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At long last, a protracted and often fierce election campaign is over. America has selected its new president. We congratulate Barack Obama, and we pledge our support for his efforts! President-elect Obama will face awesome problems left over from the Bush administration. But let us focus on the positive. Obama is the first person of …

At long last, a protracted and often fierce election campaign is over. America has selected its new president. We congratulate Barack Obama, and we pledge our support for his efforts! President-elect Obama will face awesome problems left over from the Bush administration. But let us focus on the positive. Obama is the first person of …

The secular humanist movement has often been characterized, by friends and foes alike, primarily in terms of its unbelief: its atheism or agnosticism. Unfortunately, this tends to accentuate the negative aspects of secular humanism, giving short shrift to its affirmative ethical outlook. In fact, secular humanists strongly affirm a new planetary ethic. Secularists are making …

In his editorial (“The Two Imperatives of Planetary Ethics,” page 6) Paul Kurtz emphatically calls for secular humanists—and humans generally—to take action against oceanic dead zones and global poverty. Coastal-water eutrophication leads a grim lineup of ecological threats: global warming; freshwater depletion; and contamination by antibiotic residues, synthetic chemicals, and heavy metals, to name only …

A random observation: members and supporters of secular (humanist/atheist/freethought, etc.) organizations are seldom reluctant to voice their disagreement with a particular point of view. This is not necessarily bad. In fact, it can be a desirable trait, at least when contrasted with the submissiveness one sometimes finds among the religious. Nonetheless, a tendency to be …

When people say “Money is the root of all evil,” they don’t usually mean that it is money itself that is the root of evil. Like Paul, from whom the quote comes, they have in mind the love of money. Could money itself, whether we are greedy for it or not, be a problem? Karl …

“Some Americans question religion’s role in politics,” the Pew Forum announced in August 2008, citing new survey evidence that a “narrow majority” of the public agreed that “churches and other houses of worship should keep out of political matters.” Pew speculated that increased skepticism about church involvement in politics reflected “frustration and disillusionment among social …

Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI have adamantly opposed Turkey’s bid to join the European Union on the grounds that Turkey, a Muslim nation, does not belong in Christian Europe. They worry that the i nclusion of Turkey, coupled with Muslim migrations into Europe and the declining European birthrate, will undermine the Christian character …

The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions, by David Berlinski (New York: Random House/Crown Forum, 2008, ISBN 978-0-307-39626) 256 pp. Cloth $23.95. Faith is that quality which enables us to believe what we know to be untrue. —From Boners: Seriously Misguided Facts—According to Schoolkids, by Alexander Abingdon Reviews of putatively serious nonfiction books are …

50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God, by Guy P. Harrison (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 2008, ISBN 978-1-59102-567-2) 354 pp. Paper $16.95. Guy Harrison’s 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God is not an acerbic critique of religion, and it is not a mean-spirited attack on believers. It does not rely …

Religulous, written by Bill Maher, directed by Larry Charles, produced by Thousand Words, distributed by Lionsgate. 101 minutes. Anyone familiar with Bill Maher’s television work should suspect that his documentary about religion would have a certain . . . point of view. His show Politically Incorrect, which began airing on Comedy Central in 1994 (and …

The Reverend Michael Dowd and his wife, science writer Connie Barlow, have lived permanently on the road for six years, sharing their “sacred view of evolution” with religious and secular audiences of all ages. Dowd recently discussed his new book, Thank God for Evolution, with D.J. Grothe, associate editor of Free Inquiry. Free Inquiry: Obviously, …

A Matter of (Quality) Life or Death The title of Nat Hentoff’s article “The Death Brigade” (FI, October/November 2008) is emotionally charged. I am a retired Oregon physician. The Oregon Death with Dignity Act has proven to be one of the best-crafted laws ever devised. None of the worries predicted by those against the law …

Quelle Horreur! Que passé en la terre de laïcité? On a visit to France in September, Pope Benedict XVI called on the country to relax its rather strict separation of church and state—laïcité, or secularism—which other countries in western Europe increasingly try to emulate. The “pontiff” seems to be playing the same card as U.S. …

One of America’s great humanists was the philosopher and psychologist William James (1842–1910). James served as a vital bridge between the humanism of the transcendentalists and the revival of humanism in the 1920s and 30s. His largest contribution to humanism consisted in his eagerness to champion the individual person and the personal perspective, the direct …

The following passages have been selected from the first publication of the essay “What Makes a Life Significant” in Talks to Teachers on Psychology: And to Students on Some of Life& rsquo;s Ideals (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1899), pp. 265–301.—Eds. A few summers ago I spent a happy week at the famous Assembly …

A Challenge to the Fairness Principle of Secular Humanism In “The Principles of Fairness: Progressive Taxation” (Free Inquiry, October/November 2006) Paul Kurtz presented the most convincing ethical argument I have ever read in opposition to current U.S. government income and wealth tax-policies, both of which are becoming increasingly regressive. As a professional sociologist (now retired), …

“Evil visited us yesterday and we don’t know why.” — Ron Taylor, the headmaster of a primary school in Dunblane, Scotland, where, in 1996, a madman murdered sixteen children Because evil is in the mad cell, Not merely the madman outside the cell, Because the devil is not Only in the details but inherent, We inherit an …

Democracy is rarely so successful as when skeptics can openly question whether it is working and when critics can freely debate antidemocratic alternatives. Like science, democracy works best when its own processes are subject to the same practical evaluation it would give everything else. So democracy evolves like science does: basic methods of free inquiry, …

Although the neoconservatives’ moment in Washington may have passed and alliances are slowly being rebuilt, many of the underlying forces that plagued the transatlantic relationship after 2001 have deep roots going beyond both the War on Terror and its neoconservative architects. Considering U.S. foreign policy during this election year, we see a world still struggling …

What does it say about the United States today that this fellowship of the arts and sciences and philosophy is called to affirm knowledge as a public good? What have we come to when the self-evident has to be argued as if—500 years into the Enlightenment and 230-some years into the life of this republic—it …

Traditionally, philosophy and religion exhausted the subject of moral values. In times past, lawmakers striving to establish proper rules for society sought philosophical or theological justifications for their theories. Both philosophy and religion believed in foundational kinds of moral values—the sort of values that ought to be valid for all societies, since, it was held, …

Is democracy the gift of Western civilization? Some commentators, among them enthusiasts of the Bernard Lewis–Samuel Huntington thesis of a “clash of civilizations,” proudly answer yes. Others, anxious to avoid such a clash, say no. One way to support a negative answer is to question the construct of Western civilization itself. In a world becoming …

Like many of the other tools in the toolbox of democratic societies, the value of citizen participation in political decision-making is best judged in terms of the consequences of its deployment in specific circumstances. In some cases, for example, with certain California ballot initiatives, it is arguable that citizen participation has resulted in hasty and …

A saying popular in anarchist circles holds that “Elections are the means by which we choose the sauce with which we will be basted.” Anarchists have a deep problem with claims of representation made by political leaders. Quite simply, no one can truly represent anyone other than themselves, except in some “best guess” approximation of …

The Council for Secular Humanism and the Center for Inquiry (CFI) share a long-standing interest in undertaking legal work in support of our mission, which includes not only maintaining the separation of church and state but also the protection and promotion of fundamental rights. For example, when I was in private practice, I had the …

Until well into the twentieth century, American courts held that only “godly” men and women could serve as jurors and witnesses. It was believed that only such individuals could confirm before God their willingness to fulfill their duties responsibly, hence the use of the familiar phrase “So help me God” in connection with oaths. Nontheists, …

The upcoming general elections in the United States may be the most momentous in several decades. In many ways, the choice between (presumably) Barack Obama and John McCain will be a referendum on the nation’s future at a fundamental level. Free Inquiry does not endorse candidates—indeed, as the journal of a nonprofit organization it cannot …

September 2008 marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of the issuance of Humanist Manifesto II, which was published in 1973. Since I am the author of that document, it is perhaps useful for the historical record to say something about its origin. I was at that time editor of The Humanist. Ed Wilson, editor emeritus of that …

The next century can be and should be the humanistic century. Dramatic scientific, technological, and ever-accelerating social and political changes crowd our awareness. We have virtually conquered the planet, explored the Moon, overcome the natural limits of travel and communication; we stand at the dawn of a new age, ready to move farther into space …

I write these words in July, during a week in which the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Senator Barack Obama, has repeatedly emphasized his Christian faith. For example, Obama has declared that after he placed his “trust in Christ,” he learned that Christ “could set me on the path to eternal life when I submitted …

In the old days, politicians would slip preachers some hundreds under the table, and preachers would deliver the flock on election day. It was borderline illegal, but at least it left the Constitution alone. The same could not be said of the Bush administration’s faith-based initiative, a political bribe to the religious Right that put …

In the middle of July, just as I was about to celebrate the anniversary of the fall of the Bastille, I received a call from an Australian radio station asking if I would comment on the Roman Catholic Church’s sponsorship of World Youth Day. I couldn’t at first guess what this bizarre event in Sydney …

The conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza is on a mission to debate atheists on the topic of the existence of God. Challenging all the prominent ones he can find, he has debated Daniel Dennett, Christopher Hitchens, and Michael Shermer. I accepted his invitation, and the debate took place at Biola University. The name “Biola” comes from …

Sometimes, I will go out of my way to visit one of those outlet malls. Not only do they have some pretty good deals, but often I can find clothing that actually fits me—slightly oversized sweaters or short-sleeve shirts seem to get dumped there for the likes of me. I was driving up I-85 in …

To some readers of Free Inquiry, this atheist’s most controversial columns have examined the growing culture of death—for example, my questioning of who will decide when our quality of life is defined by doctors and hospitals as so irreversibly dismal that termination will be a kindness to us. In this culture, doctor-assisted suicide has become …

Criticizing Chris I read the interview with Chris Hedges (Leading Questions, “Fundamentalist Atheists,” FI, August/September 2008) and was left sorely disappointed that someone with his experience could so easily fall into the trap o f becoming a victimologist. He spent seven years in the Middle East (not continually, I suspect). I spent ten years there. …

Of Apes and Embryos United States. Colorado voters this November will vote on a proposed amendment to the state constitution, the “Human Life Amendment.” If approved, it will define human personhood as beginning at “the moment of fertilization.” In other words, all fertilized human ova would be persons, presumably with the full panoply of human …

Though in his lifetime his poetry was seldom praised, Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) is now ensconced in the pantheon of English poets. His “Ode to the West Wind,” “Ozymandias,” “To a Skylark,” “The Cloud,” “Hymn to Intellectual Beauty,” “Mont Blanc,” “Adonais,” and “Prometheus Unbound” are entrenched in anthologies of literature and studied throughout the world. …

Let passion fill your sails, but let reason be your rudder,” Sherwin Wine wrote. With its rudder and sails working synergistically, this essay will explore an understanding of human meanings in the context of a naturalistic worldview. Human meanings, understood in a humanist framework, provide alternatives to supernatural narratives on one side and a sense …