Tyler Handley - September 5th, 2008 in Feature 0 votes Vote Up! Vote Down!

Religion aptly offers comfort and a system of insurance of a fulfilling life.  Religion provides one with a sense of worth and accomplishment.

Religion enshrines one in the self-induced ignorance that comes with the dogmatic declaration of faith.  Religion breeds fundamentalism and in-group superiority that follows from the embodiment of dogmatism and faith.

Now take the term Secular Humanism and place it in both paragraphs.  Do you notice how it fits snugly within the first paragraph, but seems more out of place than a vegan at a dairy farm in the second?  

Secular Humanism is like a gift that we’ve crafted on our own, developed over time, and wrapped in pretty bows, but neglected despite its obvious benefits.  It offers us all of the benefits of religion, and none of its side effects.  That is, as far as we can tell.

I often find myself brooding in deep perplexity over the small acceptance of Secular Humanism as a lifestyle choice.  If Secular Humanists do in fact have this world-bettering gift, then why aren’t people unwrapping it and indulging in its delight?

Well, I’m sure there are many reasons.  To assume something so complex would beget a simple explanation is absurd based upon previous experiences, except, of course, in the world of science, where evolution offers a beautifully simple explanation. For the sake of time, I want to focus on just three reasons why I think people reject Secular Humanism – four if you count the reason that people don’t even know what it is.

1. Cold and Meaningless

The first reason is that people regard Science as cold and devoid of meaning, and if Secular Humanism relies so heavily upon the information of science then people tend to think that Secular Humanism must be cold and empty as well.  But, of course, the whole is more than just one of its components and Secular Humanism adds exactly what Science, on it’s own, doesn’t provide us with – meaning.  It directly addresses this first of reasons for its own rejection.  Meaning, in the light of scientific evidence, gives us comfort and fulfillment without the bullshit.  Secular Humanists don’t have to rely on appeals to faith and a higher power to gain meaning.  Meaning comes from pleasurable traits that we’ve acquired throughout our evolution.  It comes from loving another and being loved back, from getting caught up in the moment of something you enjoy doing, from helping another in need, from a sense of accomplishment etc,.  Humanism implies that we, Humans, are the arbiters of our own meaning.

2. Lack of Community

The second reason I believe people reject Secular Humanism is that it doesn’t provide one with a community atmosphere like Religion does.  Religion has buildings devoted to harboring community, and admittedly, much of the good that does come from Religion comes from its devotion to building stronger communities.   Secular Humanism has relatively small numbers to form such strong communities.

However, Secular Humanists are building a strong presence on the internet.    Many in the online community see the recently apparent cultishness around Richard Dawkins as dangerous, and against what Humanists stand for.  I see it as community alongside a romanticizing of ideas.  We must realize that communities sprout from the ranks of leaders, and Dawkins is one of them.  There are pedestals to stand on in this world.  The religious have theirs with Jesus, Moses, Mohammed, Joseph Smith, Xenu etc,.  We, the science minded folk, have the likes of Dawkins, Sagan, Darwin, and Gould.

3. No Afterlife

And finally, the third reason I believe people reject Secular Humanism is because of their fear of death.  Religion provides one with the insurance of an afterlife, while Secular Humanism, to put it bluntly, doesn’t.  That is, unless we let go of the traditional meaning of the afterlife.

From the movie Troy:

Boy: The Thessalonian you’re fighting…he’s the biggest man I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t want to fight him.

Achilles: That’s why no one will remember your name.

An afterlife is defined as “a life or existence believed to follow death.”  So then what about our self-made legacy; the love we shared with others; the things we’ve made; the work we completed; the contribution to the insurance of a future generation that lives longer, healthier, and more fulfilling lives than us?  This is our afterlife.  It is not selfish.  It is humble and noble.  And it is romantic in the fact that we are standing on the shoulders of past giants, contributing to this great play we call life, so that others can stand upon ours and hoist the good life up to the next generation.

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Tags: dawkins, Humanism, Meaning, religion, science, Secular Humanism