Susan Jacoby on Secularism and Free Thinking 

Read all of Susan Jacoby's books. They rule.

It’s a shame you lost your faith. Mine has been modified after disputing and rejecting the Sky Daddy theology. There is no actual separate place called Hell where “sinners” go to be punished from a short time up to all eternity. Instead, those that do not live in accordance with The Spirit reincarnate endlessly. Those that do get to get off the cycle and go be in Paradise. Meanwhile this world is slowly running down- atrophying- and will eventually become Hell. But, it’s up to us and subsequent generations how quickly this happens.

You actually are!

Not really.

@Jon Hinson I'm gay, and I don't force anyone to believe anything.

Free thinker and the word faith is a dichotomy of the highest degree. Faith is an excuse people use to believe in something when there is a lack evidence for that thing. Faith is certainly not a virtue. Faith is shutting your mind off to evidence. A free thinker is someone that is a skeptic and questions everything and proportions their belief to the evidence.

@@TheAstraeuss I have faith in love. I have faith in a multiverse, I have faith that not every fable is based on nothing, I have.. imagination.. which Einstein said was more valuable than knowledge. Are you smarter than Einstein? You could be!, because I believe in possibility. People like you say flying cars aren't real, while people like me build them;)

Shes spinning this her way and speaking as if the founders didnt have a god. Nature was god lol mother Gaia. Shes loves darwin i guess

Her "philosophy" is one of thinking rationally and clearly. It's what will save humankind. With what part of her "philosophy" do you not agree? I'd be curious to know the specifics.

Errr...The people who "believe" in the bible claim it's the divinely-inspired word of god. That means that you bible believers actually think that it's god's absolute word, not the word of man. If it is the word of man, then we should certainly be able to question its content. Right?

Every form of cruelty and inhumanity has been commanded by the Bible. Numbers 15: 32 While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. 33 Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, 34 and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. 35 Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.” Luke 14: 26 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.

@@ayblackie5472 you dont even undertand metaphorical speak or parables do you. You read that with no humble spiritual thinking, Athiestic veiws of the bible never surprise me

Yawn. If your god isn't omnipotent (all-powerful) and omniscient (all-knowing), he's not the god of your bible. If he IS those things...he's just a wicked, evil thing.Certainly not loving. For, even if he "gave" his subjects "free will" this makes him seem a wicked puppeteer. Because he most certainly would know, ahead of time, what any of his subjects were going to do. His failure to prevent catastrophes and ugliness makes him/her/it a very wicked power if, indeed, it does exist.

If god is real why does he allow babies to be born in places where they’ll never know Christ and will have to go hell based on not being baptized? What about women who are raped before marriage and now aren’t given the same respect because of a god given virginity gift to the man? What about people who are born in villages and have no outside contact and god allows their souls to be tortured in hell forever because he allowed them to be born there. He controls all births, maybe not what happens after but he chose to put people in places where he knew they would be burned in hell for eternity. Frankly, I’d rather believe in myself than a god who destroys the world because he isn’t being worshipped properly. Sounds like an unhinged narcissistic parent or an angry toddler more than an almighty god with compassion and love in his heart for those he created. But hey. You’ll come up with a reason to justify that I’m sure. Just goes to show how deeply indoctrinated you are. I was raised catholic and I will never believe you can repeatedly confess a horrific power abusing sin and yet still be allowed into heaven. I’d rather go to hell than be in a heaven full of eggshells and rules. And if heaven is a free for all, what’s the point of a god anyways if you’re just going up there to do all the bad you didn’t get to do down here? Honestly.... the most contrived stories ever have taken over the globe and create such unrest between humans it’s quite a tragedy we only have ourselves to blame. I figured this out at about 8-9 years old while in a service. Why does god allow babies to be born where they’ll never be able to get in heaven? That question broke not only my indoctrinated faith, but also my pastor whom I asked and could not give me an honest answer as he never realized it with such sincerity until I a young child had asked.

I figured this out at about 8-9 years old while in a service. Why does god allow babies to be born where they’ll never be able to get in heaven? That question broke not only my indoctrinated faith, but also my pastor whom I asked and could not give me an honest answer as he never realized it with such sincerity until I a young child had asked.