This week’s episode takes a detour. I had planned to talk about morality, but life redirected me. My godmother recently passed away at 101, and her death pulled me into the oldest of human questions: what happens after we die?

Across traditions, answers vary: heaven and hell, reincarnation, ancestral return, legacy in memory. But from a humanist lens, death is final. And that doesn’t make life meaningless. Instead, it makes it urgent.

In this episode, I touch on:

• How different cultures and religions wrestle with death
• Why a humanist view of mortality isn’t bleak, but clarifying
• Lessons from a century-long life well lived
• Simple secular practices for remembering the dead and reflecting on our own lives

This isn’t about doctrine. It’s about presence. About living deeply, loving well, and leaving behind a footprint that matters, not for eternity, but for the people and communities we touch right now.

• What do you believe happens after we die?
• What would you want your living eulogy to say today?

We’ll take this further: if you don’t believe in an afterlife, is there still room for spirituality? Can there be a sense of the sacred without religion?

No gods. No guilt. Just the work of being human.

Definition (one line)

Humanism is a life stance that centers human dignity, flourishing, and freedom—guided by reason and compassion—without appealing to the supernatural. (Adapted from Humanists International’s Amsterdam Declaration and the American Humanist Association.)

• Critique claims, not people. We can love people of faith and still ask hard questions.
• Morality grows from empathy, consequences, and shared agreements we refine together.
• It’s not “foreign”. Caribbean life already runs on mutual aid, dignity, and practical care.
• Reason checks the facts; compassion decides what reduces harm.
• Freedom is tied to responsibility: my choices land on other people.
• Pluralism: many ways to be good; disagreement without dehumanization.

Daily 3-step:

1. Notice: Catch one moment you’d default to judgment—pause.
2. Question: What are the facts? What’s the human cost? What outcome reduces harm?
3. Choose: Take the smallest compassionate action that’s still honest.

Pick one micro-habit:

• Truth check: “What evidence would change my mind?”
• Consent check-in: Ask before assuming (home/work/fêtes).
• Circle-widen: One tangible care act outside your usual bubble.

• Amsterdam Declaration (2022) — Humanists International: https://humanists.international/what-is-humanism/the-amsterdam-declaration/
• Definition of Humanism — American Humanist Association: https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/definition-of-humanism/
• Humanist Manifesto III — American Humanist Association: https://americanhumanist.org/what-is-humanism/manifesto3/
• What is Humanism? — Humanists UK overview: https://humanists.uk/humanism/
• Introduction to Humanism — Understanding Humanism (Humanists UK education site): https://understandinghumanism.org.uk/what-is-humanism/introduction/

• Podcast: Humanize Me (Bart Campolo) - https://humanizemepodcast.com/
• Podcast: What I Believe (Humanists UK) - https://humanists.uk/what-i-believe/
• Podcast: Humanism Now - https://www.humanise.live/our-shows/

Every faith leaves fingerprints: some beautiful, some bruising.

In this episode, we gently unpack the complex relationship many of us have with the religion we grew up in. For those who’ve stepped away from belief, but still feel its echoes, this conversation offers space to reflect, honour, grieve, and rebuild.

We explore:

• How religion shaped our identity, morality, and relationships
• What we chose to carry with us after leaving and why
• What we had to unlearn to reclaim our own sense of self
• How to hold both reverence and rejection in the same hand
• A humanist lens for meaning-making, purpose, and moral clarity

This isn’t about throwing everything away.

It’s about choosing with intention.

And finding new ways to live good, walk good, without guilt, fear, or dogma.

• What parts of your upbringing still live in you?
• What have you lovingly released?
• How do you want to define your moral and spiritual compass now?

📖 Try the practice:

Write a “thank you and goodbye” letter to your childhood religion: what it gave, what it took, and what you’re reclaiming.

• Quote: All About Love: New Visions (2000). bell hooks. “Love is an action, never simply a feeling.”
• The shift from divine purpose to human-centered meaning-making

If this episode resonated, share it with someone who’s also navigating life after faith.

Send in your reflections or voice notes for future episodes, anonymously or with your name. I’d love to hear your story.

👉 Follow the podcast, leave a review, and keep walking with us.

Because the path is still good, even if it’s not the one you started on.