Huamnism as the Next Step

Humanism as the Next Step, Lloyd and Mary Morain, Humanist Press, 1998

Humanism is a system of belief that feels that problems can best be solved by logical, perceptive thinking and understanding the way the world works. It doesn't believe in placing faith in a deity or a philosophy where matters are accepted on faith and held to be true for all time.

In early days, religion was used to explain natural occurrences like life death, summer and winter. People now have scientific answers to such questions. Humanism is a philosophy without heaven, divine revelation or sacred scriptures, so humanists fix their attention on this life.

To a humanist, God can be thought of in a number of ways; as nature, as goodness in people, or the way things work in the universe. An impersonal conception of God is not necessarily rejected, but there are better ways to express this part of nature. The truthfulness of sacred scripture like the Bible or Koran is less important than how well they serve as inspirational guides for some people. Some humanists do go to church, in more liberal congregations like Quaker, Methodist, liberal Jewish or Unitarian-Universalist.

There are two elements that make up the Humanist approach to personal problem solving. The first is a state of mind of self-reliance and confidence. There are perfectly natural reasons for people's actions, not the conjunction of the planets or the configuration of crystals. The second is to keep an open mind and be reluctant to jump to conclusions.

The authors also explore the history of Humanism, how it can be applied in a person's life and how it can be applied to solve larger social problems.

Knowing absolutely nothing about Humanism before I started this book, I had no idea what to expect. The authors do a fine job at taking the reader through Humanism, painlessly. Anyone who is not satisfied with, or otherwise questioning, their present religion, could do a lot worse than read this book.