General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: What can you guys tell me about Humanists? I've never dealt with one before. [View all]LostOne4Ever
(9,286 posts)Bases their ethical framework upon the concept of humanism. Humanism more or less being an ethical philosophy the emphasizes improving the human condition for the individual and society in general.
Humanism is deeply associated with modern liberal thought and philosophy and can be found as a theme in many if not most religions. The golden rule is an example of a humanist philosophy.
Humanism can come in both a religious and a secular form. However, in modern political discourse I have found that most people are referring to secular humanism when they refer to humanism or call themselves or someone else a humanist.
Secular humanism is a very popular ethical philosophy among liberal non-theists such as myself as opposed to objectivism favored by conservatives or other secular ethical philosophies such as moral nihilism, utilitarianism, and a variety of other -isms. All of these philosophies have a variety of nontheist followers including implicit atheists (colloquially known as agnostics), explicit atheists, igtheists, and anti-theists.
Each and every one of these groups has its share of open-minded, tolerant individuals and intolerant bigots. This is true of all groups including religious groups. Honestly, I (like others in this thread) think you are not quite getting what SailorRet (i'm not sure if that poster is male or not) is trying to say. I can't see anything bigoted about their statements.
That said, based on your OP, I would imagine you probably would not get along with many if any anti-theist whether or not they are humanists. They tend to believe that religion is overall harmful to society and should be opposed. They would probably object to the statement that "no one has a right to to tell anyone otherwise."
Part of being tolerant means accepting that other people have a right to disagree. Toleration is different from acceptance. I would say that it is when people take direct action to squelch their opposition that one goes from tolerance into intolerance. But that is a discussion for another thread.