Check out the link at the bottom of this post to listen to the interview from Fresh Air today on NPR:



Humanism--the belief that ethics and morality can be vested in rationality, rather than a supernatural deity--might sound like a departure from faith communities and culture, but according to Greg Epstein, it doesn't have to be.



In his new book, Good Without God: What A Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe, Greg Epstein responds to challenges against humanism that spring… Continue

This is one of the funniest blogs I think I've ever seen, courtesy of Mark Pogue:

http://proudatheists.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/in-case-of-rapture-who-will-care-for-your-pets/

Check out the posts in response to it, as well...They are hysterical!! Thanks, Mark!

Morgan inspired me to share my Moment of Truth story! I hope it resonates with some of you and that you find it interesting and helpful in your own process.



I grew up in an EXTREMELY fundamentalist Christian environment (German Lutheran, Missouri Synod) and was brainwashed from as early as I can remember. At 14, I started asking my mother questions she could only answer with "I don't know but God says it's good/bad/not understandable-by-our-fallible-limited-human-minds", etc. These… Continue

This was on NPR today and I thought all you grads might find it especially interesting and inspiring:

The Art of Living

How does one craft a truly meaningful life? What can we learn from the great philosophers on how to live well and beautifully, even when faced with adversity? We ask the big existential questions as we examine the art of living.

Host: Michael Krasny

Guests:

Joshua Landy, associate professor of French, founder and co-director of the Literature and… Continue

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_11584824
My mother sent me the actual article, and I found it online to share with ya'll...Truly disturbing.
Here's an excerpt: It's a book awash in blood, teeming with psychosexual drama and rife with supernatural occurrences, yet the Bible is seldom read like a novel, beginning to end.
They advocate reading the Bible like fiction but treating it like nonfiction. How ludicrous!

Here's an excerpt:

*There was no census of "all the world" (read: the entire Roman Empire) declared by Augustus; at least, if there were, it's not mentioned in any Roman documents that we've uncovered so far. The census was of Judea, Samaria, and Idumaea--not Galilee (where Luke puts Joseph and Mary). Quirinius used the opportunity to also conduct a census of Syria.

*The notion that each male would have to register in the home town of a remote ancestor is unbelievable. The entire… Continue

I received a twitter about this from DenyReligion.com and thought I'd pass it along:



If you go into almost any hotel room in America, you'll find a copy of the bible. If you go into any bookstore, you'll find many copies. If you've studied religion, you know these books are destructive lures, set there to ensnare innocent bypassers. Religious texts can be very addictive, and those afflicted have been known to fly into buildings, veto life-saving medical research, wage wars, censor… Continue

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/03/04/midmorning1



From Black Sun Journal, Mar 4, 2009:



"Overall, a good interview. The host comes across as somewhat hostile at first. But she’s just throwing the typical objections at him, which gives him a chance to address them, which he does. He dismisses bad arguments and straw-man accusations deftly and with characteristic British… Continue

This interview is interesting...It is not only a revealing look at growing up in Dublin in a strict religious community, but it also reminds us just how damaging and dangerous the practice of celebacy can be.

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103651864

Enjoy!

And this is what so many people are most afraid of...;) I'm going to sin like crazy so I can go back!