Category: Humanism at Large

From time to time, people try to save my soul. I’m flattered by their interest in me (or is it interest in their own status with the Almighty?). Besides, they do tend to be awfully persistent, panting to meet me one-on-one if telephone evangelism has not worked. I want to let them down gently. I …

My mother died in April 2020 at theageofninety-six.Since then,I havesaidKaddishonlyahandful of times. Soonafter havinga shivaZoomcallformymom withmyold(and I domeanold)Camp Ramahfriends,onefriend,whoknowsofmycurrent religiousbeliefs,sentmethe followingemailmessage: “So,Mendel,whatdoesadevoutatheistdoaboutKaddish?Askingforafriend,ofcourse.” I responded: “Your ‘friend’ should do like I do: read Kaddish in a language that she/he does not understand so that she/he will not realize how ridiculous it is.” Although Kaddish is recited …

Having read the stories that religious people invent to make themselves feel better, I realized that atheists do not have similar made-up stories to make us feel better. Here is my vision of what the afterlife might be for nonbelievers. The next time someone says to you, “You can go to Hell,” the correct response …

Since its “rediscovery” in recent decades, Yeaster has become one of the most popular and fastest-growing holidays in the world. It is recognized by national holiday commissions in eighty-seven countries on eleven continents, and under consideration in many others. Why all the fuss over Yeaster? Because it is a celebration of yeast, perhaps the most …

I am a devout atheist. I used to be a theist—perhaps not a devout theist but a theist nonetheless. I became a theist at a very young age as a result of people whom I trusted telling me that God exists and convincing me that the existence of God was necessary to explain the world …

We continue with more exclusive transcripts from the National Association of Voice Activated Therapists that we think exemplify the successful integration of religious belief in therapy. As in our previous installment, these are recordings of quarter-hour telephone therapy sessions from the 1990s, on which the statute of limitations for libel and invasion of privacy has …

People who reply “Happy holidays” to a “Merry Christmas” cheer have been caught in their own trap. When secular therapists boycotted any hint of religion because it was not evidence-based, they left themselves wide open to reproof by scientific study. And by a two-to-one margin, these studies report better outcomes when religion is indeed integrated …

Dateline: Baghdad Archaeologists have uncovered an ancient scroll purporting to be a legal brief drafted on behalf of the biblical Job. The discovery has created a stir in biblical and legal circles. Scholars surmise Job feared his cursing God would serve to make Satan’s case in the wager over Job’s faithfulness. So instead he sued …

Noah had no idea how old he really was, but since he was certainly the oldest person he knew it sometimes seemed like he must be six hundred, so that’s what he claimed as his age. Eventually he’d really come to believe that number. It’s what he told his eventual biographer. When the bad dreams …

Tim Tebow’s attempt to play Major League Baseball (MLB) was obstructed recently when he broke a bone in his hand while swinging a bat. An injured minor-league baseball player wouldn’t normally make national news. Tebow, however, is not a typical case. Tebow’s fame comes not from baseball but from football. His dramatic victories, combined with …

I’ve never been to one, but I imagine that Bible theme parks are amazing creations. Built for the glory of God and the edification of human beings, they are devoted to showing the wonders of God’s creation and teaching visitors truths from the Bible. One of the most famous of these parks—or infamous, perhaps, to …

How to ensure, if asked to proffer a prayer, that one will never be so asked again.

At last we can settle whether God exists—so long as God doesn’t chicken out.

Finally, the deity consents to an interview.

Yes, the evidence for the theological Christ is weak. But it simply doesn’t follow that there is no historical person behind it. Were that the case, virtually no person in the ancient world would have existed.

“To imply that the supernatural and clearly nonexistent character known to us as Jesus, the son of God, was based on a real person named “Yeshua” reeks of desperation.”

“I speculate as to what it must have been like for those learned men who first wrote down the legends they had gathered from many sources as they decided which ones were true and which false.”

“It was a long
journey, but we had made it all the way from Earth to Pluto to Limburger
heese to God.”

A modest proposal to take corporate personhood to its illogical conclusion.

“How much variety in types of politics can exist consistent with humanism?”

Looking back at a life that has moved from a dependent Catholicism to an autonomous humanism.

A doorway conversion conversation goes other than as planned.

At long last, a look at the Garden of Eden story from the serpent’s perspective.

Santa Claus is described in many stories as knowing whether children are “naughty or nice.” This is bothersome for two reasons.

The Fifteen Commandments according to one secular humanist.

Modern humans (Homo sapiens) evolved but two hundred thousand years ago, or in about 1/18,000 (0.006 percent) of the time that Earth has existed.

Looking for guidance in life? First, make sure you know who your friends are!

In this article, we will explore some hypotheses about the origin and attributes of an entity whose importance to earthlings ranges from contemplation every waking hour to absolutely zero impact.

Mainstream Texas educators and scientists have been ineffectual in persuading legislators, much less the Textbook Committee’s majority, to desist from “kidnapping” real history and science. Here, I add ridicule to try inducing objectivity.

Recently, I read a transcript of a debate on the resurrection in which the conservative Christian debater Michael Horner said the following: “God doesn’t send anyone to hell. . . . We each have the number one choice to make in our life, and that is, do we want to commence a relationship with the …

I recently encountered a YouTube commenter who posted: “I would never rely on the words of an atheist, no matter how much of an expert he is.” Of course, I had to reply. “Why?” I wrote, “Is it simple religious bigotry, or your own ignorance about what it means to be an atheist? I suspect …

Several years ago, I held a position at Nipissing University in Canada that involved working with students to improve their writing skills. At the time, all students admitted to the publicly funded university had to take a writing competency test, and I typically used the student’s test as a starting point for our work together. …

  “The First Amendment guarantees to each of us the right to practice the religion of our choice, or no religion at all. And let us remember, no matter how we identify ourselves, religious or nonreligious, we are all equally respected members of the American family. So, again, welcome to Washington. Welcome to the Mall. …

I’m Mark Twain. Those of you who may have heard of me probably know that I was buried in 1910, and not prematurely. I can’t blame them; I was dead. You may be wondering why this old man has come back to life. Oh, I know I’m supposed to wait until Jesus’s second coming. But …

On July 24, 2011, my home state of New York became the sixth—and by far the largest—state to legalize same-sex marriage. The historic bill, called the Marriage Equality Act, was approved by a 33–29 vote in the State Senate amid a whirlwind of drama. After passing the State Assembly (as it did in 2007 and …

I was about to leave work for a few days to attend a humanist conference. I was standing around the watercooler talking with a coworker who asked, “So where are you going?” “To a conference,” I answered. “On what?” she asked. “Humanism,” I replied. “What’s that?” she asked. I thought I was ready for this …

Some politically minded Christians, having scoured the American Constitution and found neither the word God nor the word of God, have settled on the reference to a “ Creator” that appears in the Declaration of Independence as a wedge to drive home their larger point that the United States is a Christian nation. These Christians …

Say you are a religious believer and you’ve just read The Moral Landscape by Sam Harris. Let’s further say that you are persuaded by Harris’s characteristic clarity and forceful writing that there are right and wrong scientific answers in moral decision-making and that there are scientifically demonstrable better and worse ways of affecting the well-being …

Getting out of my car at the local gas station, I was greeted by a friendly “Hello.” I returned the acknowledgment with an equally friendly reply. Without another thought, I began the steps required to fill my tank. Once the gas was flowing, I tightened my coat and leaned back against my car. “How are …

Christmas is a perennial problem for secularists: the tender sensibilities of the Christian majority are grievously offended by neutral phrases like “Happy Holidays” and “Season’s Greetings,” yet the same majoritarians seem unmoved by the nonreligious minority’s reciprocal displeasure with the obsessively repeated “Merry Christmas.” It’s been a long time since this country’s population could be …