Realism

Being realistic (life is what it is) does not mean being nihilistic (nothing really matters). Being a humanist entails acknowledging the importance of social ethics, social justice, environmentalism. A humanist must be realistic in assessing those things in life which improve the quality of life and those things which deplete quality of life. As I have said often, it isn't all good. It it were all good (the contemporary flipping of nihilist thought into a positive affirmation), there would be no need for progressive change. 

Nihilism is convenient for materialists, hedonists and capitalists. By leveling everything and every behavior into a flat-line ethical framework, the cut-throat and selfish need feel no ethical qualms or sense of responsibility to others. Why pay taxes? Why respect the needs of others, if they stand in the way of what I want? Why defer my own pleasure in order to help others?

Some young atheists are drawn to nihilist justification of their lack of religious belief. They resent any notion of good vs. bad. This is not progressive. It is as ancient as religion itself. It is simply a way of rationalizing behaviors which are self-serving at the expense of others. 

Religion does not have a monopoly on ethical behavior. Being an atheist and a humanist with a commitment to a daily practice of education, mindfulness and compassion is an ethical lifestyle. It requires no supervisory deities. It requires no catechism or Torah or Qur'an, though extracting wisdom from these documents need cause no harm to a widely  informed mind. Doing to others as you would have them do to you is a good start. This is a realistic way of being a good person without submitting to the psychological domination of patriarchal religion.