Responsibility is not a 4-letter word

Ok - so this blog is about how to find happiness as a Humanist. And the single biggest thing you can do for yourself to find happiness is to start being responsible. I know, I know, if you want to be happy, you need to be free. But here is where people go off course. If you want to be free, the first thing you need to do is be responsible.

Whether you like it or not, your actions have consequences. If you try to avoid responsibility, what you are really trying to do is avoid the consequences of your actions. Which doesn’t ever work. There will always be consequences. Once you realize you can’t avoid the consequences, you begin to realize how important it is to choose your actions wisely.

And there you have it. The big secret of the Humanist approach to happiness is to take responsibility for your life. This isn’t something someone else can do for you. Trying to avoid responsibility never works out well anyway. So, if you want to be happy, embrace your responsibilities.

God has all the best music?

There is no question about it. Some of the world’s best music is sacred music. It has the power to move us in ways that we don’t quite understand. It can lift our emotions and take us on a journey that fills us with hope, gladness, longing and sadness all simultaneously. It is no wonder that music, when used to evoke that, which is sacred, is so powerful.

Granted, there is great secular music that can do this for us as well, John Lennon’s Imagine comes to mind. But there is nothing quite like the experience of listening to a great piece of sacred music performed with all the love and delicacy that these pieces require and elicit. And it is perhaps because the performers themselves are so moved by the lyrics and emotions being evoked, that we are too.

One of my favorite experiences in life was to attend Evensong at the York Cathedral. The acoustics of the building combined with the voices of a full choir singing praises to a god was magical. I don’t care that their praise was to god. That they were singing praises to anything was what was moving. We simply don’t do that enough. It was so incredibly beautiful that the thought of that service still brings me to tears just thinking about it.

For me, I don’t care some of my favorite music is sacred in origin. There is clearly something human in wanting to be moved emotionally the way the songs do. So, I say, allow yourself to be transported, to wherever this music takes you. If only for a short time. As Liberace once said, if you have a thing of beauty, it is a shame not to share it. There is enough ugliness in the world that any work of art that celebrates something beautiful and loving is worth cherishing.

And on that note, here is my favorite bit of sacred music: Ave Maria by Schubert, who is probably my favorite composer.

Consider Humanism

The American Humanist Association launched a new nationwide ad campaign to encourage people to “Consider Humanism.” And I have to say, I LIKE this campaign. It is way better then the “good without god” campaign they had last year. I understand why they did that campaign, but honestly, you don’t need to bring god into the discussion when talking about Humanism. Really, you don’t.

Anyway, I love the print ads - they contrast a quote from the bible with a quote from a famous Humanist. I particularly like the one on Hatred, which features Katherine Hepburn where she says, “I’m an atheist, and that’s it. I believe there is nothing we can know except that we should be kind to each other and do what we can for each other.” This quote is contrasted with one from Luke where Jesus is quoted as saying that he only wants disciples who hate their parents.

Anyway, they also have television ads. And in the traditional Humanist spirit of “hey, that’s not the way I would have done it,” I am going to give my two cents on the tv ads. The main one on the site, spot #2, I like. It has a older looking white guy giving the religious quote and a nice looking young woman giving the Humanist quote. The impression one gets is that the religious quote is quite literally old and ugly (no offense to the actor who is well groomed, it is just what he is saying is really pretty disturbing) while Humanism is portrayed as fresh and beautiful. Perfect.

But the other two ads, feature Richard Dawkins and Carl Coon. And while I like what they say in their spots, my gut impression of them was - old white guy vs old white guy. It doesn’t have the same visual impact that the young lady has. In them, Humanism isn’t fresh, its old and white just like the religious quote is.

So, to my good friends over at the AHA, I do honestly love the spots. Just next time you spend this much money, try paying a little more attention to what the visuals are saying, and not just to what the script says. Just because Dawkins agreed to appear in the spot doesn’t mean you actually have to use him if his presence ruins the visual appeal of the spot. (Again, no offense to Dawkins who is also well groomed and quite handsome - but he is old and white).