Philosophy
Attending the funeral of an atheist friend while working on a chapter of Einstein's Jewish Science that I am writing with Confused, Maybe Not, the term "secular Jew" became lodged in my mind. It is a term that makes perfect sense. But it seems strangely unique. I've heard people refer to themselves as "lapsed" or "recovering" Catholics, but one never hears anyone call themselves secular Catholics, secular Presbyterians, or secular Baptists. Why can you be a secular Jew, but not a secular Christian? (Is, perhaps, the correct term for secular Christian "Unitarian Universalist"?)
One line seems to be that Jews are traditionally a minority and that forces enclaves which causes culture to be as defining as belief. But then "secular Amish" or "secular Mormon" also strike the ear strangely.
Yes, one could be a secular Comedist, but why not the others? What's different?
- What's Wrong With Being Lazy?
When I was in Lake Charles, Louisiana a few weeks back, a topic of discussion that came up in several different contexts was the way the local Cajun population was considered. They are a minority and are pejoratively labeled with many of the negative...
- What Will We Teach The Children?: Raising Kids With (or Without) Religion
In a previous post, I promised to address the issue of how to raise children with respect to religion. I now make good on that promise. The general principle I will be defending in this post is this: Children should be raised such that they are put...
- A Christian Nation?
A great number of Americans believe that the U.S. is a Christian nation. Can this claim be justified? Well, if what one means by that claim is that the majority of Americans are Christians, that's most likely an empirical fact: most Americans really...
- Thomas Jefferson Pwns Sarah Palin
I don't get how people can just willfully make up their own facts, believe their own inventions, and subsequently completely forget/ignore the fact that they fabricated the whole thing, but that's probably why I'm not a preacher or a politician......
- Center For Inquiry
[Note: The following is not an endorsement.] Their general statement: A Global Federation Committed to Science, Reason, Free Inquiry, Secularism, and Planetary Ethics The purpose of the Center for Inquiry is to promote and defend reason, science, and...
Philosophy
Secular Jews
Attending the funeral of an atheist friend while working on a chapter of Einstein's Jewish Science that I am writing with Confused, Maybe Not, the term "secular Jew" became lodged in my mind. It is a term that makes perfect sense. But it seems strangely unique. I've heard people refer to themselves as "lapsed" or "recovering" Catholics, but one never hears anyone call themselves secular Catholics, secular Presbyterians, or secular Baptists. Why can you be a secular Jew, but not a secular Christian? (Is, perhaps, the correct term for secular Christian "Unitarian Universalist"?)
One line seems to be that Jews are traditionally a minority and that forces enclaves which causes culture to be as defining as belief. But then "secular Amish" or "secular Mormon" also strike the ear strangely.
Yes, one could be a secular Comedist, but why not the others? What's different?
- What's Wrong With Being Lazy?
When I was in Lake Charles, Louisiana a few weeks back, a topic of discussion that came up in several different contexts was the way the local Cajun population was considered. They are a minority and are pejoratively labeled with many of the negative...
- What Will We Teach The Children?: Raising Kids With (or Without) Religion
In a previous post, I promised to address the issue of how to raise children with respect to religion. I now make good on that promise. The general principle I will be defending in this post is this: Children should be raised such that they are put...
- A Christian Nation?
A great number of Americans believe that the U.S. is a Christian nation. Can this claim be justified? Well, if what one means by that claim is that the majority of Americans are Christians, that's most likely an empirical fact: most Americans really...
- Thomas Jefferson Pwns Sarah Palin
I don't get how people can just willfully make up their own facts, believe their own inventions, and subsequently completely forget/ignore the fact that they fabricated the whole thing, but that's probably why I'm not a preacher or a politician......
- Center For Inquiry
[Note: The following is not an endorsement.] Their general statement: A Global Federation Committed to Science, Reason, Free Inquiry, Secularism, and Planetary Ethics The purpose of the Center for Inquiry is to promote and defend reason, science, and...