Jul 12, 2018
According to atheism, God does not
exist. But religions have traditionally done much more than simply
proclaim God's existence: they have provided communities, promoted
the arts, handed down moral guidance, and so on. Can atheism, or
perhaps humanism, replicate these roles? Anthony Pinn grew up as a
devout Methodist, but became a humanist when he felt that religion
wasn't really helping the communities that he cared about. Today he
is a professor of religion who works to bring together atheism and
the black community. We talk about humanism, identity politics, and
the way forward. [smart_track_player
url="http://traffic.libsyn.com/seancarroll/anthony-pinn.mp3"
social_gplus="false" social_linkedin="true" social_email="true"
hashtag="mindscapepodcast" ] Anthony Pinn received his Ph.D. in the
Study of Religion from Harvard University, and is currently the
Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of
Religious Studies at Rice University, where he was the first
African-American to hold an endowed chair at the university. He is
the Founding Director of The Center for Engaged Research and
Collaborative Learning at Rice University, and Director of
Research,The Institute for Humanist Studies. Among his many books
are
Writing God's Obituary: How a Good Methodist Became a Better
Atheist and
When Colorblindness Isn't the Answer: Humanism and the
Challenge of Race
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- Faculty page at Rice
- Wikipedia page
- Amazon.com page
- Online course at edX: Religion and Hip Hop Culture
- Talk on How a Good Methodist Became a Better Atheist