For Immediate Release
Contact:
Merrill Miller, 202-238-9088 ext. 105, merrillmiller@americanhumanist.org
(Washington, DC, Dec. 18, 2015)—Humanist Press, the publishing arm of the American Humanist Association, tackles the fallacy that people need belief in a god to be moral in its latest book, Godless Grace: How Nonbelievers Are Making the World Safer, Richer and Kinder. The book profiles atheist and humanist activists across the globe who are passionately making their communities and their planet a better place.
With a foreword by secular scholar Dr. Phil Zuckerman and afterword by American Atheists President David Silverman, Godless Grace by David I. Orenstein and Linda Ford Blaikiedispels the notion that goodness comes from a deity. Instead, Orenstein and Blaikie provide numerous examples of people improving the world, and they do so without belief in a higher power. Godless Grace features a crusader against sexual abuse in Panama, a Filipino nurse practitioner who combats violence against the LGBTQ community, the British survivor of priest sex abuse who has dedicated her life to aiding other victims, and a Canadian who developed a nonreligious alternative to Alcoholics Anonymous, among many others.
“[Godless Grace] will doubtlessly inspire believers to hold non-believers in a new light. And it will compel non-believers to reflect on what exactly motivates their deeds and actions in the absence of a God: to be good for goodness’ sake,” writes Amanda McCorquodale in Foreword Reviews.
The book places this humanitarianism within the larger context of the rising secular movement. According to the Pew Research Center’s 2012 Global Religious Landscape Survey, over 16 percent of the global population identifies as religiously unaffiliated, the third-largest group after Christians and Muslims. Godless Grace suggests opportunities for growth within this global secular movement, directions for future advocacy both in the United States and around the world, and changing values that applaud skepticism over belief and doubt over faith.
Dr. David Orenstein is a full professor and department chairperson at CUNY Medgar Evers College. He also serves as the American Humanist Association’s representative to the United Nations through the DPI/NGO program. Linda Ford Blaikie holds degrees in creative writing, nursing and social work. She has been a psychotherapist in private practice for the past 38 years in New York City.
Godless Grace is now available from Humanist Press in print ($18.99) and ebook ($9.99) formats. Readers may purchase copies here.
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Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists and other nontheistic Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming philosophy of humanism, which—without beliefs in any gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.
Humanist Press is the publishing house of the American Humanist Association, providing material for the humanist/freethought/atheist market since 1995.