Religion is one's "total reaction upon life" said William James. As we already have science, we don't need religion to help us make sense of the world of objective reality that we share. Religion, therefore, is to help us make sense of our subjective, personal and private experiences. Not with childish wish-fulfillment fantasies of a divine parent so that we can be helpless children. No, we are capable of applying the principles of reason to the facts of our everyday subjective experiences, emotions, ambitions and fears in order to make sense of who we are and who we would like to become, what it means to express and feel love, be satisfied in our job, our relationships with others and all the problems that come with those things. Dogmatic beliefs and especially beliefs in the supernatural are of no use and, in fact, are obstacles to our success in working out our own “salvation” from the human condition. Obviously we can't do it cooperatively as in science but we can still do it together and learn from one another.

This presentation is on HOW TO BE A FREETHINKER. That is, how to construct one's “total reaction upon life” without somehow forcing oneself to believe – or to say that one believes – in fairytales. Yes, it involves a repudiation of “faith” and a refusal to become the sort of hypocrite that “having faith” makes of people.

This video is a recording of a Zoom session held on June 9 of 2024. If you would like to join one of our weekly Sunday 10 AM sessions - which are all by Zoom except for the First Sunday monthly (when we meet in person in the DFW area of North Texas) - go to our website and enter your email at the foot of any page. Check out the wealth of material we have at www.churchoffreethought.org. We can also provide officiation for things like weddings and funerals for Freethinkers ! While you're here, please go ahead and LIKE and SUBSCRIBE TO our channel and COMMENT below. Let us know what you think !