TheHumanist.com

Summer '23 - issue 989
https://thehumanist.com/

What Churches Offer That ‘Nones’ Still Long For

Houses of worship are, uniquely, one-stop shops of meaning, continuity and support.

..."If all the nones were represented by just five people, one of them would be an atheist, another one would be agnostic and three of them would be nothing in particulars...”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/28/opinion/religion-affiliation-community.html?smid=em-share

Scopes documentary

Magisteria

Most things you ‘know’ about science and religion are myths or half-truths that grew up in the last years of the nineteenth century and remain widespread today. The true history of science and religion is a human one. It’s about the role of religion in inspiring, and strangling, science before the scientific revolution. It’s about the sincere but eccentric faith and the quiet, creeping doubts of the most brilliant scientists in history – Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Darwin, Maxwell, Einstein. Above all it’s about the question of what it means to be human and who gets to say – a question that is more urgent in the twenty-first century than ever before. From eighth-century Baghdad to the frontiers of AI today, via medieval Europe, nineteenth-century India and Soviet Russia, Magisteria sheds new light on this complex historical landscape. Rejecting the thesis that science and religion are inevitably at war, Nicholas Spencer illuminates a compelling and troubled relationship that has definitively shaped human history.

Dechurching

The Largest and Fastest Religious Shift in America Is Well Underway

...Some people, usually self-described atheists and agnostics, said they didn’t miss anything and were happy to be rid of anything resembling worship. Unsurprisingly, those groups had the highest rate of dechurching of all: 94 percent for atheists and 88 percent for agnostics.

But many said they did miss aspects of traditional attendance, and often these people still believed in God or certain aspects of their previous faith traditions. They’d sought replacements for traditional worship, and the most common were spending time in nature, meditation and physical activity — basically anything that got them out of their own heads and the anxieties of the material world...

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/21/opinion/religion-dechurching.html?smid=em-share

Dreaming of a New Iran

"…I detest the call to the morning prayer — that's when they execute those young kids who did nothing but fight for their rights. I have begun to question Islam. I believe that our generation doesn't truly believe in it, a religion that for so many years, in school, in the university, was imposed on us. If we are fighting them, then why should we believe in the same things they do?"
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Dreaming of a New Iran

What god's good for

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Arthur C. Clarke's post-humanism

The Coming Humanist Renaissance

 BY ADRIENNE LAFRANCE


In the face of world-altering invention, with the power of today’s tech barons so concentrated, it can seem as though ordinary people have no hope of influencing the machines that will soon be cognitively superior to us all. But there is tremendous power in defining ideals, even if they ultimately remain out of reach. Considering all that is at stake, we have to at least try.

Transparency should be a core tenet in the new human exchange of ideas—people ought to disclose whenever an artificial intelligence is present or has been used in communication. This ground rule could prompt discipline in creating more-human (and human-only) spaces, as well as a less anonymous web.

… Now is the time, as well, to recommit to making deeper connections with other people. Live videochat can collapse time and distance, but such technologies are a poor substitute for face-to-face communication, especially in settings where creative collaboration or learning is paramount. The pandemic made this painfully clear. Relationships cannot and should not be sustained in the digital realm alone, especially as AI further erodes our understanding of what is real. Tapping a “Like” button is not friendship; it’s a data point. And a conversation with an artificial intelligence is one-sided—an illusion of connection.
Read the full article.

Utah Republicans are furious schools banned the Bible to comply with their book-banning law

Earlier this month, in one of the funniest repercussions from the right-wing book-banning crazy, the KJV Bible was removed from the shelves in one Utah school district after an unnamed parent said it violated a law prohibiting school books with "pornographic or indecent" content.

Republican lawmakers in the state are now furious that their attempts to censor certain books have ensnared their personal favorite book in the process.

A quick recap in case you need it: Last year, Utah lawmakers passed a bill paving the way for the banning of school books that contain "pornographic or indecent" content. Those words, however, were not defined, allowing right-wing groups to declare just about anything they don't like as unfit for kids.

That's why it was amusing when at least one parent moved to get the Bible on that list... Hemant Mehta

Beyond "nones": seekers, skeptics, and faders

Why Do People Lose Their Religion? More Than 7,000 Readers Shared Their Stories. 

For some, faith is malleable.

...three trends emerged. Several had switched religious affiliation more than once; I'll call them seekers. Others had an abrupt break from church in their youth, after which they became atheists or agnostics; I'll call them skeptics. And there were others who drifted away from religion fairly late in life; I'll call them slow faders, because their religious evolutions took time... nyt

I’m “spiritual but not religious.” Alan Lightman’s spiritual materialism

Spiritual experiences can be explained in terms of a highly evolved brain. But they also can be extremely meaningful...
https://bigthink.com/the-well/spiritual-not-religious-physicist/

What is humanism? - Humanists International

Across the world, the number of non-religious people is growing all the time. It is estimated there are 1.17 billion people in the world who are religiously unaffiliated, which means they identify as atheists, agnostics or describe their religion as "nothing in particular."

• Humanists are non-religious people who strive to lead fulfilling, meaningful and ethical lives, using reason and empathy to guide their decisions and actions. 
• Humanists base their understanding of the world on reason and science, rejecting supernatural or divine beliefs. 
• Humanists reject all forms of racism and prejudice, and believe in living in harmony with one another, respecting everyone's human rights, including the right to freedom of religion and belief. 
• Humanists believe we have a responsibility to respect and care for one another, and to protect the natural world.

While the definition of humanism may vary slightly between organizations and groups, the Amsterdam Declaration serves as the definitive guiding principles of modern humanism for everyone in our global community.

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Download your free guide: What is humanism? …

Humanism and Dr. Curtis

 The humanistic philosophy of life, which flowered in Greece and which has blossomed again, is not the crude materialistic desire to eat, drink, and be merry. It is a spiritual joy in living and a confidence in the future, which makes this life a thing worthwhile. The otherworldliness of the Middle Ages does not satisfy the spiritual demands of modern times. –Winterton C. Curtis (1875-1965; Mizzou zoologist, my first landlord, Scopes witness in Dayton TN 1925), Science and Human Affairs from the viewpoint of biology (1922)