Reasonably Religious: believing in a secular world

Latest posts

Every month mineral tour

In Opinion and ideas
03/02/2018
4 ' read time
E

I look with wonder and admiration at the 'tournée minérale' that has just started. More wonder than anything else, actually. Wonder because it receives so much attention, because it deserves so much attention. Alcohol is, after all, a hard drug. This storm of attention, even the fact that I am writing about it now, is proof of that. If it weren't a hard drug, it wouldn't be so difficult to stay away from it. Then no one would be surprised by a month without. But precisely because it is so difficult...

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How not to waste your talents?

In Faith
28/01/2018
5 ' read time
H

I regularly get the question if everything works out in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: no paid clergy, so everyone can just do or say something during the speeches? Today I saw again how someone can say something fantastic in all simplicity, so that there is a valuable lesson in it for those who listen carefully. This is how I learned a completely new meaning of the parable of the talents today, even though that parable was not even mentioned. For those who...

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Rest in peace, President Monson

In Mormons
03/01/2018
3 min read
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President Monson overleden

This morning around 6 AM our time, Thomas S. Monson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, our living prophet, passed away at the age of 90. He had visibly aged in the last year and was clearly at ease to finally return to his loved ones: Jesus Christ and his wife Frances. For me, President Monson will always be etched in my memory. He was, after all, the prophet when I chose to become a member of The Church...

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High time for a new fight for religious freedom

In Opinion and ideas
29/12/2017
4 ' read time
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It is always said that thanks to the Enlightenment we live in a secular society. In recent weeks, it is often said that the exceptional protection of religious freedom should be removed from the constitution because it does not deserve separate protection. However, the statements of various politicians indicate that they want to move towards secularism, and then religious freedom certainly deserves some attention. Clear concepts I notice that in the whole discussion a number of...

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Left standing: surviving terrorism and still forgiving the perpetrators

In Book reviews
26/12/2017
14 min read
L

March 22, 2016 – a bomb explodes at Brussels National Airport in Zaventem, quickly followed by another bomb. A few meters from that bomb stood some Mormon missionaries, ready to wave one of them goodbye on his way home. Mason Wells is one of them, and in less than one second, the blast slings his watch from his wrist and his shoe from his foot. And this while he had already experienced terrorism earlier in his life. How do you survive something like that and how do you react afterwards when...

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May I still be religious, Mr. Bogaert? #religiousfreedom

In Faith, Opinion and ideas
20/12/2017
9 ' read time
M

This week was the nth time in a row in a few weeks: a frontal attack on people who are religious. This time, surprisingly, it was 'Straffe Hendrik' (Strong Henry) from the CD&V who launched the proposal that people belonging to a religion with a market share of more than five percent may no longer wear conspicuous religious symbols in the political sphere: Hendrik Bogaert (CD&V) advocates a ban on striking religious symbols pic.twitter.com/3M8KBoWdcN...

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God is a man

In Faith
26/11/2017
3 min read
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Bam, an immediate statement to stand out. In Sweden, the Lutheran Church, led by Archbishop Antje Jackelen, has decided that God is now gender-neutral. Six million baptized Swedes will no longer refer to God as "He" or "Lord." But I'm not participating in that: I know He is still a man, for He is my Heavenly Father. Mormons believe that we are all spiritual children of Heavenly Parents. Clearly, therefore, a...

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Faith can also be beautiful

In Faith
21/11/2017
9 ' read time
G

It's always similar things that make me go into defense mode about my faith. Again today. A simple tweet about how awful and idiotic faith is hurts me, because I think faith can also be beautiful. [tweet ] I only know Wim from Twitter and I don't want to form any judgment about his statement. I can only speculate why he made this statement, but that doesn't matter. I only use him as an example of...

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Multiple perspectives on one reality

In Opinion and ideas
15/10/2017
6 ' read time
M

This week I read an interesting piece on Trouw.nl titled “Is there one reality behind all branches of science?”. I was immediately attracted by this title because I have been proclaiming for years that religion and science are two visions of one and the same reality. So I was immediately curious why this question was asked within the framework of science alone. The article contains some remarkable sentences that prompted me to ponder and...

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You don't play peace

In Faith
23/09/2017
5 ' read time
V

I read a beautiful story about peace on Linda's blog. Children were playing war and their grandfather said that war brought a lot of pain and that they could better play peace. However, the children asked him a very good question: “How do you play peace, grandpa?”. A question to reflect on during this peace week, because even grandpa didn't know the answer. It is clearly in our words: you start a fight, you wage a war. It is clear that a person therefore his...

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Angels exist

In Faith
17/09/2017
4 ' read time
E

Angels really exist. I saw them this week. They might not have looked like you think. I saw no wings and they didn't fly on a cloud. They didn't hold a harp either and no choir of angelic voices sounded. The first sound they made was just "ding-dong". So they didn't suddenly fly in. But they did suddenly ring the doorbell and dropped in. They looked more like neat businessmen, neatly dressed in suits with white shirts and ties. One was...

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Does faith receive the necessary attention this school year?

In Opinion and ideas
02/09/2017
4 ' read time
K

Belief and religion in general are increasingly under pressure in our secular society. Faith is a private matter, an individual matter, people say. I can still agree with that, although I think faith also has value for society. Anyway, I do believe that faith deserves a place in our education. In our basic education from primary school to secondary school, we all get subjects in which we do not specialize later, but which...

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The old wise man

In Opinion and ideas
27/08/2017
5 ' read time
D

In a secluded village in the mountains, far away from here, there was a time when the inhabitants argued a lot among themselves. They never agreed on the best solution for their problems. Not that it was a village of idiots. They just sometimes didn't know how to choose between all the possibilities. It was as if they couldn't see what was a good choice and what wasn't. That's why one day they gathered in the village square to discuss this big problem – yet again. But this time...

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God is not a dictator

In Opinion and ideas
21/08/2017
6 ' read time
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On August 2, 2017, Jos Verlooy recorded the following statement in an interview in De Morgen: For me, it's primarily the idea of a monotheistic religion that matters. Because a religion with one god is the blueprint for a possible dictatorship. If there is only one authority that sets the lines, you quickly end up with an emperor or a dictator. If you look at this quote in isolation, your conclusion is that Jos Verlooy either argues for a polytheistic system or simply has an argument...

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Where lies the boundary of a life?

In Opinion and ideas
15/08/2017
4 ' read time
W

The discussion about euthanasia always shifts further in a direction that frightens me. As a liberal-minded person, I attach great importance to individual freedom of choice. As a Mormon, I also believe that God has given us moral freedom of choice. I am honestly glad that I have both in me to find a balance in this discussion, which makes it much easier for me than others apparently to say that I think it goes too far. I don't think personally...

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5 reasons why I am a Mormon

In Mormons
31/07/2017
6 ' read time
5

Someone recently asked me why I became a Mormon and did not choose another Christian denomination. Interesting question, which I gladly try to answer in five important reasons, although in reality there are more, but less exclusively linked to Mormonism.

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Please do not penalize large families

In Opinion and ideas
12/07/2017
3 min read
S

Minister of Finance Johan Van Overtveldt proposes a change in the tax deduction for children. Currently, the tax deduction increases progressively with the number of dependent children. One child yields a tax-free sum of 1,550 euros, two children 3,980 euros, three children 8,920 and four children 14,420 euros. The new proposal opts for a fixed allowance per child, with the amount of 2300 being mentioned. Families with one or two children will therefore benefit, for large...

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Mormons on Molokai

In Book reviews
30/06/2017
4 ' read time
M

Father Damien is a household name in our country. In 2005 he was even elected Greatest Belgian. Everyone in our elementary school receives a lesson about how this young priest left on a mission and eventually chose to serve among the outcasts of the world: the lepers on Kalaupapa, a secluded peninsula on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. But he was not the only religious person there. There were also Mormons on Molokai.

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Testimony of a twelve-year-old girl Savannah

In Mormons
25/06/2017
9 ' read time
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Last week, numerous newspapers, online sites and other media reported on a video of a twelve-year-old girl speaking at a Mormon meeting and giving her testimony. She says she is lesbian, that she does not think God made a mistake, but then suddenly she is asked to sit down. Especially here in Europe, this causes a lot of consternation. I admit that the video also hurts me. Pain as a Mormon to see how this affects my faith and my church in...

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God is a refugee: not easy to be a Christian

In Book reviews
18/06/2017
7 min reading time
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David Dessin has written a must-read with God is a refugee for anyone who calls themselves a Christian and lives in Flanders (or by extension in Europe). With the starting point of mapping the Christian identity of refugees in Flanders, he has however made a more than commendable attempt to describe the diversity of Christianity, especially outside Europe. Christianity is our European ex-religion As Dessin...

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Reasonably Religious: believing in a secular world