A new book titled ‘Atheist Heart, Humanist Mind‘ by Lex Bayer and John Figdor, included a set of 10 ‘non-commandments’ for the non-believer. The authors also held a contest to crowdsource an alternative set. I was pleased that I agreed with a majority of the items judged the winner. They are good guidelines for living as a Humanist.
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One of the constant gnats of contention in the Humanist movement is the a struggle between people who want to have a complete, clean break from religion and those who complain about humanists mocking or ridiculing religion. In a recent blog post, PZ Myers makes some excellent points why secular humanism is not just a replacement for religion.
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One of my pet peeves about the Humanist movement is that some support the use of religious words or activities in Humanist settings. Using such words in the context of a nontheistic philosophy like Humanism not only causes public confusion but also dilutes our message and shows a lack of conviction of our own principles, not to mention it is a bit silly. We should define ourselves and not let the religious do it.
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I wrote an essay on my personal blog Doug’s Views about the relationship and sometime conflict between young people in the secular movement and those of us who are older and have been down the road awhile. I explore that relationship and connect it to a change in the energy I have for Humanist activism. My conclusion is we seculars, young or old, need each other to make the movement a success.
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I have a news alert setup to let me know whenever something is published on-line about secular humanism. As you can imagine there are far more negative articles written about it than positive – which is okay. It’s also pretty easy to spot when someone hasn’t really done any research about secular humanism and just repeats false or misleading information. Usually such articles come from religious conservatives like the minister from Iowa Park Texas. I would say, if you plan on opposing secular humanism, at least do your homework.
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President Obama had his public inauguration today (1/21) and he gave his 2nd inaugural speech on the West Front of the US Capital. As I listened I couldn’t help but be impressed by the elements of the social contract he included in his speech. I have highlighted my favorite parts and plan on using these quotes in future essays and discussions I might have.
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