American Freethought

Five Questions with Nathaniel Branden (Author of The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem)
 
by John C. Snider © 2007
 
[Ayn Rand’s magnum opus Atlas Shrugged turns 50 this month.  Objectivists are celebrating, and CSPAN 2 recently devoted several hours of programming to discussions about the late Rand and her literary/philosophical influence.  Nearly a quarter centery after her death, Rand is still stirring up controversy, and despite her staunch atheism, she is generally unpopular amongst modern-day freethinkers because of her cult-like aura and unflinchingly pro-capitalist stance.  I add to the celebration in reprinting two articles I’ve written over the years that touch on the Randian legacy: an essay titled “But Is It Science Fiction? Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged”, originally published in May 2000 in my online magazine scifidimensions.com; and an interview I conducted with one-time Rand confidante Nathaniel Branden, originally published in the April 2005 issue of The Eudaimonist.]
 
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Why is it that religion gets a pass when it comes to public health?  This could be one of those trumped-up “trends that aren’t really trends” that the media like to cart out all the time.  Still, it really pisses me off to think that all you have to do is admit you’re a superstitious nincompoop, and your kid doesn’t have to get his shots.  If you claim you’re doing it merely on non-religious ethical grounds, apparently that’s a problem.  If you claim you’re doing it on rational/scientific grounds, you’re in big trouble. 

Read the attached article, and see what you think.  Should schools offer any exceptions?  Or should they just say “no vaccine, no admittance” - regardless of the reason?

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Review by John C. Snider © 2007

[This review was originally published in March 2004 in the online magazine scifidimensions.com.]

What is “human nature”? How much of what we do is really “free will”, and how much of it is driven by deep genetic programming laid down even before there was such a thing as a human being?

For centuries religion (and to a lesser extent, philosophy) were the only players at the table when it came to answering questions about human nature. Then an unassuming naturalist named Charles Darwin came along, and suddenly science was pulling up a chair and demanding to be dealt-in. (more…)