Secular Wholeness: A Skeptic's Paths to a Richer Life

By David Cortesi

Can a skeptic reap the benefits of a religious practice? When you can't abide ideas of the supernatural, when no religious account of the world satisfies, how can you satisfy the need for depth,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 155369175X
• ISBN13: 9781553691754
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Trafford on Demand Pub
• Length: 270 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Secular Guidebook

This book is a well researched and thoughtfully written guide to living a fulfilling nonreligious life. In the first chapter the author outlines some of the benefits that religion offers; existential validity, community, contemplation and tranquility, ritual, mystical ecstasy, self transcendence, ethical structure, and comfort in death. In the remaining chapters of the book he examines how these benefits can be derived in a nontheistic context. Each chapter could easily have been a book in its own right but what really works in this book is its broad overview and concise organization. It gives the reader a great starting overview for the issues presented. The author does give many references for further reading and thought on each topic. For this reason I would especially recommend it as a starting point to someone who feels they can't embrace belief in the supernatural or reject science but is concerned that their life would be lacking without a religious component. I would also recommend it to those who have trouble believing that someone who doesn't believe in a deity or religion could be a moral and ethical person. The chapter on the development of an ethical basis and personal/family code was one of my favorites. I did want to add something from my own experience on finding community. The author gives a lot of practical advice but refrains from mentioning specific groups in the book. I think this was the right approach since each person's path and beliefs may differ. I personally found many friends and community through an American Humanist affiliate group and the Unitarian Universalist church. I'm not specifically endorsing any particular groups for others but just wanted to point out that there are lots of opportunities out there, some others are Brights, Pantheists, Secular Coalition, Free Thinkers, Secular Humanists, another reviewer mentioned Friends of Reason, etc...So do some research and you should be able to find a community of people of like minded beliefs, you are not alone.

Life's Own User Manual

David Cortesi's premise is that the benefits of traditional religions are available to non-religious people if they're given the tools to reframe these benefits in secular terms. Cortesi proves capable of delivering on his generous but ambitious agenda. He's smart enough to sort through contending philosophies, honest enough to admit his biases, and grounded enough to not lose his way among the murky ambiguities of existence. He starts by exploring religion's payoffs. First and foremost, religion provides answers to those two bedeviling questions: who am I and why am I here? You also get ritual practices that orient you in time and space, a ready-made community of like-minded people, and a pre-assembled ethical structure. Religion gives you tools for dealing with life's pitfalls and pratfalls, and ways to cope with your passage out of here. Religious believers get to feel the kind of contented bliss that's been missing since those golden days when it was just the infant you and an attentive caregiver placing a nipple between your lips. Finally, the lucky few occasionally plug in to states of ecstatic transcendence. Sounds attractive, but there's a catch. To get the benefits, you have to buy in to the whole agenda, and most of these agendas weren't designed with you in mind. Some of them have in fact caused immense suffering and distress over many centuries. Cortesi shows us how to construct beliefs and practices that provide the same emotional and psychological support as religion without forcing us to park our common sense at the door or sally forth to smite infidels who happen to believe in a different godlike character. His method is to research, then summarize the major issues we must deal with to construct a meaningful life. He's fair to all religious traditions and approaches each of life's big topics in an even-handed, pragmatic manner. Among other things, we learn ways of coping with the fact we're a random accident in the universe, how people actually achieve mystical bliss, and what it means to be happy. He gives practical advice on skills such as creating your own set of rituals, helping people who are grieving, and building up the psychological arsenal you'll need in order to be content. In an appendix, he lists further readings for those who want to delve deeper into any of these questions. Cortesi is no Augustine, wrestling with great sins on the way to becoming a great saint. He has modest regrets (he wishes he'd devoted more effort to being part of a community) and isn't trying to attain every grand spirtitual aspiration (for instance, he questions whether the efforts to achieve bliss, are, practically speaking, worth the results). In the end, he delivers what he promised, showing us that it's quite possible to live a meaningful, spiritually fullfilled life without surrending yourself to a religious tradition. Cortesi has done us all a great service by writing this book, and everyone, whether secular or rel

A superb framework

This small book at last addresses in a simple way the key elements of a rich life that anyone can understand. While being very practical there is enough hard evidence to show that Cortesi's views are soundly based. I especially recommend the chapter on happiness. Buy it. Read it.

the book I was looking for

David Cortesi writes in plain language for everyone, without condescending to anyone. He discusses how a non-religious person can get all the spiritual, emotional, social and psychological benefits of religion, without sacrificing a single neuron of intelligence, education or critical thinking.He is completly critical of every religious tradition, but also open-mindedly sympathetic to all kinds of spirituality. He has searched for what "they" have, and how they get it. But he has not accepted an ounce of new-age hokeyness. He has kept his analytical mind active throughout.He considers how a person can believe that the universe is purposeless and basically accidental, while still believing that one's own life has meaning. He discusses ways to create community, meditative or contemplative practices, meaningful rituals, ethics, happiness and contentment. He discusses death and self-transcendence and the bliss experience.If you have no religion, or if you are losing your faith, read this book soon. It's full of good advice. It's consistently understated and about as brief as possible (Cortesi is a computer programmer), so you might have to consider his points carefully. It's honest and deeply thoughtful, intelligent and respectful of its audience. Highly recommended.

Simple, Relevant and Approachable

Mr. Cortesi has written an amazing and fulfilling book. First, he analyzes why those who belong to a religion seem to have longer, healthier, happier lives. Second, he addresses each point and dissects it for its very essence. For instance, he argues that one of the benefits of belonging to a church is that it provides a network of friends who know you and each other. Therefore, a person could build a network of friends to gain the same webbing of love and support in their own life, without a religion. In another chapter, he obligingly goes over the Golden Rule of several faiths using logical arguments to see if they could work in the modern world. His "Mortal Imperative" is perfect, by the way, and was almost worth the price of the book all on its own. Every page is informative without any hint of stuffiness. He is humorous but never glib. I felt as if I had had a wonderful conversation with someone akin to Joseph Campbell after reading this book! David Cortesi, I thank you.