WEBVTT - Finding Meaning, Hope And Morality Without Believing In God with Rev. Dr. David Breeden 0:00:02.200 --> 0:00:03.440 Hey there, everybody. 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:07.840 We are so excited. We have another installation of our 0:00:08.080 --> 0:00:11.960 spiritual Sunday. We've yet to rename it. Is it sticking. 0:00:13.039 --> 0:00:15.520 Still? You know what, We're being lazy right now. We'll 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:17.840 get on it. Every time you say it, I complain 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:19.600 about it, but I haven't come up with another solution, 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:20.480 so I should shut. 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:24.320 Up, all right. So today we're very excited to have 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:28.639 the Reverend doctor David Breden here with us. He is 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:33.280 the senior Minister of the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis. 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:38.800 He is an author, he is a professor. He studies this, 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:41.720 he lives this, and he preaches it, and so we're excited 0:00:41.760 --> 0:00:46.440 to have him here with us. And Reverend doctor David. First, 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:50.600 I was actually googling this because I'm not and I 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:55.080 don't think you were either exceptionally familiar with the Unitarian Church. 0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:58.720 Can you explain us, explain to us what it is 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:02.160 to be a Unitarian and Universalist minister? 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:11.679 Okay, Unitarian universalism and you can google it. It's a 0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:16.760 very very liberal religious tradition. It goes all the way 0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:22.800 back to the Puritans in Massachusetts, which feels odd, but 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:27.520 it's actually true because you know, they also started Harvard, 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:30.600 for example, So they got more and more liberal the 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:35.440 longer they were here. And so at this point in time, 0:01:36.280 --> 0:01:40.280 there are still Christian Unitarian Universalists, but most of us 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:46.679 have become some form of humanist slash Buddhist slash Hindu 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:54.280 slash Taoists, etc. And my Congregation First Unitarian Society is 0:01:54.320 --> 0:02:02.160 where congregational humanism was invented. So congregational humanism means that 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:06.240 we're humanists. Almost everybody is either an atheist or an 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:07.240 agnostic or. 0:02:07.320 --> 0:02:13.080 Just don't know. And many people, you know, we have apatheists. 0:02:13.160 --> 0:02:16.520 Many people don't care, they don't think deeply about this 0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:21.120 stuff as I do. But that's the tradition that I'm in, 0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:26.799 and I identify as a humanist, and I fight for 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:32.360 secular government, the separation or church and state, so that 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:40.040 we who have edited the Christian round are still able 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:43.120 to do what we do because you know, there's a 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:46.040 lot of threats to what we're doing at the moment. 0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:49.280 So that's what that's what it is. 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:54.880 Okay, where do you fall then, even if it's not Christianity, 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:56.799 do you still consider it a religion? 0:02:57.639 --> 0:02:59.960 Yep, yes, absolutely, yes. Human is a. 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:04.560 Is a religious slash spiritual worldview. 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:07.280 How did you find it? How does one find it 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:08.480 and get into it? How did you? 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:13.240 Well? I found it a long time ago. 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:18.040 But I was born of pentecostal I was raised Pentecostal, 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:23.799 which is over time it has become more and more 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:29.000 right wing, unfortunately. I love Pentecostalism. I love the history 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:34.079 of Pentecostalism. I love the fact that Pentecostalism is the 0:03:34.160 --> 0:03:37.840 religion of the poorest of the poor in our world. 0:03:37.960 --> 0:03:42.840 Frankly, and my parents were illiterate, etc. I went to college. 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:45.680 I was very lucky to go to college. And when 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:46.880 I went to college. 0:03:46.560 --> 0:03:51.320 I began reading American literature where everyone was a Unitarian, 0:03:52.200 --> 0:03:57.440 because almost all East Coast nineteenth century authors were Unitarian. 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:01.000 So I started saying, Oh, that's where, that's what those 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:03.840 guys are, and they're still around, and I want to 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:08.080 be one of those. And I did many years as 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:10.160 a layperson, and then I went into ministry. 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:15.000 All right, so you so you believe in a god, 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:18.560 though correct, just to like make it like to believe 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:19.520 in a god, you don't. 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:25.440 Now, I I'm a Spinotzen. 0:04:25.960 --> 0:04:30.039 Spinoza said either nature or God, you can say either one. 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:36.040 And so I say nature all right, because because I 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:40.400 don't think that there's a god that does some things 0:04:40.520 --> 0:04:45.080 that people wish a god did. So I don't bother 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:47.919 with the word because I don't want people to think 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:52.560 that I think I have some corner on a god 0:04:52.600 --> 0:04:54.760 that can do something for them personally. 0:04:55.800 --> 0:04:58.279 How does it work for you? Because so many people 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:02.560 turn to religion for for help, for guidance, how do 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:06.719 you apply for a person who is religious Christian? How 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:09.680 does your religion apply to your day to day life 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:12.200 and your problem solving and your morals? How does it 0:05:12.240 --> 0:05:15.560 apply to your life the way Christians would apply their 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:16.960 religion would apply to them. 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:21.920 Well, we do have a tradition, and so Ralph Waldo 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:27.120 Emerson had a lot of ideas and in many many writers, poets, etc. 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:32.200 Have ideas about how to act in the world. 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:36.200 I believe in nature. I believe in what I can see. 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:40.279 I don't think there's anything supernatural out there, although I 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:42.280 do think that there's a lot of stuff I don't 0:05:42.320 --> 0:05:46.640 know and that science can't figure out. So that's not 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:50.960 a problem. As a matter of fact, I believe that 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:57.600 it is egotistical of we humans to make speculation about 0:05:57.920 --> 0:06:03.039 any of the gods or God or whatever I. 0:06:02.200 --> 0:06:03.280 Believe in what I see. 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:08.640 I'm a poet, and so I study the minute shy 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:12.120 of nature and try to see the way the world 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:18.719 actually works. And you know, Mother Nature is not kind, 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:23.320 that's for sure, but we can count on nature to 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:25.920 do certain things with us and for us. 0:06:27.480 --> 0:06:29.760 My belief is that all of. 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:34.400 Us are very very small bits of the huge cosmos, 0:06:34.640 --> 0:06:40.720 and we're all connected to that cosmos. That connection implies 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:45.240 a duty, I think, to help all other people and 0:06:45.279 --> 0:06:50.440 all of the living things, because you know, the grasshopper 0:06:50.680 --> 0:06:54.200 is my kin. Now, maybe I need to kill that 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:58.000 grasshopper for various reasons, and we can think that through. 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:03.560 But still yet we need to think about it for sure, 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:07.680 and so the nature stops being this thing that we 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:10.800 manipulate whenever we want to burn something down or make 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:16.000 something or whatever. But nature is us and we need 0:07:16.040 --> 0:07:19.920 to take care of it. So that's the main moral point, 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:26.440 is simply looking at everything closely to see what my 0:07:26.600 --> 0:07:31.000 moral obligation is to that so called thing. 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:35.200 Well, yeah, and I'm curious, so you know, Look, obviously, 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:40.920 religion has divided so many people since the beginning of time, 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:43.680 But a lot of times when you look at Islam, 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:46.160 when you look at Christianity, when you look at Judaism, 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:50.480 the same principles applied. There are still there's still morality, 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:54.560 there's still ethics. Does how do you how does the 0:07:54.680 --> 0:07:57.200 Unitarian I don't even know if you call it a faith, 0:07:57.280 --> 0:08:01.720 but the Unitarian religion, how is it like other religions? 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:05.040 And how is it different other? Obviously the God thing 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:08.280 I get is the big difference. But do you have, 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:11.800 perhaps from that perspective, more in common than you have 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:17.240 uncommon with religions around the world that we are more 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:17.920 familiar with. 0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:20.240 Yes, well absolutely. 0:08:20.960 --> 0:08:26.680 The humanist position on that is that all religion is 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:33.080 human made. We made it up, and we made it up, 0:08:33.120 --> 0:08:35.400 and it's pretty clear if you start looking around we 0:08:35.520 --> 0:08:42.240 made it up differently in different geographical locations. Christianity got 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:49.360 moved over here by European settlers. It didn't belong here, 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:53.920 the natives didn't like it, but here it is, and 0:08:55.559 --> 0:09:01.760 people felt obligated to spread that Christianity. But you know, 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:06.040 for me anyway, it's all made up. It's all historical, 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:08.440 as we would call it, that is, it was all 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:15.760 invented within human historical principles, and so I respect them. 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:20.440 All the again, the only thing that I see, well, 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:23.000 you know the old Bob Dylan thing, don't hate anything 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:27.280 but hatred. You know, it gets contradicted really quickly. But 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:31.920 as long as religion is about human flourishing as I 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:38.360 call it, and number one, human flourishing, so religion is 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:41.559 good and so far as it helps us flourish. 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:42.360 In this life. 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:45.760 That's why I don't disagree with Pentecostalism, even though I 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:46.520 don't believe it. 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:50.000 A lot of people who have almost. 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:53.160 No hope in our world, it gives them hope and 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:55.360 it gives them an ability to get up in the. 0:09:55.360 --> 0:09:58.600 Morning and get on with life. 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:04.880 Maybe they should be striking instead and insisting on you know, 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:08.679 that wage theft and that sort of thing. But and 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:13.080 because I do believe in social improvement and flourishing for 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:17.680 humans as well. But any religion that is helping people 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:21.160 make it through the day and not hurting others as 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:21.920 a good religion. 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:22.920 As far as I'm. 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:24.960 Concerned, your religion helping you through the day as well. 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:27.040 You mentioned hope. Where do you find hope as a 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:28.959 universal Unitarian? 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:33.240 Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm not speaking for unitarian universalism by 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:37.160 the way, because we believe so many different things. But 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:43.120 as a humanist, I find hope in that human beings 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:49.360 make human problems, and we can unmake human problems. And 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:54.120 a human problem is bad economics. We built that, We 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:57.360 did that, we're responsible for that, and we can fix 0:10:57.440 --> 0:11:01.640 that if we have the and work on it. 0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:06.520 You you sound like you want to fix the problem. 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:08.640 You should go to Congress, not to your congregation. 0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:15.000 Well, you know, I find I find myself involved in 0:11:15.080 --> 0:11:20.040 politics more often than I would like, because, yes, politics 0:11:20.200 --> 0:11:22.520 is what drives you know, what people are doing on 0:11:22.559 --> 0:11:24.240 the street. But I don't have the. 0:11:24.200 --> 0:11:25.600 Patience to be a politician. 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:30.560 But it does. It sounds like problem solving in a 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:34.640 kind way. Well it's it really does. What you're describing. 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:37.440 It sounds like what a lot of our leaders, elected 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:39.720 leaders should be doing. Just nicer about it. 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:42.880 Yes, exactly, being kind humans. 0:11:43.600 --> 0:11:44.440 That's their job. 0:11:45.559 --> 0:11:51.280 Well someone should tell them. Then, I'm curious, doctor Breden, 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:54.440 where do you think we go after we die. 0:11:56.480 --> 0:12:02.760 Into the universe, into the great recycling? There's nothing inside it, 0:12:02.920 --> 0:12:06.720 there's nothing, there's nothing outside it, and everything is inside it. 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:10.240 So when I go and. 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:17.040 And am burned and my ashes scattered, Hey, that's just 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:18.720 joining the universe again. 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:22.280 But that has nothing to do again. That's being one 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:23.880 with the earth, if you will. But as far as 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:26.959 a soul and an afterlife and going to another place, 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:29.040 that's not something that's that you subscribe to. 0:12:31.040 --> 0:12:31.640 No, it's not. 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:36.880 I mean, when you start thinking about consciousness, and of 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:39.920 course there's a pentecosta, we believe that, you know, you 0:12:40.000 --> 0:12:43.120 come back, you go to heaven and you look just 0:12:43.200 --> 0:12:45.920 like you do here or whatever, and oh, well does 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:48.240 Grandma have to be eighty eight then, you know, or 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:51.200 she will have a glorified body, you know, And there's 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:53.240 all of this kind of you know, and well I 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:56.400 still hate my cousin, you know, you know, and these 0:12:56.559 --> 0:12:59.560 these kinds of things. Uh. No, I don't believe that 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:04.319 there's a conscious human consciousness after death. Now we can 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:07.720 argue about that, because then you know, what is human consciousness? 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:11.559 Is is it human? Or is it bigger than that? U? 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:15.240 Do rocks have consciousness? You know? We can we can 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:20.240 certainly discuss these things. But my consciousness, as far as 0:13:20.240 --> 0:13:24.240 I'm concerned, is part of my brain, my mind, and 0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:26.400 it goes away just like when I go to sleep, 0:13:27.120 --> 0:13:30.240 not there. When I get in an operation, it's not there. 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:34.920 So yeah, it goes away. It's it's a nice electrical 0:13:35.440 --> 0:13:40.480 dream that we have and curish every moment of it, 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:42.640 but it ends. 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:57.080 Doctor Reid. And I'm curious, who finds themselves in your congregation? 0:13:57.240 --> 0:14:00.480 What types of folks do they come from? Christian bunds? 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:04.600 Do they come from not having a belief system and 0:14:04.720 --> 0:14:09.120 wanting to find a place to belong people who think 0:14:09.240 --> 0:14:10.839 like them? Can you give us a sense of the 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:15.439 types of people who find their way to your congregation. 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:20.360 Most of them nowadays, they're still like me. They grew 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:24.400 up in some kind of Christian tradition. They had the 0:14:24.480 --> 0:14:27.640 habit of going to church on Sunday morning, and so 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:30.920 they do that. But they're looking for a place where 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:36.640 they can be extremely questioning. And it's really according to 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:39.360 how much you want to question. Some people only want 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:42.960 to question so far as the end of liberal Christianity, 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:49.680 and that's fine. There's a lot of brilliant thinking on 0:14:49.800 --> 0:14:55.960 the cutting edge of liberal Christianity, but most people have 0:14:56.000 --> 0:15:00.320 begun to see Christianity as one option out of many. 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:03.160 So we have a lot of people coming in out 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:08.640 of Judaism and Christianity slowly. And you know, you both 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:12.640 read about how more and more Americans are not Christian 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:17.280 and are leaving, and about thirty percent have left religion 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:20.600 in general, and many of those people come to us. 0:15:21.080 --> 0:15:23.080 They come to us both in. 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:27.800 Humanist congregations and through the American Humanists Association, which is 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:33.600 totally secular. And for more and more people who were 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:37.360 not raised in Christian tradition, you know, they don't have 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:41.120 the baggage I do. Oh you know, I got hurt 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:45.440 here or the minister said this crazy thing over here, 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:48.360 or you know, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. More 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:51.600 and more people don't have any connection. Now of course 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:54.320 that that's also regional. I don't know where you are, 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:58.600 but on the East Coast, most people, younger people don't 0:15:58.640 --> 0:16:01.080 have any religious baggage whatsoever. 0:16:02.000 --> 0:16:05.440 Here in the yeah, yeah, Here in the northern. 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:11.440 Midwest pretty well, people have left Christianity and they don't 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:14.400 have that baggage. Now. I met at Jehovah's Witness the 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:17.320 other day, who was, you know, searching And we still 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:20.560 have those news searchers out there. But more and more 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:25.760 people don't have negative baggage about Christianity anymore as they 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:26.800 did when I was young. 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:30.160 When you love to hear a conversation between him and 0:16:30.160 --> 0:16:34.800 a Jehovah's witness. That would be very interesting. You know, 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:39.280 what are your conversation What are your conversations like with believers? 0:16:39.320 --> 0:16:42.160 With Christians as they might be hearing what you're saying. 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:44.720 It might even take offense because you did use the word. 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:46.600 You haven't been offensive in my opinion, but you use 0:16:46.680 --> 0:16:51.080 the word. You think it's a little egomaniacal or egotistical 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:54.200 of us to the way we view religion. What are 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:57.240 your conversations like? But Christians come at you, are they 0:16:57.320 --> 0:16:57.920 upset with you? 0:16:58.760 --> 0:16:59.040 Well? 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:02.800 I don't run into too many fundamentalist Christians in my 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:09.000 life anymore. I know they are somewhere around Minnesota, but 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:15.359 I don't tend to run into them. Most of the people. Well, 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:19.000 I mean, we have a downtown senior clergy group in 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:25.320 Minneapolis that includes rabbis and a mom's and Lutheran ministers 0:17:25.400 --> 0:17:28.920 and Presbyterian ministers, and I get a lot of respect 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:33.280 from them. I'm a religious leader as they are. I 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:36.600 believe differently than they do, but all of us have 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:44.280 faced the fact that faith is easily questioned. And you know, 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:47.800 how do you go on being a Lutheran minister when 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:52.359 you say, oh, wait a minute, this Bible, when you 0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:55.760 start looking at it, it starts falling apart. Right, There's 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:59.600 so many authors, there are so many time frames, you know, 0:17:59.640 --> 0:18:01.880 So why what does it mean? What does it mean 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:04.480 when I under the truth and the light and no 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:07.359 one goes to heaven but by me? You know, that's 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:10.800 pretty definite. So you know, as a Christian you have 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:15.239 to work with those as well. So, but we have 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:17.679 great respect for each other because we've all worked on 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:22.719 these problems really hard, whereas maybe, you know, some people 0:18:23.320 --> 0:18:25.600 just haven't thought about it that much. And I don't 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:28.120 have a lot to say to those folks, and they 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:29.560 don't have much to say to me. 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:35.720 Frankly, doctor Reeden, I'm curious if most religions I was 0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:38.639 raised Catholic, so I can speak through that lens, but 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:44.200 most religion the purpose is to there is an ethical 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:47.200 boundary that you don't cross, because yes, you want to 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:50.920 get to heaven. You want to have a good after life. 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:54.399 And part of the meaning of this life is, yes, 0:18:54.440 --> 0:19:00.240 to learn, but also the hope of a promised after life. 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:05.040 What is the meaning of life to a humanist? What's 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:06.240 the purpose of life. 0:19:06.880 --> 0:19:08.919 The purpose of life is you have to find it. 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:13.600 That's one of the differences between traditional religions and humanism 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:18.920 is we don't believe there's a purpose because we believe 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:22.800 in Darwin. We believe, you know, in the expanding universe. 0:19:23.600 --> 0:19:28.119 So what purpose would there be for something little like 0:19:28.320 --> 0:19:31.760 us in such a grand scheme of things? Are we 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:36.280 going to go Jupiter office course? Or you know, no, 0:19:36.400 --> 0:19:40.320 we're not. There's almost nothing we can do again except 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:43.919 destroy our own earth and hurt each other. These are 0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:47.720 the bad things, right, so let us not do those things. 0:19:48.040 --> 0:19:53.240 And that is a purpose to life. 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:54.399 Something we often talk about. We've also asked all of 0:19:54.440 --> 0:19:57.080 our guests on this segment about people are looking for 0:19:57.160 --> 0:19:59.640 some kind of help or guidance and making it through 0:19:59.720 --> 0:20:04.800 very times. How do you through humanism through your church 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:07.440 when a lot has happened, Yeah, even on the streets 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:11.400 of Minneapolis, or we see wildfires happening, we see mass shootings, 0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:13.800 we see children being killed, We see these things, these 0:20:13.840 --> 0:20:16.800 horrible stories, day and day out. How do you, through 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:22.080 your religion, help your congregation, help yourself cope with understanding 0:20:22.160 --> 0:20:23.920 why things happen? 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:28.440 People did every one of the things you named, there 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:32.680 was a perpetrator, or usually a bunch of perpetrators for 0:20:32.720 --> 0:20:38.880 some reason, we bomb them. Because right Spain is burning 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:43.919 because we screwed with the environment. So how can we 0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:49.479 unscrew the environment is a big human question. I hope 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:53.480 that we humans can get ourselves together before the planet 0:20:53.520 --> 0:20:57.639 burns down. Some days I think we will and some 0:20:57.760 --> 0:21:01.280 days I think we won't. But you know that's we 0:21:01.760 --> 0:21:05.640 did it and we need to fix it in any. 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:06.240 Way that we can. 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:09.520 So, yes, I was out there on the frozen streets 0:21:09.800 --> 0:21:15.400 in January. And you know, we are still making deliveries 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:18.840 to people who are afraid of ice. That's not over. 0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:24.000 We did a delivery yesterday. There are people still hiding 0:21:24.040 --> 0:21:28.560 in their houses here. Uh So yeah, we you know, 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:32.840 we believe in getting out there and doing something. So 0:21:33.720 --> 0:21:36.760 when Alex Petty was killed, I put on my little 0:21:36.760 --> 0:21:41.359 priest caller because I am I'm into the religion industry. 0:21:41.880 --> 0:21:44.760 So so I put on my little priest caller and 0:21:44.840 --> 0:21:48.000 I went out to where he was killed the day 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:53.800 after he was killed, and and joined in the in 0:21:53.880 --> 0:21:57.280 the celebration of life and in the morning process. And 0:21:57.440 --> 0:22:00.800 you know, some I'm sure Catholic kids said thanks for 0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:04.639 coming father, and I didn't correct him, right. It's because 0:22:04.680 --> 0:22:10.360 I was representing a way of thinking that we call religion. 0:22:11.960 --> 0:22:14.720 So that's what I did. I got out there and 0:22:14.960 --> 0:22:24.040 did something. 0:22:24.680 --> 0:22:28.520 I actually have one last question for you, Reverend doctor Breeden. 0:22:29.880 --> 0:22:34.240 You say that you think we return to the universe 0:22:34.960 --> 0:22:40.040 in whatever way, shape or form. With being a humanist 0:22:40.359 --> 0:22:42.639 and what your belief system is, I'm curious because you 0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:46.480 mentioned all the different types of ways you can describe 0:22:46.480 --> 0:22:48.800 your religion. Among them, you said Buddhists could be a 0:22:48.840 --> 0:22:52.639 part of your congregation. What are your thoughts on reincarnation. 0:22:53.119 --> 0:22:57.040 I'm just curious, given what you said, is that a 0:22:57.119 --> 0:22:59.560 possibility in your brain with your way of thinking. 0:23:00.320 --> 0:23:06.480 No, because it's about continued consciousness. All of us, mathematically, 0:23:06.720 --> 0:23:10.200 all of us have at least one molecule of Shakespeare 0:23:10.200 --> 0:23:15.320 in us. Scientifically speaking, we don't all have a molecule 0:23:15.359 --> 0:23:18.399 of Elvis yet because he was buried and you know, 0:23:18.640 --> 0:23:22.320 but you know, in another couple thousand years, all humans 0:23:22.320 --> 0:23:25.879 will have a molecule of Elvis in them. It's what 0:23:25.920 --> 0:23:30.320 you do with that molecule, you know, go buy yourself 0:23:30.320 --> 0:23:30.760 a guitar. 0:23:33.840 --> 0:23:37.639 You're talking to a Memphis guy here, so you nailed it. 0:23:38.040 --> 0:23:41.320 Memphis. I used to live down by Memphis. I love Memphis. 0:23:41.880 --> 0:23:45.560 Those guys, those guys on the street, they sound like 0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:47.960 they're playing three different guitars at the same time. 0:23:48.119 --> 0:23:51.040 That is funny. Of all things. You mentioned Memphis and 0:23:51.080 --> 0:23:54.680 you mentioned Elvis, who I will say, and we always say, hey, 0:23:54.680 --> 0:23:57.680 the universe is sending a signal. But you didn't know 0:23:57.720 --> 0:24:01.240 where I was from, and you mentioned Elvis. My due date. 0:24:01.440 --> 0:24:04.880 My mom's due date was August sixteenth, nineteen seventy seven, 0:24:04.920 --> 0:24:07.800 and that was the day that Elvis died. That was 0:24:07.840 --> 0:24:09.720 her do date with me. It's a weird thing. I 0:24:09.800 --> 0:24:12.239 always thought about that, that the day he died, I 0:24:12.280 --> 0:24:13.960 was supposed to be born. I ended up born three 0:24:14.000 --> 0:24:14.440 days later. 0:24:14.440 --> 0:24:18.280 But yes, Elvis's maybe you have some extra Elvis molecules 0:24:18.320 --> 0:24:21.080 in you because it dissipated right before you. 0:24:21.200 --> 0:24:23.640 Oh it was August. 0:24:23.400 --> 0:24:24.280 Nights, just chocking. 0:24:25.160 --> 0:24:27.320 I was just jockey at that time, and I had 0:24:27.320 --> 0:24:29.359 to dig up all the Elvis records to play. 0:24:29.960 --> 0:24:34.320 So yeah, well man, we can't think, Hey, well we 0:24:34.480 --> 0:24:38.240 just learned a lot. Yeah, I'm serious. We had other questions, 0:24:38.240 --> 0:24:40.359 but then we ended up getting so curious as you 0:24:40.400 --> 0:24:42.600 started talking that We just wanted to find out more, 0:24:42.640 --> 0:24:45.800 and I hope our listeners found something out and could 0:24:45.880 --> 0:24:48.240 check it out. Look, people are looking for something. If 0:24:48.240 --> 0:24:51.439 they don't want to go the traditional religious route and 0:24:51.440 --> 0:24:53.280 people are turned off by it, then maybe they heard 0:24:53.320 --> 0:24:55.959 something here and they're curious about it. So we appreciate it. 0:24:55.960 --> 0:24:59.000 Thank you so much for taking the time out and 0:24:59.000 --> 0:25:01.120 and thank you for answering our questions, as we were 0:25:01.400 --> 0:25:02.840 curious about a lot of stuff. 0:25:03.280 --> 0:25:06.119 All right, well, thanks a lot, and I enjoyed talking 0:25:06.160 --> 0:25:06.439 with you. 0:25:06.560 --> 0:25:08.920 And yep, holler again sometimes sure. 0:25:08.960 --> 0:25:11.280 Thank thank you so much to our listeners, thank you 0:25:11.359 --> 0:25:13.120 as well for spending some time with us. We'll talk 0:25:13.119 --> 0:25:13.600 to you'll soon.