Humanist Thought of the Week

Redemption

The one knock against Humanism is that it offers no easy path to redemption. In Christianity - all you have to do is ask for forgiveness and you will receive it. In Humanism, if you want to redeem yourself, you have to stop doing stupid immoral things. And yes, that means the Humanist way requires you to actually change your behavior and not just give lip service to the effort. The good news is that being a good person isn’t very hard to do. Simply take the time to think before you act. And then - and this is what is really important - don’t do that stupid immoral thing you were just contemplating. Obviously, I think the Humanist approach is superior. Christianity requires only that you express a desire to be a good person. Humanism requires you to actually be a good person. Our moral standards are higher.

Coping with Tragedy

This week, my mom’s husband nearly died. He didn’t thanks to modern medicine and the hard work of some talented individuals. But that’s not what I want to talk about. What I want to talk about is how we nonbelievers cope with such tragedy. I have no research to back me up, just my anecdotal experience, but I am pretty sure we cope better with tragedy then the average person of faith. And I think that’s because we accept reality sooner then our religious counterparts do. I mean, what other choice do we have? It’s not like we believe a miracle might occur to make our new reality go away. Relying on magical thinking might provide temporary comfort, but that is only a delay tactic. It is only when you start coping that you can start living again.

Being Stupid is Stupid

In case you weren’t aware of this, we Humanists love being educated! We are lifelong learners and we can’t understand why anyone wouldn’t be as excited as we are about education. After all, the more you know, the more you understand. And the more you understand, the easier it is to, you know, solve your problems! Unfortunately, there are lots of stupid people in the world. And what’s worse, most are too stupid to know they are stupid. I wouldn’t really care, except that stupid people tend to do stupid things that cause all sorts of stupid avoidable problems for the rest of us. So, don’t be stupid. The next time someone tells you that you that you don’t know what you’re talking about, Even if you think that person is stupid, Find out why they think you are wrong. The worst that could happen is that you may learn something. And that’s a good thing!

Work Arounds

When it comes to the Humanist Approach to Happiness, how does someone who has been emotionally damaged go about becoming happy? Obviously, some experiences are more traumatic then others. But what is important to understand is that trauma can rewire your brain. To me, acknowledging how this rewiring handicaps your thinking is as important as understanding how a torn ligament in your knee handicaps your ability to walk or run. Once you know you have a handicap, physical or mental, you can start working around it. The best advice I ever got was from a therapist who was helping me cope with a stalking. She said: “if you are terrified of cemeteries, don’t walk past one.” Take another route. You will still get to where you were going, just without the emotional trigger. Just because you are handicapped from emotional trauma doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy life. You just need to find a way to work around it.

Courage

A friend of mine received a death threat a few days ago. It’s a sad state of affairs that pretty much everyone in the Freethought community views such a threat as a bit of a rite of passage. Which brings me to today’s topic.  Courage. It takes a lot of courage to openly acknowledge the fact that you are a freethinker. I mean, who in their right mind would intentionally risk angering people to the point they respond in violence? It’s not like we Freethinkers set out to piss people off. It’s just that by it’s very nature; thinking freely challenges the status quo. And, obviously a lot of people don’t like that. I mean, look at what they did to Socrates! I personally think that every single person who engages in Freethought is incredibly courageous. Just for the mere fact that they are willing to take on the risks that comes with thinking for yourself.