Religious Humanism in America

John Dietrich was an
early Humanist pioneer

Most people think of Humanism as being irreligious.  So the idea that there would be a religious Humanism confuses a lot of people.  But when Humanism was first being conceived of and spoken about in America, it was often thought of as an alternative to religion, one that was focused on human potential and not on god or anything supernatural.

Several Unitarian Universalist ministers were at the forefront of this movement and make no mistake, their Humanism, even though they used the term religious in conjunction with it was not theistic. They simply thought that the framework of religious practice had value and that you didn’t need to abandon that framework for considering morality just because you abandoned the concept of god.

Anyway, there is a great article about this by Rev. Tess Baumberger who is a UU minister up in Massachusetts.  In addition to her article being very informative, she includes some quotes from the origninators of the religious humanism movement, many of whom were UU Ministers.

My favorite is by John Dietrich who apparently began using the word “humanism” in his preaching in 1916. Anyway, he said “If we live in a great impersonal universe with no friend to guide, it matters tremendously how we conduct ourselves, for we are actually the makers of human destiny.” He also said that ur responsibility “is to put beauty in place of ugliness, good in place of evil, laughter in place of tears; to dispel error with knowledge, hatred with love; displace strife and contention with peace and co-operation.”

Here is a link to her entire article: http://www.tauntongazette.com/religion/x1146475794/The-Rev-Tess-Baumberger-The-founding-of-American-Religious-Humanism

Don’t Hide Your Humanism

I had a really great experience today that I want to share with you. I was at the local museum with my son and when I was answering his questions about rifling in cannons (long story) and two women with young kids looked at me and said “she’s seems to be smart and know a lot of stuff, we need to hang out with her.” So, we did. They had a boy about the same age as my son and they got along well and my son delighted in showing him around the museum.

But here is what was really cool, aside from meeting some people who are excited to meet someone who is clearly a geek in a museum. While we were watching the kids explore the discovery center, the grandmother asked me what I did and I told her – I’m a writer. About what? Humanism. I told her about my book – and she said it sounded wonderful. So far so good. Emboldened, I told her that my book is in use at the Royal Military College of Canada. She then turned to me and told me she was going to tell her son about the book because he is a colonel in the Coast Guard and he would probably like to know about the book. Wow! So, chance meeting in a museum, I’m open about my Humanism and not only do they not shy away and politely excuse themselves, they are interested in helping me promote Humanism in the US military!

It just goes to show you, you never know who it is you are meeting and you should not be shy about the fact you are a Humanist if it comes up. People really do respond positively to it. In fact, this woman was so positive, she has invited me and my son to join her at a local art museum where she is a member because she can get us in for free and it is something my son has REALLY wanted to do. So now I am looking forward to getting to know a very interesting woman who enjoys geeky things as much as I do and who not only didn’t spurn me because of my Humanism, but who gave me her phone number so she could get to know me better.

Moral of the story? Don’t hide your Humanism.

Humanity vs. Spirituality

My friend Mick wrote me the other day about his thoughts on Humanism.  He said he had been playing with the concept of humanity.  I liked what he wrote so much I asked him if I could share it here.

"It occurred to me recently that 'humanity' is a much more useful concept than 'spirituality'. Basically, the thing I would like more atheists to admit is that there are a lot of things, which transcend our understanding, and there always will be.  But the problem with the word "spirituality" is that it suggests a definition of what that transcendence is -- i.e. spirit.  A humanist, on the other hand, just says - I am facing the unknown as a human with all my limitations, but also all my amazing abilities. I do not have a God, or a lucky number 7, or any of that - just my humanity. I am willing to learn from experience.” - Mick

You can find Mick on youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/user/mickmle1 where he is known as the Fragile Atheist.

Don’t be a Dick

Got my computer repaired over the weekend. The hard drive was failing. The good news is that Computer Doctors of Bradenton cloned me a new hard drive, so - things are wonderful. Anyway, as I was chatting with Russ, my computer doctor, about my options, we discussed the sorry state of the economy and how I can’t really afford to get a new computer right now. I joked that maybe next year we could afford an upgrade because my hubby will get a raise or my book will be featured on Oprah. He wanted to know which was more likely - I said Oprah (Consider that a nudge to all my good friends - 6 degrees of separation and we can make that happen).

Anyway - that got us talking about my book and Humanism. And yes, my computer doctor is a Humanist. And that’s when he shared with me what Humanism means to him. He said he and his brother have had a motto they have lived by since they were teenagers. And this motto sums up what Humanism means to him.  And that is, “Don’t be a dick."  It’s really simple. And so is Humanism.

The Death of a Cat

One of our cats died this week. She was old. I wish I felt sadder then I do because, well, I didn’t really like her that much. She wasn’t very friendly, spent most of her time hiding under our bed and when she did venture forth, it was to pee on the floor and not in the litter box.  Needless to say, I am enjoying not having to clean up after a cat that wasn’t much of a pet.

My son, however, is quite sad.  Sally, was a very beautiful cat. She looked like a Russian Blue/Dilute Torti mix. She was seriously a beautiful cat. Too bad she rarely let anyone pet her. That is, up until the end. As she neared the end of her life she started to come out more and she even allowed my son to pet her and give her love. He was thrilled!!!

And then she died. And he cried. Which brings me to today’s topic of grief. Grief follows very similar processes regardless of who died. It is the same for a cat or for a human. The only difference is intensity.

So, to help our son, we obviously did not tell him he is going to see Sally again. The urge to ease his pain is strong but we resisted as we felt that would do more harm then good. We also refused to replace her with another pet as that would be cheating. She can’t be replaced and the sooner he came to terms with the reality of her death, the sooner he would be forced to experience his grief and eventually come to terms with it.

Like pretty much everyone who has lost a loved one, he at first tried to deny our cat’s death by hoping she would resurrect and then when that wasn’t an option, he hoped she could re-incarnate. He cried a lot and was sad.  We told him he would never forget her and that it was ok to be sad and to cry.  And now, three days later, he mentions that he misses her in passing but he has basically gotten on with the business of living his life.  He didn’t even cry himself to sleep tonight, as he preferred to discuss our plans for the weekend.

And that is grief in a nutshell.  Deny it, come to terms with it, feel bad about it and then get on with your life never forgetting the one you loved and lost.

Freethought Music

Yes - there is such a genre as Freethought music. And it transcends genres. Here is a list of Freethought artists I am familiar with. If you know of others, please add them to the list. You can sample each artist’s music on their website.

Markella - former opera star turned Freethought recording artist. http://www.markella.com/ 

Freethought MC - MC stands for Man of Conscious, he creates hip hop music and is in the studio working on his next album - http://www.reverbnation.com/freethoughtmc 

Peace of Rock - poetic rock music from and for free minds - http://peaceofrock.net/ 

Johnny Hoax - Atheist Rapper - http://www.reverbnation.com/johnnyhoax 

Also - here are some other Freethought music and entertainment resources you might like to know about.

Keith Lowell Johnson - Atheist comedian - very funny - http://keithlowelljensen.blogspot.com/ 

Inspirational Humanist Radio Hour - an hour long show out of NY. Airs Tuesday nights at 10 pm but available on podcast as well - great music and musings. - http://www.radiohive.org/category/shows/ihrh 

As I said - these are just a few artists I know about. If you know of others, please let me know!