• A talk before the Space Coast Freethought Association on Oct. 1, 2006 Note to the web edition: A large part of the material reproduced in this talk is from other sources, specifically the late Dr. Carl Sagan’s The Demon-Haunted Word: Science As A Candle In The Dark and Michael Shermer’s two columns written for Scientific American in November and …
The dishonest veto of stem cell research The photo op so carefully arranged by the Bush Administration after the president’s first veto points up the basic dishonesty of the fundamentalist minority in the debate over stem cell research. There was the president, surrounded by various young children and their parents, declaring, in his first-ever veto …
A talk given before the Friendship Fellowship at Pineda, a Unitarian Universalist Congregation, on Feb. 15, 2009. (This is a revised and updated version of a talk originally delivered at the Space Coast Freethought Association meeting on Feb. 5, 2006) Introduction: Charles Robert Darwin was born on Feb. 12, 1809—the same date as Abraham Lincoln—and …
By George A. Ricker Over the past month or so we have been regaled with complaints from many Christians about a so-called war on Christmas. The mavens of public morality have demanded—with threats of economic boycott for recalcitrants—that retail outlets wish customers a “Merry Christmas” instead of using such nonspecific, and entirely appropriate, phrases as …
I’m not sure exactly when I had this epiphany, but it came when I suddenly realized what Einstein’s E=mc2 really meant.1Energy is matter liberated. Matter is energy stored. They are, in a nutshell, two faces of the same coin. They reflect the essential unity of all that exists. “Wholeness!” If I had to sum up …
By George A. Ricker Two questions always plague those who would rule. The first is how to gain power. The second is how to keep it. Though lots could be said about the role of propaganda in political campaigns, this essay is intended to explore the underlying myths that make that propaganda work and are …
What follows is a one-act play that I wrote last year. It touches on end-of-life issues and other matters. The characters are not based on any real people although Rev. Brown is a composite of many preachers I have known over the years. The arguments will be all too familiar to most of you. I …
By George A. Ricker IntroductionWith all the discussion about when and where it may be appropriate for a government agency to display the Ten Commandments, I thought it would be useful to discuss the question as it relates to the First Amendment and also to provide some historical background. I am going to begin with …
OK… Here’s the deal. I’m an atheist. I have no belief in gods, not any gods. I have no belief in the god of any religion, or the god of nature, or a god who is said to be the “ineffable essence of an otherwise inexpressible reality.” I have no belief in gods, and I …
Read more “An open letter to the religious from one who is not”
By George A. Ricker In all the discussion and breast-beating about the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado on April 20, 1999, some connections that should have been made were either overlooked or avoided by the dominant media in our society. Major broadcast networks and print media were too busy hyping the story …
Read more “Some shootings in Colorado:On Columbine – five years after”