a blog for the humanist, the freethinker, the atheist, the agnostic, the non-religious - and for anyone who simply wants to set the supernatural aside for a moment and celebrate humanity.

to read "Humanism and Its Aspirations," the third Humanist Manifesto, click below. you'll also find links to the AHA site and the UN World Food Programme's FreeRice game.

feel free to submit posts or questions at any time! this blog is a safe zone.
Wednesday, 21 November 2012
"You’re an interesting species. An interesting mix. You’re capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you’re not. See, in all our searching, the only thing we’ve found that makes the emptiness bearable, is each other."
Carl Sagan (via wryer)
Thursday, 11 October 2012

Esoteric: I am a Humanist (and so is The Doctor).

chrisfox:

I am a humanist. I love humans, and despite how stupid, naïve, and self-concerned we often are as a species, I have an indestructible faith that - at our core - most of us have an honest desire to see that most everyone, including those not within our species, should lead a happy life. Nobody knows that quite like The Doctor. So in the comments are some of his musings about humanity.

_________________


“I love humans - always seeing patterns in things that aren’t there.”


“But that’s what you do, the human race: make sense out of chaos, marking it out with weddings and Christmas and calendars. This whole process [of life and the Universe] is beautiful, but only if it’s being observed.”


“You humans, and your sciences… you’ve got a lot to unlearn.”


“Revenge is a very human emotion.”


“Your ancestors have a talent for self-destruction that borders on genius.”


“The secret to human creativity is inefficiency.”


“The human race… For such an intelligent lot, you aren’t half susceptible. Give anyone a chance to take control, and you submit just like that. Sometimes I think you like it - easy life.”


“Humans! You grab whatever’s nearest and bleed it dry!”


“The future pivots around you. Here. Now. So do good. For humanity. And for Earth.”


The Doctor on Neil Armstrong: “The human race will spread out among the stars. You just watch them fly! Billions and billions of them for billions and billions of years and every single one of them, at some point in their lives, will look back at this man taking that very first step and they will never ever forget it.”


“Facing death is part of being human; you can’t change that.”


“Guns, terrible inventions. Do you dare me to shoot you, to defend myself, or to seek revenge, or to gain power? Well guess what, I never would. Have you got that? I… never… would. When you [live your life]… remember that. Make the foundation of this society a man who never would!”


“Have a go at this: I have a pet elephant named Nellie. Now let’s assume, for the sake of argument, all elephants are pink, despite their appearances. Nellie is an elephant; therefore Nellie is pink. Logical? Perfectly! You know what a human would say? ‘Elephants aren’t PINK!’ Part of the beauty of humans is their ability to be completely illogical.”


“Look at these people, these human beings. Consider their potential! From the day they arrive on the planet, blinking, step into the sun, there is more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than—no, hold on. Sorry, that’s The Lion King. But the point still stands!”


The Doctor on the nature of human accomplishment: “So when it comes right down to it. Why did you come here? Why did you that? Why? I’ll tell you why.Because it was there. Human beings. You are amazing!”

THIS POST IS WONDERFUL. Yes! The Doctor is so one of my humanist heroes!

Monday, 24 September 2012
"Only connect! That was the whole of her sermon. Only connect the prose and the passion, and both will be exalted, and human love will be seen at its height. Live in fragments no longer. Only connect, and the beast and the monk, robbed of the isolation that is life to either, will die."
E.M. Forster (Howards End)
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Monday, 17 September 2012
Sunday, 16 September 2012
"…greatness is the destiny of every human being, greatness of spirit, that is, which has nothing to do with wealth, fame, or power but is characterized by gentleness, kindness, generosity, patience, quickness to forgive, creativity, independence of conscience, non-conformity and a strong sense of identity with all of humankind."
Leo Madrigal (via momentsofzyann)
Saturday, 15 September 2012
Monday, 3 September 2012
"We are all, every one of us, living on a round rock that spins around and around at almost a quarter of a million miles per hour in an unthinkably vast blackness called space. There is nothing else for as far as our telescopic eyes can see. In a universe filled with spinning, barren rocks, frozen gas, ice, dust, and radiation, we live on a planet filled with soft, green leaves and salty oceans and honey made from bees, which themselves live within geometrically complex and perfect structures of their own architecture and creation. In our trees are birds whose songs are as complex and nuanced as Beethoven’s greatest sonatas. And despite the wild, endless spinning of our planet and its never-ending orbit around the sun—itself a star on fire—when we pour water into a glass, the water stays in the glass. All of these are miracles."
Augusten Burroughs, This Is How (via decaforhightest)
Sunday, 2 September 2012
"Let’s just be sure that no matter what labels we apply to ourselves, we don’t let them get in the way of working with each other to create an inclusive, safe, and welcoming community."
 
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