Author: Paul Kurtz

The landing of Pathfinder and Rover on Mars and the images transmitted back to Earth are fascinating. They reveal that the planet Mars is similar to our own planet and that analogous processes of evolutionary change have occurred on its surface. They remind us anew of the tremendous powers of science and technology in extending …

If you’ve been a long-time subscriber to FREE INQUIRY, you already know that secular humanism offers more than just a rational critique of religious, transcendental, and paranormal myths. Secular humanism entails positive ethical values that humankind desperately needs; it promotes reason and science as ways of solving human problems. You already know that the unexamined …

The Vanishing American Jew: In Search of Jewish Identity for the Next Century, by Alan M. Dershowitz (Boston, New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1997) 395 pp., $24.95 cloth. The Ashkenazic Jews: A Slavo-Turkic People in Search of a Jewish Identity, by Paul Wexler (Columbus, Ohio: Slavica Publishers, 1993) 306 pp., $19.95 paper. In Defense …

Open-Heart Surgery I recently underwent open-heart surgery. Although I am now rapidly recovering, this near-brush with death has enabled me to reflect on my condition; indeed, on the meaning of life. My recent heart problem was precipitated by a visit to Mexico City in mid-November. We at FREE INQUIRY magazine worked hard with our Mexican colleagues …

This article is adapted from Paul Kurtz’s keynote address to the Thirteenth Congress of the International Humanist and Ethical Union-in Mexico City in November 1996. The theme of the Congress was “Global Humanism and the CyberAge.” It was the first human-ist World Congress held outside of Europe or the United States, and was co-hosted by …