NOSHA – Page 10

Would a Secular Majority Make a Better America?

NOSHA’s president, Harry Greenberger, made this presentation to the Lakeview Community Unitarian Church here in New Orleans in November and we wanted to let everyone who couldn’t be there that day read what he had to say on this important topic. ****************************** Would a Secular Majority Make a Better America? By Harry Greenberger All recent U. S. surveys have shown that non-believers and non-church-goers are rapidly increasing in numbers, yet are still below 20% of our adult population. When I […]

Carl Sagan Felt Our Pain

Humanist groups nationwide celebrated the life and work of Carl Sagan this month. Sagan (1934-1996) an astronomer, educator and secular humanist, was probably best known for his PBS series “Cosmos.” It has now been 30 years since “Cosmos” first aired. This is a wonderful story he wrote that you can use when dealing with people who try your patience. You’ll see what I mean. The Dragon In My Garage by Carl Sagan “A fire-breathing dragon lives in my garage” Suppose (I’m following a […]

The Phantom Life

Since Hereafter, the latest movie by Clint Eastwood, prompted the media to go bonkers over the contemplation of an afterlife, non-believers should take a moment to reflect on this frightening reality. You don’t think it’s a little scary? That one day, each of us will die and we will cease to be? No? Well, it is one of the peskier concepts where even we non-religious types don’t have the answers. And we’re pretty sure the others don’t either, but they are willing to go out of their […]

Don’t know much about First Corinthians?

Or maybe you do? A letter to the editor from a local NOSHA member, Timothy Ruppert, deserves our applause. It’s imporant when someone takes up our cause and lets the public know more about non-believers and that we are paying attention. Even better when it’s in New Orleans. Why atheists have the answers (Published: Sunday, October 10, 2010) (Re: “Most Americans flunk basic religion,” Page 1, Oct. 3.) The Times-Picayune’s coverage of the Pew Research Center report glossed over the major finding. […]

Finally,,,,Some Sanity for Anne!

Recently vampire author and spiritually “determined” Anne Rice revealed that she is giving up on Christianity: “For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian … It’s simply impossible for me to ‘belong’ to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.” Thankfully, for those of us who have really liked her books (before her transformation), seductive characters […]

The F Word

It seems that we should keep this list tucked back in our memory. Don’t know much about fascism…well, let’s help you out a little. The 14 Defining Characteristics of Fascism(From Free Inquiry, Spring 2003)Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found fourteen defining characteristics common to each: 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism – Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, […]

Real family values in the 21st century!

I’m very surprised that more progressive people like you aren’t talking about this. It is a huge chink in the armor of the religious right and it’s fallen into our laps with little fanfare. Let’s shout it from the rooftops! The recent article by Jonathan Rauch published in the National Journal magazine (“The Leading Weekly on Politics and Policy”) highlights research in the new book, “Red Families v. Blue Families: Legal Polarization and the Creation of Culture,” written by two family law professors from George Washington University […]

Ways to support the goals of NOSHA and secular humanism in our community

Ways to Support the Goals of NOSHA! 1) Be a good person that you are and also be open about your atheism to others. * When appropriate, wear symbols that identify your beliefs. For example, the atheist “A,” or other images from the Freethought movement are available. You can also buy items with the NOSHA logo. * If someone asks you which church you attend, don’t become defensive or shy. Just matter-of-factly say that you don’t go to church, because […]

Celebrate National Day of Reason 2010!

We’ll have a special happy hour in May to commemorate “National Day of Reason.” Instead of our regular Wednesday gathering, we’re moving it one day to Thursday this month so we can recognize one of our major secular days of the year. The purpose of the National Day of Reason is to celebrate reason—a concept all Americans can support—and to raise public awareness about the persistent threat to religious liberty posed by government intrusion into the private sphere of worship. […]

Cultivate Your Garden….by Michael Shermer

Cultivate Your GardenHow a lack of control leads to superstition and what can be done about it (published February 2010 in Scientific American) Imagine a time in your life when you felt out of control—anything from getting lost to losing a job. Now look at the Figure 1 on this page. What do you see? Such a scenario was presented to subjects in a 2008 experiment by Jennifer Whitson of the University of Texas at Austin and her colleague Adam […]