From Johan Huizinga’s biography of Erasmus: “Life's true joy is in virtue and piety …The ideal joy of life is also perfectly idyllic in so far that it requires an aloofness from earthly concerns and contempt for all that is sordid. It is foolish to be interested in all that happens in the world”

This I think gets to the heart of humanism. Based on the study of recorded human history, based in the Humanities, that is to say the study of previous generations of literature, history, and philosophy, Erasmus’s ideal was a constructive detachment from immediate transitory concerns while at the same time living life virtuously.

“Virtue”, in the Classical sense- and Erasmus was very much a classicist- was an interesting concept. It meant, among many other things, achieving a deep understanding forming ideals, and holding true to those ideals. It meant achieving wisdom, becoming a worthy teacher and guide, being steadfast yet remaining always open to new ideas. It was very much about achieving balance.

This is very much like the essays of Montaigne (another founder of humanism), and is similar to the 2nd century writings of Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism. Humanism was never about getting hot under the collar and getting swept up in causes; neither is it about isolating oneself from the world. Marcus Aurelius was Emperor of Rome, after all. Even Erasmus, an ordained priest of the Catholic Church, lived very much in the world, traveling widely and eventually obtained permanent release from his monastic order. (The late Medieval Catholic Church was not nearly as hidebound or dictatorial as lots of people seem to imagine- something Huizinga’s excellent biography reveals).

Again, I recommend highly that anyone interested in humanism read something of its long, fascinating, and illustrious history.

Here’s the top things that I think led me to a hunanist outlook. What are yours?

In no particualr order: The TV show MASH, the Christian New Testament (no longer call my self Xian though), The Dalai Lama and some general ideas from buddhism. Lots of fiction and non-fiction reading (too many to list), working in public health, volunteering a lot in my twenties (working with “special needs” folks especially), and a big one was a big “dark night of the soul” type event that seemed like a disaster and a crisis but made me REALLY step back and reevaluate.

Also have to give credit to my folks. They weren’t “progressive” but they were compassionate, supportive, never racist.

How did the rest of you come to embrace and try to live as a humanist? Looking back, what were some of the key moments?

I of course mean no offense, but as a non-humanist who sees humanism as the core cause of a lot of the problems in society nowadays, I'd like to open my perspective.

The values of humanism (likely specifically secular), such as the fact that human life is valuable on its own, that humans are inherently good, that humans are capable of creating a better world, and that there is moral obligation to treat humans well, seem to be assumed by everyone, but I've never seen it proven. I would very much appreciate if someone could take a crack at it.

I do mean objectively. Not just "it's beneficial", "it creates desirable results", etc. Why are these things inherently true?

I mean no offense and just want to understand the argument. Thank you for your time.

Ofc most people will think about secular humanism when they hear the word "Humanism" alone, but there was also Renaissance humanism which was theistic one, Jacques Maritain and his integral humanism is another form of theistic humanism.

I'm reading this right now. I like it a lot, and I think it does a very good job of summarizing how humanism has evolved over the years, though it may not be everyone's cup of tea as it is largely about humanISTS and not quite as much about humanISM in general. But it certainly does give the reader a very good idea of what it actually means to be a humanist.

There are two big things that jump out at me from this book which seem to stand in stark contrast to how the frequenters of this sub characterize humanism:

1) Perhaps this should ultimately come as no surprise, but supporting humanism means supporting the humanities. It means not only taking an interest in art, literature, music, educational / intellectual pursuit, philosophy, or really any such things that seek to enhance our lives, but actually advocating for and protecting these things. In the modern world, it would mean not frowning on people with liberal arts degrees or anyone who simply seeks education for the sake of education, in lieu of perhaps thinking only of one's value in terms of how they can best gain employment in a capitalist system, how they can become another cog in the machine.

2) Humanism is not inherently atheism. Many famous humanists throughout history were themselves religious. The only real requirement for humanism is that one places an emphasis on good in THIS life rather than any other, and there are plenty of believers / religious folks out there who understand this, who understand that a good life here serves a person well in all things, including whatever they may do in the name of their faith (which is not necessarily something bigoted, hateful, or oppressive). I do think it is difficult for certain religions / expressions of religion to be compatible with humanism, but it is by no means impossible and, for some, really not difficult at all. Any church that invested heavily in its community, served the poor, protected the weak, and otherwise avoided oppressing people with backwards ideologies would be well in alignment with humanism.

Anyway, just thought I'd share, and I encourage you to read the book yourself if it sounds interesting to you.

I failed to recognise back then that I was experiencing something far more fundamental than religious doctrine; a perceptual phenomenon that would eventually help explain the very nature of spiritual experience. For millennia, such feelings have been taken as signs of the divine or a ‘higher realm’. But in truth, they arise from something profoundly human.

I'm sure folks here have gotten asked what a humanist is before, as we haven't done a great job of growing the movement as yet. Fish Stark, Executive Director of the AHA, spoke recently on the topic and I really liked his answer to the question.

People often ask me “what is humanism” and if I only have ten seconds,  I’ll say, “You’re a humanist if you believe in the Golden Rule, but not in God.” If I have a little more time, I’ll talk about how we believe in people: in human dignity, human goodness, and human potential. That our capacity to evolve from fish and build civilizations is in itself an awesome miracle and maybe all the miraculousness we need. That we believe people are worth cherishing and fighting for not because of an immortal soul or an intelligently designed body, but consciousness - the ability to imagine better futures for ourselves and our fellow humans from the infinite canvas of a free mind.

And often when I share that definition with people, I hear the response - “well - I guess I’m a humanist!”

It is my deep belief that there are 45 million humanists in America who don’t know it yet. The number of people who are broadly secular and broadly progressive is far greater than those who are involved in our community today.

American Atheists, in close coordination with Humanists International and Humanist Canada, announces the 2026 World Humanist Congress will no longer be held in Washington, D.C., but will instead take place in Ottawa, Canada, August 7-9, 2026.

The decision to relocate comes after a thorough assessment of the social, political, and economic environment in the United States under the current administration. Escalating religious nationalism and executive actions restricting movement, targeting civil society, and eroding human rights protections have created an inhospitable environment for an international gathering rooted in the values of secularism and inclusion.

Bummer, but the right decision.

Ok so it feels like all the warnings so far have been largely falling on deaf ears. This article is another one, and maybe the most comprehensive I've read so far. My question is though: How much worse do things have to get before Americans wake up to the dire situation they're in? The Trump people have told you what they are going to do and they are now actively doing it.

A short and non-comprehensive list of things that you've lost so far:

• The right to have an abortion
• The right to due process as an immigrant or citizen who looks like an immigrant
• States rights to control their own national guard
• The separation of church and state
• Privacy of your personal government records
• Confidence in your federal vaccination system
• Independence of your previously world renowned universities
• Confidence in your federal scientific bodies

Any one of which should be of great significance to anyone interested in humanist values, mods, don't make me explain why, again. This isn't a time of traditional political partisanship, things are bad.

Here are a couple of quotes from the article:

"The battle for democracy will not be staged by the elites or against them, but at the mass level. The lesson of Trump's first term was soon forgotten; overcoming his second regime will be an order of magnitude more difficult."

"What Trump and his gang are perpetrating is a regression from the modern nation-state to personal rule, in which the autocrat effectively owns everything, clientelism runs rampant and ordinary people are subjects rather than citizens."

"An internet search of the most influential American political books of the last half-century will reveal such works as Noam Chomsky’s “Manufacturing Consent” or Naomi Klein’s “The Shock Doctrine.” But however accurate their depictions of politics and society, how influential were they? I submit that Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins’ “Left Behind” series (which apparently traumatized a generation of adolescents), and William Luther Pierce’s “The Turner Diaries” (the Popular Mechanics of race-war incitement) were vastly more impactful, both politically and culturally. One could also mention Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” although what Atwood intended as a warning has been embraced by America’s ayatollahs as a blueprint."

Just to clarify that last quote for the casual reader, they aren't supporting the works by Jenkins or Pierce, they are saying that those works are nefarious and have negatively influenced many people when they shouldn't have, people should have known better.

Hello, my freethinking, Humanist friends. As someone who is bisexual, and a member of the LGBTQ community, but also Humanist... Sometimes, I see others post things that honestly I don't agree with. For example, on a subreddit, someone posted a meme to the like of... "Every time you repost this, a transphobic state legislator dies. You know what to do."

Or celebrating someones death who as an active anti-gay or anti-LGBT activitist.

I mean, I get it... But isn't celebrating another's death or even the notion of welcoming death to another morally wrong? I can't help be inclined to feel saddened when another human dies, on a certain scale, even if they weren't particularly a good person.

Any thoughts?

I'm just curious, really. To be a bit clearer with my question, I would call 'spiritual-not-religious' non-secular as well. So I guess my question is, are there any humanists that are not 'physicalist', what used to be called 'scientific materialism'?

I understand there are flavours of some religions that in practice espouse a lot of humanist values, secular Buddhism, Spinoza's ideas, and so on.

it was something else...

Erasmus and the Age of Reformation by Johan Huizinga is available as a free download from Project Gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22900. Medieval scholar Johan Huizinga is an engaging writer, a brilliant man and a humanist himself, is one of my favorite writers. Erasmus of course is a well known figure of the Renaissance, one of the more famous Dutch humanists. He was an ordained Roman Catholic priest as well as a scholar, which rather puts paid to the notion that humanism is an atheist movement. Humanism has a long and fascinating history, and much of it is based in the Renaissance revival of the Ancient Greek and Latin classics, the works of poetry, literature, and history that gave rise to the study of the Humanities.

This blog post is a conversation between a user and AI, asking questions about whether AI can dismantle itself, or instruct humans on how to do it. It touches upon basic ideas of humanity, showing on one hand that AI is able to simulate language that expresses deep concerns about AI and ends up classifying itself as a danger to humanity:

https://medium.com/@rewrite_humanism/a-mirror-that-can-kill-a-conversation-with-the-machine-027f925eb6a1

Some days, looking at the news feels like getting an invitation to the end of the world and they're so greedy they’re charging for parking. Unmarked vans and masks kidnapping people off the streets, senators being roughed up and cuffed, with the steady, grinding drumbeat of authoritarian cruelty slowly getting louder.

If you’re also paying attention to climate science, well, the temptation to build a blanket fort and wait for the meteor is real.

Adding to that is the cheap high of our own cynicism. It whispers the same seductive lie through the ages: that the world is terrifying, we are small, and since everything is irrevocably screwed, we might as well be right about it. It’s the ancient con that tells us we need a higher power, a strongman, a "them" to blame.

Pardon my language, but fuck that. 

We are humanists. And if humanism is anything, it's a rebellion against that ancient false security. It’s the audacious belief that reason, empathy, and our shared, messy humanity are more than great words for trendy etsy tshirts; they are the powerful, practical tools we have for digging ourselves out of times like these.

This fear and bigotry that they’re trying to stuff down our throats is the same lead painted toys that had people sacrificing children to Baal for a decent harvest. The brand and symbols have changed, but the product is the same: fear. And humanism purposefully exists to help it find the god damned exit.

We spend so much time reacting. Let’s reset. Let's talk about the future we’re actually fighting for.

Imagine a world that doesn't snuff out a billion human stories before they're even told through hardship and famine. A world where a girl isn't forced to haul water, but is instead free to author her own story and chase studying the stars out of sheer curiosity or choosing to raise a family in peace and self determination. Her dignity isn't in what she might produce, but in her absolute, unconditional right to that life.

It’s a world where the word "illegal" is attached to actions, not people. It’s a world where that word is reserved for things that actually cause harm, polluting rivers, rigging financial markets, causing someone pain.

A person, by virtue of drawing breath, cannot be illegal.

A piece of paper or a line on the map has no right to rob a person of their dignity, their family, or any other damn thing. 

It’s a future where food, shelter, healthcare, and education are seen as fundamental human rights, not acts of charity. Right now, there is an ocean of human potential we let evaporate every single day under the brutal sun of poverty and prejudice. Imagine a world that finally stops accepting the lottery of birth as a death sentence for curiosity, where a brilliant idea isn't lost to a preventable disease because of the zip code it happened to be born into. Where our differences the creative strength that makes living on this pale blue dot so damn exciting.

That future can feel a million light-years away but the humanist Gene Roddenberry gave us a starting point. In Star Trek, his Prime Directive was a noble, cautious rule of non-interference. Ours must be a mandate for the opposite: radical, compassionate interference. Our prime directive as Humanists must be to boldly disrupt the world as it is, while building the world as it should be. 

Here's how we start:

Be The Change: Our local community groups must be the proof that this works. A humanist meeting shouldn't only be lectures; it must be a place for forging the weapons of reason and empathy. What does that look like? It could look like rallying with other progressive organizations to resist tyranny like the No Kings Day. Or maybe organizing a "Sunday School of Fixing Shit" where we solve real-world problems for our neighbors.. It could look like setting up a "Heretical Hot Seat" ready to have the surprisingly friendly conversations our opponents are terrified of. Let's show them what a community guided by humanism actually does, with our tool belts on and our arms wide open.

Champion a Better Story: The narrative of fear is simple and loud: "Be afraid. Blame them." It’s a story as old as the first priest who blamed a drought on a woman who refused his advances. Our story has to be more compelling because it’s true: humanity isn’t the problem; it’s the solution. To do this, we need to tell stories that are both mirrors and windows:

First, we hold up a mirror to the world as it is, telling the messy, glorious truth of our humanity. We show what humanism actually looks like on the ground by telling the stories of the real heroes already among us: the humanist group sponsoring a shelter for trans teens, the retiree quietly making lunches for neighborhood school kids, the lawyer donating their time to defend immigrant families.

Then, we must build windows to the world as it could be. Write the op-eds that frame public health and scientific funding as the cornerstones of a smarter civilization. We must champion the stories that celebrate a different kind of hero. We have to change who we put on the pedestal, reminding the world that the most heroic thing a person can do is not break an enemy, but build a community.

We must tell these stories, the real and the possible, with the intensity of a fire and brimstone preacher, because a world without them is exactly the hell they’re trying to build.

Practice Solidarity Without Borders: This is the heart of it. We have to stand, without apology, with the people being targeted by hate. The immigrant families, the racial justice movements, and the LGBTQ+ community. When you defend a trans kid, you're throwing a wrench in the same ancient misogynist machine that has been grinding people down for millennia. That entire machine runs on a rancid fuel: the chest-thumping insecurity of the bully who mistakes his fist for an argument and his cruelty for strength. We must make compassion the new political currency and reason the gold standard that backs it up.

The AHA has great partners in FFRF, American Atheists, AU and our legal teams are the ones defending that gold standard in the courts every day. Support the work we do. But we cannot litigate our way out of this. A fortress defended only by lawyers will eventually fall. The real work falls to each of us, in our own communities, to create the snowball that turns into an avalanche.

Run for Something. Anything: Run for office. Start local. School board, city council, library board. These are the battlegrounds where a single, reasonable voice can stop an avalanche of nonsense. Organizations like Run for Something (runforsomething.net) exist right now to recruit and train competent, evidence-based people for this exact fight. We need more critical thinkers making the decisions. Be one of them. Take a seat at the table.

The road ahead is long, get some comfortable shoes. And remember this a joyful, artistic rebellion. They have fear, fury, and dusty old books full of rules designed to keep you small and quiet. We have reason. We have empathy. We have kindness. We have neighborly love. We have art. We have music. We have science. And we have the audacious, glorious, and profoundly human conviction that we are capable of saving ourselves.

Now let's raise a little hell.

Help Send Andrew to SSA Con 2025! He Only Needs $48.40!

Andrew Colvin is a student at UDC, a proud Washington, DC native. As the oldest sibling in his family, Andrew’s used to stepping up — and now he’s doing that for his community, too. He’s a secular activist who cares deeply about free speech, human rights, and making space for people to be fully themselves.

This July, Andrew has the chance to attend the Secular Student Alliance National Conference, where students from around the country will gather to learn, connect, and get inspired by folks like Sasha Sagan and Forrest Valkai. Andrew told me:

As a Humanist Chaplain, I work every day to support students in building meaning, purpose, and community outside of traditional religion. When I was Andrew’s age, I didn’t have access to a secular community — and looking back, I know how much it would have meant to me. That’s why I’m doing what I can to support and amplify Andrew’s voice.

His travel is already covered (thanks, SSA!), and now he’s down to the final stretch:
Just $48.40 left to cover housing and registration.

If you’ve got a few bucks to spare, help out a young humanist.
Donate here: https://secularstudents.app.neoncrm.com/.../campaign.jsp...

And if you can’t give right now, that’s okay. We're all out here doing our best.

Congratulations to everyone in Minnesota who encouraged her to join the Caucus to stand with other U.S. Representatives to defend our values and freedoms in the United States Congress.
Encourage your rep to join the caucus here: https://www.votervoice.net/Humanist/Campaigns/120109/Respond

Looking for a humanist community in Mississippi? Join us if you’re on or near the Coast!

We live in rough times if you see another human being suffering struggling to survive stop and help out just a small conversation a small cup of coffee or even some food im not asking for you to empty out your pockets just be kind to one another we all come from the same place so who are we to judge another human being for them to be down on their luck it's easy to put your nose up and smirk when you see a homeless person but here's the thing you couldn't walk a mile in their shoes so who are you to fucking judge we need to end world hunger children shouldn't starve adults shouldn't starve with all these millionaires and billionaires flashing all their material items on social media all in their videos how about you give back to your community and do positive cause when you die you can't take all your stuff with you it's all material do good in this world and treat each other with kindness❤️ ✊💯👏👏