The Atheist/ Agnostic Newsletter
Friday - 8 February 2008
Currently at BellaOnline
It doesn't pay to judge things merely by their titles. Until I actually looked in the "Society and Culture" section at BellaOnline, I had no idea how interesting it is. There's got to be something for everyone here. The individual sites are grouped as "European", "New World", and "World" (that is, everything else). I was especially taken by the German Culture Site. I was a little disappointed (but not surprised) that the site's written in English, rather than German. Nevertheless, Tracie Marquardt, the German Culture Editor, has put together an engaging and interesting collection of articles. As rabid anti-smoker, I was found the article on Germany's new smoking ban to be particularly gratifying to read.
Whatever your cultural persuasion, you should check out "Society and Culture". I'll bet you find something there that you like.
On the Internet
Does it bother you, when religious people gloat that non-believers are a small minority? Well, it turns out that we're not so small and we're growing bigger. For a fascinating study of the demographics of belief, take a look at the results of the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey conducted by the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Are women or men more likely to identify themselves as "secular"? How about old vs. young, or Republican vs. Democratic? There's some interesting information here.
In the A/A Forum
Things are starting to get interesting. Our first poll has been launched and the thread's going by itself. Thanks to Ms. A and Diana Blake (BellaOnline's new Art History Editor) for some interesting thoughts about birth control and population. It's a lot more fun to click on the Forum now than it was during the first few weeks!
This Week's A/A Article
When I lived in Newark, Delaware ages ago, I had the pleasure of attending a lecture at the University of Delaware by writer Isaac Asimov. Only much later did I learn how lucky I was, because the "Good Doctor", as he was sometimes known to his friends and fans, hated travelling, especially travelling by air and consequently didn't often stray very far from his beloved New York City. Until I heard Asimov speak, I knew him primarily as a science fiction author, but he was much more than that. In his lecture he introduced me to the philosophy of humanism. I've been a humanist ever since.
"What Is Humanism?"
AJ Hill - Editor
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