Want to scare some Evangelical Christians? Just call someone a secular humanist. It’s like calling them Satan. No, it’s worse. Everybody knows that Satan is evil. Humanists are sneaky. They look like normal people but are really secretive emissaries of Satan, skulking about to attack Christians and Christian values by brainwashing children through public education, entertainment, and the liberal mass media. Evil. Evangelical Christians see the term humanist as  an exaltation of humans to the degradation of God - as humans displacing God.

This fear is based on the belief held by some evangelicals that the world will grow more evil until Jesus comes back. They believe Satan will prepare the world for the antichrist through a global conspiracy that promotes godless, anti-Christian values. The antichrist will eventually rule the world and exalt himself above God, and the evil humans alive at the time will worship a man. They see secular humanists at the forefront of this inevitable conspiracy.

Want to scare some atheists? Just call someone a Christian humanist. To them, the terms secular and humanist are inexorably linked and imply a strictly non-theistic approach to life. Christian humanist? No such thing to them.

I do not have a problem if someone believes that Jesus will come again. I do have a problem when Evangelical Christians brand as evil everything that is not specifically Christian by their standards.

I have no issue with an atheist who believes in a non-theist approach to life. I do have a problem with atheists who are at war with all religion and will not work with religious people to achieve humanist goals.

Humanists, of whatever variety, are not bad. Humanists are just concerned with, well, humans. They marvel at the human experience. They relish human history and objectively look at both the good and the bad. They learn from it. As a consequence, humanists want to alleviate human suffering and promote improved living standards. Many Christians consider themselves humanIsts because they share these concerns. As do many from other religions. As do those not affiliated with a formal religion. As do many atheists.

The problem is some Christians have associated the term humanist with evil. To be fair, the problem is exacerbated because some atheists have attached the term secular to humanist to imply that anyone who is a humanist will embrace a non-theistic approach to life.

Humanists are willing to cooperate with other humans to reach their goals, regardless of religious beliefs or a lack thereof. Indeed, cooperation is key to humanism, based on the universal concept of reciprocity. In its most basic form, reciprocity states, “If you treat me well I will treat you well.” Negatively expressed that would be, “If you don’t steal my stuff I won’t steal yours.”

Humans discovered very early that reciprocal cooperation made survival easier. It is universally expressed in religions and philosophies as varying forms of the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” or the updated version, "Treat others as you would be treated.” Modern sociology calls it the ethic of reciprocity.

Reciprocity is the starting point for advanced civil societies to maximize efforts to relieve suffering and promote prosperity. It makes possible the exercise of two other universal human capabilities: empathy and altruism. It’s really quite simple. When you decide to work with another human instead of fighting with them, that cooperation enables you to learn their humanness. Knowledge of the plight of others brings empathy. Empathy leads to altruism. Altruism causes humans to share their resources with other less fortunate humans with no thought of getting something in return.

So, Evangelical Christians who believe Jesus is coming have a right to that belief. Atheists who believe the non-theistic approach to life is the best have a right to that belief. However, it would behoove these two groups and all in between to cooperate towards goals that improve the human condition.

Whatever their differences, humans share their humanness. If we cannot find common ground there, it is not to be found.