Farewell Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine

Much of this is taken from a letter from Greg M. Epstein of the
Humanist Chaplain of Harvard University

Rabii Wine was a teacher, a fellow Humanisst, AHA Humanist of the Year, and one of the greatest Humanist leaders of the 20th Century. Rabbi Wine and his longtime partner, Richard McMains, were vacationing in Morocco. Returning from dinner Saturday evening July 21 in Essaouira, their taxicab was hit by another driver. Both Rabbi Wine and the taxi driver were killed instantly. Richard survived the collision and currently is hospitalized in stable condition.

For a press release with more detailed information about Wine, dubbed "the atheist rabbi" by Time magazine in 1965, including regarding the memorial service currently being planned, click here or visit the Society for Humanistic Judaism. To hear Rabbi Wine speak on Humanistic Judaism, click here for an interview recorded at Harvard University in April 2007. A video of Rabbi Wine’s stirring speech at Harvard in April 2007 will be available later this week at http://harvardhumanist.org.

Around the world, Wine taught that human dignity, courage and love are our most important values, not religious obedience. He publicly debated religious fundamentalists such as Jerry Falwell and Meir Kahane. And he refused the religious veneer that America so values in its leaders -- though he kept the title rabbi he did not pray or praise a god he did not believe in.

And yet the movement Sherwin founded and the career he pioneered, was never about being against god but rather about moving beyond god to create humanist community, led by humanist professionals, for the benefit of all human beings. If we learn one thing from Rabbi Wine's loss, let it be this: now that the world's attention has turned to the 1.1 billion non-religious people on earth, and now that bestselling books on atheism by authors such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have shown millions what Humanists do not believe in, let us follow Sherwin's example and dedicate ourselves to building a positive alternative to traditional religion. Let us build communities, organizations, and families that do good for ourselves and others, based on the Humanist ethic of reason, compassion and creativity

More Americans accept creationism than evolution

This is shocking.
In June, a Gallop Poll showed that more Americans accept the hogwash called creationism than the scientifically-backed evolution. See the article:

Majority of Republicans Doubt Theory of Evolution

There article is especially disconcerting because it states there is debate over the validity of evolution. The only place there is debate is in religious circles and where those circles interact with politics. There is no real scientific debate over it (other than the background dissenters that open communication often has).

It is astonishing to me that something as sound as evolution, backed by huge masses of data can be up for debate because people want to take a book written (and I use the term loosely) 2000 years ago as literal fact. How blind can people be?

It makes me want to back belief in the Flying Spaghetti Monster, which is just as valid of a belief as Creationism (and a lot more fun).

AHA getting modern on us?

The American Humanist Association, EvolveFISH, and Rational Responders teamed up to bring the positive message of Humanism to YouTube!

Can you believe it - AHA and YouTube. It is great to see the leaders at AHA embrace modern technoligies. The video below is the winner of their Humanist Vision Contest.

Check it out. It is a nice little video on the meaning of Humanism. If you ever wondered what Humanism is really about, this video gives a good 30-thousand foot view.

America a Christian Theocracy?

This is a topic near and dear to my heart and one that has had a profound affect on me and my life.

I grew up a strict Catholic with very conservative views. Included in my teenage years, I happened to witness the results of abortions when viewing garbage cans full of baby parts. This turned per permanently against abortion, especially late-term abortion. Once you take the step that abortion of a late-term baby is murder the only reasonable place to stop (or so my teenage logic argued) was at conception. Ever since then I have based much of my voting on the candidate’s stance on abortion – which led me to almost always vote Republican.

Bush, the Christian Fundamentalists, and the movement to turn this country into a Christian Theocracy has finally overridden that stance. I no longer consider abortion the most critical issue in America today. Instead it is a bunch of right-wing fundamentalists who are trying to re-write the American history into one based on religion and now are trying, and in many cases succeeding, in turning this country into a theocracy run by Christians with other religions (and non-religious) being subjugated.

This movement scares the hell out of me!

Many reasonable religious people agree and are voicing their opinions on this and on the separation of church and state, which is a very related topic. There are also many Jewish holocaust survivors who recognize in this movement the same horrifying events that preceded fascism in Nazi Germany. Very frightening stuff!

If you have doubts about this or want to read more, there are two excellent books out on the subject. Be forewarned though that they are disturbing books and will cause you to lose sleep at night if you have any concern for America remaining a fee country. The books are:

Michelle Goldberg’s Kingdom Coming
Damon Linker’s The Thocons

Buy and read both immediately!

You can also visit the First Freedom First foundation for more information.

Bush out-of-touch on Stem Cell Research

Once again, President Bush has vetoed a bill that would ease restraints on federally funded stem cell research. His stance is based purely on religious beliefs and isn't scientifically-based. The difficult question here is whether you consider a fetus life at conception. I struggled with this one most of my life, electing to agree with the fundamentalists because I couldn't see how a baby, just prior to being delivered couldn't be considered life; and once you make that step it was difficult to see where to stop - when is it life?

Some would say that it is life only once delivered, some when it has a heart beat or when "quickening" happens (when the mother can feel it move). In some countries/societies, the baby isn't considered life until well after birth. I struggled with all of these until recently when I read an article suggesting that we have a clear definition of when life ends - with the cessation of brain wave activity; why isn't the definition of when life starts based on the same premise - that life begins when brain wave activity is detected.

Given this perfectly reasonable scientific definition of the beginning and end of life, there is no reasonable argument against stem cell research. President Bush’s vetoing this bill is another example of him foisting religious views of right and wrong on the country and further is an example of just how out of touch he is with his constituency.

From a Humanist standpoint, our views of right and wrong have to be based on scientific, rational reasoning and on eliminating pain and suffering for sentient, aware people – not on ill-defined and personal religious opinions.

Humanism for Parents - Parenting without Religion

Well, I've been neglectful of blogging for the last month or so. Between gutting my master bathroom and starting the rebuild, starting a new job, and completing the book, I've just been too busy.

The good news is that the Humanism for Parents - Parenting without Religion book is not generally available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, and Google Books. Please, take a look at it and let me know what you think. It is slightly cheaper to order through the publisher as they don't gouge you for shipping.

The following is the short description from the publisher.

By some estimates, over 1 billion people in the world are non-religious (humanist/secular/atheist) yet we base some of our parenting techniques and traditions on religion. There are many books available on parenting around each of the major religions, but few around parenting in a Humanist household. This book is an attempt to outline how non-religious parents can have rites, rituals, and practices needed for a healthy, spiritually fulfilled family.

You can also preview it on-line through my site via the page on
parenting.

Cheers, Sean

BIHI presenting The Rise of Christian Nationalism.

The Boulder International Humanist Institute is putting on a great event in a couple of weeks. The full title is: Secular America under Siege – The Rise of Christian Nationalism. If you are anywhere near Boulder, CO, you should make a point of going to this event. Michell's and Damon's books are excellent!

Here is the BIHI announcement

On Tuesday, May 22nd, BIHI and the AHA present an evening with Michelle Goldberg and Damon Linker entitled, “Secular America under Siege – The Rise of Christian Nationalism.” If you value preserving the separation between Church and State, you won’t want to miss this! The event includes discussion and book signing by both speakers. Location is the Glenn Miller Ballroom at the UMC at CU, corner of Broadway and Euclid in Boulder. Tickets are $7.00 in advance and $10.00 at the door. Students and faculty free with ID. Online ticket purchasing and parking information is at www.bihi.info. For general questions, call Gordon Gamm at (303) 543-9166.

Michelle Goldberg, a senior political reporter for Salon, has been covering the intersection of politics and ideology for years. In her book, Kingdom Coming, she demonstrates how an increasingly bellicose fundamentalism is gaining traction throughout our national life, taking us on a tour of the right-wing evangelical culture that is buoyed by Republican political patronage. With her trenchant interviews and the telling testimonies of the people behind this movement, Goldberg gains access into the hearts and minds of citizens who are striving to change our nation into a Christian nation run according to their interpretation of scripture.

Damon Linker, author of The Theocons, is intimately familiar with the rise of the “theoconservatives.” His experience working in the center of the theocon world as an editor of its flagship journal, First Things, led to his resolve to write a critical history of the movement. The Bush administration’s overt religiosity represents the triumph of an ideological movement that for the past several decades has devoted itself to fashioning a theocratic governing philosophy for the U.S. and has actively sought to roll back the division of church and state in American life.

Boulder International Humanist Institute seeks to build a more humane society by asserting that values and public policy choices should be based on the most beneficial human consequences and not on faith or ideology. BIHI is not concerned with the proof of the existence or non-existence of God, but how one's God belief or disbelief affects their values and public policy decisions. BIHI’s niche in the Humanist world is to challenge both traditional religious values which are based on unquestionable supernatural sources, as well as those “create your own reality” values emphasized in new age religion. The organization’s Web site can be found at www.bihi.info

The American Humanist Association (www.americanhumanist.org) is the oldest and largest Humanist organization in the nation. The AHA is dedicated to ensuring a voice for those with a positive outlook, based on reason and experience, which embraces all of humanity.

Go here for more information and to buy tickets on-line.