Mr. Marat, a Muslim coworker, and I had just driven together to an urgent meeting when, as I was impatient to rush out of the car, he asked me to wait for him as he completed his prayer...
Several community moment speakers have described their experiences growing up in a family strongly committed to a particular religion such as Southern Baptist or Christian Science.
As far back as I can remember, the wonders of the universe have fascinated me. Whether it was learning about dinosaurs and their ultimate but uncertain fate when I was 7-years-old...
It is amazing how many ideas seep in from the past that we aren’t fully cognizant of. It is, of course, easy to point out the negative ones: the racist, xenophobic, sexist, and tribalistic habits of the past can dog us when we’re unaware, and a greater understanding of them can help us more readily guard against them.
Sometimes I like to step back and take a look at myself from a distance, as much as that is possible, that is. I’ve been doing a lot of that lately, and I’ve noticed one thing in particular: I’ve been spreading myself out kind of thin. My work and time with my daughters are fairly stable constants in my life.
I was very nervous when I gave my talk at Oasis about Spiritual Humanism. I wasn’t sure “coming out” as spiritual was the safest thing to do in that environment..
Since I was young, I've enjoyed reading about the ancient Greeks. While still a pious evangelical, I adored Plato's ethereal and confusing philosophical system.
For this installment of the Oasis blog, we offer a discussion of a song lyric provided by long-time Oasis member, Gary Taylor, with an analysis by TC Smythe. (TC's favorite lines are in bold text.) We hope that this topic might inspire our members to create more songs and anthems with a humanist twist.
Both Sunday Assembly and the Oasis Network seek to create secular communities. In fact their taglines at the time were “Celebrating Life Together” and “Celebrating the Human Experience” respectively. For those that miss the community aspect that religion brings, both places can be a haven.
For this week’s blog post, I’d like to recommend a book I recently read: Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari (also known for the book, Sapiens).
Growing up in the church allowed me to cultivate passions that have led to a richer life. And while I’m no longer a Christian, I realize that Oasis provides this same opportunity.
What intrigues me is what we’re becoming. Oasis is a community of freethought, made up of free thinking individuals, but free from what, and free to become what?
