Tag Archives: Doctrine & Practice

On Sunday we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost. In John  20:19-23 we read that the disciples were gathered together, huddled in fear, hiding in an out of the way place, confused and bewildered about all that had occurred in the recent days. They were no doubt still distraught about the death of Jesus; and confused about several experiences when Jesus seemed somehow to be with them.

This is my first article for Spokane Faith & Values. Not having a specific topic to write about I thought it appropriate to give a little background information about paganism, the local pagan community and myself. Personally my experience with paganism goes back more than 15 years. During that time countless books have been read, spiritual work undertaken and completed, private and public groups have been joined and faded away.

What forms or methods of personal growth and living into your values work for you? I believe we all seek inner peace, but sometimes the only language I know to express my growth is hard for atheists to understand because of differences of understanding those words.

Were you to walk through my home, you would find that I have a lot of photographs hanging on the walls, in albums and even displayed as coffee table books from trips I have taken to far off places. These photos show both people I love and joyous times with them. Accomplishments and achievements and risks I’ve taken solely for the purpose of crossing things off my bucket list — they are all there.

John Michael isn't like the rest of us. We, meaning reporters, are sipping coffee and typing ferociously on our computers using this unreasonable hour (6 a.m.) to catch up on work we’ve been putting off.

In this edition of Ask an Atheist, a reader asks about free will, ethical grounding, suffering and the Ring of Gyges. Jim Downard responds with brief, but thoughtful, answers.