AmericanHumanist.org<\/a> in my life before I clicked through to find their definition. \u00a0Humanism isn\u2019t part of my social life, in the way that weekly Mass is for Catholics. \u00a0I don\u2019t get to know other humanists by virtue of the fact that they are humanists. \u00a0I never feel like I\u2019m on a humanist \u2018team\u2019 or that I ought to be embarrassed by the actions of other humanists.<\/p>\nAfter all, because humanism is known to be inchoate, I don\u2019t feel any pressure to defend it or reform it. \u00a0This isn\u2019t so much the case with atheism, since (a) atheism is a much simpler, negative belief, and (b) there are more obviously inappropriate blanket statements about atheists that I can try to correct (i.e. that we\u2019re all nihilists).<\/p>\n
I believe this ultimately weakens both atheism and humanism. \u00a0It\u2019s harder to present a compelling vision of atheism or humanism when there is no strong force to push atheists\/humanists into dialogue with each other or when it\u2019s easy to write off other people who share my beliefs. \u00a0I\u2019m certainly guilty of this. \u00a0I\u2019m quick to say \u201cThat\u2019s not essential to atheism\u201d when I run into nihilist atheists or hedonist atheists or moral relativist atheists.<\/p>\n
What I ought to do is think more about why these beliefs are so common among other people who don\u2019t believe in God. \u00a0I ought to think about what evidence I have that leads me to differ and then reach out and\u00a0convince\u00a0them. \u00a0Currently, I spend more time pitching my views on morality to Christians than to atheists.<\/p>\n
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