I have lived a rather confusing life. My ever-shifting perspectives have caused me a great deal of problems throughout it. I have lived both a faithful life and a life devoid of it. I tip-toed around these two beliefs as they were the only ones I knew before, but as I grew older, new experiences began to challenge these beliefs.
My education exposed me to a variety of viewpoints, and my life experiences made me aware of how naive my opinions were. As I went through life, I came upon Agnosticism which holds that the existence of God, the divine, or the supernatural is either not known in reality or not knowable in principle.
The belief aligned with my own view: wherein I practically did not care whether or not the divines existed so long as I continued to live my life happily. But that was just it—a personal belief. It was practically nothing compared to what I later found: Humanism.
Humanism didn’t just change my thinking, it changed how I see myself and the world around me.
Humanism didn’t just change my thinking, it changed how I see myself and the world around me. I initially didn’t put much thought into it as I believed it to be simple idealism. Turns out it wasn’t, humanism taught me to see the shared humanity in everyone. These days, when I look at someone else, I see someone who, like me, is attempting to make their way through life while having goals, dreams, challenges, and a desire for satisfaction and happiness.
That is because humanism is an approach to life, based on reason and our common humanity, recognizing that moral values are properly founded on human nature and experience alone.
In a way that the other religions hadn’t, it inspired me to take charge of my own life. It motivated me to change for both myself and other people. With no promise of an afterlife or divine intervention, it pushed me to become someone better, someone that I can be proud of.
Essentially, humanism has provided me with a purpose independent of religion.
Essentially, humanism has provided me with a purpose independent of religion. It assisted me in developing an appreciation for the many ways of navigating through life. My journey from faith, through agnosticism, and ultimately to humanism, has been one of self-discovery. It helped me come to terms with who I am and what I want out of life. Though I still have a long way to go on this journey we call life, at least I have a vague idea of how I will be able to help others around me and myself as I continue on this path.
“The only possible basis for a sound morality is mutual tolerance and respect: tolerance of one another’s customs and opinions; respect for one another’s rights and feelings; awareness of one another’s needs.” – A J Ayer, The Humanist Outlook, 1968
Photo by Hans Isaacson on Unsplash
