Godless: Living a Valuable Life Beyond Beliefs
Compiled by Karie Firoozmand
March 1, 2016
By Jeff Rasley. Midsummer Books, 2014. 280 pages. $12.95/paperback; $4.45/eBook.
Buy on FJ Amazon Store
Although its title sounds confrontational, Godless is about freedom from creed and dogma, and freedom in spiritual experiences like gratitude and praise. In addition, Friend Jeff raises up the central theme of the difference between beliefs and values. Values, he argues, have the ability to guide us into behavior based on our vision. But when belief guides decision making, it is divisive. Beliefs requires us to uphold forms or follow precedents, often empty, whereas values propel us into discerning right behaviors in our own time and place. Various sections of the book focus on Quakerism, the Rai people of Nepal, and the philosophy of Pragmatism, with some memoir and advice woven in.
Comments on Friendsjournal.org may be used in the Forum of the print magazine and may be edited for length and clarity.