The most prominent US humanist organizations, the Council for Secular Humanism and the American Humanist Association, have appeals for donations to help Haiti, through secular channels. (CSH site; AHA site.) In the interests of equal opportunity cynicism, though, I have to wonder how much of this is motivated by a need to demonstrate that the … Secular aid and charity

It’s nice to know that we can count on Religious Right figures to say something grossly stupid at regular intervals. This time it’s Pat Robertson, talking about how Haitians are paying for a past pact with the devil. I guess liberal believers and the nonreligious can use the sense of outrage this produces for a … Haunted by demons

I keep trying to make sense of recurrent demands for “respect” of religious traditions that come from politically liberal and leftish circles, whom you wouldn’t immediately think of as affirming ways of life in which religious faith is central. But then, these days “left” often means the multicultural left, the postmodern animal, rather than the … Multicultural Respect

Here’s the BBC headline: “Danish police shoot intruder at cartoonist’s home.” The intruder appears to a Muslim who wanted to kill the cartoonist, who is one of those who did one of the Danish Muhammad cartoons a few years ago. As with any terror attack, like the idiot underwear bomber, this’ll just feed into a … Danish cartoonist assaulted

Here’s a nice way to start a new year. One thing you have to say about Jack Chick is that he’s not political. Quite a few Protestant conservatives have made a political alliance with Catholic right-wingers. But Chick denounces everybody that disagrees with his narrowminded craziness. There’s no need to worry about him being entangled … New Chick Tracts

Chris Hedges is one of the political writers that I like. (Even though he sometimes goes over the top, and he does too much moralizing.) Here is a short description of his faith, from his book American Fascists, bashing the religious right: God is inscrutable, mysterious and unknowable. We do not understand what life is … Faith and hope

In Morality Without God, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong argues against the popular belief that without acknowledgment of God, morality would collapse. He elaborates a form of godless morality centered on avoiding harm, points out that nonbelieving individuals are typically decent people and that secular societies do not collapse into anarchy. He also shows how religious foundations for … Morality Without God

Merry Christmas, everyone. I have to admit, I have a soft spot for Christmas. It’s all about childhood associations, naturally. The tree, the presents— growing up in Turkey, it was pleasant American holiday within my family. There was nothing religious about it. Every December, books about Santa, reindeer, and baby Jesus would come out along … Merry Christmas

Every December in the US, we get to read news about conflicts over religious displays in public spaces. Some local governments negotiate the conflict by disallowing all religious displays on public grounds. After all, that just invites lawsuits. But that kind of decision itself can come under fire, particularly if the decision was in response … December fracas

Just for fun, excerpts from two conservative Muslim fatwas (scholarly/legal opinions) about atheists. Why an atheist being a good person does not make sense: Whoever denies the Creator or refuses to worship Him, or joins others in worship with Him, deserves the most severe punishment, because for a man to deny his Creator, or refuse … Fatwas about atheists