Reading Time: 5 minutes A speculative novel, set in the shadow of Soviet totalitarianism with a sci-fi twist, poses the question of whether humanism is only a philosophy for the privileged and comfortable.
Fiction
Imaginative stories by secular writers.
Posted inFiction
Dreaming up worse to imagine better: Why I write bleak humanist fiction
Reading Time: 7 minutes My heart is a touch heavy this birthday of mine. Don’t get me wrong: all birthdays are fantastic, so long as you’re on the right side of the green. (And even if I weren’t, I wouldn’t be in any position to complain, now would I?) Moreover, I’m publishing my first novel today, which is a […]
Posted inSocial Media
What next? Twitter’s complicated role in the literary world
Reading Time: 11 minutes Not long after Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, another exodus of site users began—and with it, discussion about the people who aren’t ready, or able, to leave. Transitioning to a new platform isn’t easy for everyone: for many disabled people, for instance, leaving Twitter means learning all the ins and outs of yet another system […]
Posted inFilm/TV
Tolkien never solved the problem of evil
Reading Time: 5 minutes Like the Christian theology that inspired him, J.R.R. Tolkien could never explain why a benevolent creator permitted the existence of evil.
Posted inMeaning & Purpose
Parable of the humanist sowers
Reading Time: 10 minutes Most of the Christians I know are better than their Christ—at least, as he’s described in The New Testament. They would never be as cruel as Christ with the Canaanite woman; never suggest that a person would be better off murdered before they could draw believers away; never talk about an imminent judgment day in […]
Posted inBooks
Let’s talk humanist science fiction: An interview with writer Ray Nayler
Reading Time: 15 minutes In North American literature, strict boundaries are often propped up between fiction and nonfiction, along with “literary” and “genre” prose. These are useful for commercial purposes, but out of step with our history. Speculative fiction might even be considered our oldest literary form: a realm of play and exploration, and a way of reaching deeper […]
Posted inFiction
A fable about American cops
Reading Time: 2 minutes For a long time, the sheep (especially the black ones) and the lambs were vulnerable as prey. Wolves menaced them almost every day. Sometimes the wolves would ravage them for no other reason than hatred. And other times the wolves would invent trumped-up offenses by the sheep and lambs and attack them on flimsy causes. […]
Posted inFiction
Faith with a smile
Reading Time: 2 minutes Guest post by Bert Bigelow, a long-time contributor to A Tippling Philosopher. Sometimes dreams can be quite entertaining. Here is one I had recently. I was shopping for veggies at a local farmer’s market, and I noticed a guy who was watching me closely. In fact, he was staring at me. Now, I am not […]
Posted inEnvironment
Solarpunk humanism: How we dream bigger than despair
Reading Time: 5 minutes One unspoken tenet of anti-theist discourse is that we are limited by the religious stories at the core of our culture. For that slice of the nonreligious spectrum, it’s not enough not to believe, personally, in a god. The nature of religion poses a narrative problem that anti-theists feel must be confronted at every turn. […]
Posted inFiction
A conversation with God
Reading Time: 4 minutes My jogging companion didn’t show up yesterday. He was suffering from muscle spasms in his back, and decided to take the day off. So, I was on my own for the daily five-mile walk. It was a gorgeous day…sunny, light breeze, a few wispy clouds, about 70 degrees. Just right to wear a sweatshirt and […]