I found an old email of mine...

I ran across an old email of mine from 2004 where a friend of mine was trying to convince me that Secular Humanism was a religion. Forgive the ranting but I thought it might fit here somehow. ;-)

Ron
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The only part of Secular Humanism that even remotely resembles a
religious organization is the use of the word faith. But what do they
have faith in? Certainly not a deity that is
controlling/influencing/punishing/interferring with the normal workings
of things.

Secular Humanists have faith in people in general. If there is going
to be good in this world it needs to come from the people themselves.
If you want to feed a starving nation it's ridiculous to pray for them
- you work your butt off and you feed them. You raise money, donate
your time, take a stand and try to make the world a better place.

I agree that for the most part religion teaches people to be nice to
each other, but then does that mean that when you're nice to someone
it's a religion? This goes back to our conversations about right and
wrong. Does the common understanding of acceptable behaviour depend on
a religious structure? Does a supernatural entity really need to tell
people that it's wrong to choke someone to death for a cookie?

Is the United Way a religion? The Red Cross? Race For The Cure?
These depend on the charitable acts of good people to make a
difference. That is all that Secular Humanism is. Having faith in the
overall goodness of people to help those in need - without divine
intervention.

Forget the hogwash about Man being the object of worship instead of
God. Some people worship money. Do fat people need their own religion
because of their food worship? Should we call it Spherical Humanism or
Calorithism?

Having an ideal and following moral guidelines does not institute a
religion regardless of the statements made by people in the past. If
people need a religion to entice them to do good in the world then I'm
all for it. If people need religion to keep them from killing their
neighbors... Great!

But as far as I'm concerned helping people in need and trying to ensure
that everyone has the right to be safe is an intrinsic part of being
human. It comes from compassion and empathy - not doctrine and dogma.
The Humanist's goal is to make a difference - not to enter heaven or to
achieve a state of enlightenment.