The release of a Greg Epstein’s book, Good Without God, is a welcome resource for anyone who wishes to have more than just a superficial idea of what it means to be a humanist. In his discussion, Epstein reaches out to a wide range of people: nonbelievers, nonreligious, atheists, agnostics, anyone who do does not feel that their morality is derived from a belief in a god. Even the progressively religious can be humanist, or at least friendly allies, since the basic framework for being a humanist is to seek the best in yourself and others, and to believe in your own ability to make a positive difference in the world.
This cool sticker showed up in the mail the other day. Thanks AHA!
I can’t quite bring myself to send you money, but don’t feel bad. I am very selective about my monetary support. I give to causes that directly benefit disabled or disadvantaged people. I was giving for a while to People For the American Way, which I’m sure is how you got my address. But for now, I have to focus on people rather than causes. Regarding humanism, separation of church and state, and higher thinking in general, I have chosen to use my right of free speech to get the word out, so that will have to do for now.
If you ever meet anyone who tells you his or her religion can offer all the answers, run for the hills. Or at least hide your wallet.
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We are all part of an amazing story in that, as Swimme and Berry put it, “every living being of Earth is cousin to every other being.” Our history began with the Big Bang, a “primordial flaring forth”; it continued with this galaxy’s first star, which appeared five billion years later, and the Milky Way’s birthing of our sun five billion years ago. With the formation of Earth a billion years later came the first living cell, and then two billion years after that came new kinds of cells that “invented” both sexual reproduction and the predator-prey relationship. These twin developments led to an ever-quickening spiral of change: from the first multicellular animals, to mammals who could sense their environment and feel emotion, to human self-awareness and the ability to stand upright and use tools, to the domestication of fire and the human creation of myth, agriculture, villages, religion, culture, cities, and eventually to the three universalist religions (Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam), mass migration, liberal democracy, the multinational corporation, and American Idol.
Greg M. Epstein is the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University.
And the people replied…