Secular Humanism
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BinaryPulsar
Posts: 8,927 Member
As an atheist and secular humanist and as a parent raising children I have compiled this list of notes as a reminder of important key values. I just wanted to share it. I got some of this when reading "Raising Free Thinkers", as well as from the American Humanist Association.
Core Values: Secular Humanism: embraces human reason, ethics and justice.
According to the American Humanist Association: Humanism is a rational worldview,
informed by science,
inspired by art,
motivated by compassion.
Humility, Empathy, Courage, Honesty, Openness, Generosity, Gratitude
Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Compassion.
Altruism, integrity, truthfulness, justice
Treat others as you would like to be treated.
Encourage the widest possible circles of empathy.
Value fearless questioning, think critically, question authority, and reject the idea of sin and the demonization of doubt.
Self-confidence, curiosity, and an unconditional love of reality.
"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge." ~Bertrand Russell
"Skepticism--the simple request for reasoning or evidence before accepting a proposition--is a virtue to treasure and cultivate in our kids. But cynicism is something quite different. A cynical position makes negative assumptions as a matter of course, not as a result of the evidence, so a cynic is as uncritical as a dewy-eyed believer. One accepts without thinking; the other rejects without thinking. Both postures are obstacles to critical thinking, and both should be actively avoided." ~Dale McGowan
Core Values: Secular Humanism: embraces human reason, ethics and justice.
According to the American Humanist Association: Humanism is a rational worldview,
informed by science,
inspired by art,
motivated by compassion.
Humility, Empathy, Courage, Honesty, Openness, Generosity, Gratitude
Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Compassion.
Altruism, integrity, truthfulness, justice
Treat others as you would like to be treated.
Encourage the widest possible circles of empathy.
Value fearless questioning, think critically, question authority, and reject the idea of sin and the demonization of doubt.
Self-confidence, curiosity, and an unconditional love of reality.
"The good life is one inspired by love and guided by knowledge." ~Bertrand Russell
"Skepticism--the simple request for reasoning or evidence before accepting a proposition--is a virtue to treasure and cultivate in our kids. But cynicism is something quite different. A cynical position makes negative assumptions as a matter of course, not as a result of the evidence, so a cynic is as uncritical as a dewy-eyed believer. One accepts without thinking; the other rejects without thinking. Both postures are obstacles to critical thinking, and both should be actively avoided." ~Dale McGowan
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Influence without indoctrination:
http://youtu.be/3YgM-A8A1ck 0 -
I think there is a very real merit in raising children to in an environment that fosters free thought and intellectual honesty. If we were to do this in any other endeavor we would simply be praised for it but when we raise our children in an environment free from religious indoctrination we are expected to defend our position. I think it is insane to claim that a 2 year old is christian or any other religion. They don't know what they are saying. They are simply regurgitation what the believe with make their parents proud of them.
This does mean that when we tell our children that they should or should not do something we do have to defend our position to our children with logic. We will never have the luxury of telling out children because god said so and to be honest I would never want to. If someone in my real life says a think is true of false and they base the claim on god or the bible it tells me that they don't really have an actual argument.0 -
Thanks for your thoughts. I agree!0
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I just reread what I wrote and I can't believe just how badly written it is. I think it is close enough that one could decipher what I wrote. My hands are so cold in this room it is really messing with my typing and I obviously did not proof read myself.0
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I understood what you were saying.
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With you 100%.
As a teacher, I "parent" a hundred kids on a daily basis. I feel very privileged to be "raising" these children in an environment friendly to secular humanism. The public school environment is more or less designed around these ideas. I also get a lot of flack from others about how I haven't had any children of my own yet. I find that an extremely strange criticism to make of another person.
For me, part of raising a child with enlightened values is waiting until I am older. I know that there's always more to learn, and there may not be an ideal age at which to start raising children, but for me it just seems right that it would happen later in my life.0 -
That's wonderful!
And I also think it is really strange to criticize someone for not having children. Don't let that get to you. Anyone that criticizes someone for that is dealing with their own "issues" because it just makes no sense. It's your choice whether you have children or not and for you to decide when the time is right for you.
Oh, I just read your profile. I am also a dancer.0 -
I get grief regularly for *not* wanting to ever get married or have kids. Never really understood why anyone would care that much whether I do these things or not. I think you're probably right that it probably threatens them because they're not entirely sure about their own life choices and I actively eschew the things that they have been taught to hold dear. Its good to know there's people out there who are less judgmental....0
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I get grief regularly for *not* wanting to ever get married or have kids. Never really understood why anyone would care that much whether I do these things or not. I think you're probably right that it probably threatens them because they're not entirely sure about their own life choices and I actively eschew the things that they have been taught to hold dear. Its good to know there's people out there who are less judgmental....
Oh absolutely!! Having children means bringing human beings into the world. That's a big deal and not something to be done just because someone thinks they have to. There are actually so many children in this world that are unwanted, abused, neglected. And each person's happiness is important. Being a parent is a lot of work and at times tedious and it's a lifelong commitment. It's perfectly reasonable to choose not to have children or to choose to wait (for other people), and it doesn't even have to mean that a person dislikes children. I can understand someone liking children, but not wanting to be a parent. And if a person doesn't like children, well that's another good reason not to have children.
Whether a person has kids or not seems like a very absurd thing to judge a person for. I love being a mother to my girls, but there is also so much more to me than being a parent. It's just one aspect of my life. It's a commitment to be there for them, but at the same time it would be unfair to them if they were my whole world and I didn't have other passions and interests. That's too much pressure to put on kids that are eventually going to grow up and need to separate and build their own life. Anyway, I guess I could kind of talk on and on. I've thought about this a lot from a lot of different perspectives.
Nice to meet you.
I realize now that when I posted this I titled it Secular Humanism, but then was mostly talking about parenting. It's just that's the book I have and I like it a lot. Even if I were not a parent I would still really like reading it.0
