What is Humanism? (Part 1)

On my previous post (Going to war...), a blogger named Luke commented on several things I had said. Luke is a very interesting young Navy soldier, currently serving in Kuwait (I believe). He's a thoughtful, insightful, mostly open-minded, and intelligent young man with his own blog, which can be found here. Although he is a self-proclaimed Christian, he does not appear to be enmeshed in the fundamentalist, rigid interpretations of Christianity that are espoused by people like Pat Robertson and our current President. In fact, in some ways, Luke's blog shows him to be a progressive thinker - which is quite refreshing. Therefore, I believe we can have a productive and reasonable conversation on these issues, and I hope it will interest others as well.

In reading Luke's most recent response, I noted that there were actually a couple of different issues that provided a good foundation for further discussion, but that it would require separating the different topics to keep things focused. So I'm going to use several segments of Luke's comments as starting points for new posts, which will enable us to actually have several conversations on the different aspects of the original conversation.

I'm starting with the question above because as Luke admits, he has only a generalized understanding of what Humanism is about. I think that it's important to explore this further, as many people have a general lack of knowledge about Humanism, or know it only by the definitions and labels it's been given by it's detractors.

Humanism, like so many other philosophies and religions, has many aspects to it. Furthermore, Humanism is dynamic and ever-changing - not in it's core principles, but in it's interpretation and application. This is exemplified most clearly by the fact that the Humanist Manifesto itself has changed over the course of the last 75 years (see Humanist Manifesto I published in 1933, HM II published in 1973, and the more recent HM 2000).

The fact that there are so many versions of the Manifesto speaks to the dynamic nature of Humanism, and also helps explain why Humanism is in a state of evolution (just like humanity). Put simply, as the world changes, as humanity learns and grows, so too must Humanism change, learn, and grow. As a religion or religious philosophy (and there is some debate whether or not Humanism is, or can be, a religion), I think the one thing that distinguishes Humanism most from all other traditional religions is not just that it does not rely on "revealed" truths or mysticism, but perhaps even more because it does flow and change over time.

Most traditional religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc.) have been following the same tenets and core principles/values since their inception thousands of years ago. They cannot, by their very nature (based upon revelation and alleged "divine" orders) adapt to the modern world. This is primarily because accepting that the rules laid down all those millennia ago do not apply to today's society would open the door to doubt about the validity of all the claims those religions make - such as the existence of any supernatural deity at all. Doubt, of course, is the antithesis of faith, and since these religions maintain their prominence on the basis of faith - often of blind faith - they cannot afford to do anything that might foster doubt among their followers.

So what are some of the core principles of Humanism? Well, I could save myself a lot of typing and just point you to the various Manifestos, or tell you to read books by authors like Carl Sagan, Steven Hawking, and Richard Dawkins (to name just a few), or send you to read through the American Humanist Association website. But while all those resources are useful in gaining a general understanding of Humanism, it is important to remember that Humanism is as unique as the individual Humanist. Each of us has our own interpretation of the core values, and therefore when I answer that question, I must answer it from my own perspective rather than from some generic overview.

In the second part of this series on Humanism, I will talk about my journey from devout Catholic to devout Humanist. In the third part, I will talk about my personal views on Humanism - what it is, what it's core values are, why I agree with it, and how I implement it in my daily life.