What is Humanism?

What is Humanism?
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[kylea.]

I'm proud to be an Atheist and a Humanist.

[arigarcia]

my parents are secular humanists, but never talked about their beliefs. it has allowed my brother and i to grow up and choose our beliefs ourselves. my brother is a christian, i am a secular humanist, like my parents.

[TheHappinessHelper_XO]

As a fellow Humanist I wish you could have given more information about that.  Your message is vital and although I too am Atheist, I don't believe Humanism is exclusive to us.  For example, I am religious drawing my philosophy from Nichiren Buddhsim.  Dr. King was a Christian minister but he drew from Eastern philosophy's theme of nonviolence to lead the Civil Rights movement.  Although he was christian I think we can agree he was very much a humanist.

Speaking only for myself, I don't think Atheism is even taking the stance there is NO God.  It's more like we are saying I don't know one way or the other (ain't nobody got time for that, lol)  and while I am here in this lifetime I am going to focus not on worship but rather on taking 100% responsibility for developing my human potential and helping others to do the same.

IMHO the world doesn't need yet another religious debate but rather more emphasis on teaching what it means to be fully human - universally. 

I am so proud of you and please keep the good work coming.  You give the world hope.

[ScottWorthington]

The simple question that you posed, "What is humanism?" wasn't answered. You talked a lot without saying much. The only example you gave of a humanist belief is that you have a moral code that doesn't come from a god. Outside of that, you said nothing about what humanism is. No conclusions that people should draw when you tell them that you are a humanist.

I really enjoy your videos. I have learned a lot from them, and from you. But, this one just didn't live up to the title.

I hope I don't come across as ungrateful. I do appreciate the time and expertise that you put into your channel. Thanks.

[Mindwipe]

This was extremely helpful! I'm an Atheist, (even though I don't particularly like that label) but I didn't know what humanism was or how it's related to Atheist. I didn't know whether it was something completely separate from atheism or whether or not it itself is actually a religion. This clears things up and now I think I'm probably also a humanist.

[jitendersingh]

humanism is focuses on human values rather than beleivingthat you are atheist or theist human is creation of something ultimate it is upto us that we consider ourself as god's work or anything

the ultimate objective is GOOD which is possible with both either with GOD or without GOD

[BillHainesDotNet]

It's not a picture of what humanity is, but what we can be. ;)

[humanists]

Hey Friendly Atheist! My wife and I just started a channel on how everyday people can make the world a better place. What advice do you have for newbies like us?

[AMomentOfClarity]

The secular part deals with the political issues of separation of church and state too. Don't make the mistake that secular = atheism. atheism is the personal stance of the individual, secular is the political stance of the state.

[chrisneethling]

Thanks for the reply. Actually, I don't know how it all started. Or why or when. It's a huge mystery! But neither do you know, and so to then say that there is a creator is an untested and untestable hypothesis. It's known as 'The god of the gaps'. I respect your right to believe in whatever you want to believe in. For me, I'm happy to live with the mystery - without any of the thousands of gods created by men over the millenia.

[drktmplar]

Let me ask you a similar question:

You can't disprove there's an invisible, magical monkey who can teleport on the ceiling above you, so why don't you believe this monkey doesn't exist? Or how about Zeus, leprechauns, unicorns, the god Shiva, and so on?

Generally speaking, it's logical only to believe in things supported by empirical, independently verifiable evidence.

So, to answer your question, the reason we don't believe in a god is precisely because we haven't seen good evidence for it.

[DonWilsondigginTimeUSA]

I think that I have heard the Bible interpreted many ways over many years by many church pastors. As a very young man I would ask questions about this problem I had with grasping these various interpretations, and I got various answers. As an Atheist today, the threat from religion and confusion is gone, and I take control of me.

[hotwheels]

Hi I am a humanist & I have just joined your channel 👍

[katiestockton]

Can one be a humanist, but also an appreciator of moral ideas found in religions? In other words...Buddhism and much of what it teaches appeals to me, about compassion and training the mind and all that. One can ditch the supernatural parts of it easily and it doesn't even make much difference; the Buddha never claimed to be divine anyway.

[thzatheist]

The difference between a secular and a religious humanist is not belief in god - both are agnostic at best, but rather the desire to use ritual and church like communities.

[BillHainesDotNet]

Actually, a secular state omits religion, and so does a secular person. :)

[NataliasArtDen]

My brother is a humanist and I'm a Christian. He is constantly trying to convince me there is no God. Say he's right... What's the harm in me believing there is a God and what drives him to prove to me God isn't real?

[AMomentOfClarity]

Its more a goal to strive towards than a picture of what humanity IS (which is hard to define with 7 billion of us). You might say its optimistic but I don't think its unrealistic.

[levicarvalho]

Humanists think their moral system just appeared out of thin air

[drktmplar]

Okay, but why hide the meaning of that story behind so much smoke? Why not say at the beginning of the book:

"Hi, everyone! I'm the author here and I just wanted to let everyone know, this is all allegory and metaphor!"

Why not write the Bible more clearly if it was a group of stories concerning morality?

And where's the morality in God ordering genocides? Where's the morality in the New Testament when God created Hell, where sinners are tortured for all eternity? Sounds evil to me. =\