Pathologies of Power Widespread tendency to defer to authority plays important role in the expansion of state power
"A tyranny," Plato says in the Republic, "is the wretchedest form of government," and "a tyrant grows worse from having power: he becomes and is of necessity more jealous, more faithless, more unjust, more friendless,... Read More
Why Are So Many Unarmed Black Americans Killed by the Police?
In late May the U.S. Department of Justice announced strict new standards be placed on the police department of Cleveland, Ohio, after a review of its use of force against criminal suspects and others guilty... Read More
Whose Pleasure? Whose Pain? Applying the Hedonic Calculus to Public Policy
“We must, therefore, pursue the things that make for happiness, seeing that when happiness is present, we have everything; but when it is absent, we do everything to possess it.” —Epicurus, Letter to Menoeceus Religious... Read More
Who Says Body Painting and Lingerie Parties Aren’t Divine? Property Tax Exemptions Should Apply to All Churches (or Better Yet, None)
The religious right ought to be up in arms over the latest government assault on the free exercise of religion. Last week in Panama City Beach, Florida, government officials stripped away the property tax exemption... Read More
Religious Nationalism A Weapon of Mass Destruction
It is hard to believe that the conflicts currently ravaging the Middle East could get much worse, yet the refusal of numerous parties to make substantive compromises on key issues is increasingly likely to lead... Read More
Egyptian Atheist Gets Prison for Facebook Posts
An Egyptian court in Baheira governorate on Jan. 10 sentenced a student to three years in prison for announcing on Facebook that he is an atheist and for allegedly "insulting Islam." The sentence, the latest... Read More
I Met God, and S/He’s a Cultural Construct
To humanists, attempts to define or understand the nature of a deity can appear meaningless. Why bother to attempt to explain something that does not exist? Shouldn’t we focus on real-world, material problems that affect... Read More