By Doug Berger
Some members of our Humanist community have recommended that we add 'god' to our statement of principles in order to entice more people to join. They are of the opinion that Humanists need to accept and support ANYONE who wants to call themselves Humanists. They think we should, in the effort of building Humanism, go for quantity rather than quality.
Some of the members who have been the most vocal, about this concern, also are members of the First Unitarian Universalist Church here in Columbus (UUs). UUs have been connected with Modern Humanism for decades, including helping draft the Humanist Manifesto I. It is a church that gives its members the function of a church without the dogma and Bible. Recently, they have sponsored a Humanist discussion group that meets each month.
The UU Humanists operate using several slogans including 'All stories are sacred ' and 'All are welcome here'. The UU Humanist's attempt to include anyone who is humanistically incline and use Theistic words such as 'spirit', 'god', and 'religion' with definitions that depend on the person who uses those terms. This seems to be an effort to help people who may still believe in the supernatural to express their humanist side.
Even though they try and include everyone, some people, specifically Atheists are not as welcome. Atheists are allowed to attend services and participate in various discussion groups the church sponsors, but when Atheists attempt to question views that are opposite of their own, such as those which use words like 'spirit', 'god', and 'religion', they are not held in a positive light even with the supposed openness of the 1st UU church. Atheists have been called arrogant, smug, bigots, and similar words that have also been heard from Theists from mainstream religions. The UU Humanists confuse the principle of tolerance with agreement. Tolerance means that you do not coerce and put down someone whose comments do not agree with yours not that you agree with them.
What does this have to do with the Humanist Community? Since its founding HCCO has been a Secular Humanist group. A secular Humanist follows a philosophy of life that rejects supernaturalism and focuses on living in the here and now. A secular Humanist doesn't use theistic words in describing our Humanism. What troubles a secular Humanist about using theistic words, redefined or not, is that they dilute our message and equivocates. Those kinds of words lend support to supernaturalism.
As Secular Humanists, we need to concentrate on developing strategies for living without gods which contrasts with the 1st UU's strategy of salvaging and redefining religious terms. (ex. "I don't believe in 'god' , but I just use the word for its poetic emotional effect."). Instead we forward notions that stem from the core precepts of Modern Humanism like reason, science, compassion, democracy, knowledge, kindness, courage, and service.
Atheism, in the common usage of the word, is a philosophy of life without any god beliefs. Atheists, as well as other non-theistic groups such as Agnostics, then can find like minded folks in Secular Humanism. An average Atheist has more in common with Humanism, than an average Theist does. The main similarity is that the Atheist has no god beliefs, while a Theist, by the very term, has god beliefs.
If a theist feels uncomfortable in a Secular Humanist meeting they have many places to go, including the 1st UU church, where they may feel more comfortable. An Atheist, on the other hand, really has no other place to go, that will affirm their non-theistic views and allow them to be Humanists. HCCO has worked to be that shelter for Atheists and Agnostics. The Humanist Community of Central Ohio's mission is to support a secular philosophy that values people, emphasizes reason, and focuses on the world we live in. To undermine that mission by including anyone who wants to call themselves Humanists is something I don't want to be a part of and fails to include a group such as Atheists and to some extent, Agnostics.
We will not change our Statement of Principles for the sake of bringing in more members. We want to provide a safe space for Humanists without the divisiveness of 'god-talk'. We want curious people to attend and learn more about Modern Humanism and they can't through the fog of 'god-talk'. Like ANY group we welcome anyone who supports our mission and considers themselves in substantial agreement with our Statement of Principles. If an individual has trouble doing that then they have the option not to join. Modern Humanists focus on this world and how to cope with it, not on 'gods'.
This article appeared in the March/April 1996 issue of the Central Ohio Humanist newsletter.
