Basic Ideology 101 – #24
Oct 6th, 2009 by Jack Lhasa
When I asked the community for an inside view of Humanism, I never expected to get such a rich and detailed version like the one Ryan provided for our last lesson.
In this lesson, we’ll talk about Humanism, using the information that is generally available across the net, and some of the remarks Ryan made.
Humanism has several off-shoots, with a variety of beliefs. Some are based in religion, others in atheism, but agnosticism seems to be most prevalent. The basic ideas involved with Humanism do not require a religious concept of God, or laws laid down by a religion.
So, let’s set out the base of Humanism in bullets.
- Democratic
- Humane Action
- Human Reason
- Ethics
- Justice
- Rejection of Superstition.
- Charity and Philanthropy
So, when we take a look at these aspects, we can see a lot of what Ryan was talking about in his email.
Humane action and ethics play the most important part in this, to my view point. The way we treat other people should be with kindness and understanding. Whether or not there is a God(or gods) should have no effect on how we treat each other. Most Humanists take this a step further and volunteer, work for charity, or donate money to charitable organizations.
I’d like to take a moment, and focus on a couple of things Ryan said.
Do what is right because it’s right and there may be nobody else to do it.
That is a powerful statement. Doing what is right, when you are in the position to do so.
If we want to see good in the world we have to do it ourselves.
Again, there is a lot to this statement. Responsibility. I think that is what it really boils down to; human responsibility. It’s not just a responsibility to ourselves, but to society, and our world.
So, looking back on Humanism, I think it’s easy to see that, at its very core, it is merely the idea of treating people well and doing what we believe is right. Doesn’t sound so different from many other ideologies or religions, does it?
Jack
I Listen.
Basic Ideology 101
Lesson #24
The Battle of Responsibility















