Humanist Thought of the Week

What If ...

My son is in the stage where he is asking a lot of “what if” questions. Questions like “what if I had a brother?” Or, “what if I could fly?” Or, “what if I was elected Emperor of the United States of America?” I have finally figured out that I am not meant to answer these questions. Instead my role is to encourage him to figure out his own answers. The great thing about “what if” questions are that they excite the imagination. And imagining the way things might be is essential if we are to think productively about our future. Which is why I think “What if” is the most important question we can ever ask. Because unless we ask “what if?” we will be stuck with what is. And that would drive me crazy because I can’t help but wonder “what if we can do better?”

What's Really Important

This year has been extremely hard financially. Almost everyone I know is struggling. But, as I was contemplating how much my family has had to cut back to make ends meet Along with the fact that I can’t afford the one present my son REALLY wants. I realized how lucky we actually are. We have each other; we have a safe place to live and food to eat. And that’s more then most people on the planet have. In the big scheme of things, the amount of stuff you can afford to give and get isn’t all that important. What is important is that you have people in your life that you care about. Love might not be enough, but at least it’s a good place to start.

It's All Right

It’s that time of year again - time for the annual war on Christmas Except that there isn’t any. Well, except for the radical Christians who forget that this is the season for peace on earth and goodwill towards all. For them, “Happy Holidays” is a declaration of war. Because obviously - if you don’t say “Merry Christmas” you are clearly contributing to the great moral decline of our country. Can we just write these idiots off as not worth time now? I mean - if they haven’t figured out by now that it really is ok if someone else doesn’t celebrate Christmas, they never will. In the meantime: Io Saturnalia!

On Being Polite

My husband requested that this week’s podcast be about politeness. Apparently people who park sideways in parking lots are starting to get on his nerves. Anyway, my dad always says; if you want to slide through life, try being polite. And he is right. Being polite does grease the wheels of interpersonal relations. It doesn’t take much effort. Just do your best to make sure that your behavior doesn’t negatively affect someone else. So … when you park your car at the mall in the next few weeks. Make sure you don’t take up more then your fair share of space. Other people need to park too. And it’s rude to prevent them from doing so just because you were too busy to straighten out your car. Just saying. Oh - and PS - my husband thanks you.

Compassion's Power

One of the most powerful aspects of Humanism is the fact that we base our morality on compassion While compassion is a universal human emotion that has the power to move people regardless of religion or creed, Not everyone uses compassion as the basis of their morality. The problem is: If your value system isn’t based on compassion; the elimination of unnecessary suffering is, by definition, not a priority for you. Any value system that accepts human suffering as a necessary evil, or worse, something to be embraced, is a system we Humanists abhor. Humanists are motivated by compassion. We seek to eliminate suffering, especially the kind that is totally avoidable. When someone is suffering because of some arbitrary rule, we believe it is the rule that must be changed. It’s no wonder that people who cling to arbitrary authority are so afraid of Humanism. Compassion is the only thing that has the power to mobilize people against injustice. And to paraphrase Robert Ingersoll: we Humanists wield our compassion like a sword.