What it means to be Human(ist)

If candidates were like cereal boxes, it would make choosing one much simpler.

Labels belong on food packaging and medicine bottles, not on people. But they can be a useful starting point when getting to know someone, a springboard to understanding their nuances.

My father, raised a Catholic, studied philosophy with the Jesuits. Just before writing his dissertation, he did something that must have stunned his family: he pivoted sharply and got his doctorate in biochemistry instead.

I can’t say why, exactly, but I think he ended up reading too much philosophy to be satisfied with a strictly theological explanation of the meaning of life. He never stopped asking questions, and as I was growing up, we spent many Sunday mornings in argumentative (I use the term in the best sense) conversations over breakfast where, I later realized, he was applying the Socratic method. Those dialogues shaped a lot of my worldview today.

My father was among the first couple of thousand people to succumb to COVID when it hit Europe in early 2020, so I can't ask him if he’d label himself a humanist. But I suspect he would. I went pretty deep down the Internet rabbit hole yesterday looking for a definition of humanism that worked for me, and liked this one:

“Humanism is a philosophy, world view, or life stance based on naturalism–the conviction that the universe or nature is all that exists or is real…Humanists seek to understand the universe by using science and its methods of critical inquiry — logical reasoning, empirical evidence, and skeptical evaluation of conjectures and conclusions — to obtain reliable knowledge. Humanists affirm that humans have the freedom and obligation to give meaning, value, and purpose to their lives by their own independent thought, free inquiry, and responsible, creative activity. Humanists stand for the building of a more humane, just, compassionate, and democratic society using a realistic ethics based on human reason, experience, and reliable knowledge — an ethics that judges the consequences of human actions by the well-being of all life on Earth.”

Put another way, a humanist’s perspective is that “all human beings are born with moral value, and have a responsibility to help one another live better lives.” I can’t think of a better way of explaining why I want to serve Stillwater residents on the City Council.

Until recently, I was happy to help people “live better lives” mainly through my volunteer work and by serving on the Stillwater Human Rights Commission. But I am eager to take a more active role in the future, as a city council member. This is a good summary of why:

“[The word humanism is] based on the Roman statesman Cicero’s concept of humanitas… the development of human virtue, in all its forms, to its fullest extent. The term thus implied not only such qualities as are associated with the modern word humanity—understanding, benevolence, compassion, mercy—but also such more assertive characteristics as fortitude, judgment, prudence, eloquence, and even love of honour. Consequently, the possessor of humanitas …was of necessity a participant in active life. Just as action without insight was held to be aimless and barbaric, insight without action was rejected as barren and imperfect. Humanitas … included not only realistic social criticism but also utopian hypotheses, not only painstaking reassessments of history but also bold reshapings of the future.”

P.S. If you think humanism sounds a lot like Unitarian Universalism, you’re right! Secular humanists often refer to Unitarian Universalists as “humanists not yet out of the church habit.” And Unitarian Universalists sometimes counter that a secular humanist is simply an “unchurched Unitarian.” (source) We’re probably in label-overkill territory by this point.