Who is a Secular Humanist? (4 Viewers)

[Cookie182]

I'm not the greatest fan of labels, yet I would say that the general precepts of Secular Humanism accurately reflect my life stance. A simple thread, I'm wondering who else on BOS would identify with the title and hoping to start a general discussion thread.

Note, Secular Humanism is an atheistic stance- this thread IS NOT another "does god exist thread" that has been debated to the bone elsewhere, please keep those arguments astray.

 

[Cookie182]

What is Secular Humanism?

Secular Humanism is a term which has come into use in the last thirty years to describe a world view with the following elements and principles:

A conviction that dogmas, ideologies and traditions, whether religious, political or social, must be weighed and tested by each individual and not simply accepted on faith.
Commitment to the use of critical reason, factual evidence, and scientific methods of inquiry, rather than faith and mysticism, in seeking solutions to human problems and answers to important human questions.
A primary concern with fulfillment, growth, and creativity for both the individual and humankind in general.
A constant search for objective truth, with the understanding that new knowledge and experience constantly alter our imperfect perception of it.
A concern for this life and a commitment to making it meaningful through better understanding of ourselves, our history, our intellectual and artistic achievements, and the outlooks of those who differ from us.
A search for viable individual, social and political principles of ethical conduct, judging them on their ability to enhance human well-being and individual responsibility.
A conviction that with reason, an open marketplace of ideas, good will, and tolerance, progress can be made in building a better world for ourselves and our children.

For those unsure.

 

[Silver Persian]

Dear God yes.

 

[Cookie182]

Dear God yes.

E.O. Wilson ftw

 

[Riet]

I dont believe in anything you cunt

 

[Omie Jay]

I am middle ground secular humanist - slightly unsure, perhaps reflects some.

 

[Lentern]

I am not but I have tremendous respect for those who are and plenty of time to entertain it.

 

[S.H.O.D.A.N.]

I'm a pretty obvious secular humanist.

 

[Iron]

I'm eternally sceptical about the claim that any good morality can be derived from reason alone.

It seems to me a contradiction to claim that youre applying the objective reason to the subjective individual. Self-defeating, self-serving, tarted up way of saying that youll do whatever you feel like at any given time.

 

[ashie0]

Yeah. In a nutshell, i'm a secular humanist.

 

[Iron]

pagans, the lot of you

 

[Freedom_]

No.

 

[walrusbear]

secularism yes
humanism, heck no!

 

[Planck]

I'm eternally sceptical about the claim that any good morality can be derived from reason alone.

It seems to me a contradiction to claim that youre applying the objective reason to the subjective individual. Self-defeating, self-serving, tarted up way of saying that youll do whatever you feel like at any given time.

Morality is a biological phenomenon for the most part.

 

[Planck]

secularism yes
humanism, heck no!

That six year degree should be almost done now son.

 

[walrusbear]

That six year degree should be almost done now son.

always time for here

 

[Smile_Time351]

I'm eternally sceptical about the claim that any good morality can be derived from reason alone.

It seems to me a contradiction to claim that youre applying the objective reason to the subjective individual. Self-defeating, self-serving, tarted up way of saying that youll do whatever you feel like at any given time.

And there in a nutshell is the primary argument against us ladies and gents. The issue here is that- being an ecclesiastical diehard- Iron can not envision a metaphysical eventuality that results in unreligious people being moral. While in and of itself it does make sense, it is a very simplistic view of secular humanism. Obviously there are those who will use such a belief system as means to an end, merely a self-aggrandising tool to justify any action undertaken, as Iron said. But for the vast majority of us (at least as far as I've seen) this is not the case.

Personally the rationalisng factor for me is the idea of doing the right thing by other people because we are all human (humanism), not because I have been instructed to do so by an invisible friend and his gobbledy-gook book (secularist).

To put it into more appropriate Iron-ish language, consider Luke 6:31
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." That in itself effectively highlights the secular humanist mantra. (or at least my particular take on it.)Regardless of one's opinion of Jesus, he should be remembered for that quote alone. Perhaps Jesus himself was the first humanist? A new thread may be afoot... (Secular Humanist meets is there a God? <shudder>)

 

[Iron]

I'm sure that your contention that secular humanism is derived from Christ will be popular with your allies. But it seems to me that as you accept Christ's teachings but reject His divinity, you would be most at home with one of the many Protestant denominations

 

[Cookie182]

Man i wish I could get to the Festival of Dangerous Ideas....


It's $65 just to see The Hitch talk that night! I like Tony Jones too, wonder if it will get televised/youtubed?


Also, good to see a few humanists among us. Its nice to know that some of us have enough trust in our fellow man to be moral without the explicit permission of a supernatural entity (the greatest insult the theist presents).

 

[Smile_Time351]

I'm sure that your contention that secular humanism is derived from Christ will be popular with your allies. But it seems to me that as you accept Christ's teachings but reject His divinity, you would be most at home with one of the many Protestant denominations

Be that as it may, I find myself rather adverse to the possibility of accepting a denomination with a name that suggests a schismatic nature in and of itself, as if being separate from the 'real' faith (true or otherwise).

And just to state the coincidence of the corollary you just drew, I wasn't intending to state that secular humanism is derived from Christ, merely that he espoused ideas that can be considered parallel with that of Secular Humanism, which alone gives him merit, at least on an intellectual level. It was not intended to be a shot at Jesus, on the contrary.