Posted by HisHughness on 4/3/05 2:14pm
Msg #29390

Off Topic

This being Sunday, I hope you will all forgive me for this posting and the other about our church service this morning.

I picked up the address of a really interesting web site today. It is www.beliefnet.com. Take the Belife-O-Matic quiz. My beliefs, according to the quiz, make the closest matches for me Unitarian (100 percent agreement); secular humanist, 98 percent; and liberal Quaker, 87 percent. I can't sit still long enough to be a Quaker, and I have no idea what a secular humanist is, so I guess I'm stuck with being a Unitarian.

Reply by CharlotteTX on 4/3/05 2:35pm
Msg #29392

Well Hugh, it says I outta be a Mormon!! 100% Oh boy, I think they would kick me out. Although having more than 1 wife might please my hubby. But he's not gonna have that to happen while on my time!

Reply by Ted_MI on 4/3/05 5:11pm
Msg #29415

Charlotte,

You must have missed the recent tv commercial - it was this black guy who was granted three wishes if he were stranded on a deserted island. So he chooses two women and a case of beer (I guess it was a beer ad). Then the ad switches to the deserted island. For sure there are two (very attractive) women and a case of beer. But the two of them are on his case unmercifully, berating him that he hasn't done this; he hasn't done that, etc.. So then the next scene shows him on the deserted island with a case of beer and a dog. Don't remember what the third thing was in that final scene.

Reply by CharlotteTX on 4/3/05 6:22pm
Msg #29426

Oh yea, I do remember seeing that one and thinking that wouldn't be my hubby, I mean wishing for 2 females, because when things get thick around here, ( mind you I talking about what he thinks is thick) he goes to HIS garage, murmurring how 1 is ALMOST more than he can handle at his age. I just have to laugh to myself as I try to get the last word in. So I guess he would rather just have a bigger garage!!

Reply by Stephen_VA on 4/3/05 3:37pm
Msg #29400

Courtesy of the WikiPedia

secular humanism
Secular humanism became prominent in the 1970s and was coined to describe a branch of humanism strongly influenced by secularism that attempts to avoid the dogma encouraged by faith-based initiatives, such as traditional religion, through a conviction that dogmas and ideologies whether religious, political or social, must be analyzed and tested by each individual and not simply believed. Secular humanists may be atheists who reject all supernaturalism or anti-dogmatists who see existing localized religions as divisive rather than inclusive and antithetical to the core principles embodied in humanism. Secular humanism, like humanism in general, emphasizes the use of critical reason, factual evidence, and scientific methods of inquiry, rather than faith and mysticism, in seeking solutions to human issues and answers to human questions.

Secular humanists affirm the possibility of an objective truth and accept that human perception of that truth is imperfect.

Secular humanism is a eupraxophy (or non-religious) worldview, which embraces "atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, rationalists, materialists, skeptics," according to the Council for Secular Humanism [1] (http://www.secularhumanism.org/intro/index.htm).

Secularists may or may not be opposed to religion, but secular humanism as a social movement is especially concerned with religious law, whereby a strict doctrine conflicts with religious freedom. Regarding politics, secular humanism advocates separation of government from influence of religion in order to facilitate adoption and application of secularist rules.

Secular humanism may be simplistically described as:

Humans matter and can solve human problems.
Science, free speech, rational thought, democracy and freedom in the arts go together.
There is nothing supernatural.
There are now ten Humanist Manifestos and Declarations:

Humanist Manifesto I (http://www.americanhumanist.org/about/manifesto1.html) (1933)
Humanist Manifesto II (http://www.americanhumanist.org/about/manifesto2.html) (1973)
A Secular Humanist Declaration (http://www.secularhumanism.org/intro/declaration.html) (1980)
A Declaration of Interdependence (http://www.iheu.org/modules/wfsection/article.php?page=1&articleid=281#globalethics) (1988)
IHEU Minimum Statement on Humanism (http://www.iheu.org/modules/wfsection/article.php?page=1&articleid=6) (1996)
HUMANISM: Why, What, and What For, In 882 Words (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/MHEC/humnism.htm) (1996)
Humanist Manifesto 2000: A Call for a New Planetary Humanism (http://www.secularhumanism.org/manifesto/index.htm) (2000) condensed version
The Affirmations of Humanism: A Statement of Principles (http://www.secularhumanism.org/intro/affirmations.html)
Amsterdam Declaration (http://humaniststudies.org/humphil.html) (July 2002)
Humanist Manifesto III (Humanism And Its Aspirations) (http://www.americanhumanist.org/3/HumandItsAspirations.htm) (2003)
Two notable individuals who have done much to promote secular humanism in the 20th century are Dr. Paul Kurtz and Gene Roddenberry. Secular humanism often finds itself in conflict with Christian fundamentalism, especially over the issue of state involvement in religion. One issue in particular, state funding (and thereby de-facto control) of institutions such as schools, managed by churches and other religious organisations, excites continual debate and controversy world-wide.

Reply by HisHughness on 4/3/05 3:52pm
Msg #29402

High on the list of things I never expected to encounter on a site devoted to notaries public was a comprehensive discussion of secular humanism.

Thanks, Stephen, for giving me the word "eupraxophy."

Reply by Melody on 4/4/05 12:30am
Msg #29461

Thank you

I have been called many, many, many names in the past. Some of them have been quite colorful.

Thanks to your post, I now know the Term that truly applies to me!

I thought I was more complicated than an Agnostic. Now I know for sure! Thanks!

Some of the my more colorful names probably still apply, but Secular Humanist is the only one that really matters!

Reply by Donna Sac CA on 4/3/05 4:31pm
Msg #29406

Aliberal quaker? Is that one who uses electricity or drives a car instead of ride a horse?

Reply by Ted_MI on 4/3/05 5:14pm
Msg #29417

Donna,

I think you're getting the Quakers confused with the Amish. They are the ones who travel around in horses and buggies and eschew modern conveniences.

Reply by HisHughness on 4/3/05 5:21pm
Msg #29419

Ted explains:

***They are the ones who travel around in horses and buggies and eschew modern conveniences.***

I thought "eschew" was a noun, Ted, not a verb. You know, as in, "Honey, would you fetch that can of eschew nuts? They'd go right well with this beer."

Reply by Dave_CA on 4/3/05 6:04pm
Msg #29425

No Hugh. Not a noun but one of my favorite bumper stickers.

"Eschew obfuscation"