Humanism Symbol HUMANISM

Types of Humanism

In the religious arena, many words have a number of different meanings. Some examples are: Christian, cults, Humanist, pagan, Satanist, Witch and Witchcraft. The terms Humanism and Humanist are essentially meaningless when used by themselves; their meanings only become clear when preceded by an adjective, as in: This page will deal with Modern Humanism.

Humanist Beliefs and Practices

Is Humanism a Religion?

The most widely used meaning of the word religion is probably the belief that a God or Gods exist who created the world, who is/are to be worshipped, and who is/are responsible for creating ethical and behavioral codes. In that context, Humanism is definitely not a religion, and would not be perceived as one by many people. Humanists do not generally believe in a supreme deity or deities, demons, ghosts, angels, in a supernatural world, in heaven and hell, or in a divinely ordained ethical code for humans to follow. Most would regard God as a creation of mankind rather than the reverse.

Religious Humanism has been loosely defined as religion with matters of faith and traditional belief deleted. Replacing these factors is a belief in humanity as the highest known form of intelligent life, and a belief in the scientific method as the best way to determine truth.

Many Secular Humanists feel that the role of religion throughout history has been so profoundly negative, that the word "religion" should not be connected to their philosophy.

Conflicts over Secularism in the Schools

Conservative Christians sometimes complain that Humanism is really the official religion of the public educational system. They feel that the traditional wall of separation between church and state has been breached, and that Humanism has taken over the public schools. This is not an accurate view. The percentage of adults in North America that consider themselves Christian is about 85%; this is probably reflected in the religious beliefs of the teachers and others in the school system.

The public school systems base their courses on a secular or non-religious foundation. In most subjects, like mathematics, reading, writing, physics, chemistry etc, this does not present a problem. In human sexuality education, geology, sociology, history, etc the secular approach conflicts greatly with conservative Christian theology. For example, a non-religious approach to human sexuality would make use of the latest findings in sexual orientation; they would teach that bisexuality, heterosexuality and homosexuality as natural human variations. Liberal religious groups, like Reform and Reconstructist Judaism, the United Church of Christ, United Church of Canada etc also take a secular approach to this subject. Conservative Christians interpret the Bible as condemning homosexual behaviour as a sin. They would thus regard it as a moral perversion and are eager that it be taught as such. Mainline Christian denominations hold views which are intermediate between conservative and liberal groups, and are drifting towards the "left".

US Public Schools are required to base their curriculum on secularism because of the rule of separation of church and state. Humanism is also based on a secular view of the universe for philosophical reasons. Many mainline and liberal religious groups take secular views in many areas, ranging from human sexuality to geology. Thus public schools are not Humanist any more than they follow the lead of the United Churches. The are simply secular.

Ethical Behaviour Without a Belief in God

Many people feel that ethical and moral behaviour must be based on the absolute teachings found with the Christian Bible. Without a belief in the Christian God, the hope of heaven and the threat of hell, they believe that an individual will not be motivated to behave decently. This belief was seen in a US military policy in past decades which only gave conscientious objector status to persons who believed in a God.

Humanists have successfully developed moral and ethical systems which are independent of divine revelation from a deity. They are based upon such beliefs as:

Famous Humanists

A short list taken from the text of a talk (1) by Frederick Edwords, (⌐ Copyright 1989 by Frederick Edwords) the Executive Director of the American Humanist Association includes:

Useful Books on Humanism

The following books are believed to be in print as of 1996-MAY. They are published by Prometheus Books (unless otherwise noted):

Humanist Resources on the Internet

Many Humanists contribute to the Atheist, freethinker and secular WWW sites. Some uniquely Humanist resources are:
  1. The text of a speech by Frederick Edwords, Executive Director of the American Humanist Association is at: http://www.jcn.com/humanism.html
  2. The American Humanist Association has a home page which includes FAQ, a list of Presidents of the AHA, essays, songs, and a selection of procedures for special life occasions, such as child dedication, weddings, and funerals. See: http://freethought.tamu.edu/org/aha/
  3. A Humanist page which contains lists of: is at: http://purcell.ecn.purdue.edu/~willey/humanism/humanism.html
  4. The Afro-Americans for Humanism promote Humanism within the black community. See: http://freethought.tamu.edu/aah/
  5. # Humanism has a home page containing FAQ, quotations and many hyperlinks. See: http://home.earthlink.net/~dluntsford/
  6. The text of the first Humanist Manifesto (1933) can be read at: http://freethought.tamu.edu/org/aha/manifest1.html
  7. The text of the second Humanist Manifesto (1973) can be read at: http://freethought.tamu.edu/org/aha/manifest2.html

Return to the OCRT home page; return to the Descriptions of Religions page.