FI AS 14.Indd

FI AS 14.Indd

ARTHUR L. CAPLAN: When Does Human Life Begin? CELEBRATING REASON AND HUMANITY August/September 2014 Vol. 34 No.5 How Morality Has the Objectivity that Matters —Without God by RONALD A. LINDSAY The Faith I Left Behind, Part 4 | A Supreme Court Wake-up Call Hamlet in the Gospels? | Daring God to Strike You Dead 80% 1.5 BWR PD Fables of the Christ A/S 08 Introductory Price $4.95 U.S. / $4.95 Can. 09 Greta Christina | Nat Hentoff | Mark Rubinstein Faisal Saeed Al Mutar | Lauren Becker Published by the Council 7725274 74957 for Secular Humanism ARTHUR L. CAPLAN: When Does Human Life Begin? CELEBRATING REASON AND HUMANITY August/September 2014 Vol. 34 No.5 How Morality Has the Objectivity that Matters —Without God by RONALD A. LINDSAY The Faith I Left Behind, Part 4 | A Supreme Court Wake-up Call Hamlet in the Gospels? | Daring God to Strike You Dead 80% 1.5 BWR PD Fables of the Christ A/S 08 Introductory Price $4.95 U.S. / $4.95 Can. 09 Greta Christina | Nat Hentoff | Mark Rubinstein Faisal Saeed Al Mutar | Lauren Becker Published by the Council 7725274 74957 for Secular Humanism ARTHUR L. CAPLAN: When Does Human Life Begin? CELEBRATING REASON AND HUMANITY August/September 2014 Vol. 34 No.5 How Morality Has the Objectivity that Matters —Without God by RONALD A. LINDSAY The Faith I Left Behind, Part 4 | A Supreme Court Wake-up Call Hamlet in the Gospels? | Daring God to Strike You Dead 80% 1.5 BWR PD Fables of the Christ A/S 08 Introductory Price $4.95 U.S. / $4.95 Can. 09 Greta Christina | Nat Hentoff | Mark Rubinstein Faisal Saeed Al Mutar | Lauren Becker Published by the Council 7725274 74957 for Secular Humanism August/September 2014 Vol. 34 No. 5 CELEBRATING REASON AND HUMANITY 16 How Morality Has the Objectivity 27 Why I Am Not a Believer that Matters—Without God Harry Greenberger Ronald A. Lindsay 28 Why I Am Not a Catholic Greg Hladky 40 Anticipating Hamlet in the Gospels: God’s Plan, Mere Coincidence, 29 Why I Am Not a Jehovah’s Witness or Intentional Deception? Thomas J. Lawson Mark Rubinstein 31 Why I Am Not a Mystic Scientific Ethics and the Scriptures 44 Alice Leuchtag of Abrahamic Faiths Steve Sklar 32 Why I Am Not an Episcopalian Richard Hall The Faith I Left Behind, Part 4 34 Why I Am Not a Gutless Atheist Rob Earle 24 Why I Am Not a Catholic: Sundays with Estelle 35 Why I Am Not a Progressive Christian Mark Cagnetta James Metzger EDITORIAL 14 Why We Need to Lose Religion REVIEWS 4 The Supreme Court Sounds to Save America 61 The Age of Atheists: How We a Wake-up Call Lauren Becker Have Sought to Live Since Ronald A. Lindsay the Death of God, LETTERS by Peter Watson OP-EDS 15 Reviewed by Bill Cooke 7 Brain States All the Way Down Tom Flynn DEPARTMENTS 62 Coming Out Atheist: How to 52 Church-State Update Do It, How to Help Each Other, 8 The Problem of Nuance in a Climate Change, Overpopulation, and Why Wonderful and Terrible World and Pope Francis by Greta Christina Greta Christina Edd Doerr Reviewed by Reba Boyd Wooden 9 This Is America? Racially Separate, 54 Freethought History Unequal Public Schools Persist 64 Good Catholics: The Battle over Dares God—and Lives to Tell the Tale Abortion in the Catholic Church Nat Hentoff James H. Dee by Patricia Miller Reviewed by Edd Doerr 11 When Does Human Life Begin? 56 God on Trial Arthur L. Caplan The Fable of the Christ Michael Paulkovich POEM 12 Identifying as an Ex-Muslim, Pros and Cons 60 Humanism at Large 37 The Shrine That Wasn’t Faisal Saeed Al Mutar Too Big for the Drama by Chris O’Carroll Bruce Martin 13 Freedom from Religion Is a Civil Right Nigel Barber Editor Thomas W. Flynn Associate Editor Lauren Becker Managing Editor Andrea Szalanski Ronald A. Lindsay Editorial Columnists Ophelia Benson, Russell Blackford, Arthur L. Caplan, Greta Christina, Edd Doerr, Shadia B. Drury, Nat Hentoff, Tibor R. Machan, Mark Rubinstein Senior Editors Bill Cooke, Richard Dawkins, Edd Doerr, James A. Haught, Jim Herrick, Gerald A. Larue, The Supreme Court Sounds Ronald A. Lindsay, Taslima Nasrin a Wake-up Call Contributing Editors Roy P. Fairfield, Charles Faulkner, Levi Fragell, Adolf Grünbaum, Marvin Kohl, Lee Nisbet Assistant Editors Julia Lavarnway Moira Madden Literary Editor Cheryl Quimba n May 5, the United States it’s a zoning dispute, complaints about Permissions Editor Julia Lavarnway Supreme Court issued its decision noise, or the need for another dog Art Director Christopher S. Fix in Town of Greece v. Galloway, park, whereas they attend sessions Production Paul E. Loynes Sr. Oupholding the practice of the of Congress or their state legislature Town of Greece, New York, of hav­ only as tourists. When citizens inter­ Chair Edward Tabash ing prayers open town board meet­ act directly with their government, the Board of Directors R. Elisabeth Cornwell ings. Since the practice was initiated in first order of business should not be a Kendrick Frazier Barry A. Kosmin 1999—replacing the previous practice of sectarian prayer, which sends an unmis­ Hector Sierra a moment of silence—the prayers have takable message to religious minorities Leonard Tramiel been overwhelmingly Christian, with fre­ Judith Walker and the nonreligious that they are out­ Lawrence Krauss (Honorary) quent explicit references to “Our Lord, siders, second­class citizens. Jesus Christ.” Moreover, the town did Unfortunately, the Supreme Court Chief Executive Officer Ronald A. Lindsay nothing to indicate that the prayers were majority was not persuaded by this dis­ Executive Director Thomas W. Flynn not endorsed by the town government. tinction. More disturbingly, the reason­ Associate Director Lauren Becker I cannot say I was optimistic about ing of the majority opinion displayed a Director, Campus and the outcome of this case, as I indicated contempt for the rights of nonbelievers. Community Programs (CFI) Debbie Goddard last year (“The Looming Supreme Court The majority opinion referred to the fact Director, Secular Organizations Showdowns,” FREE INQUIRY August/Sep­ that religion holds an important place for Sobriety Jim Christopher tember 2013, Volume 33, no. 5). In 1983, in the lives of “many Americans.” Well, Director, African Americans for Humanism Debbie Goddard in Marsh v. Chambers, the Supreme Court that’s undoubtedly true, but humanists upheld official prayers in the context of and atheists are citizens also, and it is Acting Director of Development (CFI) Jason Gross state legislatures and Congress, princi­ decidedly not the role of government Director of Libraries (CFI) Timothy Binga pally on the basis that the First Congress to endorse the religious views held by had chaplains. With a conservative “many Americans.” Our Constitution Communications Director Paul Fidalgo majority on the court, one could envision plainly indicates that the government is Database Manager (CFI) Jacalyn Mohr the Marsh decision being expanded to to stay clear of religious matters, allow­ Webmaster Matthew Licata include local government meetings. ing the people to come to their own Staff Pat Beauchamp, Ed Beck, However, there is one clear distinc­ conclusions about religion without any Melissa Braun, Shirley Brown, Eric Chinchón, tion between local government meet­ compulsion, prodding, encouragement, Roe Giambrone, ings and sessions of Congress or state or oversight by the state. Deference to Jason Gross, Paul Paulin, Anthony Santa Lucia, legislatures: citizens often have to par­ the religious sentiments of the majority Diane Tobin, ticipate in county or city meetings to is precisely what the Constitution, in par­ Vance Vigrass present petitions or arguments on mat­ ticular the First Amendment, is intended Executive Director Emerita Jean Millholland ters that affect them directly, whether to prohibit. 4 FREE INQUIRY AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2014 secularhumanism.org The court majority also provided a port the movement’s advocacy groups, FREE INQUIRY (ISSN 0272-0701) is published bimonthly by the Council for Secular Humanism, a nonprofit educational tortuous justification for not finding and punish at the ballot box those corporation, P.O. Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226-0664. Phone sectarian Christian prayers impermis­ politicians who would deny us our con­ (716) 636-7571. Fax (716) 636-1733. Copyright ©2014 by the Council for Secular Humanism. All rights reserved. No part sible. The majority reasoned that it stitutional rights. If we are united in of this periodical may be reproduced without permission of would be difficult, if not impossible, our efforts, changing the legal/political the publisher. Periodicals postage paid at Buffalo, N.Y., and at additional mailing offices. National distribution by Disticor. to draft a generic prayer satisfactory climate in our favor is not an impossible FREE INQUIRY is indexed in Philosophers’ Index. Printed in to everyone. In addition, the majority dream. Bear in mind that the Supreme the United States. Postmaster: Send address changes to FREE INQUIRY, P.O. Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226-0664. Opinions observed that government should stay Court’s decision was based on the nar­ expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors or out of the business of editing prayers rowest of margins—a 5–4 vote. One publisher. No one speaks on behalf of the Council for Secular Humanism unless expressly stated. and censoring clergy. In a remarkable vote the other way, and we would have statement, the majority asserted, “Once been able to limit or eliminate payers at TO SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW Call toll-free 800-458-1366 (have credit card handy). [the government] invites prayer into the local government meetings. Internet: www.secularhumanism.org. public sphere, government must permit But we also need to bear in mind Mail: FREE INQUIRY, P.O.

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