...that it's precisely because the author is "leaving out all the philosopical fluff" that makes his book an easier target than it would be otherwise.

Saying this book is an easy target seems to imply that you find it easy to counter his arguments. As of yet I have not seen you or anyone else achieve this goal.

Well, if a god exists he could come talk to me.

What makes you think he would want to?

And there are plenty of people who claim to talk to God all the time. Who's to say they're wrong, and you're right?

And what if he's talking to you already, but you haven't the capacity to hear?

Oh, the possibilities.

Maybe he would want me to believe he exists.

Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't. But who are you and I to presume to know what he would want?

I have little interest in convincing an ant of my existence, especially when I can just step on it if I wish.

Where does your God live?

My god can't be located in any one place. I think I can pass God on through my actions (which is why I feel compelled to apologize for some of the things I said earlier). I find little pieces of divinity in the connections that I make with people.

For me, God is the openness of all possibility and the Ultimate Ground of Being (there's Tillich again). God is the fabric that I form my secular humanism out of (and, yes, I consider myself a secular humanist.) There are secular humanist Christians out there, just like you've convinced me that there are agnostic atheists.

God is also an admission of my ultimate ignorance of the origins of science and the origin of origins.

I hope this makes at least an iota of sense. Admittedly, on any given day, it makes little sense to me, too.

You might be a Religious Humanist or a Christian Humanist, but you're certainly not a Secular Humanist. I'm sure you agree with many of the basic tenets of Secular Humanism, but your belief in a God removes you from the Secular Humanism worldview.

http://www.christiananswers.net/q-sum/sum-r002.html

What are the basic beliefs of Secular Humanism? What do Secular Humanists believe?

Theologically, Secular Humanists are atheists. Humanist Paul Kurtz, publisher of Prometheus Books and editor of Free Inquiry magazine, says that "Humanism cannot in any fair sense of the word apply to one who still believes in God as the source and creator of the universe."[5] Corliss Lamont agrees, saying that "Humanism contends that instead of the gods creating the cosmos, the cosmos, in the individualized form of human beings giving rein to their imagination, created the gods."[6]

Philosophically, Secular Humanists are naturalists. That is, they believe that nature is all that exists - the material world is all that exists. There is no God, no spiritual dimension, no afterlife. Carl Sagan said it best in the introduction to his Cosmos series: "The universe is all that is or ever was or ever will be."[7] Roy Wood Sellars concurs. "Humanism is naturalistic," he says, "and rejects the supernaturalistic stance with its postulated Creator-God and cosmic Ruler."[8]

Secular Humanist beliefs in the area of biology are closely tied to both their atheistic theology and their naturalist philosophy. If there is no supernatural, then life, including human life, must be the result of a purely natural phenomenon. Hence, Secular Humanists must believe in evolution. Julian Huxley, for example, insists that "man ... his body, his mind and his soul were not supernaturally created but are all products of evolution."[9] Sagan, Lamont, Sellars, Kurtz

I agree with Paul Kurtz. I don't believe in "a God as the source and creator of the universe." And, too, with Corliss Lamont. I do "contend that instead of the gods creating the cosmos, the cosmos, in the individualized form of human beings giving reign to their imagination, created the gods."

I'm also a naturalist, and disavow supernaturalism.

It is NOT true that all secular humanists believe "There is no God, no spiritual dimension, no afterlife." While I happen to believe there is no afterlife, that is just the opinion of one person. I've been to plenty of meetings of secular humanists, and I've asked them if they consider a "spiritual dimension" in their life. And you can't say that doesn't make them a secular humanist any more than you can they can't say you're a atheist-agnostic. If your lexicographic definition, is flawed, so be it. But don't take so literally the definition of a single organization which just happens to have the words "secular" and "humanist" in its name. Perhaps their definition, like the dictionary's is incomplete, or flawed, or doesn't suit the case for 100% of their members.

I choose to use the more open-ended definition, which I just happened to pull from wikipedia:

"Secular humanism is a humanist philosophy that upholds reason, ethics and justice, and specifically rejects the supernatural and the spiritual as warrants of moral reflection and decision-making. Like other types of humanism, secular humanism is a life stance focusing on the way human beings can lead good and happy lives.

"Secular humanism" was coined in the 20th century to make a clear distinction from "religious humanism". A related concept is "scientific humanism", which biologist Edward O. Wilson claimed to be "the only worldview compatible with science's growing knowledge of the real world and the laws of nature".

And since I don't believe in "the supernatural and the spiritual as warrants of moral reflection and decision-making," I fit the bill.

It sounds like you have some unusual beliefs that don't fit into any particular world religion. I don't think this book was written to address every single belief system. Personally, I have yet to hear you define your God in any meaningful way so I don't see where this discussion can go from here.

You called yourself a Christian yet you deny the supernatural aspects of Christianity. To me this means you're not really a Christian, yet you seem to gain something from calling yourself one. So be it. This doesn't make sense to me.

Did Jesus die on the cross for your sins? If you don't believe this you're not a Christian. Did Jesus rise from the dead and ascend into heaven? This is a supernatural claim. Do you believe it? If not you're not a Christian, but if so your claim to not believe in the supernatural doesn't make sense.

I'm sure you're used to hearing that your beliefs don't mesh with the majority of religious beliefs. Well, this book isn't designed to address every single conception of a god. No book can cover every arbitrary belief, and this is exactly what your beliefs appear to be.

It has been interesting talking to you about these things, but please forgive me if I start to lose interest. I am more interested in mainstream world religions, such as Christianity. Few Christians would argue that God exists only in the human mind. I'm more concerned with the God that interacts with humanity.