Dear Ms. Cohen,
Good morning, happy Saturday and greetings from Elm Street in Albany, NY.
My name is Ford P. R. McLain. I am a painter, an educator (building substitute) in the toughest school in the Albany school district, and quite possibly a write-in candidate for a local race with so far only one “anointed” candidate. Most importantly, I am a painter.
I read a couple of your columns (including the one from this morning in the Washington Post), but most recently I read the one about Mayor Buttegeig, morality and religion. It is disturbing to me how much morality and religion are conflated, especially since religion has been used for many immoral acts. And you are correct: people infuse their religion and their interpretation of their religious texts and creeds with their morality. You can be a good person, a very good person without God, and I never understand why people needed the construct of a God to be good.
Recently, in an email admonishing me for my fiscal inefficiencies, my father also attacked my faith. He accused me of ignoring God in my life. I have restrained myself from responding to him. Even if I embraced his concept of God (which is as shallow as his concept of America…he’s one of those evangelical Trump supporters, talk about immorality), I would have argued that I haven’t ignored God, but by living a good life, a moral life, one where people are treated kindly, where I sacrifice my time for my daughter, where I work with trauma informed students, I have embraced God more than he or his faux Christians who flushed their Bibles down the toilet when they voted for Trump. So, I agree with you: your morality informs your faith.
As a 51 year old man, I have been reading, searching, exploring, painting. Trying to meditate, trying to contemplate the next 50 years. I humorously refer to myself as a zen Stoic…but even Zen Buddhism – with its followings of masters – has its shortcomings. I never considered myself an atheist, but I have embraced the word agnostic. And in my mind, that is perfect: not knowing means exploring.
Apologies for the long e-mail. I hope you find time to read it. Again, I do live in Albany, so if you ever find time to talk, as an artist and educator and maybe politician, I am always willing to talk.
Have a wonderful day.
F
P.S. – My family, while not Jewish, is from Italy. I was told that my great grandfather and uncles were put in an Italian work camp because they refused to fight for Mussolini. This makes me proud.
P.P.S. – Does your husband run a farm as a working business. I would be glad to support it, when I can.
AUTHOR: Ford P. R. McLain
AUTHOR EMAIL: fprmclain@hotmail.com
AUTHOR URL: http://www.zhibit.org/fprmclain
SUBJECT: [Kate Cohen] Contact
IP: 108.44.16.178
Array
(
[1_Name] => Ford P. R. McLain
[2_Email] => fprmclain@hotmail.com
[3_Website] => http://www.zhibit.org/fprmclain
[4_Comment] => Dear Ms. Cohen,
Good morning, happy Saturday and greetings from Elm Street in Albany, NY.
My name is Ford P. R. McLain. I am a painter, an educator (building substitute) in the toughest school in the Albany school district, and quite possibly a write-in candidate for a local race with so far only one “anointed” candidate. Most importantly, I am a painter.
I read a couple of your columns (including the one from this morning in the Washington Post), but most recently I read the one about Mayor Buttegeig, morality and religion. It is disturbing to me how much morality and religion are conflated, especially since religion has been used for many immoral acts. And you are correct: people infuse their religion and their interpretation of their religious texts and creeds with their morality. You can be a good person, a very good person without God, and I never understand why people needed the construct of a God to be good.
Recently, in an email admonishing me for my fiscal inefficiencies, my father also attacked my faith. He accused me of ignoring God in my life. I have restrained myself from responding to him. Even if I embraced his concept of God (which is as shallow as his concept of America…he’s one of those evangelical Trump supporters, talk about immorality), I would have argued that I haven’t ignored God, but by living a good life, a moral life, one where people are treated kindly, where I sacrifice my time for my daughter, where I work with trauma informed students, I have embraced God more than he or his faux Christians who flushed their Bibles down the toilet when they voted for Trump. So, I agree with you: your morality informs your faith.
As a 51 year old man, I have been reading, searching, exploring, painting. Trying to meditate, trying to contemplate the next 50 years. I humorously refer to myself as a zen Stoic…but even Zen Buddhism – with its followings of masters – has its shortcomings. I never considered myself an atheist, but I have embraced the word agnostic. And in my mind, that is perfect: not knowing means exploring.
Apologies for the long e-mail. I hope you find time to read it. Again, I do live in Albany, so if you ever find time to talk, as an artist and educator and maybe politician, I am always willing to talk.
Have a wonderful day.
F
P.S. – My family, while not Jewish, is from Italy. I was told that my great grandfather and uncles were put in an Italian work camp because they refused to fight for Mussolini. This makes me proud.
P.P.S. – Does your husband run a farm as a working business. I would be glad to support it, when I can.
[entry_title] => Contact
[entry_permalink] => https://katecohen.net/contact/
[feedback_id] => c11726fd1cd6b61c14c2789bb14bae5b
)