Reading Time: 4 minutes What is the hand of God? Is it something that reaches out and does dramatic things, or is it more subtle, a reminder we might not be alone?
True Story
What I learned in Facebook Jail
Reading Time: 3 minutes Ever spend time in Facebook Jail? I’ve been there a bunch, but I don’t believe I’ve ever actually violated the “community guidelines.”
The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu
Reading Time: 4 minutes The true story of the librarians who risked their lives to rescue a priceless cultural heritage from the destructive rampage of Islamist fundamentalism.
One world, one life: Meet OnlySky
Reading Time: < 1 minute Thirty years ago, one-sixteenth of Americans identified with no religion. Now it’s nearly a third. For Generation Z, it’s close to half. These are people who share many basic values about how to make the most of this one world and one life. But we are fragmented and disconnected and poorly defined, so our cultural […]
Shackleton and the death of complaint
Reading Time: 4 minutes So HMS Endurance has been found, nearly two miles below the surface of the Antarctic Ocean, 107 years after it was crushed in sea ice and sunk. When I saw the news, my feet were up, as they tend to be. I was warm, but not too warm. And the unbelievable story of the Endurance […]
Wellness is systemic: A podcast episode for mental health
Reading Time: 4 minutes When I first recorded episodes for Global Humanist Shoptalk last year, I had no idea what 2022 was going to hold. I did suspect that far-right legislation would continue to pose problems, and that pandemic wouldn’t be over so easily after all. But I certainly wouldn’t have put money on a full-on war in Ukraine […]
What not to say during sex
Reading Time: < 1 minute I was inspired by Erin Louis’ piece 10 secular alternatives to “Oh My God” during sex and decided to write this autobiographical post. While Erin explores the many alternatives of what you can say during intercourse, I would like to share what not to say. How do I know what not to say during sex? […]
My moment on reality TV
Reading Time: 8 minutes Reality TV is exactly what you think it is—unreal. Being on a dating show revealed to me just how fake it is…
In Putin’s Ukraine, vodka drink you!
Reading Time: 3 minutes Not long after my daughter was born, my then-fiancé and I went with baby in tow for a weekend at a condo in Rocky Point, just over the Mexican border from Arizona. The border guard who checked our passports on the way home had a pretty heavy foreign accent. I wonder about his story. A […]
The Allentown ‘Black Mass’ of 1985
Reading Time: 4 minutes When The Satanic Temple (TST) brought its first annual SatanCon to Scottsdale, Arizona last week, many detractors said they were going to perform a black mass and (through whatever supernatural mechanism) bring harm to the city. Black masses aren’t really a thing People have been doing Satanic rituals like the ones done by TST and […]