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Humanism?

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2011 11:21 pm
by Mariolee
I found a scholarship regarding writing an essay on humanism, and I thought, "Hmm, humanism. Sounds familiar, isn't it a way of thinking back in renaissance days where they pushed the human needs first and became more secular?" So I started researching it, and I'm a bit confused as to what humanism actually is. It seems to mean a variety of things, but the thing that stood out to me the most is that it's become a sort of...religion? As in, it's a religion that denounces all traditional religions. I'm so confused. What is humanism, and what is it's relation with Christianity?

I still want that scholarship. :p

Re: Humanism?

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 4:47 am
by Furstentum Liechtenstein
Mariolee wrote:What is humanism, and what is it's relation with Christianity?
I would suggest that you start by reading and understanding The Humanist Manifesto which you can find here:

www.americanhumanist.org

Re: Humanism?

Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 11:53 am
by Seraph
I think Atheists have hijacked the term Humanism. During the Reinassance, Humanists more often than not tended to be Christian. Humanism more or less just means having value for the human race and having a philosphy that one should work to benefit mankind as a whole. Part of this is also championing human reason and believing that reason is a good thing that will benefit mankind, another idea which Atheists have unfairly monopolized. Ideally, I think Christians should be Humanists.

Now a lot of people associate it with Secular Humanism.