Putting Away Childish Things

  • Putting Away Childish Things (August 13, 2006)
    A brief introduction to the series.
  • No Oracles (August 14, 2006)
    Supernatural methods of divining knowledge do not work; we must resort to the laborious, but effective, technique of science if we wish to understand the world around us.
  • No Commandments (August 16, 2006)
    Religious morality’s primary focus is on obeying for the sake of obeying, but humanistic morality recognizes that doing as one is told is always a means to an ethical end and never an end in itself.
  • No Heavens (August 18, 2006)
    Our hopeful dreams of a heavenly afterlife are wishful thinking and degrade the value of this life; if we want to live in a paradise, it falls to us to create it ourselves.
  • No Messiahs (August 20, 2006)
    Depending on exalted authority figures is a recipe for disaster. Instead, human beings must work together to govern themselves and exercise proper skepticism of those in power.
  • No Miracles (August 22, 2006)
    All supernatural beliefs, including those detailed in the previous posts, spring ultimately from the desire for easy answers and easy control of the world through magic. In reality the answers are not easy, but their pursuit is no less worthwhile.