Mind Siege is at the root a political book. It creates a bogey man (Humanism) and tries to scare the reader. The timing of the book (in 2000, an election year) and some nasty words about the just past administration of former President Clinton, make the intention clear.
Reading some of the articles on the blog, you can sense some issues I have with a like minded group. Although Unitarian Universalists are in general supporters of Humanism, there have been problems on some issues. One example came up over the reaction to the invite of Pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at the inaugural of President Obama in January. The other recent issue was in an article about the life sentence given to the killer who shot up a UU church in Knoxville in 2008.
In the course of a discussion about ideas, philosophy, politics, or the mundane, one description that gets thrown about is saying that someone is being dogmatic or advancing dogma. Dogma is set of beliefs or doctrine especially of a religious nature that is accepted as truth without proof. For example – the Holy Bible says [...]
An old argument came up the other day with another Humanist. It was related to some of my earlier posts here. It was the debate between religious and secular humanists. The debate was about Humanism and religion. I’m not religious. I have no use for religion of any form, but I don’t have anything against [...]
By Jennifer Hancock I am a Humanist. I am proud of that fact and I do not hesitate to label myself as a Humanist. Over the past few years I have met a lot of people who share my values as a Humanist, but who had just never encountered anyone who is willing to talk [...]
by Doug Berger In my last essay I described some of the basic assumptions of Humanism. In this edition I want to talk about one of the prime precepts of Humanism, and all of Freethought. Critical thinking is THE most important tool we can use to evaluate truth and to work out human solutions to [...]
by Doug Berger Most of us, when finally discovering Humanism and taking the plunge, ask ‘What’s next?’ Some of us wonder how to apply our new found philosophy to our daily lives. Even some of us want to learn about the different aspects of the philosophy. This is the first of a series where I [...]
by Alistair Robinson Most of us are outraged by the violent actions of animal rights extremists, but at the same time the movement’s ideas and assumptions are gaining a foothold in the media and the public imagination. From my own experience it seems that among the young thinking people of this country animal rights is [...]
By Doug Berger I wanted to take the opportunity to write an essay in rebuttal to an essay written by Jane Haddam that was posted on her official website in 2003. Jane is a published author of several mystery novels and freelance articles for various mainstream magazines. I have had the pleasure of discussing the [...]
Written on September 16, 2001 By Doug Berger A big black smoking hole in one of the World Trade Center towers was the first scene I saw at 8:55 am on Tuesday September 11, 2001. Thick black smoke poured into the air. The reporters said a plane had crashed into the tower. At 9:03 am [...]