I got an email the other day from someone trying to convert me to Christianity. Very nice email unlike some I get. But one thing about it bothered me. She was talking about how humble she is before god and then goes on to be annoyingly arrogant. It might just be me, but it seems extraordinarily condescending to claim to know god’s will to the point you feel justified in labeling your fellow co-religionists as unworthy. Clearly being humble before god does not necessarily make someone a humble person.
Anyway, to my point. When Humanists talk about the importance of humility, we are talking about intellectual humility. And on behalf of the entire Freethought movement I am going to issue a collective “our bad” for not making this point clear earlier. Being intellectually humble means that regardless of how sure you are that you are right, you are open to being proved wrong. And this is important because religious certitude in addition to being really annoying can also be quite dangerous. The only known antidote for religious certitude is intellectual humility
Use Common Sense
Humanist strive to live long and happy lives. In order to live long and happy lives, you must be healthy and.... alive. To that end, it is probably not a good idea to do stupid things while driving your car. Things like, oh, I don't know... folding your laundry. Surely you are not in that much of a rush that your laundry folding can't wait until you get home. I am not an expert, but it seems to me that folding laundry while driving is almost guaranteed to end your life sooner, rather then later. And that is not conductive to living a long and happy life. So please people, use some common sense. Don't fold your laundry while driving.
Happiness Though Humanism
Hi all - just starting this blog to have a specific place to post on topics related to how Humanism can help you be a happier person. In this blog I will write about how specific aspects of the Humanist philosophy can be applied to real life situations to help people do better, be happier and more productive.
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