Originally published at SacredRiver.org. You can comment here or there.

I would like to offer an addendum to my outline of varieties of naturalists in my last post. Although I do not believe in any gods, I do not like the term atheist because it sets me up in opposition to theism. In other words, theism is the ground against which I am pushing when ( Read more... )

Originally published at SacredRiver.org. You can comment here or there.

There are two perspectives regarding religious naturalism. One is that religious naturalism is a label applied to a range of general ideas and beliefs. In other words, people write about ideas and beliefs and it is possible for an observer to fit them into a category called “ ( Read more... )

Originally published at SacredRiver.org. You can comment here or there.

The following statement has been written as a declaration of the fundamental principles of Religious Naturalism. It is currently residing on its own page, which includes the following text and where people can sign their endorsement. You are also invited to sign...

Religious ( Read more... )

Originally published at SacredRiver.org. You can comment here or there.

Recently, a gentleman with whom I’ve corresponded for the last couple of years offered a rather blistering comment in a Sacred River post. My initial response was to blow it off, which is my usual policy when I feel a comment doesn’t meet a simple standard of courtesy (I’m sorry ( Read more... )

Originally published at SacredRiver.org. You can comment here or there.

As much as I identify as a religious naturalist, I must confess that I do not like the term. To be clear, I’m not suggesting that religious naturalism be eliminated, only used in the way other categorical terms are used, such as Abrahamic Religion. I can’t say that I have a ( Read more... )

Originally published at SacredRiver.org. You can comment here or there.

In general, Sacred River is not intended for intellectual meta-discussion of religious naturalism, but this is an interesting issue that is worth exploration. Naturalism, as a philosophical orientation, explicitly denies the existence of anything that is outside of nature, and ( Read more... )

Originally published at SacredRiver.org. You can comment here or there.

Generally I dislike receiving lists of advice, so I’m a little embarrassed to be offering one. I wrote this list in response to an email sent to me with a lot of (mostly Christian) suggestions that I didn’t particularly care for. Obviously this list only reflects my own personal ( Read more... )

Originally published at SacredRiver.org. You can comment here or there.

Ursula Goodenough has a wonderful essay up on the NPR website called, “Are You A Religious Naturalist Without Knowing It?” A short snippet:

…Nature is all that we know there to be; its source is a mystery; its dynamics generate emergent phenomena of increasing complexity. Full ( Read more... )

Originally published at SacredRiver.org. You can comment here or there.

Freud famously hypothesized that God is little more than a projected father figure. This idea was given within the context of his psychosexual theories, which have largely been outmoded as the science of psychology has progressed. Nevertheless, Freud was probably on to something ( Read more... )

Originally published at SacredRiver.org. You can comment here or there.

I know it’s corny, but I get a lump in my throat when I watch this video.

Click to view

PS. If you live in Massachusetts you can help keep the world awesome by voting for Martha Coakley today.