Podcasts about humanist community

This week on RfRx, Evan Clark joins us to talk about Atheist Street Pirates, local activists who track and remove illegal religious signage littering highways, streets, and neighborhoods with unwelcome and illegal street propaganda across the United States. Evan will share ideas for building and maintaining secular communities using innovative techniques rather than replicating outdated religious models. This episode of (ARR)RfRx is sponsored by the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Evan Clark is the Executive Director of Atheists United. He is a humanist entrepreneur, political consultant, and public speaker with over 14 years of experience tinkering with secular communities. Evan is also the founder and creative director of Spectrum Experience LLC, the North American Coordinator for Young Humanists International, and the California State Director for American Atheists. Previously he was Chair of the Secular Student Alliance Board of Directors, co-host of the Humanist Experience podcast, and co-founder of the Humanist Community of Ventura County. He is also an Atheist Street Pirate. For RfRx comments, inquiries & topical questions, email us at RfRx@recoveringfromreligion.org. Any time you are struggling with religious doubts or fears you can connect with a trained RfR Helpline agent 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. To chat online go to http://www.recoveringfromreligion.org. To talk over the phone, dial: (844) 368-2848 in the US & Canada If you are in need of professional help, we can offer the Secular Therapy Project to provide options to connect with a professional therapist. All therapists have been thoroughly vetted by our organization and offer only evidence-based and non-religious treatment. Connect with them at http://www.seculartherapy.org. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tiktok. Volunteer: http://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/volunteer Donate: https://www.recoveringfromreligion.org/donate --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/recovering-from-religion/message

In this episode Douglas speaks with Derrick Strobl, an old friend from his days in Columbus with the Humanist Community of Central Ohio. They talk about his journey to Humanism coming from a religious conservative family, and Douglas discovers, to his shock that a college near his hometown was much more conservative than he ever imagined. Derrick also reveals what Humanist values are important to him and what Humanist books he recommends. Show Notes

This week we talk about the magic of crystals, Chile taking on pedophile priests, atheists winning in Florida, town like resort opening up to non-Christians, and more! Email us at contact@atheistnomads.com or leave us a voice message using atheistnomads.com/speakpipeSupport the show at atheistnomads.com/donateSubscribe at atheistnomads.com/subscribe ANNOUNCEMENTS Why episode 310 was lateWhat I learned about Patreon's fraud preventionAtheist Nomads Camp out - Island Park, ID - September 13-15 NEWS Chile removes statute of limitations on child sex abuse amid Church crisis In response to the Catholic child sex abuse scandal Chile has just passed a law that removes the statute of limitations for rape, sexual abuse, production of pornography, and prostitution involving children and adolescents. This is not retroactive. PATRON ONLY - Netflix declared ‘un-Islamic' by a Pakistani private bank U.S. appeals court rules Florida county cannot ban invocations by atheists Brevard County Florida was sued in 2015 by the Central Florida Freethought Community, Humanist Community of the Space Coast, and Space Coast Freethought Association over being rejected by the county when their members had requested to be allowed to deliver the invocations for the county's meetings. They won in 2017 at the district court level, and they have now won at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The County even admitted that they would reject atheists, deists, Wiccans, Rastafarians, and polytheists, and would probably reject Hindus, Sikhs, and followers of Native American religions. While the Greece ruling allowed for sectarian invocations, it made it very clear that it has to be open to everyone and per this ruling, anyone of any religion or no religion. PATRON ONLY - Christian Student Group Claims Anti-Religious Discrimination at Wayne State University Christian requirement at Northern Michigan resort illegal, federal government says We have an update on a story from Episode 238, which was released in February of last year. The Bay View Association of the United Methodist Church settled the lawsuit against them. At issue was their policy that everyone who owns a cottage at the resort be a member of the association, and all members of the association needed to be an active church going Christian. Additionally they had a requirement that a majority of board members be members of the United Methodist Church. In February the HUD secretary ruled that Bay View was “engaged in unlawful discriminatory housing practices and retaliation against the complainants.” Then the Attorney General filed a complaint against them. Odds are it was really Ben Carson or Jeff Sessions that made these decisions, but that's beside the point. Their lawyers advised them to settle since going to court could result in them being ruled a town, not a private club, which would have resulted in them having to stop all of the religious programing the association does and settle they did. Gone are the requirements that members be Christian, that a majority of the board be Methodists, they are severing legal ties with the United Methodist Church and will be filing for their own tax exemption, and they will be under a consent decree and DOJ monitoring for the next five years. Lebanese town bans Muslims from buying, renting property A Lebanese Muslim couple had a hard time finding an affordable apartment to rent in the Beirut metro area and when they found one, they were informed that the town only allows Christians to rent or buy housing. As it turns out, this only applies to Christian property, as Muslims who own property in the town are allowed to sell or rent to anyone. For some background, at the time of Lebanon's last official census, in 1932, Lebanon was a majority Christian country, but now is 2/3rds Muslim, about equally split between Sunnis and Shiites, due to Muslims in the country having higher birth rates than Christians.

Encore release December 9, 2018. Encore release September 1, 2017 We interview Dr. Bart D. Ehrman about his new book Jesus Before the Gospels: How the Earliest Christians Remembered, Changed, and Invented Their Stories of the Savior. Dr. Ehrman looks at what research on memory--how it's formed, how it's recalled, how it can change when transmitted from person to person, and how it can be remolded based on historical perspective and current events--and what it can tell us about how the written accounts of Jesus' life were created. Jesus Before the Gospels is available in hardcover, audiobook and for Kindle. For more about Dr. Ehrman's work, visit bartdehrman.com. Plus: Here are some recent and upcoming books our listeners might find interesting: Scientology: A to Xenu by former Scientologist Chris Shelton. It's a detailed and critical analysis of every aspect of Scientology, focusing on its organization and the damaging actions it takes against its current and former members. Also, check out Shelton's  YouTube channel, podcast and blog. The End: What Science and Religion Tell Us about the Apocalypse by Phil Torres. Would you trust science or religion to tackle ther existential risks facing the world today--risks like synthetic biology, nanotechnology, nuclear weaponry, and (possibly, soon) superintelligence Secular Meditation: 32 Practices for Cultivating Inner Peace, Compassion, and Joy by Rick Heller of the Humanist Community at Harvard University. In this book, Heller has attempted to filter out anything that sounds like woo from meditation and put it on a purely secular basis, as a kind of exercise for the mind. The Devil You Know: The Surprising Link between Conservative Christianity and Crime by Elicka Peterson Sparks. This book focuses on the negative impact of Christian nationalism on violent crime in the US, as well as the impact of this belief system on criminal justice policies.

Virtual Reality is making a comeback, thanks to, surprisingly, smartphones! Lots of advancements in sensor technology have made virtual reality a lot better than it was back when I was a kid. Join us and learn about virtual reality! Encyclopedia Podcastica is a production of the Silicon Valley Skeptics and the Humanist Community in Silicon Valley.

Pyrovirohydrosonography, as applied to celestial objects, gives us up close and personal measurements to assess pyrovirohydrosonometric data. These machines have a rich history and an interesting science. Join us as we dive deep into this cool technology.   Encyclopedia Podcastica is a production of the Silicon Valley Skeptics and the Humanist Community in Silicon Valley.

You love Encyclopedia Podcastica, but did you know that it's actually just a placebo podcast? That's right. The secret's out. We're really just two guys who accidentally bought some microphones. This episode is all about the mysterious and powerful placebo effect that makes studying medicines so difficult! Encyclopedia Podcastica is a production of the Silicon Valley Skeptics and the Humanist Community in Silicon Valley.

This epesode is a very uplifting experience. It's got a lot of ups and downs, but eventually we elevated our repartee to the next level. Come for a ride with us while we talk about elevators (or lifts if you're British). Encyclopedia Podcastica is a production of the Silicon Valley Skeptics and the Humanist Community in Silicon Valley.

There has been a lot of talk about Obamacare (Affordable Care Act) recently, but not a lot of people know what the law actually does. Find out what Obamacare is all about, and why repealing it would be a really bad idea. Encyclopedia Podcastica is a production of the Silicon Valley Skeptics and the Humanist Community in Silicon Valley.

Almost every style of meditation I've learned has been presented as "secular," but very quickly there is a Hindu chant, a photo of some old guru with a beard, or some other paraphernalia that looks and feels a lot like organized religion to me. I'm very interested in all world religions, but when I'm learning to meditate, I'd rather do that on its own. If you feel the same, you'll enjoy this week's Yoga Talk Show with author and meditator, Rick Heller. ------------ What You´ll Learn: How problems with Rick's vision problem and chronic pain spurred his initial interest in meditation How "mindfulness" can be defined as paying attention to what is going on in the present moment with an attitude that is welcoming and non-judgmental Why "loving kindness" meditation can be a great starting point for people who struggle to calm their mind How to differentiate meditative activities like gardening or walking from meditation practices and meditation as a skill Why meditation classes are often empty while yoga asana (pose-based) classes are usually full Links & Resources: Rick's Site Rick's Book Vipassana Meditation International ABOUT OUR GUEST Freelance journalist and meditation instructor Rick Heller has reported for the Lowell Sun and other New England newspapers and has been published in Buddhadharma, UUWorld, Tikkun, Free Inquiry, Faith Street, The Humanist, and Boston magazines. He has contributed short stories to Fantasy and Science Fiction. Rick is the facilitator of the Humanist Mindfulness Group and has led meditations sponsored by the Humanist Community at Harvard since 2009. He has also attended workshops and retreats at the Cambridge Insight Meditation Center, the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies, and the Insight Meditation Society. He holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from MIT, a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University, and a master's degree in journalism from Boston University. His book, Secular Meditation, is available on Amazon. Learn more at: www.rickheller.com  Nutritional Tip: Mushroom Prep Got Questions? Send me a voicemail here: http://www.YogaBody.com/AskLucas   Or write to us: podcast@yogabody.com   Like the Show? Leave us a Review on iTunes: http://www.yogabody.com/reviews   Thanks to Our Sponsor: YOGABODY Gymnastic Rings Ultra-Smooth Birch with Adjustable Long Straps & Rock-Solid Clips for Muscle Ups, Pull Ups, Yoga & CrossFit Training Designed for yoga students, CrossFit fans, gymnasts, and fitness buffs who want to learn pull-ups, muscle-ups, develop their core, and build functional upper-body strength. Backed by YOGABODY's iron-clad, 1-year satisfaction guarantee and 10-year warranty, purchase with confidence knowing that you're buying from a trusted brand since 2007. Learn More

A little about our guests Gleb and Agnes love their scientific-evidence based conversations so much, they created a company to educate people and companies on the concept of rational thinking and wise decision making. Gleb is an author, speaker, consultant, coach, and social entrepreneur. He holds a PhD in the history of science, researching the intersection of psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and behavioral economics. He is also a professor at Ohio State. Agnes holds her MBA in Nonprofit Management and has worked in all areas of the non-profit field. Agnes loves using evidence based tools to work with thoughts and emotions and get to goals. She has served as the Vice President of the Humanist Community of Central Ohio. Both born in the former Soviet Union, Gleb and Agnes now make Columbus, Ohio their home. Gleb and Agnes married and are the human parents to two cats, age 11 and 6. A little about their business Starting with a conversation and taking it Meta (the conversation about the conversation) about their risk tolerance, creating a business together, researching ways to make decisions based on science, and helping others, Gleb and Agnes decided to create Intentional Insights. By creating proof of concept, Gleb and Agnes addressed their risk tolerance and created their non-profit company to help teach the concepts of rational thinking and advancing global flourishing. One piece of advice (the nutshell version) Always make time to have the Meta conversation. The conversation about the conversation. Create a space to share the feelings about the conversation and why things happened and how to better converse in the future. Reading Material The Lean Startup by Eric Ries - http://amzn.to/2iAt3ZM Get in Touch with Our Guests http://www.intentionalinsights.org Facebook - /IntentionalInsights - https://facebook.com/IntentionalInsights Twitter – @IntentInsights - https://twitter.com/IntentInsights Instagram – intentional_insights https://instagram.com/intentional_insights Gleb@IntentionalInsights.org Agnes@IntentionalInsights.org

 Sunday Service December 4 : The Gift of Presence As the winter holidays approach, are you thinking mostly about presents or more focused on presence?  We will explore some of the ideas and methods offered by the Humanist Community at Harvard to nurture mindfulness and combat the stress often associated with the hustle and bustle of […]

    This week we talk to Rick Heller about secular meditation Rick Heller is the author of the new book, Secular Meditation: 32 Practices for Cultivating Inner Peace, Compassion, and Joy — A Guide from the Humanist Community at Harvard. Rick leads weekly meditations at the Humanist Community at Harvard. Rick received a master’s degree in journalism from Boston University. He also holds a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from MIT In This Interview, Rick Heller and I Discuss: The One You Feed parable His new book, Secular Meditation: 32 practices for cultivating inner peace, compassion & Joy (A guide from the Humanist Community at Harvard) How in the brain, two negatives do not equal a positive What a "Humanist" is A secular view of meditation & mindfulness Other types of meditation other than breath focused meditation How there's no such thing as an inherently negative stimulus What face meditation is How the muscles in your face can affect your inner speech How to relate to emotions with mindfulness That recognizing an emotion actually brings it's feeling back toward neutral What "positive equanimity" is The difference between cognitive reappraisal and positive thinking Different approaches to help us achieve "mindfulness of life" When you're more "in your head" about something than you are collecting sensory information about something, you're really just dealing with abstractions Skepticism surrounding the concept of "no self" as a goal to pursue His working definition of enlightenment A secular version of the serenity prayer For more show notes visit our website

Many avoid meditation because of its religious trappings.But as bestselling atheist, Sam Harris, has recently written (in Waking Up), meditation is an age-old secular practice with numerous scientifically verified physical and psychological benefits.As longtime meditation teacher Rick Heller here shows, meditation's benefits extend beyond the personal to enrich relationships with others, with community, and with the world.Step-by-step instructions, personal stories, and provocative questions teach empathy for others, stress reduction and inner peace, and the kind of in-the-moment living that fosters appreciation for life and resilience in the face of adversity.Heller simplifies what is often found mysterious — If you have ever loved or even liked another person, he writes, you have the prerequisites for learning kindness meditation — and invites all to partake in awe and wonder at the rich experience of being alive.Rick leads meditations at the Humanist Community at Harvard. A freelance journalist, he has written for the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Buddhadharma, Free Inquiry, Tikkun, and Wise Brain Bulletin. He received a master’s degree in journalism from Boston University, a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from MIT.

On the edition of the Exploring Mind and Body we bring you Secular Meditation with Rick Heller who literally wrote the book on this topic. Rick tells an interesting story of how he tried meditation himself to improve his health before he actually believed in it. We have a number of take aways from Secular Meditation as we go through this interview and touch on various topics throughout the book. Who is Rick Heller? Rick Heller leads meditations at the Humanist Community at Harvard. A freelance journalist, he has written for the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Buddhadharma, Free Inquiry, Tikkun, and Wise Brain Bulletin. He received a master’s degree in journalism from Boston University, a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from MIT. Show Notes: How Rick got into meditation what is secular meditation happiness and external circumstances how to release anxiety with meditation feeling stressed out breathing meditation - pay attention to your respiratory system be mindful in all areas how being more focused can improve many areas of your life Is meditation self centred day dreaming meditation softening your gaze Rick talks about loving kindness meditation in the interview, so I thought you might enjoy watching him perform what he talks about to give you the option to do it with him if you like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L66N0W5O3LU Thank you so much for your interest in this show of Exploring Mind and Body, if you haven't done so already please take a moment and leave a quick rating and review of the show in iTunes by clicking below. It will keep us delivering valuable content each week and give others an opportunity to find the show as well. Click here to subscribe via iTunes (and or leave a rating)

In this episode, Chris Johnson, author of the book A Better Life and producer of the movie with the same title, talks about his experience creating these works and what it means to have “a better life.” Chris is a New York-based photographer and filmmaker. He received his undergraduate degree in film production (along with a minor in religious studies) from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. His photography has been seen in various outlets, including The New York Times. He has spent the last three years working on A Better Life, traveling across the United States, Canada, the UK, Ireland, and other countries. Apart from his own film and photographic work, he has also collaborated with artists and directors in various roles and capacities from assistant director and stage manager, for theatre, film, and print. For the book and film of A Better Life, he interviewed many prominent atheist figures such as Richard Dawkins, Steven Pinker, Dan Dennett, Derren Brown, Pat Churchland, Julia Sweeney, Penn & Teller, and many more. He has given talks on atheism and his work at the Humanist Community at Harvard, New York Society for Ethical Culture, PA State Atheist/Humanist Conference, Sunday Assembly - New York, the Atheist Community of Austin, Freedom from Religion Foundation Annual Conference, and more. In addition, he has also been a guest on various podcasts and TV shows such as The Humanist Hour, Atheist Airwaves, The Phil Ferguson Show, The Atheist Experience, and Pivot TV's TakePart Live.

Susan Katz Miller UU "fangirl" and ally presented at GA Portland to clergy about interfaith families and their roles and responsabilites to them. How is your congregation interacting with interfaith families? What are clergy doing to be more inclusive of interfaith families in the congregations? Children in interfaith families can be taught both religions. This allows youth to explore and experience a wealth of tradition and culture inside their families. Bio: Author and journalist Susan Katz Miller is both an interfaith child and an interfaith parent. Her father is Jewish, her mother is Protestant: she grew up in Reform Judaism. After marrying a Protestant, Miller and her husband decided to raise their children in both religions, in a community of interfaith families. Miller served as Board Co-Chair of the Interfaith Families Project of Greater Washington DC. Miller graduated from Brown University, and began her journalism career at Newsweek in New York. After working in the Los Angeles and Washington bureaus, she moved to Dakar, Senegal for three years. While there, she wrote travel pieces for the New York Times, was tear-gassed in the streets while covering an election, interviewed the President of Senegal for Newsweek International, and wrote Christian Science Monitor pieces from Benin, Togo, the Gambia, and Sierra Leone. On returning to the States, she became a US Correspondent for the British weekly magazine New Scientist. She then spent three years freelancing from northeastern Brazil. After her two children were born, she and her husband settled in the Washington, DC, area, and she founded the first blog devoted to interfaith family communities and interfaith identity, onbeingboth.com, and began blogging at Huffington Post Religion. Miller’s writing has also appeared in Time, Slate, Utne Reader, Discover, Science, National Wildlife, Health, Moment, Jewcy.com, interfaithfamily.com, and many other publications. Miller studied photography at the Maryland Institute College of Art, and her photographs have been published in the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, and International Wildlife. Her work on interfaith families has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered, NPR’s Here & Now, NPR’s Diane Rehm Show, on the PBS program Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and on HuffPost Live, and in dozens of other media outlets. Miller also writes for the Jewish Daily Forward‘s interfaith relationship advice column, The Seesaw. Susan Katz Miller is available for speaking, book group appearances, and facilitating workshops for interfaith couples, teens or grandparents. She has spoken at the Humanist Community of Harvard, Georgetown’s Berkley Center, the University of Virginia, Lafayette College, Jewish Community Centers, interfaith peacemaking groups, and many other venues. Favorite Quote: “Unitarian Universalists are neither a chosen people nor a people whose choices are made for them by theological authorities--ancient or otherwise. We are a people who choose.” --Theologian Forrest Church. Links: Being Both: Embracing Two Religions in One Interfaith Family Website susankatzmiller.com Twitter @beingboth Blog onbeingboth.com On Facebook Final Credits: music thanks to: "Carefree", "Open Those Bright Eyes", "Sweeter Vermouth" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Jes Constantine and Todd Stiefel speak with Harvard University's Humanist Chaplain, Greg Epstein, about the Humanist Community Project. Plus, hear a followup interview with Dr. Darrel Ray about his new book: Sex and God: How Religion Distorts Sexuality.

Jes Constantine and Todd Stiefel interview Rabbi Binyamin Biber about his services to the community as a Humanist Celebrant and Humanist Chaplain at American University. Also, we highlight the AHA's recent “Naughty” Awareness Campaign, aimed to raise awareness of discrimination against nonbelievers in America.