Among German intellectuals of the generation before and after 1900, there was widespread interest in Eastern religions. Jacob Burckhardt expresses one point of attraction: “Not without cause do the Indians worship Shiva, the God of destruction. Filled with the joy of destruction, wars clear the air like thunderstorms, they steel the nerves and restore the […]
Burckhardt on Shiva, the god of destruction Read More »
The first issue of The Truth Seeker was published in 1873 and “counted among its illustrious subscribers and progressive writers Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, Clarence Darrow, and Robert Ingersoll.” The latest issue includes my article “No Reformation for Islam, Please.” To download the issue, go to this page at The TruthSeeker and
The Truth Seeker — free thought magazine Read More »
My “Are Reason and Faith Compatible?” is now republished at Britain’s Church and State site: “Suppose we grant, for the sake of argument, that evidence and logic make it 80 percent likely that a monotheistic god exists. … but there is nonetheless a gap between what the arguments show and the full belief-commitment that most
“Are Reason and Faith Compatible?” republished at Church and State Read More »
A man arrives at the gates of heaven. St. Peter asks, “Religion?” The man says, “Methodist.” St. Peter looks down his list, and says, “Go to room twenty-eight, but be very quiet as you pass room eight.” Another man arrives at the gates of heaven. “Religion?” “Baptist.” “Go to room eighteen, but be very quiet
Humor — Religion and the afterlife Read More »
My “Making Life Meaningful Without Religion” is now republished at Britain’s Church and State site: “… There’s a half-serious taxonomy that divides Christians into three types: Christmas Christians, Good Friday Christians, and Easter Sunday Christians. Christmas is about celebrating birth, benevolence, and the bounties of life. Good Friday is about suffering, sacrifice, and destruction. Easter
“Making Life Meaningful Without Religion” republished [Church and State] Read More »
My “On Natural Morality and Religious Amoralism” is now republished at Britain’s Church and State site: “… religious belief is often autobiographical. That is, all religions have many messages and practices — some peaceful, some violent, and so on — and individuals choose among them to put together a personal religion that reflects the morality
“On Natural Morality and Religious Amoralism” [CHURCH and STATE] Read More »
In his “Letter to the Americans,” bin Laden issued a call for morality: “We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honour, and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gamblings, and trading with interest.” Americans’ failure to cleanse themselves of these sins is one of the justifications bin Laden
The Wages of Sin, according to Osama bin Laden Read More »
Theologian Richard Niebuhr called Friedrich Schleiermacher “the Kant of modern Protestantism.” Here is Schleiermacher himself: “The essence of religion is *the feeling of absolute dependence*. I repudiated rational thought in favour of a theology of feeling.” For more on Schleiermacher and his contributions to postmodernism, see p. 57 of my Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism from Rousseau
Friedrich Schleiermacher in Explaining Postmodernism Read More »