churches - the other one was the first First Baptist Church in historical succession). On either side was an Episcopal and a Presbyterian church. Across the street was a Methodist church. Within a couple of blocks was a Catholic church.

The church was the center of community life. Local establishments closed on the weekend in reverence of the Lord's Day (Sunday). When evaluating the situation of people who were trying to find resources, my first two questions were, "Do you have family locally?" and "Are you a member of a church?" If both answers were "no," I knew that my job was going to be difficult.

There were nonChristians in the community and they were not outcasts (as they might have been 30 years earlier in my childhood). And WalMart and restaurants around town were open on Sunday. (People had to have a place to socialize after church!) But, generally, Sunday was for worship.

That was where I was throughout most of my life, except that I kept returning to Denver....somehow.

The first time, I visited a friend who was attending the gunsmith school on Colfax. The second time, I passed through Denver on the way back from a construction ministry trip to Great Falls, Montana. The third time, I traveled to Denver to be interviewed for a film on the Beast of Gevaudan. Then, I visited my Were family in Broomfield. It seemed natural that I would end up living in Denver.

In my earlier visits I noticed the general paucity of churches in the Denver area. In fact, I did not see a single church the first three visits to Denver. You could not go to Griffin, LaGrange, Valley, Auburn, or Selma without seeing churches. I also saw that Denver didn't close down on weekends.

After I moved to Denver, I began seeing the churches. They were not as salient a landmark on the countryside as in the southeast, but there were quite a few. Still, I missed the slowing of life on the weekends which provided a mark in the passage of time that I was very used to. And, of course, the church was no longer the center of the community. There was a very good chance that a randomly selected individual from the street was not, in fact, a Christian.

A problem I've met with in finding a local church home is that most of the churches in my area seem to be creedal. One of the tenants of the Baptist denomination is that the individual is responsible for what they will believe and that is between them and their God. It's called "the priesthood of the believer." In a creedal church, the congregation will occasionally stand up and recite their creed. ("Credo" means "I believe" and it is where we get words like "incredible" and "incredulous".) I cannot recite creeds I do not hold and I have always had interdenominational ministries which played down creeds. I am sola scriptura, so I could not hold a traditionalist creed, and I would have to tear the third chapter of John out of my Bible were I to accept a Calvinist creed. Most of the churches in my area seem to be either traditional or Calvinist. So I am still a member of a church in Selma, Alabama.

There are many churches along Bear Creek Trail (or, at least, close enough to drop off the trail to attend a service if you are of the mind). Most are some flavor of Christianity, but there is at least one Buddhist church that I have visited. I'll be talking about Buddhism in Denver in a later blog - there are a few other places I want to visit.

Churches do not just inspire religious interest. As I've said in earlier blogs, they are centerpieces of communities so watching churches can give insight into the workings of a local community. Also, they are obviously works of art. The variety of architecture is fascinating and the stain glass windows and furnishings are rich in symbolism. Despite the gargoyles on the bell tower of the Baptist church I attended in Selma, it was very appropriate for it's environment - the interior decorations featured leaves and acorns of the live oaks that abounded in the area.

Here are pictures of some of the churches along Bear Creek Trail.

The Buddhist Association of Colorado

Harvey Park Christian Church

                                                               Red Rock Baptist Church

Are there many or few churches in your area?
Is there any way that they reflect the history or the atmosphere of their community?
Churches are often set aside as historical sites, such as the church that was close to where I lived in Fredericksburg, Virginia that was pocked with bullet holes from the Civil War. Are there any historic churches in your area? Are there any along your favorite trail?
Churches often display plaques memorializing particular people who have been important to their congregations in the past, but the plaques usually mean little to anyone from the outside. Try investigating one or more of these people. What kinds of people are important to church congregations?

--- Sociology of church ---

                                 The First Baptist Church of Selma at Lauderdale and Dallas

As a Christian, when I walk into a church sanctuary, I feel as though I have entered a court - not a court of law, but the court of royalty. That's not a feeling commonly met with for most modern Americans, but I think it's appropriate for a person who has the core beliefs of the Christian church.

On the other hand, I must admit that churches are social organizations and, as they are today, play prominent parts in the functioning of local communities. It's hard to grasp how most communities function (in the United States, or in the world) if the church (Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, whichever is relevant) is left out of the picture.

There was a time (the Middle Ages) when being excluded from the church (excommunication) was complete exclusion from the majority community. Outside the church, a person was a rogue. That began changing during the Renaissance and the Protestant reformation.

More recently in the United States, in my lifetime, a person was viewed with suspicion and was, at least partially excluded from community affairs if they were not a member of a local church (and, remember, I'm not talking exclusively about the Christian church when I say "church".) Churches provided connection and support structures in the community.

One downside to that in the South was that, if you were not born into a church community, you never fully belonged. You might have friends, you might even have a good life in a Southern community, but you were not ever very intimate with the community like "other people" were.

When I began my professional career in Selma, I intended to visit several churches before deciding where I would settle. My first try was the First Baptist Church at Lauderdale and Dallas (there were two First Baptist Churches in Selma). There I stuck because I found a friendly and accepting group of people there. There were also other advantages. The administrator of the facility where I worked was a member there, as were some of my colleagues, and my doctor.

I'm still a member of the first Baptist Church of Selma at Lauderdale and Dallas even though I attend a church halfway across the country. I actually visited one other church before settling on the Christ Church Episcopal Church across the street but the same qualities decided the issue. Christ Church is a friendly and accepting bunch of people (and diverse - did I mention diverse? and I'm drawn to diversity.)

On my off-time in Selma, one of my activities was helping people find resources they needed to solve serious problems in their lives. I had a standard beginning. I would ask them if they had any family in the area. If the answer was, "no," then I would ask if they were a member of a local church. If their answer to that was, "no," I knew that I had some serious work to do.

A church is an extended family. I'm reticent to call a person a "friend" just because they belong to the same church that you are a member of, but you can generally rely on fellow church members in ways you can't rely on others. They aren't necessarily friend, but they are family. And, of course, like families, some churches are dysfunctional families - so I'm not selling churches, here, as a panacea for life.

What I am doing is pointing out that churches are not just religious organizations. They are very much a part of communities, and to understand the sociology of a community, you have to figure the churches into the equation.

How would your community be different without it's churches? How would it's social structure be different?

If you feel comfortable doing so, talk to a few church goers about the place of their church in their lives. How much of what they say is religious and how much is social?

To see some of the more distressing aspects of church sociology, and I highly recommend this book to Christians particularly, you might want to look up and read "unChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity...and Why It Matters." It's written by two very Christian gentlemen: David Kinnamen and Gabe Lyons. And I will recommend to everyone Eric Berne's "The Games People Play."

--- Lectures on religion ---

There are a lot of great lectures and lecture series on religion. More than just about any subject, though, you should check out the lecturer along with the lecture. Just in a source like The Teaching Company or Academic Earth, you will run into a very wide range of orientations. For instance, in the offerings from The Teaching Company, I would consider Bart Ehrman unorthodox in his approach toward the apocrypha and pseudepigraphic texts of Christianity, but he obviously has broad expertise on the subject. Luke Timothy Johnson, on the other hand seems to have some liberal leanings but has great respect for the scriptures and I would call him orthodox. James Hall, who presents a series on the philosophy of religion for The Teaching Company makes no bones about his disbelief in a monotheistic God and the series focuses almost exclusively on arguments for and against such a being. The opencourseware from the Covenant Theological Seminary is extensive but expect a very strong Presbyterian slant.

All of this material is excellent. Just keep in mind that religious experts (and, yes, they are respected experts on their subjects) come in different flavors, and one may not be your particular flavor, but they all have things to say worth hearing.

Again, The Teaching Company products are for sale, but they tend to be worth it. Here are some of my favorites.

Introduction to the Study of Religion, presented by Charles B. Jones is a good overview of what religious studies is all about. If you want exposure to the philosophy of religion, this is a good choice.

The Life and Writings of C. S. Lewis, by Louis Markos, gives you a great amount of background information that you can use to appreciate, instead of just read, the works of C. S. Lewis.

Lost Christianities: Christian Scriptures and the Battles Over Authentication, Presented by Bart D. Ehrman. Like I said above, Bart Ehrman is one of the top names in the study of apocryphal (extra Biblical) and pseudepigraphic (spurious) Jewish and Christian writings.

Comparative Religion, presented by Charles Kimball, presents various common themes in religious thought as developed by the major world religions.

Francis of Assisi, presented by William Cook and Ronald Herzman. It's obvious that these people are passionate and consummately informed about their subject. St. Francis is right at the top of my list of favorite old dead people. If I were Catholic, my middle (consecration) name would be Francis.

Sacred Texts of the World, presented by Grant Hardy.
Introduction to Judaism, presented by Shai Cherry.
Buddhism, Presented by Malcolm David Eckel.
Islam, presented by John Esposito.
Christianity, presented by Luke Timothy Johnson.
Judaism, presented by Isaiah M. Gafni.
Hinduism, presented by Mark Muesse

If you want a tour of the five great religions of the world, I can't imagine a better introduction. These presenters are knowledgeable and engaging.

Here's another video that is well worth the purchase price.

In God's Name, directed and narrated by Gedeon Naudet and Jules Naudet, this National Geographic project explores issues of our times from the viewpoint of 12 world religious leaders. This is a fascinating film.

The opencourseware from Covenant Seminary is excellent. I haven't heard one that I didn't enjoy. The lectures are, of course, presented from a Christian perspective and the Calvinist bent of the Presbyterian church breaks through occasionally, but, for the most part, what is presented is core Christianity. Everything is there from Christian theology to the history and workings of the church. Their website is https://www.covenantseminary.edu.

I've mentioned Academic Earth before. They don't have many courses on religious topics and the ones they present tend to be on fairly narrow topics such as "Science, Medicine, and Religion" but they're great for going deeper into religious studies.

You might want to check out the Internet Archive's offerings also. For instance, Philip Harland presents a fascinating podcast on the Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean (https://archive.org/details/Religions_of_the_Ancient_Mediterranean).

--- Religious software? ---

Like philosophy, you don't really think of software when you think of religion, but there are a few programs that I use a lot when I'm studying religion.

My favorite, when doing Bible studies is the Interlinear Scripture Analyzer available on the Scripture4All website (http://www.scripture4all.org). This program collects several Bible study tools that make the original languages available to most students of the Bible including versions of the Bible that can be viewed in parallel panels, concordances, and annotation tools.

Xiphos, made available as a free, open source download, is produced by The SWORD Project and is available here (http://xiphos.org). It also offers a suite of Bible study and note taking tools. There are a variety of extension modules available, for instance, from the Crosswire and Xiphos repositories.

There is similar software for the study of the Koran. Called Al-anvar, it is available at SourceForge (https://sourceforge.net/projects/al-anvar).

--- Religion on the Internet ---

The Internet has plenty of content about religion (and religions) but there are a few sites that I can recommend as references. As of 2/18/2018, these sites are still active.

Adherents (http://www.adherents.com) primarily provides up to date statistics on religious groups, but also has resources that describe various religions, denominations, and movements.

The Big Religion Chart (http://www.religionfacts.com/big-religion-chart) provides a nice, compact comparison of most of the world religions you are ever likely to encounter. It is part of the ReligionFacts (Just the facts on religion.) website which provides many other resources including a pdf downloadable version of the Big Religion Chart.

Religion Online (http://www.religion-online.org) is an excellent digital library of (mostly Christian) resources including many ancient and modern classics.

Among these three, you should find plenty of information to get you started in your own religion studies.

If you want to find a particular sacred text, the Internet Sacred Text Archive seems to be the largest Internet repository of religious writings (http://www.sacred-texts.com). Since it has information on the Necronomicron, a fictional tome mentioned in the horror literature of H. P. Lovecraft, I'd say it's pretty complete.

--- Books I like ---

It suddenly struck me (Whack!) that putting the reference blogs at the end of a section is sorta like putting the cart before the horse. So, I'll remedy that.

If you're going to sample the variety of religions in your area, two references are a must - an extensive reference of denominations, and an extensive reference of religions.

A great reference for world religions is the Adherents website, but I'll discuss that in the next religion blog. A good "book" is the Handbook of Religious Beliefs and Practices, a manual used by the State of Washington Department of Corrections. Evidently Washington state is serious about religious freedom in their prisons and they actually consulted people who practice various religions - both major and minor. This manual has been through several revisions - the copy I have is 2012 and is available at www.doc.wa.gov/docs/publications/500-HA001.pdf

For a complete rundown of denominations (Christian and other), I haven't found a better reference than Frank Mead's Handbook of Denominations. The 13th edition is by Craig D. Atwood, Frank S. Mead, and Samuel S. Hill (2010 Abingdon Press, Nashville).

World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts by Andrew Wilson (ed.) is an interesting topical comparison of various sacred texts. It was published in 1991 by the International Religious Foundation and can be accessed here: https://www.tparents.org/Library/Unification/Books/World-S/WS-01.pdf (accessed 2/14/18).

Modern religion can be dizzying in it's diversity. If you want a field guide to new religions, I would recommend the Encyclopedia of New Religions edited by Peter B. Clarke and published by Routledge (2006).

A fascinating read is the Magico-Religious Groups and Ritualistic Activities: A Guide for First Responders by Tony M. Kail. (2008 CRC Press). The title says it all.

If you want to do an in depth study of a specific religion you might want to track down a sample of their major sacred texts and read them. But be forewarned, some religions do not have texts, they have libraries.

--- Religions in the Denver area ---

I grew up in Alabama, deep in the Bible Belt. When I was a child, the church was the center of community life. That was where you met everyone that was anyone. And inclusion in the community was inclusion in a church. As I became older, other centers formed - the country club, the office - but the church retained prominence in the Southeast. It was an important fact that I was a member of the church that the administrator of the facility where I worked attended. My immediate supervisor went to a sister church. I can't think of anyone offhand that I worked with that was not a member of some church or another.

So it was an adventure when I spent a week in Denver with a friend in the 80s and never saw a church the whole time I was there. Later, I returned for an interview in Denver and, again, never saw a church. An acquaintance was speaking at a church several miles away, but I couldn't work things out to attend. And, yet again, I visited other friends in Denver and never saw a church.

When I moved to Broomfield in 2013, I found a couple of churches close to where I lived. Both were Calvinist. While I would gladly visit a Calvinist church; I couldn't be comfortable as a member. That's a big difference between the church crowded Bible Belt and the secular Denver area.

In Selma, I was a member of a Baptist church. Next door on one side was an Episcopal church. On the other side was a Presbyterian church. Across the street was a Methodist church. If you couldn't find a church of your particular flavor, turn around and you'd be staring right at the very one for you.

In Broomfield, if you found the right one, you'd best grab it. Of course, when churches are isolated, they tend to hold on to their peculiar distinctions tightly.

Did I say that Denver is "secular"? Well, in a way it is. Being a member of a church isn't a necessary prerequisite for belonging in the community. It's an option. A person isn't looked down on for being a church goer, but outdoor activities are also a definite option, or work, or sleeping in.

On the other hand, Denver is a very religious community, or spiritual. You can easily find the organized versions, or the "metaphysical" ones.

When I moved to south Denver, I found myself in the middle of a plethora of diverse churches - no Baptist churches close by, but I'm not that picky. In fact, I was looking at a small church that made me feel quite comfortable...when we moved again. Let me see. In that neighborhood was an Independent church, a Christian Church, an Episcopal church, a Presbyterian church, Anglican, Lutheran...

Where we moved, there was an Episcopal church across the street and a Unity Fellowship a block over. Within walking distance were Dutch Reformed, Church of Christ Scientists, a biiiiig Baptist, Quaker, Russian Orthodox, Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist...oh, Unitarian Universalist, Nazarene, Jewish....I started going to the Episcopal across the street.

Every major world religion is represented in Denver and many (many!) minor ones. I've visited several Christian churches and one Buddhist and plan to visit many more. And there is a large school of theology at Denver University, just down the street, and Denver Seminary a bus ride away. Here is plenty of diversity and much adventure. Then there are the "metaphysical" shops.

My past ministries - including two gospel groups and membership in a chapter of the Christian Motorcyclists Association - has carried me into many churches and many different kinds of churches and I've always enjoyed the visits. Now I find that Denver is paradise for the student of religion.

Here are a few of the many churches in Denver.

What are your past experiences with organized religions? Were they positive or negative?
How many different religious institutions are there in your area? You can probably use Google Maps to find churches in your area. Just search on your address and then click NEARBY and,  in the Nearby bar, type "churches" or "religions". Use the zoom bar in the lower right corner to zoom in and out for more or less detail.
If you have never visited a church, here are some tips for doing so.

If your purpose is to learn - about cultures, about beliefs - then respect others beliefs, otherwise you will find the door shut in your face.

Sharing your own beliefs may be counterproductive. The people you're visiting don't have the goal of learning about you and they may even be hostile to others' ideas. Keep your own goals in mind.

A good position for observers is the back of a sanctuary, on the lower level if there's a balcony. Often, it's hard to get a full view of everything from a balcony.

Suspend disbelief. You're not seeking for truth, here. You should be a passive observer of others' beliefs.

If possible, don't take notes or record sounds (and, if you do be very open to the pastor about what you're doing and ask permission first). The congregation isn't going to be very happy about "being studied."

Absorb the experience. Don't be analytic until after you leave and then, as soon as you can, sit down somewhere and take notes. Memory isn't nearly as reliable as some folks think.

Study the situation before hand and look for information afterward to help you answer your questions. Don't just come up with your own explanation. The real facts may be quite different from the obvious "facts". Often a church will provide a visitor's guide that explains what the church does during a service. The church I attends provides a good play-by-play explanation of what a visitor will see and why they will see it.

Some practices are sacrosanct. In a Christian church, nonChristians are not welcome to take communion. Understanding what people believe and why they believe it will provide understanding about these "odd" practices. Don't take anything personally. In a small, country church, where the gospel group I was a member of was performing, we were breaking down our equipment when an elderly lady tottled up and said, "I sure enjoyed you boys' singin'. It's just too bad that you're going to hell because you're a Baptist." I just smiled and said, "Thank y', ma'am."

"Religion" doesn't just mean "church". I mentioned "metaphysical" shops above. You can often find out lesser held beliefs in such places. Religious schools and seminaries might also be productive places to visit.

Every adventure has it's own dangers. If you're a Christian, then you might believe in demonic influences and things like palm reading businesses and metaphysical shops may be dangerous for you. If you're a Buddhist, even the driving desire to get new knowledge might be seen as dangerous. If you belong to a church, you might meet some resistance from them toward you visiting other churches. If you're going to have adventures, then you are going to meet with dangerous situations. Educate yourself before each adventure and evaluate, not only the situation, but your own performance in it afterward.

--- Me and religion ---

I was born into a Christian family. You would think that explains my Christianity. Ehhhh, not so fast. In a 2009 study by The Barna Group (https://www.barna.com/research/evangelism-is-most-effective-among-kids, accessed 2/4/18), based on two nationwide telephone surveys and a nationwide online survey of 2632 adults, 992 of them self reporting as "born again Christians", only 64% became Christian before the age of 18, and of those, only half were led to Christ by their parents and one in five were evangelized by some other friend or relative. (And, since I'm a statistician, I will add that the error in this survey was a maximum of +- 2.0 percentage points at the 95% confidence level for the whole sample and +- 3.2 percentage points for the born again Christians.)

I'm a werewolf. My primary source of belief is experience. Beliefs aren't as "sticky" for me as it is for other folks. I have to have a reason to believe something - and I'm very suspicious of apologetics (more about that in a later blog.)

But, it's important that I come clean about my position in religion before I start blogging you. I will not use this blog as an evangelism tool - that's not what it's for. I will not criticize any other religion in it (unless someone beats me up for asking). My goal is to encourage you to ask questions and to get out and find the answers in the real world, and my primary target here is what schools call "religious studies". You might call it "religious philosophy". It is important.

You can't even talk about the history of any field of learning without talking about religion. For instance, Sir Isaac Newton was a devout Christian and much of his motivation for writing the Pricipia, in which he detailed his theory of mechanics including his famous "Three Laws", was motivated by his religious fervor, as is indicated in a letter he wrote to Richard Bentley and which is available on the Newton Project website (http://www.newtonproject.ox.ac.uk/view/texts/normalized/THEM00254 accessed 2/4/18). Most art before the Renaissance was motivated by religion. Most early philosophy was informed by the religious beliefs of the philosopher. The impetus of early classical music was religion. and so on.

So, yes, I am a devout Christian, a pandenominationalist because I hold to a very core system of Christianity, pretty much that expressed by the Apostles' Creed, that allows me to navigate most denominations but I am also very interested in both the philosophy of religion and the wide scope of world religions. In other words, I  have been studying the Bible and the history of the Christian religion since my early 20s, but I have also studied most of the major religions and many of the minor ones. I''ve even read some of the scriptures.

As a therianthrope, I've had shamanistic experiences since childhood which, although it doesn't seem to have subtracted from my Christian faith, I'm sure they have colored it. If anything, I recon that my experience of the Holy Spirit as a spirit guide has rather solidified my faith in Christ.

I respect other religions in that they have emphasized various facets of reality in more detail than my own. For instance, Buddhism's close evaluation of desire, though not missing in Christianity, is certainly scrutinized in much more detail. The modern fear in the church of anything different (I have heard church leaders warn their congregations to avoid yoga because it derived from Hindu beliefs,) was not a part of early Christianity. Even Paul quotes from pagan philosophers (Acts 17:28).

So I look forward to further adventures in religion in the Denver area and I hope you will join me in your own parts of the world.

--- Best laid plans and a new beginning ---

If you're keeping up with this blog, you know that the blogs have been appearing slowly lately. Well, I've been learning. There's been some rather harsh lessons, from which I might just draw from in later blogs. It's been a wild season.

In July, I learned about zoning laws and moving into a new house (see the July 14 blog, "A moving experience"), then in September I got a job and learned that you should be careful if you are retired and decide to pick up some work (according to how your benefits operate), and then I spent October getting over the pinched nerves in my back and refurbishing my benefits. Some walking tours in November taught me that I am no longer in my thirties. You can read about some of that and the after effects in December in the January 12 blog, "Notes on life and death." That pretty much took care of December 2017 and January 2018 for me - learning, indeed.

But here, on January 28, with some fatigue left after sitting around for two months, I'm almost back to normal (whatever that is) and am looking forward to a year of looking deeper into what it means to not be 32 any more (I'll have to experiment some more to really find the limits.)

What's coming up?

I was hoping to be through with this pass through psychology and philosophy (I may make it back around to them  again) by the end of the year (I was also hoping to hike Waterton Canyon, but that, too, is put off until a later date.) but I have another couple of posts, tying up loose ends, actually. Then, next year, I plan to address religion and social sciences - there's plenty of grist in this area for these mills, and I suspect you have many opportunities for adventure in your areas also.

Denver has an astounding variety of religions for a "secular" area. In fact, the recent influx of people from all parts of the country and the world has brought a new interest in spirituality and religion. Being a lifelong church-goer, I was delighted to find a friendly church that has recently found a new impetus forward right across the street from our new home. Churches that are in the process of picking up after a dry or traumatic period are often some of the most exciting and vital of churches. I'm pretty much set for an adventure in religion.

And society in Denver is in the process of flux. The opportunities here are vast and the barriers are frightening. Regular people are becoming aware of a harsh underbelly in the city (admit it, your city has one too. They all do. Believe it, we all do float down here.) and many want to do something about it. For a sociologist, times are fascinating. What's gonna happen? Stay tuned!

--- Notes on reason ---

Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than
that of blindfolded fear.

Thomas Jefferson

Mr. President had a lot of trouble from the church in the early United States. He thought that they had way too much power. They didn't think that they wanted to lose any of that power. And so it goes...

As it stands, I agree with Mr. Jefferson inasmuch as God doesn't mind people questioning him. Jesus didn't bust Thomas' chops when Thomas doubted him, and the Bible includes this very passage: "Come now, let us reason together" (Isaiah 1:18).

I am a Christian and I have experiential reasons to be. I've always held that I cannot expect people to believe things they have no reason to believe and I realize that others experiences are not the same as mine.

And what I'm saying at the bedrock level is that experience comes first, then reason, and then belief - that in all things.

A person cannot be expected to accept things they have not experienced, even if the only experience is reading something in a book and saying, "That makes sense."

But experience isn't foolproof. A person can perceive something and say, "I'm imagining that." That's why reason must come next.

Belief is firmly bound with responsibility. A person can choose to believe or disbelieve anything. The powers of human beings to believe what they want is truly awe-inspiring. But then they will have to deal with the consequences of what they have believed. There is no choice in that.