Mike Powell
The following essay is a fusion of two articles, “Immortality and Reincarnation” (San Francisco Examiner, August 20, 1899) and “Ambrose Bierce Says: Not All Men Desire Immortality” (New York Journal, 25 April 1901). In its current form it was first printed in Bierce’s The Shadow on the Dial (1909) and reprinted in Volume 11 of …
Originally published July 2, 2004. From Freethinkers and Humanists of Muslim Origins Dear friends, The tragic incidents of September 11 have shocked the world. It is unthinkable that anyone could be so full of hate as to commit such heinous acts and kill so many innocent people. We people of Muslim origin are as much shaken …
Look out, New Englanders! Did you know there’s a rising, bubbling supervolcano right below the surface of New Hampshire? Better get to living free, before you die! At least that’s the conclusion you might draw from the headline of a June 26 story (Fox News 2018), “A new supervolcano is brewing under Massachusetts, Vermont and …
The use of antidepressant medications, particularly the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Prozac and Zoloft, have skyrocketed in the past thirty years. If you’re reading this column, then there is an excellent chance that you have either taken an antidepressant medication or know someone who has. The latest data shows that in the U.S., …
How Our Desire to Help Can Profit Hoaxers and Result in Harm A fury-inducing video announcing itself as a “social experiment” showed up on my feed recently, posted by a well-meaning skeptic who has always been on the right side of social justice causes. But far from being a touchstone that can help elevate society …
The past few weeks have been brutal Though it may seem like a lifetime ago, it was a mere three years ago our country was celebrating the historic Ogerfell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision that declared all marriages, regardless of the couple’s genders, legal. Cut to 2018. Instead of continuing to move our nation forward, …
Presented is an excerpt from Syed Kamran Mirza’s “Quranic Erroneous Science and Contradictions” With some samples of Quranic contradictions and erroneous science has been prepared to rebut wishful Islamists who are claiming science in Quran. Qur’an has numerous scientific flaws, historical, ethical, and logical contradictions, though Mullahs and many western educated Islamists always claim that Quran …
This originally appeared in the Fall, 1997 issue of Free Inquiry. You can read more past articles of CFI’s Free Inquiry magazine at www.secularhumanism.org We, the undersigned, believe that the oppression of women anywhere in the world is an offense against all of humanity and an impediment to social and moral progress. We, therefore, cannot …
Presented are excerpts from Azam Kamguian’s book, Islam & Women’s Rights. Religion in general and Islam in particular are women’s enemy. Women’s inequality is god’s commandment, in Islam enshrined in immutable law by Mohammad and eventually recorded in scripture. In most countries under Islamic states or under the influence of Islam, Koran’s directives are incorporated into contemporary …
One year ago today, amid the encroaching commercialization of Christmas, Black Friday sales, and annual social media grumblings about the manufactured controversy over whether “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” is appropriate, an ugly episode of racial hatred tainted the beginning of the 2016 holiday season. It began when the Mall of America hired a jolly …