Second: Humanism believes that man is a part of nature
and that he has emerged as a result of a continuous process.
Third: Holding an organic view of life, humanists find that the
traditional dualism of mind and body must be rejected.
Fourth: Humanism recognizes that man's religious culture and
civilization, as clearly depicted by anthropology and history, are the
product of a gradual development due to his interaction with his natural
environment and with his social heritage. The individual born into a particular
culture is largely molded by that culture.
Fifth: Humanism asserts that the nature of the universe depicted
by modern science makes unacceptable any supernatural or cosmic guarantees
of human values. Obviously humanism does not deny the possibility of realities
as yet undiscovered, but it does insist that the way to determine the existence
and value of any and all realities is by means of intelligent inquiry and
by the assessment of their relations to human needs. Religion must formulate
its hopes and plans in the light of the scientific spirit and method.
Sixth: We are convinced that the time has passed for theism,
deism, modernism, and the several varieties of "new thought".
Seventh: Religion consists of those actions, purposes, and experiences
which are humanly significant. Nothing human is alien to the religious.
It includes labor, art, science, philosophy, love, friendship, recreation
-- all that is in its degree expressive of intelligently satisfying human
living. The distinction between the sacred and the secular can no longer
be maintained.
Eight: Religious Humanism considers the complete realization
of human personality to be the end of man's life and seeks its development
and fulfillment in the here and now. This is the explanation of the humanist's
social passion.
Ninth: In the place of the old attitudes involved in worship
and prayer the humanist finds his religious emotions expressed in a heightened
sense of personal life and in a cooperative effort to promote social well-being.
Tenth: It follows that there will be no uniquely religious emotions
and attitudes of the kind hitherto associated with belief in the supernatural.
Eleventh: Man will learn to face the crises of life in terms
of his knowledge of their naturalness and probability. Reasonable and manly
attitudes will be fostered by education and supported by custom. We assume
that humanism will take the path of social and mental hygiene and discourage
sentimental and unreal hopes and wishful thinking.
Twelfth: Believing that religion must work increasingly for joy
in living, religious humanists aim to foster the creative in man and to
encourage achievements that add to the satisfactions of life.
Thirteenth: Religious humanism maintains that all associations
and institutions exist for the fulfillment of human life. The intelligent
evaluation, transformation, control, and direction of such associations
and institutions with a view to the enhancement of human life is the purpose
and program of humanism. Certainly religious institutions, their ritualistic
forms, ecclesiastical methods, and communal activities must be reconstituted
as rapidly as experience allows, in order to function effectively in the
modern world.
Fourteenth: The humanists are firmly convinced that existing
acquisitive and profit-motivated society has shown itself to be inadequate
and that a radical change in methods, controls, and motives must be instituted.
A socialized and cooperative economic order must be established to the
end that the equitable distribution of the means of life be possible. The
goal of humanism is a free and universal society in which people voluntarily
and intelligently cooperate for the common good. Humanists demand a shared
life in a shared world.
Fifteenth and last: We assert that humanism will: (a) affirm
life rather than deny it; (b) seek to elicit the possibilities of life,
not flee from them; and (c) endeavor to establish the conditions of a satisfactory
life for all, not merely for the few. By this positive morale and intention
humanism will be guided, and from this perspective and alignment the techniques
and efforts of humanism will flow.
So stand the theses of religious humanism. Though we consider the religious
forms and ideas of our fathers no longer adequate, the quest for the good
life is still the central task for mankind. Man is at last becoming aware
that he alone is responsible for the realization of the world of his dreams,
that he has within himself the power for its achievement. He must set intelligence
and will to the task.
