Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.
Humanism is the Mainstream of Western Civilization
by Konstantin Kolenda, professor of philosophy at Rice University, Houston TX, a member of the Board of the American Humanist Association, and an Advisor to the Humanist Fellowship of San Diego. Republished in FREETHOUGHT FORUM, February 2001, the newsletter of Humanist Fellowship of San Diego. Original publication about 1982.
It would be a grave error for the Humanists to acquiesce in the attempted characterization of them as merely a fragment, an insignificant and aberrant one at that, of our civilization. The opposite is the case.
From its very inception in ancient Greece, humanistic thought provided the dominant impetus toward the exploration of nature and toward the developmnet of the central moral and political ideas which received embodiment in democratic states that gradually emerged from autocratic and absolutist regimes in Europe.
The best policy for the Humanist movement is to refuse to be drawn into a debate on its detractors' terms. Those terms would lock the Humanists into a fruitless and pointless defense against preposterous and undocumented charges of being responsible for an assortment of contemporary ills.
Instead, our efforts should go into developing awareness, through discussion among ourselves and in our publications, of the central role of humanistic ideas that underlie the standards of decency, fairness, justice and compassion, and that are embebbed in our institutions and in our way of life. We need not deny that Christian beliefs for the most part are compatible with and have contributed to the moral objectives of our civilization.
By articulating the positive feautures of humanistic thought as they permeate all important spheres of our society, thus making it the most humane, constructive and progressive society in the world, we will deflect and de-fuse the attempts to reduce us to a minor role of mischief-makers and will show forth the dignity and power of our ideas.
We are not representing a small minority but speak for the forces that champion the growth of rationality, morality and good sense.
Rather than being sidetracked into narrow debates over the ultimate sources of the human spirit, we should concentrate on making manifest the good that that spirit has infused into the history of mankind on Earth.
Other Humanist Groups
There are dozens of groups worldwide using the name "Humanist", including many in San Diego alone. We are the Humanist Fellowship of San Diego, and the San Diego Humanist Society. The name of the Humanist Society is the property of the Humanist Fellowship of San Diego used for our on-line worldwide webcasts such as our two-hour program Scientology Exposed which was webcast from Norway. The Humanist Society will expand its work in distributing podcasts on Humanism.
The Humanist Fellowship of San Diego is affiliated with the American Humanist Association of Washington DC and not with any competing national Humanist body. The American Humanists (founded 1941) are the original Humanist organization and the largest today.
Through the American Humanist Association we are linked to the International Humanist and Ethical Union, the worldwide "umbrella" organization of Humanism based in London. The IHEU was founded in 1952 by the leadership of Sir Julian Huxley, first secretary-general of UNESCO.
The Ethical Culture Societies
The oldest organized Humanist affiliate of the IHEU is the Ethical Culture movement founded in 1876 by Felix Adler. The Humanist Fellowship of San Diego enjoys a "sister city" relationship with the Philadelphia Ethical Society, founded 1885, a venerable part of the Ethical Culture movement. You can explore the website of the New York Society for Ethical Culture by following the link from this website.
The Humanists of Norway
The Norwegian Humanist organization is influential and active in enhancing that country's society, and is one of the most successful Humanist organizations in the world. Harlem Gro Brundtland, a Humanist, was elected three times as prime minister. On retiring from politics, she moved on to become head of the World Health Organization, based in Geneva and at UN headquarters in New York. Dr. Brundtland is a physician with a concern for public health and is a leader in the worldwide campaign to eradicate cigarette smoking as a needless and avoidable health hazard.