Roy Speckhardt

I wish I had a stack of these books to give out for Xmas this year...particularly to friends who insist I could not be a good person without a fear of a horrible, vengeful deity to keep me in check. I doubt they would read it, though, as it uses science, common sense and logic instead of dogma.

Speckhardt starts by defining what Humanism is (and how it is not always a synonym for a non-theist). He talks about how embrace this philosophy and combat criticism, bring up examples of famous people who have succeeded in doing so (Angelina Jolie, Salmon Rushdie, Brad Pitt, Natalie Portman, Barney Frank, Trey and Matt Stone, Ricky Gervais, Eddie Vedder, Mark Zuckerberg and others). He speaks in reverence to those who have done so even at their own peril: the journalists of Charlie Hebdo, and various activists in theocratic countries such as Indonesia and Saudi Arabia. He speaks of the growing acceptance in the US, but also warns that we have a long way to go to combat ignorance and fundamentalism (I know, those terms are redundant). Often, he compares the battle with religion with that of Gay rights; especially how uphill the battle was at first, but how constant pressure and education has brought a measure of understanding and tolerance that was absent in years past.

Speckhardt lays out the challenges currently faced and suggests what can be done by each of us to make the world a better place by reducing or removing the divisive influence of religion. I hope I live long enough to see significant strides; meanwhile I will continue to educate at every opportunity.… (más)

I have been a humanist for many years now, and have occasionally identified more or less strongly with other labels along the way, including deist, agnostic, Unitarian Universalist, and now atheist. Unfortunately, this book embodies a lot of what I don't like about my fellow humanists and the humanist organizations' rhetoric.

This book basically reads as one giant advertisement for the American Humanist Association. The structure is a bit scattered and the writing is basic - too boring in some places, too irrelevant in others, an interesting anecdote here and there, but very little fact and no data to back it up.

Most of the book is also very, very defensive - the author keeps identifying humanists as a persecuted minority, but in fact those identifying with no religion whatsoever are now the biggest representative group in American religious surveys. And humanists are far from persecuted. There are entire chapters dedicated to "coming out" as humanist and how difficult that may be, as well as how you're probably a humanist and don't even know it! The weird sales pitch vibe, not to mention the wholly improper appropriation of the term "coming out", left a bad taste in my mouth.

It's not a bad book. But it isn't a particularly good one either, and as a humanist, I'd like to be represented by something better than an overly defensive, glorified sales pitch.… (más)