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Category Archives: Humanities
Thanksgiving Day or “ThanksTaking” Day?
The Stream speaks to actor and activist Russell Means about indigenous land rights and preserving Native American culture.
Sam Harris: Not Being Indoctrinated Into Christianity
History too kind to Puritans’ brutal intolerance
Americans who worry about Muslim countries adopting Sharia law forget that our country was first settled by Christian fundamentalists who codified their own version of religious absolutism — and had no qualms about killing anyone who objected. . . The truth is that the Puritans had no problem with religious persecution. They just wanted to be the ones doing the persecuting.
Why Are People Still Afraid of Atheism?
A landmark 2006 study, analyzing data from a large survey of Americans, found that atheists “are less likely to be accepted, publicly and privately, than any others from a long list of ethnic, religious and other minority groups.”
There is no actual evidence backing up the assumption that atheism somehow leads to a decline in morality. In a 2009 study, sociologist Phil Zuckerman argued that “a strong case could be made that atheists and secular people actually possess a stronger or more ethical sense of social justice than their religious peers,” adding that they, on average, have “lower levels of prejudice, ethnocentrism, racism and homophobia” than the much larger population of believers. He adds that “with the important exception of suicide, states and nations with a preponderance of nonreligious people actually fare better on most indicators of societal health than those without.”
Radio Free Jesus
Occupy Best Buy
No Thanks to Thanksgiving
We should atone for the genocide that was incited — and condoned — by the very men we idolize as our ‘heroic’ founding fathers. . . Simply put: Thanksgiving is the day when the dominant white culture (and, sadly, most of the rest of the non-white but non-indigenous population) celebrates the beginning of a genocide that was, in fact, blessed by the men we hold up as our heroic founding fathers. . . Obscuring bitter truths about historical crimes helps perpetuate the fantasy of American benevolence, which makes it easier to sell contemporary imperial adventures — such as the invasion and occupation of Iraq — as another benevolent action.
Overdue Notice: Defend Our Libraries
. . . [T]oday, in the wake of an inexhaustible economic crisis and the reactionary assault on everything public, the public library is under attack. Local governments across the United States—from New York City to Detroit, and from Denver to Seattle—are slashing library budgets and closing libraries. . . These cuts will disproportionately punish poor and working class people.
Another key aspect of the public library mission is to defend free speech and intellectual freedom. With programs like “Banned Books Week,” libraries are on the front lines of defending the rights of people to examine unpopular points of view so they can make their own informed decisions.
Camp Pendleton Cross Privileges Christianity; Marginalizes non-Christians
In a case where federal officials allow to stand a prominent Christian cross as a representation of military service, atheists, humanists, and all non-Christians who have fought and died for our country are relegated to second-class citizenship.
The comments in response to this article bespeak volumes to the intolerance, ignorance, and bigotry expressed by Christians toward non-Christians in the military. It is absolutely astonishing! [MSH]
