Category: Op-Ed

If you need proof that the secular humanist and (for lack of a better term) religious humanist communi­ties have taken separate paths, consider Paul Geisert and Mynga Futrell’s pro­posal that humane nonreligious people call themselves “Brights.” In their guest editorial (see p. 20) they report that their idea is enjoying broad acceptance. There’s no reason …

For me at least, it is still hard to speak or even think clearly about the terrible events of a year ago. The sheer complexity of the tangled political, legal, military, strategic, theological, and philosophical ques-tions—about international politics and the role of religion, about the goals, strategies, and costs of a new kind of war, …

For good or ill, the late Stephen Jay Gould had a huge influence on American scientific culture, and on balance the good came out on top. His powerful voice will echo on for a long time. Although he and I disagreed about much, we shared much, too, including a spellbound delight in the wonders of …

The “Under God” and Chaplaincy Plaintiff Speaks Out Why did I do it? The answer is easy: our current system is wrong. We have rules, and we’re supposed to abide by them, but we haven’t been abiding by them at all in the arena of the relationship between government and citizens. We’ve taken a purely …

Athough I hesitate to criticize whoever is responsible, I cannot help feeling that the Universe is just a little too—ostentatious. Perhaps we should thank the Taliban for finishing the task the Crusades began nine hundred years ago—proving beyond further dispute that Religion is incompatible with Civilization. Religion is a disease promoted by starvation, because hungry …

Among the continuing Ashcroft-Bush serial violations of the Bill of Rights, one has increasingly aroused editorial writers, constitutional scholars, and other citizens across the political spectrum. Under the elastic designation “enemy combatants,” the administration is holding two American citizens—with more to come—in military brigs and without charges, access to a lawyer, or the right to …

In bioethics as in other areas of ethical debate, arguments very often circle back to our intuitions—those almost automatic responses we have to whether something “feels” right or wrong. But where do these intuitions come from, and how much reliance should we place on them? Some unusual recent research has cast new light on the …

When I was a schoolboy in England, the term Christendom was still in use. It featured mainly in history classes and in archaic sermons, but the presumption of “civilization” as Christian (even more than as “Western”) was still half-alive in the minds of authority. So were the corresponding terms for the less fortunate or enlightened, …

If present trends continue, it seems that Americans currently face the prospect of spending nearly half of their adult life between the ages of eighteen and fifty-nine single (with no particular sex partner) or in dating relationships. The age at first marriage is rising, divorce is increasingly likely, and the rates of remarriage are declining.1 While …

I’ve just put the final touches on the second draft of a play that Center for Inquiry–Metro New York was to produce in November, and I feel comfortable enough with the material finally to copyright it. U.S. law copyrights a work the moment it is created, so technically my piece is already protected. But for …

A guiding principle for decision making Genetic scientists predict that we will one day be able to ratchet gene expression up and down rheostatically, not only to evade inherited illness and disability but to alter physical appearance and function, retard the aging process, enhance cognition and perhaps even talent, and shape personality and behavior in …

WAR IN IRAQ OP-ED On the Eve of War I write this on March 18, 2003, on the eve of war, haunted by my countryman W.H. Auden’s lines in “September 1, 1939.” I sit in one of the dives On Fifty-second Street Uncertain and afraid As the clever hopes expire . . . I know …

Edward Tabash Paul Kurtz and other Free Inquiry editors apparently disapprove of war with Iraq under all circumstances (see his editorial in the Spring 2003 issue and the slightly different version online). I disagree with his absolute rejection of military force when faced with a dictator as dangerous as Saddam Hussein. But I write under …

Concerning Iraq, most mainstream American media now stand guilty of failing to raise the issue of aggressive war. On September 20, 2002, George W. Bush told Congress that under his presidency the United States can and will attack nations of his selection even though they are not about to attack us. Since that day the …

It is fortunate that the world’s timeline worked out such that Attila the Hun and his rapacious hordes were long dead prior to the dawning of an age in which they might have gained access to nuclear weapons. It is also fortunate that Albert Speer thought nuclear weapons so longterm and speculative a project that …