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Humanism & Secular Humanist type belief systems

endlessvoid2018

agnostic atheist
Hello all. I wasn't really sure where to put this. I know there is a Humanism DIR, but this is kind of relatable to multiple different things. For quite awhile, I have believed in the notion that everyone should be treated the same with respect, tolerance, and equality all across the spectrum regardless of gender, sex, race, religion, etc. I also believe that we kind of all have to get along, since after all, we do share this planet together.
When I first started believing in this, I was a Christian. However, in the past 8 months or so, I have deconstructed and gradually became an agnostic atheist. However, even though I would consider myself all these things, agnostic, atheist and secular humanist, I honestly prefer to use the humanist moniker. I feel it makes it easier, since most people from what I can tell that are humanists aren't believers. I would not obviously include any type of religious humanism to that category.
Also, people get really befuddled and sometimes down right offended when you tell them you don't believe in god, or that you're an atheist. I feel claiming the "Humanist," title isn't offensive at all. I suppose it might be once you explain the definition of it, depending on what it means to you. Some people don't even know what Humanism is lol

Any thoughts, and also, is anyone here a Humanist? And yes, I recognize that Humanism and Secular Humanism are somewhat different to a degree. For my personal preference, when I use the term Humanist, I generally mean Secular Humanist.
I guess I would call myself humanist/agnostic/atheist/non-theist. Sheesh. that's a lot. But, like I said, I prefer to just use Humanist.
 
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Jayhawker Soule

-- untitled --
Premium Member
... even though I would consider myself all these things, agnostic, atheist and secular humanist, I honestly prefer to use the humanist moniker. I feel it makes it easier, since most people from what I can tell that are humanists aren't believers. I would not obviously include any type of religious humanism to that category.

I'm honestly not sure why you prefer to obfuscate.

I prefer not to conflate humanism -- essentially an ethical stance -- with attitudes regarding preternatural agency.

For context:

In 1915, a Positivist defined the term "humanism" in a magazine for the British Ethical Societies. Another Unitarian Minister John H. Dietrich read the magazine and adopted the term to describe his own religion.[4] Dietrich is considered by some to be the "Father of Religious Humanism" (Olds 1996) particularly for his sermons while serving the First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, which has since been considered the "birthplace of Congregational Humanism."[6]
In 1929 Charles Francis Potter founded the First Humanist Society of New York whose advisory board included Julian Huxley, John Dewey, Albert Einstein and Thomas Mann. Potter was a minister from the Unitarian tradition and in 1930 he and his wife, Clara Cook Potter, published Humanism: A New Religion. Throughout the 1930s Potter was a well known advocate of women's rights, access to birth control, "civil divorce laws", and an end to capital punishment.​
The first Humanist Manifesto was written in 1933 primarily by Raymond Bragg and was published with thirty-four signatories. Unlike its subsequent revisions, the first manifesto described a new "religion", and referred to humanism as a religious movement meant to transcend and replace previous, deity-based religions. However, it is careful not to outline a creed or dogma. The document outlines a fifteen-point belief system, which, in addition to a secular outlook, opposes "acquisitive and profit-motivated society" and outlines a worldwide egalitarian society based on voluntary mutual cooperation. Bragg and eleven signatories were Unitarian ministers.​
The Fellowship of Humanity was founded in 1935 by Reverend A. D. Faupel as one of a handful of "humanist churches" seeded in the early 20th century as part of the American Religious Humanism movement. It was the only such organization of that era to survive into the 21st century and is the first and oldest affiliate of the American Humanist Association.[7]

- source

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Kfox

Well-Known Member
Hello all. I wasn't really sure where to put this. I know there is a Humanism DIR, but this is kind of relatable to multiple different things. For quite awhile, I have believed in the notion that everyone should be treated the same with respect, tolerance, and equality all across the spectrum regardless of gender, sex, race, religion, etc. I also believe that we kind of all have to get along, since after all, we do share this planet together.
When I first started believing in this, I was a Christian. However, in the past 8 months or so, I have deconstructed and gradually became an agnostic atheist. However, even though I would consider myself all these things, agnostic, atheist and secular humanist, I honestly prefer to use the humanist moniker. I feel it makes it easier, since most people from what I can tell that are humanists aren't believers. I would not obviously include any type of religious humanism to that category.
Also, people get really befuddled and sometimes down right offended when you tell them you don't believe in god, or that you're an atheist. I feel claiming the "Humanist," title isn't offensive at all. I suppose it might be once you explain the definition of it, depending on what it means to you. Some people don't even know what Humanism is lol

Any thoughts, and also, is anyone here a Humanist? And yes, I recognize that Humanism and Secular Humanism are somewhat different to a degree. For my personal preference, when I use the term Humanist, I generally mean Secular Humanist.
I guess I would call myself humanist/agnostic/atheist/non-theist. Sheesh. that's a lot. But, like I said, I prefer to just use Humanist.
I generally refer to myself as Skeptic rather than atheist; I don't really care for the atheist label because according to my understanding, it was a term created by theists as a pejorative to describe people who don't believe as they do. Christians were called atheists while they were being thrown to the lions because even though they believed in a God, they didn't believe in the God their oppressors believed in. I know of Christians who consider themselves skeptical but because unlike them; I am apply my skepticism to their religion as well as everything else, they refer to me as atheist. Most people just refer to me as atheist because I am skeptical to all religious claims. So even though I don't refer to myself as atheist, everybody else does due to my skepticism.
 
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