/r/humanism

Photograph via snooOG

"I am a humanist, which means, in part, that I have tried to behave decently without any expectation of rewards or punishments after I'm dead."

-Kurt Vonnegut


Welcome to /r/Humanism!


What is Humanism?

Humanism is a democratic and ethical life stance, which affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to give meaning and shape to their own lives. It stands for the building of a more humane society through an ethic based on human and other natural values in the spirit of reason and free inquiry through human capabilities. Because humanism is not based on any theological premise, every individual is free to combine humanism with other belief systems and to resolve conflicting beliefs in their own way.

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Types of humanism

Want to know more about humanism? Try visiting some of the links below:

Introductory Readings:

Books:

Articles:

Organizations/Links:

Rules:

  1. Personal attacks, abusive language, trolling, racism and bigotry will not be tolerated.

  2. If the purpose of your comment is to derail the discussion, troll another user, personally attack a user, or make a racial/bigoted statement then it will be removed. Comments that obviously add nothing to the discussion will also be removed.

  3. If a submission is downvoted to or below zero and remains so for over 24 hours, the post will be deemed off topic and be removed to make room for other submissions.

  4. We encourage and maintain a community for civil discussion that is respectful to all beliefs and ideals. As humanists, we have a diverse group of religious and irreligious subscribers. For this reason, militant and radical submissions will not be accepted and may be removed. Submitters who post a solely anti-theistic or anti-secular link/text may be asked to resubmit with an appropriately improved title or to post elsewhere.

  5. We encourage proper reddiquette and hope that submissions or comments are voted up or down based on their relevancy to our subreddit, not because the reader agrees or disagrees with the presented opinion.

Related Subreddits:

/r/Christian_Humanism

/r/HumanisticJudaism

/r/SecularHumanism

/r/religion

/r/Skeptic

Religion/Philosophy (multi)

Types of Humanism:

/r/humanism

27,670 Subscribers

0

Violation de mes droits : Je demande réparation

Justice sous influence : 8 ans de préjudice

Je demande réparation à la mairie de Saint-Martin-Boulogne

1 Comment
2024/05/04
06:19 UTC

4

What older humanistic values are workaholic delusions crowding out? Some thoughts here

Those with the privilege to “do good” by “changing the world” simply assume that that is indeed what they are doing. Such conceits used to go by the name of presumption. In the cult of purposiveness, the old wisdom that recommends against hubris is not only ignored but inverted. Nowadays, Mark Zuckerberg, of all people, boasts that: “We are all blessed to have the ability to make the world better, and we have the responsibility to do it. Let’s go work even harder.”

Coming from industry leaders, such proclamations will always fit Montaigne’s description of a “fine statement under which ambition and avarice take cover”. But they have also come to reflect genuinely held, quasi-religious convictions. Like traditional religious faith, faith in one’s own purpose serves a consolatory function (especially for the secularly minded), warding off all those usual irksome existential questions about the meaning of finite lives in an apparently arbitrary cosmos. The cult of purposiveness crowds out those concerns by requiring an always-on, all-consuming asceticism, especially among its lower-ranking members.

https://unherd.com/2024/05/the-delusion-of-having-a-meaningful-job/

1 Comment
2024/05/03
13:28 UTC

3

Seva for Humanity

In Hinduism, seva means selfless service and is often associated with karma yoga, disciplined action, and bhakti yoga, disciplined devotion. 

When I was homeless, I was befriended by homeless youth. They taught me how to survive on the street, and were kind. Once I overcame the PTSD of that experience,  I knew I wanted to help at-risk kids. I asked my Guru, Paramahamsa Vishwananda, if it was okay to go into the Juvenile Detention Centre, and try to help. He told me to teach them a bija mantra; in this case “Om Namo Narayanaya”.

In Vedic tradition, “Bija Mantras” are used as tools for the expansion and widening of one’s mind by utilizing the power of sound vibrations.

So every week for a year (until Covid hit), I went to the prison, and they would find one kid for me to visit. And I taught them to chant. The first one was due in court the next day, choosing to represent herself. She didn’t trust adults, knew she was innocent, and wanted to represent herself. So I taught her the mantra. The next day she successfully defended herself, and was released. 

That small act brought me more joy, and happiness, than any material gain of my life. We are all humans, doing our best, to make it through this crazy game of Life. Be kind, remember to smile, be happy.

2 Comments
2024/05/02
16:48 UTC

6

May 1st International Workers' Rights Day.

I appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union for Human Rights and to the Council of State of the Court of Cassation.

Sequestration and Non-Assistance from the Government

Call for Recognition and Reparation

#abuseofpower #harassment #laborlaw

I demand Justice and reparation for damages - European Court of Human Rights

https://x.com/OBtravaux/status/1756659295569981653

https://www.facebook.com/Olivier.Boutin.Artiste.peintre/videos/975315774185052

0 Comments
2024/05/01
14:56 UTC

0

I appeal to the Council of State of the Court of Cassation.

May 1st International Workers' Rights Day.

I appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union for Human Rights and to the Council of State of the Court of Cassation.

Sequestration and Non-Assistance from the Government

Call for Recognition and Reparation

#AbuseOfPower #Harassment #LaborLaw

I demand Justice and reparation for damages - European Court of Human Rights

https://twitter.com/OBtravaux

Abuse of power, harassment

I demand fair justice

0 Comments
2024/05/01
14:34 UTC

3

Greetings Fellow Humanists, Requesting Support.

I met this young and enthusiastic humanistic Thembo who exemplifies the virtues and meaning of Humanism through his rigorous dedication of education, community and embracing humanism in every facet of daily life.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-thembo-raise-chickens-for-school-supplies

0 Comments
2024/04/29
15:45 UTC

504

Minnesota Humanist billboard: Reject christian nationalism. Keep religion out of government.

23 Comments
2024/04/27
01:34 UTC

0

Le maire de la commune de Saint-Martin-Boulogne a abusé de son pouvoir

Dans toute société démocratique et éthique, il est impératif que chaque citoyen puisse jouir de ses droits inaliénables

Je m'adresse au Premier ministre Gabriel Attal pour qu'il garantisse une justice sociale et équitable pour tous

Injustement licencié par le maire de Saint-Martin-Boulogne

Je dénonce le silence complice du gouvernement

Je réclame réparation

0 Comments
2024/04/22
13:38 UTC

0

Gouvernement l'État français me doit 8 ans de ma vie

Commune de Saint-Martin-Boulogne au-dessus des lois

j'ai été employé illégalement par l'état français

Injustice sous Influence : Dénonciation d'un Système Corrompu

Victime de Harcèlement et d'Abus d'État

1 Comment
2024/04/22
13:26 UTC

0

Abus de pouvoir et gouvernement silencieux: Représentant de l’État hors la loi

La République et la Démocratie en Péril : La Menace d'une Justice Corrompue

Dans l'enceinte sacrée de la justice, où les principes de la démocratie et de l'égalité sont censés régner en maîtres, une ombre sinistre se profile. Une ombre faite de partialité, de corruption et de manipulation politique, gangrenant les fondements mêmes de notre système judiciaire. Cette sombre réalité nous confronte à un danger imminent : la déchéance de la République et de la démocratie.

#justice #droithumain #humanité #sosviolance #harcèlement #intimidationetmenace #droitsdelhomme #snews #france3 #laVoixDuNord

Justice corrompu maire de Saint-Martin-Boulogne hors-la-loi

Justicecorrompu

Abus de pouvoir

SDF

S.D.F à cause d'un maire socialiste

2 Comments
2024/04/18
17:36 UTC

0

Abus de pouvoir et gouvernement silencieux: Représentant de l’État hors la loi

Emploi illégal et séquestration par un représentant de l’État

Je demande justice et réparation pour les préjudices que j'ai subis.

Face à cette série d'abus et d'atteintes à mes droits fondamentaux, je ne peux rester silencieux. Je demande que le gouvernement assume sa responsabilité dans cette affaire .

Je dénonce une justice non équitable corrompue par un parti politique socialité qui détourne la justice afin de servir des représenter de l'état déviant. #justice #droithumain #humanité #sosviolance #harcèlement #intimidationetmenace #droitsdelhomme

Emploi illégal, séquestration et intimidation - mairie de Saint-Martin-Boulogne

gouvernement socialiste

Abus de pouvoir

Emploi illégal

0 Comments
2024/04/18
17:24 UTC

12

I want to platform desi/south asian atheists - anyone interested?

I’m the creator of a British South Asian Male Podcast and I want to platform South Asian atheists/agnostics/humanists.

Made a video in fact Why I am an agnostic atheist and a humanist and why it matters. https://youtu.be/OIIa3UJCMhU

Posted it before on another account

https://amun-bains.medium.com/why-i-am-a-humanist-and-an-agnostic-atheist-and-why-it-matters-024329e165a8

that’s a condensed version in written form which is quicker to consume. i explain why i’m a humanist and link it to desis.

Sub if you’re cool

We are always portrayed in the media as religious people. that's false. Also sadly in our communities and certainly in south asia itself being a humanist/atheist can be seriously dangerous so we must speak out and create a global movement.

Everyone else has a platform except us. Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs … everyone. Never us.

25% of Brit Asians and 18% of Indians were not religious. Is the media reflecting that? No.

I created a subreddit for desi atheists r/desiatheists

Anyone interested in appearing?

contact here or on X (see Youtube for my name on X) should my reddit account not be available

1 Comment
2024/04/17
23:36 UTC

1

Community on Discord?

Hello, I invite you to join this newly created discord community where we share the unconditional love and joy of life and the message of nonduality. Here you could find friends who might be in a similar predicament as you!

Server invite: https://discord.gg/sangha-1186306502663876628

I am also open to any questions regarding nonduality or enlightenment, so feel free to message me on discord about anything!

2 Comments
2024/04/15
16:59 UTC

9

Social network for people that promote good behaviour?

- No drugs, no cigarettes, etc
- respect and culture
- overall good, friendly community
- geolocation based

Kind of secular alternative to church communities.

What do you think of this idea?

22 Comments
2024/04/15
13:43 UTC

9

Non-Secular Humanist Celebrant?

Hi y'all,

I've officiated a few weddings (BS online ordination that my state doesn't even recognize) and it's something I deeply enjoy doing. I'm also a trained death doula. I like facilitating major life events. Anyway, my own wedding is coming up, and we're having it performed by a Humanist Celebrant, who inspired me to look into the process. My question is this - while I don't subscribe to any particular religion (and harbor a fair amount of disdain for most organized religious institutions), I can't honestly say I don't have any belief at all in the "supernatural," and would describe myself as a spiritual person. I know that a requirement of celebrant endorsement is professed belief in the tenents of Humanism. Would maintaining this unclassed spirituality disqualify me from honestly attaining celebrant endorsement?

Thanks!

15 Comments
2024/04/14
17:37 UTC

56

Zizek’s “Christian Atheism” and the Straw Man of Humanism

In his new book “Christian Atheism,” Zizek writes: “The question is: humanism presents itself as universal, all-encompassing, but this universality is already grounded in an exclusion. It is not just that humanism imposes a Western standard of being-human which reduces subaltern Others to a lower level of humanity; Humanism is based on the exclusion of a large group of humans… as non-Human…” p.27

Why Zizek feels the need to engage in this distortion of Humanism is… perhaps, because he wants to insinuate a contrast of superiority for Christianity?

Here Zizek is thinking of Humanism as being synonymous with Christian fundamentalism as well as Westernism. This is a problem. None of this is reflected in any of the Humanist Manifestos. More importantly, it’s not even presupposed by them. To interpret Humanism thus is to erect a straw man of Humanism.

What then is Humanism?

In short, it’s the axiom of the value of humans as central, of human life and dignity as central. This doesn’t mean that Humanism lacks an ecology, quite the opposite. Because Humanism is axiomatic, and proceeds by means of reason and evidence, it can be said to be foundational to progress/ because it’s not a superstitious system, its approach to the world is open and reflective, it doesn’t dogmatize, but is a continual process of open learning.

“Humanism is an ethical process through which we all can move, above and beyond the divisive particulars, heroic personalities, dogmatic creeds, and ritual customs of past religions or their mere negation.” Manifesto II

Zizek gives no citations to back up his negative and limited characterization of Humanism. He simply asserts that it’s a system of “exclusion,” when in fact, it’s just the opposite!

The religions of the world have failed, so much so that Zizek is now offering a negative version of Christianity/ why not the positive one? (In contrast, Humanism is not something that needs to be inverted!)

So far from “reducing” people, Humanism embraces the hope of a world united. “We urge recognition of the common humanity of all people.” Ibid. It is an approach whose time has come.

The historical religions of the world aren’t epistemologically or ontologically broad enough to cope with the increase of social complexity, but Humanism is, because its foundation is universal. Zizek wants to claim that this universalism contains an exclusion. Fair enough. What then is that exclusion? It’s not Humans as he wants us to believe! (He got it wrong because he doesn’t understand Humanism, or purposely tried to distort it): it’s the exclusion of the non-universal. This alone makes Humanism exceptional among the religions of the world.

I suspect that Zizek is threatened by Humanism because, even as an Atheist, he’s still too much of a Christian!

16 Comments
2024/04/12
10:49 UTC

27

Humanist Movies

I just finished an annual tradition of mine (something I do outside of Aretéanism) in that I just rewatched the classic movie "The Great Escape" (1963) with some of my family members. If you're not already familiar with it, it's a great film about the real-life mass escape of Allied POWs from a German prison camp during WWII.

Usually I watch it on either the night of March 24th (Great Escape Night), or sometime during the day of March 29th (Salute the 50 Day), as those are the two dates that the events of the film most coincide with, but my schedule conflicts this year, so we watched it tonight instead.

Anyway, the point is that it's a great movie, with distinctly humanist values; and so I make this effort of watching it every single year. There are other movies that I do this with too, but I'm curious what movies does the rest of this community suggest as being great movies that promulgate thoroughly humanist values? Would you recommend any of those movies as being worthy of annual rewatch? Do you have any suggestions for what date would be most appropriate to rewatch them?

Looking forward to seeing what the sub recommends!

21 Comments
2024/03/24
05:50 UTC

15

Engineered Seed Propellers Increase Reforestation Success Rates

1 Comment
2024/03/20
22:41 UTC

0

Towards An Atheist Spirituality: Atheist Sacred Series

0 Comments
2024/03/20
01:46 UTC

8

Like a Gregorian Chant but for Humanists.

3 Comments
2024/03/16
05:39 UTC

7

What is your philosophy of life?

14 Comments
2024/03/15
01:17 UTC

16

James Cameron's Avatar Movies are Depressing

I admit this topic isn't directly related to Humanism, but I figure other Humanists might relate to it.

Obviously the Avatar movies are meant to be fun uplifting action-adventure stories, and on the surface they 100% are. For those who haven't seen them, spoilers incoming...

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The first movie's plot is that Humanity has made Earth uninhabitable by exploiting all its resources. So Humanity looks to the stars and finds a planet called Pandora with rich untouched natural resources. Pandora is however inhabited by the Na'vi, blue Humanoid aliens. At the movie's start, the primary protagonist Jake Sully is sent to Pandora, where he joins both the scientific and the military mission there. Over the course of the movie, Sully empathizes with the Na'vi, learns their ways, eventually 'goes native,' and falls in love with a Na'vi named Neytiri. At the movie's climax, there is a big battle between the Human military and the forest Na'vi that Sully has joined. Sully and the Na'vi win, they send the Human military personnel back to Earth, everyone rejoices, the end.

The second movie picks up years later, with Sully and Neytiri now married and raising three kids. A second wave of military personnel are sent from Earth, and part of their mission is to kill/capture Sully. After a close call, Sully decides that the only way to protect his family is to cut ties with the forest Na'vi and emigrate to another tribe. So they cut ties, and then find a coastal tribe. Over the course of the movie, the family learns 'the way of water' and eventually earn the acceptance of their new tribe. However, Earth's military does track them down. Again there is a battle, the good guys win, and the newest members of the water tribe bask in their newfound lifeway.

Obviously, the Avatar franchise is an allegory for the colonial era, when European colonials murdered or subjugated a massive number of indigenous people all over the world. In the real world, a big reason that colonials were so successful was because the native people saw each other as separate tribes rather than a single people, thus allowing the colonials to divide and conquer. When several tribes managed to work and fight together, they usually smashed colonial invaders. But such teamwork was the exception rather than the norm, and so the colonial invaders were able to conquer one tribe at a time.

Which is what I find utterly depressing about the Avatar movies. The Na'vi tribes have a common enemy, two victories under their belt, flora that they hold in high spiritual regard which they can use to communicate with each other, and a former colonial who knows how their enemy thinks and operates. Cameron could write a story about the Na'vi uniting in order to protect each other from the colonials. But so far, he has them viewing each other as foreigners as much as the colonials, they don't seem to use the magical flora for inter-tribal communication, and he has Sully very formally cutting ties with one tribe before joining another.

In short, the good guys have managed to win two battles, but they're going to lose the war.

Thoughts?

9 Comments
2024/03/13
23:35 UTC

35

Recently discovered Humanism

Hello all. I recently discovered Humanism, I guess more accurately "secular humanism." From what I gathered is really only used in the US? Anyways, I have held the thoughts of equal human rights and tolerance and respect of everybody regardless of religion, sex, gender, sexuality, etc for quite awhile now. When I deconstructed from Christianity about six months ago, this made even more sense to me and it's a view that I still hold. I don't really know what other personal beliefs I have, but I could be described as non-religious, agnostic, atheist, etc, but I definitely value human potential and morality above anything else, over the promises of religion and of an afterlife that we really have no way of knowing exists, if one exists at all.

10 Comments
2024/03/13
12:18 UTC

26

I made a video about why I am humanist/atheist because I am ethnically south asian and I think its hyper important people like me speak out

https://youtu.be/OIIa3UJCMhU?si=9Zu8JgdPiPNxLhE6

I posted once here before. Essentially my channel is about british south asian men. we are always portrayed in the media as religious people. that's false. Also sadly in our communities and certainly in south asia itself being a humanist/atheist can be seriously dangerous so we must speak out and create a global movement.

I am a humanist and an agnostic atheist.

First of all, who cares? Well I made this channel because I have an issue with our current media and wider culture and part of that is the taboo around religion, politics and race. We are healthier when we speak openly. These are my opinions, I have no hate for anyone with different ones.

Atheism seems natural to me. We are all born atheists. There is no hard evidence for any religion being right. I live my life through purely evidence, not belief.

To me religion started to explain the unexplainable and as a means of social control from elites who needed the loyalty of the masses so used religion to do this.

It seems odd to me that religious people are often so lucky. If you were born in Pakistan you'd be Muslim, in Mexico you'd be Christian. Thus is it the truth or just culture you believe in?

Being an atheist and a humanist does not mean I am without morals. On the contrary it allowed me to find my own meaning in life and that was to be good and do good above all. Humans do not need religion to keep us in check, we are good people for the most part by nature.

To me not all religions are equal though. Sikhism doesn't contradict many of my beliefs (unlike other religions) and the religion itself and generally its followers are very tolerant and relaxed which means I am still fiercely proud of my heritage. I don't see why I can't be.

Above all however is a serious issue and we need a global humanist movement. There is pressure in British Asian communities to not rock the boat on this. In Pakistan you can actually be killed for being an apostate.

The media always portrays us as religious (and often religious nutcases doing bad things) but 25% of Brit Asians and 18% of Indians were not religious. Is the media reflecting that? No.

So here I am. Again and always.

6 Comments
2024/03/12
20:37 UTC

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