Category: Letters

Freedom of Thought When I started reading Ronald A. Lindsay’s “Freedom of Thought” (FI, February/March 2009), I was prepared for another crash course in secular humanism. I settled down for a comfortable, academic (if not a bit redundant, maybe even a bit boring)read. By the time I finished, I was embarrassedby my ho-hum attitude. I …

Obama and the Presidency I agree with the principles for guiding government listed by Paul Kurtz and Tom Flynn in “Bravo, President-Elect Obama!” (FI, December 2008/January 2009). However, I disagree with the two points in the Postscript, especially the first regarding changing the primary structure from a state-by-state to a regional basis. One of the …

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 …

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. …

Religion in the Public Square A dire consequence of humanists’failure to “speak up” in public life (“The Secular Conscience” by Austin Dacey, FI, June/July 2008) isthat our opponents have been allowed to portray us as self-serving intellectual libertines compulsively bent on “nay-saying” and “attacking” traditional public values to the point of reducing society to nihilism.The …

A New Agenda The editorial by Paul Kurtz in the February/March 2008 issue of Free Inquiry, “Multi-secularism: The New Agenda,” is outstanding in its message. His arguments for multi-secularism are reasoned and powerful. As he points out, the world is indeed a secular environment and is increasingly seen as such by almost every culture on …

Race and Intelligence Re Peter Singer’s “Should We Discuss Race and Intelligence?” (FI, February/March 2008): I am one of those who would hesitate to approve any study that claims to relate intelligence and race, for the following reasons: The words are vague, and people would not agree on their meanings. Some scholars deny that race …

What Overpopulation Problem? Tom Flynn’s op-ed “Beyond Ponzi Economics” (FI, December 2007/January 2008) describing his concerns about overpopulation is needlessly pessimistic. With so many Bible-believing Christians asserting the Bible to be the Word of God, all that needs to be done is to get Christians to act upon the wise, loving advice of their Lord …

  Dealing with Death In the introduction to “Dealing with Dying” (Free Inquiry, October/November 2007), Tom Flynn wrote: “How strange, then, that, despite the comfort and support their beliefs are said to brin g, most religious people appear to fear dying and dread death no less fiercely than any secular humanist. . . . Or …

Taking Exception I would like to take issue with Norm Allen’s review of my book, African American Atheists and Political Liberation (FI, June/July 2007). According to Allen, I condemn human-ism (“the first book to defend African-American atheists while condemning humanism”) and claim that “atheism accompanied by humanism inevitably leads to human oppression.” Just to get …

Religion and Morality Though I agree with much of the editorial by Paul Kurtz (“The Principles of Fairness contra ‘Gott Mit Uns!’” June/ July 2004), I disagree with enough of what he said to make me uncomfortable with his brand of humanism, that is, “secular humanism.” Dr. Kurtz contrasts principles of fairness with traditional religious …

Free­ Market Humanism My friend Paul Kurtz states that “the free market is not a panacea for every social ill” (“The Free Market with a Human Face,” FI, February/March 2004). I dis­agree, respectfully. If it is grasped that “free market” means “an economic organization in which indi­vidual property rights are fully protected and never sacrificed,” …

Secular and Religious Humanism The cover illustration of the Fall 2002 issue of Free inquiry with the special section “Drawing Clear Boundaries: Secular Vs. Religious Humanism” aptly depicts much of the content that lies within: little men painting artificial boundaries and erecting fences on an otherwise beautiful landscape. Does the humanist/freethought movement really need to …

Debating the War Left and Right I’ve been detecting Free InquIry’s tilt toward political side-taking for a while, but I tried to ignore it. Your Spring 2003 issue, however, was so much politicized as to greatly offend. The editorial statement condemning the Iraqi war, followed by Nat Hentoff and Laurence Britt’s exhortations against U.S. self-protection …

The New Bioethics It doesn’t make sense to me that members of the Religious Right are opposed to human embryonic stem cell research (“The New Bioethics,” FI, Winter 2002/03). Christians should embrace this practice wholeheartedly. As soon as the embryo is sacrificed for his cells, his soul, being sinless, goes straight to heaven, with no …