Categories
-
Recent Posts
Archives
- January 2022
- September 2021
- October 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- March 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
RSS Feeds
Meta
Tag Archives: religion
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
Spirituality and “Inner” Life
I have come across many scientists who say: “I do not subscribe to any religion, but I am a spiritual person.” What exactly is spirituality? Here are a couple of definitions:
The term “spirituality” lacks a definitive definition, although social scientists have defined spirituality as the search for “the sacred,” where “the sacred” is broadly defined as that which is set apart … Read more
Posted in The Science-Minded Citizen
Tagged Body, brain, Definition, development, Dreaming, History, Kurzweil, Logic, Meditation, mind, Mystical, Personal, Physics, Ray, religion, research, science, skeptics, Spirituality, Vinod, Wadhawan
14 Comments
Belief
By Fran Evanisko
(in collaboration with his local Brights Community Cluster)
To my dad, the old days were either better or worse than the present, depending on the point he was trying to make. If he wanted me to appreciate all of the good things I had, he would emphasize how bad things were during the depression. If he wanted me to feel bad about … Read more
Posted in The Science-Minded Citizen
Tagged acceptance, Aristotle, belief, believe, disagreements, Earth, evidence, faith, Galileo, objective, philosophy, proposition, Pythagoras, religion, science, truth, worldviews
2 Comments
This Will Solve the Middle East Crisis
In a recent op-ed piece in the Los Angeles Times, Daniel Sokatch and David N. Myers wrote
… Read moreIsrael has been beset by a pair of controversies relating to its Arab minority: first, the proposal over whether to resettle Bedouin Arabs against their will in state-sponsored towns, and second, the renewed call by Israel’s foreign minister to “transfer” Arab residents of northern Israel to a
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
Leave a comment
Are You Secular, or Secularish?
You don’t have to be an atheist to be secular. In fact, according to a new book, How to Be Secular: A Call to Arms for Religious Freedom, confusion between the two terms may well harm progressives.
How to Be Secular was written by Jacques Berlinerblau, a professor at Georgetown University and director of its Program for Jewish Civilization. In his book, he … Read more
Posted in A Rational Woman
Tagged berlinerblau, nonbelief, religion, secular, secular state, secularism, separation of church and state
3 Comments
My Body, My Abortion
If I were ever going to regret my long-ago decision to have an illegal abortion, it would have been on the ride home afterward. A sudden snowstorm caused the car I was in to slide into a snow bank. I began to bleed heavily and spent the next two days at a hospital in the tiny town of Lordsburg, New Mexico, pretending to the kind … Read more
Posted in A Rational Woman
Tagged abortion, birth control, human, law, motherhood, pro-choice, religion, roe v. wade
4 Comments
The Best (Atheist) Singing Acting Comedian
When I initially watched a video of Tim Minchin performing one of his songs to his own piano-playing, it was love at first sight. His timing is great, his rational philosophy is matchless, he’s delightfully honest about love and human absurdity and parenthood and prejudice and religion. Plus he’s very funny and rather attractive in a self-mocking semi-androgynous way.
Minchin, an Australian, has been touring … Read more
Posted in A Rational Woman
Tagged absurdity, atheist, comedy, performance, rationality, religion, tim minchin
2 Comments
All posts