Hello All,

I am brand new to the forum, and I enjoy viewing everyone’s thoughts and intellect here.  I thought I would impose this question upon the masses; albeit it is a loaded question that should elicit many different opinions.

Are there any tenants of Humanism that still allow for the possibility for believing in [a] God to support any emotional constructs?  I would like to achieve a semantical/epistemological balance between many different ‘ism’s; i.e. Humanism, Deism, Atheism, Agnosticism, etc.

Right now, Syncretism seems to be the best usage of [a] word; however Syncretism can be associated (or stigmatized) with the smörgåsbord of “make a wish” theories that support many of the pop-culture New Age beliefs that are prevalent today.

I hope that this was the best forum to pose this question vs. the General forum.

Best Regards,

Geo

There are certainly religious forms of humanism; indeed, humanism began in the Renaissance among european Catholics. However, the general thrust of humanist teachings is to privilege this life and this world over any supposed other life or other world, so in a sense the thrust of humanism is somewhat anti-theistic.

The main form of humanism associated with CFI is secular humanism, which is expressly nonreligious and nontheistic. Again, religious and even theistic people may in fact embrace secular humanism in certain contexts: they may, for instance, believe that it is appropriate policy for public institutions. They may also agree with most of the ethical tenets in the various humanist declarations.

At the last Unitarian Annual meeting I attended (quite a few years ago), they had a hall with a wide variety of exhibit booths covering many topics.  Three separate ones I recall were the American Humanist Association, the Secular Humanists, and the Religious Humanists.

Occam

Thank both of you for your input!

geosynchronous - 02 February 2010 07:24 AM

I thought I would impose this question upon the masses

Apols for being picky but I believe you mean to say ‘I would pose this question to the masses’...

geosynchronous - 02 February 2010 07:24 AM

Are there any tenants of Humanism that still allow for the possibility for believing in [a] God to support any emotional constructs?  I would like to achieve a semantical/epistemological balance between many different ‘ism’s; i.e. Humanism, Deism, Atheism, Agnosticism, etc.

From my reading today on this topic it would seem clear that Humanism is not necessarily exclusive of religion and being both religious and a Humanist is perfectly feasible, however odd that may appear.

I guess I sometimes don’t write so pretty good!  <L.O.L!>

I wouldn’t worry about it.  We all make typos, and many of us make grammatical errors, however, what’s important is that the ideas are communicated.  I often smile when I see that the most critical posters frequently make their own errors. 

In a conversation with the president of the American Humanist Association many years ago, he claimed that disbelief in a god was an essential part of Humanism.  Since I saw the theological belief or disbelief and the ethical philosophy as separate, I responded that I supposed the difference was that he was an upper case Humanist while I was a lower case humanist.  He didn’t care for this, and I got the feeling he thought the AHA should have a copyright on the word. 

Occam

Occam - 03 February 2010 10:50 AM

I wouldn’t worry about it.  We all make typos, and many of us make grammatical errors, however, what’s important is that the ideas are communicated.  I often smile when I see that the most critical posters frequently make their own errors. 

In a conversation with the president of the American Humanist Association many years ago, he claimed that disbelief in a god was an essential part of Humanism.  Since I saw the theological belief or disbelief and the ethical philosophy as separate, I responded that I supposed the difference was that he was an upper case Humanist while I was a lower case humanist.  He didn’t care for this, and I got the feeling he thought the AHA should have a copyright on the word. 

Occam

Coming from a science and professional background I find it a constant irritation when these kinds of groups/identities cannot even agree on the meaning of the terms they adopt. Until I checked for my post I had previously assumed Humanism was an alternative to religion. Now that I learn it can encompass a religious element I find it very unsatisfying as any kind of identity.

PS A gentle and good humoured pointing out of a wording error does no one any harm…

scepticeye - 03 February 2010 11:49 AM

PS A gentle and good humoured pointing out of a wording error does no one any harm…

Except, perhaps, to the one who does the pointing.