Talk:Paul Kurtz

Paul Kurtz, the indfferent humanist

I've read several of Kurtz's books (none of which became a bestseller, unlike the New Atheists' books), and I've read his Free Inquiry magazine occasionally over the years, yet he never particularly impressed me. His "eupraxophy" coinage never caught on, even among humanists. And he inadvertently supports the christian belief that atheists repent and "surrender to Jesus" on their deathbeds by recounting in at least two of his books the story about how a dying atheist friend of his converted to Catholicism. The prospect that he might do something similar towards the end of his life apparently bothered him.

References:

http://books.google.com/books?id=VGVrY2nC52wC&lpg=PA97&dq=paul%20kurtz%20catholicism%20sclerosis&pg=PA97#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?id=pX_rOg4xmgwC&lpg=PA34&dq=paul%20kurtz%20sclerosis&pg=PA34#v=onepage&q&f=false

And yet many humanists and skeptics have hailed Kurtz as a great man. Perhaps he seemed that way to them from the 1970's through the Aughts, when few people wanted to become public spokesmen for humanism and skepticism. When you have few competitors, a relatively weak contender like Kurtz could rise to prominence by default. But given the growth in American nonbelief since Kurtz's heyday, we have a richer field of advocates to choose from. If Kurtz started his career now, he probably wouldn't look so competitive.Advancedatheist (talk) 23:45, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

This long read shines a light on Paul Kurtz's personality. You are spot on. --87.179.46.20 (talk) 22:08, 15 August 2016 (UTC)

What the hell is that random site, which - one click away, on the same site - provides a non-parody pro-astrology text!? I'm not saying the specific text you linked wasn't authored by Dennis Rawlins (though I don't trust that wierd "cura.free.fr" URL); I'm just very aware that cranks looove bad-mouthing sceptics. Reminds me of the way Creationists love to quote-mine Darwin & Co. Reverend Black Percy (talk) 22:27, 15 August 2016 (UTC)

Rawlins links the exact same URL from his website, which makes me believe this is the whole unadultered piece. Besides, did you see how looong it is -- if the out-of-context quotes were already that long, then how super-loooong would the whole piece they were taken from have to be :-) ? --87.179.46.20 (talk) 01:45, 16 August 2016 (UTC)

Dfuck?

http://joanfliz.blogspot.com/2013/02/illuminati-contra-la-humanidad.html

Woowoo strikes back! Was he an illuminati member? AhahahGianga23 (talk) 15:52, 26 May 2014 (UTC)