The Secular Humanist Declaration: Pro and Con The Secular Humanist Declaration has prompted a storm of controversy including many articles, pro and con. In the spirit of dialogue and debate — so crucial to free inquiry — we have reprinted four well- known columnists, all sharply critical of the Declaration: John Roche, Phyllis Schlafly, Roscoe Drum- mond, and Patrick Buchanan. These columns appeared in hundreds of newspapers. We present responses to them by four humanists: , Gina Allen, Lee Nisbet,and — Ed. Is the Declaration Dogmatic? John P. Roche Between 1378 and 1415, Western Christianity was burdened As the Moral Majority, to whom being born-?gain must with two rival Catholic popes who annually excommunicated eliminate self-doubt, thunders through the land, it has predic- each other on Holy Days of Obligation. Caught between the tably generated a counter movement led by the secular certainties of the Moral Majority and the secular humanists, I humanists. In the closing weeks of a presidential election there feel sympathetic to the 14th-century Christian caught in the en- are bound to be political implications to this squabble: hold filade of Papal anathemas. What mystifies me is the hubris of them for a minute. The secular humanists, outraged at the mis- both armies: these who think they have God's unlisted number, treatment of their theology — "Science" — are denouncing and those who want Heaven picketed. their opponents for violating the separation of church and Perhaps it is the pervasive influence of my late friend and state, for leading us back to the Dark Ages, and other unscien- mentor Reinhold Niebuhr, perhaps it is because I know myself tific moral sins. too well, but I would find it inconceivable to announce I was a The Secular Humanist Declaration, signed by a notable "moral man" or a "good Christian." When Jimmy Carter in body of scientists, philosophers, and other grandees, reminded 1976 announced to "Playboy" that he had "lusted in his heart" me of a marvelous Gay Talese story in the Times about 20 for women other than his spouse, my reaction was "welcome to years ago: "New York astrologers demand police crack-down the club." of frauds." The Declaration is at least as dogmatic as the Curiously, I grasped what Pope John Paul was murkily driv- pronouncements of the Moral Majority, except it is a reverse ing at when he extended this admonition to include those who mirror-image. For example, it is, they assert, immoral to "bap- lusted after their own wives. He was emphasizing that the es- tize infants, to confirm adolescents, or to impose a religous sence of Christian love, agape, was never to treat a human be- creed on young people before they are able to consent." ing as a thing. While they were at it, the signatories clobbered all forms of I have been accused of puritanical prurience because of religious obscurantism and announced stridently that moral savage attacks on pornography, but these were not moral standards should be based on logic and empirical experience. posturings. I was as dirty a little boy as the average American, Considering the intellectual gravity of those who signed it, the but at a certain point I realized the fearful consequence of porn odd aspect of the Declaration is its frenzied tone. In this con- was that it encouraged the treatment of women as things: open- text, let me reassure my old comrade-in-arms Sidney Hook ing a copy of "Hustler" was like entering a meat locker with that I will personally guarantee his safety from any Inquisition females hanging from the hooks. — Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, or New Left! This insight was doubtless caused by the presence over the Most of my worst enemies are obscurantists, secular and past 33-plus years of a remarkable wife, and for some 20 of religious, and I operate on George Orwell's maxim that "all these years of a delightful daughter. Yet in other areas of life I saints are presumed guilty until proved innocent." I have no have often been harsh and have joined the immoral majority in time for Bible-beaters and look on a number of current treating people as objects, as mere things to be treated as political divines as Elmer Gantrys and public nuisances. But pawns on a chessboard. In short, I know I am not a candidate my complaint is I don't want them telling me how to be moral for beatification. — anymore than I want 58 eminent secular humanists offering to care for my soul, and informing me in papal fashion that John Roche, syndicated columnist for the New York Post, is Jesus was not Divine. professor at Brandeis University and former head of the Of course, the underwater six-sevenths of this iceberg is ADA. © /980, King Features Syndicate. Reprinted with per- political, not theological or philosophical. If, to borrow a ques- mission. tion from Einstein, the Declaration was true, why would not one signature, rather than 58, suffice? •

6 actions. The nature of moral experience, however, does not permit us to make absolutes of any value except intelligence, The Autonomy of Moral Judgment which is the judge of its own limitations. Good sometimes conflicts with good, right with right, and intelligent choice always depends upon the assessment of the consequences of feasible alternative options. If it were necessary to treat a Sidney Hook human being like a thing to save the world, or even a city, My friend John Roche errs in drawing an equation between from nuclear incineration, it would not be immoral to do so. the animadversions of the fundamentalist Moral Majority It might be unjust but justice is only one major good in the against secular humanists and the reply of the latter to the constellation of moral values. aspersions against them as immoralists. He would recognize The Declaration could not say everything, nor can this re- the error in other contexts as when ritualistic liberals joinder, and some of its sentences could have been phrased characterize anti-communist responses to the defamations of more clearly to avoid the impression that we would forbid in- communists against them as "reverse mirror-images" and just doctrination, i.e., a process of teaching through which accep- as objectionable. What Professor Roche has failed to note is tance of belief and practice is induced by non-rational means. that the statement of the secular humanists is primarily a rep- If we are to live in a civilized society it is necessary for human ly to the accusations of spokesmen for the Moral Majority beings when they are young to act upon beliefs long before that secular humanists are immoralists because their views they can possibly understand or justify them — whether they allegedly lead to moral anarchy and the multiple evils of are truths of arithmetic or morality or hygiene. The in- social life. The secular humanists have become the targets of escapability of indoctrination, therefore, imposes a moral impassioned attack because of the nature of their beliefs, their obligation on secular humanists to nurture and encourage at conception of the nature of moral judgment, and especially every level of development the individual's power of reflection their contention that the validity of a moral proposition (e.g. (but not, of course, this alone), so that when children reach "Divorce is preferable to murder if those are the only feasible maturity they will be able to assess for themselves the validity alternatives") is independent of any divine revelation or any of the beliefs and habits in which they have been indoc- other transcendent or supernatural element. The Secular trinated. Humanist Declaration was primarily a statement and defense Because secular humanists have emphasized the centrality of a rational morality based on the nature of Nature and of this method of intelligence (reason, critical method, scien- human nature in a world and society as disclosed by the most tific method) in education, spokesmen of the Moral Majority reliable methods of inquiry. have charged them with abetting the current immoralities that The Secular Humanist Declaration makes clear that we are allegedly are the fruits of this education. Our rejoinder was committed to the defense of religious freedom, the right to that any kind of indoctrination that neglects or refuses to believe or disbelieve, and therefore to opposition to any develop the human power of reflection may more legitimately regime that seeks to impose its views about the nature and be regarded as immoral. Any belief about the nature of the destiny of humankind on its citizens. That is why, among world, society and human beings, to be warranted must rest many other reasons, we are opposed to communism and other upon the available evidence. forms of totalitarianism. Finally, some minor points. John Roche knows that no If I understand correctly, John Roche is one of us. He statement endorsed by a committee or group can do justice to claims that the essence of Christian love is "never to treat a the nuanced views of its individual members. Einstein signed human being as a thing." Leave aside for a moment the many statements together with others that he believed to be curious consequence that this would make all moral persons true. Unhappily, in the field of foreign policy they were Christians. What he means is that we should never treat a sometimes very dubious. The Declaration was drafted by Paul human being merely as a means, since we must sometimes Kurtz. It was not "signed" by 58 persons but only "endorsed" take a taxi. But suppose someone were to ask: Why should we to indicate that although we were in agreement on essentials never treat a human being merely as a means or a thing? I am each of us would have formulated some sentences differently. confident he would reply in the same way as he would to Paul Kurtz is not a humanist pope and the Declaration was questions of why we should be kind, honest, just, etc., not a Humanist Bull. because of the nature of these actions and their consequences Nor is the Declaration a political document in the sense in in experience for human weal and woe — and not because which the Moral Majority is a political movement. The en- some supernatural power commands it. All moral values are dorsers consist of individuals who supported different both means and ends to satisfactory human experiences. presidential candidates or none of them. Secular humanists The point is fundamental. Morality is logically independent have been singled out for continuous vituperative criticism on of . Mankind builds its gods in its own moral image. the air waves from coast to coast. The Declaration was the It must take responsibility for its own moral judgments and first and so far the only reply. Sidney Hook, distinguished humanist philosopher, is The number of signers or endorsers of a document adds not professor emeritus at NYU and a Fellow at the Hoover a whit to its validity. But depending upon who they are, it Institution (Stanford). may attract the attention of readers. I always read statements signed or endorsed by John Roche. •

Spring, 1981 7 They wrap their ideology in the word "scientific" but use it as a witch doctor uses a magic talisman, to confer a fake prestige on their mythology and hope that simple people will fail to discern that it is empty of evidence. What lifts Secular out of the class of an obscure What Is Humanism? cult is the big names who have publicly signed the manifestos, thereby witnessing to its religion. The list includes some of the most influential names in education and in the last Phyllis Schlafly half-century: (father of progressive education), Alan Guttmacher (president of Planned Parenthood), Vashti I received a telephone call recently from a by-line reporter for a McCollum (famous for her Supreme Court case which remov- major metropolitan newspaper. ed "released time" religious classes from public schools), "I'm not calling for an interview," he said, "but just for Lester Mondale (brother of the vice president), B.F. Skinner some information, and I thought phoning you would be the (Harvard professor of psychology), and Lester A. Kirkendall easiest way to get it." Then he blurted out his questions. (known as the father of the sex education movement). "What is humanism? What's wrong with it? And what has it The reason humanism has become something reporters need got to do with politics? I always thought that it had something to be informed about is that alert parents have discovered that to do with being humanitarian or with studying those college has become the established religion of the courses called the humanities." U.S. public school system. Many parents believe that the I explained that, no, the humanism he was inquiring about Humanist Manifestos, like the Rosetta Stone, provide the key doesn't have any relation to either of those things. Humanism to decipher the code languages of progressive education, values is a secular "religion" professed by humanists whose creed is clarification, sexuality curriculums, situation , and the enunciated in the of 1933, the Humanist various rationales that have caused the public schools to Manifesto II of 1973, and the Secular Humanist Declaration eliminate prayer, moral training, and the teaching of basics. of 1980. Humanism doesn't deal directly with politics, as the The Humanist Manifestos are just as dogmatic and une- reporter's question implied. But humanism has everything to quivocal as that statement of fundamental Christianity, the do with public school education, and it is clear that the remedy Apostles' Creed. for the wrongs in that area is at least partially political. Here is a summary of the dogmas of the religion of Secular The particular election-eve timing of the 1980 Secular Humanism, as revealed in its published manifestos. Humanist Declaration indicates that the humanists themselves Humanism denies and rejects God, theism, deism, faith, are reacting politically to the threat to their ideology posed by prayer, all divine purpose or providence, all which the emergence of fundamentalist Christian groups as a force in "place God above human needs," the existence of life after the 1980 elections. The humanists should be worried — death, a supernatural, heaven and hell, "traditional religious because the public has begun to see through their hypocrisy in morality," religious attitudes about sex, "national sovereign- fastening their atheist ideology on the public schools, all the ty," and a "profit-motivated society." while the humanists are loudly proclaiming as "imperatives" To replace the tenets of traditional religion, humanism not only "the separation of church and state" but even "the proclaims its own set of self-serving, unproved dogmas. separation of ideology and state." • Humanism asserts that the universe is "self-existing and not created," that man is the product of evolution, that the "joy of living" and the "satisfactions of life" are the supreme goal of Humanism and Diversity of Opinion man, and that ethics come from "human experience" not from God. Humanism recognizes and accepts abortion, euthanasia, Gina Allen suicide, and all varieties of "sexual exploration" and immoral "lifestyles." Humanism works for the establishment of a Phyllis Schlafly used to fire her flaming verbiage at the "secular society," a "socialized economic order," world women's movement. Now she has taken on secular government, military disarmament, and population control by humanism. Her tactics haven't changed. First she proclaims government. herself an authority on the target of her outrage, defines it in The secular humanists offer no proof for their dogmas. They her own terms,and warns of the dangers it poses. accept no final arbiter of governmental or moral standards ex- What she describes rarely resembles the real thing. A cept their own arrogant elitism. humanism with dogmas? That's not the humanism I know, which believes in free inquiry and welcomes diversity of opi- Phyllis Schlafly is spokeswoman for a number of conservative nion. causes, including opposition to ERA. This syndicated column Of course there are humanists who are also socialists. And appeared in newspapers throughout the United States. ©]980, others who are capitalists. And some who are Georgists. Copley News Service. Reprinted with permission. There are humanists in favor of abortion, euthanasia, world government, disarmament, and the Equal Rights Amend-

8 otee o s ment, as I am. And there are humanists who disagree. Humanists value independent thinking. Religion and There even may be humanists who live and advocate "im- moral lifestyles," though I doubt it. The humanists I know are very much concerned with ethics and morality and the Roscoe Drummond welfare of other human beings. And I have yet to meet a There is no reason to be dismayed by the fact that religion is humanist who advocates "population control by the target of sharp attack by the modern humanists. But it is government." Last I heard it was the self-styled "moral ma- useful to see where this new attack is coming from and where it jority" that wanted control of reproduction by government may be headed. added to the Constitution. The issue at controversy arises from the way many of the Ms. Schlafly seems less familiar with humanism than with "born again" evangelical Christians and some others entered attacks on humanism by the fundamentalist right, whom she the political arena during the recent presidential campaign. parrots. Both accuse humanists of taking over the schools. They used their television and radio pulpits to favor certain Come on, now! Take a poll of your school board, superinten- candidates and did not mind leaving the impression that those dent, principals, teachers and authors of textbooks. You'll who disagreed with their political policies and values were find Episcopalians, Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, etc., but somehow immoral. This kind of dialogue seemed to be intend- few, if any, humanists. ed to poison the political dialogue. Then why are Ms. Schlafly and the "born agains" accusing I would defend earnestly the right of these people to utilize humanists of taking over the schools? Because they want to their constitutional guarantee of free speech to expound their take them over. If they can discredit the "religion" of convictions. Religious leaders should not be barred from the humanism, and the science in which Ms. Schlafly claims its political forum. ideology is wrapped, then they can toss both out of the But now comes a counterappeal which proposes a cure that schools and replace education with indoctrination of the sort to me is more dangerous than the offense. that they approve. It comes in the form of an encyclical recently issued under In the long run they won't win. The Inquisition put Galileo the title of "A Secular Humanist Declaration." on trial and jailed him, but the earth still continued to revolve The humanists affirm that they put the highest value on around the sun. The present Inquisition can put humanists on rationality and logic. But when they apply them, they seem to trial, and defeat them, but evolution will continue to be a me to reach conclusions from which logic is absent. well-supported scientific principle. And science will continue For example, the Declaration sweepingly contends that to reveal truths of our universe and ourselves, whether or not "dogmatic authoritarian" religions — and their definition is those truths are acceptable to Schlafly and company. very broad — are an enemy of intellectual freedom, human Kids deserve better than to be made pawns in the rights, democracy, and the scientific mind. evangelicals' attacks on humanism. Those in their teens are Really? Wherein does scientific inquiry, wherein does logic already paying a high price — in an epidemic of pregnancies provide the basis for the foregoing assertion? Has "humanist and venereal disease — for an ignorance of their own sexuali- logic" taken account of the fact that in many countries where ty imposed on them by those who think morality and religion is active and dominant the institutions of democratic knowledge are incompatible. freedom are strongest, and that in many countries where As a humanist, feminist and mother I'm appalled at such a religion is weak or suppressed the institutions of human callous disregard for our greatest resource — our children. freedom are weak or nonexistent? And I'll fight for their right to uncensored education in every In Poland, where Roman Catholicism is a dominant force, field of knowledge, that they may develop to their highest religion is playing a major role in helping to recover human potential and make their finest contribution to human rights for the Polish people. If religion is an enemy of human progress. That's what humanism is all about. Too bad Phyllis rights and democracy, as the humanists seem to claim, it could Schlafly doesn't recognize that. And too bad that the media hardly be performing such a valuable service. accept her as an authority on a philosophy she knows In the United States, where churchgoing people of all nothing about. • denominations make up the overwhelming majority of the pop- ulation, religion is not proving to threaten human rights — as An award-winning author, Gina Allen writes frequently on the reasoning of the humanist Declaration contends — humanist and women's issues. She is Vice-President of the without, as I see it, logically and scientifically looking at all the American Humanist Association and Chair of the AHA facts. Quite the contrary, religion is usually a boon to Women's Caucus. democracy and freedom. Roscoe Drummond is the well-known Washington columnist Religionists and humanists live under the same Constitution, for the Los Angeles Times. ©1980, Los Angeles Times Syn- and it strikes me as illogical for the humanists to suggest that dicate. Reprinted with permission. religion should not be heeded in society's decision-making while humanists' views should be heeded. That would be a pret- Lee Nisbet, former executive editor of The Humanist ty one-sided democracy — humanist style. magazine, now teaches at Medaille College. I happen to believe that during the 1980 presidential cam- paign,as during the 1928 campaign when Al Smith was running

Spring, 1981 9 for president, some radio preachers were overly assertive in seeking to corral their followers into one political camp. But they were exercising one of the democratic freedoms which America's Coming Religious War religion has done so much to nourish and preserve. If the humanists want to warn of dangers in the free expres- sion of religion — while seeking increased exposure for their own views — it seems to me they are, I am sure unintentional- Patrick Buchanan ly, therein becoming the enemy of freedom. • In his Man of the Year interview with Time, Ronald Reagan was pressed as to why he would use Theodore Roosevelt's "bully pulpit" to promote his views on abortion and school Humanism and Freedom prayer, "rather than let political nature take its course." In his response, Reagan chose sides in America's coming religious war: "... letting political nature take its course means that the Lee Nisbet advocates of one position are supposed to remain silent while Roscoe Drummond makes this argument: Since many coun- the advocates on the other side can be as vociferous as they tries where religions are active are free and many countries want to be. Some of the exponents of atheism — and I do not where religion is weak or suppressed are not free, how can the challenge anyone's right to believe or not to believe — but Declaration say that religion is the enemy of freedom? The some of them do not realize that, in effect, they have created argument begs the question. almost a religion of their own in that belief and are demanding The Declaration states that "dogmatic authoritarian things for their religion that they would deny others." religions," those whose followers claim that their opinions on The religion of which Reagan spoke is secular humanism. If issues rest on a higher authority and that disagreement with one doubts it is a faith, with its own tenets, beliefs, doctrines, these opinions immediately signifies error, and as some would let me draw attention to the premier issue of Free Inquiry, have it, bad character, are ideologies that hardly are friends which leads with a formal "declaration" for "all those who of freedom. It may be that religions flourish in many free believe in secular humanist values." societies but it does not follow that those societies are free "Regrettably, we are today faced with a variety of anti- because of those religions. In certain cases societies are free secularist trends," author-editor Paul Kurtz reminds his only because religious disputes were forcibly kept in check by fellows. Among them: "The reappearance of dogmatic the state or because people no longer felt that religion was an authoritarian religious, fundamentalist, literalist, and doc- issue worth killing each other for. The Irish have yet to learn trinaire Christianity; a rapidly growing and uncompromising that lesson. Moslem clericalism in the Middle East and Asia; the reasser- Mr. Drummond cites the case of the pope's support for tion of orthodox authority by the Roman Catholic papal human rights in Poland as proof that the Catholic church is a hierarchy." friend of democratic freedom. While we applaud these efforts, The declaration thus neatly slides onto the same shelf of nox- we notice that, while he supports certain human rights in ious substances the Ayatollahs Khalkali and Khomeini, Liber- Poland, he opposes any choice at all on abortion or birth con- ty Baptist College, and John Paul II. trol in Italy, both apparently on the grounds of appeal to a Secular humanism "is opposed to all varieties of belief that higher authority. Unless the Pope is willing to concede that seek supernatural sanction for their values ... We find that the all issues are open to inquiry and that choices contrary to traditional views of the existence of God either are church doctrine in no necessary way constitute sin, he certain- meaningless, have not yet been demonstrated to be true, or are ly cannot be said to be a staunch friend of democratic tyrannically exploitative." freedom. Fair enough. But there are eminent scholars who think the Clearly,the reasons for a policy have to be understood if we "traditional views" of God's existence are not meaningless, but are to fully comprehend the meaning of the policy. We might all-important. There are scientists — and many of the greatest ask how fully the Catholic church in Poland supported minds in Western civilization — who believe that the existence political and moral freedom before the communists took over. of God is more demonstrable than the theory that we are in If the pope seems somewhat ambivalent on the issue of some eons-long uninterrupted ascent from the monkey freedom of inquiry and moral choice, religionists like kingdom. Khomeini are clear on the issue; and the Moral Majority As one wag put it, the only thing we know about the missing suggests that disagreement with them renders a person moral- link is that he's still missing. ly unfit for office. "We believe," declared Kurtz, "that moral development In sum, Mr. Drummond misses the entire point of the should be cultivated in children and young adults ... (however) Declaration when he claims that "humanists want to warn of we do not think it is moral to baptize infants, to confirm dangers in the free expression of religion." We did not say Patrick Buchanan is a former special assistant to President that. He said that. The Declaration warns of the dangers of Nixon. His column appears in 101 newspapers. © 1980, dogmatism: religious and secular. Dogmatism is not compati- Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate. Reprinted with ble with democracy, and that point, Mr. Drummond, is im- permission. portant for all of us to savor. •

10 1ir%ee Inq ii ( adolescents, or to impose a religious creed on young people The evidence for this claim is presumably a series of social before they are able to consent. These young minds should not developments that include the decisions of the Supreme Court be indoctrinated in a faith before they are mature enough to concerning abortion and the prohibition of prayer in the evaluate the merits for themselves." public schools. Yet it was a basically conservative Nixon Why, then, should children be taught, as Kurtz recommends, Court that rendered the abortion decision. Justice Blackmun "moral education in the schools that is designed to develop an argued, appealing to the right to privacy, that a woman appreciation for moral virtues, intelligence, and the building of should be allowed to choose whether or not to have an abor- character?" Whose moral virtues? Whose idea of moral tion, without the state intervening (at least in the first two character? trimesters). However, it has not been only secular humanists What Kurtz & Co. seek is the expurgation from public who have supported freedom of choice in abortion but also education of traditional religious beliefs about the nature of millions of Protestants, Catholics, and Jews. Some humanists man — and their replacement with the tenets of secular have reservations about abortion, especially where it is in- humanism. discriminately used as a method of birth control. The To be exact — and to quote Sen. Jeremiah Denton of Supreme Court ruled that prayer in the public schools was Alabama — what Kurtz is about is an "un-American and un- unconstitutional and a violation of the First Amendment, constitutional" drive "to establish secular humanism as a state which states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an es- religion." tablishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise If traditional views of God are meaningless, demonstrably thereof." So, contrary to Patrick Buchanan and Senator Den- unprovable by reason, and all religion is superstition, why ton, those who oppose prayer in the public schools or approve should secular humanists be concerned about the competition? of freedom of choice in abortion are not advocating anything "Of special concern to secularists is the fact that the media unconstitutional or un-American, but reflect a belief in the (particularly in the United States) are inordinately dominated freedom and moral rights intrinsic to American democracy — by a pro-religious bias. The views of preachers, faith healers, a belief held by liberals and conservatives alike. and religious hucksters go largely unchallenged, and the Secular humanists are not attempting to "expurgate" secular outlook is not given a fair hearing." traditional religious beliefs from the public schools. Religious "Secular humanists," says Kurtz, "may be agnostics, attitudes pervade the values and outlook of a large number of atheists, rationalists, or skeptics" — not, however, believing teachers. The teaching of evolution in science classes, the Protestants, Catholics, Moslems, or Orthodox Jews. Why, reading of novels that fundamentalists consider "obscene," then — since the latter are in the majority, and since the former and programs in sexual education do not mean that the pay constant homage to "democracy" — shouldn't society "religion of secular humanism" is being established. reflect in its laws, customs, and tradition the values and Intemperate religious critics of the public schools, in effect, views of the majority? • seek to repeal the modern world. They are undermining the integrity of science in so far as they seek to dictate the content of biology textbooks and the science curriculum. They are im- The State Should Be Neutral posing their own narrow conception of literature and the arts when they insist on the removal of books from schools and libraries. Educators of diverse religious denominations and backgrounds support the independence of the sciences and the Paul Kurtz humanities and the viability of an enriched educational ex- perience for students. Patrick Buchanan, former speech-writer for Richard Nixon, Is secular humanism a religion? It is true that some uses all of his rhetorical skills to present a number of objec- humanists consider themselves to be religious humanists, and tions to secular humanism. In sum, they are a red herring. some religionists consider themselves to be humanists (Pope Buchanan suggests that a "religious war" may be coming Paul II considered Christianity to be humanistic). But many in America. This would be most unfortunate, for the genius of secular humanists (such as Sidney Hook and ) the American political system is that it has been an open and deny that their views are religious; they consider them to be pluralistic democracy; the state has been largely neutral on philosophic, ethical, or scientific. Respecting that the United religious questions, and a variety of political, religious, States is a free society, it is totally untrue that secular philosophical, and moral points of view have existed side by humanists would deny to others the rights and liberties they side in relative peace and harmony. claim for themselves. Buchanan levels the preposterous charge — borrowing Buchanan takes issue with the fact that secular humanists phrases from Senator Jeremiah Denton, if he quotes him cor- are skeptical of the supernatural views of theology and rectly — that there is a movement afoot "to establish secular morality. He maintains that there are eminent scholars who humanism as a state religion," which, we are told, would be think that traditional views of God's existence are not "un-American" and "unconstitutional." meaningless. Well and good. If so, those questions deserve debate; and those who hold dissenting or heretical points of Paul Kurtz, editor of Free Inquiry, is professor of philosophy at the State University of New York at Buffalo. view have a right to freely express them. In America today, thousands of churches and publications constantly preach

Spring, 1981 I I "God's Word," and the media are dominated by their ex- Secular humanists say that there is a difference between a pressions of faith. Skeptics surely should enjoy the same right reflective approach to the moral life and the mere indóctrina- to present opposing viewpoints. tion of an absolutist faith without an appreciation of alter- What about the teaching of "moral education in the native points of view. schools"? All education is in a sense "moral." From a child's Finally, Buchanan poses a question. Since secular earliest years, parents and teachers attempt to instill moral humanists believe in democracy and since a "majority" of virtues: honesty, empathy, kindness, tolerance, sincerity, Americans are religious, he asks, "Why ... shouldn't society truthfulness, etc. The common moral decencies are not the ex- reflect in its laws, customs, and tradition the values and views clusive province of any one group of society. "Whose `moral of the majority?" virtues'?" asks Buchanan. Why not those that are the com- If we go back to the origins of the American republic, we mon heritage of humankind? Where there is disagreement in can appreciate the reasons for the separation of church and the community, is not some reflective debate of the issues ad- state. The wide diversity of denominations and sects in missible in the schools, at least for older children and young America have often vehemently disagreed about their adults, as part of moral development, or should they be religious beliefs and the moral implications inherent in them. sheltered from all controversy? Students are exposed to con- The greatness of America has been that a variety of groups trasting political views in history and civics classes without (religious and nonreligious) have coexisted in a situation in fear of "indoctrination." The development of reflective ethical which the state has remained neutral, favoring no one religion inquiry has deep roots in Western civilization, from the great but serving to protect the rights and free expression of all. To books of classical Greece and Rome, the Middle Ages, the now enact into law the views of a supposed religious majority Renaissance, and the Enlightenment, down to the modern would be to violate the vital principle of the separation of world. How can a religious Catholic, Protestant, or Jew ob- church and state — and this is what could bring about the ject to exposing students to rational inquiry and to the com- religious war that Buchanan prophesies. However, it would mon core of values shared by secularists and religionists, by not likely be a limited war between believers and nonbelievers thinkers as diverse as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, but would also be between Protestants and Catholics, Erasmus, Kant, Newman, Mill, Dewey, Tillich, and Niebuhr? Christians and Jews, Buddhists and Moslems, liberals and The secular humanist especially wishes to cultivate an ap- fundamentalists, and established religions and the newer sects. preciation for the complexities of moral choice and the The Secular Humanist Declaration was issued largely as a development of critical intelligence. Ethics, like science and defense of freedom of thought and conscience in a pluralistic literature, has some claim to autonomy as a discipline. society against a crescendo of intemperate attacks by self- Humanists are not alone in making ethical inquiry one of the righteous religious absolutists. There are millions of vital goals of education. The Declaration states that secular Americans who live ethical lives and are committed to humanists do not believe it is moral to impose a religious American democracy but do not cling to a conventional creed on young people before they are able to consent. Of religious faith. They do not wish to impose their views on course we believe in the right of parents to bring up their others. On the other hand, should not all citizens be permitted children in their religious faith. But today religious fundamen- to enjoy the blessings of liberty in the spirit of cooperation talists are insisting that theirs are the only moral values. and tolerance — without the threat of a new religious war? New England Puritans and the Moral Majority

George Marshall

Two opposing views of the role of religion have propelled Christian point of view, and that damnation awaits the voter, themselves into the national consciousness. I refer, on the one or nation, who fails to fall into line. On the other hand, some hand, to the increasing effort of the so-called Moral Majority say that the most fundamental American tradition is that of to influence political events according to a rigid religious stan- the separation of church and state and that it would be a dard based on the assumption that there is only one right serious threat to our democracy if the born-again Christians solution to each of the affairs of state, that this is from the were permitted to select the office-holders and write the laws of this nation. George Marshall is a unitarian minister in the Church of the This past fall saw the 350th anniversary of the founding by Larger Fellowship, Boston. Puritan divines of the old city of Boston. In our democracy

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