This bit taken from the last NYT opinion piece written by David Brooks in his column.

I couldn’t agree more.

Let’s reject the nihilism of the many leaders at home and around the world with their small minds and authoritarian tendencies and choose humanism instead. I’m for the humanists.

And thank you, Mr. Brooks.

“True humanism, by contrast, is the antidote to nihilism. Humanism is anything that upholds the dignity of each person.

Antigone trying to bury her brother to preserve the family honor, Lincoln rebinding the nation in his second Inaugural Address, Martin Luther King Jr. writing that letter from the Birmingham jail — those are examples of humanism.

Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs singing “Fast Car” at the Grammys — that’s humanism.

These are examples of people trying to inspire moral motivations, pursue justice and move people to become better versions of themselves.

…

It is any endeavor that deepens our understanding of the human heart, any effort to realize eternal spiritual values in our own time and circumstances, any gesture that makes other people feel seen, heard and respected. Sometimes it feels as if all of society is a vast battleground between the forces of dehumanization on the one side — rabid partisanship, social media, porn, bigotry — and the beleaguered forces of humanization on the other.”