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Get You a Graceful Life Philosophy
Without religion, how do you find meaning? How do you live well? How do you find out how to live well? What is life about, anyway? Secular Religion Throughout her book Doubt: A History, Jennifer Michael Hecht weaves the idea of a “graceful-life philosophy.” These life philosophies are formed after a region becomes more cosmopolitan—many cultures…
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You’re Worth the Work.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the US and one thing that suffers greatly under religion is our mental health. I spent years believing that my mind was filled with demons. As soon as I stopped praying, the demons left. Almost like they were never real. One doesn’t have to believe in demons to be…
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Jump in where you are!
Think of yourself as dead. You have lived your life. Now take what’s left and live it properly. Meditations of Marcus Aurelius, 7.56. ‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo.’So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them…
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You Can Help Yourself
It’s easy to see that we all have things we wish were different about ourselves. The hard part is figuring out what to do about it. One option is to do what we were raised to do: pray and read the Bible. But most of us no longer believe those things work since they are fake…
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Useful Terms and “Stupid” Questions
What is “cognitive bias”? What’s the difference between “deconstruction” and “deconversion”? Deconstruction has been a “thing” on the internet for several years. Joining a movement after it starts might mean there are terms people use all the time without explaining. Moreover, you may feel that asking what they mean will make you look stupid. I…
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Poetic Humanism
Poetry is one way we homo sapiens, can get a glimpse into another’s life, into the lives of people whose experiences may be wholly different than our own. Poetry has the power to meet us where we are and possibly begin to change us. Humanism is about human lives–the story of our lives–both our individual…
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Doubt Is a Superpower
Christians would like us to believe that doubt and skepticism are dangerous. But they’re superpowers, ways of making you a better human, not a worse one. Over the last few weeks, we’ve talked about doubt, fundamentalism, and problems using words. I want to tie it together and talk about why doubt is safer, healthier, and better for your teeth (two…
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Doing Better: The Problem of Words
Should I have called last week’s blog post No More Fundamentalism, picked a different term, or unpacked it a bit? I want to draw out one (of many) difficulties with words: The tensions between… Imagine the following two blog titles: I’m overstating the difference, but the tension should be obvious. On one end of the spectrum,…
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No More Fundamentalism, a manifesto for myself
This is a manifesto, mostly written for myself, but perhaps it may help you. The temptation is strong. Fight it! Coming out of Christian fundamentalism, there is a temptation to jump right to the next fundamentalism. Angry Atheist is the first one that springs to mind, but there are others. Once you are used to…
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What Even Is Doubt?
We talk about doubt a lot, but what is it? Is it good or bad? Helpful or harmful? First, “doubt” is almost entirely in relation to religion. Geoffrey Wallis made the point that once you’re out of religion, “doubt” is just a kind of curiosity. Meh. No big deal. But religious people see doubt as an unfortunate—but…
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