Secular

[close] Group for discussion about Secular Humanism. Generally for those who either are Secular Humanists, or those who want to know about it. Support for info & books about Secular Humanism. Not for religious people to slam or otherwise put down. Non-religious (secular) morals & ethics derive from conscience and observation of the world in terms of reality ("let your conscience be your guide"). Ethics are preferred to synthesized morals and are practical, and work realistically. Science confirms reality and the real world around us and helps better explain and define it. "Secular" denotes "without and free of religion" as the U.S. government is supposed to be (see Separation Of Church And State). "Humanist" denotes being human, a member of humanity, and support of and by fellow human beings; i.e. social cooperation of and by equals. Also, being free of bias, prejudice and racism; but being a rational, reasoning, and objective person. Info to get you started: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_humanism https://www.secularhumanism.org http://www.americanhumanist.org

[close] Meetup.com Group in Rochester, NY. Please join the Meetup Group first before joining here.

[close] I'm not a Christian, but one idea Christians have come up with and long practiced that I think is brilliant is the Daily Devotional. The idea is basically just to have a book of curated short readings for daily reflection. The readings are organized by calendar day, so you don't have to make a decision about what to read, there's a reading for every day of the year, and many people can be synced up reading the same text on a daily basis, which facilitates silent camaraderie or highly contextual discussion whenever desired. Nowadays there are a wealth of non-religious daily reading books organized in this way. See for example this Secular Daily Readings book list here on Goodreads, which includes 32 such books as of today: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8519.Secular_Daily_Readings My wife and I like to have one of these books going all the time for a bit of reflection each day. I like how it gives me a daily does of some wisdom or philosophy, a reflection about some important aspect of life, a reminder each day about a useful perspective. We also appreciate that it's in book form - offline reading material we can take in at a quiet reflective space and time of day, compared to a daily email which I'm likely to look at while my mind is racing and cluttered with mundane matters of the day. Sometimes as I'm doing my daily reading I think, there must be a lot of other people out there looking at these same words today. I wished to have a space to connect with other readers of these books, to share questions, reflections and interpretations of a particular day's reading. That's why I've created this group.

[close] This group is for anyone who is Death Positive, death doulas, end-of-life midwives, hospice workers/volunteers, and anyone who has ever or will ever experience a death (yes, that means YOU!). We encourage open, honest discussion about the one thing that we are all guaranteed in this life, Death. My hope is that we can dull the fears, and return the sacredness of death to our universal consciousness, to allow everyone to live their unique life to its fullest until their last exhale. "We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born The potential people who could have been here in my place But who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Sahara Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA So massively exceeds the set of actual people In the teeth of those stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds How dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state From which the vast majority have never stirred?" -Richard Dawkins