Dear JGN I totally agree with your statement that "Believe in the basic goodness of all human beings". There is no contradiction with beleiving God with this idea. Actually Vedanta in Hinduism tells you to that Brahman (not Brahmin) is inside you, which is infinite goodness, infinite purity, infinite love. And to reach God in Hinduism is to reach this state by self realization. You don't have to worship a deity to do that, but worshiping deity doesn't harm, if you see in it the manifestation of these qualities. Swami Vivekananda's writings on Vedanta clearly states these ideas couple of centuries ago before Dr. Brooks.
