MY HUMANIST ODYSSEY: AN APOLOGIA PRO VITA MEA

- Ron J. Titus

Introduction and disclaimers
[1] I was raised as a theist in the Roman Catholic Church. Today I am a humanist in a secular world. How did I get from where I was to where I am? The purpose of this paper is to trace as best I can - and therefore as briefly as I can - the journey on which to this very day I am still traveling. [2] Since I have some aversion to labels and labeling, I do not wish to regard myself as a secular humanist. ‘Rather, I am attempting to practice secular humanism. [3] I have excused myself for lapses of memory as well as for any unwanted intrusions of phantom memories. I hope that you readers will be as lenient and extend similar excuses for what seems to me to be my unlimited limitations. [4] Although I am writing about humanism, I do not pretend to speak for all humanists or any Humanist organization. The views expressed here are my own, although many if not all of my ideas were gotten from someone else. [5] What I write is from a subjective perspective. I can only hope that what I say may one day be of some objective value. [6] Writing for publication is never easy for me because I do not wish to bore readers by saying something that they already know. This may explain why I write about my own experiences rather than someone else’s: I figure that no one knows all of the crazies that run through my ever changing mind. [7] The numeration is to facilitate possible topical discussions.