There are several ways to structure the programs of Chapters of the American Humanist Association (AHA). Two are here under discussion: the Positive and the Negative. They are opposites.

The Positive Approach has as its premise that the main function of a Chapter of humanists is to study and present information about humanism. The Humanist Manifestos I and II serve as a guide, and programs from the humanities and the sciences are presented. Its basic assumption is that humanism presents an answer to that "basic interrogation" everyone makes of life and that the purpose of its program is to facilitate the process of becoming a humanist. It does not present itself as a crusade against supernatural religion but holds itself out as an alternative way of life.

The Negative Approach agrees with that part of the Humanist Manifesto II which criticizes traditional dogmatic or authoritarian religions as doing a disservice to humankind and are harmful or inadequate in many other ways. Chapter leaders see it as their duty to point that out as often as possible. This is based on the assumption that people need to face the facts about religion and what is wrong with supernaturalism before they can change to humanism. Very little positive humanism is presented.

Both points of view are frequently forcefully argued, and it does not seem possible to resolve the matter. The letter by Richard Layton presents a justification for the negative approach. The positive approach is unfocused and disorganized because no one seems to be sure what to do. Under the Charter granted to each Chapter, it's leaders are free to choose whatever program they want to follow and the greatest number of AHA Chapters follow the negative approach.

The present leadership of the Humanists of Utah have determined to follow the positive program, and as far as is known, our program is different from other chapters.

The Study of Humanism

I recently rediscovered the textbooks for a course in the humanities presented as a television extension course by the Salt Lake Community College in 1986. They are: The Art of Being Human and A Guide to the Art of Being Human, both subtitled, The Humanities as a Technique for Living. These two texts are authored by a number of instructors of the Miami-Dade Community College in Florida and published by Harper & Row (1984). It is not an appropriate program for our chapter, but can serve as a model to be followed.

Through these books I have gained a great deal of new understanding about humanism. I have learned that humanism is a way of life, and a humanist is one who practices the art of living, of being human, and that the humanities are the accumulated record of what humankind has done with its humanness. To become a humanist therefore requires a study of the humanities. Since the Humanist Manifestos I and II accept naturalistic evolution as the basis for its declaration, we are appropriately called Naturalistic humanists, and our studies also include the sciences.

Quotations from the Prefaces of these texts further define humanism and what it means to be a humanist:

"...A study of the humanities should offer a whole approach to living--accessible to all people--in which one makes full use of creative and intellectual resources in order to enhance the quality of one's life...Being human may be inborn, but the art of being human is not. It has to be acquired...You alone must initiate the drive...Never is the spotlight turned aside from the central issue: what it is to be human, and what it can mean to practice the art of being human.

"...The art of living includes thinking about matters not directly related to the needs of the moment...It is being sensitive and alive to both the physical and the social environment...spending time in the company of the philosophers, the poets and artists, the composers and dramatists...

"A humanist...chooses the...deliberate actualization of...potential...humanists are people who make time in their everyday lives to read, to think, to experience new ways of seeing, more complete ways of being...They concern themselves with the quality of other human lives...It is very hard for a humanist to be bored...The humanist's path, however, can be lonely, for society usually requires the very least, not the very best, of which one is capable...(W)e are not born with the knowledge of how to live a fully human life..."

Conclusion

What this means on a universal scale is best expressed by Sterling M. McMurrin, Ph.D., in his lecture, "The Patterns of our Religious Faiths", the Eighteenth Annual Frederick William Reynolds Lecture, University of Utah, January 18, 1954.

"The strength of the humanistic religion is its supreme commitment to reason, its faith in [humankind's] creative intelligence, faith that [we have] the power to discern, articulate, and solve [our] problems. The humanist is confident that under the guidance of good will, the patient processes of scientific thought may eventually win through for the amelioration of society and the achievement of human happiness. Nowhere is there a greater confidence in education, in [our] power to affect [our] own character or to determine the course of history. Humanism denies that there are uniquely religious experiences and refuses to distinguish between the sacred and the secular. It declares instead that religion embraces every worth-while human attitude and activity, and it grounds its moral ideals in the living experience of the individual and society. [The human being] is the primary object of its interest and devotion. Its instruments are science and democracy, and its goal is the good life."

This article is in response to Richard Layton's dissenting views on a September article, What Happened to the Promise of A Humanist Manifesto? Has the American Humanist Association (AHA) Lost The Vision?

--Bob Green