Secular humanism
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Secular humanism is an active lifestance that holds a naturalisic worldview and advocates the use of reason, compassion, scientific inquiry, ethics, justice and equality.
"Secular humanism" is distinguished from the broader "humanism" in that the secular Humanist prefers free inquiry over dogma wisdom—upholding the scientific method for inquiry, while rejecting "revealed knowledge" and theistic morality, though not necessarily faith. Secular humanism has appeal to athiests, agnostics, freethinkers, rationalists, skeptics, and materialists. Its basic tenets may be simplified as:
- Humans have value and can solve human problems
- Science, free speech, rational thought, democracy, and freedom in the arts go together
- There is nothing supernatural
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Secular Humanism Today
Secular humanism is appealing to a growing cross section of population around the world. Over the past 30 years from 1970 to 2000, is a clear increase in the number of people around the world are listing 'of no religion' as their theistic choice. Secular humanism organizations are found in all parts of the earth: India, China, Australia, Europe, North America, etc.. Special days for secular humanists are the summer and winter solstices and more recently, Charles Darwin's Birthday, commonly referred to as Darwin Day.
In certain areas of the world, secular humanism often finds itself in conflict with religious fundamentalism especially over the issue of the separation of church and state. Secular humanists tend to see religious fundamentalists as superstitious, regressive and close minded. Fundamentalists believe secular humanism as a threat (nonbelievers) as outlined in books such as the Bible and the Qur'an.
Modern and Historical References
The term secularism was created in 1846 by George Jacob Holyoake in order to describe "a form of opinion which concerns itself only with questions, the issues of which can be tested by the experience of this life."
The earliest use of the phrase "secular humanism" was in the Supreme Court case Torcaso v. Watkins. In the 1961 decision, Justice Hugo Black commented in a footnote, "Among religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism, and others." Such footnotes, known as "dicta," are simply the personal observations of the judge, and hence are only incidental to reaching the opinion. It was later clarified by the court that the term does not refer to a religion.
The term was seized upon by religious fundamentalists, often to cast humanists as anti-religious.
By the 1970's the term was embraced by humanists who, although critical of religion in its various guises, were delibrately non-religious, as opposed to anti-religious, which means that it has nothing to do with spiritual, religious, or ecclesiastical doctrines, beliefs, or power structures. This understanding of secular Humanism is the most common today.
Historical, and possibly infrequent academic usage of secular Humanism, is related to the writings of Pre-Socratic philosophers. These writings were lost to obscurity until Renaissance scholars rediscovered and translated them into modern language. Thus the term "humanist" can mean a humanities scholar (who may be hostile to Secular Humanism and the The Enlightenment), Renaissance intellectuals, and those who have agreement with the Pre-Socratics.
Notable secular humanists
Some notable secular humanists are
- Steve Allen
- Isaac Asimov
- Richard Dawkins
- E. M. Forster
- Julian Huxley
- Paul Kurtz
- Corliss Lamont [1] (http://www.corliss-lamont.org/)
- Taslima Nasrin [2] (http://www.secularhumanism.org/nasrin/)
- Gene Roddenberry
- Bertrand Russell
- Carl Sagan
- Charles Schultz
- Michael Shermer
- Kurt Vonnegut
- Ibn Warraq
Secular humanism manifestos
There are now ten Humanist Manifestos and Declarations:
- Humanist Manifesto I (http://www.americanhumanist.org/about/manifesto1.html) (1933)
- Humanist Manifesto II (http://www.americanhumanist.org/about/manifesto2.html) (1973)
- A Secular Humanist Declaration (http://www.secularhumanism.org/intro/declaration.html) (1980)
- A Declaration of Interdependence (http://www.iheu.org/modules/wfsection/article.php?page=1&articleid=281#globalethics) (1988)
- IHEU Minimum Statement on Humanism (http://www.iheu.org/modules/wfsection/article.php?page=1&articleid=6) (1996)
- HUMANISM: Why, What, and What For, In 882 Words (http://MHEC.humanists.net/HUMNISM.HTM) (1996)
- Humanist Manifesto 2000: A Call for a New Planetary Humanism (http://www.secularhumanism.org/manifesto/index.htm) (2000) condensed version
- The Affirmations of Humanism: A Statement of Principles (http://www.secularhumanism.org/intro/affirmations.html)
- Amsterdam Declaration (http://humaniststudies.org/humphil.html) (July 2002)
- Humanist Manifesto III (Humanism And Its Aspirations) (http://www.americanhumanist.org/3/HumandItsAspirations.htm) (2003)
See also
Humanist and related organizations
- American Atheists
- American Humanist Association
- Camp Quest
- Campus Freethought Alliance
- Center for Inquiry
- Church of Life
- Coalition for the Community of Reason
- Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal
- Council for Secular Humanism (formerly CODESH)
- Freedom From Religion Foundation
- Godless Americans PAC (political action committee)
- Institute for Humanist Studies
- Internet Infidels
- Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers
- National Center for Science Education
- Quackwatch
- Scouting for All
- Skeptics Society
- Secular Student Alliance
- Secular Web
- World Transhumanist Association
Related philosophies
- Empiricism
- Epicureanism
- Extropianism
- Freethought
- Humanism
- Philosophical naturalism
- Rationalism
- Religious humanism
- Transhumanism
External links
- British Humanist Association (http://www.humanism.org.uk/)
- Council for Secular Humanism (formerly CODESH) (http://www.secularhumanism.org/)
- "What is secular humanism?" (http://www.secularhumanism.org/intro/what.html) Introduction from the publishers of Free Inquiry magazine
- The American Humanist Association (http://www.americanhumanist.org/)
- The Humanist (http://www.thehumanist.org/) (magazine)
- The Humanist Association of Canada (http://canada.humanists.net/)
- Humanist in Canada (http://www.humanists.net/hic/) (magazine)
- International Humanist and Ethical Union (http://www.iheu.org/)
- International Humanist News is also available at www.iheu.org.
- International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organisation (http://www.iheyo.org/)
- The Institute for Humanist Studies (http://www.humaniststudies.org/)
- 10 Points of Humanism: A Definition (http://www.ihumanism.org/intro/10points.html) from The Philosophy of Humanism (http://www.corliss-lamont.org/philos8.htm) by Corliss Lamont
- The History and Philosophy of Humanism (http://www.freeinquiry.com/humanism-uu.html) - Speech given by Steven D. Schafersman in Oxford, Ohio (September 24, 1995)
- Site of the Romanian association Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience - Romanian/ English (http://www.humanism.ro)
- ecularhumanism (http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/secular_humanism.html)
- Nanovirus (http://www.TheSystemHasYou.com): a humanist perspective on technology, politics and culture
- Humanist Youth: Ireland (http://www.geocities.com/HumanistYouth): Irish youth group, site regularly updated.de:Humanismus