craigmcn

As I mentioned, I’m trying to embrace a humanist viewpoint, and without actually talking to a humanist, I may have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m doing it anyway. I believe that all human beings are equal and yet unique and that we all have our own needs.

When I think of humanism, I think of the question of believing in God. If I’m humanist, do I believe in God? For me, the question is moot. It’s not that I do or don’t believe in God, but that my belief doesn’t affect my relationship with other human beings. If I have a Christian belief in God, it shouldn’t affect my relationship with someone who has an Islamic belief in Allah, nor with someone who has a polytheistic belief in gods, nor with someone with no spirituality at all. And I don’t think that maintaining a humanist perspective goes against the fundamentals of most religions. Although, that sort of depends on which parts of the scriptures you choose to accept. We’re all human beings, with our own beliefs and understanding, faults and foibles.

There also seems to be a focus on correcting traditionally imbalanced demographics in a variety of pursuits (science and math, nursing, policing, firefighting, construction trades). I don’t believe that by highlighting these imbalances, we’re doing anything to resolve the issues. I think we should be nurturing the most apt and most interested humans for any role and not be concerned about the demographics. If we focus our energy on teaching children all the things the world has to offer and nurture their interest in whatever they find interesting, I believe that children will find their passion and put their energy into it, and we’ll have all the people we need doing all the things we need done, regardless of sex.

In the end, for me it comes down to trust and respect. Do I care about your sex, gender identity, religion, occupation, favourite musical instrument? To a certain degree, sure I do: because you’re a human being. And unless you’ve proven otherwise, you deserve my trust and respect.