Protestantism

» Brian Tubbs - One more thing

I also think we need to be careful of putting people too much into camps. Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin can generally be considered Deists who liked Jesus as a teacher, but they weren't always "humanist." Sometimes, far from it.

John Adams raised questions about Jesus' divinity and crucifixion / resurrection, which calls his orthodoxy into question. Yet he still considered himself a "Christian." And would probably be considered one today in the same vein as Martin Luther King, who also raised some questions on some points of orthodoxy. Yet NO WAY was John Adams a humanist.

I realize that Migisi didn't mention J. Adams, nor Jefferson. And I know that Phil's provided definition of humanist wasn't seeking to draw battle lines and divide people into camps per se. This post is not meant as a debate point, but more a statement of caution as we continue in this discussion. Intellectual caution, that is.

We're often too quick to label and compartmentalize people. All of us, myself included, do it. We just need to be careful in areas like this, where humanism really does mean different things to different people.