Larry Rifkin
Larry Rifkin is a pediatrician who recently created a video, “Evolution Will Change How You See The World” which, as it illustrates a range of wondrous aspects of life, highlights the role of evolution and urges us not to compromise the future of this great epic. Larry has also written a number of articles, including some for Humanist publications that examine ways of appreciating emotional aspects of naturalism. In “Transcendence Without The Bull”, he acknowledges that, due to association with varied forms of supernatural mumbo-jumbo, the term, “transcendence” makes many humanists and naturalists recoil. As a counterpoint, he describes a naturalistic transcendence, which embraces the non-rational, not the irrational, and can be cherished as special type of human experience. In “Sublime Naturalism” he acknowledges reasons why many avoid terms like “spiritual” or “religious” and discusses “sublime” as a term that might be acceptable to secular humanists – as a way to “open our emotions as well as our intellect to understanding naturalism, with all its implications.” Links to these and other articles can be seen at lawrencerifkin.com.