A couple days before the historic People’s Climate March in New York City, I was approached on the street by a woman who was putting up fliers about the march and who asked me if I was planning on … [Read more...]
Community
Humans Are Weird & Other Lessons From Animal Behavior: Interview with Dr. Laurie Santos
Two weeks ago was the Yale Humanist Community’s first ever Humanist Haven, a monthly nonreligious community gathering. The first speaker at the first meeting was Dr. Laurie Santos, a professor … [Read more...]
Let’s Talk About Volunteering Abroad
Before I left for my yearlong Humanist service trip with Pathfinders Project, I gave the impression that I was most looking forward to traveling—visiting other countries, seeing cultural sites, and … [Read more...]
Why Are There So Many Secret Atheists?
Recently I attended a meeting for atheists and agnostics. The primary purpose of the group, as I understand it, is to function as a community of support. To start the meeting everyone was asked to … [Read more...]
Questioning the Standard Life Cycle of an Atheist
I’ve been an atheist all my life, but I didn’t notice until I was in high school. I didn’t notice because it never felt like a big deal. I didn’t feel discriminated against. I didn’t feel excluded or … [Read more...]
Getting Out of the Dumps: Ana’s Story
Ana moved to Guatemala City from a rural village when she was twelve-years-old. Ana came alone and did not speak Spanish. She could not read the language she did speak, the Mayan K’iche’. At markets … [Read more...]
Unreconcilable Beliefs: Humanism, Witches, and Human Rights
Before I went to Ghana I had no idea there were witches there. For me witchcraft accusations were of historical interest, not a contemporary concern. How wrong I was. Witchcraft accusations are … [Read more...]
Serving Water
Today I spent two hours washing all my clothes by hand. All my clothes except the ones I was wearing. That’s five shirts, two pairs of pants, one pair of shorts, four socks, five pairs of underwear, … [Read more...]
From Just Us To All Of Us
I am not sure if awe inspiring authentic communities can be defined, but recent travels lead me to believe that I might know them when I see them. To truly witness such community is to become a part … [Read more...]
A Tale of Two Communities
How can we refuse those who come? A constant refrain as we visited Kukuo, a camp for alleged witches in northern Ghana, was that the accused women are part of the larger community not merely … [Read more...]