No matter how old you get, it’s good to have someone whom you want to grow up to be like. Growing up should always be an ongoing process in front of you, never a completed process behind you. There are a handful of people, some older, some younger, who just by the way they are, remind me of my best aspirations for myself, of the “me” that I’d still like to grow up to be.
Edward Tarte is one of them.
For the past few years, it has been my good fortune and great pleasure to become a close friend of this man of deep conscience and remarkable creativity. He is best known by some of the readers here at Friendly Atheist through his series of more than fifty excellent videos on atheism that he produced specifically for this blog for about a year in 2013, and I would like to introduce the more recent readership to this inspiring resource.
His criticisms of religious beliefs or practices can be incisive, even trenchant, yet he never attacks the person, only the ideas. Even in the midst of an indignant response to a repugnant idea or act, his decency and fairness remain steadfast.
But there is far more to this latter-day Renaissance man than just his videos about atheism. After leaving the Catholic priesthood in the 1960s, he lived a secular life teaching math in middle school and later in high school for many years, and now, at 82 years old, he still tutors many students. He became an atheist about ten years ago. An excellent pianist, he loves music, studies chess with a chessmaster on the other side of the world, is a patron of the arts, sponsors a student of dance, and he is a philanthropist. He is a gift, in one way or another, to everyone he meets.
In July of 2015, Edward reached an impressive milestone by posting his 2,000th video on YouTube. He has several categories of videos including atheism, religion, classical and popular music appreciation (Mr. Music), his own piano performances, math and math/logic puzzles, how to tutor math, chess, and the wisdom and clarity that can come from a long, earnestly-lived, and diligently honest life.
You can enter this video treasure house here.
And while he has different Facebook pages for his various interests — being an ex-priest, playing the piano, self-care, and his love of music — his main one is right here. Feel free to visit him at any or all of them and say hello.
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