I have no problem with secularizing and repurposing practical tools for meaningful living from religious sources—something that is especially easy to do with The Serenity Prayer.
In his iconic and arguably best play, Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Horatio are confronted by the ghost of the recently dead king. Horatio is understandably aghast, crying out, “O day and night, but this is wondrous strange!”
Have you heard this? “But what about before the Big Bang?” “What about life coming from inorganic material?” “What about missing links?” “But what about consciousness?”
I have always been intensely curious and from an early age read science books from the travelling library van that visited the farm where I grew up....
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...
“I don’t believe in god…” is not what people say when ending a conversation, but it can be if you then immediately jump out of your father’s parked car and sprint into your friend’s house. I had built up to the confession intentionally.
Like a great many people, Oasis folks included, I was brought up religious. I went to church on Sundays and Wednesdays. I participated in church children’s choirs, attended Sunday school and participated in other church-related activities...
In the midst of the Thanksgiving season, what’s a newly de-converted person thankful for? Probably the same things appreciated by long-time atheist and Christian friends alike. The basics being: family, food, shelter, income, and Netflix. But there’s all sorts of wonderful things I’m thankful for...
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..
What I love about this blog is the stories. I’m a bookworm, but serious reader or not, I believe the best introduction is always: “Let me tell you a story.”
I was a committed Christian for five decades. I held on until life events pushed me onto the diving board of disbelief. Once I gave up on church, my self-imposed thought cage began to crumble, and the disintegration of my faith began.
Since coming to Oasis, I’ve been asked by some long-time friends, “What’s the deal with this Oasis thing of yours?” often accompanied by a slight rolling of the eyes. I’m never offended since I’ve even asked the same question of myself.
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?