No. 6 | Free Inquiry (original) (raw)
Cover Story
Out with Agape Love and in with Secular Love Ethics Enrico Gnaulati
Because the following article is a critique of biblical views of marriage, much of the language is within a husband/wife binary. This should not be taken as support for the view that marriage can only be between one man and one woman. The Center for Inquiry fully supports marriage equality and inclusivity.—Editors One of the unsung …
This article is available for free to all.
In Praise of Naturalism: A Cultural Critique of Religion James T. Houk
Introduction I have a hunch that if an individual studies cultural anthropology long enough, they at some point or another will stumble upon the (almost certainly) undeniable “truth” of cultural relativism. My epiphany occurred on the island of Trinidad in Spring 1989 during my initiation into the Orisha religion (a New World, African-derived religion). Sometime …
This article is available to subscribers only.
Subscribe now or log in to read this article.
A Comprehensive Program for Reducing Gun Violence in the United States Gary Whittenberger
On January 18, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice released its 500-page report on the shootings in Uvalde, Texas, which occurred on May 24, 2022. Attorney General Merrick Garland said: The law enforcement response at Robb Elementary on May 24th, 2022—and the response by officials in the hours and days after—was a failure. As a …
This article is available to subscribers only.
Subscribe now or log in to read this article.
The Face of (The Problem of) Evil Tony Pasquarello
As often noted, revisiting a great work of art, even one quite familiar, can pay delightful, unanticipated dividends. With something like the Brahms First Symphony, each attentive listening may, and often does, discern a new structural balance, thematic ingenuity, secondary theme… not to mention the surprising niceties revealed by different interpretations. I believe the same …
This article is available to subscribers only.
Subscribe now or log in to read this article.
Thinking Made Me an Atheist Paulo Bittencourt
I was abused as a child. The abuse to which I was subjected is called “child indoctrination,” a type of brainwashing considered noble and necessary and, therefore, the most natural thing in the world. My mother took me to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, an American denomination known for keeping the Sabbath and emphasizing the advent, …
This article is available for free to all.
‘Fanny’ Wright: Antebellum Radical Atheist of Many ‘Firsts’ Mark Kolsen
Although Free Inquiry has often recognized Robert G. Ingersoll, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and other famous nineteenth-century atheists, only once—in a 1990 tribute to her feminism (FI, Fall 1990)—have readers seen the name of Frances “Fanny” Wright. Free Inquiry is hardly alone: In 1999, Robert Connors wrote twenty-eight pages trying to explain why Wright is so …
This article is available to subscribers only.
Subscribe now or log in to read this article.
Editorial
Never Can Say Goodbye Andrea Szalanski
In recent years the world has witnessed a massive resurgence of fanatical dogmas and doctrines. The fundamental premises of the modern world and the Enlightenment are either being forgotten or completely ignored. The commitment to scientific evidence and reason as a method of knowing, belief in the value of individual freedom and dignity, and the …
This article is available for free to all.
Op-Ed
The Torment of Samuel Alito S. T. Joshi
My heart bleeds for Samuel Alito, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. He must be a very unhappy man. You see, everybody has been picking on him lately, and he has not received the support he feels he is due, either from his fellow justices or from the public at large. He has been …
This article is available for free to all.
Announcement
Forkosch Awards Announced for 2021, 2022, and 2023 Timothy Binga
The Morris D. Forkosch Endowment Fund was established in 1987 by Morris D. Forkosch and the Council for Democratic and Secular Humanism (CODESH), now the Council for Secular Humanism, to honor authors who have advanced the cause of humanism. This endowment finances the Morris D. Forkosch Book Award for the year’s best book on humanism …
This article is available to subscribers only.
Subscribe now or log in to read this article.
Looking Back
Mawage. Secular Mawage. Nicole Scott
Every article in Free Inquiry’s over forty-year history is available online at secularhumanism.org. I utilize this tool when I draft the Looking Back article for each issue of FI. It is an invaluable resource, not only for me as an author, but for every secular humanist. The pages of FI have covered many topics over …
This article is available to subscribers only.
Subscribe now or log in to read this article.
Humanist Soapbox
Let’s Teach Crises of Faith Thomas L. Lencowski
Belief has constrained reason in the United States, a country born in enlightenment. We expected some beyond strange, wrong-headed, and even dangerous beliefs that have surfaced to die, but instead they have taken hold. An intolerant, hateful “Christianity” has spread, and millions of its followers bow to an ex-president intent on civil war and destruction …
This article is available to subscribers only.
Subscribe now or log in to read this article.
Thinking Out Loud
Behold the Scam of God: Reflections on the Character of Jesus in the Age of Trump Guy Lancaster
“Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.” —Matthew 25:26–27 For a long time, an aunt of mine …
This article is available to subscribers only.
Subscribe now or log in to read this article.
God on Trial
Was Jesus a Nice Guy? Charles H. Jones PhD
There are people, Christian or not, who reject the miracle-working divinity, Jesus but claim that, as just a man, Jesus was a really nice guy. To evaluate this assertion, I’ll reference the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), which are the only biblical books that talk about Jesus’s life and actions. I will also …
This article is available to subscribers only.
Subscribe now or log in to read this article.
Books in Brief
Books in Brief October/November 2024
This listing of new and noteworthy books does not preclude review in a future issue.—Editors. Rise of the Nones: The Importance of Freedom from Religion, by Adam Neiblum (United Kingdom: Hypatia Press, 2023) notes; vi + 435 pp. From the author: “Humanity is undergoing an historic change … in our self-conception and our understanding of …
This article is available to subscribers only.
Subscribe now or log in to read this article.
Letters
Letters October/November 2024
What Death Means for Life Re: “Eighty Is Enough” by Chris Orlet (FI, June/July 2024). No! Eighty is not enough! As I approach eighty this year, I emphatically say no! Every heart-related medical procedure tells you diet and exercise is the secret to a healthy and long life. Retirement is not a precursor to early …
This article is available to subscribers only.
Subscribe now or log in to read this article.
No One Pushing Quarks Around: Souls and Quantum Field Theory Patrick Gannon
I frequently engage in religious discussions and debates on social media, and I am happy to see more and more freethinkers participating. The arguments are well fleshed out and generally focus on faith versus evidence, evolution, cosmology, the Bible, a little history, and of course, the burden of proof. Religious believers often insist that nonbelievers …
This article is available for free to all.
The Faith I Left Behind
My Children, the Atheists Robert F. Allen
I was an embittered, well-lapsed Catholic when I married my standardly rebellious Catholic wife. My wife despises the Church’s moral bullying, misogyny, and corruption, but she believes in God and admires the charitable side of the clergy, which is considerable, I admit. I decided to throw belief away entirely four or five years into our …
This article is available for free to all.