Welcome to TOS Weekly!
When a person rejects the baseless notion that God exists, he is faced with an important choice: accept the materialist idea that we are mere physical machines or seek another form of spirituality. The first is not fulfilling; the second can be frustrating if one turns to popular sources such as neuroscientist Sam Harris. He claims to offer a rational spirituality while really relying on stolen concepts and mysticism, as Objective Standard Institute fellow Maddox Locher details in his review of Harris’s book Waking Up.
Spirituality isn’t the only field where people are searching for other options. As more people realize that perhaps college isn’t for them, the market for alternatives continues to grow. Thomas Walker interviewed an employee at one of them, Praxis, to explore what the program offers and why young people who don’t need a college degree for their chosen career paths should consider it. In the quest for fulfilling professional success, as in that for secular spirituality, observation and reason are the only sustainable materials that pave the way to flourishing.
I hope you enjoy this week’s articles,
Angelica Werth
Associate Editor
New This Week
Sam Harris’s Waking Up: A Self-Defeating, “Secular” Spirituality
In Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion, Sam Harris presents his theory of spirituality as an alternative to those that are faith based. But the core premise Harris relies upon throughout the book is equally as faith based as the religions from which he attempts to distance himself.
Praxis: The Rude Awakening Colleges Need
There’s a huge social stigma that you have to go to college to be a success. College can help you be a success, but it is not a guarantee. Once more people know about college alternatives, colleges are in for a rude awakening.
This Week’s Anniversaries
Getting Lincoln Right
On November 8, 1864, Abraham Lincoln was reelected for a second term. Was he, as most Americans believe, a defender of individual rights, or was he a tyrant who turned his back on essential founding principles of America?
Remember, Remember, the Ninth of November
As has every iteration of Marxist collectivism, East German communism succeeded only at destroying human life. On November 9, 1989, after twenty-eight years, the virtual prison created by the Berlin Wall was opened, and Germans—East and West—rejoiced.
Thank You, Veterans
On Veterans' Day, we say to all veterans who have defended Americans’ rights and liberties: Thank you.
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