Many theists believe that there is nothing more important than praising God. In their estimation, praising God is more important than helping your fellow human beings, saving the environment, getting to work or school on time, etc. They certainly believe that it is far more important to praise God than it is to praise deserving human beings.

Some years ago I attended a humanist conference. In attendance were African American humanist scholar Anthony Pinn and my old colleague, Verle Muhrer, of Kansas City. Pinn was astounded to hear some cold, callous remarks coming from a self-professed humanist. I told Pinn that it should not be surprising that humanists are capable of such callousness. After all, they are fallible human beings. Moreover, I pointed out that some humanists imagine themselves to be completely objective and above and beyond any negative influences of their culture, history, etc. This prompted Muhrer to say that perhaps we need a book titled “The Arrogance of Humanism” to complement Forrest Woods’ excellent book, “The Arrogance of Faith” — a superb critique of the role of biblical teachings in the defense of slavery.

“Does any snowflake in an avalanche ever really feel responsible?”

In light of the verdict of not guilty handed down by the Black-free Southern jury in the George Zimmerman case, many people are calling for soul-searching, the always predictable but never initiated, let alone completed, national discussion on race, etc. I will not write about the disgust I felt after the verdict. However, one respondent brought a lot of thoughts to my mind.