Humanist Thought of the Week

An American Humanist: A Philip Randolph

Yesterday was Martin Luther King Day. But there is another American who was just as important to the civil rights movement, yet most people don’t know who he was. His name was A Philip Randolph and he was a Humanist.

Read the rest of this entry »

Don't Make Me Go Socratic On You

I have a 6 yr old and I’m a Humanist. Which means that when I want him to do something he doesn’t want to do, instead of telling him he must, I go Socratic on him.

Read the rest of this entry »

No More

Last week, the state of GA killed a man most people believe to be innocent. It has become abundantly clear that our death penalty system doesn’t work. It hasn’t for a long time. We made it legal to kill innocent people about 18 years ago courtesy of Herrera v. Collins. Regardless, we aren’t going to be able to stop the insanity that is the death penalty until we agree that not only is it not ok to kill innocent people. It’s not ok to kill the guilty either. And yes, this does require us to extend our compassion to people who have committed heinous crimes. Until we are willing to be compassionate with everyone, including murderers, our bloodlust will continue to kill the innocent along with the guilty. I don’t know about you, but my heart simply can’t take much more of this brutality. I support the National Coalition to Abolition the Death Penalty - I hope you will too. http://www.ncadp.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herrera_v._Collins

Humanist Crisis Relief

There is a crisis in the Horn of Africa right now. People and children are dying of starvation as a result of the worst drought in 60 years. Unfortunately, the governments of the world are not stepping up to help feed people. If these people are going to receive food aid, it will be because people like you donated to a charity that is helping to feed the people of Somalia. We Humanists believe we have a moral obligation to act whenever we can reduce the suffering of others. After all, what kind of people would we be if we could reduce suffering and refused to? Because we can, we must. I am asking you to donate to Foundation Beyond Belief’s Humanist Crisis Response. http://foundationbeyondbelief.org/crisis They are collecting money from Humanists around the world to give to the International Rescue Committee, which will use those funds to feed people in the famine zone. Please be the best most ethical person you can be and do your part to make the world a little bit better for someone else. Thank you. Go to http://foundationbeyondbelief.org/crisis and donate today.   IRC Drought Response: Treating Malnourished Children from International Rescue Committee on Vimeo.

Humility

There are two basic definitions of humility. One is to be modest, not proud or arrogant. The other is to be submissive to a superior. Needless to say, we Humanists are all about the first definition and completely and totally reject the second. The idea of considering ourselves subservient to anyone is just offensive. We are all humans. And while we do occasionally need leaders to guide us No one among us deserves or should require the submission of others. If they do, they have an ego problem. And that ego will get in the way of correcting their mistakes because … They are usually too proud or arrogant to admit that they may have made a mistake. Which is why we Humanists admire intellectual humility so much.