The Fellowship of Reason is a moral community based in Atlanta. Its founder, Martin L. Cowen III, calls himself a "non-theist", and says that although he does not believe in God or other things supernatural, he nonetheless thinks that churches serve a useful function by providing "moral communities." Wishing to have a moral community that is not theistic (although not officially opposed to theism) he founded that organization. Fell ...

Including:

• Fellowship of Reason - Six essential activities of the organization
• Fellowship of Reason - Links

Read more here: » Fellowship of Reason: Encyclopedia - Fellowship of Reason

See also:

Eudaimonia, Eudaimonia - Greek Philosophy

Read more here: » Eudaimonia: Encyclopedia II - Eudaimonia - Greek Philosophy

As originally conceived in the early 20th century, humanism rejected revealed knowledge, theism-based morality and the supernatural. Yet many of the founders of the humanist philosophical movement envisioned it as a religion, with all of the functions, rituals, and moral guidance that revealed religions traditionally provided. In the late 20th century the humanist movement came into conflict with conservative Christian groups in the United States and "Secular Humanism" became the most visible element of organized humanism. ...

See also:

Religious humanism, Religious humanism - Humanist traditions, Religious humanism - Spiritual Humanism, Religious humanism - Revealed religious traditions

Read more here: » Religious humanism: Encyclopedia II - Religious humanism - Humanist traditions

Religious humanism, is an integration of religious rituals with humanistic philosophy that centers on human needs, interests, and abilities. The two basic approaches to religious humanism are from a humanist viewpoint that incorporates religious ritual, and from a revealed religious tradition with a humanist influence. Religious humanism - Humanist traditions. As originally conceived in the early 20th century, humanism rejected revealed knowledge, theism-based morality and the supernatural. Yet many of the ...

Including:

• Religious humanism - Humanist traditions
• Religious humanism - Spiritual Humanism
• Religious humanism - Revealed religious traditions

Read more here: » Religious humanism: Encyclopedia - Religious humanism

Secularism is commonly defined as the idea that religion should not interfere with or be integrated into the public affairs of a society. It is often associated with the Age of Enlightenment in Europe, and plays a major role in Western society. The principles of separation of church and state in the United States and Laïcité in France draw heavily on secularism. Secularism - Definition. As secularism is often used in different contexts, its precise definition can vary from place to place. In philosophy, s ...

Including:

• Secularism - Definition
• Secularism - The secular ethic
• Secularism - The secular society
• Secularism - The secular state
• Secularism - Secularist organisations
• Secularism - Bibliography
• Secularism - The secular ethic
• Secularism - The secular society
• Secularism - The secular state

Read more here: » Secularism: Encyclopedia - Secularism

A moral community is a group of people drawn together by a common interest in living according to a particular moral philosophy. Moral communities are typically associated with a religion and advocate that religion's conception of a good life. The congregation of a church, synagogue, or mosque is typical. However, some moral communities, such as the Fellowship of Reason, are secular and advocate a secular ethics. Category: Ethics ...

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In the past, humanist versions of major religions, such as Christian humanism, Humanistic Judaism and Islamic humanism played an important role in world history. Currently, however, humanism is dominated almost exclusively by secular humanism. This has given rise to a newer version of humanist religions which are similar in philosophy to secular humanism. Secular humanists and revealed religious humanists primarily differ in their definition of religion and their positions on supernatural beliefs. They can also diverge in practice since r ...

See also:

Religious humanism, Religious humanism - Humanist traditions, Religious humanism - Spiritual Humanism, Religious humanism - Revealed religious traditions

Read more here: » Religious humanism: Encyclopedia II - Religious humanism - Revealed religious traditions

As secularism is often used in different contexts, its precise definition can vary from place to place. In philosophy, secularism is the belief that life can be best lived by applying ethics, and the universe best understood, by processes of reasoning, without reference to a god or gods or other supernatural concepts. Secularism in this sense was coined by George Jacob Holyoake and is one of the precursors of modern secular humanism. When applied to society, secularism is considered to be any of a range of situations where a society l ...

See also:

Secularism, Secularism - Definition, Secularism - The secular ethic, Secularism - The secular society, Secularism - The secular state, Secularism - Secularist organisations, Secularism - Bibliography, Secularism - The secular ethic, Secularism - The secular society, Secularism - The secular state

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Holyoake's 1896 publication English Secularism defines secularism thus: Secularism is a code of duty pertaining to this life, founded on considerations purely human, and intended mainly for those who find theology indefinite or inadequate, unreliable or unbelievable. Its essential principles are three: (1) The improvement of this life by material means. (2) That science is the available Providence of man. (3) That it is good to do good. Whether there be other good or not, the good of the present life i ...

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Secularism, Secularism - Definition, Secularism - The secular ethic, Secularism - The secular society, Secularism - The secular state, Secularism - Secularist organisations, Secularism - Bibliography, Secularism - The secular ethic, Secularism - The secular society, Secularism - The secular state

Read more here: » Secularism: Encyclopedia II - Secularism - The secular ethic

In studies of religion, modern Western societies are generally recognized as secular. Generally, there is near-complete freedom of religion (one may believe in any religion or none at all, with little legal or social sanction). In the West, religion does not dictate political decisions, though the moral views originating in religious traditions remain important in political debate in some countries, such as the United States; in some others, such as France (see Laïcité), religious references are considered out-of-place in mainstream politi ...

See also:

Secularism, Secularism - Definition, Secularism - The secular ethic, Secularism - The secular society, Secularism - The secular state, Secularism - Secularist organisations, Secularism - Bibliography, Secularism - The secular ethic, Secularism - The secular society, Secularism - The secular state

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Ray's quiet college life closed when he found himself unable to subscribe to the Act of Uniformity 1661, and was obliged to give up his fellowship in 1662, the year after Isaac Newton had entered the college. We are told by Dr Derham in his Life of Ray that the reason of his refusal: was not (as some have imagined) his having taken the 'Solemn League and Covenant,' for that he never did, and often declared that he ever thought it an unlawful oath; but he said he could not declare for those that had taken the oath that no obligation la ...

See also:

John Ray, John Ray - Early life, John Ray - Career, John Ray - Works, John Ray - Legacy, John Ray - External link

Read more here: » John Ray: Encyclopedia II - John Ray - Career

Excommunication

A religious sanction that removes an individual from the ritual and social community of the church when that member has transgressed some law or regulation of the church. In some churches, upon repentance, the person is welcomed back into fellowship within the church.

Because Judaism has no central authority, excommunication, forced isolation from the Jewish community to punish improper behavior or belief, is usually decreed by a local rabbinical court and applies primarily within that community. There is no formal court procedure or presentation of evidence for excommunication, and any rabbinical court can lift a decree.

Under the ordinary form of excommunication, called nidduy (Heb. ), the excommunicant behaves like a mourner (except for the ritual tearing of clothes), lives only with family, is shunned by others, and is not counted for the quorum required for worship. The excommunicant's coffin is stoned at burial.

Nidduy is announced by the head of the court. A more severe form, called herem ("devoted thing," something forbidden for common use) requires, in addition, that the excommunicant study alone and make a living only from a small shop.

The procedure for decreeing a herem entails a proclamation in the synagogue either before the open ark or with Torah scroll in hand, the sounding of the shofar (ram's horn), the congregational extinguishing of candles, and the recitation of biblical curses against and warnings about associating with the excommunicant. In medieval times, the excommunicant was treated as a non-Jew. That status often was extended to the excommunicant's spouse and children, who might also be ostracized.

Talmudic and medieval rabbinic literature lists various reasons for excommunication. Among other causes, a person could be ostracized for causing the public profanation of God's name, ignoring prescribed religious behavior or hindering the public performance of it, incorrect business practices, breaking a vow, improper sexual conduct, violating the Torah on the basis of spurious analogies, insulting a scholar, or decreeing excommunication without sufficient reason.

Over time, particularly in Orthodox communities, excommunication was applied so routinely and automatically to any unacceptable behavior that it lost its punitive and coercive effect.

Excommunication in the Christian tradition is an action taken by church authorities by which a person is cut off from participation in the worship life of a congregation because of some serious fault or breach of church discipline. Most commonly, the individual is barred from the sacraments. In certain communities such persons are also socially ostracized in a practice called "shunning. ".

(See also: Excommunication, New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of god(s). That is, all who do not have such a belief - whether they think of themselves as nontheists, agnostics or even Buddhists - are covered under this term. Atheism can also be defined more narrowly as the active denial of the existence of god(s), either of a specific or general kind, or even that god(s) can exist. Generally speaking, atheism refers to a la ...

Including:

• Atheism - Etymology
• Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism
• Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism
• Atheism - Atheism as immorality
• Atheism - Weak and strong atheism
• Atheism - Ignosticism
• Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism
• Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism
• Atheism - Antitheism
• Atheism - History
• Atheism - Distribution of atheists
• Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom
• Atheism - Atheism in the United States
• Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics
• Atheism - Statistical problems
• Atheism - Religion and atheism
• Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism
• Atheism - Judaism
• Atheism - Christianity
• Atheism - Islam
• Atheism - Asian spirituality
• Atheism - Reasons for atheism
• Atheism - Philosophical reasons
• Atheism - Personal and social reasons
• Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche
• Atheism - Criticisms of atheism
• Atheism - Atheism is incoherent
• Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist
• Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics
• Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is
• Atheism - Related concepts
• Atheism - Organizations
• Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia - Atheism

Many people have disagreed on how best to characterize atheism, and much of the literature on the subject is erroneous or confusing. There are many discrepancies in the use of terminology between proponents and opponents of atheism, and even divergent definitions among those who share near-identical beliefs. Opponents of atheism have frequently associated atheism with immorality and evil, often characterizing it as a willful and malicious rejection of gods. This, in fact, is the original definition and sense of the word, but changing sensibilities and the normalization of nonreligious viewpoints have caused the ...

See also:

Atheism, Atheism - Etymology, Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism, Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism, Atheism - Atheism as immorality, Atheism - Weak and strong atheism, Atheism - Ignosticism, Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism, Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism, Atheism - Antitheism, Atheism - History, Atheism - Distribution of atheists, Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom, Atheism - Atheism in the United States, Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics, Atheism - Statistical problems, Atheism - Religion and atheism, Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism, Atheism - Judaism, Atheism - Christianity, Atheism - Islam, Atheism - Asian spirituality, Atheism - Reasons for atheism, Atheism - Philosophical reasons, Atheism - Personal and social reasons, Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche, Atheism - Criticisms of atheism, Atheism - Atheism is incoherent, Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist, Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics, Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is, Atheism - Related concepts, Atheism - Organizations, Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia II - Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism

Ayyavazhi Religion - Bible stories - Biblical names - Born-again Christian laypeople - Buddhist terms and concepts - Cathedrals - Christian denominations - Christians - Deities - Demons - Di Indigetes (Roman gods & goddesses) - Dramatic portrayals of Jesus Christ - Founders of major religions - Greek mythological characters - Hinduism - Islamic terms - Jesus-related articles - Major world religions - Monasteries dissolved by Henry VIII of England - Mormonism - Muslims - Names for the Biblical nameless - Ninety-nine n ...

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List of religious topics, List of religious topics - List of lists, List of religious topics - 0-9, List of religious topics - A, List of religious topics - B, List of religious topics - C, List of religious topics - D, List of religious topics - E, List of religious topics - F, List of religious topics - G, List of religious topics - H, List of religious topics - I, List of religious topics - J, List of religious topics - K, List of religious topics - L, List of religious topics - M, List of religious topics - N, List of religious topics - O, List of religious topics - P, List of religious topics - Q, List of religious topics - R, List of religious topics - S, List of religious topics - T, List of religious topics - U, List of religious topics - V, List of religious topics - W, List of religious topics - X, List of religious topics - Y, List of religious topics - Z

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- - From the less analytic tradition, there are three major atheist thinkers. MacIntyre notes in "The Religious Significance of Atheism" (1969) that the first two (Freud and Marx) both had quite conservative morals and would have been horrified to see what atrocities were later to be justified by their ideas. In the case of Freud, the atrocities are the way psychoanalysis sometimes led to the mistreatment of the handicapped and in the case of Marx they would be the horrors of Stalinist Russia. - - Freud was keen to describe religion a ...

See also:

Atheism, Atheism - Etymology, Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism, Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism, Atheism - Atheism as immorality, Atheism - Weak and strong atheism, Atheism - Ignosticism, Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism, Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism, Atheism - Antitheism, Atheism - History, Atheism - Distribution of atheists, Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom, Atheism - Atheism in the United States, Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics, Atheism - Statistical problems, Atheism - Religion and atheism, Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism, Atheism - Judaism, Atheism - Christianity, Atheism - Islam, Atheism - Asian spirituality, Atheism - Reasons for atheism, Atheism - Philosophical reasons, Atheism - Personal and social reasons, Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud, Marx and Nietzsche, Atheism - Criticisms of atheism, Atheism - Atheism is incoherent, Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist, Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics, Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is, Atheism - Related concepts, Atheism - Organizations, Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia II - Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud, Marx and Nietzsche

Atheists and atheism have received much criticism and opposition throughout human history, chiefly from theistic sources who consider lack of belief in their god sinful, misguided, or immoral. There has also been some criticism from nontheistic sources, at least of various forms of atheism. It is possible from the standpoint of religious philosophy to assess the arguments without necessarily taking a position on the issue. The most direct arguments against atheism are those in favor of the existence of deities, which would imply that atheism is simply untrue. For example ...

See also:

Atheism, Atheism - Etymology, Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism, Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism, Atheism - Atheism as immorality, Atheism - Weak and strong atheism, Atheism - Ignosticism, Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism, Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism, Atheism - Antitheism, Atheism - History, Atheism - Distribution of atheists, Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom, Atheism - Atheism in the United States, Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics, Atheism - Statistical problems, Atheism - Religion and atheism, Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism, Atheism - Judaism, Atheism - Christianity, Atheism - Islam, Atheism - Asian spirituality, Atheism - Reasons for atheism, Atheism - Philosophical reasons, Atheism - Personal and social reasons, Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche, Atheism - Criticisms of atheism, Atheism - Atheism is incoherent, Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist, Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics, Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is, Atheism - Related concepts, Atheism - Organizations, Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia II - Atheism - Criticisms of atheism

- - From the less analytic tradition, there are three major atheist thinkers. MacIntyre notes in "The Religious Significance of Atheism" (1969) that the first two (Freud and Marx) both had quite conservative morals and would have been horrified to see what atrocities were later to be justified by their ideas. In the case of Freud, the atrocities are the way psychoanalysis sometimes led to the mistreatment of the handicapped and in the case of Marx they would be the horrors of Stalinist Russia. - - Freud was keen to describe religion a ...

See also:

Atheism, Atheism - Etymology, Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism, Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism, Atheism - Atheism as immorality, Atheism - Weak and strong atheism, Atheism - Ignosticism, Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism, Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism, Atheism - Antitheism, Atheism - History, Atheism - Distribution of atheists, Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom, Atheism - Atheism in the United States, Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics, Atheism - Statistical problems, Atheism - Religion and atheism, Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism, Atheism - Judaism, Atheism - Christianity, Atheism - Islam, Atheism - Asian spirituality, Atheism - Reasons for atheism, Atheism - Philosophical reasons, Atheism - Personal and social reasons, Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche, Atheism - Criticisms of atheism, Atheism - Atheism is incoherent, Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist, Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics, Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is, Atheism - Related concepts, Atheism - Organizations, Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia II - Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche

Although not all atheists claim to have a rational justification for their stance, a majority of explicit atheists do assert that their stance has a rational basis, and there are some especially common reasons given by them. Atheism - Philosophical reasons. A majority of explicit atheists base their stance on rational or philosophical grounds, arguing that their position is based on logical analysis, and subsequent rejection, of theistic claims. These arguments against the existence of deities consist of a number of different problems with theism. Chief among these problems is a perceiv ...

See also:

Atheism, Atheism - Etymology, Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism, Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism, Atheism - Atheism as immorality, Atheism - Weak and strong atheism, Atheism - Ignosticism, Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism, Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism, Atheism - Antitheism, Atheism - History, Atheism - Distribution of atheists, Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom, Atheism - Atheism in the United States, Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics, Atheism - Statistical problems, Atheism - Religion and atheism, Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism, Atheism - Judaism, Atheism - Christianity, Atheism - Islam, Atheism - Asian spirituality, Atheism - Reasons for atheism, Atheism - Philosophical reasons, Atheism - Personal and social reasons, Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche, Atheism - Criticisms of atheism, Atheism - Atheism is incoherent, Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist, Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics, Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is, Atheism - Related concepts, Atheism - Organizations, Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia II - Atheism - Reasons for atheism

As some governments have strongly promoted atheism, whilst others have strongly condemned it, atheism may be either over-reported or under-reported for different countries. There is a great deal of room for debate as to the accuracy of any method of estimation, as the opportunity for misreporting (intentionally or not) a belief system without an organized structure is high. Also, many surveys on religious identification ask people to identify themselves as "agnostics" or "atheists", which is potentially confusing, since these terms are inter ...

See also:

Atheism, Atheism - Etymology, Atheism - Types and typologies of atheism, Atheism - Atheism as lack of theism, Atheism - Atheism as immorality, Atheism - Weak and strong atheism, Atheism - Ignosticism, Atheism - Gnostic and agnostic atheism, Atheism - Atheism in philosophical naturalism, Atheism - Antitheism, Atheism - History, Atheism - Distribution of atheists, Atheism - Atheism in the United Kingdom, Atheism - Atheism in the United States, Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics, Atheism - Statistical problems, Atheism - Religion and atheism, Atheism - Spiritual and religious atheism, Atheism - Judaism, Atheism - Christianity, Atheism - Islam, Atheism - Asian spirituality, Atheism - Reasons for atheism, Atheism - Philosophical reasons, Atheism - Personal and social reasons, Atheism - Three famous atheists: Freud Marx and Nietzsche, Atheism - Criticisms of atheism, Atheism - Atheism is incoherent, Atheism - Atheism doesn't exist, Atheism - Atheism leads to poor morals and ethics, Atheism - Atheism is a belief as much as theism is, Atheism - Related concepts, Atheism - Organizations, Atheism - Satire

Read more here: » Atheism: Encyclopedia II - Atheism - Atheism studies and statistics