It is easy for mainstream religionists to criticize followers of cults and sects. However, why should primitive insanity be preferred over modern insanity? We should all strive to establish strong criteria for examining extraordinary claims, regardless of where those claims are to be found. This would be a major way to combat dangerous cults and even relatively harmless irrational ideas.

There have always been Christian hypocrites. But they used to be in the minority and easy to write off. I am not writing about Christians that, like all of us, are fallible. I am talking about those that, for the most part, talk the talk but cannot walk the walk. The great writer and debater Melvin B. Tolson used to refer to them as “mouth Christians” . . . .

June is African American Music Appreciation Month. (It was originally designated as Black Music Month on June 7, 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. President Obama gave it the present designation in 2009. By the way, June is also LGBT Pride Month.) African Americans have contributed greatly to music. They were among the founders of blues, jazz, rock and roll, disco, rap and other genres. Musicians such as Little Richard heavily influenced the Beatles. Musicians such as Muddy Waters heavily influenced the Rolling Stones. (In fact, Rolling Stone magazine and the Rolling Stones are both named after Waters’ 1950 hit “Rollin’ Stone.”)

Some people are always criticizing other people’s missions. For example, someone who is passionate about environmentalism might criticize others for not concluding that there is nothing more important than dealing with climate change. This critic might believe that unless we all work together to address the challenge of climate change, all other missions are pretty much a waste of time.

Regnerus is a conservative and prefers the “exchange relationship” between women and men in which women view sex as a valuable prize to be shared with men only when women can reasonably expect romantic dates, improved finances, security, gifts, and at least competent fatherhood. By having sex with men too soon, the author contends, women are decreasing or even destroying the likelihood that they will get what they prize greatly – marriage. Ideally, women would wait until marriage to have sex with men. However, the author realizes that those days are long gone, and he does not long for them wistfully. He claims that he merely wants to understand modern relationships and where they might be headed.

". . . religion’s greatest trick wasn’t convincing people that there was a God who was all-powerful. It was convincing everyone else that you couldn’t ridicule the idea." – British Comedian and Atheist Ricky Gervais

Despite the popular notion that religion should be deadly serious, the fact remains that religion is downright hilarious. Indeed, CBS has premiered the sitcom Living Biblically, and comedies such as CBS’ Young Sheldon have dealt with religion intelligently and in funny ways.

Donald Trump is truly divisive in a very horrible way. As a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, and as someone who has worked for organizations serving vets for years, I had heard criticisms from vets of Democratic and Republican presidents. But I had never heard a single vet say that she or he would not want to fight for any U.S. president – until Trump came to power. I shared my observation with other vets, and many of them said that they, too, would not fight for this Commander-in-Chief.

There have been many objections to the celebration of Black History Month – coming from Blacks and Whites alike. Many Blacks have complained that this time was set aside because February is the shortest (and perhaps coldest) month of the year.

On Monday, December 4, 2017, I hosted a showing of the documentary Contradiction, by Black atheist Jeremiah Camara. I appeared in the 2014 documentary that deals with theism – primarily Christianity – in the Black community. The film was very well-received and there was a lively discussion that followed. Most of those in attendance were theists and two Afrocentric individuals had some defenses of theism. One man, a local college instructor, made several comments.

It is a fascinating exercise to decide to whom we would speak if we had the opportunity to speak with anyone from history. First, I must state that I would have no interest whatsoever in speaking with Jesus Christ. I do not believe that he was the Son of God or even a particularly interesting or brilliant moral leader. The first person from history that I would like to speak with would be Malcolm X. I would ask him what he thinks of the Nation of Islam since Minister Louis Farrakhan assumed power. I would like to get his views on women’s rights and LGBTQI rights. I would like to know what he thought of Obama’s Presidency. I would be interested in getting his views on rap music and hip- hop culture. I would like to get his views on humanism among people of African descent. I would like to get his views on the relationship between the individual and society. And there are many others I’d want to speak to, too. . .

Today there is much controversy surrounding monuments to historical figures with problematic histories. This problem has been best exemplified with monuments established to honor Southern civil war “heroes.” Somewhat less controversial are monuments to former slave owners such as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, and explorers such as Christopher Columbus who helped bring about many deaths to First Nation Peoples.

However, Gregory rarely met a conspiracy theory he did not like. Indeed, the only ones he seemed to reject were those involving the Illuminati (based on anti- Jewish bigotry) and those involving extraterrestrial aliens (thank goodness!). Gregory really became unhinged with the idea that the infamous Atlanta child murders from 1979-1981 were part of a massive conspiracy. My former colleague, Joe Nickell of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry did a great deal of research on that case. He found that the evidence against the convicted African American murderer Wayne Williams was overwhelming. There was an eyewitness that saw Williams holding hands with one of the victims. Furthermore, the forensic evidence was solid. There were unique carpet fibers connecting Williams to the murders, for example. Williams was convicted by a jury of eight Blacks and four Whites. (Had the jury been all White, the conspiracy theory would have raged out of control.)

Recently, a religious friend of mine shared a Facebook posting about an imaginary dialogue between a disgruntled believer and God. The believer was complaining that God did not wake him up on time and apparently failed him in many other ways. However, as it turned out, God was actually steering the believer away from many problems of which the believer was simply unaware. In the end, God tells the believer to believe in the plan He has set for him. It is a warm, fuzzy story, indeed.

However, I would like to imagine such a dialogue from the viewpoint of a well-meaning humanist. Here it goes:

Progressive readers of this book should always strive to keep an open mind. When I started to read it, I thought that it would be just another conservative or reactionary defense of patriarchal thinking. After all, the author puts “climate change deniers” in scare quotes (p. 42) and implies that climate change is not a reality. However, as one continues to read, she can see that the author’s well- researched book is thought-provoking and generally fair.

David Silverman is the hyper-aggressive, abrasive, arrogant and antagonistic president of American Atheists. He constantly whines about alleged political correctness and always complains that many people – even other atheists – call him “a dick,” which he vehemently but unconvincingly denies. Silverman is of the opinion that atheists should disrespect theism without disrespecting theists. His view is reminiscent of the idea that Christians should love the sin and hate the sinner. The problem is that hating the sin looks very much like hating the sinner to most people. Similarly, Silverman often makes cringe-inducing statements that many theists find unacceptably insulting.

Genuine human progress consists largely in undoing the damage done to the world by inhumane biblical ideas and actions. Some of this progress is, ironically, initiated by progressive religionists. The very best example of this is the eradication of chattel slavery.