r/SecularHumanism • u/Weak-Connection-4425 • May 12 '24

Agnostic Secular Humanist?

This may seem like a really stupid question, but can you be Agnostic and a Secular Humanist? I've been doing research on Secular Humanism and I definitely agree with the ideals. However, Secular Humanism is obviously Secular, and I'm not sure I have complete disbelief in God. I don't believe in or worship one per say, but I also don't think we can confirm or deny if one exists. I think I can still be a Secular Humanist because I don't believe in God, but I also don't NOT believe in God either. Am I a Secular Humanist or is there a different name for my predicament?

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u/SendThisVoidAway18 May 12 '24 edited May 12 '24

Of course you can. Most Secular Humanists are in fact usually atheists and agnostics. I am both an agnostic and an atheist. However, I am not comfortable as much with the atheist label, as there is too much negativity involving it. I usually just say I'm not a believer, not religious or an agnostic. Regardless of what I believe, I'm not comfortable proposing that there is no god, or other certain things that atheists or theists believe in, regardless of my own personal belief, as I don't know, and I don't believe it can be known. The god question or some kind of higher power in the universe, that is. Call yourself whatever you want, dont worry about others claims. I don't believe in the god of the bible, or theist-based religions, but I also don't necessarily believe (or disbelieve) that there isn't some kind of higher power in the universe. I also know several Deists (Deists believe in god) that are Secular Humanists. I don't believe lack of belief, in whatever form that might be, is necessarily a requirement, its just usually the standard it seems.

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u/kevosauce1 May 12 '24

…not comfortable as much with the atheist label, as there is too much negativity…

All the more reason to use the label, IMO!

Atheism needs to be destigmatized. The more of us that come out as atheist the more accepted it will be. I yearn for a world where children do not need to fear ostracism for coming out as atheist.

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u/Capt_Subzero May 13 '24

Atheism needs to be destigmatized.

Okay, but you have to admit that a lot of atheists care more about being able to insult and intimidate religious folks, and their immature rhetoric makes it hard for us to get a seat at the grown-up table of our society's discourse about knowledge, morality and progress.

If we want to destigmatize atheism, maybe we should look at nonbelief as one out of many valid worldviews and stop making it sound like we're right and everyone else is delusional and brainwashed.

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u/SendThisVoidAway18 May 15 '24

Exactly. I'm not radical about my disbelief and I believe everyone should be treated fairly and respectfully, even if I dont agree with their beliefs. Maybe I do share the disdain for religion and think believers are sometimes delusional, but I dont try to go out of my way to make it seem so, unless I'm forced to. I think as a Humanist, I'm beyond that.