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Tag Archives: atheism
The End is Near
The following narrative is closely based on a deeply moving conversation I had with “Knut,” an elementary schoolmate whom I’d never forgotten, and with whom I managed to get back in touch just as he was facing his mortality. In this novel excerpt, the grieving narrator, an atheist, is trying to decide her own future.
Knut lives in a fatigued yellow wood-frame bungalow with windows … Read more
The 9 Commandments
Say it’s an extremely hot day, and you’re out in the sun and get a vision. Metaphorically, of course. You ponder what might be on the tablets you’d bring down from a mountain to share with the world, your own version of the ten commandments. Because, obviously, only about four of the so-called Biblical commandments have any value whatsoever in a rational world.
So make … Read more
Those Famous 5 Stages of Grief: Hogwash?
Loss —if we’ve been paying attention and are older than 12—is a recurrent theme in all our lives. You don’t have to identify as a Bright to have dealt with grief or to realize you will face grieving someday.
I’d often read about the so-called five stages of grief, first espoused by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross more than 40 years ago. But when I recently read a … Read more
Posted in A Rational Woman
Tagged acceptance, atheism, Brights, grief, loss, resilience, stages
7 Comments
Whose Afterlife Matters?
Try this thought experiment:
Suppose you knew that, although you yourself would live a normal life span, the earth would be completely destroyed thirty days after your death in a collision with a giant asteroid. How would this knowledge affect your attitudes during the remainder of your life?
That’s what the author of a new book suggests we do. Death and the Afterlife (Oxford) by … Read more
Posted in A Rational Woman
Tagged afterlife, apocalypse, atheism, book review, death, Death and the Afterlife, Kylie's Heel, philosophy, Samuel Scheffler
1 Comment
When Religion Probably Doesn’t Help
“A Rational Woman” is trying something a little different today for the blog. Here are two questions (that I made up to get us started).
Dear Rational Woman:
Q: I read a study some time back that young people who are religious wear seat belts more often than the non-religious, smoke and drink less, eat better, and don’t commit as many crimes. The conclusion of … Read more
Posted in A Rational Woman
Tagged a rational woman, atheism, human development, Kylie's Heel, prayer, Q&A, religion, susan k. perry
9 Comments
13 Neat Things You May Not Know About Humanism
I’m going to share some humanist thoughts and resources I picked up at the 2013 American Humanist Association Conference that may be as new to you as they were to me.
First, though, in brief, what’s humanism? I don’t think I can summarize it better than this statement on the site of the AHA, which you’ll notice shares much in common with The Brights:
… Read moreHumanism
Posted in A Rational Woman
Tagged AHA, atheism, conference, Dan Savage, ethical, feminism, freethought, grief, humanism, Humanist Press, katha pollitt, lawyers, LGBTQ, Luis Granados, physicist, religion, Richard Dawkins, Sean M. Carroll, secularism, susan k. perry, writing
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