Seven Elements of Religious Humanism
By The Reverend Joseph Ben-David
The teaching and practice of humanism as a, reason and feeling combining, naturalistic religion, entails the following elements of faith:
1. The center of humanistic striving is the fulfillment of the call of God understood as ideal reality to be optimally actualized in the life of every individual and society at large. Because of its emphasis on actual life and one's concrete response to its supreme challenges, the faith of the Church of Humanism implies a religion of actuality, rather than an exercise in symbolic ritualism. The religious postulate "to understand, love and serve God"- in a rational and naturalistic sense - represents the first element of our faith.
2. Since human beings bear a unique and sacred responsibility for themselves and the destiny of this, and today also, other planets, the fullest development of their capacities for reason, love and wisdom, and the enhancement of authentic relatedness towards oneself, others and the universe, represents the second element of our faith.
3. The fact that human dignity and fulfillment rest on ethical and moral factors, particularly the freedom of conscience, implies that every human being has the explicit duty of non-resignation to the forces of evil at any time and place. To elevate and strengthen character, to resist all actions and involvements that abuse, violate and oppress other human beings, animals and the environment, is the third element of our faith.
4. The criterion of ethics in all religious quests is the concept of truth - truth, seen not as a mere relative opinion, empty abstraction or a statement limited to those already proven, often erroneously or by false evidence, but any statement, thought or feeling that corresponds with reality. The reconstruction of the concept of truth is therefore the fourth element of our faith.
5. Crucial to the concept of God as ideal reality is the comprehension of the word "reality". Reality is synonymous with that which is, was, or will be. While we can perceive reality only subjectively through our senses, reality exists regardless of our limited sensory apparatus. It is the opposite of the fictitious, illusionary or delusionary. Idolatry is the misguided belief in, or worship of, the unreal or humanly destructive. Reality, though complex in its nature, can often be described and understood in simple terms. The need to transcend the cruel and brutal aspects of nature and attain a higher reality of being through the process of enlightenment and personal growth is the fifth element of our faith.
6. The practice of our faith requires the concentration of all life forces on those tasks most important in the fulfillment of each individuals's destiny. Focusing on the ultimately relevant, penetration to the roots, and awareness of primal causes, rather than dissipation of one's energy in preoccupation with symptoms, is the challenge to all. To become a part of the intellectual, moral and sensory-awakened avant garde of society, while identifying with all humanity, in its universal dimensions, is the sixth element of our faith.
7. Recognizing the necessity for the unification of the central humanistic truths inherent in all world faiths and schools of thought, and aspiring to advance their fusion in a panreligious, ethically pluralistic frame of orientation, introduced into the minds and hearts of as many people as possible, is the seventh element of our faith.
