• 2019:
  
  
  • March
    
    
  • February
    
    
  • January

• 2018:

  • December
    
    
  • November
    
    
  • October
    
    
  • September
    
    
  • August
    
    
  • July
    
    
  • June
    
    
  • May
    
    
  • April

Why this web site is different.

Essays planned for the near future.

Why does this web site have so many essays on sexual & gender minorities?

2018-March's book selection

"3 Theories of Everything" by Ellis Potter

Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
U.S. $2.89 in Kindle format, or U.S. $13.36 plus postage in paperback.

Amazon.com book review:

"What is reality? What is the meaning of human life? Why do we suffer? In this simple volume, international lecturer Ellis Potter explores three major worldviews that propose radically different answers to these eternal questions. In clear and compelling language, Potter shows us that the three worldviews, and the unique hope that each offers to humanity, have profoundly different consequences for how we see everyday reality and the ultimate purpose of our lives.

This book is a concise, reader friendly look at 3 basic ways of seeing reality from the East and the West. It wrestles with the problem of suffering and finds solutions in each of the 3 points of view. It is respectful of each worldview and engages the readers in some deep and hard-hitting questions about how they identify themselves and how they look at and understand the world. Reading, thinking about and perhaps discussing this book will bring the readers into a clearer focus of their own way of seeing reality.

3 Theories of Everything is based on lectures by the author and has a large section of questions and answers drawn from actual discussions."

This book received an average of 4.3 stars out of a maximum of 5 by Amazon customers.

New and updated essays:

This web site had 31 newly created, re-written, or significantly updated essays so far during 2019-MAR, including the above book review.

• An article by Contributing Editor Susan Humphreys: "With malice towards all, who aren’t like us"
  
  
• A glossary of sexual terms
  • Starting with letters A to C
  • Starting with letters M to P
  
  
• 2019-FEB: U.S. confidence in clergy drops. Clergy "sex abuse" summit meeting held in Vatican
  
  
• U.S. Abortion laws Utah during 2019: Bills to ban abortions of a fetus with Down Syndrome, and to ban almost all abortions after 18 weeks gestation
  
  
• 2017-NOV: Poll finds that 74% of Canadians support same-sex marriage
  
  
• Does religious involvement increase or decrease the suicide rate among LGBT youth?
  
  
• Lawsuit against a Colorado Baker who refused to make a custom cake for transgender customer was dropped
  
  
• Sea level rise due to Antarctic melting
  
  
• Chelsea Clinton says that Satanism "deserves our respect"
  
  
• A woman tells of her visit to Hell
  
  
• 2018-MAY/JUN: New Hampshire protects transgender persons in the state with an anti-discrimination law
  
  
• Attempting to calm distressed gays, or trying to convert gays into ex-gays via reparative therapy
  
  
• Utah House Judiciary Committee defangs reparative therapy bill
  
  
• 2017 to now: Trying to Convert Gays to Heterosexuals using Reparative Therapy. Laws prohibiting such therapy on minors.
  
  
• Impact of ban on transgender persons in the military, Part 11: 2018-NOV to 2019-MAR: Anti-Trump Light Show. Trump loses at District Court level, asks to bypass Courts of Appeal and go directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. High Court activates ban.
  
  
• 2018-JUN: The Supreme Court of Canada ruled that provincial law societies can refuse accreditation of university graduates
  
  
• 2019: UMC Conference votes to preserve discrimination against homosexuals. Some congregations react negatively
  
  
• New York State's Pro-Choice Reproductive Health Act
  
  
• 2019-MAR-11: Trump Administration's 2020 budget
  
  
• 2019-MAR-13: The Federal LGBT Equality Act
  
  
• 2018-NOV to 2019-MAR: Cost of transgender persons in the Military
  
  
• 2019-MAR: Mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand Part 1   Part 2 (being continually updated)
  
  
• Female Genital Mutilation a.k.a. (FGM/C) in North America & Europe
  
  
• The "Garbage Eaters": common derogatory name for The Brethren: Part 1 Part 2
  
  
• West Virginia government sues Catholic Diocese concerning abuse of children
  
  
• 2018 & 2019: Trying to Convert Gays to Heterosexuals using Reparative Therapy. Laws. Online apps.
  
  

In addition, we make major and minor updates to many essays each day that are not recorded above:

2019-February's book selection:

"The INTRAfaith Conversation: How Do Christians Talk Among Ourselves About INTERfaith Matters " by Susan M. Strouse (Author), Megan Rohrer (Editor)

Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
U.S. $7.47 in Kindle format, or U.S. $20.00 plus postage in paperback.

Amazon.com book review:

The Intrafaith Conversation: How Do Christians Talk Among Ourselves About Interfaith Matters? by Susan M. Strouse is a guide for individuals and faith communities to explore what it means to be a Christian in a multifaith world. The Rev. Dr. Susan M. Strouse is currently the pastor at First United Lutheran Church in San Francisco.

New and updated essays:

This web site had 41 newly created, re-written, or significantly updated essays so far during 2019-FEB, including the above book review.

In addition, we make major and minor updates to many essays each day that are not recorded below:

• Three more proofs that the Earth is more or less spherical and not flat

• 2019-JAN/FEB: Vaccines, immunization programs, and potential epidemics

• Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Day: About a groundhog's annual prophecy of the end of winter
  
  
• Abortion access: All sides of the issue
  
  
• New York's Reproductive Health Act (2019)
  
  
• Virginia's Late-term Abortion Bill
  
  
• Root Causes of Religious-Secular Conflicts, that Involve Abortion or LGBT Equality
  
  
• Conflicts Over Abortion Access
  
  
• 2017: Shooting at a mosque in Quebec shakes Canada. Part 4. The aftermath
  
  
• Scapegoating: The transferability of sin
  
  
• Can humans assess God's will through prayer?
  
  
• Essays donated by Contributing Editor Susan Humphreys: Forgive us our Trespasses, Seeing Each Other in Dialogue, and Wise Words to Ponder at All Times: About Meeting Dissent With Courage
  
  
• About the Roman Catholic Church
  
  
• Past & present religious/ethical/moral conflicts: Some settled; some starting; some dissipating; Some low key; others very active
  
  
• Beliefs about evolution, creationism, etc.
  
  
• Conflicting quotations about the origins and development of the species, and of the Earth itself
  
  
• 2019-FEB: Bills in the Kansas Legislature concerning LGBT discrimination & same-sex mariage
  
  
• The "Caravan of Despair:" U.S. Government problems: Central American immigrants. Election fraud detected in North Carolina. 7-year-old girl dies in Border Patrol custody. Poll indicates "Government: as most important problem.
  
  
• An essay donated by Contributing Editor Susan Humphreys about George Lakoff's book: "Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think"
  
  
• A U.S. Court of Appeals rules in favor of President Trump's Ban on Transgender military. Intersexual individual seeks a different passport ID
  
  
• Monte Benson donated a series of essays on the Earth’s age and the text of Genesis 1 in the Bible. It was updated by this site's webmaster
  
  
• The rights of women, primarily in Saudi Arabia
  
  
• 1998 to now: The Worldwide Persecution of Christians
  
  
• Human rights laws in the U.S., Canada, other countries and UN Cpvenants: Part 1, Part 2
  
  
• 2018-2019: The tragedy of Missionary John Allen Chau's death at the hands of the Sentinelese people
  
  
• 2001 to now: Recent hate crimes against Muslims in the U.S
  
  
• Re-write or updated 12 essays dealing with Atheism
  
  
• U.S. confidence in Catholic clergy drops. Clergy "sex abuse" summit meeting held in Vatican. Part 6 of a series of essays on abuse of minors by Catholic priests
  
  
• Federal court issues ruling against all-male military draft
  
  
• Same-sex/gay marriage in Bermuda: made available, banned, and restored
  
  
• Gallup reports President Trump's approval/disapproval ratings
  
  
• Abortion laws in the U.S., Canada, & the rest of the world: Laws restricting/allowing abortion access, etc.

This web site had 63 newly created, re-written, or significantly updated essays so far during 2019-JAN, including the above book review.

In addition, we make major and minor updates to many essays each day that are not recorded below:

• An article donated by Rabbi Allen S. Maller: New Genes For Ancient Hindus And Jews
  
  
• 2018-JUL to now: UMC Church's Continuing Conflicts. Bishops' Letter to the LGBT Community.
  
  
• Climate change & other environmental concerns: Available books (Cont'd)
  
  
• Religious/Ethical/Moral conflicts: 2018-9: Gun Control laws in the U.S.
  
  
• Can humans assess God's will through prayer?
  
  
• Concerns about the end of the world happening on 2012-DEC-21
  
  
• Prophecies of TEOTWAWKI: ("The End Of The World As We Know It")
  
  
• Climate Change, Part 32: Collecting plastic trash from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
  
  
• Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in Pennsylvania, Germany, etc; Reactions: Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
  
  
• Evangelical Christians vs. Child Protection Law in Ontario, Canada
  
  
• Background material on Christmas ... Jesus and the first radio program.
  
  
• Transgender persons & transsexuals
  
  
• Proofs 15 to 23 that the Earth is not flat.
  
  
• A U.S. Court of Appeals rules in favor of President Trump's Ban of some Transgender persons from the Military (the Mattis Plan)
  
  
• U.S. healthcare 2017 to 2018 incl.: Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23
  
  
• Tentative future religious and spiritual book monthly recommentations: 2019-Febuary to 2019-July
  
  
• An article donated by Contributing Editor Susan Humphreys: Small Men and FEAR!
  
  
• Climate Change. Part 32. Climate change at the start of 2019.
  
  
• Trump Administration plans to define all transgender persons in the U.S. out of existence. Reactions by by celebrities and transgender distress/crisis lines. Virginia teacher fired.
  
  
• Transgender/transsexual terminology
  
  
• Shared belief in the "Golden Rule" (a/k.a. Ethics of Reciprocity)
  
  
• Transgender children. Options that are available to transgender persons. Terminology. Is being transgender a "disorder?" (Part 4) (Part 5)
  
  
• An essay donated by Contributing Editor Susan Humphreys: What is sufficient evidence to justify belief?
  
  
• The U.S. Supreme Court delivers a potentially devastating blow to transgender members of the military
  
  
• "When does human personhood begin?" -- at conception, when a heartbeat can be detected, at quickening, when the higher brain functions first turn on, at birth...."
  
  
• Transgender persons and transsexuals
  
  
• Environment, Climate Change and Global Warming and Ocean Level Rise (Menu and 27 essays)

2018-December's selection:

New and updated essays:

This web site had 50 newly created, re-written, or updated essays so far during 2018-DEC, including the above book review.
In addition, we make major and minor updates to many essays each day that are not recorded below:

• Climate Change. Part 30: During 2018-NOV: Trump Administration releases National Climate Assessment report. Reactions to the report. Hope for people who have no access to clean water
  
  
• Three essays donated by Contributing Editor Susan Humphreys
  • The Ethics of Belief: dealing with the evidence needed that is sufficient to believe.
    
    
  • Globalization: cultural, religious, and economic
    
    
  • The Three Primal Processes, and how they work in the Universe
    
    
• 2018-NOV: The tragedy of Missionary John Allen Chau's death
  
  
• Beliefs about the nature of life after death
  
  
• Mass murder in a Pittsburgh synagogue (Part 2)
  
  
• The "Caravan of Despair:" Central American Migrants Traveling Towards the U.S.
  
  
• 2017-OCT to 2018-DEC: U.S. Healthcare: Pre-existing conditions
  
  
• How many Wiccans are there?
  
  
• Cardinal Gerhard Müller discusses abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic church
  
  
• An introduction to ancient & modern beliefs on salvation
  
  
• Modern rewrites of the Ten Commandments
  
  
• Overview of abortion: Part 3
  
  
• The Christmas wars (a.k.a. The December dilemma)
  
  
• Glossary of words and phrases starting with the letters "Ti" to "Tre"
  
  
• 2018-DEC-10: The 70th anniversary of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  
  
• 2017-AUG: The Nazi/Alt-right/ White Nationalist Rally in Charlottesville, VA. President Trump's reaction
  
  
• School Shootings, mostly in North America: 2010-APR to 2018-MAR
  
  
• Major report on Arctic climate
  
  
• NY Catholic agency suspends adoptions
  
  
• Another NY Christian agency suspends all adoptions rather than serve same-sex couples
  
  
• An essay donated by Alton C. Thompson: Why Do We Celebrate Christmas?
  
  
• An article donated by Contributing Editor Susan Humphreys: ‘Tis the Season for Giving and "Taking"?
  
  
• 2018-0CT: Trump Administration is Planning to End Recognition of Every Transgender Person in the U.S. Overview of transgender persons as viewed by medical professionals and by religious/social conservatives
  
  
• 2018-0CT/DEC: Trump Administration's anti-transgender activity. Trans distress/support/crisis phone lines. Virginia teacher suspended
  
  
• Books on LGBT topics: Coming out of the closet. Building self esteem. Developing relationships
  
  
• Ohio anti-abortion bills during Years 2005 to 2018
  
  
• Other information about Santa Claus: Theology. Telling children about Santa. How Santa saved Christmas vacations. Changes some people want about Santa
  
  
• About the biblical story of Sodom & Gomorrah: Introduction
  
  
• U.S. Healthcare: Part 22 President Trump attacks Affordable Care Act. Democrats push "Medicare for All." Latest polls. Pre-existing conditions. President Trump's re-election poll. A MAJOR DEVELOPMENT: Court declares Obamacare law unconstitutional.
  
  
• The "Golden Rule" (a/k.a. the Ethics of Reciprocity):Books, videos, a poster, and T-shirts
  
  
• 2018-JUN to AUG: Scarlet Johansson to play movie role as a transgender woman. Miss Universe will have a transgender contestant. Trans women (D) run for VT Governor, and CO House, Court case in Anchorage, AK about transgender women in women's shelter, and changes to the Gender Recognition Act in the UK. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
  
  
• 2018-DEC: Conflict during a Catholic funeral of a teen who had committed suicide
  
  
• Teachings of the Roman Catholic Church about Suicide
  
  
• Being transgender, according to the Roman Catholic Church: Part 1 Part 2
  
  
• The Winter Solstice (on or about DEC-21): Ancient and recent celebrations, from Druids to Native Americans. Other Winter Solstice web sites
  
  
• Satan: All points of view
  
  
• Recent developments on the celebration of Christmas in the U.S.
  
  
• 2017-8: Religious freedom to discriminate: Colorado Baker also won't make a custom cake for transgender customer. Some evangelical groups seek compromise.
  
  
• Ireland Abortion law effective on 2019-JAN-01
  
  
• The Christmas Wars/ Dilemma: Part 3 Part 4 Part 5
  
  
• The Gospel of Q; All sides to the controversy
  
  
• The tragedy of Missionary John Allen Chau's death at the hands of the Sentinelese people
  
  
• Menu: Abortion access: All sides of the issue
  

2018-November's selection

"The History of the Devil and the Idea of Evil: From the Earliest Times to the Present Day" by Paul Carus

Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
U.S. $0.76 in Kindle format, or U.S. $9.99 plus postage in paperback.

Amazon.com book review:

"From ancient Egyptian religions to Judaism, Hinduism to Buddhism, Christianity to Islam, as well as many more, Carus analyses each religion in turn to expose their views of the devil and where those views came from.

He takes the reader from five thousand years ago through to near the present day to give a wide overview of changing views on good and evil and how different civilisations created varying ideas of the devil.

In the last five hundred years of history the devil has appeared to be marginalised as only a literary figure rather than a genuine fear, but Carus demonstrates how throughout the Reformation, the Inquisition and even the nineteenth century, fear of the devil was extremely real.

Paul Carus provides an extremely thorough survey of various ideas about the devil along with what is good and what is evil.

Carus was a pioneering author and thinker of the early twentieth century. He became the first managing editor of the Open Court Publishing Company which aimed to provide a forum for the discussion of philosophy, science, and religion, and to make philosophical classics widely available by making them affordable. As an author he published 75 books and 1500 articles. He died in Februrary 1919."

New and updated essays:

This web site had 40 newly created, re-written, or updated essays during 2018-NOV, including the above book review.
In addition, we make major and minor updates to many essays each day that are not recorded below:

• Four essays by contributing editor Susan Humphreys:
  • Moral Foundation Theory: Part 1, Part 2
    
    
  • A review of Stephen T. Asma's book: "Why We Need Religion"
    
    
  • What’s in a Name? Who is a Fascist? Who is not?
    
    
• An overview of the persecution of Jews for the past 2,000 years
  
  
• Anti-Judaism: from 1200 to 1800 CE
  
  
• Hell Houses at Halloween
  
  
• Three hate crimes with a racial & religious component, in Florida, Kentucky and Pennsylvania
  
  
• Mass murder in a Pittsburgh synagogue: Part 3 and Part 4
  
  
• Bisexuality: Does male bisexuality exist? Controversies over the word "choice." Part 3
  
  
• The Trump Administration:
  
  • UN Human Rights Council votes on executing LGBT persons. Kavanaugh sworn in as Associate Justice
    
    
  • Abortion case at Supreme Court. Midterm elections: Democrats control House. Impact on President Trump's impeachment
    
    
• The Peace Cross conflict in Bladensburg, Maryland
  
  
• Survey of U.S. adults' fears and Paranormal beliefs
  
  
• Proofs 15 to 22 that the Earth is not flat. What does the public believe its shape is?
  
  
• Who is/was the "advocate" mentioned in John 16:5-11?
  
  
• The fate of the "Peace Cross" in Bladensburg, MD
  
  
• Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRA): Federal legislation
  
  
• Public support for, opposition to, and alternatives to the death penalty
  
  
• Recent changes in moral beliefs in the U.S.
  
  
• Cuba's acceptance of the LGBT community. Movement towards same-sex marriages in Cuba
  
  
• Costa Rico's Supreme Court orders government to legalize same-sex marriages
  
  
• A more detailed overview of conflicts between science and religion
  
  
• Diversity of beliefs about the age of the Earth: By old-Earth creationists, young-Earth creationists, scientists,& politicians -- mostly Christians
  
  
• Where and When Did the First Humans Live?
  
  
• Estimated number of Wiccans and other Neopagans in the United States
  
  
• Transgender billboard battle outside Joshua Tree CA
  
  
• Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting a.k.a. (FGM/C) in North America & Europe
  
  
• U.S. Public opinions about lesbians, gays, bisexuals, & transgender persons (LGBTs). Trends in public support in the past and future
  
  
• Effectiveness of "distant healing" prayer
  
  
• The "Caravan of Despair:" Central American migrants travelling North towards the U.S.
  
  
• Climate Change. Part 29: 2018-OCT-NOV: Southern Baptist Convention downplaying IPCC report. Global warming changing Fall. Trump confuses weather & climate. Major climate change report issued by U.S. government.
  
  
• Religious heresies among evangelical Christians
  
  
• 2017-8: Same-sex marriage in Taiwan
  
  
• Articles on the transgender ban in the military: Part 7, Part 8, Part 9
  
  
• MOF Technology: Hope for people who have no access to clean water.
  
  
• 2017-OCT to 2018-NOV. Feds will no longer defend key provisions of the Affordable Care Act in court. Some Democrats push "Medicare for All." Latest polls.
  

2018-October's selection

"The Practical Stoicism: Your Step-By-Step Guide to an Ancient Yet Effective Philosophy to live a life of wisdom, perseverance and Joy" by Nicholas Mayor

Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
U.S. $0.98 in Kindle format, or U.S. $9.99 plus postage in paperback.

Amazon.com book review:

"... the ancient yet effective philosophy of stoicism is the way to live the modern life.

You wouldn't be the first person to explore this unique way of living, our history's greatest minds from George Washington to Frederick the Great to Ralph Waldo Emerson, along with today's top performers including sport coaches to CEOs and celebrities have already embraced the wisdom of the ancient Stoics.

This web site had 63 newly created, re-written, or updated essays during 2018-OCT, including the above book review.
In addition, we make major and minor updates to many essays each day that are not recorded below:

New and updated essays:

• Myanmar army's genocide of the Rohingya. A conflict between the Buddhist majority and a Muslim minority
  
  
• Ten essays linked to our main abortion menu
  
  
• Environment: Dissapearing wetlands in Louisiana. Climate change affecting Northern countries. Pat Robinson's "Shield of Protection" doesn't work.
  
  
• Miracles in the Bible
  
  
• The central question in all abortion conflicts between the pro-choice and pro-life positions:"When does human personhood begin?"
  
  
• When does human personhood begin? Belief 5: At either 15 or 22 weeks gestation
  
  
• Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) Timeline of U.S. and international developments from the year 1997 to now
  
  
• Does PAS increase the pain of dying patients?
  
  
• Canada: Catholic hospital conflict over PAS. Secobarbital becomes available for PAS
  
  
• Judge Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings begin. Accusation of sexual assault
  
  
• Transgender persons & transsexuals: Observing the Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDoR)
  
  
• Climate change concerns: 2018-SEP & OCT: New IPCC report predicts a "Strong Risk of Crisis as early as 2040
  
  
• The LDS Restorationist movement, including many Mormon denominations, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  
  
• Gay Marriage (a.k.a. Same-sex Marriage) In Romania
  
  
• Recent developments concerning sex abuse of minors by Catholic priests
  
  
• A menu and a group of 21 essays dealing with Halloween and Samhain
  
  
• Two German states are investigating abuse by Catholic clergy
  
  
• Court case in Anchorage, AK about transgender women in women's shelter
  
  
• The Australian Federal Government considers whether to allow religious schools to continue to fire LGBT staff and expell LGBT students
  
  
• Common beliefs shared among many fundamentalist & other evangelical Christians
  
  
• Former Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski charged with sexual abuse of minors
  
  
• 2018: The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) no longer considers being transgender as a mental disorder
  
  
• Three essays donated by Contributing Editor Susan Humphreys:
  • Healing, Mending, and Forgiveness
    
    
  • Angst: a feeling of deep anxiety or dread
    
    
  • One Woman’s Opinion About "The Statement on Social Justice & the Gospel"
    
    
• Trump Administration planning to end recognition of all transgender persons in the U.S.
  
  
• What causes sexual orientation: Nature, nurture, a choice, an addiction? Can it be "cured?"
  
  
• Abortion access: Developments during 2018
  
  
• Changes to the Gender Recognition Act in the UK
  
  
• Registered partnerships and same-sex marriage in Switzerland
  
  
• Environmental concerns: Global Warming: Predictions, skepticism, victims, & trends
  
  
• Accusations of sexual assault at Judge Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation hearings. UN Human Rights Council votes on executing LGBT persons. Kavanaugh sworn in as Associate Justice. Abortion case appealed to Supreme Court
  
  
• Books dealing with clergy sexual abuse
  
  
• 2018-OCT: Three hate crimes with a racial& religious component, in Florida, Kentucky and Pennsylvania Part 1 Part 2
  
  
• Anti-semitism: Racially-based persecution of Jews: 1800 to 1946
  
  
• Definitions of "Religism:" a new English word to mean "intolerance of a religion"
  
  
• Seasonal secular and religious events:
  
  
  • During April, May and June
    
    
  • Veterans Day

2018-September's selection

"So You Thought You Knew: Letting Go of Religion" by Joshua Tongol.

Webmaster's comment:

A phenomenal book. It has received more than 100 five-star reviews (the highest rating) from Amazon customers. The most engaging book I have read in years. I decided to re-schedule the book originally selected for this month to 2019-MAR, and to substitue this book.

Amazon.com book review:

"Tired of religion?
What if almost everything you were taught about Christianity is wrong?
Would you give up on faith altogether? Or is it possible to rediscover--with fresh eyes--a richer and more satisfying understanding of God and spirituality?

So You Thought You Knew is a refreshing journey written straight from the heart. It's about thinking outside the 'institutional walls' of Christianity and asking the hard questions. It boldly says in public what many people are thinking in private. And its hilarious stories and life-changing insights will inspire those who are dissatisfied with fear-driven religion but believe--deep down--there's a better message out there for the world to hear.

This book has received 185 reviews of which 78% were five-star reviews -- the highest value.

This web site had 56 newly created, re-written, or updated essays during 2018-SEP, including the above book review.
In addition, we make major and minor updates to many essays each day that are not recorded below:

New and updated essays:

• Wiccan/Neopagan prison ministries
  
  
• Two essays donated by contributing Editor Susan Humphreys:
  • Belief in a higher power
    
    
  • What are the sources of our values, morals and ethics?
    
    
• In Switzerland's Catholic Church, 250 instances of sexual harassment have been reported
  
  
• Conflicts in Myanmar (Burma) involving Buddhist-Muslim religious intolerance:
  
  
• Judiciary Committee hearing for Supreme Court nominee Judge Kavanaugh
  
  
• LGBT Laws in India: Years 1861 to 2018!
  
  
• A New Zealand Court attacks a charitable group's right to claim the religious freedom to discriminate against the LGBT community
  
  
• Have the Democrats Lost Their Soul? An essay donated by Contributing Editor Susan Humphreys
  
  
• An Introduction To Racism In The U.S.
  
  
• 2018: A Grand Jury report on RC priests' abuse of children & youths in PA. Cardinal Donald Wuerl to discuss his resignation with Pope Francis
  
  
• 2018 AUG: Trans women (D) run for VT Governor, and CO House
  
  
• Internet Resources About Emergency Preparedness
  
  
• Can the existence of God be proven or disproven?
  
  
• Media reports on Satanism and Satanic groups
  
  
• Developments in the Trump Administration:
  
  
  • Part 22: 2018-JUN: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy resigns. Implications for the future of abortion access, LGBT rights, and other recent court precedents.
    
    
  • Part 23: President Trump nominates Brett Kavanaugh, of the DC Circuit Court. Impact of Kavanaugh's nomination. Judiciary Committee hearing. Accusation of sexual assault.
    
    
• Climate Change, Part 27: 2018-AUG & SEP: Disappearing wetlands in Louisiana, Climate change affecting Northern countries. Hurricane Florence hits the Carolinas.
  
  
• Is Global Warming Increasing the Severity and/or Frequency of Hurricanes? Science Findings vs. Beliefs of Climate Deniers
  
  
• Atheism section: Definition of "Atheism." How non-Atheists view Atheists. Atheist topics discussed
  
  
  • What proof would it take to make an Atheist believe in God?
    
    
• 32 additional essays and menus dealing with Atheism were updated
  
  
• Prayer at public school sports events
  
  
• Gay Marriage (a.k.a. Same-sex Marriage) In Romania
  
  
• Beliefs about Satan in the U.S.
  
  
• MajorU.S. laws and court cases concerning abortion access. Will a ban on abortion access return?

2018-August's selection:

"Elements of Pantheism: A Spirituality of Nature and the Universe 3rd Edition" by Dr. Paul Harrison.

Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store
Available for $5.10 in Kindle format, or $9.93 plus postage in paperback.

The web site had 36 newly created, re-written, or updated essays during 2018-AUG, including the above book review.
In addition, we make major and minor updates to many essays each day that are not recorded below: New and updated essays:

• Multiple new essays by Contributing Editor Susan Humphreys:
  • Culture wars: ""They Are Out to Change/Destroy Our Culture!"
    
    
  • Belief in a "Higher Power"
    
    
• Same-sex marriage; a.k.a. gay marriage): Review 2001 to now. SSM in South and Central America
  
  
• The United Methodist Church: Recommendations for the 2019 UMC Special General Conference. Conflict
  
  
• Past and current activities concerning gay marriages across the U.S. and the rest of the world
  
  
• Celtic/Neopagan handfasting
  
  
• Policies of various U.S. religious groups on the death penalty
  
  
• The number of Wiccans in the U.S. during the years 2015 to 2018. It may be the second largest theistic faith group in the country
  
  
• Abortion access in Argentina
  
  
• Additional information about transgender persons & transsexuals, including basic definitions of terms
  
  
  • Part 1: Conflicting quotations. Different views on what exactly is gender?
    
    
  • Part 2: Comparing cisgender persons with others who don't fit neatly into the male/female binary system. IRS conflicts.
    
    
  • Part 3: Various definitions of "transgender." The definition used on this site. Symptoms & detection
    
    
  • Part 4: Gender Dysphoria in children. Options available to transgender persons. Terminology. Is being transgender a "disorder?"
    
    
  • Part 5: Definition of Gender Dysphoria. Gender Incongruence. Catch 22. A transgender symbol.
    
    
• Reducing the U.S. abortion rate by reducing unwanted pregnancies: Part 2: 2009: A very successful effort in Colorado
  
  
• 2018: Compulsory "In God We Trust" school posters in Tennessee schools
  
  
• Introduction to beliefs about the afterlife.
  
  
• About Racism, particularly in the U.S. It continues today, and in spired a memorable fecal comment by President Trump which will form part of his legacy.
  
  
• 2018-AUG: U.S. Army may charge chaplain with discrimination
  
  
• 2018: Grand Jury report indicates at least 301 priests are accused of sexually abusing more than 1,000 minors in Pennsylvania (3 parts)
  
  
• About Islam: The Hajj: Pilgrimage to Mecca
  
  
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
  
  
  • Terms used by denominations in the LDS Restorationist movement, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Community of Christ
    
    
  • The Community of Christ (CoChrist) & homosexuality
    
    
• Transgender woman (D) runs for VT governor
  
  
• When does the Bible say that Jesus ascended towards Heaven?
  
  
• R. C. Symes: "The Resurrection Myths About Jesus;" a Progressive Christian Interpretation
  
  
• Jose Davis: "Jesus resurrection and ascension;" a Conservative/Traditional Christian Interpretation
  
  
• Colorado Baker Won't Make Gay Wedding Cake. 2018-JUN: U.S. Supreme Court issues ruling, but sidesteps the main question. Baker's business booming. Tolerance posters.
  
  
• 2017-8: Similar religious based discrimination case refused by U.S. Supreme Court. Colorado Baker Won't Make a Custom Birthday Cake for Transgender Woman
  
  
• Additional information about transgender persons & transsexuals, including basic definitions of terms
  
  
• Conflicts in the Middle and Far East involving religious intolerance: Kurdistan, Kashmir, Myanmar, & Gaza
  
  
• U.S. opinion polls on evolution & creation science
  
  
• Proofs 15 to 21 that the Earth is not flat. What does the public believe its shape is?
  
  
• Climate Change from 2018-JUN until now, Part 24
  
  
• 2018-OCT: Incidences of religious hatred in Florida and Pennsylvania
  

2018-July's selection

"The Moral Arc: How Science Makes Us Better People "Â by Michael Shermer

Read reviews or order this book safely from Amazon.com online book store.
Available for $10.16 in Kindle format, or $10.48 plus postage in hardcover, or $5.20 plus postage in paperback.

Amazon.com book review:

"From Galileo and Newton to Thomas Hobbes and Martin Luther King, Jr., thinkers throughout history have consciously employed scientific techniques to better understand the non-physical world. The Age of Reason and the Enlightenment led theorists to apply scientific reasoning to the non-scientific disciplines of politics, economics, and moral philosophy. Instead of relying on the woodcuts of dissected bodies in old medical texts, physicians opened bodies themselves to see what was there; instead of divining truth through the authority of an ancient holy book or philosophical treatise, people began to explore the book of nature for themselves through travel and exploration; instead of the supernatural belief in the divine right of kings, people employed a natural belief in the right of democracy. In this provocative and compelling book, Shermer will explain how abstract reasoning, rationality, empiricism, skepticism -- scientific ways of thinking -- have profoundly changed the way we perceive morality and, indeed, move us ever closer to a more just world."

• Multiple new essays by Contributing Editor Susan Humphreys:
  
  
  • What is evil?
    
    
  • Deism, God, the Big Bang, Matter, & Motion
    
    
  • "Character Counts" and "What is it that 'Makes America (or any country) Great'?"
  
  
  • The "The Euthyphro Dilemma," and why it matters: Part 1 Part 2
    
    
  • A series of essays on the existence/non-existence of God: From Feser's book "Five Proofs of the Existence of God," she describes alternative views of Fester's
    1. Aristotalian case for God
    2. Neo-Platonic case for God
    3. Augustinian Case for God
    4. Thomistic Case for God
    5. Rationalist Case for God
    6. Nature of God
    7. Is God good?
    8. Theodicy
       
       
• Other new and updated essays:
  
  
  • Beliefs by Christian groups and religious skeptics about the afterlife: Heaven, Hell, Limbo, Purgatory, Reincarnation, Extermination ....
    
    
  • U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's 2018 resignation. Its implication for the future of abortion access, LGBT rights, etc.
    
    
  • A selection of articles indicating progress or decline in the rights of women, primarily in Saudi Arabia.
    
    
  • 2018-MAR: A committee of the Republican Party in Kansas voted to oppose recognition of transgender identity
    
    
  • Controversy: Actress Scarlett Johansson will play the movie role of a transgender man!
    
    
  • 2005 to 2018: Trying to Convert Gays to Heterosexuals using Reparative Therapy. Laws prohibiting such therapy
    
    
  • An incorrect prediction about the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii's Big Island
    
    
  • The "Tree of Life" by Charles Darwin, and others up to the present time
    
    
  • U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy resigns. Implications for the future of abortionaccess, LGBT rights, and other recent court precedents. President Trump nominates replacement.
    
    
  • Mass crimes against humanity & genocide
    
    
  • Religious conservatives and their policies towards the LGBT community
    
    
  • Major school shooting in Parkland FL -- a game changer
    
    
  • 2010 to 2018: Legal status of U.S. gay-lesbian adoptions. Attempt to allow religious discrimination in adoption
    
    
  • Climate Change, Part 24: New York City issues report to the UN. Impacts resulting from humans burning up all of our fossil energy
    
    
  • Introduction to Facilitated Communication
    
    
  • Tools on climate change availalbe on Climate Central's web site
    
    
  • Sikhism, a world religion
    
    
  • Many Bible passages about Satan and his attributes
    
    
  • A quotation. Many Bible passages about Lucifer, Satan and their attributes
    
    
  • Past and possible future catastrophes due to the collision of the Earth and an asteroid
    
    
  • Available books (Cont'd): about Climate change & other environmental concerns
    
    
  • About origins, creation, and evolution
    
    
  • Climate change & other environmental concerns: information sources & vailable books
    
    
  • The origin and development of species: Creation science: one of three models
    
    
  • The genocide against Armenians. The "Great Catastrophe" of 1915-1922
    
    
  • Shared belief in the "Golden Rule"
    
    
  • Native American Spirituality: Quotations; Introduction; Origins of Native Americans
    
    
  • A brief introduction to the founders, history, etc. of Christianity
    
    
  • The current status of Christianity
    
    
  • Implications of a strict constructionist judicial interpretation of constitutions & laws
    
    
  • Conflicts in Sri Lanka, mainly between two religious groups
    
    
  • Beliefs about homomosexuality among the Buddhist traditions
    
    
  • Glossary of terms: Religious terms starting with the letters "Ini" to "Iz"
    
    
  • Pedophile: one word; multiple meanings