Humanist Chaplaincy at Rutgers

A recent article was published in the journal Science about the effects that religion has for both encouraging conflict and in group trust.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  However, the research in the article also discussed the possibilities for religion, or in-group identifications around the ‘scared’, benefiting inter-group reconciliation.  Science Daily published a review of the article as ‘Religion is a Potent Force for Cooperation and Conflict, Research Shows‘ here.

What struck me about the article is what it said about how to approach people. It reinforced the Humanist Chaplaincy’s view that humanists/atheists will get more cooperation from religious people if we show some respect and humility rather than confront them aggressively. If our objective is, as I think it should be, peace and mutual tolerance with the religious, then this tells us how to proceed rationally to achieve that objective.

Sincerely,

Gary Brill

Greta Christina, a well known atheist blogger, in a recent article outlines the growth and cultural clout of the Atheist Movement.

From the Reason Rally in DC with 20-30,000 participants – in the rain! – to billboards and massive fundraising projects, Greta describes how non-theists are getting active and getting noticed in the US.

To add to this list I’d like to note the huge growth in Humanist Chaplaincies.  Only a few years ago there was a single Humanist Chaplaincy in the US at Harvard.  Today there are five of us.  And at least two being planned as I write this.  Not to mention the Tufts Freethought Society, whose students have been advocating for one for a while.

To read the article check it out at Salon.com Atheism’s New Clout.

A new study shows that Non-theists are motivated by compassion more often than people that identify as religious.  You can read an article from the Huffington Post here.

The reasons for this are unclear, but one lesson that can certainly be taken is that Atheism doesn’t mean you are necessarily a stone cold individualist and selfish oppurtunitist.

There are Nihilists, yes.  But there are also Humanists!

One can be Good without God.

If you are feeling compassionate, please considering donating to Foundation Beyond Belief.

The Chaplaincy doesn’t conclude that theists are not motivated by compassion.  That is obviously an incorrect assumption to make.  However, as we have been trying to arguing all along:

Compassion, in practice as well as theory, is a central value of Humanism