June 13, 2016

ARTICLES

Ibn Warraq’s site includes this article on “How to argue with a Muslim : ‘Out of Context’.” read

Robert M. Price’s Patreon site. read

Robert Price, It All Boils Down to Stoicism. read

Univ. of Miami establishes chair for study of atheism. read

New Pew Research on atheists. read

Browse Daily Good. read

Gretta Vosper int. by Sincere Kirabo on being an atheist minister. read

David Breeden on humanism’s history and present. “Humanism is not a philosophy. It is a way of thinking. This naturalistic way of thinking values observation and reason, seeks to promote human liberation and justice, and works to benefit the planet and its living things. Humanism is about living a shared life and achieving a shared world.” read

Bertrand Russell has been a major mover of many toward humanism, and here are some of his favorite words. Check out the Open Culture site, one of the greatest web resources I have found. read

Einstein’s humanitarian roles — and his “cosmic religion.” read

Barry Klassel on finding “common ground” in interfaith activities. read

VIDEO

Susanne Werner on anti-vaccination movement. watch

PODCAST

Neil deGrasse Tyson with Sam Harris. listen

May 30, 2016

ARTICLES

David Niose: Trump’s success shows how vulnerable US is to a form of fascism. read

May 21, 2016

ARTICLES

Sincere Kirabo’s rejection of “village atheism” deserves lots of discussion by serious humanists. “an overarching problem that’s festered within secular (both atheist and humanist) spaces since the New Atheism came into vogue. I call it “village atheism.”

I coined the term to classify a self-contained community of socially unaware atheists who reside within and reinforce a feedback loop of ignorance. This subset of nonbelievers is overly wowed by the low bar it requires to recognize the inadequacy of the God hypothesis. Meanwhile, in many ways, they preserve or encourage a bounty of beliefs that are just as oppressive and pernicious.” read

David Breeden on religions and relationships. read

Day of Reason, June 4. CFI will be live-streaming. read

Nicholas Baumgard: As environments approve, religions will die out. read

VIDEO

Krista Tippett’s The Mystery and Art of Living. listen

Godless, forthcoming – trailer. watch

PODCAST

Krista Tippett’s Becoming Wise series. read

May 6, 2016

ARTICLES

Desert Hawk’s World of Freethought. read

Positive Atheism. read

Greta Vosper, atheist minister in United Church of Canada. Current deliberations will explore boundaries. read

Candidate Raskin’s problems with being labelled “atheist.” read

WAPO: Raskin Jewish, not atheist. read

Secular Web Library. historical read modern read

Gabe Bullard: World’s newest religion: no religion. read

Austin Cline on technology vs Religion, Technology as Religion. read

Austin Cline on whether we have rational or rationalized beliefs. read

Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. read

Robyn Blumner’s newsletters (Richard Dawkins Foundation — and Center for Inquiry) also have useful appendages. read

VIDEO

Thomas Jefferson Ken Burns film . . read

A C Grayling, What can a humanist make of war?’(1 h 10 min). watch

Openly Secular is a Facebook site enabling many people to come out. watch

Richard Dawkins lecture on Evolution (1h 25 min). watch

Lawrence Krauss discussion with Richard Dawkins about Education, Universe and Evolution (1 h 25 min). watch

Lawrence Krauss vs Christians on Q&A — Amazing Debate (1 h). watch

William Kane Craig and Lawrence Krauss (1 h 59 min). watch

Lawrence Krauss DESTROYS Hamza Tzortzis Islam vs Atheism Debate (2h 15 min). watch

Is Earth Unique? Hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson (1 h 53 min). watch

Stephen Colbert int. Neil deGrasse Tyson (1h 18 min). watch

Jerry Coyne, Evolution and atheism: best friends forever? (1 h , 21 min). watch

Morgan Freeman’s National Geographic series The Story of God concludes with the question of miracles. read

Morgan Freeman’s 2012 Science film, Through the Wormhole, views God a a human invention. read

PBS Hank Green on “intelligent design” (9 min) Excellent. watch

PODCAST

Sam Harris and Jerry Coyne. 2015. Faith vs. Fact. watch

April 23, 2016

ARTICLES

Cong. Honda wants National Day of Reason (for the 28 percent who don’t have a god). read

Ken Ham (Creation Museum, Ark Encounter) wonders why atheists care. read

D.J. Tice: While the West grows secular, the world gets religion. read

Yale’s Green Light Project. James Croft praises: “If Humanism is ever going to become a replacement for religion, providing nonreligious people with a similar sense of inspiration and direction, then we Humanists must embrace the mythic part of our humanity: we must make music and dream dreams.” (video clip included). read

Valerie Tarico on religion as addiction. read

Valerie Tarico’s Wisdom Commons. read

Gene Zubovich: The strange and short career of Judeo-Christianity. “During the Second World War, a spirit of national unity finally made the notion of Judeo-Christianity common, as Jews and Catholics were publically welcomed as junior partners in the country’s national life…..As Herberg saw it, Judeo-Christianity arose because secularism had failed and three vibrant faiths stepped in to fill that vacuum…..Evangelicals, meanwhile, resisted the encroaching pluralism…..evangelicals now accepted Catholics and Jews as important allies in the fight against abortion, feminism and gay rights…..The short career of Judeo-Christianity has already lasted too long.” read

Secular Directory for finding local groups. read

VIDEO

Bill Maher calls for taxes on all religions. “Why should I subsidize ‘a homophobic magic act’? watch

PODCAST

Max Tegmark on the multiverse with Sam Harris. watch

April 11, 2016

ARTICLES

Homeschooling for the non-religious?? read

Merrill Miller: Many non-believers on god still believe in heaven/hell. read

Carl Sagan’s Baloney Detection Kit (plus similar links). read

David Breeden’s essay on humanist “humility” ends with a useful quote from Marcus Aurelius. But before that: “we believe that human beings create human problems and that only human beings can solve those problems in a way that is satisfactory to humanity.” read

PODCASTS

Gene Roddenberry’s (Star Trek) humanism, discussed by Susan Sackett and Scott Lohmann. read

April 4, 2016

ARTICLES

David Breeden on identity and integrity (and Tyndale). read

New study on science v. religion sees differing brain structures. “The research is based on the hypothesis that the human brain has two opposing domains in constant tension…..the brain has an analytical network of neurons that enables us to think critically and a social network that enables us to empathize.” read

James Lindsay’s new book says anti-god arguments no longer necessary: David Chivers’ critical review. read

Norwegian non-theism now over 50 percent, and UK moving closer to that level. read

Tom Frank on how Democrats created the liberalism of the rich. read

Darren Sherkat: Atheists less Islamaphobic than Christians. read

The regular emails 0f The Richard Dawkins Foundation now aggregate many articles of humanist interest. read

Gleb Tsipursky’s article on finding meaning in a non-Western modernity. read

Nigel Barber: Educated people more likely to be atheists (2014). read

James Croft on how the UUA is betraying humanists in the BSA linkage. read

vAustin Cline on differences between faith and knowledge. read

PODCASTS

Sincere Kirabo, AHA’s new social justice coordinator. listen

Life After God . read

VIDEOS

The Secular Humanist Society of New York has been producing many videos that communicate humanist concerns very effectively. GREAT new episode! watch

Carl Sagan and Studs Terkel on extraterrestials. watch

50 famous academics and scientists talk about God (links to another 50 and to 30 writers). watch

Morgan Freeman’s The Story of God begins April 3 on National Geographic channel. Trailers indicate that it will be worth watching. watch

March 22, 2016

Bob Bhaerman on humanism in literature. read

David Breeden: Humanist Ritual, Part One. read

David Breeden: Humanist Ritual, Part Two. read

Einstein’s spirituality: Carol Kuruvilla. read

Andrew Aghapour and Michael Schulson weigh charges of “white supremacy” against Sam Harris. (…essentialist rhetoric about minority groups still has mass appeal. And the odd convergence between Harris’ rationalism and the political far-right is a reminder that not even rationalists are immune to the specter of prejudice.” read

Eileen Barker on the expanding forms of Paganism. read

Harvard’s Pluralism Project has new site. read

The Humanist EDge, postings by graduates of The Humanist Institute. read

The Orbit: New atheist social justice blog site. read read

Mark Vernon on Plato’s continuing value as a secular moral philosopher. read

March 8, 2016

Richard Carrier int. by J.J. Chipchase on moral theory and truth. read

David Breeden on #Humanism. read

Patrick Frank contends that “progressivism” is hostile to humanism. read

Richard Carrier argues for polygamy. read

Maria Popova: What makes a person: Seven layers of identity in literature and life. read

AZ lawmaker’s atheist prayer rejected by colleagues. read

James Croft’s latest Temple of the Future articles. read

AHA: The Cartoon History of Humanism. read

PZ Myers critiques Sam Harris. read

Frank Sinatra’s 1963 Playboy interview. read

Pelagia Horgan on Fra Angelico’s art as seen by an unbeliever. read

Noam Chomsky’s movie, Requiem for the American Dream. (David Swanson). read

February 6, 2016

Austin Cline on Secularism vs Secularization. read

Barbara Walker on her path to humanism. read

John Oliver explains how he created “Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption.” watch

Albert Einstein on religion. read

Research on imaginary talks with an atheist. read

Soraya Chemaly on why its so difficult for women to join the atheist movement. read

Maggie Ardiente on the Secular Social Justice Conference. read

David W. Noble on the “Second Scientific Revolution.” This major historian explores the interactions of tradition and modernity in shaping ideologies of historical interpretation — and his own changing “heresies.”. read

Massimo Pigliucci on the current controversy over a Dawkins tweet and his disinvitation to a Skeptics conference. “I sincerely wish them all the best for a speedy and safe transition to maturity.” read

Austin Cline: philosophy of religion and humanism; religious and secular humanism. read

Placing Richard Dawkins, 40 years after The Selfish Gene — John Brockman. read

Lawrence Davidson on the downside of institutionalized religion. “Because ideologies distort reality, they are particularly unsuited for those aspiring to power as well as their devoted supporters. History is full of examples of politically powerful ideologies that underscore this fact: fascism, communism, various military cults (particularly popular in South America and the Middle East) and even the ideology of democracy as manipulated by corrupt elites, who play the Pied Piper to the masses. “ And then there’s religion! …A better lesson learned seems to be: if you want to be religious, keep it personal and tolerant, avoid tendencies toward institutionalization beyond the level of local charity and organized good works, and stay clear of political alliances. “read

Myriam Renaud on “inherent dignity.” read

David Breeden on humanist economics. read

PZ Myers on the Dawkins critics. read

Podcasts from Minneapolis First Unitarian Society. listen

“So That Happened,” HuffPost’s podcasts. . listen

Richard Carrier on his brother’s podcast. listen

Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn int. by Sasha Lilley (1 hr 47 min). watch

Brief reviews of forthcoming Noam Chomsky documentary Requiem for the American Dream. read

Thom Hartmann on Flint water privatizations blame and on Johnson Controls moving to Ireland. watch

2015 Posts