The Secular Spectrum
The best thing we can do for addicts is make them feel empowered to take control of their lives. The religious component of recovery does the exact opposite. Read more
The best thing we can do for addicts is make them feel empowered to take control of their lives. The religious component of recovery does the exact opposite. Read more
Foundation Beyond Belief has announced an emergency fund drive in response to a devastating 7.8 magnitude quake in Ecuador. Read more
Caption: Image of man thinking about religion, courtesy of Cerina Gillilan. Imagine the following scenario: you have been raised in a deeply evangelical household. From an early age, your parents taught you to pray daily and told you that the purpose and meaning of life were found in God. Attending Sunday school reinforced this message. So did the television that your family watched, the books that they gave you to read, and the music to which they encouraged you... Read more
After the publication of On the Origin of Species, religious naturalists found themselves in a pickle. The tide of scientific thought had turned heavily toward evolution, with its wealth of compelling evidence. Yet natural selection was anathema to the devout. Random variation? Survival of the fittest? Where did God fit in when it was every species for itself, with no benevolent Creator as a guiding force? Thus was born theistic evolution, a school of thought that seemingly died at the end... Read more
“What is the meaning of life?” I struggled with this question throughout my teenage years and young adulthood. My parents tried to convey their meaning of life to me when I was a teenager. Yet my contrarian streak prevented me from really listening to them. Instead, I thought and talked about the meaning of life with my friends. I remember long conversations when we would discuss and debate this topic with each other. I particularly remember one conversation when... Read more
Interfaith literacy is an understanding of how different people live their beliefs and values and how those values influence our common home. Read more
(image credit) How do we make America safer from suffering the same kind of terrible terrorist attacks committed by ISIS in Brussels? Donald Trump proposed closing our borders completely, and doing “a lot more than waterboarding” to suspects. Not to be outdone, Ted Cruz wants to “patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized.” These are great ideas. At least, if we want to help ISIS achieve its goals, and make America much less safe. ISIS would love... Read more
Charles Darwin knew how explosive his theories would be—that’s why he sat on them for more than twenty years. He polished them to a fine gloss, but it wasn’t until Alfred Russel Wallace sent him a paper setting out his own startlingly similar theory of natural selection that Darwin got off his already-celebrated ass and completed On the Origin of Species. Being a man of honor, Darwin invited Wallace to jointly present his paper with a summation of his own... Read more
Several years ago, Keith bought a set of very old encyclopedias. I can certainly understand the impulse to unload an obsolete and space-hogging source of information in this Age of Google. Still, these 1934 encyclopedias are fossils from a bygone era, embedded not in amber, but on fragile paper. One night when I was still a habitual night owl, I thumbed through the tiny volumes of Funk and Wagnalls New Standard Encyclopedia, with its delightful Art Deco gold design embossed... Read more
As secular people, we know that there is no afterlife, and we need to make our lives successful in the here and now. At the same time, it’s important to be careful about the vast majority of success literature, which is filled with pseudoscience and woo, and instead focus on actual research-based interventions that can help us succeed. This piece delves into science-based strategies for improving our lives through managing our minds that we as secular people can apply... Read more
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