500 MB Nyheder Direkte fra Internet 5/500 MB nyheder direkte fra internet CD 5.iso/start/progs/text/14a.txt

Text File | 1995-06-07 | 33KB | 563 lines

Humanist Manifestoes I & II --
Replacing America's Traditional Philosophical Foundations

   Publisher's Note: Leaders of the American Humanist Association (AHA),
publishers of the _Humanist Manifestoes I and II_, have been heavily
involved with Americans United (AU) since the founding of the
organization. Research reveals that at least 10 signers of the Humanist
Manifesto II have served on the executive staff or governing board of
Americans United. Leaders of the AHA have also been heavily involved
with numerous other Left wing organizations such as the American Civil
Liberties Union and the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights to cite
two examples.

   Printed below are both the _Humanist Manifestoes I and II_. They are
the foundational social policy statements of the religion/philosophy
known as "Humanism." In today's "post- Christian era," these Manifestoes
represent the increasingly predominant philosophical world view being
thrust upon American society. Humanism rejects God, places man at the
center of the universe and is clearly hostile toward biblical
Christianity.

   Humanists and the AHA are among the strongest supporters of
separation of church and state in the American political arena.  As
readers will see, policy statement nine of the _Humanist Manifesto II_
reveals the AHA's twisted interpretation of the concept of separation of
church and state. However, statement nine goes far beyond just
advocating a separation of God from government -- it advocates the
separation of all Christian ideology from the state and ultimately the
establishment of a totally secular society (See Paul Blanchard's
comments Chart #5).

   I would venture to say that most Christians have never read the
_Humanist Manifestoes_. Every Christian who values their faith and
religious liberty, should.

HUMANIST MANIFESTO I

   _The Manifesto is a product of many minds. It was designed to represent
a developing point of view, not a new creed. The individuals whose
signatures appear, would, had they been writing individual statements,
have stated the propositions in differing terms. The importance of the
document is that more than thirty men have come to general agreement on
matters of final concern and that these men are undoubtedly
representative of a large number who are forging a new philosophy out of
the materials of the modern world_.
                    -- Raymond B. Bragg (1933)

   The time has come for widespread recognition of the radical changes in
religious beliefs throughout the modern world. The time is past for mere
revision of traditional attitudes. Science and economic change have
disrupted the old beliefs. Religions the world over are under the
necessity of coming to terms with new conditions created by a vastly
increased knowledge and experience. In every field of human activity,
the vital movement is now in the direction of a candid and explicit
humanism. In order that religious humanism may be better understood we,
the undersigned, desire to make certain affirmations, which we believe
the facts of our contemporary life demonstrate.

   There is great danger of a final, and we believe fatal, identification
of the word religion with doctrines and methods which have lost their
significance and which are powerless to solve the problem of human
living in the Twentieth Century. Religions have always been means for
realizing the highest values of life. Their end has been accomplished
through the interpretation of the total environing situation (theology
or world view), the sense of values resulting therefrom (goal or ideal),
and the technique (cult) established for realizing the satisfactory
life. A change in any of these factors results in alteration of the
outward forms of religion. This fact explains the changefulness of
religions through the centuries. But through all changes religion itself
remains constant in its quest for abiding values, an inseparable feature
of human life.

   Today man's larger understanding of the universe, his scientific
achievements, and his deeper appreciation of brotherhood have created a
situation which requires a new statement of the means and purposes of
religion. Such a vital, fearless, and frank religion capable of
furnishing adequate social goals and personal satisfactions may appear
to many people as a complete break with the past. While this age does
owe a vast debt to traditional religions, it is nonetheless obvious that
any religion that can hope to be a synthesizing and dynamic force for
today must be shaped for the needs of this age. To establish such a
religion is a major necessity of the present. It is a responsibility
which rests upon this generation. We therefore affirm the following:

FIRST: Religious humanists regard the universe as self existing and not
   created.

SECOND: Humanism believes that man is a part of nature and that he has
   emerged as the result of a continuous process.

THIRD: Holding an organic view of life, humanists find that the
   traditional dualism of mind and body must be rejected.

FOURTH: Humanism recognizes that man's religious culture and
   civilization, as clearly depicted by anthropology and history, are
   the product of a gradual development due to his in interaction with
   his natural environment and with his social heritage. The individual
   born into a particular culture is largely molded to that culture.

FIFTH: Humanism asserts that the nature of the universe depicted by
   modern science makes unacceptable any supernatural or cosmic
   guarantees of human values. Obviously humanism does not deny the
   possibility of realities as yet undiscovered, but it does insist that
   the way to determine the existence and value of any and all realities
   is by means of intelligent inquiry and by the assessment of their
   relation to human needs. Religion must formulate its hopes and plans
   in the light of the scientific spirit and method.

SIXTH: We arc convinced that the time has passed for theism, deism,
   modernism, and the several varieties of "new thought."

SEVENTH: Religion consists of those actions, purposes, and experiences
   which are humanly significant. Nothing human is alien to the
   religious. It includes labor, art, science, philosophy, love,
   friendship, recreation -- all that is in its degree expressive of
   intelligently satisfying human living. The distinction between the
   sacred and the secular can no longer be maintained.

EIGHTH: Religious humanism considers the complete realization of human
   personality to be the end of man's life and seeks its development and
   fulfillment in the here and now. This is the explanation of the
   humanist's social passion.

NINTH: In place of the old attitudes involved in worship and prayer the
   humanist finds his religious emotions expressed in a heightened sense
   of personal life and in a cooperative effort to promote social well
   being.

TENTH: It follows that there will be no uniquely religious emotions and
   attitudes of the kind hitherto associated with belief in the
   supernatural.

ELEVENTH: Man will learn to face the crises of life in terms of his
   knowledge of their naturalness and probability. Reasonable and manly
   attitudes will be fostered by education and supported by custom. We
   assume that humanism will take the path of social and mental hygiene
   and discourage sentimental and unreal hopes and wishful thinking.

TWELFTH: Believing that religion must work increasingly for joy in
   living, religious humanists aim to foster the creative in man and to
   encourage achievements that add to the satisfactions of life.

THIRTEENTH: Religious humanism maintains that all associations and
   institutions exist for the fulfillment of human life. The intelligent
   evaluation, transformation, control, and direction of such
   associations and institutions with a view to the enhancement of human
   life is the purpose and program of humanism. Certainly religious
   institutions, their ritualistic forms, ecclesiastical methods, and
   communal activities must be reconstituted as rapidly as experience
   allows, in order to function effectively in the modern world.

FOURTEENTH: The humanists are firmly convinced that existing acquisitive
   and profit motivated society has shown itself to be inadequate and
   that a radical change in methods, controls, and motives must be
   instituted. A socialized and cooperative economic order must be
   established to the end that the equitable distribution of the means
   of life be possible. The goal of humanism is a free and universal
   society in which people voluntarily and intelligently cooperate for
   the common good. Humanists demand a shared life in a shared world.

FIFTEENTH AND LAST: We assert that humanism will: (a) affirm life rather
   than deny it; (b) seek to elicit the possibilities of life, not flee
   from them; and (c) endeavor to establish the conditions of a
   satisfactory life for all, not merely for the few. By this positive
   _morale_ and intention humanism will be guided, and from this
   perspective and alignment the techniques and efforts of humanism will
   flow.

   So stand the theses of religious humanism. Though we consider the
religious forms and ideas of our fathers no longer adequate, the quest
for the good life is still the central task for mankind. Man is at last
becoming aware that he alone is responsible for the realization of the
world of his dreams, that he has within himself the power for its
achievement. He must set intelligence and will to the task.

   _Humanist Manifesto I is now a historical document, superseded by
Humanist Manifesto II. Like the first, this second document does not
represent a binding creed or doctrine, but is merely a consensus
statement on social policy_.


HUMANIST MANIFESTO II

   The next century can be and should be the humanistic century.
Dramatic scientific, technological, and ever-accelerating social and
political changes crowd our awareness. We have virtually conquered the
planet, explored the moon, overcome the natural limits of travel and
communication; we stand at the dawn of a new age, ready to move farther
into space and perhaps inhabit other planets. Using technology wisely,
we can control our environment, conquer poverty, markedly reduce
disease, extend our lifespan, significantly modify our behavior, alter
the course of human evolution and cultural development, unlock vast new
powers, and provide humankind with unparalleled opportunity for
achieving an abundant and meaningful life.

   The future is, however, filled with dangers. In learning to apply the
scientific method to nature and human life, we have opened the door to
ecological damage, overpopulation, dehumanizing institutions,
totalitarian repression, and nuclear and biochemical disaster. Paced
with apocalyptic prophesies and doomsday scenarios, many flee in despair
from reason and embrace irrational cults and theologies of withdrawal
and retreat.

   Traditional moral codes and newer irrational cults both fail to meet
the pressing needs of today and tomorrow. False "theologies of hope" and
messianic ideologies, substituting new dogmas for old, cannot cope with
existing world realities. They separate rather than unite peoples.

   Humanity, to survive, requires bold and daring measures. We need to
extend the uses of scientific method, not renounce them, to fuse reason
with compassion in order to build constructive social and moral values.
Confronted by many possible futures, we must decide which to pursue. The
ultimate goal should be the fulfillment of the potential for growth in
each human personality -- not for the favored few, but for all of
humankind. Only a shared world and global measures will suffice.

   A humanist outlook will tap the creativity of each human being and
provide the vision and courage for us to work together. This outlook
emphasizes the role human beings can play in their own spheres of
action. The decades ahead call for dedicated, clear-minded men and women
able to marshal the will, intelligence, and cooperative skills for
shaping a desirable future. Humanism can provide the purpose and
inspiration that so many seek; it can give personal meaning and
significance to human life.

   Many kinds of humanism exist in the contemporary world. The varieties
and emphases of naturalistic humanism include "scientific," "ethical,"
"democratic," "religious," and "Marxist" humanism. Free thought,
atheism, agnosticism, skepticism, deism, rationalism, ethical culture,
and liberal religion all claim to be heir to the humanist tradition.
Humanism traces its roots from ancient China, classical Greece and Rome,
through the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, to the scientific
revolution of the modern world. But views that merely reject theism are
not equivalent to humanism. They lack commitment to the positive belief
in the possibilities of human progress and to the values central to it.
Many within religious groups, believing in the future of humanism, now
claim humanist credentials. Humanism is an ethical process through which
we all can move, above and beyond the divisive particulars, heroic
personalities, dogmatic creeds, and ritual customs of past religions or
their mere negation.

   We affirm a set of common principles that can serve as a basis for
united action -- positive principles relevant to the present human
condition. They are a design for a secular society on a planetary scale.

   For these reasons, we submit this new _Humanist Manifesto_ for the
future of humankind; for us, it is a vision of hope, a direction for
satisfying survival.

RELIGION

FIRST: In the best sense, religion may inspire dedication to the highest
   ethical ideals. The cultivation of moral devotion and creative
   imagination is an expression of genuine "spiritual" experience and
   aspiration.

   We believe, however, that traditional dogmatic or authoritarian
religions that place revelation, God, ritual, or creed above human needs
and experience do a disservice to the human species. Any account of
nature should pass the tests of scientific evidence; in our judgment,
the dogmas and myths of traditional religions do not do so. Even at this
late date in human history, certain elementary facts based upon the
critical use of scientific reason have to be restated. We find
insufficient evidence for belief in the existence of a supernatural; it
is either meaningless or irrelevant to the question of the survival and
fulfillment of the human race. As nontheists, we begin with humans not
God, nature not deity. Nature may indeed be broader and deeper than we
now know; any new discoveries, however, will but enlarge our knowledge
of the natural.

   Some humanists believe we should reinterpret traditional religions
and reinvest them with meanings appropriate to the current situation.
Such redefinitions, however, often perpetuate old dependencies and
escapisms; they easily become obscurantist, impeding the free use of the
intellect. We need, instead, radically new human purposes and goals.

   We appreciate the need to preserve the best ethical teachings in the
religious traditions of humankind, many of which we share in common. But
we reject those features of traditional religious morality that deny
humans a full appreciation of their own potentialities and
responsibilities. Traditional religions often offer solace to humans,
but, as often, they inhibit humans from helping themselves or
experiencing their full potentialities. Such institutions, creeds, and
rituals often impede the will to serve others. Too often traditional
faiths encourage dependence rather than independence, obedience rather
than affirmation, fear rather than courage. More recently they have
generated concerned social action, with many signs of relevance
appearing in the wake of the "God Is Dead" theologies. But we can
discover no divine purpose or providence for the human species. While
there is much that we do not know, humans are responsible for what we
are or will become. No deity will save us; we must save ourselves.

SECOND: Promises of immortal salvation or fear of eternal damnation are
   both illusory and harmful. They distract humans from present
   concerns, from self-actualization, and from rectifying social
   injustices. Modern science discredits such historic concepts as the
   "ghost in the machine" and the "separable soul." Rather, science
   affirms that the human species is an emergence from natural
   evolutionary forces. As far as we know, the total personality is a
   function of the biological organism transacting in a social and
   cultural context. There is no credible evidence that life survives
   the death of the body. We continue to exist in our progeny and in the
   way that our lives have influenced others in our culture.

   Traditional religions are surely not the only obstacles to human
progress. Other ideologies also impede human advance. Some forms of
political doctrine, for instance, function religiously, reflecting the
worst features of orthodoxy and authoritarianism, especially when they
sacrifice individuals on the altar of Utopian promises. Purely economic
and political viewpoints, whether capitalist or communist, often
function as religious and ideological dogma. Although humans undoubtedly
need economic and political goals, they also need creative values by
which to live.

ETHICS

THIRD: We affirm that moral values derive their source from human
   experience. Ethics is _autonomous_ and _situational_, needing no
   theological or ideological sanction. Ethics stems from human need and
   interest. To deny this distorts the whole basis of life. Human life
   has meaning because we create and develop our futures. Happiness and
   the creative realization of human needs and desires, individually and
   in shared enjoyment, are continuous themes of humanism. We strive for
   the good life, here and now. The goal is to pursue life's enrichment
   despite debasing forces of vulgarization, commercialization,
   bureaucratization, and dehumanization.

FOURTH: _Reason and intelligence_ are the most effective instruments
   that humankind possesses. There is no substitute: neither faith nor
   passion suffices in itself. The controlled use of scientific methods,
   which have transformed the natural and social sciences since the
   Renaissance, must be extended further in the solution of human
   problems. But reason must be tempered by humility, since no group has
   a monopoly of wisdom or virtue. Nor is there any guarantee that all
   problems can be solved or all questions answered. Yet critical
   intelligence, infused by a sense of human caring, is the best method
   that humanity has for resolving problems. Reason should be balanced
   with compassion and empathy and the whole person fulfilled. Thus, we
   are not advocating the use of scientific intelligence independent of
   or in opposition to emotion, for we believe in the cultivation of
   feeling and love. As science pushes back the boundary of the known,
   man's sense of wonder is continually renewed, and art, poetry, and
   music find their places, along with religion and ethics.

THE INDIVIDUAL

FIFTH: _The preciousness and dignity of the individual person_ is a
   central humanist value. Individuals should be encouraged to realize
   their own creative talents and desires. We reject all religious,
   ideological, or moral codes that denigrate the individual, suppress
   freedom, dull intellect, dehumanize personality. We believe in
   maximum individual autonomy consonant with social responsibility.
   Although science can account for the causes of behavior, the
   possibilities of individual _freedom of choice_ exist in human life and
   should be increased.

SIXTH: In the area of sexuality, we believe that intolerant attitudes,
   often cultivated by orthodox religions and puritanical cultures,
   unduly repress sexual conduct. The right to birth control, abortion,
   and divorce should be recognized. While we do not approve of
   exploitive, denigrating forms of sexual expression, neither do we
   wish to prohibit, by law or social sanction, sexual behavior between
   consenting adults. The many varieties of sexual exploration should
   not in themselves be considered "evil." Without countenancing
   mindless permissiveness or unbridled promiscuity, a civilized society
   should be a _tolerant_ one. Short of harming others or compelling them
   to do likewise, individuals should be permitted to express their
   sexual proclivities and pursue their life styles as they desire. We
   wish to cultivate the development of a responsible attitude toward
   sexuality, in which humans are not exploited as sexual objects, and
   in which intimacy, sensitivity, respect, and honesty in interpersonal
   relations are encouraged. Moral education for children and adults is
   an important way of developing awareness and sexual maturity.

DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY

SEVENTH: To enhance freedom and dignity the individual must experience a
   full range of _civil liberties_ in all societies. This includes
   freedom of speech and the press, political democracy, the legal right
   of opposition to governmental policies, fair judicial process,
   religious liberty, freedom of association, and artistic, scientific,
   and cultural freedom. It also includes a recognition of an
   individual's right to die with dignity, euthanasia, and the right to
   suicide. We oppose the increasing invasion of privacy, by whatever
   means, in both totalitarian and democratic societies. We would
   safeguard, extend, and implement the principles of human freedom
   evolved from the _Magna Carta_ to the _Bill of Rights_, the _Rights
   of Man_, and the _Universal Declaration of Human Rights_.

EIGHTH: We are committed to an open and democratic society. We must
   extend _participatory democracy_ in its true sense to the economy, the
   school, the family, the workplace, and voluntary associations.
   Decision making must be decentralized to include widespread
   involvement of people at all levels -- social, political, and
   economic. All persons should have a voice in developing the values
   and goals that determine their lives. Institutions should be
   responsive to expressed desires and needs. The conditions of work,
   education, devotion, and play should be humanized. Alienating forces
   should be modified or eradicated and bureaucratic structures should
   be held to a minimum. People are more important than decalogues,
   rules, proscriptions, or regulations.

NINTH: _The separation of church and state and the separation of ideology
   and state are imperatives_. The state should encourage maximum freedom
   for different moral, political, religious, and social values in
   society. It should not favor any particular religious bodies through
   the use of public monies, nor espouse a single ideology and function
   thereby as an instrument of propaganda or oppression, particularly
   against dissenters.

TENTH: Humane societies should evaluate economic systems not by rhetoric
   or ideology, but by whether or not they _increase economic
   well-being_ for all individuals and groups, minimize poverty and
   hardship, increase the sum of human satisfaction, and enhance the
   quality of life. Hence the door is open to alternative economic
   systems. We need to democratize the economy and judge it by its
   responsiveness to human needs, testing results in terms of the common
   good.


ELEVENTH: _The principle of moral equality_ must be furthered through
   elimination of all discrimination based upon race, religion, sex,
   age, or national origin. This means equality of opportunity and
   recognition of talent and merit. Individuals should be encouraged to
   contribute to their own betterment. If unable, then society should
   provide means to satisfy their basic economic, health, and cultural
   needs, including, wherever resources make possible, a minimum
   guaranteed annual income. We are concerned for the welfare of the
   aged, the infirm, the disadvantaged, and also for the outcasts -- the
   mentally retarded, abandoned, or abused children, the handicapped,
   prisoners, and addicts -- for _all_ who are neglected or ignored by
   society. Practicing humanists should make it their vocation to
   humanize personal relations.

   We believe in the _right to universal education_. Everyone has a right
to the cultural opportunity to fulfill his or her unique capacities and
talents. The schools should foster satisfying and productive living.
They should be open at all levels to any and all; the achievement of
excellence should be encouraged. Innovative and experimental forms of
education are to be welcomed. The energy and idealism of the young
deserve to be appreciated and channeled to constructive purposes.

   We deplore racial, religious, ethnic, or class antagonisms. Although
we believe in cultural diversity and encourage racial and ethnic pride,
we reject separations which promote alienation and set people and groups
against each other; we envision an _integrated_ community where people
have a maximum opportunity for free and voluntary association.

   We are critical of _sexism or sexual chauvinism_ -- male or female. We
believe in equal rights for both women and men to fulfill their unique
careers and potentialities as they see fit, free of invidious
discrimination.

WORLD COMMUNITY

TWELFTH: We deplore the division of humankind on nationalistic grounds.
   We have reached a turning point in human history where the best
   option is to _transcend the limits of national sovereignty_ and to move
   toward the building of a world community in which all sectors of the
   human family can participate. Thus we look to the development of a
   system of world law and a world order based upon transnational
   federal government. This would appreciate cultural pluralism and
   diversity. It would not exclude pride in national origins and
   accomplishments nor the handling of regional problems on a regional
   basis. Human progress, however, can no longer be achieved by focusing
   on one section of the world, Western or Eastern, developed or
   underdeveloped. For the first time in human history, no part of
   humankind can be isolated from any other. Each person's future is in
   some way linked to all. We thus reaffirm a commitment to the building
   of world community, at the same time recognizing that this commits us
   to some hard choices.

THIRTEENTH: This world community must _renounce the resort to violence
   and force_ as a method of solving international disputes. We believe
   in the peaceful adjudication of differences by international courts
   and by the development of the arts of negotiation and compromise. War
   is obsolete. So is the use of nuclear, biological, and chemical
   weapons. It is a planetary imperative to reduce the level of military
   expenditures and turn these savings to peaceful and people-oriented
   uses.

FOURTEENTH: The world community must engage in _cooperative planning_
   concerning the use of rapidly depleting resources. The planet earth
   must be considered a single ecosystem. Ecological damage, resource
   depletion, and excessive population growth must be checked by
   international concord. The cultivation and conservation of nature is
   a moral value; we should perceive ourselves as integral to the
   sources of our being in nature. We must free our world from needless
   pollution and waste, responsibly guarding and creating wealth, both
   natural and human. Exploitation of natural resources, uncurbed by
   social conscience, must end.

FIFTEENTH: The problems of _economic growth and development_ can no longer
   be resolved by one nation alone; they are worldwide in scope. It is
   the moral obligation of the developed nations to provide -- through
   an international authority that safeguards human rights -- massive
   technical, agricultural, medical, and economic assistance, including
   birth control techniques, to the developing portions of the globe.
   World poverty must cease. Hence extreme disproportions in wealth,
   income, and economic growth should be reduced on a worldwide basis.

SIXTEENTH: _Technology is a vital key_ to human progress and development.
   We deplore any neo-romantic efforts to condemn indiscriminately all
   technology and science or to counsel retreat from its further
   extension and use for the good of humankind. We would resist any
   moves to censor basic scientific research on moral, political, or
   social grounds. Technology must, however, be carefully judged by the
   consequences of its use; harmful and destructive changes should be
   avoided. We are particularly disturbed when technology and
   bureaucracy control, manipulate, or modify human beings without their
   consent. Technological feasibility does not imply social or cultural
   desirability.

SEVENTEENTH: We must expand communication and transportation across
   frontiers. Travel restrictions must cease. The world must be open to
   diverse political, ideological, and moral viewpoints and evolve a
   worldwide system of television and radio for information and
   education. We thus call for full international cooperation in
   culture, science, the arts, and technology _across ideological
   borders_. We must learn to live openly together or we shall perish
   together.

HUMANITY AS A WHOLE

   IN CLOSING: The world cannot wait for a reconciliation of competing
political or economic systems to solve its problems. These are the times
for men and women of goodwill to further the building of a peaceful and
prosperous world. We urge that parochial loyalties and inflexible moral
and religious ideologies be transcended. We urge recognition of the
common humanity of all people. We further urge the use of reason and
compassion to produce the kind of world we want -- a world in which
peace, prosperity, freedom, and happiness are widely shared. Let us not
abandon that vision in despair or cowardice. We are responsible for what
we are or will be. Let us work together for a humane world by means
commensurate with humane ends. Destructive ideological differences among
communism, capitalism, socialism, conservatism, liberalism, and
radicalism should be overcome. Let us call for an end to terror and
hatred. We will survive and prosper only in a world of shared humane
values. We can initiate new directions for humankind; ancient rivalries
can be superseded by broad-based cooperative efforts. The commitment to
tolerance, understanding, and peaceful negotiation does not necessitate
acquiescence to the status quo nor the damming up of dynamic and
revolutionary forces. The true revolution is occurring and can continue
in countless nonviolent adjustments. But this entails the willingness to
step forward onto new and expanding plateaus. At the present juncture of
history, commitment to all humankind is the highest commitment of which
we are capable; it transcends the narrow allegiances of church, state,
party, class, or race in moving toward a wider vision of human
potentiality. What more daring a goal for humankind than for each person
to become, in ideal as well as practice, a citizen of a world community.
It is a classical vision; we can now give it new vitality. Humanism thus
interpreted is a moral force that has time on its side. We believe that
humankind has the potential intelligence, goodwill, and cooperative
skill to implement this commitment in the decades ahead.

   We, the undersigned, while not necessarily endorsing every detail of
the above, pledge our general support to _Humanist Manifesto II_ for the
future of humankind. These affirmations are not a final credo or dogma
but an expression of a living and growing faith. We invite others in all
lands to join us in further developing and working for these goals.

(c) 1973 by The Humanist