About Myths of the Tribe, When Religion and Ethics Diverge, by David Rich:
Myths of the Tribe illustrates the negative historical impact of our major religions, which have created unending conflicts that obscure clear thinking and continue hazardous to our health today.
More than two centuries after the Age of Reason culminated in the French Revolution, modern society still operates on the basis of assumptions and attitudes that originated in the ancient myths propagated by organized religion. These myths hamper efforts to apply reason to our problems and foster violent conflicts that threaten global security.
Myths of the Tribe illustrates how the belief systems of all major religions have become a detriment to clear thinking, rational conduct, and wise public policy, suggesting we substitute a rational analysis of all problems in the light of objective scientific evidence, a system of ethics that allows complete individual liberty constrained only by the principle of harming no one else, taking personal responsibility for one’s own welfare and actions, and the absence of government control over the pursuit of happiness.
As relevant today as it was when first published by Prometheus Books in 1993, Myths of the Tribe has been updated in its second edition with new data reflecting our views on religion and social mores in the twenty-first century.
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Author Bio:
David Rich grew up on a ranch in Colorado. His dad introduced him to tractors and cattle, and his mother to music and travel. He toured the country with an amazing group of fellow misfits in the fighting 529th Air Force Band, attended the University of Colorado in Boulder and the University of Chicago Law School. By some fluke he began practicing law in Phoenix with Lewis and Roca, the firm that handled the Miranda case (which he had nothing to do with). After a stint as a law professor, David tried private practice but found the cushy job of assistant attorney general more to his liking. His appointment as judge pro tem by the Maricopa County Superior Court was a resounding success because attorneys immediately settled any case to which he was assigned.
He retired in his 40s to become a sailing captain, pilot, and full-time traveler, living in almost every country on the planet while writing dozens of travel stories. Myths of the Tribe, When Religion and Ethics Diverge (Prometheus Books 1993) examined the influence of organized religion on ethics, 2nd ed. 2019. RV the World, 2nd ed., 2018, combines his seventeen-years RVing the world with how anyone can do it. In 2019 David wrote The ISIS Affair, a satire on religion and nationalism in Syria subtitled Putting the Fun Back in Fundamentalism, and Scribes of the Tribe, Our greatest Thinkers on Religion and Ethics. He published Antelopes, A Modern Gulliver’s Travels, in 2020 and Sail the World?, the prequel to RV the World, in October 2021.