Muggles’ Magical Thinking: Why J.K. Rowling’s Cultural Appropriation is a Problem
One of the cornerstones of the humanist philosophy is compassion. This is a motivation that inspires the very lifestance of humanism, according to Humanist Manifesto III. Part and parcel to compassion is empathy, the capacity... Read More
Humanism in Literature: Ten Authors to Read
In his essay, “Humanist Literature in Perspective,” Dr. Arthur Dobrin, professor emeritus at Hofstra University and leader emeritus of the Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island, writes, ‘Humanist literature’ is an ambiguous term. Does it... Read More
Book Excerpt: White Nights, Black Paradise
On November 18, 1978, over 900 members of the Peoples Temple, a multiracial church with Pentecostal origins, died in a Guyana jungle settlement named after the church’s white founder, the Reverend Jim Jones. On that... Read More
Between the World and Me
BOOK BY TA-NEHISI COATES SPIEGEL & GRAU; 2015 176 PP.; $24.00 The Black Lives Matter movement confused me at first. I didn’t understand why so many black Americans were so angry. But then I remembered... Read More
White Nights, Black Paradise
BOOK BY SIKIVU HUTCHINSON INFIDEL BOOKS, 2015 325 PP., $10.95 Sikivu Hutchinson heads Black Skeptics Los Angeles and is a social justice activist as well as the author of several nonfiction books on race, religion,... Read More
Secular Meditation: 32 Practices for Cultivating Inner Peace, Compassion, and Joy
BOOK BY RICK HELLER NEW WORLD LIBRARY, 2015 288 PP.; $15.95 The very short review of Rick Heller’s Secular Meditation: If you’re curious about secular meditation and mindfulness, there’s finally a book for you. And... Read More
Book Excerpt: The Great Transition: Shifting from Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy
The Great Transition: Shifting from Fossil Fuels to Solar and Wind Energy By Lester R. Brown, Janet Larsen, J. Matthew Roney, and Emily E. Adams W. W. Norton & Company (2015) From Chapter One: Changing... Read More
