Reading Time: 9 minutes “Can we actually win a war of ideas with people? Judging from my email, we can. I’m constantly getting email from people who have lost their faith and were, in effect, argued out of it. And the straw that broke the camel’s back was either one of our books, or some other process of reasoning.” […]
The Secular
Posted inLaw
Lies the Supreme Court tells about religious liberty
Reading Time: 6 minutes Since its adoption as the national motto in 1956, the inclusion of the phrase “In God We Trust” on the American national currency has faced legal challenges, leading to unlikely judicial claims about the phrase’s secular intent and meaning. In response to a lawsuit against the government in 1970, the Ninth Circuit ruled that “It […]
Posted inThe Secular
Secular Week of Action: Doing good feels better than doing nothing
Reading Time: 3 minutes When I figured out I was an atheist, I thought that was the end of it. That’s it, I don’t believe in gods. Good enough. I liked the books, the memes, and the freedom of not pretending to believe in things that aren’t real. Religion was just a minor irritant. A fly that got trapped […]
Posted inThe Secular
SCOTUS and the city of Boston’s forced flag attack
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Supreme Court just ruled that the city of Boston must allow religious flags to be flown on flagpoles at city government buildings. The ruling is based on the premise that the city had created a “limited public forum” by allowing the flags of other nations or private organizations to be flown on the flagpoles, […]
Posted inThe Secular
The secular Swiss, and the silence of the cows
Reading Time: 3 minutes It is easy to understand, from a secularist’s point of view, why people should fight against organized religion in the United States. They feel that religion in the US has an impressive hold on both society and politics and may create irrationality, hatred, bigotry, and social exclusion. But why fight against organized religion in Europe, […]
Posted inThe Secular
Christian nationalists: Jesus must rule U.S. government
Reading Time: 4 minutes A disturbing New York Times article about the increasing fusion of U.S. evangelical Christianity and right-wing politics reveals a growing aspirational narrative thrusting Jesus front and center in American government. It is the opposite of what America’s founding fathers envisioned for their new, secularly governed democratic republic based on Enlightenment values. Yet, fundamentalist Christians since […]
Posted inThe Secular
The stealth conservatism of Bill Maher
Reading Time: 7 minutes OnlySky · The stealth conservatism of Bill Maher | Eiynah As the number of religiously unaffiliated continues to grow around the world, it brings with it the promise of a more progressive future. This group, known also as the ‘nones’, shows time and time again that it trends toward a more left-leaning politics. But that […]
Posted inThe Secular
The vital change to church finances that no one’s talking about
Reading Time: 8 minutes Do churches have something to hide? With their financial records secret, it certainly seems so. Christians should insist that the church exemption to filling out IRS 990 forms be removed. Here’s why.
Posted inThe Secular
A penny saved: Why are churches tax-exempt?
Reading Time: 9 minutes Growing up in a small town in Michigan in the middle of the twentieth century, I heard this proverb frequently, and it always puzzled me. In elementary school, I earned a weekly allowance by performing household chores like mowing the lawn and drying and putting away the dishes as my mother washed them. My income […]
Posted inPolitics
Secular values in action: Rep. Jamie Raskin
Reading Time: 5 minutes What would the United States look like if it were led according to secular values? Although the US was founded as a secular nation, Christianity has always wielded disproportionate influence on our politics. How would our laws be different if nonreligious people held one-third of congressional seats, proportional to our share of the population? Secular […]