is Humanism just an attempt to turn atheism into a religion or does it have a more important purpose.?

Question

i like being an atheist not just because i have no need for god but also i have no need for organised religion. i prefer to have the freedom to run my own life. so Humanists confuse me they call themselves athiests yet seem to like organised religion. surely the existance of organised religion is worse then the potential existance of some form of god?

Answer 1

No you can be an atheist and still be a human.

Love and blessings Don

Answer 2

Well, humanism is a philosophy that works very well with Atheism; however it doesn’t have to walk hand and hand with it. You do not have to be an Atheist to be a Humanist and you do not have to be a humanist to be an Atheist.

You have a philosophy on life too. Maybe it isn’t humanism, but you have one. It is impossible to escape.

Religion and Philosophy are not the same thing. I think it is a good question though.

--------------------------------------------

I want to add. I don't think that Atheism means you have to not like an aspect of religion. Honestly it's very simple. You just don't believe in gods and the supernatural. I don't even see Atheism as a philosophy by iteslf.

Answer 3

Humanism is not atheism, although individual Humanists may be atheists. There is a big difference. Atheism is about gods. Humanism is not about gods. Humanism is about humanity, human values, human experience, human hopes, human ambitions, human experience.
.
Go to AmericanHumanist.org and read the three Humanist Manifestoes - 1933, 1973 and 2003. They are all about what is human. So far as I can recall they do not mention atheism or God. Ethics and the right way to live are knowable from intelligent evaluation of human experience. You do not need alleged "revelation".
.
Humanism is the affirmation of the human ability to do good, to live right, and to improve the human condition, by human effort. In this sense it is a modern revival of the ancient ideas of Pelagius, who was kicked out of Christian orthodoxy by Augustine and Jerome, "Saints" who perceived - quite accurately - that if people learned to take charge of their own lives, and deny that being born human makes you automatically doomed to Hell without "salvation", the Church would lose its grip on people and its power to control them by fear.
.
So Pelagianism was suppressed by bloody violence. Yet the idea has not died. There are people who have confidence in the ability of humanity to improve the human condition. And the Humanists are leading the way.

Answer 4

Humanism almost seems like "atheism lite". It seems to me that to be an atheist there are 2 things you don't like about religion...the large group of people telling you what to believe and a belief in a higher power. In most humanism you see a rejection of only one of these 2 aspects.

And to whoever said "atheism leads to satanism". Atheism is not a rejection of christianity, it is a rejection of all religious beliefs of a higher power. Therefore, a true atheist would also reject the existence of satan and thus could not become a satanist.

Answer 5

Atheism is a negative concept (NOT God). It doesn't provide any direction to life by itself. What is the purpose of being self-aware, of being able to think abstractly, to deliberately change our environment? "Atheism" doesn't provide any specific answer. It has no "whys".

Humanism gives atheism a direction. Service of humanity, survival and enhancement of the species make evolutionary sense. The power advantage of a group over separate individuals is obvious and humanism gives it a general, benevolent purpose.

You can broaden the definition of "religion" to mean whatever gives your life meaning. If you restrict it to organizations with a supernatural belief, humanism doesn't fit. They're just another kind of philanthropic organization. Lots of non-religious groups have "rituals" and ceremonies to increase their members' sense of belonging and projects to give them purpose. Kiwanis, Greenpeace, the Motion Picture Arts Academy, the Army, every group does these kinds of things. Joiners need organizations to do big (hopefully harmless) things. It's not necessarily about theology. (Even libertarians have organizations to advance their ideas. Figure that one out.)

Answer 6

I've been to a few humanist meetings. They are *kind of* like a religion, in that they do highway cleanups, help kids get scholarships to college, visit prisons, etc. I liked them, but it was a very small group of about 12 and I think mostly comprised of people who used to be Christians. They liked the social good aspect of religion but not the god of religion, so they used Humanism for their outlet for social good.

Answer 7

There is a branch of humanism that isn't made up of atheists - I believe it's called spiritual humanism.

But you ask a good question. I did research this religion, albeit very very briefly. It did have a point; I just don't recall what exactly. I'll be interested to see the responses.

Answer 8

in step with risk that's a mirrored image of the growing to be effect of atheism in American custom that we see greater disagreements approximately atheism (the thank you to locate it, what concepts are indispensable to or nicely matched with atheism, no remember if atheism could additionally be a be conscious, etc.) and between atheists. In significant area, lots of those disagreements may be a healthful factor. Analogous to the fact by using the two Steve Jobs or Steve Wozniak with regards to the 1st Apple Macintosh (suggested to be the 1st workstation stable adequate to criticize). i do no longer think of that any of those disagreements potential that atheism is turning out to be a faith. it must be "messy," yet messiness and conflict of words do no longer quantity to a "faith." For the latter, we would choose professions of theory in a minimum of one supernatural being and a set of doctrines or rituals or the two meant to propitiate that being.

Answer 9

Humanism is The Worship of Man.

Answer 10

its been said that atheism lead to Satanism