"Humanism is a Philosophy For Those In Love With Life"

I was the guest speaker at a UU group on the Treasure Coast this past weekend. My topic, as always, was Humanism. I love this group and have several long time friends that are part of it.

Definitions of Humanism

There are several definitions of Humanism and how we conceive of Humanism has changed over time. Certainly over the time I've been involved with the movement. I like many of the simple definitions. Even though they are simple, they invite discussion on exactly what is meant.

One simple definition we came up with when I was the executive director of the Humanists of Florida was - "Humanism is the applied study of what it means to be a good human being."

My practice as a Humanist is to attempt to put my "Reason and Compassion into Action."

Joyful Humanism

As part of the closing statement for the UU meeting, the host used a definition I had never heard before and it struck me as being good. So good I immediately wrote it down. She said the Humanist Society of Western New York defines Humanism as a "philosophy for those in love with life." YES!!!!!!! One of the reasons I love being a Humanist is because it encourages me to be in love with life - the good and the bad. The entire experience. As my dad used to say, living sure beats the alternative.

Here is the full definition the Western NY group has on their website. Humanism is: 

"A joyous alternative to religions that believe in a supernatural god and life in a hereafter. Humanists believe that this is the only life of which we have certain knowledge and that we owe it to ourselves and others to make it the best life possible for ourselves and all with whom we share this fragile planet. A belief that when people are free to think for themselves, using reason and knowledge as their tools, they are best able to solve this world’s problems. An appreciation of the art, literature, music and crafts that are our heritage from the past and of the creativity that, if nourished, can continuously enrich our lives. Humanism is, in sum, a philosophy of those in love with life. Humanists take responsibility for their own lives and relish the adventure of being part of new discoveries, seeking new knowledge, exploring new options. Instead of finding solace in prefabricated answers to the great questions of life, humanists enjoy the open-endedness of a quest and the freedom of discovery that this entails." - 

 The Humanist Society of Western New York

Learn More About Humanism

If you want to learn more about Humanism - I encourage you to read this - it's the 10 Humanist Commitments. I'm a big fan of them and congratulate Kristin Wintermute for facilitating it's creation.

#humanism, #ethicsmatter, #humanist, #commitment #aha #compassion #empathy #society

The 10 Humanist Commitments was created by the Center for Humanist Education (part of the American Humanist Association) - https://thehumanist.com/magazine/september-october-2019/features/living-humanist-values-the-ten-commitments 

Or Feel Free to take one of my online classes: 

https://humanistlearning.com/category/lifeskills/philosophy/

Or read one of these fine books: 

https://humanistlearning.com/category/shop/humanism101/

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Religious Humanism in America

John Dietrich was an
early Humanist pioneer

Most people think of Humanism as being irreligious.  So the idea that there would be a religious Humanism confuses a lot of people.  But when Humanism was first being conceived of and spoken about in America, it was often thought of as an alternative to religion, one that was focused on human potential and not on god or anything supernatural.

Several Unitarian Universalist ministers were at the forefront of this movement and make no mistake, their Humanism, even though they used the term religious in conjunction with it was not theistic. They simply thought that the framework of religious practice had value and that you didn’t need to abandon that framework for considering morality just because you abandoned the concept of god.

Anyway, there is a great article about this by Rev. Tess Baumberger who is a UU minister up in Massachusetts.  In addition to her article being very informative, she includes some quotes from the origninators of the religious humanism movement, many of whom were UU Ministers.

My favorite is by John Dietrich who apparently began using the word “humanism” in his preaching in 1916. Anyway, he said “If we live in a great impersonal universe with no friend to guide, it matters tremendously how we conduct ourselves, for we are actually the makers of human destiny.” He also said that ur responsibility “is to put beauty in place of ugliness, good in place of evil, laughter in place of tears; to dispel error with knowledge, hatred with love; displace strife and contention with peace and co-operation.”

Here is a link to her entire article: http://www.tauntongazette.com/religion/x1146475794/The-Rev-Tess-Baumberger-The-founding-of-American-Religious-Humanism