Resisting Injustice by Centering Humanism: Reason and Compassion in Action

When we witness injustice, the impulse to act can be overwhelming. The world often demands quick responses to pressing problems, but as Humanists, we must approach resistance thoughtfully and deliberately. Our commitment to reason, compassion, and action is what sets us apart—and ensures that our efforts create meaningful, lasting change.

But here’s the catch: none of these principles work in isolation.

• Reason without compassion leads to cold, calculated solutions that harm people instead of helping them.
• Compassion without reason can result in well-meaning but misguided efforts that miss the mark or even exacerbate the problem.
• Action without either reason or compassion causes harm, chaos, and destruction.

To truly resist injustice, we must combine all three: compassion to understand what needs changing, reason to figure out how to change it, and action to make it happen.

Compassion: Identifying the Problem

Compassion is our moral compass, guiding us toward the injustices that demand our attention. It connects us to others, allowing us to see their suffering and recognize the need for change. Without compassion, we risk becoming detached from the human impact of our decisions.

When we encounter workplace inequities, systemic oppression, or societal wrongs, compassion asks: Who is hurting? What are their needs? How can we help? These questions keep us focused on the people at the heart of the issue.

Reason: Designing the Solution

Reason steps in to analyze the problem and develop practical, effective solutions. It asks: What is the best way to solve this? What unintended consequences might arise? How can we create sustainable change?

For example, when tackling workplace discrimination, reason might suggest revising policies, training leaders, or collecting data to address the root causes. In political resistance, it might involve understanding laws, building coalitions, and advocating for evidence-based policies.

Reason ensures that our actions are guided by clarity and strategy, not impulse.

Action: Implementing the Change

Compassion and reason are meaningless without action. To resist injustice, we must be willing to move beyond planning and take real steps to create change. This might mean speaking out, organizing efforts, or supporting those directly impacted by injustice.

Action bridges the gap between intention and impact. It’s the difference between hoping for a better world and building one.

The Humanist Approach to Resistance

This framework—compassion, reason, and action—applies to every kind of problem solving, whether in the workplace or the wider world. Humanists resist injustice by putting these principles into practice. We do not act out of anger or fear but out of a commitment to making the world a better, fairer place for all.

So, as we face challenges in our workplaces, communities, and political systems, let’s remember the Humanist approach:

1. Start with compassion—understand the harm and the humanity behind it.
2. Use reason—find thoughtful, effective ways to address the harm.
3. Take action—because change doesn’t happen without it.

When we combine these principles, we become a powerful force for good, ensuring that our resistance to injustice is as effective as it is ethical.

Maintain Your Dignity and Grace While Dealing with Difficult People

 Imaging if you could deal with difficult people – effectively, with dignity and grace and love in your heart. You can – if you use reason and science. 

I like to joke that I'm a Humanist, which means, I like people in the abstract. Real people annoy me.  Most people can relate to that as most of us - like people mostly, but don't like dealing with difficult people. 

No one likes dealing with difficult people. Not even difficult people.  

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I've trained a lot of people. Some people are ordered by courts to take my courses because, they were found guilty of harassing someone. I also get called in to do group trainings in offices where - they have a difficult person and are hoping my training will help them make their difficult person less difficult. 

Those people deemed "difficult" by others, love my training. Not just because I treat them with dignity, but because I teach them how to deal with difficult people while maintaining their own dignity. And that was their problem. They were dealing with the difficult people in their lives badly. 

I don't assume that someone is difficult just because someone told me they were. What I've learned is that often the most difficult people are themselves being victimized by other difficult people. Think of this as a vicious cycle where indignity breeds more indignity. 

The fix is to replace the vicious cycle with a virtuous one.  Teach people how to respond to indignity with dignity. And yes, this works. It not only works, it's pretty much the only thing that does. And yes, we have science to back that up.

The next time you encounter a difficult person, respond with dignity by treating them with dignity. Most of the time, this turns what was a fight, into an assist because that difficult person, was really a person who was struggling to have their dignity validated. 

Does this always work? No. But ... in those cases, responding with dignity will help you - fix the problem in other ways by helping to make it clear - where the problem really lies.

For parents, you know when your kids are fighting, it is impossible to tell who started the fight and really - it doesn't matter who started the fight. When you respond with dignity, you are refusing to fight and that makes it easier for managers to see what is really going on.

Ok - so this was a quick - high level overview. I realize most of you probably have a bunch of questions about how to do this in reality and how this really works.  I get that. 

If you want to learn more - I recommend my course on civility and dignity in the workplace - https://humanistlearning.com/a-humanistic-approach-to-civility/ 

I also offer a variety of courses that teach about how the science of how to get someone to stop harassing you works. https://humanistlearning.com/category/bullyingharassment/

Dealing with Difficult People - with love in your heart

When I talk about Humanistic Leadership and Management, I talk about love. This can throw people because very few people think about love in business and when they do, they are often thinking of porn and not love as a business practice.

But let me ask you a question.  How would you change your professional relationships if you approach them with love in your heart?  How would you change your strategies if you approached them with love in your heart?  How would you deal with difficult people if you approached the problem, with love in your heart?

Love is a powerful philosophic approach. It helps give moral clarity and define what ideally should be happening.   

Love isn't just about romance. It is also about passion and compassion.  Thinking about what you value helps you make better decisions and behave better. 

So imagine if you could deal with difficult people – effectively, with dignity and grace and love in your heart. You can – if you use reason and science.  I have been teaching people how to do this for years now. I assure you, you cannot implement the science of how to deal with difficult people, unless you approach them with love and compassion.

Yes, this works. No, it's not crazy. I live this in my daily life and I assure you, it has a profound impact on everything I do.

Want me to teach you more? Here are courses on how to deal with difficult people and improve your interpersonal relationships: https://humanistlearning.com/category/bullyingharassment/

In particular I recommend, how to deal with passive aggressive people. This course will help you better understand the connection between a loving mindset and the science. https://humanistlearning.com/passiveaggressivepeople/

What are the key virtues of Humanism

What are the key human virtues that humanism encourages or stands for?

Here is my quick list:

• Reason - reality based decision making, and critical thinking to solve problems more effectively. .

• Compassion - ethical basis for our morality.

• Action- we have the ability and responsibility to make the world a better place for ourselves and others.

Pretty simple really. If you want to learn more, consider getting my Handy Humanism Handbook

Let Reason Reign and Guide Our Way

A poem in honor of the National Day or Reason.

Let reason reign and guide our way from Humanist Learning Systems

Enjoy.

Reason and Leadership

Making good decisions requires a reality based approach and that requires good reasoning skills. Here’s why.

Say you are trying to solve a problem. Doesn't matter what the problem is.  All problems have a cause and influencing factors. If you are going to solve your problem, you have to know what is causing it and what can influence it.  And finding out what is really causing our problems isn't always all that easy.

Most people guess and hope for the best.  If you want to improve your chances above – hope, then it’s worth taking a bit of time to question whether your guess as to what is causing your problem is actually based in reality.

Here’s the secret to successful problem solving. The more your understanding of the problem reflects the actual reality of the problem, the more effective your problem solving will be.

To figure out whether what you think is causing your problem is what is really causing your problem, you have to think. And that process of thinking through problems in a logical sensible way is called reasoning.

Once you have figuring out what is really causing your problem, you then need to figure out how to solve it. And again, most people guess and hope for the best.  But if you think about it a little bit and consider what other factors may be influencing your problem, you can usually come up with a strategy to fix it.

Coming up with a well-reasoned strategy may not solve your problem, but it’s going to give you a better chance at it than guessing and hoping for the best.

How to reason well?  Mostly it involves seeking the truth and not allowing your passions and biases to derail you from the search for the truth. (Here is a cool graphic from wikihow on how to reason well: http://www.wikihow.com/Reason)

To reason well you need to learn how to ask yourself questions. Why – why is that my problem? Is there a problem that is causing my problem? What might solve this? What other things might solve this?

When you consider alternatives, you give yourself options. And then all you have to do is reason through them to figure out which of your options give you the best chance of success – and that’s your plan.

Does Everything Happen for a Reason?

Stop worrying, and start focusing on how to get through your difficulties.

Dr. Marcia Sirota of the Ruthless Compassion Institute is one of my new favorite psychologists. She put out a video called – Does everything happen for a reason. Her answer is no. Sometimes things happen for a reason, but often, they just happen.

View it here:


When dealing with difficult situations, she says, worrying about whether something is happening for a reason is counterproductive.  It doesn’t matter if it’s happening for a reason or not. What matters is how you cope with what you are dealing with.

When people tell people who are experiencing a tragedy – well, everything happens for a reason, they are not being helpful. To me, it’s really just a way to absolve yourself of your own feelings of fear. You can walk away, it isn’t happening to you.

But for the people in the middle of tragedy, it doesn’t help them. What helps is asking them how you can help them. The other reason to avoid telling people “it happens for a reason” is because what you are telling them is that they may be to blame for what has happened.  And that’s a horrid thing to tell someone who is experiencing a tragedy. Whether you say it or not, the person in grief is thinking it, so don’t add to their feelings of guilt and shame.  Offer to help them through whatever they are going through.

Additionally, Dr. Sirota points out, rightly, that feelings don’t have to be positive all the time. Negative feelings are ok. They give you information. And if things are bad – your negative feelings tell you that you need to change something. And that’s a good thing. So don’t deny people their emotions. Allow them to have negative emotions. You don’t always have to put a positive spin on things. It’s not helpful.

Dr. Sirota was kind enough to allow Humanist Learning Systems to offer her entire Ruthless Compassion course for free – check it out at: https://humanistlearning.com/ruthless-compassion/

Overcoming fear with science

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The emotion of fear is always negative.  Our responses to fear were learned early in life as hand-me-downs, by imitating fearful, ignorant, superstitious people.  If fear is such a powerful force, why do we teach fear to our children?  Fear and ignorance are sort of like the chicken and the egg-which came first.  We fear what we don't understand and we don't understand what we fear.  Irrational responses to fear are very common. 

I remember an incident years ago that demonstrates that fear is learned.  I was visiting a friend one weekend and, while he was tending the bar-b-que, his 4 year old girl started screaming in the bathroom.  I hurried to the doorway and found her sitting on the floor screaming, looking at her finger bleed.  She was terrified!  Apparently, she had never before consciously experienced bleeding.

Rather than make a big fuss over it (I could see it was only a minor wound), I stopped, smiled and said, "I see you sprang a leak."  She immediately became silent and bewildered.  I then asked, "What do you do when you see a leak in your garden hose?"  She put her finger over the leak.  "That's right," I said.  "Hold your finger on it for a couple of minutes and it will stop bleeding."

She then started giggling, got up and ran to her mother in the kitchen shouting, "Look Momma, I sprang a leak." That little girl reacted to a new situation, in which she sensed danger, in much the same way motion pictures and TV shows portray emotional reactions to bloody injuries - by screaming.  But once she better understood the situation was a normal occurrence and there was little danger, her whole emotional response changed from fear to the joy of enlightenment.

Many of the fears children learn, they learn by default.  The parents don't attempt to explain the natural world in a scientific sense, either because they don't (or won't) make the time or don't know themselves.  If children are not encouraged to think at a very early age, through the use of science and the scientific method, their emotions will easily be controlled by others later in life because of their ignorance.  A keen interest in the nature of things - science - sets the foundation to emotional responses. Scientific knowledge and skepticism deflate erratic emotional responses simply by removing the anxiety of doubt and fear of the unknown.

Perhaps, sometime in the future, emotions will become based more on knowledge than ignorance; reason than fear.  Emotions will then become a positive constructive influence instead of the negative, destructive influence it seems to be today.

Guest post by Frank Prahl (Excerpted from his essay Reason, Emotion and Humanism). Frank is a Journalism graduate of the University of Houston; Past president of the Humanists of Houston and later, Humanists Involved in Greater Houston and has been a Humanist Advocate for more than 15 years. 

Don’t Judge

Image: Boaz Yiftach / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We have new neighbors just across the street from us. I happen to live in a rather tight knit community. We know just about everyone and it’s one of those communities where we all wave, and stop to chat with one another while out for walks. Anyway, my next door neighbor was very suspicious of these new folks because there seemed to be a lot of young men on bicycles wandering in and out of this house. So he called the cops and asked them to keep an eye on the house, which they said they’d do.

Today, my son and I came home from the store to see a little girl about his age riding a bike on the street in front of the house. Of course he wanted to introduce himself, so as soon as the groceries were put away, we went over.  Turns out this is a nice family that just moved in. I met the grandpa too. They are museum goers and have a teenage son who has a friend hang out with him. His biggest concern was that 2 days after they moved in, they got an alert from the state sex offenders list saying a sex offender moved in a couple of houses down from us (the offender must be a relative of the nice older couple that lives in that house) and he was wondering if it was a boarding house or something. He was under the impression that our neighborhood wasn’t very safe, so they were thinking about moving.  

Needless to say, these folks are regular law abiding folks just trying to raise a family in a safe neighborhood. And my other neighbor thought they just didn’t look right and might have been a threat. What is really funny is that these new folks are A LOT like the neighbor that called the cops to keep an eye on the new folks.

The point is that while it’s good to be cautious, always take the time to find out if your suspicions are valid. After all, when I first moved into the neighborhood, my stalker hired a private detective to find me and that caused all my new neighbors to think I was a low life engaged in a medical fraud. We laugh about that now because, it turns out, I’m rather nice.

So don’t judge people. (And yes, I am going to check the offenders list right after I get this post done)

Know Your Limits

Image: Phaitoon / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I am getting ready to publish a 6 week humanist life skills course. It will cover issues like ethics, responsibility, compassion and critical thinking. I have been teaching this course for a while now and on the last day of my most recent class, one of my students asked about how humanists felt about humility.   I answered that humanists think being humble as an important part of our practice as humanists.  After all, we can never be sure we are right, even with the best of information and we would rather find out we are wrong that continue on in a delusion that we were right.

This got me thinking  though, part of what I like about my class is that every unit of the class builds upon the last. We spend an hour on ethics only to conclude that as strong as humanists ethics are, they are limited by our ability to think well. So the next week we spend an hour talking about the hows and whys of critical thinking, only to realize that it doesn’t matter how well we think, we are always going to be a, to a certain extent, not completely right so we need to temper our thinking with compassion to ensure that we are humble in our conclusions. Then we spend an hour talking about compassion only to realize that as important as compassion is, you will get yourself into trouble if you don’t temper your compassion with responsibility. 

All the major aspects of the Humanist philosophy, in and of themselves, are not sufficient on their own to help you lead a happy and fulfilling life. All are limited in their usefulness.  To be effective, we need to accept our limits and find ways to shore up the limitations in our ethical system and our critical thinking methods and to make sure our compassion is wielded responsibility and that we don’t allow our responsibilities to overwhelm us. In other words, ethics, compassion, reason and responsibility work best when used together because they shore up the limitations in each of the individual elements.

The beauty of Humanism is precisely that it encourages to be realistic and therefore humble. We don’t pretend to know any great truths. We are just trying to do the best we can given the inherent limits places on us by our knowledge and our nature. 

So the next time you are beating yourself up for not being perfect. Take solace in the fact that knowing and accepting your limitations is actually a good thing. 

Change the world or just how you approach it

I was reading John Rosemond's column today (http://www.rosemond.com/johns-columns/correct-parental-thinking/) and I was struck immediately that he talked about Humanism. Granted, he did so in a negative way.  He was talking about a quote from Norman Vincent Peale, "Change your thinking, and you change your world." And he rightly pointed out that, well, that's impossible. It's magical thinking. And then, he accused Humanists of engaging in just such magic thinking by saying, " A change of thinking doesn’t change THE world, and I’m reasonably certain that he (Peale) wasn’t a humanist, so he really didn’t believe in the idea that each of us constructs our own, equally valid, reality. "

As a Humanist, I just want to say that I don't think any Humanist thinks we construct our own equally valid reality.  We don't.  Reality is external to us. How we perceive reality though, is something we do seem to control. And in this matter, I think I agree with Rosemond when he rewrites the Peale quote to say, "If you change your thinking, your entire worldview changes.”

And yes, a change in worldview can be an incredibly powerful thing. For instance if you believe you can choose your actions, you will actively choose your actions. If you don't, you won't.  For a Humanist this is central because, while we know we can't magically wish our way out of problems, we do believe we can do something constructive to solve our problems by making better decisions through rational thinking and by taking constructive action.

Here is the Humanist perspective on this matter. If you want to change your reality, just thinking differently isn't enough. You have to actually act differently too if you expect to create different outcomes for yourself.

Fools Rush In

Don't rush to judgement when angry

I was reminded this week of just how important it is to not act on your emotions without first getting more information to find out if your emotions are even valid.

My son just started kindergarten. He went to the same school for pre-kindergarten and loves the place. So imagine my surprise when after the first day of school he was crying about how he doesn’t want to go back. The momma bear in me threatened to come out. What was his teacher doing to make it such a miserable experience for him and how dare she do that! He got three time outs on his first day. He’s basically a good boy and never had any discipline issues last year. Something was wrong.

The rational side of me was thinking, well, my son doesn’t listen very well and the teacher does need to be strong on discipline at the start to get the kids under control so she can teach. I mean, she is the only teacher in a room with 18 five year olds. It’s hard work. So, I told my son to do his best to behave and to give it some time. His teacher might grow on him. In the back of my mind though, I was wondering if he just got a bad teacher and whether I would have to intervene. Maybe she just doesn’t like my son and is picking on him.

And then, yesterday she called me. My son is ambidextrous and she wanted to know if she had my permission to put a mark on his right hand to remind him to use that hand when writing. His teacher seems very nice, funny and with a good sense of humor. She said that he was doing fine. Yes, she had given him a few time outs, but not because he had done anything bad. He was just being a normal 5 yr old boy who is excited to be at school around all those other kids. She just needs the kids to settle down and understand the rules so the class can run smoothly. And yes, almost all the kids have gotten time outs.

Relief! My inner momma bear, who had been worried about her cub and was considering drastic action to protect him from his mean teacher, was able to retreat to her den. Reason triumphed and I was once again reminded how important it is to act on my reason and not on my emotions. And most importantly, not to rush to judgement.

Choice

Which path would you choose?

Humanism is a philosophy of choice.  It is a choice to decide to live your life ethically. It is a choice to decide that what really matters is how you behave towards others. It is a choice to respect others as the individuals they are instead of lumping people together into some sort of generic caricature.  It is a choice to remain optimistic about the future, despite the problems of the present.

To effectively solve our problems we know that knowledge is better then ignorance so we choose to be educated.  To make sure we aren’t missing some key piece of the puzzle we choose to practice Freethought. And because we know that, despite our best efforts, our own reasoning may be flawed we choose to be critical of our own thinking.

And finally, a Humanist chooses to put their reason and compassion into action. It is a choice to reject the status quo if the status quo involves suffering. It is a choice to make a commitment to yourself that when the situation calls for it, you will to do what needs to be done to end an injustice. 

People are not born Humanists, though they may be born to Humanists parents.  To be a Humanist is to make a choice. And that choice is to be the best, most moral human being you can be. Not because you are expecting a reward or punishment as a result of your choice. But because being a good person is who you want and choose to be.