This is a piece of her review of Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe:

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.

Well done.

American Humanist Association

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.

Best of luck… and cheers!

Sarah Silverman Interview On Larry King Live 04/20/2010

She and Larry both confess being agnostics at the end of the clip.

One of my favorite passages from Chapter 1:

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.

…

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.

http://www.400monkeys.com/God/

Use it frequently and try to commit as much as you can to memory.  It should be helpful as you continue to pursue truth and good in life.

Best of luck!

Sensible night, appropriate night

Snow on ground, left and right

Round yon purchase of decorative things

Tolerant rewrite of carols to sing

Function with relative ease,

Function with relative ease.

That was the lovely rendition of this traditional Christmas hymn rewritten for the masses. Shirley actually has a beautiful voice, but it was more hilarious than moving. I like this show because it’s clever and Joel McHale is funny as Jeff Winger (also see “The Soup“). Best of all, the show acknowledges every week that the world is made up of many different types of people, and this week, many different religious philosophies including “none” (Comparative Religion on Hulu).

Turns out, Shirley is a Christian (WWBJD – What would Baby Jesus Do?), Jeff is agnostic, Britta is an atheist, Troy is a Jehovah’s Witness, Abed is Muslim, and Annie’s a Jew. Oh, and Pierce is part of some dope smoking cult with Buddha bongs.  And don’t forget about non-denominational Mr. Winter!  They do a really nice riff off of each characters’ beliefs while skewering religion in general and essentially highlighting what little sense it makes.  Funny aside from Shirley when she noted that Britta brought something to the party that represented what she believes in… nothing.

Check it out.  Worth your time and good for a few laughs.

Cast:

Yvette Nicole Brown as Shirley
Danny Pudi as Abed
Gillian Jacobs as Britta
Joel McHale as Jeff
Alison Brie as Annie
Chevy Chase as Pierce
Donald Glover as Troy

Bonus:

Anthony Michael Hall as the Bully

The comment:

Religion has been used as a tool to legitimize and uphold the social order for thousands of years. If you don’t believe me just look at the role of religion in ancient Egypt where the Pharaoh was regarded as a living God. People are inherently selfish and self-interested and I’ve discovered first hand that religious people are no less selfish than atheists; they are simply less honest about it ….

Fantastically well done.  How have I not seen it before?!  I ended up spending two hours there.  Way cool.  Check it out.

From the geniuses at someecards.com