Becoming More Fully Human: Religious Humanism As a Way of Life Sermon by the Rev
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Becoming More Fully Human: Religious Humanism as a Way of Life Sermon by the Rev. Dr. William R. Murry A few years ago 75 percent of Unitarian Universalists identified as Religious Humanists. Today just under 50 percent do. Why the decline? I think there are a number of reasons but one of the reasons is that many people have a lot of wrong ideas about Humanism. I have been devoting my retirement years to writing and speaking about UU Humanism for the purpose of clarifying what Humanism is and what it is not, what it means and what it does not mean. That’s what I want to talk about today. You may remember that a few years ago the late Jerry Falwell and other evangelicals accused what they called “secular Humanism” of being responsible for everything they believed was wrong with America. From their perspective Humanism was evil because Humanists did not believe in God, favored women’s reproductive rights, advocated separation of church and state, opposed prayer in the public schools, favored gay rights, and so on. What I will talk about today is religious Humanism. Religious and secular Humanism agree on the basic beliefs of Humanism. The major difference is not so much in what they believe but in the way they practice Humanism. Religious Humanists emphasize the importance of belonging to a community, a community where their beliefs and values are supported and encouraged, where they find friends who have similar views, where they can work together with other Humanists for social justice, and where they can celebrate life’s passages with others -- birth, marriage, and death. At a time when most of our contacts with others are impersonal many people hunger for deeper and more meaningful 1 relationships which they find in being part of a genuine community of the kind embodied in Unitarian Universalist congregations. Religious Humanists tend to be more open than secular Humanists to feeling awe and wonder at the natural world, and they find spiritual or religious meaning in nature. And, religious Humanists place a great deal of value on the emotions and on personal experience whereas secular Humanism tends to be more rationalistic and cold. I like to say that religious Humanism is Humanism with a heart -- whereas secular Humanism is pretty much limited to the head. In my latest book I wrote, “I am a religious humanist because I believe life is lived best in a covenanted community with others who share similar values, purposes, and goals. I am a religious humanist because I believe we need one another to help to diminish our sorrows and to increase our joys, and I find it meaningful to celebrate life’s passages with people who share my values.” Religious Humanism emphasizes reason and critical thinking, but it also has a central place for love and compassion, for spirituality and tolerance. It is a Humanism of the heart as well as the mind. And it is committed to social justice. Some of you have probably read one or more of the books by the so-called “new atheists” attacking belief in God and questioning the value of religion, books by Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, and the late Christopher Hitchens. There is much to commend these works. They have managed quite well to tear down the edifice of traditional supernatural religious belief, but they have failed to offer anything to take its place. They have lumped all religious perspectives together and denounced them all as intellectually invalid and morally reprehensible. 2 My work begins where the books just cited end by offering a positive and affirming view of life without a supernatural God. I believe it is not enough to be critical of traditional religion and religious belief unless you can offer something to replace them. This is the difference between mere atheism, which is negative, and Humanism, which is positive and affirming. Humanism is much more than atheism. Atheism means denying the existence of a supernatural deity, but we human beings seek meaning and purpose, and we want to know how to live happy and fulfilling lives. Humanism offers those things, so I talk and write about what Humanism affirms, not what it denies, about Humanism as a morally responsible and joyous way of living. Religious Humanism is not primarily about the supernatural beliefs we reject; it is about the values we stand FOR, and we stand for human well-being, human flourishing. We stand for social justice and equity for all people, for these affect the quality of life of everyone. Human-ism is about the worth and dignity of every human being. It is about respecting persons and caring about each person’s well-being, yet economic inequality in this country is harmful to human flourishing.” When it comes to religion, most people, I believe, assume we have only two alternatives: either accept traditional religion or reject it. But there is a third alternative -- religious humanism, which includes the best values and principles of traditional religion without requiring us to believe in the superstitions and irrational beliefs and dogmas of traditional religions, but not leaving us adrift without meaningful convictions and a reason to live that is the danger of atheism and agnosticism. For those of us for whom the stories and myths of traditional religion have lost their power as well as their believability, this third way can make a lot of sense. 3 Many people erroneously think that since Humanists do not believe in a supernatural God we don’t believe in anything, and we are immoral. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have a lot of important moral beliefs. In my latest book I list 25 important convictions that most Humanists have, convictions that most of you have too whether you consider yourself to be a Humanist or not. These include affirming the value and dignity of every human being; that we should treat other people, not as means to our own ends, but as ends in themselves. In other words we should not exploit others or manipulate others for something we want. We believe in the importance of social justice and equal opportunity for all people. We believe that no one should be discriminated against because of race, skin color, beliefs, sexual orientation, nationality, or the language they speak. We believe in the importance of preserving our natural environment and in reducing the causes of global warming. We believe that people are born neither good nor evil but educable, and that the way they are brought up and socialized has a lot to do with the kind of person they become. We believe that love understood as caring for others and seeking their well-being is essential to individual happiness and to a good society. We believe in the importance of democracy -- the idea that every organization and institution should treat everyone equally and give every person a voice in that organization’s decisions. We believe in the importance of education, especially education that teaches you how to think critically. We believe in the importance of science which has increased enormously our understanding of the world in which we live and of ourselves. We believe that the way to be happy and to find life meaningful is to make a positive contribution to the world in whatever ways we can. We believe that this life is probably the only one we have and that we ought to make the most of it. Many of us believe a lot of other things but these are some of the most important beliefs of us so-called “unbelievers.” The following affirmation from the Council 4 for Secular Humanism is an excellent brief statement of what “unbelievers” believe, and it applies to religious Humanists as well as secular Humanists: We believe in optimism rather than pessimism, hope rather than despair, learning in the place of dogma, truth instead of ignorance, joy rather than guilt or sin, tolerance in the place of fear, love instead of hatred, compassion over selfishness, beauty instead of ugliness, and reason rather than blind faith or irrationality. Obviously when I use the word religious I do not mean belief in God -- which is what most people think religion means. The word religion derives from a word meaning “to bind together” or to “re-connect.” Humanism is religious because it binds people together and helps people re-connect with the things that are most important in life -- human beings and human values. The important thing, however, is not whether we use the word religious or not, but whether Humanism gives meaning and purpose and direction to our lives. Many of us have found that it does. I like what a friend, a retired engineer, has written. He said: “It's taken me the better part of a quarter of a century to sort out what I think Humanism is all about. The short answer is, in finding Humanism, I've also found my own humanity. My Humanism informs me that I am genuinely and fully human. My Humanism informs me that I am a worthy individual and a worthy member of whatever community I find myself in. By my Humanism, I know myself to be ethical, religious, and civic-minded. My Humanism helps me avoid falling into despair; it helps me find a healthy sense of certainty in the face of meaninglessness, competence in the face of futility, and self-confidence in the face of alienation or condemnation.” 5 It is simply not true that Humanists are not moral. Most Humanists not only lead personal moral lives, many are also leaders in efforts to make the world a better place for everyone.