Ask a Secular Humanist!

[Whateverist]

This is my 150th post so I thought it should be about me. Atheism is nothing but a lack of belief in gods. My philosophical world view is as a secular humanist.

Wiki: "Secular humanism is a philosophy or life stance that embraces human reason, ethics, social justice, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, pseudoscience, and superstition as the bases of morality and decision making."

Ask away!

I'd like to ask how someone who embraces a philosophy involving humanism nonetheless chooses an avatar and username of a non-homo ape?  Secular whimsy perhaps?

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Can I be considered humanist while being a person of faith? Or is that term only for non believers?

I'd still lend you aid if you were in a car accident. 

You're going soft, Brian.

[John V]

This is my 150th post so I thought it should be about me. Atheism is nothing but a lack of belief in gods. My philosophical world view is as a secular humanist.

Wiki: "Secular humanism is a philosophy or life stance that embraces human reason, ethics, social justice, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, pseudoscience, and superstition as the bases of morality and decision making."

Ask away!

Do you view people in general as inherently good/moral, evil/immoral, or blank slates?

IMO secular humanist thought is mostly a fail because they haven't addressed the core of what they're dealing with.

[chimp3]

This is my 150th post so I thought it should be about me. Atheism is nothing but a lack of belief in gods. My philosophical world view is as a secular humanist.

Wiki: "Secular humanism is a philosophy or life stance that embraces human reason, ethics, social justice, and philosophical naturalism while specifically rejecting religious dogma, supernaturalism, pseudoscience, and superstition as the bases of morality and decision making."

Ask away!

Do you view people in general as inherently good/moral, evil/immoral, or blank slates?

IMO secular humanist thought is mostly a fail because they haven't addressed the core of what they're dealing with.

People? I like this quote from Jane Goodall:

• "It is true that the chimpanzee is dominance-oriented, violent, territorial. But it's also cooperative in many ways, and so that side is sometimes forgotten. The bonobo is sensual, sensitive, sexual, a peacemaker, but also can have a nasty side, and that's sometimes forgotten. So both species are sort of the ends of the spectrum, and we fall somewhere in between. Clearly, we have both of these sides in us, and that's why I sometimes call us "the bipolar apes."

alpha male : "IMO secular humanist thought is mostly a fail because they haven't addressed the core of what they're dealing with."

I have no idea what this means.

[John V]

People?

Yes, people. The thread's about secular humanism.

I have no idea what this means.

People are inherently moral, but life situations can occasionally drive them to do immoral things.

People are inherently immoral. Social institutions are necessary to maintain a reasonable amount of morality.

Those are two different views on the nature of people (yes, people) and the role of society. Which do you subscribe to (or describe an alternative), and what's your evidence for that view?

[chimp3]

People?

Yes, people. The thread's about secular humanism.

I have no idea what this means.

People are inherently moral, but life situations can occasionally drive them to do immoral things.

People are inherently immoral. Social institutions are necessary to maintain a reasonable amount of morality.

Those are two different views on the nature of people (yes, people) and the role of society. Which do you subscribe to (or describe an alternative), and what's your evidence for that view?

People? I understood what you meant. Did you understand the quote from Goodall?

I can agree with both people being moral and immoral. I think my quoting Goodall implies that.