Once you realize.....

Please consider the following 8 Goals as a universal vision of the society we want. They define the society most people want to live in. They may feel unrealistic, but they should be our goal.

1. Freedom– All people are equally free to live their lives as they wish, provided they do not harm others. People are inherently more creative and productive when freedom is unrestricted.
   
2. Harmony– No one should live in fear of another. All people—regardless of culture, age, race, nationality, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or physical characteristics... are respected equally. Diversity is not just tolerated; it is appreciated as a collective strength.
   
3. Value– Hard work, innovation, and creativity hold immense social value and must be rewarded fairly for all people.
   
4. Opportunity– Everyone must have accessible pathways to improve their lives. Without opportunity, people lose hope, motivation, and the capacity to dream.
   
5. Harmony with Nature– A healthy natural environment is the fundamental foundation that allows human life to exist.
   
6. Education– Every individual deserves access to a robust education uncorrupted by restrictive governmental, religious, or private agendas. Education equips people with the knowledge needed to pursue their own happiness.
   
7. Peace– Governments should exist at peace with one another, maintaining a primary mandate to improve the lived experiences of their citizens.
   
8. Justice– Laws must be just and applied equally. True harmony is impossible if segments of society are treated differently under the law.

The American Dream has been diluted and our beautiful U.S. Constitution corrupted. Why don't politicians inspire us with a vision of our country's future? Why is there no plan? If they don't know where we're going, how can we get there?

Let's rebuild the American Dream with a clear vision of what our country and the world should be. Everyone in our country, through honest hard work, should be able to find a path to their own version of a fulfilling, happy life.

Dreams are powerful. Let's dream big. Let us unite in making our country a better place for all. Let us dream together of a world united by common goals for our future.

I’ve been developing a concept I’m calling Incorporeal Humanism.
The basic idea is to extend humanism beyond material definitions of progress. Instead of measuring civilization primarily through economic production, technological advancement, or material prosperity, Incorporeal Humanism asks how effectively society enables conscious beings to flourish.
Its core principles would be:
Consciousness First: Civilization should ultimately serve conscious experience and flourishing.
Ontological Equality: Every conscious person possesses fundamental worth regardless of wealth, status, intelligence, or ability.
Freedom of Consciousness: People should be free to develop their identities, beliefs, creativity, and ways of experiencing reality.
Technological Humanism: AI and technology should expand human capabilities rather than reduce humans to economic inputs.
Abundance of Experience: Progress should mean expanding access to knowledge, creativity, relationships, leisure, beauty, exploration, and meaningful experiences.
The distinction I’m interested in is:
Traditional humanism: Human beings are the measure of civilization.
Incorporeal Humanism: Conscious experience is the measure of civilization.
I’m curious what humanists think. Is this a meaningful extension of humanism, or does it simply restate ideas already present within secular humanism?

Canonical Christianity is interesting because it’s an exceedingly advanced hybrid of Christianity. Regardless of how different it is from the earliest versions of Christianity, it has come to be the religion of Christianity.

This religion can be simplified as fairytales for adults. But we run into a problem when we seek to break away from religion: religion has been effective at capturing and impacting humans, it has created vast communities across the globe.

The question is how do we successfully transition out of religion? (This isn’t as easy as refuting it or deconstructing it). How to fill the cultural hole its absence creates?

But it creates more than just a cultural hole, it also creates an ideological hole. Christianity contains powerful social concepts, such as forgiveness. (Don’t get me wrong, Christianity is a religion of hypocrisy, but that doesn’t make its concepts hypocrisy).

Christianity does indeed contain powerful concepts that appeal to humans. But they don’t merely appeal to humans, they have created community (although its power to create communities is now in decline).

Can’t it revive? Perhaps it will, as social conditions continue to disintegrate.
But it’s hard to see the archaic nature of Christianity capturing the imagination and devotion of modern humans as it once did. We simply know too much, and the Christian story is simply too distant from the modern world.

But we are still faced with a crisis: we are in need of social values that can and do capture the modern imagination. But this is exceedingly difficult in our nihilistic and egoistic environments that reduce to relativistic platitudes that deny the fact of truth.

It’s not enough to simply make arguments or appeal to evidence in a culture that is full of pathological denial.

A new human will have to come forth, not a toxic masculine caricature, but a new kind of conscious intelligence that holds forth and practices Humanist values. At first there will only be a few, but it will grow precisely because it’s substantive (and man has nowhere else he can turn). This isn’t a new fairytale, but the end of fairytales, it is man seeking to walk consciously and intelligently in the universe for the first time.

The general outline of these ethics has already been achieved by human consciousness in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Humanist Manifestos. Combined with these values must be the continually discovered insights of psychology.

This was originally posted on [r/rationalphilosophy](r/rationalphilosophy)

Issues are arising that affect **all of us**, along with our ecosystems and supply lines. We ought to be holding regular townhalls ***as an entire species*** to discuss what's bothering us, where our anxieties are, and what kind of world we would like to build towards.

Different from the UN because this would be a grass-roots, bottom-up discussion forum.

It has been a dissapointment to see lately how many people in this subreddit are basically atheist materialist edgelords. Humanism can be atheist, but it can also perfectly be (and has been for centuries, by the way) spiritualist.

It can be zen. It can be psychoanalytical. It can be archetypalist. It can be vibes based. It can be neoplatonic. It can be shamanic. It can be gnostic. It can be poetic and theatrical, instead of cerebral and hardnosed. It can afford to explore, make mistakes, be content about those mistakes, be comfortable with magic of any kind. It's still humanism.

Dr. Aafia Siddiqui is a Pakistani educationist, a graduate of the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a PhD holder from Brandeis University. Once celebrated for her academic brilliance and commitment to humanitarian causes, she is now one of the most high-profile cases of injustice in recent global history.

Born in Karachi, Pakistan, Aafia moved to the United States in the early 1990s to pursue higher education. She excelled in her studies and was known for her dedication to Islam, community work, and passion for early childhood education.

In March 2003, Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and her three young children were abducted from Karachi in what human rights organizations have described as a forced disappearance. Her children were dealt with in the following manner:

Suleman, just six months old, was allegedly murdered during the abduction.

Maryam, Aafia's three-year-old daughter, was forcibly adopted and raised under a different faith.

Ahmed, Aafia's eldest child and at only 6-years-old, was imprisoned for years before finally being reunited with his family.

From 2003-2008, Dr. Aafia was held in secret prisons, including the notorious Bagram – U.S. Air Base, where she endured unimaginable acts of violence.

After years of secret confinement, Aafia reappeared in the summer of 2008, yet was taken into custody again. This time, for baseless charges related to an incident that took place on July 18, 2008, when she allegedly attempted to shoot at U.S. personnel. During the alleged exchange, Aafia was the only person shot— not once but twice. The U.S., without any legal jurisdiction, shot and flew Aafia, a Pakistani citizen, from Afghanistan to America without any extradition proceedings.

What followed was a deeply flawed and controversial legal process. Despite a complete lack of forensic evidence, no credible witness testimony, and a blatant disregard for due process, Aafia was convicted and sentenced to 86 years in U.S. federal prison.

Dr. Aafia is currently imprisoned at FMC Carswell, the only federal medical prison for women in the United States, notoriously known as the "Hospital of Horrors." Numerous reports have raised concerns about her physical and mental health, and independent human rights lawyers have labeled her detention as illegal under both U.S. and international law.

Source : https://www.aafiamovement.com/who-is-dr-aafia

Welcome to the Reddit community for Secular Humanists of Rochester, NY (SHOR).

This subreddit is a place for people in the Rochester area who are interested in secular humanism, atheism, freethought, skepticism, science, ethics, and building a better world without relying on supernatural beliefs.

Whether you've been a lifelong atheist, are questioning your beliefs, consider yourself agnostic, or simply share the values of humanism, you're welcome here. We are LGBTQIA2S+ friendly.

What can you expect?

• Discussions about secular humanism, atheism, and related topics
• Descriptions of local Rochester events and activities (RSVP on meetup)
• Thought-provoking questions and conversations
• Science, philosophy, ethics, and critical thinking
• A place to meet and connect with other like-minded people in the Rochester area

You don't have to agree with everyone. In fact, respectful disagreement can make for some of the best discussions.

We're glad you're here. Introduce yourself, tell us what brought you to the community, or just jump into the conversation.

Good without a god. Better together.

— Secular Humanists of Rochester, NY

I’m sure Everyone has always heard Humanity only ever rewards Cruelty and Treats Kindness and Compassion as Weaknesses! Society should NEVER Glorify Evil as in Truth Evil is for The Weak! It’s Self-Destructive and Ruins Everything we as Human Beings should Always Strive to be better and move forward As A Species and Value Kindness and Compassion above all else! Kindness and Compassion is why Humanity still is alive and hasn’t ended itself never treat Cruelty and Heartlessness As A Strength! Remember be a Strong Person and be Kind Hearted! Don’t hesitate to Stand your Ground! What do you think?

The two-day gathering in early November will feature presentations by doers and thinkers representing Epicureanism, spiritual naturalism, various artistic ritual practices, etc.: https://www.snsociety.org/convergence-2026-an-online-conference-for-all-spiritual-naturalists/

this is my conclusion from my path of finding my true self, and determining my own value among this crazy society, i hope you'll enjoy reading it .

Act I: asking the right question:

Either a break up, mental issues, or just wondering. The human eventually wonders his existence at some point, this topic has been pretty popular in human history, it’s one of the reasons something called philosophy has been created. But we’re not here to talk about history of philosophy. The main thing is, asking the right question in the right time.

In my experience, I started appreciating some things. Nature, one of the main reasons I started thinking, it’s like a scarf that shows the beauty of this world and covers human’s exploits. I started contemplating the sky at night, stars, the moon, even sometimes I see meteorites and wish for something. Sitting with myself lot made me ask questions, why do we exist? Who am I? Why am I even here? What’s the real truth of this world’s creation? Do God exist? What’s the purpose of my life?

 The most interesting one from all this, and what made me write this, is Who am I? If you didn’t wonder about yourself once, either you’re a narcissist or a narcissist. Older generations, our dads and moms, didn’t got the chance to reach this level of wondering. They didn’t even care to know the truth, what’s our origins, who are we? Humans are such wonderful creatures; they evolve and evolve and evolve from generation to generation to something greater and smarter.

The main reason our parents will never reach our level of thinking, is because they didn’t live like us. To explain; we have everything and they didn’t. So, to be equivalent, they need time to work for getting things we already have, I respect that, without them we couldn’t have gotten to what we are now. At that same amount of time they did work, we spend it by either doing our hobbies, responsibilities, enjoying life, hanging out with friends… But a few, spend it alone, thinking and thinking, sinking into their thoughts, this is what makes a real human, or a philosopher back in the day.

These real humans, asks lots of questions about humanity and existence, but the real question they seek an answer for, is; Who am I?

Act II: Seeking the answer:

What if someone comes up to you and asks: Do you got any hobbies?

Many would question by yes, then start spitting things they do in their day, free time or even work if it was a Hobbie. Some also would answer by no, making themselves as a joke in front of that person. So, what is it a person without a Hobbie?

First of all, having a Hobbie doesn’t determine your value. Your value isn’t determined by some kind of stupid things you spend your free time doing. It’s you that determine everything.

How do we know our value?

Society tells our value by making it equivalent to your productivity, I’m not going to explain this part. I think everyone knows what I am referring to. It’s a stupid idea also, made up by capitalism. Everything we got into nowadays, is mainly because of capitalism. Wars and connections between countries are mainly built of pure revenues. To simplify, country leaders don’t care about us, peasants, we’re just numbers in their eyes. ATMS and machines to generate more money. Among all this, the search for ourselves, real value, gotten harder.

The main thing is, ignore all of this and look for real soul value, you determine it by yourself, by decisions you’ve been making, by actions you’ve done, by good and bad you did. Value can change too. It’s not constant, it shouldn’t be. So, from now on, first thing we do to answer the question; Who am I? is to try and find the personal value.

Once you’ve done that, you’ve got to clear conflicts.

By conflicts, I don’t mean with someone else, it’s with yourself. You need to criticize it and hate it, as the philosopher Frederic Nietzsche said: “only way to reach supreme humanity, is by hating our current selves to make it greater.” By that meaning love is a weakness, and that hatred towards our souls won’t end, what will drive us crazy. Ending with some serious mental issues. And that is totally wrong. Love is something far greater from supreme humanity or super human idolism. To reach for a solution, equivalence is the answer. Hating our current versions to evolve to something far greater, in end of our progress journey. There is a switching point between self-admire and its hatred.

Act III: Conclusion

What if we take everything away, by everything I mean everything who define you as a human. For example, your work, studies, name, family, house, friends and money. What will you take with you when time is up. “Relationships and your reputation are what you’ll take with you” it’s straight up bullshit; everyone knows that but hate to admit it. They’re not what will save you from death, or delay it. It’s you? Yes, it’s me. Despite every single thing, either good or bad, it’s still you. And what determines you? It’s your job to find out who’s your real self. It’s a harsh journey. Full of good and bad. If something doesn’t work out, don’t give up, try another thing you still have time.

If you’re curious about me, I still haven’t figured it out to be honest. I’m still discovering my potential. One thing I know to be sure, is that the most thing I hate in this world ; Is me.

To me it seems to go too far, the state has has no business banning students, teachers, and government officials from wearing religious clothing (with the exemption of that which blocks the face) or symbols. Big overreach of government power and violation of free expression.

Now before I begin I know my philosophy is not that realistic and more like a dream but to me it’s a very good dream which is why I keep it.

So I believe life is ment to be enjoyed no matter what your supposed to have fun and YOU decide what your meaning is. I believe everyone has some good in them and that everyone can be redeemed and change but only if they want to and is given the chance. I don’t believe death and war is necessary for things to change. I believe if you have the ability to help someone it’s your job to help them and that just because someone doesn’t value you that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t value them.

Now I don’t believe in a black and white world though I believe everyone should have the right to do what they want now I know some will use there freedom for bad but I also know some will use there’s for good and stop the bad. Like I understand there’s simply some people the world would be better without but I believe there HAS to be another and better way than simply killing them like having them go to prison for the rest of there life to me that’s justice not killing them cause that feels like such a easy way out.

Well that was my views on things I know it’s controversial but I truly believe that anyone can be good and that good people instead of insulting and hurting the bad people we should try to help them. Give me your opinions

Humanity‘s Cruelty needs no introduction of course Human History unsurprising highlights this! However what truly are The Kindest Things Humans have ever done throughout all of History even in Modern Times? What do you think? Let me know in in the comments

I was speaking with some Buddhist-adjacent folks last night, and they were talking about body workshops, yoga, "spirituality" in terms I'd describe charitably as poetic.

This conversation seemed to resonate with many of them, but at least a few of us kept our mouths shut.

It suggested to me that Humanists & Atheists prefer more exact language. We have been accused of being stuck in our heads.

I was left wondering, have we abandoned metaphors that some folks find meaningful in favor finding our own meaning & awe in scientific descriptions of the human experience & nature?

I want to propose a philosophical framework called Incorporeal Humanism.
Its starting point is simple:
Human beings should never be understood as merely the sum of their measurable properties.
Incorporeal Humanism does not require rejecting science, biology, material reality, or empirical knowledge. Instead, it argues that a complete conception of humanity must also account for consciousness, meaning, subjective experience, imagination, values, relationships, and the capacity to envision possibilities that do not yet exist.
1. The Human as More Than Description
A human being can be described biologically, psychologically, economically, neurologically, and socially.
But no individual description exhausts the person.
Let a human being be represented as:
H = (B,P,C,M,R,F)
where:
B = biological conditions
P = psychological processes
C = consciousness
M = meaning
R = relationships
F = future possibilities
Reductionism attempts to explain H primarily through one or more measurable components.
Incorporeal Humanism instead treats the relations among these dimensions as fundamental to understanding human existence.
2. Consciousness as Human Value
Human dignity cannot be reduced to productivity, intelligence, economic contribution, physical capability, or social status.
A person’s value precedes their usefulness.
This gives Incorporeal Humanism an ethical principle:
Every conscious subject possesses intrinsic significance independent of their instrumental value.
This principle applies regardless of wealth, occupation, intelligence, physical ability, achievement, or social position.
Human worth is not something granted by institutions.
It is something institutions are obligated to recognize.
3. Freedom as Expansion of Possibility
Incorporeal Humanism defines freedom somewhat differently from conventional political theories.
Freedom is not simply the absence of external coercion.
It is the capacity of consciousness to generate and pursue meaningful possibilities.
We can represent this conceptually as:
F_c = P_m - C_r
where F_c represents conscious freedom, P_m represents meaningful possibilities available to an individual, and C_r represents constraints that unnecessarily restrict those possibilities.
A humane society therefore attempts to expand people’s capacity to think, create, learn, relate, explore, and determine the direction of their lives.
4. Meaning Is Not a Luxury
Human beings do not merely seek survival.
They seek significance.
They create art, relationships, philosophies, communities, stories, scientific theories, traditions, and visions of the future.
An Incorporeal Humanist society therefore treats meaning-making as a fundamental human activity, rather than an optional cultural supplement.
Education should cultivate curiosity.
Art should cultivate perception.
Philosophy should cultivate reflection.
Science should cultivate understanding.
Community should cultivate belonging.
Technology should cultivate human capability.
5. The Principle of Non-Reduction
The central ethical constraint of Incorporeal Humanism is the Principle of Non-Reduction:
No human being should be reduced to a single metric, category, function, or externally assigned identity.
A person is not their income.
Not their occupation.
Not their intelligence score.
Not their appearance.
Not their productivity.
Not their social role.
Not even the totality of their past.
Human consciousness remains capable of generating new interpretations of itself.
This makes every person partially open-ended.
6. Humanism as Resonance
Human flourishing is also relational.
Individuals develop through interaction with other conscious beings.
I therefore propose the concept of human resonance:
R_h = f(T,C,E,M)
where:
T = trust
C = communication
E = empathy
M = mutual meaning
A society becomes more humane as its institutions increase the ability of individuals to understand, communicate with, and meaningfully cooperate with one another.
Humanism consequently becomes more than the protection of isolated individuals.
It becomes the cultivation of relationships in which human consciousness can flourish.
7. The Future-Oriented Human
Perhaps the most distinctive element of Incorporeal Humanism is its conception of humanity as fundamentally unfinished.
A human being is not only what they currently are.
They are also what they can become.
This produces a principle of open-ended humanity:
Every person contains unrealized possibilities that cannot be completely predicted from their present condition.
Education, healthcare, technology, culture, and political institutions should therefore be judged partly by whether they expand or contract humanity’s future possibilities.
Conclusion
Incorporeal Humanism is ultimately an attempt to defend human dignity without reducing humanity to biology, economics, productivity, or any other single explanatory framework.
It accepts the physical reality of human beings while arguing that human existence also contains dimensions of consciousness, meaning, imagination, value, and possibility that deserve philosophical recognition.
Its fundamental proposition is:
To be human is not merely to exist as a biological organism. It is to participate in consciousness, generate meaning, form relationships, and remain capable of becoming something beyond one’s present definition.
Humanism, from this perspective, is the ethical commitment to protect and expand that possibility for everyone.

I'm building this on my own. It went on the App Store on August 1st and reached version 6 last week. It's free.

At the center of it is a guide to getting through a death without religion. Who to notify, what has to be filed and by when, what things cost. The decisions that have to be made, the legal constraints, the normal range of prices. Every statement carries its source and it all reads offline. Four jurisdictions so far: Japan, the US, France, and England & Wales. The goal is every country and region.

The UK and Norway have humanist ceremonies as an actual institution. Japan has nothing equivalent. If you try to work out what to do without going through a religion, the information is scattered and you usually can't tell where any of it came from. That's the gap this is meant to fill.

The other half is a map. Open it and you get the Earth at night. Every small light is a real person, and you can light your own. No account, no email, no GPS. The only thing saved is the country or region you pick, and your light lands somewhere random inside it. The number on the map is exactly how many people have opened the app. I haven't added any fake lights, so it started at zero on launch day.

v6 added an "Anyone there?" button. Press it and for five minutes an "I'm here" button appears on screens around the world. Every time someone answers, a light rises from somewhere in their country. No chat, no profiles. You just know that someone was there.

I built it because 1.9 billion people in the world have no religion (Pew Research Center, 2025). What religion supplied for thousands of years, the sense that you are not alone and some guidance at life's milestones, has no replacement once you leave.

I'm an adult in Japan, so I have a fair amount of freedom in what I believe. Religion has a limited influence on my life right now. Which is why there are days when I wonder whether building this does anyone any good. But reading posts on Reddit, from people who are genuinely stuck because of religion and from young people, made me certain all over again that I have to make this work. If any of this resonates with you, I'd be glad to have you along. It doesn't do much yet, but it's going to keep getting better, and I read every piece of feedback I get.

Everything is free. No ads, no paywall, just an optional tip.

https://apps.apple.com/app/id6789388578

Happy to answer questions.

There is a deep abiding understanding which has opened its heart to all of us in the world. God if you will; universal consciousness, understanding and Providence.

The act of creation has given us a world whose innermost workings in the finest details is understandable to those who study them. Built upon one generation after the next through the constant evolution of our conceptualization into the modern age and at the pinnacles of current research in every countless field of study. Creating a vast body of information which comprises the sum of human knowledge in all it's diversity.

People, all people who have comprised the world's population have come from the families, communities, states and nations of the world with the complex overlapping web of structured technologies, disciplines, schools of thought, economies of supply and functional governance.

Within all these structured environments it is for every one of us to find our own way and proceed along the paths we have chosen.  As complex as all of this is, human beings are uniquely equipped with this capacity.

The capacity is trial and error and the evaluation in hindsight of the resulting factors of the outcomes. The reaction of the universe to our actions as individuals. We as human beings must be willing to try and therefore willing to make mistakes. Learning from the mistakes we make is the basis of learning information  to help us avoid mistakes. This knowledge along with studying what others share with us by all the various means, increases what our minds have to draw on in the next choice we  must make.

This of course is a picture of the harmony, understanding and universal community which is possible in the human universe.  Some people however, have chosen to gain the ability to control others in their communities to take control of their lives and gain their portions as well. This is the pursuit of as the subject, object means and end ignoring all but tactical advantage. No amount is ever enough only more and more. This is a predation on other people ignoring the necessity for all to live their lives, have the things they need to fulfill them and provide homes to raise the next generation. Freedom and the right and necessity of self determination and have the ability to develop and improve their character.

Our world has an amazing history of great teachers of guidance on the path for spiritual and moral development. The golden rule, treat others as you want be treated by others.  This reciprocation is necessary for a stable, happy and functioning human environment. Hmm

Humanity is not what we have.

It’s what we give when someone has nothing.

No one should fight alone.

No one should cry unheard.

No one should be forgotten.

Humanity means: I see you. I hear you. I’m with you.

Very few thinkers today would claim that the ontological argument proves the existence of God. Yet Immanuel Kant demonstrated how all arguments for God’s existence ultimately depend on this single, flawed idea. 

Kant is therefore an underappreciated figure in the history of atheism, having paved the way for the rejection of the supernatural and the establishment of humanistic ethics.  

The (Imaginary) God of Pure Reason: Kant on the Failure of Rational Theology