Humanism. This is a phrase that I have just recently
learned about, and today I have Steve Ghikadis,
and he is the author of Humanism from the Heart,
Building Bridges Beyond Belief. Hi Steve, how
you doing? I'm doing great, how you doing? I'm
doing great. I love this book. Good, I'm so glad.
I read it all, I got some notes here. What is
humanism? Well, it's basically a non -religious
philosophical worldview which places the highest
emphasis on human well -being, compassion, empathy,
scientific investigation, reason, logic, that
type of thing. So is it classified as a religion?
Technically not. No, it's more of an idea or
a philosophy. But you can be like a religious
humanist. Because my wife considers herself to
be a Christian humanist. I've known people who
are Islamic humanists It's like it's whatever
you place your highest emphasis on so, you know
if you can kind of Put the more importance on
on those aspects instead of the dogma then yeah
That's pretty much where people come from with
that. Okay. I really like this idea because it
leaves an open mind for anything and there just
always seems to be such a divide when it comes
to religion that It drives me nuts. Yeah for
sure. That's what biggest thing is avoiding the
us versus them narrative. That's pretty much
what I was going for. Exactly because I did see
I'm gonna pull out my book here. My favorite
part of this entire book was we can bridge the
gap between believers and non -believers by focusing
less on winning arguments and more on fostering
understanding. This doesn't mean compromising
on reason or evidence. It means being considerate
of the human need for meaning. I mean, I wish
we had that just throughout the day, let alone
when talking religion. Yeah, absolutely. Because
that's the thing is that, you know, a lot of
people place a lot of meaning on different things
and we're very emotional creatures. So, you know,
emotion is a big draw and a big part of our lives.
So, you know, it doesn't hurt if you put your
emotions into something that's important to you.
And that's the best thing that we can do is kind
of find what our commonalities are instead of
the things that divide us. Now, what made you
write this book? Well, it kind of started from
examples that have happened in my life. You know,
I'm married to a Christian. So and I'm a non
-believer. But there was a point in my life where
I was pretending to be a believer to kind of
get along and go with the flow. A lot of people
do that. And it just got to the point where everyone
was thinking I was a believer and I felt like
I was duping people and I felt like a wolf in
sheep's clothing. So I just got really angry.
And I started lashing out at people and ridiculing
people and their beliefs. And I started burning
bridges. And I realized that something needed
to change. I needed to find a way to have these
impossible conversations and treat people with
respect and kindness. So I discovered something
called street epistemology. and Anthony Magna
Bosco was a practitioner of this style of questioning
and conversation, and I reached out to him and
I said, you know, like, how can you help me with,
you know, finding commonalities with me and my
wife and other people in my life? I mean, it's
great to have these things around to be able
to, like you said, help foster... proper communication
without, you know, having hate on any side, because
I think everybody's right in their own way, in
their own mind when it comes to religion or beliefs,
ideas of whatever kind. Yeah, for sure. And you
are part of the Humanist Canada. The Windsor
chapter? Yes. So yeah, I'm the coordinator for
the Windsor chapter. So Humanist Canada is kind
of like the umbrella group that oversees humanism
in an official capacity over the country. And
then we have chapters. And so when I would talk
to the previous executive director, she asked
if I could start the very first chapter in Windsor.
So I was like, yeah, sure. Why not? And then
it's developed into... community that we can
now we have a base for doing charity work and
You know outreach and things like that I get
from reading in the book that you do speaking
engagements at the university and various other
places How does it come across to people when
they hear you talking about humanism? Yeah, so
the cool part is is that? Not a lot of people
know what it is, right? So it's kind of like
I am kind of their first introduction to it.
And this is kind of why I make a joke that I'm
like the token humanist that does these presentations
at the university. So I've done a few interfaith
symposiums and what they normally do is they
ask, can you represent atheism? And I said, sure,
but atheism is just a lack of belief in a deity.
I'd rather talk about what I do believe than
what I don't believe. So can I also represent
humanism? And they're like, yeah, sure, whatever.
Don't know what that is, but go for it. and you
know at first I thought I'm gonna be the one
that's attacked on stage because you know you
hear that in the media it's usually the non -believers
that are getting all the questions and everything
but I was shocked the very first time I went
up there and I said my bit and then you know
all the other religions said their bit and all
the other religions were getting more questions
than I was and I just had to like sit back and
listen to them kind of bicker between each other
and I'm like this is just really strange I thought
more people would be you know either attacking
me or lashing out at me but It's funny, I actually
got more of the attacks from the atheist. Well,
atheism is just the, it's basically just a lack
of belief. So theism is about belief and gnosticism
is about knowledge. So if you're a theist, you
believe in a deity. If you're an atheist, it
just means you lack belief in that deity. It
doesn't tell you anything about someone's actual
beliefs. It just says what you don't believe.
And then gnosticism, you know, you can be...
agnostic, which means you know something, or
agnostic, which means you don't know something.
So I call myself an agnostic atheist. But what
I was trying to say is that I get more attacks
on me from fellow atheists, because they're thinking
that I should be more harsh on people and their
beliefs than I am. Were you raised in any religion?
So I was baptized Anglican, but my mom never
forced any kind of belief system on me. She just
allowed me to think for myself. Engage with other
different belief systems and talk to my friends
who had different beliefs and I was able to just
explore I was raised as Presbyterian But the
same thing we weren't religious we did the whole
baptism but that was about it and I've gone to
various churches with various friends growing
up and They're beautiful. I have nothing against
them, but They need better seats. That's all
I have to say. Well, it's cool, too, because
you can go to different places around the world,
and there's massive cathedrals that are really
beautiful places. And the architecture and the
history of it is amazing. Just because I don't
believe in something doesn't mean I can't appreciate
the artwork and the culture and the traditions
and that type of thing. Exactly. I've gone to
a few because of other family members and their
kids and they have the Christmas Eve services
and the kids do their little plays. And I really
enjoy a Christmas Eve service. It's really nice
and it's fun. You know, I can get by it. Yeah,
for sure. And I just wish that everybody had
an open mind like humanists do. Yeah, and I think
sometimes, too, there could be like a trauma
portion of someone's life. Maybe they've had
a traumatic experience with, you know, religion
or some type of figure from. their past, you
know, and I think that does cause some issues
sometimes when people are trying to think about
religion being, you know, a neutral thing. I
think sometimes they have a negative idea of
it because of a certain experience that they've
had. Yeah, in your book you talk about that you
have children and obviously you have an interfaith.
family. How is that working out with the children?
It's great. We came to the conclusion early on
that we wanted our children to be able to make
their own choices and experience things from
their own perspective, kind of like I had the
freedom to do, which is nice. They're free to
attend church services and do Sunday school and
things like that whenever they feel like it.
And then I also have kind of a non -religious
congregation of sorts called Sunday Assembly
that's in Detroit. And sometimes we all go as
a family and there's kind of a kids program there
too where they kind of learn science experiments
and that type of thing. What was that called?
Sunday? Sunday assembly. Sunday assembly. That
is the first time I've heard about it other than
reading about it in the book. Could you explain
to everybody what that is? Sure. So I think it
was like 2013. There was two British comedians
and they were on their way to a show and one
turned to the other one and said wouldn't it
be cool if we could go to church but instead
of like God just have like just have a fun time
and celebrate just life in general. And the other
one was like, yeah, why don't we do that? So
they created this thing called Sunday Assembly.
They put a news article in the paper. And it
was like 200 people showed up on the very first
day. And they were like, wow, maybe we're onto
something here. People want to celebrate and
get together and celebrate life and not have
anything to do with the supernatural aspects
of religion. I think that's a great idea. Yeah,
it's pretty cool. Having it open to anything
and just enjoying. Yeah. And their motto is live
better, help often and wonder more. Okay, now
I have to go to that. You can come with me next
time. That sounds like a lot of fun. Second Sunday
of every month. Oh, okay. So it's not every week.
No, no. So it's the second Sunday of every month.
And then also on certain days, there's like cuisine
and conversations on certain Saturday nights.
There's also like a gaming club and everything
through this. It's kind of like we're trying
to create a community kind of like churches have
kind of had a monopoly on for so long. We're
trying to get that happening in the secular community
as well. So are you involved in that as well?
Yeah. So currently I'm the president of Sunday
Assembly Detroit. So it sounds more important
than it is. but we're all part of a team and
we're part of a board. The previous presidents
were both in the middle of having children right
now, so like brand new babies. So it's like,
okay, you know what? I'll step up and I'll take
over for a little bit while they're doing their
parenting thing. And how's that working out?
It's going great. Yeah, like it's been amazing.
I've met so many cool people. We even did a tour
of the Hiram Walker facility and we got to do
like a tasting and everything. So they shut everything
down. They brought us all in. We got to do...
the whole tour, see all the sights and everything,
and then she brought us into a room and she's
like, oh yeah, I'll open any bottle you want.
Man, I wish I was there for that. And did you
guys enjoy yourself? Yeah, maybe a little too
much. Yeah, because I think we did have a dinner
afterwards, but it was like, you know, is everybody
here? I want to make sure everyone got here safely.
That's so funny. So this book just came out.
And how's it going? It's blowing me away with
the reception that I'm receiving. There's like
40 five -star reviews on Amazon already and it's
blowing me away. I think it was like 22 five
-star reviews on Goodreads. It's like 500 or
so copies sold. It's in all the stores around
here, the local stores. This was just released
recently. Yeah, March 23rd. That's really, really
impressive. Yeah, I'm still like I almost have
imposter syndrome because it's like... Oh no,
it is a really good book. Oh, I'm glad. I'm really
glad. It is a good book and I like the fact that
we have the glossary of terms which... kind of
helps come in handy for a few different things
but then you have some of the some different
areas where you can really think and write and
I'm thinking and then I'm going to be writing
but it was really nice it it kind of just said
a lot about who you are and about humanism. But
I definitely think that everybody should read
this book because it's a great way to keep an
open mind and enjoy stories. There's just a lot
of really nice stories in here as well. Yeah
and one of the reviews I got recently actually
said that it's one of those books that you can
hand to your religious aunt. And they're going
to appreciate it and they're going to be able
to have an open conversation afterwards, which
is really cool. Exactly. Because there's no putting
down anybody or anything. It's accepting of everybody.
Yeah. And that's what I really liked about it.
And I've seen you are all over the place in Windsor
and Essex County on different podcasts and on
Dan McDonald's show. And I missed the one with
Kyle. I was going to watch it today, the one
with Kyle Horner. Yeah, no, that was it was a
good one, too. and I had K .G. Michelli on there
as well, so it was cool. She's been on this podcast.
She's great, yeah. I have to get her books still.
Oh, you do? Yeah. Yes. She's got a few books.
Yeah, I want the Texas Road. Oh, yeah. She was
telling us a few of the stories from it, and
it was just like, sounds a little crazy, you
know? Oh, yeah. It's hard to say, because I had
been down there too, and you're not sure whether
you're conjuring it up yourself. Yeah. because
of all the old stories and. Right. But it was
fun. Yeah. And I am going to read this in twenty
twenty four. You were awarded the King Charles
III Coronation Medal for your significant contributions
to the community in Windsor, Essex County. Yep.
How in the heck did that? That's awesome. Yeah,
it's it's amazing. Again, it's one of those things
where I feel like I. an imposter, because it
just doesn't make any sense to me that I would
be awarded these things. But it kind of came
about from a few of my friends had... I guess
put up letters or recommendations to say that,
you know, Steve is helping out in the community,
he's doing this, he's helping out the homeless
shelter, you know, taking care of our street
through Humanist Canada, Windsor chapter, and
I guess the word got up and they presented me
with the medal, so. Well, yeah, I did want to
ask you about that. You guys have adopted, Humanist
Canada has adopted a street in Windsor? Yeah,
so it's Peter Street, which happens to be one
of the longest streets in Windsor. So they're
like, oh, why don't you go with Peter Street?
And we're like, eh, that sounds like a good street.
Not knowing that it stretches like 17 blocks.
I had no idea until just now. So we do it like
a block at a time kind of thing. We get a group
of four or five people out every once in a while.
And we clean up a section. And then we move on
to the next section. And by the time we get to
the third section, the first section needs to
be done again. But it's an ongoing thing. It
keeps us busy and lots of people on the street
come up and talk to us and ask us what church
we're part of and then we have to explain that
we're not really part of a church, but we're
kind of doing the same type of thing as a church
would. And how is that received with the neighborhood?
It's good. It's funny because you sometimes have
these conversations and people don't know where
to... where to put you in their mental Rolodex.
They're like, is this person a good person? Because
they're doing a good thing, but they also don't
believe what I believe. So are they trying to
trick me here or whatever? And we just have genuine
open conversations and say who we are and what
we do. And usually people are smiling ear to
ear by the time we end the conversation. We're
just doing it out of the kindness of our hearts.
I feel like everybody should be, right? Well,
then you definitely deserve this if you're also
working with the homeless and over there in Michigan.
Well, I appreciate you saying that. Well, it's
true. That's a lot of great work and it's great
to show your... Children and to lead by example
for sure and we brought them out to clean up
the street We've brought them out to feed the
homeless and it's just really cute to watch them.
We go every year on Christmas Eve They love it
yeah, and it's it's just great because they will
give out compliments to the to the people that
are coming up for the meals and everything and
it's just like these people have never been You
know, people have never been nice to them. People
usually spit on them or step over them and my
kids just treat them like they're human beings.
It's a great lesson that they're learning as
they're getting older. Yeah. And Christine, the
owner or manager there, she always tells me,
you know, it's so nice that you bring them out
because then they're learning these lessons that
they're going to pass on to their kids. And then
we're going to create a generation of kids who
this is what they do. That's right. So that's
the soup kitchen is up the one on Wyandotte.
Yeah, it's called Street Help. So can anybody
volunteer? Yeah, they're really open to having
anybody there. And it's funny because, you know,
she is a lifetime member of Humanist Canada,
but she's also religious. So she's a Christian
and she's had priests and ministers there. They'll
come and they'll say to the people out the window,
you need to do a prayer. And she goes, no, none
of that. You know, we're going to feed people
regardless. And she feeds people, you know, whether
they come one time, two times, three times in
a row, she'll keep feeding them. She doesn't
have any problem with that. I think more people
should become humanists, regardless of religion.
No, it's just a nicer way of being able to have
a conversation without an argument. And I think
a lot of people are humanists, they just don't
realize it, because they don't know what the
term is. And that's kind of what I experienced,
you know, growing up, I was a humanist, but I
didn't know that. And that's why in the book,
I say that it was circular because I kind of
started off as a secular humanist, not knowing
it. And then eventually came back to that and
then realized what it was called. Yeah. So are
there plans for a second book? Yeah, so I have
a couple books coming out. So I have one set
for next year and it's called... preemptive dad
vice for the unsuspecting, expectant father.
Because I have a lot of people coming up to me
and saying like, oh, you know, once I have a
kid, I can still play video games, right? And
I'm like, hmm. Okay, can I have a copy of that
now? Yeah, well, I can give you a copy to read.
For my son. The first draft. I think he needs
it. But yeah, it's kind of to help people out.
And it's also kind of to promote that dads are
an important part of the family and they should
be there to help out. raising the kids. And it's
funny, because I just saw a video that I shared
with my wife today, because she's always telling
me this, but I always complain that I have a
dad bod, and she always says, well, I'd rather
you have a dad bod and help out at home than
be jacked in the gym nine hours a day. That's
true. Yeah, so, you know, and that's kind of
where I'm taking this book. It's like, you know,
it's okay to be, you know, to have all these
issues and wonder if you're doing things right,
because if you're wondering if you're doing things
right, then you're already doing them right.
I know my son. They're having a baby. It'll be
born in December and he's already got the dad
bug going. Oh nice He's going with her cravings.
He's got the pre dad bod. That's awesome Yeah,
there we go And then I have a sequel to this
book coming out probably the year after and it's
gonna be called humanism at hand Practical principles
for peaceful partnerships. I really like that
alliteration. You know, yeah You nailed it on
the bees this time. So now we're going for peace.
Yeah, so, okay, you get to pick the next letter
though, so Oh my goodness. The afterword was
hilarious here. I always like to start my presentation
off with a quote that I jokingly attribute to
Buddha. Don't be a dick. Yeah. Because that's
what it's all about, right? And you can say it
a million times in a million different ways,
but it's only, you know, don't be a dick. It's
just the way it is. That's the philosophy, right?
I think we all need to read this book. Go out
and get it. Get it. See, there it is. at the
local bookstores in Windsor. It's on Amazon.
It's on Amazon. It's in the libraries. If you
don't want to pay for it, you can check it out
at the library. There's also going to be, it's
going to be mass distributed to like Indigo chapters,
all those eventually as well. It's just taking
a bit of time to get there. And you just were
recording the... The audiobook. The audiobook.
Yay. Yeah. So the audiobook should be out on
the 21st of June, which happens to be World Humanist
Day. So it's going to be next Saturday. I had
no idea there was a World Humanist Day. Yeah,
so 21st of June. So what do you guys do on World
Humanist Day? Well, it depends. Usually what
we do is we just get together and have a nice
dinner. So we go to like Smoke and Spice or somewhere
local. And, you know, I'm thinking about picking
maybe more of like a mom and pop shop this time,
and we'll go and support local and do do a nice
little shindig. Sounds like fun. Sounds like
fun. Steve, thank you so much. I appreciate you
being on and giving us an eye in humanism and
understanding that we just need to be nice to
each other and don't be a dick. Yeah, thanks
so much. And, you know, I always say you don't
have to be a perfect person, perfect partner,
perfect parent. We try our best to live up to
whatever it is that we are trying to accomplish.
And, you know, Maya Angelou always said, We do
our best until we know better and then when we
do better when we know better than we do better
Couldn't have said better myself me either. That's
why I went with her. Oh This has been great and
again, my name is Tracy Martens Thank you so
much for joining me for another episode of YQG
In bloom Make sure that you guys are all nice
to each other Get out and get the book Humanism from the Heart – Burning Bridges Beyond Belief
Have a good day I'll see you soon.