Secular

Reflections on the Earnest "Pursuit of Happiness"

Bob Banov and Roger Ohlsen | Posted 05.17.2012

Read More: Social Security, Religious Beliefs, Relationship, Money, Peace of Mind, Pursuit of Happiness, Incentives, Founding Fathers, Democracy, Parenting, God, Business, Culture, Dorothy Parker, US Constitution, Capitalist Economy, Freedom, Environment, Secular, Marriage Laws, Medicaid, Medicare, Society, Eric Hoffer, Happy, Separation of Church and State, Politics News
Bob Banov and Roger Ohlsen

When you consider that the founding fathers of our country tried to provide us with the means for the actual separation between church and state, you ...

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5 Religious Concepts That Atheists Can Use

Alain de Botton | Posted 05.02.2012

Read More: Religion, Atheist, Atheism, God, Ethics, Secularism, Religious Education, Secular, Aesthetics, Secular Humanism, Belief, Sacred Texts, Atheism vs Faith, Religion News
Alain de Botton

In a world beset by fundamentalists of believing and secular varieties, it must be possible to balance a rejection of religious faith with a selective reverence for religious rituals and concepts.

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Awaiting The Advent Of American Ambivalence

Carol Smaldino | Posted 04.29.2012

Read More: Guilt, Bible, Muslims, Jew, Ambivalence, Home Schooling, Secular, Santorum, Atheism, Judaism, Religion News
Carol Smaldino

Standing for religious liberty as well as the freedom to question and even refuse religion as an absolute or inevitable path often "ordained" at birth, is not always a symptom of being radical or even a rebel by nature.

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War Is Over. What Next?

Chris Weigant | Posted 02.19.2012

Read More: Egypt, Dictator, Tunisia, War, Yemen, Democracy, Iraq, Diplomacy, Soviet Union, Bahrain, America, Iraq War, Iran, Loyalty, Human Rights, Arab Spring, Chris Weigant, Middle East, Revolution, Saudi Arabia, Secular, Oil, Libya, Israel, Ally, Islamist, Maliki, Stability, Politics News
Chris Weigant

To mark the milestone of the last American troops to leave Iraq, I'd like to take a wider view and look at the entire region, post-Saddam and post-Arab Spring.

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Religious Right and Politics -- From Iowa to Cairo

Parvez Ahmed | Posted 02.15.2012

Read More: Islam, Tunisia, Secular, Religious Right, Islamist, Salafi, Sharia, Muslim Brotherhood Egypt Elections, Egypt Elections, Muslim Brotherhood, World News
Parvez Ahmed

The nexus between politics and religion has been on the rise globally for quite some time now. It is an irony that it is the religious right in each country that often expresses the most misgivings about the rise of the religious right in other countries.

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Choosing Faith Over Freedom

Roy Speckhardt | Posted 01.05.2012

Read More: Secular, In God We Trust, First Amendment, Equal Protection, Humanism, Separation of Church and State, Fourteenth Amendment, E Pluribus Unum, Atheism, Religion News
Roy Speckhardt

Government sponsorship of religion runs afoul of the First Amendment and should be strongly rejected by our legislature and our judicial system.

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The Effect On Faith Of Being Smarter Than A Fifth-Grader

David Briggs | Posted 10.19.2011

Read More: Religion and Education, Bible, Religion Science, Mainline Protestant, Secular, Beliefs, Catholic, Evangelicals, Religion News
David Briggs

Scholars agree further study is needed, but so far, the latest research indicates those who assume religion will slowly wind down as higher education rates increase are mistaken.

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The UAE Stands Out for Its Civil Liberties

Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi | Posted 09.19.2011

Read More: Emirates, Dubai, Elections, Islam, Gulf Arab, Civil Liberties, Uae, Parliament, Kuwait, Arab, Islamism, Secular, Secularism, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, World News
Sultan Sooud Al-Qassemi

Emiratis must not take the civil liberties that they enjoy as a society for granted, especially at a time when conservative Islamist forces are gaining ground in the region.

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Predicting Religion's Future

David Briggs | Posted 07.28.2011

Read More: Population, Islam, Evangelical, Youth, William Miller, Apocalypse, Harold Camping, Secular, Christianity, Fertility, Growth, Protestant, Demographics, Catholic, Conversion, Religion News
David Briggs

If it seems foolhardy to forecast the date of the apocalypse, predicting the future of religion is not so far-fetched, as some scholars say they have an increasing number of scientific tools to make such projections.

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Three Mideast Stink Bombs

Sharmine Narwani | Posted 06.11.2011

Read More: Egypt, Al Nahda, Al Qaeda, Gcc, Muslim Brotherhood, David Miliband, Copts, World News, Ali Abdullah Saleh, Iran, Flynt Leverett, Middle East, Arabs, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Shia, Religion, Tunisia, Politics, Religious, Yemen, Iaf, Secular, Salafist, Bahrain, Arab Spring, Ikhwan, Mahmoud Salem, Israel, Libya, New York Times, Hilary Mann Leverett, Sunni, Sandmonkey, World News
Sharmine Narwani

Three issues have plagued the region for decades and threaten to derail progress at every turn. I call them the Mideast's "Stink Bombs" -- hyper-divisive issues that inflame passions and serve a politicized minority only.

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Secular Coalition Asks Newt Gingrich to Respect America's Secular Heritage

Sean Faircloth | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Jefferson, Religion, Religious Liberty, Madison, Secular, Religious Freedom, Newt Gingrich, Secular Coalition for America, Church and State, Pete Stark, Politics News
Sean Faircloth

Mr. Gingrich, if you want to prove yourself worthy of our nation's highest office, it would very wise for you to not only acknowledge America's rich secular heritage -- but affirm our historic and constitutional responsibility to defend it.

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Travelers of the World Unite: Stop the Wars

Judie Fein | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Passports, Leadership, Political Parties, Somalia, Pakistan, Laid Off, Peace, Gandhi, Politics, Muslim, Old, Travel Advice, Ireland, Portugal, Religious, Top Chefs, Libraries Closed, Tunisia, Luggage, Natonal Museum of the Marine Corps, Brazil, Mandela, Afghanistan War, Behind-the-Scenes, Business Owners, Sustainability, India, Teachers, War Machine, Egypt, Proteecting Animals, Outback, Patagonia, Norway, Iraq, Thailand, Countries, Culture, Restored Sites, Government, Off-the-Beatenpath, New Hotels, Vietnam, Values, Vietnam War, Travelers, Off-the-Beaten Trail, Greece, Italy, Customs, Young, Extreme Sports, Foreign Wars, War, Yemen, Habitats, Facebook, Environmental Protection, Actors, France, War in Afghanistan, Muslims, Wait Staff, Blog, Financiers, Museums, Sex, Non-Military Solutions, Communities, Secular, Iraq War, Afghanistan, Aboriginal, Travel News
Judie Fein

In short, we are opinion leaders, opinion makers, the vanguard of the modern wave of exploration.

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Does Religion Cause War

Kabir Helminski | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Religion, Mindfulness, Spiritualty, War, Ego, Meditation, Peace, Presence, Religious War, Secular, Religion News
Kabir Helminski

Modern secular ideological movements are actually responsible for much greater and more indiscriminate violence than any religion ever has been.

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Muslim Democracy? No Thanks

Elcin Poyrazlar | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Secular, Women's Rights, Tayyip Erdogan, Democracy, Turkey, Muslim, World News
Elcin Poyrazlar

Turkey is supposed to be a secular democratic state guaranteeing fundamental rights for all of its citizens, not "a great Muslim democracy."

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Trust and Solidarity

Tim Ellis | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Secular, Progressive Movement, Christian Right, Solidarity, Politics News
Tim Ellis

One of the most important points currently facing the progressive movement is that we simply don't have the monolithic certainty of the still-powerful Christian Right.

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A.J. Cronin Goes to Hollywood

David Shasha | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: The Green Years, Religion and Athiesm, A. J. Cronin, Secularism, Secular, Religion and Politics, Keys of the Kingdom, Athiest, The Citadel, Athiesm, Religion News
David Shasha

A.J. Cronin is an important figure for our times because his writing addresses many of the most critical issues we face as a culture. Cronin's Religious Humanism redraws for us the categories in which we can process social activism and religious belief.

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Religious and Secular Belief: All The Same To The Brain

scientificamerican.com | Allison Bond | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: God in the Brain, Sam Harris, Secularism, MRI Brain Scans, Fmri, Psychology, Searching for God in the Brain, Religious Beliefs, Religion, Neuroscience, Scientific American, Brain, Secular, Christianity, Christians, Mri, Religious Belief, Belief, Religion News

"Believing the sun is a star is rather the same as believing Jesus was born of a virgin," says Sam Harris, co-author of a study that suggests that the...

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Foundation Urges Charitable Giving Among Nonreligious

pewforum.org | Kimberlee Hauss | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Religion News, Generosity, Church, Atheist, Atheism, Charity, Altruism, Secularism, Donating to Charity, Secular Humanism, Foundation Beyond Belief, Secular Coalition for America, Religion, Dale Mcgowan, Donation, Secular, Christianity, Christians, Atheists, Donations, Nonreligious, Religion News

The Foundation Beyond Belief is urging atheists and secularists to donate more to charity in order to show that their generosity equals that of church...

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A Hundred Years of War

Joseph A. Palermo | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Shia, Fundamentalism, Al Qaeda, President Obama, War on Terror, Afpak, Iraq, Car Bombs, Cold War, Suicide Bombs, I.E.D., Dick Cheney, Iran, Religion, Jihad, Drone Attacks, Iraq Invasion, Middle East, Liz Cheney, Saudi Arabia, Secular, Afghanistan, Terrorism, Sunni, Islamicization, World News
Joseph A. Palermo

Drone attacks are terrorism too. Killing entire families, including women and children, in the "border" areas of the "AF-PAK" theater to hit one "militant" or "extremist," without charge or trial, repeated countless times.

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Compassion: A Shared Ideal That Transcends Differences

Susan Smalley, Ph.D. | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Secular, Karen Armstrong, Christianity, Religion, Islam, Judaism, Compassion, The Inner Life, Healthy Living News
Susan Smalley, Ph.D.

We may have been told to 'follow the golden rule' as children (to do unto others as you would have others do unto you) but now science is illustrating the powerful role doing just that can have on humanity.

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India's Invisible Minority

Parvez Ahmed | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Sachar Commission, Hindu, Islam, India, Eid Ul-Fitr, Pakistan, Secular, Violence, Muslims, Durga-Festival, Partition of India, Democracy, Discrimination, Hinduvta, World News
Parvez Ahmed

Muslims who make up over twenty percent of the population in Kolkata have become its invisible minority, increasingly squeezed out of the public square in Kolkata and beyond.

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Why I Failed As an Atheist

Lauren Cahn | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Holocaust, Bible, Intolerance, Atheism, Anne Frank, Hebrew School, Judaism, The Diary of Anne Frank, Religion, Synagogue, God, Agnostic, Jesus Christ, Are You There God It's Me Margaret, Torah, Dogma, Secular, Religious Intolerance, Atheists, Secular Identity, Religious Dogma, Agnosticism, Bar Mitzvah, Rabbi, Spirituality, Healthy Living News
Lauren Cahn

I tried to believe in nothing. And I failed.

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Turkey's Prime Minister Orders Heavy Metal Fans Arrested

Ahu Ozyurt | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Secular, Heavy Metal, Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Heavy-Metal-Music, Istanbul, Istanbul-Turkey, Erdogan, World News
Ahu Ozyurt

If he can not even tolerate a group of Heavy Metal fans, what sort of a "Leader of the Muslim World" does he aspire to be? Even Ahmedinejad would be ashamed of this.

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Secular Life in Post-Christian America

Bruce Ledewitz | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: Secular, Religion, Secular Identity, Atheism, Judeo-Christian, Secularism, Politics News
Bruce Ledewitz

Today, we are still a Judeo-Christian culture with a sizeable secular representation. Tomorrow, we will be a secular culture with a sizeable Judeo-Christian representation. What will replace religion's insight?

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The Fight for the Soul of Secularism

Bruce Ledewitz | Posted 11.17.2011

Read More: Secular, Religion, Atheism, Christopher Hitchens, Secularism, Healthy Living News
Bruce Ledewitz

Why is opposition to religion no longer enough for secularists? For one thing, secularism is now too big for any one, simple message.

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