Hi -

My apologies for the delay in acknowledging your note regarding Paul Kurtz. Many thanks for dropping by. I noticed the same thing. I have little doubt, though, that there are probably a number of other LibraryThing members who have Kurtz and others of similar ilk in their libraries but do not wish to share that fact. Sad, for sure, that America is still a country where to openly admit being athiest, agnostic, humanist, etc. is to risk more scorn than if one admitted to a belief in the efficacy of crystals to sharpen razor blades and heal brain tumors.

Interestingly, amongst the Western community here in Chiang Rai to relate that one is not a believer in any form of supreme being raises no eyebrows whatsoever. Perhaps that is a reflection in some way of the more open mindset of people who have elected to travel and live somewhere new and, initially at least, quite different from anything they have experienced before.

Best wishes,

Glenn

posted by zootramp at 3:07 am (EST) on Oct 24, 2007