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On NOSHA @ 20, and Living On

Even it its early years, the collective and evolving group of individuals of the New Orleans Secular Humanist Association was already developing an ethic of action—working together and getting things done to make its ideology known and its principles something to be reckoned with— owing in no small to the commitment of its first president Harry Greenberger and other founding and early members. In this c-Span video from 2002, Greenberger shares some of the accomplishments of our small-group organization, and […]

Positive News: Christianity is on the Decline in America

The trend of the changing religious landscape in the United States began in the 1980s. The country is the Christian hub of the West with an unprecedented influence of church into politics. In 1990, 88 percent of Americans identified as Christians but since, that percentage has been been in decline. By 2007, it was 77 percent and by 2016 it reached a historic low of 69 percent with only 62 percent belonging to church congregations. This shift […]

Secular Spirituality: A Misnomer?

It would be difficult to deny that many of our fellow humans have experienced a mental state in reaction to an event external to themselves that they would classify, for lack of another term, as spiritual. (It would be equally difficult to overlook that the word, and its derivation spirituality, are often overused, or exaggerate the actual mental state the user experiences—remember what happened to “awesome”?) But what is a spiritual experience, anyway? This mental state may also be described […]

Two Crosses vs. The Lemon Test

The Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation has its hands full right about now. Not only is its staff busying itself with all types of proposals for religious-based legislation at both the state and national levels through a campaign dubbed Project Blitz, it is also active in monitoring and likely lobbying against secular challenges to existing laws and public displays of Christian faith in and on public buildings and public open spaces. Though not affiliated with the similarly named National Prayer Breakfast, […]

BOOK REVIEW “Why Religion?: A Personal Story”

When I first noticed Elaine Pagels’ recent book Why Religion? A Personal Story, I anticipated a scholarly analysis of what motivated humans to hold religious beliefs or engage in religious practices. I could not have been more wrong. This book is intensely personal, subjective, and emotional. Perhaps I should not have been so surprised. Religion is, after all, something personal, subjective, and emotional. Dr. Pagels is a professor of religion at Princeton University, and a scholar of Gnostic literature, works […]

Why Do I Write?

. “….no one is born to be anything but human.”—Eugene C. Thomas Eugene C. Thomas—Baba Geno—has been a recent guest on NOSHA’s cable access television program The Humanist Perspective. Insights into his life becoming the consummate humanist, from student and soldier, to spiritualist, writer, community radio broadcaster, and attorney-at law, can be heard at the link above. Here, he shares an introduction to his planned book compilation of essays and observations–edited, with permission from him. […]

The Self-Destructive Denial of Climate Change

Denialism has always been synonymous with human nature; that is, any definition of “human nature” would need to include this frailty. We follow our confirmation bias to defy reality and challenge evidence that is widely accepted by society. The term climate change evolved before from what was known in the 1980s as “Global Warming.” The rise of an increasingly globalized economy spurred several multinational corporations— like Exxon—to undertake studies which yielded findings that there could be catastrophic […]

The Cure That Wasn’t

Walter Kaufmann (1921-1980) was a philosopher, translator, and poet. His translations and interpretations of Nietzsche’s work are considered by many of his contemporaries to be the standard; and the influence of Nietzsche’s and other 20th Century philosophers and psychological theorists of the early modern age—as well as his poetic bent—are evident in this excerpt from Critique of Religion and Philosophy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, fifth paperback printing, 1990) in a chapter titled “The Core of Religion.” Man […]

Health and Wellness at City Hall

Until a few months ago, NOSHA’ s relations with the public officials at City Hall have been cordial, if not completely chummy with everyone. A good example of this is President Emeritus Harry Greenberger gave secular invocations to begin city council meetings on eight occasions, which began sometime between 2001 and 2003—the last in 2015. A recent action in October by the new administration, however, led by Mayor Latoya Cantrell brought to the attention of NOSHA member Glenn Pearl […]

Touché— From the Vault

“a cargo of the devil’s library”