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#177367 06/13/08 02:59 PM
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Are there terms, with possibly nuances, to describe a person, who by all appearances is an honorable person, does or does not believe in God, but does not have a prayer or church life, but whose morality seems to be based on the legal system and that which is generally acceptable in society?

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secular humanist is often used.


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a deist (most of US "founding fathers" called them selves deist.. believed(to some degree) in god, but where not members of organized churches for the most part.

a mench (a yidish term) it mean a Man.. but idiomatically, it mean a good man.. a mench is the kind of guy that marries a widow with a kid or two, has some more, (adapts or doesn't) but treats all the children equally.. (loves, provides for them, leaves them an equal share in estate..--and mever mentions that or lets on that they aren't all his biological children (but on the other hand, encourages the kids to see and keep up with their biological grandparents/uncle/aunts/cousins--he walk the line.. (perfectly!))

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I don't know whether freethinker, for a practitioner of Freethought, comes close or not.

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Agree with etaoin, seculair humanist.

seculair humanism

Or a good Godless person, (if you want common words)

Last edited by BranShea; 06/14/08 07:24 AM.
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Some old-fashioned terms would be
salt of the earth - often used of farmers, builders and other blue collar workers
upright - possibly a bit stiff with it
worthy or man of worth - ?a bit boring?
a good solid citizen - see worthy
honourable - implies that he has faced a test of that honour and won
dependable - and probably predictable
decent - a mench as above, "no movie star but pffft, what are looks"

please note, the above nuances are the opinions of the poster and may not reflect the views of this site or anyone on it.

PS welcome aboard shawnee

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I'm not sure 'secular humanist' quite fits the bill. That term describes someone who holds to a particular philosophy, but says nothing necessarily about their individual personal morality. There are also different kinds of secular humanist, viz optimistic and pessimistic humanist.

Perhaps 'Relativist' or 'Relative Moralist'?

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>'Relative Moralist'

Does not relativist come pretty close to opportunist?
Humanism is not just a philosophy. It's also a way of living.

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 Originally Posted By: shawnee6400
whose morality seems to be based on the legal system and that which is generally acceptable in society?


Given these qualifications I might suggest the term "strawman" but since I object to this sort of back-handed definition in others I won't. I believe that human moral codes are a natural result of the evolution of a successful social species.

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