“Humanism” is a term that has been gaining popularity in the US political and atheist realms, yet few people seem to have taken the time to investigate its history. I will go into concerning aspects of humanism you may not be aware of.
First, humanism has a long history and lacks a definitive description. For a number of years I heard the term “humanist” and assumed it was simply a word describing people who take interest in humanity. However, one day someone who claimed to be humanist told me a Republican cannot be a humanist. That motivated me to investigate humanism and learn that it is much more than a generic term, it is actually an involved doctrine. I tend to look at the modern history of humanism which I consider to have started when the Humanist Manifesto I was published in 1933.
Here are some concerning aspects I’ve learned about humanism..
- While many humanists claim humanism is not about religion, the goal of the Humanist Manifesto I was to mimic religion. The manifesto was signed by 34 individuals, nearly half of them being Unitarians. Remember this when humanists claim humanism is not about religion.
- Modern humanism has a history with eugenics, the controversial (many would say unethical) practice of selecting desirable genes to produce a more perfected human being. Eugenics practices have also involved sterilizing individuals with undesirable genes in order to prevent them from reproducing. Julian Huxley, the first president of the British Humanist Association, now known as Humanist UK, was an evolutionary biologist who was heavily involved with eugenics.
- Fidel Castro claimed his revolution in Cuba was “humanist,” not communist. The revolution in Cuba led to thousands of Cubans fleeing, many people dying and a dictatorship that collaborated with the Soviet Union.
- American Humanist Association (AHA) has become the most prominent organization representing humanism in modern times, and is affiliated with many faction humanist groups in the United States and around the world. AHA published the third Humanist Manifesto in 2003, which is considered to be the main document that defines what humanism is. Millionaire Louis Appignani has played a critical role in developing American Humanist Association since 2001.
- Humanism has increasingly creeped its way into US atheist organizations. Many mainstream atheist organizations, such as American Atheists and Secular Student Alliance, now claim they follow humanist principles. Council for Secular Humanism, now known as Center for Inquiry, played a role in the establishment of atheist organizations. This has led to division in the US atheist community, since not all atheist identify as humanist.
- A website forum for atheists and agnostics, known as Agnostic. com, began cross posted content from forum users to a humanist forum in 2018 without verifying if users identified as humanist.
The more research and observation of the humanist community I do, the more concerning information I find. I’m sure I will find more details about the modern humanist community, so I am planning to keep this post open for future editing.
I have to question how many people who claim to be humanist react to this information?