Rights, Gays, and Otherwise

Secular humanism has a long, proud history as a champion of the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons. As Ronald A. Lindsay notes in his introductory article, in the West the focus of that activism has shifted over decades from protecting the mere legality of homosexual behavior to fighting for—and often …

Secular humanism has been identified with support for gay rights for decades. The Council for Secular Humanism was founded in 1980 in part to counter the influence of religion on law and public policy and to promote fundamental human rights. In the context of sexual relations, this agenda resulted in a commitment to work to …

Those who oppose gay marriage believe deeply that marriage is sacred and divine, a blessed sacrament between man and woman as ordained in the Bible. If they are right, then the entire concept of marriage has no place in our civil society, which recognizes the separation between the sacred and the secular, between church and …

In Africa, issues concerning sex are treated with utmost secrecy. Talking openly about one’s sexual life is taboo. Discussing sexual feelings, acts, and experiences in public is frowned upon. Little or no sex education takes place in African schools or homes. Parents and teachers are reluctant to teach children about matters relating to sexuality because …

Malawi is a landlocked country situated in Southern Africa and bordered by Tanzania, Mozambique, and Zambia. When Malawi became independent of Britain in 1964, its constitution enshrined a bill of rights. However, when the country reorganized as a single-party state two years later, a new constitution was promulgated, and the bill of rights was removed. …

Since its emergence from the clutches of apartheid, South Africa has attempted to insert itself back into global politics without raising eyebrows. The “legacy” of apartheid is not so much a memory as it is the nation’s current condition. All too often, political promises are defined by their failure to bear fruit; disappointment remains constant. …

Throughout 2010, Free Inquiry is publishing special features to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the founding of the Council for Secular Humanism. In the pages that follow, Timothy J. Madigan and David Koepsell, two figures who were instrumental in the growth and development of the Council, reminisce. —The Editors Growing up in Buffalo, New York, …

Tom Flynn recently offered me the opportunity to write about my four years as head of the Council for Secular Humanism (from late 2003 to 2008). To sweeten the deal, he assured me that I could write whatever I wanted. Well, such an offer could hardly go unanswered! But as I thought back on my …

I have been following faith healers for several years, fascinated by the psychology of those who attend and by the performances offered by the “healers.” Of particular interest has been Walter Vinson Grant Jr., who as W. V. Grant achieved worldwide fame in the 1980s and 1990s. During that rise to fame, skeptics looked into …

Center for Inquiry CEO Ronald A. Lindsay and I will be taking turns in the magazine’s lead editorial slot. (His editorial “Expressing One’s Views on Religion” appeared in the August/September 2010 issue.) In this issue, I’d like to open a dialogue about the varying meanings secular humanism can hold. What does the lifestance we share …

S.T. Joshi is a prolific author and critic credited with almost single-handedly bringing H.P. Lovecraft, once denigrated as a mere pulp writer, into the literary mainstream and winning him recognition as the father of modern horror fiction. Joshi’s restored original texts are available from Arkham House as well as in a series of annotated collections …

The Florida Supreme Court has cleared the way for Council for Secular Humanism v. McNeil to proceed to trial. It denied the defendants’ motion seeking a review of the Council’s recent appellate court victory. The suit challenges the use of Florida taxpayer dollars to pay for the faith-based substance abuse transitional housing programs under contract …

Analyzing the Affirmations With a skosh of trepidation I take exception to Paul Kurtz’s exceptional, comprehensive “Affirmations of Humanism.” I dissent not just from several specifics butalso itsgeneral tone and purpose: so many “We believe . . .” (eg., “We believe in the cultivation of moral excellence”). These theses—although mailed and not nailed—seem, both in …

The argument about whether or not to have a memorial mosque in the vicinity of the Ground Zero of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on downtown New York City is currently being conducted on lines that are distressingly simplistic. As with some similar disputes in Europe, it seems to pit chauvinistic and xenophobic forces …

From the very moment of its invention by Jesus of Nazareth, Christianity has been in need of reinvention. So unpalatable was the religion of Jesus that the overwhelming success of Christianity could not have been possible had it not been for the ingenuity of the Catholic Church. To triumph, the Church had to obscure the …

What is going on in the drug and device industry? Hardly a month goes by without a medication or medical device being identified as having dangerous side-effects, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) holding hearings, lawyers taking out ads looking for victims, class-action suits getting filed, or patients being left to talk with their equally …

Last May, a team of scientists led by Craig Venter announced that they had created a synthetic form of life: a bacterium with a genome designed and created from chemicals in a laboratory. They thus brought us a step closer to an ancient alchemists’ dream: the artificial creation of life. The new bacterium, nicknamed “Synthia,” …

Since the 1950s, I’ve been reporting on education from the pre-kindergarten to college and university levels. But I’ve been remiss in not exploring law schools—though I’ve lectured at some of them. I will report on them from now on, however—after sixty-nine of the two hundred law school deans in the country wrote the Senate Judiciary …

What happens to the soul when the brain is split in half? Well, if you define the soul as a person’s essential personality, then science can give an answer. Remarkably, patients whose brain hemispheres have been surgically separated act as though they have two separate consciousnesses residing in the same body. What’s more, it seems …

Andrew Dickson White (1832–1918) did more than any other American to impress upon late – nineteenth – and twentieth-century thought the idea that science and religion are enemies locked in combat on an almost military scale. Ironically, this was precisely the opposite of his intent. Born on November 7, 1832, in Homer, New York, into …

Meet the latest critics of the New Atheists: the old humanists. It is not enough, they say, to take a stand against religionwe must stand up something in its place. Humanists are right to think that there is more to life than denying God but wrong to think that they are the ones to provide …

In Part 1 (June/July 2010), Ibn Warraq chronicled a series of seemingly disingenuous comments by scholars of the Qur’an insisting that their findings regarding the history of the Qur’an and Islam itself have no bearing on the truth or falsity of the religion. He referred to a letter in the New Statesman by scholar Michael …

The great majority of believers in God would answer my title question with a resounding “On the contrary!” Far from destroying our duty of compassion, they’d say, the existence of God gives us a duty to act compassionately toward others. Some would go so far as to say that it also works in reverse: a …

Jean-Paul Sartre was not a tranquil personality. When he found himself disagreeing with other intellectuals of his time—which was often—his first instinct was to dash off an amphetamine fueled essay in defense of his position. One such essay, “Existentialism Is a Humanism,” was written in 1946 during one of his attempts to unseat Martin Heidegger …

Christmas is a perennial problem for secularists: the tender sensibilities of the Christian majority are grievously offended by neutral phrases like “Happy Holidays” and “Season’s Greetings,” yet the same majoritarians seem unmoved by the nonreligious minority’s reciprocal displeasure with the obsessively repeated “Merry Christmas.” It’s been a long time since this country’s population could be …

You cant get The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back by Charles Pellegrino at a bookstore. Amazon has used copies at ridiculous prices. A library might have it; I have a review copy. The publisher, according to the author, has recalled most copies not to the warehouse but for pulping and recycling (I …

The Secular Outlook: In Defense of Moral and Political Secularism, by Paul Cliteur (London: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4443-3521-7) 328 pp. Paper $29.95. Secularism is one of those concepts that is widely used without a clear notion of what it is. Dutch humanist philosopher Paul Cliteur’s The Secular Outlook: In Defense of Moral and Political Secularism …

 The Loser Letters: A Comic Tale of Life, Death, and Atheism, by Mary Eberstadt (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010, ISBN 978-1-58617-431-6) 148 pp. Paper $13.95. Losing Our Religion: The Liberal Media’s Attack on Christianity, by S.E. Cupp (New York: Threshold Editions, 2010, ISBN 978-1-4391-7316-9) 269 pp. Cloth $24.00. Shortly after the 1994 United Nations …

Cognitive scientist George Lakoff, writing in his 2004 book Don’t Think of an Elephant, attacked George W. Bush’s signature No Child Left Behind (NCLB) education “refor m” legislation. NCLB instituted a regime of testing, not only of students but also of schools. “Failing” schools could have their funding cut back. Wrote Lakoff: “Less funding in …

One last time. I saw her, alone, in the Garden: Standing. In white. She was without a sign. “Why is that?” “I have given in . . . ” she said. “Why is that?” “No one dares to . . . ” she said. “Humans are like that,” I said. “Humans—” she said. “What, now?” …