Book Review - Positive Humanism

Bo Bennett's Positive Humanism

I just finished reading Bo Bennett's new book - Positive Humanism: A Primer .  I enjoyed it. It's a short read - just 32 pages in pdf form and consists of several short essays - that take us through the basics of Positive Humanism.

This is an academically oriented book. It is meant to be a sequel to Gerard Larue's The Way of Positive Humanism . What is Positive Humanism?  Is the focus of Humanism on all that is positive - how to live life better and be a better person and flourish - and a downplaying of the - what we are against approach that a lot of the modern Humanist movement seems to find itself stuck in.

Now, for a Humanist, like me, some of this was a bit redundant, known and obvious. I wouldn't necessarily call his version of Humanism, Positive Humanism as something separate from what I know Humanism to be - but at the same time, I understand why it might be necessary given the current movement's penchant to focus on - rights of non-belief - as if that is the sum total of what we Humanists are concerned about.

Back to the book, For someone new to the concept of Humanism, or who is coming out of the self-help and success guru world, or who - like the author, spent time as an angry atheist and is trying to rid themselves of their "anger" – this is a really good book and a really needed book.

I kind of wish I had read his bio (which is at the back) first as it would have made the rest of the book – and how he approached the subject make more sense. But again, that may be because I'm well versed in the subject and so understanding WHY Bo wrote this book and his background would have helped me appreciate his approach better.  His background by the way is self help guru turned self help skeptic turned angry atheist, turned social psychologist PhD, turned advocate for Positive Humanism, as a way to combat the many "success" myths that permeate the self help word..

As for the specific content. I liked how he laid out the scientific case for rationalism and morality without religion.  I also liked how he dealt with the problem of free will. This may seem esoteric - but it does matter to the practice of Humanism because if we don't have free will (and the scientific jury is still out on that), then how can we choose to be good.  His answer is - it doesn't matter if we have free will or not. I love that. That's kind of how I approach it to.

 However, his conclusion on the topic of free will left me feeling a little icky.  His conclusion is about how we are part of the causal chain for others.  We can change others.  This bothered me a bit because my own Humanist practice is so inward looking. Yeah – I’m dedicated to making the world a better place. But intentionally trying to change someone – that makes me uncomfortable. It seems disrespectful. I think of Humanism as a personal practice. That is what works for me. I share it because I think others could be helped by it as well. But they are free to chose a different path. Intentionally trying to change other people who don’t want to be changed bothers me. I got what he was saying. It's a way to deal with the free will problem and not devolve into victim blaming by taking an optimistic and positive and compassionate approach to people who believe and behave differently – but it still smacked of privilege and ego.

All in all - it's a good addition to the written world of Humanism. Now – if I can just talk him into turning his Many Myths of Success presentation into an online course for Humanist Learning System.

An important history for the freethought movement

I really enjoyed John Emerson Roberts: Kansas City's ''Up-to-date'': Freethought Preacher . It follows the life of John Emerson Roberts, who was a Freethought preacher in Kansas who also spent time in Chicago. I am active in the freethought movement being a Humanist and having worked for a Humanist organization. I am well aware of the problems our movement has with respectability, infighting and more.

What was interesting about this book was to find out that these are the same problems the freethought movement had back in the late 1800s early 1900s. It's depressing to think we haven't progressed since that time. This movement is still largely a movement of intellectuals.

What I did find really cool was that there were several freethought preachers giving regular services in the major cities. At one point Chicago had 3 freethought preachers who you could get a lecture from on a weekly basis. We don't have that anymore, but I think it is definitely needed. The only group I can think of is the North Texas Church of Freethought.

I think the reason these freethought churches" died out is because they were largely totally dependent on the preacher. When they weren't available, there were no replacement for lectures. As we move forward, we need to ensure our communities have an ample supply of speakers and "preachers" so that our communities don't die when the leader does.

On a personal note, my family was involved in the freethought community of Chicago so when the story takes John Roberts to Chicago, I kept thinking about the fact that my relatives probably had gone to see him preach, or they had been involved with one of his competitors. That was neat.

All in all a very enjoyable read and I really think that anyone who is active in the secular community would benefit from reading this book because of just how important it is to understand our history as a movement. A lot of people are under the impression this is a new movement, but it isn't. We have a history and we should learn it so that we can build upon that history instead of reinventing the same history and making the same mistakes.

Louise - Adventures of a Chicken

We have chickens. Four to be exact. Their names are Sheila, QT, Ms. Jones and Missy A. They are awesomely fun to watch. We have become a bit chicken obsessed in our family. In addition to watching Hen Cam, we are also starting to borrow books from the library that deal with chickens.

The latest is Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken. This is an AWESOME book. Louise goes on three separate adventures. The first is a pirate adventure complete with shipwreck. In the second, she runs away to the circus. In the third, she visits a foreign land. At last she has found true adventure.

The books are well drawn, cute and if you own chickens, so spot on to their personalities. If you want a fun read and like chickens, see if you can get this book from the library. 

Best Game Ever!!! - Doggie Doo

My son was given a gift card for xmas and when given the chance to spend it, he bought Doggie Doo.  This is a game where you feed a dog and then it poops and you have to scoop up the poop and whoever gets the most poop wins.

Now. I know what you're thinking. This is the stupidest game concept ever.  Who on earth would want to play that?  Aside from a 6 yr old boy that is.  Well, it turns out - this game is AWESOME!  And I'm not just saying that.

The food is basically Flarp! (the exclamation point is part of the name of the toy).  For those of you who don't have kids, Flarp! is a noise putty.  It makes farting sounds when you stick your fingers in it.  Which, as ever mom of a little boy knows is high humor.

Anyway, you stick the Flarp! into the dog and then suction it out his rear using an air pump.  As the Flarp! moves through your dog it makes the most disgusting sounds.  It is impossible not to laugh while playing this game. When the flarp emerges from the dogs posterior, it can flop out or fly out depending on how much air it has behind it. It never seems to come out the same way twice. But it is always entertaining when it does.

Long story short, this is a REALLY fun and easy game to play and will have you doubled over in laughter while playing it.  I highly recommend it.

Book Review: The Happy Humanist

 I was given the book, The Happy Humanist, to read and review by it's author.  It's a nice short book, less than 100 pages, and I agree with everything in it. But then, that's because I'm a Humanist myself.

This book isn't about the Humanist philosophy, which isn't mentioned or defined at all.  It is a book about how a Humanist views the self. How we view our place in the universe.  How we view ourselves in relationship to other people and why we view ourselves this way.  Of course, since the word Humanist isn't mentioned in the book at all, it is only referenced in it's title, you have to constantly remind yourself that he is in fact writing from a Humanist perspective.

That being said, his advice is good. Same advice I give in my book (see link on the right) I kept thinking as I read the book that it was all rather Buddhist in it's approach, like the part about being detached, but not too detached.  There is a reason why it sounds Buddhist and that is because the teachings of Siddhartha were Humanistic in nature.

Do I recommend this book?  Yes. It's a bit academic and dry, but all the important bits about how we Humanists view life, the universe and everything are in there. The only downside is that it isn't always clear what his recommendations are for living life. They are sometimes hidden in the larger discussion. It's also  not easily quotable. I kept wanting to share some of the insights, but they won't fit in a twitter post. I realize that might be a selling point for some people actually.

The real question is whether this100 page book is worth its $16,95 US list price. That, I can't answer for you. As the Happy Humanist points out repeatedly, you are the only one who can determine what is best for you.

Fablehaven - Book Review

I just finished reading Fablehaven by Brandon Mull and really enjoyed it. I picked it up on impulse at my local library. I didn't have much time to browse because my 6 yr old son was with me.

Anyway, it's a teen oriented book (characters are teenagers), but by the end I was totally into what was going on. I liked the world Mull created. It's simple, but nice and dramatic at points. I'm actually interested in getting his next book in the series, though I'm not sure my library has it (will have to check).

Anyway, it was a quick easy read. Not too deep, but definitely satisfying and just what I needed after the slog that was 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea