OK, Folks, I am Now "Identifying (don't you just love that word?)" as a Humanist! Pretty Cool, Hey?

Let's not kid ourselves. Most folks just don't like atheists. And, that's a fact. If I am ever asked about my religion I'm going to say, I'm a humanist. Frankly, I doubt if many folks will know what that means.

Humanism is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and generally prefers critical thinking and evidence (rationalism and empiricism) over acceptance of dogma or superstition. The meaning of the term humanism has fluctuated according to the successive intellectual movements which have identified with it.^[1] The term was coined by theologian Friedrich Niethammer at the beginning of the 19th century to refer to a system of education based on the study of classical literature ("classical humanism"). Generally, however, humanism refers to a perspective that affirms some notion of human freedom and progress.

In modern times, humanist movements are typically non-religious movements aligned with secularism, and today humanism typically refers to a nontheistic life stance centred on human agency and looking to science rather than revelation from a supernatural source to understand the world.^[2][3]

The above is from Wikipedia.

Contrary to what the fundamentalists would have us believe, then, what our society really needs is not more religion but a richer notion of the nature of morality.Humanism is compatible with atheism and agnosticism, but being atheist or agnostic does not automatically make one a humanist.

Atheism does only mean lack of belief in gods. Humanism means a philosophical stance that focuses on the value and agency of human beings. However atheism and humanism accord with one another very well, which is the reason that a lot of people are atheists and (secular) humanists at the same time.

Humanists believe that this is the only life of which we have certain knowledge and that we owe it to ourselves and others to make it the best life possible for ourselves and all with whom we share this fragile planet.