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PODCAST

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray

Sermons from the Community Christian Church of Springfield, MO. We are believers in Jesus Christ who accept all people without judgment and who desire to work and worship as a community striving for social justice.

religion & spirituality philosophy

All Episodes

18:33

Philosophy of Religion

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/07/31

Philosophy and Religion departments in universities, once considered to be the "queen" of a college campus, are now being relegated to subheadings in either History or Anthropology departments, treated more like a scourge than a source of wisdom and guidance. The failings of organized religion cannot be denied but maybe we are being a bit hasty about this transformation. There is, after all, more to life than work and mindless entertainment.

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17:46

Religion vs Spirituality

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/07/24

Many of us like to say that we are “spiritual but not religious,” but what does that mean? As church attendance of all sorts is in steep decline, what exactly are we turning away from and what, if anything at all, are we turning to? Is there a way to hold onto spirituality and still try to remain in community of some sort?

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16:38

Denial of Cultural Racism is Our Stumbling Block

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/07/17

All over Europe there are memorial stones set in streets where the victims of the Holocaust once lived. These scattered memorials serve as reminders of the moral failure of the Nazis and their many sympathizers. In the USA, we have been more inclined to memorialize Confederate military leaders than to acknowledge the evils of slavery they sought to protect. The resistance to teaching a factual American history to young students about our nation’s moral failings leaves us vulnerable to making the

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21:34

We're All Connected

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/07/10

We are all connected to one another. We may not insist that our neighbors to the south use child labor to produce our fruits and vegetables in our grocery stores but, if they don’t keep the prices down, we won’t buy them. Our casual daily choices in which we are legally simply exercising our rights, has an impact on others that we often do not see. Still, our choices to do legal things, like buying an assault rifle or a handgun, choosing not to be vaccinated, or not to take public health precautions

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54:15

Government of the People?

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/07/03

Given the decisions handed down by an increasingly out of touch Supreme Court, today's message will be a reading of an article Dr. Ray has written for the July 4th edition of the LA Progressive outlining some of the philosophical challenges surrounding the court's decision to strike down Roe v Wade and the suggestion that they may go even farther in taking constitutional rights away from American citizens.

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20:59

Angles and Demons (how crisis reveals who we really are)

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/06/26

Victor Frankl, reflecting on his own suffering in Auschwitz, said that the extremities of the concentration camp revealed the true selves of his fellow prisoners. Some became saintly in their self sacrifice and acts of compassion, while others became moral monsters, turning on one another in their desperate desire to survive. In our current hard times with the rise of fascism around the world as well as in the United States, many are still simply seeking diversion rather than engagement but it is

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19:41

The Danger of Propaganda (masquerading as free speech)

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/06/19

It may be true, as suggested in a recent Atlantic article, that America has been uniquely stupid over the past decade and our gathering cloud of ignorance is largely due to our over exposure to partisan news sources and the scourge of the internet, with its unfiltered social media. How can we, as Soren Kierkegaard suggested 150 years ago, become less concerned with freedom of speech and more concerned with freedom of thought?

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24:02

“Stop Funding Terrorism" (and save the planet at the...

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/06/12

More than three months into the unconscionable invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the international community is still wringing its hands, asking themselves, “How can we survive without oil and gas from Russia,” while the purchase of Russian oil funds Putin’s terrorist military campaign against the Ukraine, destabilizing the entire world’s markets, and threating several regions of the world with food shortages. Why can’t we stop the Russian armies from this rampage of rape, torture, murder, and

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17:54

The Emperor of Ice Cream

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/06/05

Our culture often speaks out of both sides of its mouth, acknowledging in popular proverbs that “nothing is certain but death and taxes,” or, as my homiletics professor often said, “the mortality rate is 100%” while still commonly insisting that we all have a certainty of life after death (either in reward or punishment). Progressives began to be dismissive of the belief in a burning hell but, for the most part, have held onto the security blanket of belief in a wonderful eternal existence after

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15:01

Why Are Mass Murders Uniquely American?

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/05/27

Why are mass murders so common in the USA and so rare among our global peers? Every other western democracy has managed to regulate guns effectively but the Republican led effort to protect the gun industry from any meaningful regulation has resulted in literally selling the lives of people attending religious services, buying groceries, attending a music festival, or just going to a public school in exchange for political donations. This is evil on a scale that defies any further attempt at

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26:42

Regarding Roe v Wade

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/05/22

The leaked Supreme Court document concerning Roe v Wade has confirmed our worst fears since the appointment of the last three justices to the court, all of whom were chosen specifically for their anti-abortion views. But perhaps this is not the time to begin to rehearse the arguments we have been repeating for the past fifty years. Maybe it is time for us to take action to change the kinds of people we elect and appoint to powerful decision making positions. We cannot continue to lend tacit

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19:53

“Making Peace in the Moment We Are Alive”:...

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/05/15

I stumbled upon the writings of Thich Nhat Hanh in 2005, at a time in life when I was struggling to hold together my own social activism and spiritual practices. It is a custom to offer reflections of gratitude for a Buddhist teacher on the 100-day commemoration of their death. May 1 marked this continuation for the Most Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh, and this is my belated offering of gratitude.

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27:43

Mother’s Day, the Supreme Court, and the Spectrum of...

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/05/08

Pt 1: The leaked Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade is not exactly surprising, but it is terrifying news for millions of people. Yet even as we process the shock, we need to reconnect with our commitments to act in ways that bring social and economic justice, including reproductive justice. Pt 2: Estrangement and isolation are the everyday reality for huge numbers of Americans, weighing us down with both grief and a “sense of incompleteness.” It has also made it challenging to

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17:48

“Ain’t Scared of Nothing”: May Day, Unions, and...

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/05/01

It’s May Day, so let’s look at the present status of labor rights and celebrate working class history, as well as the recent successes of union organizers in unfriendly places! But let’s also do more - we can all contribute to the process of creating and sustaining a movement for true change in the direction of economic and social justice.

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23:46

Demythologizing Islam

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/04/24

Islam is the youngest of the major world religions and yet its extremist factions are the most wedded to a violent and oppressive form of a religion that Muhammad would not recognize and which none of us should be willing to tolerate in modern civilization. It is a mistake to associate all of Islam with wars among Muslim factions and international terrorism but the fingerprints of official national policies in the name of Islam cannot be ignored. While all of the major religions of the world are in

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19:09

Resurrecting Hope

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/04/17

Beyond the sentimental and supernatural retellings each Easter, the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus continues to resonate with us in very human and hopeful ways. Every year - in the midst of constant wars, intractable conflicts and oppression, and ecological devastation - it invites us to ask: how can we go on? And more especially, how can we go on when the world has found a way to make things that we thought wouldn’t - couldn’t - get any worse, worse? It acknowledges the terror we feel

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24:46

Demythologizing Religion: Earth-Based Spiritualities...

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/04/10

The numbers of people interested in and practicing earth-based spiritualities has soared over the last 30 years. This has been empowering and healing for many, especially for members of oppressed communities. However, it has also brought new challenges, from the rise of pagan White supremacy to the profit-driven trend of “Spirituality for Sale.” We’ll explore these issues, as well as the (re)emergence of “Naturalistic Paganism.”

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19:06

Demythologizing Christianity

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/04/03

The Christian religion is the largest in the world and has been a part of the global culture for nearly two millennia. During that time, it has been used to justify wars and even genocides. Christian scriptures have been used to promote homophobia, misogyny, racism, and sectarianism. Still, the Christian faith has encouraged generosity, compassion, peace, and reconciliation. As faith in mythological and superstitious religious claims rapidly declines in the modern world, we have an urgent need to

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19:43

Demythologizing Religion: Hinduism and the...

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/03/27

Rabindranath Tagore once wrote to a friend: “Whatever we understand and enjoy in human products instantly becomes ours, wherever they might have their origin… Let me feel with unalloyed gladness that all the great glories of [humanity] are mine.” This openness is a fitting aspiration for the pluralism that has often characterized Hinduism, the Sanatana Dharma (“eternal law/way”), over its long history. But, like all cultural and religious traditions, Hinduism has also struggled with religious

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24:46

Demythologizing Religion: Buddhism & Nonattachment to...

Progressive Faith Sermons - Dr. Roger Ray ·

2022/03/20

Buddhism has been subject to the same limitations as any other cultural or religious system, including fundamentalist violence. However, various Buddhist traditions also contain important insights and practices for “learning and practicing non-attachment to views and being open to others’ experiences and insights in order to benefit from the collective wisdom.” Using the first three of “The Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings” from the Plum Village tradition as a reference point and guide, we’ll explore

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