Excellent video series on morality without religion

[Vay]

I recently answered a post on how a child can be taught morality without religion, and thought I'd share this series.

Good Without Gods

Not So Good Books

Of Objectivity and Ought-ness

Pretty much everything Qualiasoup and his brother Theramintrees do is excellent. This one:

Open-mindedness

and this one:

Why Live?

are also outstanding.

[trubadour]

Good Without Gods

This is a fine example of how a method becomes an oppressive, all encompassing, ideology.

[Ex Animo]

I'm not religious at all, and while I see it being misused on a massive scale globally, it does have benefits reaching far beyond understanding morality, from giving comfort and confidence to sense of family and being loved—things that science will rarely be able to provide. For some people, religion is more than just believing in a superbeing, and I think science fails itself when it tries to prove that religion is wrong.I admire anyone who has faith enough in science to provide everything a healthy mind needs, but the truth is that it can't replace the social and psychological value that religion provides those who need it. If I were you, I'd be looking for books that teach your child to have her own free mind rather than one dictated by authority figures, especially those figures she didn't vote to have such a profound influence on her choices.

[Vay]

If I were you, I'd be looking for books that teach your child to have her own free mind rather than one dictated by authority figures, especially those figures she didn't vote to have such a profound influence on her choices.

Been there, done that!

Raising Freethinkers: A Practical Guide for Parenting Beyond Belief



Maybe Yes, Maybe No: A Guide for Young Skeptics

[sandman]

It is interesting. I strongly believe that I was raised with some very strict morality, yet it had basically nothing to do with religion. Of course, many of the tenets instilled by my dad are claimed by various religions, but he never saw them as such -- merely doing the right thing was enough for him. "Wear tweeds, stay on your belly and don't raise the rifle if you don't have a clear shot" was about as religious as he ever got. If that is somehow related to some kind of religion, then so be it. I, however, feel that was not the case with him. And that is how I feel. I have read (some of) the bible -- the groody bits -- as well as the Talmud, the Qu'ran and various Buddhist, Hindu and other sacred texts. All I got, from all of them, was basically: Don't be an asshole. Strive to be the best person you can be. From earliest childhood I've been "indoctrinated" if that's the word, to not be an asshole (HEY! The Interwebs wasn't invented when I was little! Cut me some slack, here!) Sure, I have failed on occasions too countless to mention. But that is my doctrine, and I don't feel the need for a higher power to emphasize that.
I'm doing seminars, by the way. A paltry. PALTRY NT$5,780 for a one-hour session. (One hour, of course, is equal to 45 minutes in billing terms.) I take paypal.