Humanism and a Theology of Liberation (Without Strangling Priests)
Humanism does not require the death of God. All it requires is the affirmation of human freedom. William R. Jones ONE OF THOSE VICIOUS CIRCLES The French philosopher Denis Diderot, an Enlightenment era...
View ArticleReligious Arguments: Where Are the Grownups?
RABBITS In November of 1726 news reached London that a physician had assisted a woman named Mary Tofts as she gave birth to . . . a rabbit. The rabbit, unfortunately, died. Mary Tofts got quite a lot...
View ArticleInformed Eclecticism: Why Unitarian Universalism Needs Wing Nuts
The Very Hungry Syncretism Orthodox Unitarian Universalism is syncretic, in theologian-lingo. In philosophy and the arts it’s called eclecticism, and I prefer that term because it’s a bit closer to...
View ArticleSome Basics About #Humanism
Definition: Humanism is an evidence-based value system dedicated to freedom of thought and the promotion of the well-being of the planet and living things. Humanism in Seven Points People matter more...
View ArticleHow Secular is “Religious”?
We don’t know how the ready access to information will ultimately change the human condition, but religions are already feeling the heat. A person today can, with a few keystrokes, discover facts about...
View ArticleIntegrity and the Big Hole in Wholeness
You’ve heard it; you’ve thought it; perhaps you’ve even said it: “She is SO together!” “How does everybody else keep it together?” “I SHOULD get myself together.” “I can’t get it together!” “Why can’t...
View ArticleFive Reasons to Congregate in a Congregation
Why bother joining a congregation rather than, oh, say, a bowling league? 1. To meet people. OK, yes it’s true that you will meet new people by joining a bowling league as well, but by joining a...
View ArticleWords, Words, and the Word Was With . . .
In his play Hamlet, Shakespeare has the character Polonius ask Hamlet, “What do you read, My Lord?” “Words, words,” Hamlet replies. Polonius says, “But what is the matter, my lord?” “Between who?” “I...
View ArticleThe “Trinsics”: Where are You Coming From?
Psychologist Gordon Allport argued that there are two types of religious experience—the extrinsic and the intrinsic. Extrinsic religious orientation has little to do with religion and lots to do with...
View ArticleGrace for the Rest of Us
Grace. Some say it before meals. Some have it for a name. Grace-ful people have grace in abundance. It’s also theological concept, and that’s where I run into trouble. When people learn that I’m not a...
View ArticleFear, Hope, and Hell In A Hand Basket
I learned to type on a manual typewriter. There’s wasn’t an exclamation point (!) on typewriters. In order to type that character, one had to type a period (.) then backspace, then type an apostrophe....
View ArticleWhy Would Anyone Want to be a Minister?
My mother says I was born serious. Could be. For example, I remember that when I was six or seven one of the neighborhood kids slapped me. I turned the other cheek. Because . . . well, I went to Sunday...
View ArticleSome Slack for the Tense on the Holidays
I know, I know—some people just love the holiday season—“the hap-, hap-, happiest time of the year” and all that. Good for you. Some of us don’t feel so well this time of year. Perhaps it is the...
View ArticleRedefining #Religion: You Might Be a Religious Naturalist
The Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion defines religion this way: From the Latin relegare (“to bind fast”), typically the term refers to an institution with a recognized body of communicants who...
View ArticleSome Accumulated Wisdom for Seminarians
One of the best aspects of being a senior minister is working with ministers-in-training. I have learned far more from seminarians than they have learned from me. Here are some things I’ve gleaned over...
View ArticleLove Thy Neighbor As . . .
There’s an old Buddhist story that goes like this: Once a mother found her baby extremely ill. She was afraid it would die. She had heard that the Buddha was teaching nearby, so she grabbed up her baby...
View ArticleOn Prayer
Emily Dickinson wrote, Of Course I prayed And did God Care? He cared as much as on the Air A Bird had stampd her foot And cried “Give Me” (#376) I grew up in a praying family. My parents both got on...
View ArticleHumanist Jesus
The changing religious landscape in the US is a bit hard to get one’s head around. For the sake of clarity, let’s imagine ourselves in the midst of something I’ll call the Average Christian Church,...
View Article#Humanism: Who We Are; What We Do; Why It Matters
I. Who We Are Religions and philosophies serve as heuristic devices for life, providing shape and meaning to what otherwise may seem a shapeless, chaotic rush. For some, religious views are chosen by...
View ArticleHumanist Ritual, Part One
God must be replaced with a symbol capable of generating a different and more productive response and organizational pattern to life. Anthony B. Pinn, The End of God Talk: an African American Humanist...
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