Ask a humanist

#1

Keeping up the trend of various “Ask a philisophical view” I bring ‘Ask a Humanist’.

I bring this thread up as I have seen in other thread on this board severe cases of nihilism and hatred based upon someone’s own belief. So here goes:

Humanism is more a philosophy than a theistic religion, humanist don’t beleive in a God or an pantheon of Gods, we encompass atheism and agnosticism in arguements against theism.

The core of the philosophy is that life and existence itself should be approached with humanity and reason, not a set of pre-defined principles set out by an organised religion. Any issues would be approached by looking at the available evidence rather than relying on a thousand-year-old dogma or holy book.

We hold an individuals rights and freedoms as central to our philosophy, as well as social cooperation and individual and corporate responsibility.

Feel free to ask questions.

#2

so it’s basicly the word for “don’t do something to people what you don’t want done to yourself”?

from what you say it’s basicly common sense mixed with being friendly(because being friendly is better for yourself than being bad/evil in the end)

#3

Where have you seen that?

#4

Why does human have to be a way of acting? Why can’t human just be a species?

Hey guys, I’m a dogist, I approach life and existence with dog and dog food

#5

What is the deal, Ramirezoid? Every species has their own habits, traditions and behavior, so does humans. And I like the idea :slight_smile:

What is the approach that you take to have a good relationship with a religious person?
When and how do you explain your world view to them?
What do you do when a religious person tries to push their beliefs onto you?
Has anything like that ever happened to you? How was it? What did you do and what was the result?

#6

and history proves that mankind has quite the tradition of warfare and killing one another and/or inflicting violence in all its facets(?)/aspects on one another. I think humanism is against that.

#7

I’m a human being, you don’t see me joining a cult about it

#8

This thread is kinda useless, there aren’t really questons to ask about it; since humanism is an idseaology not a religion and that people already know what humanism is, there aren’t really any questions

#9

how do you learn to appreciate those filthy humans I’d rather stay here in my lab all alone

#10

Mostly in the abortion and Ask a Christian threads. A particular poster in mind. I put this thread up to counter-point that mentality by showing there is a philosophy that isn’t built upon fear and hatred. I’m not saying that religion is, but the people relying on it in those threads are giving it a hella bad name.

You should join the cult. We have fancy clothes and get free teacakes on tuesdays. You only have to give a thimble of blood to the High Lord.

But in all seriousness there is an organised aspect to some humanist groups, eg: The British Humanist Association.

Well, that primarily depends on how literally they interperate their particular scripture. The more fundamental a person is in their faith, the harder it is to get a long with them. An extreme example of a fundamentalist Christian would be the hilolrious Westboro Baptist Church, and their zero-tolerance of homosexuality.

I have several freinds of varying faiths, and I respect the fact that they can choose what they wish to beleive in, I only interject when said beliefs are imposed on others.

Normally during debates in my law class to be honest, regarding ethics, such as the topic of euthanasia or abortion, when most often objectors do so on religious ground.

In terms of explaining, it’s easiest to relate to Christians by using Christ’s teachings of love as example, in that as human beings we are all one and the same. In that respect, it went alright.

I guess, but I thought it’d be nice to have a thread that didn’t have various people shouting ‘fuck’ at each other :slight_smile:

#11

I guess that is the idea, to change the concept of being a human to a better one.

It is a cultural thing, our culture usually associates the idea of “being human” with “peace” and also “making mistakes but learning from them”. There is already an association, I think the idea just means to work to make that association true.

Don’t post in this thread, then :hmph:
The thread barely started and there is already discussion.

EDIT:

I tried that in “Ask a Christian” thread without much success :[

#12

Are you an atheist or an agnostic?

#13

Well I predict that it will become something like that, I mean ask a christian is like that now, I’m already humanistic, I mean what else is there? well that isn’t depressing

#14

Personally I’d suppose I’m a mix. I don’t believe in a supreme all powerful entity creating the universe, but I believe every person has a voice of reason in side them guiding them to do good, however there are some that can’t hear it (see such ‘champions’ as George Bush Senior, Saddam Hussein, Muammar Gaddafi, Margaret Thatcher, to identify some political leaders. See other mass murderers as other examples). Whether that ‘voice’ is a deity cannot be proven, and thus I settle that it is not a God it is, for want of a better label, the human soul.

This is not a viewpoint all humanists have, it is my personal belief. However humanists are known to disagree on several points.

Fapping. Or other people asking questions.

EDIT:

Tis a shame that some Christians have lost that critical message of their own holy scripture.

#15

Well the voice that tells you to do good is your conscious, and it is just a feeling you get, like guilt. It comes from how you are raised and genetics

#16

Is there a place (real or in Internet) where you have discussions about humanism?
Which religions are predominant in your country?
Do you find it productive to understand philosophies and doctrines of religions?
What do you think about different religions in the world, their good and bad points?

Why are you a humanist instead of being… nothing?
What are your motives and purposes as a humanist?

#17

Well no there aren’t any places you can discuss it, namely because it is an ideaology and not a religion

Well I live in the Us so christianity is, though I don’t believe in it

Well yes, understanding philosophies and religion is productive at least in my opinion

Well religion certanly has its ups and downs, it is good to have diversity in it too around the world

Well humanism is a very optimistic ideaology, and I like being opimistic, I also wish to have a more high standing proffesion when I graduate college and sice humanism is based on human acheivement it suits me very well

Humanism is based on the value on an indevidual and human avheivment, basically it is trying to help mankind as much as you can before you croak and that each person is capable to to great things

#18

Why do you start nearly every sentence with “well”?
Why can’t you type a word correctly to save your life?

#19

you’re not a humanist, OP

a true humanist wouldn’t ignore any questions, and honestly I wasn’t completely trolling, I find people in general very cruel and not worth saving

#20

Well, atheism isn’t a religion neither, but there are communities, be it formal ones, like the Atheist Community of Austin, or implicit ones, like a lot of Youtube channels.

I asked about a community because I think there is a human need to share your ideas with people that have more or less the same view that you do. That is why there are so many atheists in Youtube and that videos about atheism often have tens, sometimes hundreds of thousands of views. It functions like a “support group”.

On a side note: videos related to atheism in Youtube commonly only have a few negative votes, while videos about Christianity have lots of both negatives and positives, which, to me, means atheists, unlike religious people, are not afraid or uncomfortable of viewing criticism against their own ideas.

What are your views related to popular philosophers, like Jesus Christ, Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi, Confucius, St. Francis of Assisi, and maybe others?

I think the question is not whether humanity is worth saving, but actually if it is possible. If it is possible, it obviously is worth it, don’t you think? This is our home, this is the people we are going to live for our entire lives and they are the ones our descendants will live with.

Now, if humanity is worth saving, shouldn’t we try?

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