Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Secular Spectrum

Home
Nonreligious

2016-03-01T06:43:19-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Don’t Let God Be Your Driver

Last updated on: March 1, 2016 at 6:43 am By Gleb Tsipursky

You know those people who have the “God Is My Driver” bumper sticker on their cars? I’m always scared when I see that bumper sticker. I can imagine those people letting go of the wheel of their cars and just trusting in The Lord Above to steer them right. This sticker is indicative of a broader attitude in life, of letting things take their own course by believing they are all predetermined anyway – fatalism. Now, it’s not only the... Read more

compassionate humanism

2016-02-25T16:55:33-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Dropping the Mic on God: 9th Century Edition

Last updated on: February 25, 2016 at 4:55 pm By Dale McGowan

Jainism is an atheistic religion that’s mostly about pacifism and nonviolence–but that doesn’t keep Jains from unleashing the occasional Hitchens-level critique of supernatural belief. The 1200-year-old Mahapurana of Acharya Jinasena includes an anti-creationist throw-down that could have been blogged yesterday: Some foolish men declare that Creator made the world. The doctrine that the world was created is ill-advised, and should be rejected. If God created the world, where was he before creation? If you say he was transcendent then, and needed no support, where is he now?... Read more

2016-02-29T16:44:17-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Trumping of America

Last updated on: February 29, 2016 at 4:44 pm By Stephanie Savage

The 2016 Republican primary race seems to have been conceived by a coked-up Hollywood satirist. I can just imagine the pitch. And then the egomaniacal tycoon character turns the race into a reality show, he he he. The more outrageous his statements, the higher he rises in the polls, while the mainstream candidates get voted off the island one by one. He threatens protesters with a punch in the face, and the crowd cheers for more. What’s next, American Presidential... Read more

2016-02-23T15:44:03-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A Secular Purpose-Driven Life

Last updated on: February 23, 2016 at 3:44 pm By Guest Contributor

By Gleb Tsipursky How can you find purpose and meaning from a secular perspective? Mike meets regularly with friends and acquaintances from his neighborhood in a large building. There, he enjoys listening to presentations about big life questions: on the meaning of life, on the nature of morality, on ethical behavior, etc. He participates in study circles that engage with these questions in more depth. Mike sings, dances, and enjoys musical performances there. Together with others, he volunteers to... Read more

2016-02-22T17:15:37-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Hiding Darwin’s Disbelief

Last updated on: February 22, 2016 at 5:15 pm By Dale McGowan

Part 3 in a series on the mangling of Darwin’s Autobiography Back to Part 1 | Part 2 I majored in physical anthropology in college — not for the dazzling job prospects, but to fill in my sketchy understanding of evolution. In addition to changing and deepening my grasp of what it means to be human, a fuller knowledge of evolution led me to wonder how traditional religion could be made to fit with it at all. I also wondered what Darwin thought about... Read more

2016-03-09T08:31:10-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Dulling of Darwin

Last updated on: March 9, 2016 at 8:31 am By Dale McGowan

Part 2 in a series on the mangling of Darwin’s Autobiography Back to Part 1 | On to Part 3 An astonishing ability to pay attention may have been Darwin’s defining characteristic. Remember, this was the guy who found it possible to study barnacles for eight years straight. That superhuman capacity to observe and notice was the reason he could untangle the idea of natural selection. And as a result of this well-honed ability, the original manuscript of the Autobiography is bursting... Read more

Charles Darwin

2016-07-23T10:30:35-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Distorting Darwin

Last updated on: July 23, 2016 at 10:30 am By Dale McGowan

Part 1 in a series on the mangling of Darwin’s Autobiography. Part 2 | Part 3 Charles Darwin wrote a great book. I loved it the first time I read it, then read it twice more. The more I read it, the more I liked it. Not everyone feels the same about this book. Some were so disturbed by what he wrote that they cut whole passages out before it was even published. As a result, most people didn’t get... Read more

Charles Darwin

2016-02-19T19:55:14-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Long Goodbye for an Atheist-Positive President

Last updated on: February 19, 2016 at 7:55 pm By Stephanie Savage

I have long harbored a fantasy that President Barack Obama is not a Christian. No, I never believed the unfounded and revoltingly racist birther nonsense. They’re still waiting for him to lead that Islamic takeover of the US. Any day now… Not only isn’t President Obama a Muslim, neither was his father (not that there’s anything wrong with that, other than the whole religion thing). Barack Obama Sr. was raised a Muslim, but had become an atheist by the time... Read more

Activism

Atheism

Christianity

Church/State separation

compassionate humanism

2016-03-24T12:39:01-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A Valentine’s Day Poem Massacre

Last updated on: March 24, 2016 at 12:39 pm By Stephanie Savage

Dale McGowan penned a sweet, secular love letter to his wife for Valentine’s Day in his latest post. Typically, I wrote a bad poem. It’s deliberately bad…honest. The poems started years ago because I couldn’t find any unsappy Valentine’s Day cards. I thought, “I could do worse than this.” And a satirical tradition was born. When the tradition started, I hadn’t written a poem since I was a teenager. One of the poems I wrote then appears in the new... Read more

2016-02-13T06:25:50-05:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Is Spirituality Irrational?

Last updated on: February 13, 2016 at 6:25 am By Guest Contributor

By Ron Garret Written in response to “Religious and Rational?” Spirituality and rationality seem completely opposed. But are they really? To get at this question, let’s start with a little thought experiment. Consider the following two questions: 1. If you were given a choice between reading a physical book (or an e-book) or listening to an audiobook, which would you prefer? 2. If you were given a choice between listening to music, or looking at the grooves of a phonograph... Read more

Rationality

Spirituality

Uncategorized

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who became David's closest friend, even though he was Saul's son?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ish-bosheth Jonathan Abner Shimei

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Ableism Activism Addiction and Recovery Agnosticism Anti-intellectualism Arts Atheism Beauty Catholicism Charles Darwin Children China Christianity Church/State separation churchgoing communication compassionate humanism Creationism critical thinking Culture death disaster response doubt education Egypt Entertainment Environment ethics evolution Existence of God Exploration fear Foundation Beyond Belief Free speech God Health History Human rights humanism identity India Interfaith Islam labels Language LGBT Love Meaning Media Medicine Middle East misconceptions mixed belief marriage Moral argument Morality Myths Near-Death Experience Nonreligious parenting Parody Persecution complex Philosophy Poetry Politics prayer Psychology Rationality Religion religious atheists Religious privilege Republican Party Satire Schools science secular parenting Spirituality The Unpigeonholeables Uncategorized United Kingdom Wonder

Select a Month March 2021 August 2020 March 2020 January 2020 September 2019 July 2019 June 2019 April 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 June 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014

TRENDING AT PATHEOS Nonreligious