Discussion Group Report

"Why have freethought, atheism, and secular humanism thus far failed to gain mass support on the world scene?" asks Paul Kurtz in his book Eupraxophy: Living without Religion. "Why do scientific humanism and secularists win all the intellectual campaigns against religionists, yet lose in the long run?"

Humanist and secularist ideas have had a profound impact in the world: the development of science and the progressive application of its methods to the understanding of nature and life. The application of technology and industry for the betterment of the human condition and their contributions to improved standards of living and health. The development of secular schools and universities and the extensions of the horizons of learning to millions of inhabitants of this planet. The continued secularization of society and culture, the arts and sciences, and philosophy and politics, making them independent of religious authority or control. The progressive development of democratic ideals world-wide, those that recognize freedom of conscience, the right of dissent, and the separation of church and state. The growing respect for human rights on a global scale and the sense that we are all part of an interdependent world community.

Although in some countries, particularly in Western Europe, the humanist movement is now growing, the overall impact is still very weak. Unless strong humanist institutions are developed, says Kurtz, there is no guarantee that the secular and humanist revolution in the modern world will continue. Secularist and humanist culture in pagan Hellenic civilization was overwhelmed by the Dark Age of Christianity; the Alexandrian library, a treasury of great classics, was burned; and the infamous Holy Inquisition was eventually launched. There is no assurance that this will not happen again and that men and women will not retreat in fear and trembling into the false security of a religious cocoon. A collapse of courage and a renewed dread of death, individually or collectively, can again overtake human consciousness and it may again feel the need to postulate myths of solace to ease frustration and sorrow.

"The only way to see to it that humanist philosophical, scientific, and ethical concepts survive our age is by transforming them into conviction and commitment in the minds and hearts of ordinary men and women and by embodying them in institutional form." Ideas take on a new vitality when they are reinforced by their institutional forms though only a nonviolent strategy can most effectively accomplish this, one based primarily on moral suasion and education.

Kurtz proposes a public education that especially develops the skills of critical intelligence, logic, and scientific methods of inquiry; an appreciation of the importance of rational inquiry and thinking skills; and a clarification of the most effective methods for evaluating truth claims, judging them by the evidence, and in light of their logical relationships, and testing them by reference to their consequences. These methods involve an open mind about questions still unresolved and some element of skepticism about claims not objectively corroborated.

"The great challenge of the immediate future is to extend the methods of critical analysis from narrow specialized fields of knowledge to all aspects of thought and action, and especially to use them in appraising the claims of religion, as well as dilemmas encountered in the ethical and political domains." This should be the task of all the institutions of society. We should attempt to provide within the media critical dissent, an appreciation of alternative points of view, and improved quality of taste and judgment. People need to be encouraged to appreciate the findings of science in general, to cultivate rational powers of thought, to study the methods of logic, of clarifying ideas, and of reaching reliable knowledge. "The best therapy for nonsense is critical intelligence." Skepticism is important as an antidote to gullibility.

Kurtz says that many humanists are unduly reluctant to criticize religion. Yet true believers bitterly attack them. We have reached a stage in the development of human culture where dissent is tolerated. We should never return one intolerance for another, nor mock or ridicule alternative belief states, but we should criticize them fairly. We should not assume that the Bible and claims to revelation are immune to critical scrutiny; when we examine them carefully, we find that their claims are highly questionable.

Humanism is deeply concerned with ethics and cherishes moral principles and values, but is troubled by repressive moral codes imposed by authoritarian religions. It is identified with moral freedom: the emancipation of the individual and society. This emancipation does not break down the social fabric and lead to violence, crime, licentiousness, pornography, drugs, and sexually transmitted disease, as many defenders of the social order charge. Eschewing transcendental theistic morality with absolute commandments and a focus on obedience to God to win salvation, humanistic ethics focuses on the here and now and wishes to use critical intelligence to cope with problems or make moral choices.

Kurtz advocates the establishment of Eupraxophy Centers, focusing on eupraxia, good practice. They would be both schools and laboratories for lived experience, providing for people actually to relate to each other. Some of their functions would be ethical education, counseling, creative renewal and friendship, rites of passage, enjoyment; and social polity or the discussion of concerns about society and social justice.