Theosophy Humanism

Humanism The term Humanism can mean a number of things. For example, in regard to literature, it can mean that a person has devotion to the humanities or to the literary culture. However, in a religious sense, Christian Humanism would mean a more human-oriented Christianity, as opposed to a spiritual faith and would hold an expectation of man's philosophic self- fulfillment within the framework of Christian principles. The bottom line is Humanism is based on man's input.

"...Humans are responsible for the state of the world; we created the beauty and the ugliness of the human condition. We can take credit for the things that go right and we must take responsibility for the things that go wrong." (The Essence of Humanism) Thus, when we attempt to define Humanism, we need to be specific as to the direction our terminology is to lead. This report will focus on Religious Humanism and will attempt to answer questions relating to the worldly views that are associated.

The origins of Humanism can be traced back to the period of the Renaissance and was actually a major ingredient of the Renaissance. Religious Humanism surfaced out of a combination of Ethical Culture, Unitarianism, and Universalism. To bring the historical ties into the present, many Unitarian/Universalist congregations and all Ethical Cultural societies continue to see themselves as religious humanists. Humanists see religion as that that serves personal and social needs for groups that share a philosophical view.

Therefore, Humanism can be called a naturalistic view that rejects the supernatural or ideas that cannot be proven by reason and science. The views on religion by the Humanists create distortions and ironies within their ranks. Humanists have difficulty agreeing on whether their view is in fact a religion. Modern Humanism therefore splits into two sub-categories, secular and religious. The dispute between Secular and Religious Humanists has been going on since the beginning of the philosophy.

Ironically, Secular and Religious Humanists seem to share a similar worldview and follow the same principles which were confirmed when both factions created and signed the Humanist Manifesto I in 1933 and again revising the document in 1973. There are many reasons to agree with the philosophies of religious humanism. Mainly, the ideals of modern science and philosophy permit the advocate to meet the stresses of the modern daily life. Humanism is a philosophy for the here and now.

Religious Humanism offers a strong foundation in philosophy which includes moral values and ideals which entail viable methods to cope with life's realities such as flood, hurricane and famine. For example, in regard to teenage sex, unlike the Catholics' view that protected sex and abortion are not options for sexually active teens; Religious Humanism is more adaptive in the sense that modern science and principles as well as human rights are more in tune with the current sexual education practices.

Religious Humanists would have no issues with recommending condoms and birth control to sexually active teens. Another good reason to adhere to the philosophy would be that Religious Humanists reject the notions of sin and guilt which give life a more sensible purpose. The humanistic view of the separation of church and state is, however, the best reason to become a humanist. Society does need an institutional setting for the moral education of children.

But schools should not remove the opportunity for the affirmation of one's cultural philosophies in favor of a state religion. Religious Humanists believe that human beings do have personal and social needs that can only be met through various religions. But, religion does not necessarily represent God. "Religion is rooted in authoritarianism. All religions accept the concept of an infallible God, the word of God as the final authority, the ultimate truth.

Anything attributed to God is absolute truth: the Bible, the Koran, the Talmud." (The Essence of Humanism) The concept of a God usually forces a congregation from making decisions between meeting God's needs and meeting man's needs. Humanism also suggests that it is immoral for man to not act because he is awaiting a God to act for him. In other words, if you have bread to share - then share. Also, the concepts of life after death have yet to be proven by science and.