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.
Continue reading
Tag Archives: honesty
For Humanists, It Should Be About Community
I previously posted about my complaints about some Humanists forming ‘churches’ or creating ‘congregations’. My concern has always been about using warmed over religious words like ‘congregation’ or having ‘services’ on a Sunday. I explained that using religious words for non-religious activities causes confusion and doesn’t explain what we Humanists are really about. So in this post I want to explain how being honest in the terms we use will actually lead more people joining us.
Continue reading
Framing Humanism Is Okay But Not At The Expense Of Honesty
Humanism is a strange collection of individuals in a stew of rationality, all of us looking for the truth for our world view. We, as Humanists, know we must work with believers and other theists to find common ground with the goal of bettering the human condition. Andy Norman, writing for the Humanist Network News, an e-zine of the American Humanist Association, tries to offer tips for dialogue on Humanism to non-humanists but does so by giving up honesty in the process.
Continue reading
Humanism should not be “religious”
An old argument came up the other day with another Humanist. It was related to some of my earlier posts here. It was the debate between religious and secular humanists. The debate was about Humanism and religion.
I’m not religious. I have no use for religion of any form, but I don’t have anything against religious people or religious humanists – unless they disparage atheists.
It got me thinking. Maybe I’m missing something. Maybe there is something religious about Humanism that I hadn’t considered before, so I decided to review my thoughts on the issue and what has been told to me by people I have debated.