Category Archives: moral issues

Thoughts on the Great Barrington Declaration

Posted on November 21, 2020 by Sarah

Three epidemiologists have proposed a different approach to managing the covid pandemic, in the form of the Great Barrington Declaration: “The most compassionate approach that balances the risks and benefits of reaching herd immunity, is to allow those who are … Continue reading →

Posted in Coronavirus, moral issues, politics, science, social justice | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Be more afraid?

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Sarah

I recently read a very disturbing Guardian piece detailing the goings-on in an Austrian ski resort back in March, through interviews with people who had been there. It seems this resort (Ischgl) was a hotbed of transmission at that time … Continue reading →

Posted in Coronavirus, mental health, moral issues, politics, science, social justice | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Rules and fear

Posted on May 12, 2020 by Sarah

It’s been interesting to see how fully and swiftly a lot of people adopt imposed rules as an entire way of being in this pandemic crisis. I’ve just joined a Facebook group for people shielding (i.e. very high-risk people who … Continue reading →

Posted in Coronavirus, moral issues, personal reflection, science | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Peak

Posted on May 3, 2020 by Sarah

Supposedly we’re at the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak now, or just past it. The concept of “the peak” entered discourse in mid-March, in talk of measures to “delay” it with social and behavioural interventions. At the time, we were … Continue reading →

Posted in Coronavirus, moral issues, politics, science, social justice | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Social justice, fairness, and ableism

Posted on March 13, 2016 by Sarah

In his post “Who owns the world?“, Doug Muder looks at the ‘justice’ in social justice, and argues that economic justice – or fairness – requires recognition of one’s debt to the commons. He explains that private ownership of natural … Continue reading →

Posted in moral issues, politics, social justice | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Liberal self-criticism

Posted on November 15, 2015 by Sarah

I frequently come across interesting articles and blog posts that trigger a desire to write, to explore for myself the issues they raise. This week, a long train journey gave me a rare opportunity to actually do so. These two articles were posted … Continue reading →

Posted in feminism, Humanism, moral issues, social justice, Sunday Assembly | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Anger

Posted on August 1, 2015 by Sarah

I was once an angry atheist, for a fairly brief period. Maybe a year or so. It came with finally giving up religion, after a long struggle with it; regretting the energy I’d wasted on it, and seeing it as mostly … Continue reading →

Posted in feminism, gender, Humanism, is religion good or bad for you?, moral issues, personal reflection, science, social justice | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Religion is not the issue

Posted on January 11, 2015 by Sarah

I think — and I speak as a British person — when I saw the towers fall on September 11, one of the many, many thoughts that went through my head was, “We helped to do this.” The way we … Continue reading →

Posted in Humanism, is religion good or bad for you?, moral issues, social justice | 2 Comments

Miracles for sale

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Sarah

I just watched “Derren Brown: Miracles for Sale“, a documentary in which the illusionist Derren Brown exposes the tricks used by faith healers to convince people they are healed and get them to part with their cash. Well worth a … Continue reading →

Posted in God, moral issues | 16 Comments

Free will and responsibility

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Sarah

A friend on Facebook posted this article a while ago, explaining the various philosophical arguments on free will very clearly and simply for people like me. Not too long and worth a read. Basically the whole issue is responsibility. To what extent … Continue reading →

Posted in moral issues, philosophy | 3 Comments