Humanism

from "The Humanist Alternative"

"The present century [1973] has been proclaimed as the Humanist century - the century in which anti-Humanist illusions inherited from previous ages have been seriously questioned and shattered. Humanism has historic roots in human civilization; yet it is only in recent times that these have begun to bear fruit. Using the powerful critical tools of science and logical analysis, modern man now recognizes that the universe has no special human meaning or purpose and that man is not a special product of creation. Anthropocentrism has been at last laid to rest. Modern man now realizes that he is responsible in large measure for his own destiny. Living on a minor planet on the edge of a small galaxy in a vast universe, man has come to see that he cannot look outside himself for salvation. His future, if he has any, is within his control."

"But events are moving so rapidly that what is now at stake is the very survival of the human species itself. Science has emancipated man from the bondage of dogmatic religous mythology and it has provided him with instruments for remaking and reordering his life, improving and enhancing it immeasurably. But whether he will be able to create a new and better world with vision and daring, or will destroy himself in the process is the real option that he now faces. The Humanist alternative offers him a realistic appraisal of the human condition and the promise of ameliorating it."

"Humanism thus provides a critique of alienating and depersonalizing tendencies, whether the source is religion, ideology, bureaucracy or technology."

"To most Christians immorality is a sin that ought to be a crime. In theory it may include almost any act of commision or ommision, but the New Tesament and convention have combined to equate it with a sexual pecadillo. Humanists respond first of all by saying that this is too narrow and too trivial an assesment. There are more important ethical concerns than sexual lapses; cruelty, greed, intolerance, slander, intrustworthiness. Nor do Humanists neccessarily accept the culpability pronouncements of Christians in sexual fields."

"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."Humanist Manifesto

There is a common element to all religious experience, although it is seldom found in a pure form. Einstein calls it "cosmic religious feeling." He says of such cosmic religious feeling that "it is very difficult to elucidate this feeling to anyone who is entirely without it, especially as there is no anthropomorphic conception of God corresponding to it." Einstein's Writings on Science and Religion

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