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Humanist Manifesto I
[The Manifesto is a product of many minds. It was designed to
represent a developing point of view, not a new creed. The
individuals whose signatures appear, would, had they been writing
individual statements, have stated the propositions in differing
terms. The importance of the document is that more than thirty men
have come to general agreement on matters of final concern and that
these men are undoubtedly representative of a large number who are
forging a new philosophy out of the materials of the modern world. -
Raymond B. Bragg (1933)]
The time has come for widespread recognition of the radical changes in
religious beliefs throughout the modern world. The time is past for
mere revision of traditional attitudes. Science and economic change
have disrupted the old beliefs. Religions the world over are under
the necessity of coming to terms with new conditions created by a
vastly increased knowledge and experience. In every field of human
activity, the vital movement is now in the direction of a candid and
explicit humanism. In order that religious humanism may be better
understood we, the undersigned, desire to make certain affirmations,
which we believe the facts of our contemporary life demonstrate.
There is a great danger of a final, and we believe fatal,
identification of the word "religion" with doctrines and methods which
have lost their significance and which are powerless to solve the
problem of human living in the Twentieth Century. Religions have
always been means for realizing the highest values of life. Their end
has been accomplished through the interpretation of the total
environing situation (theology or world view), the sense of values
resulting therefrom (goal or ideal), and the technique (cult)
established for realizing the satisfactory life. A change in any of
these factors results in alteration of the outward forms of religion.
This fact explains the changefulness of religions through the
centuries. But through all changes religion itself remains constant in
its quest for abiding values, an inseparable feature of human life.
Today man's larger understanding of the universe, his scientific
achievements, and his deeper appreciation of brotherhood have created
a situation which requires a new statement of the means and purposes
of religion. Such a vital, fearless, and frank religion capable of
furnishing adequate social goals and personal satisfactions may appear
to many people as a complete break with the past. While this age does
owe a vast debt to traditional religions, it is nonetheless obvious
that any religion that can hope to be a synthesizing and dynamic force
for today must be shaped for the needs of this age. To establish such
a religion is a major necessity of the present. It is a responsibility
which rests upon this generation. We therefore affirm the following:
FIRST: Religious humanists regard the universe as self-existing and
not created.
SECOND: Humanism believes that man is a part of nature and that he
has emerged as the result of a continuous process.
THIRD: Holding an organic view of life, humanists find that the
traditional dualism of mind and body must be rejected.
FOURTH: Humanism recognizes that man's religious culture and
civilization, as clearly depicted by anthropology and history, are the
product of gradual development due to his interaction with his natural
environment and with his social heritage. The individual born into a
particular culture is largely molded to that culture.
FIFTH: Humanism asserts that the nature of the universe depicted by
modern science makes unacceptable any supernatural or cosmic
guarantees of human values. Obviously humanism does not deny the
possibility of realities as yet undiscovered, but it does insist that
the way to determine the existence and value of any and all realities
is by means of intelligent inquiry and by assessment of their relation
to human needs. Religion must formulate its hopes and plans in the
light of the scientific spirit and method.
SIXTH: We are convinced that the time has passed for theism, deism,
modernism, and the several varieties of "new thought."
SEVENTH: Religion consists of those actions, purposes, and
experiences which are humanly significant. Nothing human is alien to
the religious. It includes labor, art, science, philosophy, love,
friendship, recreation - all that is in its degree expressive of
intelligently satisfying human living. The distinction between the
sacred and the secular can no longer be maintained.
EIGHTH: Religious humanism considers the complete realization of
human personality to be the end of man's life and seeks its
development and fulfillment in the here and now. This is the
explanation of the humanist's social passion.
NINTH: In place of the old attitudes involved in worship and prayer
the humanist finds his religious emotions expressed in a heightened
sense of personal life and in a cooperative effort to promote social
well-being.
TENTH: It follows that there will be no uniquely religious emotions
and attitudes of the kind hitherto associated with belief in the
supernatural.
ELEVENTH: Man will learn to face the crises of life in terms of his
knowledge of their naturalness and probability. Reasonable and manly
attitudes will be fostered by education and supported by custom. We
assume that humanism will take the path of social and mental hygiene
and discourage sentimental and unreal hopes and wishful thinking.
TWELFTH: Believing that religion must work increasingly for joy in
living, religious humanists aim to foster the creative in man and to
encourage achievements that add to the satisfaction of life.
THIRTEENTH: Religious humanism maintains that all associations and
institutions exist for the fulfillment of human life. The intelligent
evaluation, transformation, control, and direction of such
associations and institutions with a view to the enhancement of human
life is the purpose and program of humanism. Certainly religious
institutions, their ritualistic forms, ecclesiastical methods, and
communal activities must be reconstituted as rapidly as experience
allows, in order to function effectively in the modern world.
FOURTEENTH: The humanists are firmly convinced that existing
acquisitive and profit-motivated society has shown itself to be
inadequate and that a radical change in methods, controls, and motives
must be instituted. A socialized and cooperative economic order must
be established to the end that the equitable distribution of the means
of life be possible. The goal of humanism is a free and universal
society in which people voluntarily and intelligently cooperate for
the common good. Humanists demand a shared life in a shared world.
FIFTEENTH AND LAST: We assert that humanism will: (a) affirm life
rather than deny it; (b) seek to elicit the possibilities of life, not
flee from them; and (c) endeavor to establish the conditions of a
satisfactory life for all, not merely for the few. By this positive
"morale" and intention humanism will be guided, and from this
perspective and alignment the techniques and efforts of humanism will
flow.
So stand the theses of religious humanism. Though we consider the
religious forms and ideas of our fathers no longer adequate, the quest
for the good life is still the central task for mankind. Man is at
last becoming aware that he alone is responsible for the realization
of the world of his dreams, that he has within himself the power for
its achievement. He must set intelligence and will to the task.