Reading Time: 4 minutes Is organized atheism too much like a religion? Is it okay for secular people to participate in rituals? If a humanist holds beliefs, is this dogmatic? Can a nonreligious person say “bless you” after someone sneezes? Probably every atheist or nonreligious person has, at some point in their lives, asked themselves or been asked questions […]
Nathan Alexander
Canadian writer and historian Nathan Alexander is co-host of the Beyond Atheism Podcast and author of Race in a Godless World: Atheism, Race, and Civilization, 1850-1914 (NYU Press and Manchester University Press).
Posted inEthics
Trust us: The problem with crypto-billionaires and effective altruism
Reading Time: 9 minutes The Effective Altruism movement, championed by secular thinkers like neuroscientist and podcaster Sam Harris and moral philosopher Peter Singer, aims at getting the most bang for your buck when doing charity. Picking up garbage on the beach for an hour might make you feel warm and fuzzy inside––but wouldn’t it be better to use that […]
Posted inPolitics
How God was wedged into secular Canada’s constitution
Reading Time: 4 minutes A new poll has some Canadians looking askance at their own constitution. Canada has a long, conflicted relationship between God and country. Like our neighbor to the south, our government is ostensibly secular, our history is rooted in religion, and our people are at the moment rapidly turning away from the church. Recent polling shows […]
Posted inNews
Atheism, Race, and the Freethinker at the Turn of the 19th Century
Reading Time: 4 minutes WHAT is the historical relationship between atheism and racism? This is a question I examine in my recent book, Race in a Godless World: Atheism, Race, and Civilization, 1850-1914 (Manchester University Press, 2019 and NYU Press, 2019). The book looks at what atheists and other non-religious people thought about racial issues in both Britain […]