Do Humanists worship Humanity?

[McCulloch]

Do you know what the difference between humanism and theism is, exactly?

Simple. There is only one, and it is found only in who is worshiped. Theists worship a deity outside themselves, and humanists worship themselves. As a group, but still.

Do Humanists worship Humanity?

[McCulloch]

I believe that it is a simple matter of civility to respect what people say about their own beliefs. I may not believe that God exists, but if you say that you believe that God exists and that you worship God, I will take you at your word.

Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. [...]

Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute acknowledgment of all that lies beyond us—the glory that fills heaven and earth. It is the response that conscious beings make to their Creator, to the Eternal Reality from which they came forth; to God, however they may think of Him or recognize Him, and whether He be realized through religion, through nature, through history, through science, art, or human life and character." Worship asserts the reality of its object and defines its meaning by reference to it.

An act of worship may be performed individually, in an informal or formal group, or by a designated leader. Religious worship happens in a wide variety of locations: in purpose-built places of worship, at home or in the open. Many religious traditions place an emphasis upon regular worship at frequent intervals, often daily or weekly. Expressions of worship vary but typically include one or more of the following:

• Prayer, meditation, ritual, scripture, sacraments, sacrifice, sermons, chanting, music or devotional song, dance, religious holidays, festivals, pilgrimage, dining, fasting, temples or shrines, idols, or simply private individual acts of devotion.

We humanists have no deity. We have no worship.

[Goat]

Do you know what the difference between humanism and theism is, exactly?

Simple. There is only one, and it is found only in who is worshiped. Theists worship a deity outside themselves, and humanists worship themselves. As a group, but still.

Do Humanists worship Humanity?

I would say that Secular Humanists respect humanity, and wish to do the best to humanity that that can, but worship? That goes several layers deeper, and it appears to an attempt at equivocation to put Humanists at the same level (or below) theists.

[bernee51]

Do you know what the difference between humanism and theism is, exactly?

Simple. There is only one, and it is found only in who is worshiped. Theists worship a deity outside themselves, and humanists worship themselves. As a group, but still.

Do Humanists worship Humanity?

AC Grayling wrote:

Humanism is about the value of things human. Its desire to learn from the past, its exhortation to courage in the present and its espousal of hope for the future are about real things, real people, real human need and possibility, and the fate of the fragile world we share. It is about human life; it requires no belief in an afterlife. It is about this world. It requires no commands from divinities, no promises of reward or threats of punishment, no myths and rituals, either to make sense of things or to serve as a prompt to the ethical life. It requires only open eyes, sympathy and the kindness it prompts, and reason.

If holding such values as sacred counts as worship...then I am all for it.

[fredonly]

Do you know what the difference between humanism and theism is, exactly?

Simple. There is only one, and it is found only in who is worshiped. Theists worship a deity outside themselves, and humanists worship themselves. As a group, but still.

Do Humanists worship Humanity?

I was going to post a negative reply to this, until I saw that others had done so. therefore I'll defend the quote (true sophist that I am).

In a sense we do "worship" humanity, in that we hold humanity in higher regard than anything else in the universe. Some of us would even die for other humans (e.g. Dakota Meyer)

[Adurumus]

I hold A&W Root Beer in a higher regard than any other kind of drink. I do so because I respect their origin, how far they have come, and their power (the taste of the drink). I do not worship it. Respecting something does not necessarily mean worshiping something, otherwise we'd be a society of father-worship*.

*Symbolic paternal relationship, not "God is my father" sort of deal. There is an association between the two, though.

[fredonly]

I hold A&W Root Beer in a higher regard than any other kind of drink. I do so because I respect their origin, how far they have come, and their power (the taste of the drink). I do not worship it. Respecting something does not necessarily mean worshiping something, otherwise we'd be a society of father-worship*.

*Symbolic paternal relationship, not "God is my father" sort of deal. There is an association between the two, though.

Would you die for your root beer? The willingness to do that implies something greater than a fondness for a particular soft drink among all others. (FYI, I'd kill for a 1994 Gaja Barolo, but I wouldn't die for it).

[Adurumus]

I hold A&W Root Beer in a higher regard than any other kind of drink. I do so because I respect their origin, how far they have come, and their power (the taste of the drink). I do not worship it. Respecting something does not necessarily mean worshiping something, otherwise we'd be a society of father-worship*.

*Symbolic paternal relationship, not "God is my father" sort of deal. There is an association between the two, though.

Would you die for your root beer? The willingness to do that implies something greater than a fondness for a particular soft drink among all others. (FYI, I'd kill for a 1994 Gaja Barolo, but I wouldn't die for it).

Depends on the circumstances, but most likely I wouldn't. The link to draw in this situation is that respect does not equate worship. Unless it's a superlative amount of respect? If dying for something means that you worship it, then I'd have to ask... what would you be willing to die for? Your freedom? The lives of strangers, or the lives of your family? Your personal god?

[SailingCyclops]

We humanists have no deity. We have no worship.

Absolutely correct. What burns me, are these false equivalences many theists make. Like when they claim that atheism is just another religion, or that humanists worship humanity; I find it offensive. It's as if they need to justify their nonsense by claiming "everybody does what I do, they just call it by a different name". Absurd!

Bob

[dianaiad]

Do you know what the difference between humanism and theism is, exactly?

Simple. There is only one, and it is found only in who is worshiped. Theists worship a deity outside themselves, and humanists worship themselves. As a group, but still.

Do Humanists worship Humanity?

I'll admit, that was a thrown away one liner. Of course Humanists do not worship themselves in quite the way theists worship a deity, but I have often thought that Humanism as a philosophy shares a great many qualities with theism, substituting "humanity" for "deity" at their core, so that in a very real way, humanity becomes deity.

Let's look at a few similarities....at least, those that prompted my comparison.

First, the biggie:

Theists, in general, put deity at the center of their doings; everything is God's will, we are to worship Him and do what He wants; God, the Creator, made all things, arranges all things, and is to be considered first in all things. Most theists cling to one version of Deity, denying the existence of any other description "WE HAVE THE TRUTH!"

From the Humanist Manifesto III

Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

OK, so we have, in Humanism, a denial of any philosophy but theirs. The rules for living are set down by Humanity, for the 'greater good of humanity."

Indeed, if I substituted "God" in that first sentence of the manifesto, it would read very much like a standard statement of theist belief:

(insert theist belief system here)-ism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without any means but ours, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of God.

Not that awkward....I've read very similar statements from all sorts of religions.

Let's look at the rest of this manifesto, and compare the high points (I gave the link...feel free to fill in the blanks. )

1.Knowledge of the world is derived by observation, experimentation, and rational analysis.

Theists might claim that God guides our spiritual knowledge.

2.Humans are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change.

Theists claim that Someone else is responsible for our creation. Humanists give nobody credit...except perhaps to humanity for evolving on its own.

3.Ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience.

Theists claim that ethical values are given by God, Humanists claim that they come from humanity.

4.Life's fulfillment emerges from individual participation in the service of humane ideals.

Many, if not most, theist belief systems claim that true life fulfillment is found in the service of God.

5.Humans are social by nature and find meaning in relationships. Humanists long for and strive toward a world of mutual care and concern, free of cruelty and its consequences, where differences are resolved cooperatively without resorting to violence.

Theists long for heaven...

6.Working to benefit society maximizes individual happiness.

Something about serving others is actually serving God.

7.Humanists are concerned for the well being of all, are committed to diversity, and respect those of differing yet humane views.

"Love one another as I have loved you"


8.Thus engaged in the flow of life, we aspire to this vision with the informed conviction that humanity has the ability to progress toward its highest ideals.

We can indeed get to heaven...


The point of the above isn't to denigrate humanism. Mormons (though the mere WORD 'humanism' scares us off, for the reason I'll give in a moment) share many, if not most, of the ideals and goals of humanism. Indeed, most theists do. They are admiral ideals and goals.

The problem is, in almost every single sentence above, where the word 'humanity' or an equivalent concept occurs, the sentences still work if you put the concept of 'God' in the place of 'humanity." The other sentences are declarations of the superiority of humanity over all other concepts of ethical/behavioral sources of behavior or thought. Very theistic of them, actually.

So my claim wasn't about the thoughts, ideals or goals that Humanists have. The notable thing, at least for me, is the obvious substitution of 'Humanity" (with a capital "H") for Deity.

As to "Worship?"

Well, theists do have formal worship services where they praise God. Most of their time is spent (if they really attempt to 'walk the walk,' that is) behaving in a way that would please Him.

that is also considered a form of worship.

What do humanists do that is different?

I submit that any gathering in which humanists have managed to completely exclude any mention of deity, and which promote their agenda, is a form of 'worship service." Isn't that what 'church' is about? Baptists don't say Mass in their meetings, Catholics don't, as a rule, read the Torah and do Bar Mitzvahs...and humanists do their utmost best to exclude any mention of the competition...God...in any public meeting.


(shrug)

To ME, then, it looks very much as if Humanists have substituted Humanity for God...in more ways than they want to admit.