Secular Humanism
Secular humanism is generally a good thing and fundamentalist religion is generally a bad thing. Humanists are all about opening, broadening, inclusion. Fundamentalists are about closing, narrowing, exclusion. Humanists support distinctions without prejudice. Fundamentalist distinctions create prejudice.
The label of "secular humanist" has some baggage attached to it based on the bad press it gets from true believers. Much like the invidious distinction that Limbaugh laid on us around the phrase "tax and spend liberalism," secular humanism is, in some quarters, thought to be a bad thing, faithless, a position to be avoided.
For me it is easy to posit a metaphysical context beyond my understanding. I’m pretty good in three spatial and one temporal dimension. Beyond that, it starts to get metaphysical. But so far it hasn’t required a god for me to grasp that there are limits to my sensoria and my understanding. On the other hand, the concept of god, the joy, the love, the boundless concern and care we can share with each other, these things have a spiritual aspect that I enjoy.
In the United States, we assert a constitutional separation of church and state under the first and fourteenth amendments to the constitution. There are those that would tear down this wall, people who assert that their biblical beliefs should be taught in public schools, and worse - that information contrary to their beliefs should NOT be taught, or should somehow be qualified as contrary to their precepts.
I think we should respect these people. I think we should put all their churches’ property on our local property tax rolls and tax their churches’ income, and exercise eminent domain over any holdings that could be used for community purposes and respect their rights to have a say in the way our public schools are run. They are, after all, citizens, and by putting their church property on the tax rolls they will have a stake in the game.
Here in Madison we have some lovely church properties that we could assess at a fair market value and improve our ability to fund the teaching of evolution, and the public health provision of sexual health care including birth control and abortions.
