A long time ago I used to be a Roman Catholic, and in those days we talked a lot about tests of faith. They happened when you were confronted with facts that clearly challenged the... Read More

In his study of the psychological damage wrought by World War II, historian Paul Fussell details a soldier’s view of death in combat as a “slowly dawning and dreadful realization” that begins with the rationalization:... Read More

Now that the Oscar nominations have been announced, movie buffs across the country can start speculating on what films will take home that iconic golden statue. Unfortunately, lost in all the glamour and pomp of... Read More

Jane Cooper’s book, Embroidering History, opens wide a window into the workings of an early humanitarian aid project in a complex emergency, namely the refugee crisis of Polish peasants from 1924-1925. Cooper has ably edited... Read More

A friend recently passed on a slick magazine to me published by a religious right group. The cover depicted a close-up shot of a large steamroller under dark and threatening skies. The headline read, “Secularism:... Read More

I came to the humanist movement in the 1970s, not as a refugee or rebel against the abusive teachings of organized religion but as one already born into an atheistic humanist family who was longing... Read More

Most people have a mistake in life they would like forgiven: a petty theft, cheating on a lover, a lie that sprawled and webbed like a net forever hovering nearby. For Rhoda, the main character... Read More