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The Humanist Ten Commitments again

lpetrich

lpetrich

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The Humanist Ten Commitments?
Living Humanist Values: The Ten Commitments - TheHumanist.com

I want to update it, but it's an old thread, and I'm starting a new one. Its list is a reworded version of the earlier one:
  1. Critical Thinking
  2. Ethical Development
  3. Peace and Social Justice
  4. Service and Participation
  5. Empathy
  6. Humility
  7. Environmentalism
  8. Global Awareness
  9. Responsibility
  10. Altruism

Here are some more:

Amsterdam Declaration 1952 - Humanists International
  1. It is democratic.
  2. It seeks to use science creatively, not destructively.
  3. Humanism is ethical.
  4. It insists that personal liberty is an end that must be combined with social responsibility in order that it shall not be sacrificed to the improvement of material conditions.
  5. It is a way of life, aiming at the maximum possible fulfilment, through the cultivation of ethical and creative living.

The Amsterdam Declaration - Humanists International
  1. Humanism is ethical.
  2. Humanism is rational.
  3. Humanism supports democracy and human rights.
  4. Humanism insists that personal liberty must be combined with social responsibility.
  5. Humanism is a response to the widespread demand for an alternative to dogmatic religion.
  6. Humanism values artistic creativity and imagination and recognises the transforming power of art.
  7. Humanism is a lifestance aiming at the maximum possible fulfilment
 
Humanist Manifesto I - American Humanist Association - 1933
  1. Religious humanists regard the universe as self-existing and not created.
  2. Humanism believes that man is a part of nature and that he has emerged as a result of a continuous process.
  3. Holding an organic view of life, humanists find that the traditional dualism of mind and body must be rejected.
  4. Humanism recognizes that man’s religious culture and civilization, ... are the product of a gradual development due to his interaction with his natural environment and with his social heritage. ...
  5. Humanism asserts that the nature of the universe depicted by modern science makes unacceptable any supernatural or cosmic guarantees of human values. ...
  6. We are convinced that the time has passed for theism, deism, modernism, and the several varieties of “new thought”.
  7. Religion consists of those actions, purposes, and experiences which are humanly significant. ...
  8. 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. ...
  9. In the 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.
  10. It follows that there will be no uniquely religious emotions and attitudes of the kind hitherto associated with belief in the supernatural.
  11. Man will learn to face the crises of life in terms of his knowledge of their naturalness and probability. ...
  12. 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 satisfactions of life.
  13. Religious humanism maintains that all associations and institutions exist for the fulfillment of human life. ...
  14. 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. ...
  15. 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.
 
Humanist Manifesto II - American Humanist Association - 1973
  1. ... We believe, however, that traditional dogmatic or authoritarian religions that place revelation, God, ritual, or creed above human needs and experience do a disservice to the human species. ...
  2. Promises of immortal salvation or fear of eternal damnation are both illusory and harmful. ...
  3. We affirm that moral values derive their source from human experience. ...
  4. Reason and intelligence are the most effective instruments that humankind possesses. ...
  5. The preciousness and dignity of the individual person is a central humanist value. ...
  6. In the area of sexuality, we believe that intolerant attitudes, often cultivated by orthodox religions and puritanical cultures, unduly repress sexual conduct. ...
  7. To enhance freedom and dignity the individual must experience a full range of civil liberties in all societies. ...
  8. We are committed to an open and democratic society. ...
  9. The separation of church and state and the separation of ideology and state are imperatives. ...
  10. Humane societies should evaluate economic systems not by rhetoric or ideology, but by whether or not they increase economic well-being for all individuals and groups, minimize poverty and hardship, increase the sum of human satisfaction, and enhance the quality of life. ...
  11. The principle of moral equality must be furthered through elimination of all discrimination based upon race, religion, sex, age, or national origin. ...
  12. We deplore the division of humankind on nationalistic grounds. ...
  13. This world community must renounce the resort to violence and force as a method of solving international disputes. ...
  14. The world community must engage in cooperative planning concerning the use of rapidly depleting resources. ...
  15. The problems of economic growth and development can no longer be resolved by one nation alone; they are worldwide in scope. ...
  16. Technology is a vital key to human progress and development. ...
  17. We must expand communication and transportation across frontiers. ...
  18. The world cannot wait for a reconciliation of competing political or economic systems to solve its problems. ...
 
Humanism and Its Aspirations: Humanist Manifesto III, a Successor to the Humanist Manifesto of 1933 - American Humanist Association
  1. Knowledge of the world is derived by observation, experimentation, and rational analysis. ...
  2. Humans are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change. ...
  3. Ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience. ...
  4. Life’s fulfillment emerges from individual participation in the service of humane ideals. ...
  5. Humans are social by nature and find meaning in relationships. ...
  6. Working to benefit society maximizes individual happiness. ...

The US Green Party:

The Four Pillars - www.gp.org
Peace, Ecology, Social Justice, Democracy

Four Pillars Ten Key Values GPUS
  1. Grassroots Democracy
  2. Social Justice and Equal Opportunity
  3. Ecological Wisdom
  4. Non-Violence
  5. Decentralization
  6. Community-Based Economics and Economic Justice
  7. Feminism and Gender Equity
  8. Respect For Diversity
  9. Personal and Global Responsibility
  10. Future Focus and Sustainability

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Instagram: “Yesterday we celebrated back-to-school by sharing backpacks and school supplies with families across the district. From local parks to…” - a sweet little message, where she advised:
  • Be curious
  • Be kind
  • Be diligent / practice
Covering three of the Big Five personality traits: Openness, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness. The others are Extroversion, Neuroticism.
 
10 new improved and far better commandments • Skeptical Science
  1. Be open minded and be willing to alter your beliefs with new evidence.
  2. Strive to understand what is most likely to be true, not to believe what you wish to be true.
  3. The scientific method is the most reliable way of understanding the natural world.
  4. Every person has the right to control over their body.
  5. God is not necessary to be a good person or to live a full and meaningful life.
  6. Be mindful of the consequences of all your actions and recognise that you must take responsibility for them.
  7. Treat others as you would want them to treat you and can reasonably expect them to want to be treated. Think about their perspective.
  8. We have the responsibility to consider others including future generations
  9. There is no one right way to live.
  10. Leave the world a better place than you found it.

Reviewing a Christian response to the atheist ten non-commandments • Skeptical Science - "So the bottom line here is that he has indeed made a decent attempt to evaluate it all, basically agrees with it all, and yet is also clearly struggling to retain his religious beliefs in that context because he feels that he still needs a belief in a god."
 
I would only add that tenet 5 above should be stated in the plural. Gods are not necessary ...
 
T.G.G. Moogly said:
I would only add that tenet 5 above should be stated in the plural. Gods are not necessary ...
Click to expand...

#5 Is irrelevant because because being 'good' means different things to different people.
 
Lion IRC said:
#5 Is irrelevant because because being 'good' means different things to different people.
Click to expand...

"Being 'good'" goes on meaning what it means to people with or without God's opinion added into the mix. It's relevant so long as there are people. The only relevancy in doubt is God's relevancy to what "good" is.
 
These commandments don't sound essentially different in nature from the commandments of actual religions, but with science in place of a divine being.

I'll take the post-humanist commandments:
- Do whatever you want to do
- Realize that your actions have consequences
- Actually think critically about your own behavior given context, rather than relying on static rules
 
fromderinside said:
1. OP is commitments

2. doing whatever isn't a commitment or commandment it's an extreme epicure description

3. Who cares about Humanists anyway. Seems all that leads to commitment is difference.

Sorry. It's late.
Click to expand...

How did I miss that? But what is a prescription to commit but something commanded with social pressure? See?? I can weasel myself out of any hole.

Seriously, there's some good stuff, but it sounds like we're praying to Dawkins now.

Doing what one wants isn't epicurean-ism, it's freedom. Ethics either exists within you, or it doesn't. And even when it does, we all have limits.
 
I've never liked the term "Humanism". It seems very arrogant and self-serving to push forth the idea that humans are noble creatures. We often aren't. Humans are often scum, and it is no more human to be nice than it is human to be nasty. I dislike "Humane" for the same reason. It is bigotry at the species level.
 
I'm of the opinion that humanism mainly grew as a secular movement in response to the overwhelming force of religion in most societies. Humanism is primarily anti-religious.

But at the same time it has the same elements of religion:
- we're ethically superior because we believe in [x] (reason / science) instead of [y] (God)
- we abide by a moral code that presumes [x] (reason / science) is what is good and just in the world, and is the closest thing to our savior

Maybe that's an improvement over relying on a deity, but if I were to build a humanist ideology I'd try to distance myself from the notion that science / technology is anything more than an amoral tool.

I don't know, in my experience at this forum and with humanist groups, I get the picture of smug academics looking down on the unwashed masses who just haven't seen the light yet. Sounds familiar.
 
fromderinside said:
Well there we go. Any justification is 'religion'. Down to just a few words now. Come, go, start, stop, right left, justify, divide and the last, a salad, "... and a partridge in a pear tree". rat tat bumpf! crash!!

Tinkle ...
Click to expand...

Well in some sense it is a religion founded on a metaphysical possibility - that God doesn't exist.

Many secular people are inactive - they don't care about promoting values and have a live and let live attitude. Whereas humanists are organized around a central metaphysical thesis - God doesn't exist, reason is king.

You don't need to call it a religion if you don't want to, but it looks similar to me. And it's ethics also aren't entirely different from that of theistic religions, except God doesn't play a part.

I'm not just being a contrarian here, I decided not to join our local humanists for this reason.
 
Mine is a personal life system based on verifiable operations appropriate for living a life where transactions are positive to all parties one encounters within it. I call that objective the good life. Whether I believe anything is guided by the extent to which it is verifiable. Ethics are guides for executing transactions. My ethics modifiable. They are modifiable by whether my transactions are verifiable as positive. I don't think falling short of an ideal (positive transactions) is religion.
 
fromderinside said:
Mine is a personal life system based on verifiable operations appropriate for living a life where transactions are positive to all parties one encounters within it. I call that objective the good life. Whether I believe anything is guided by the extent to which it is verifiable. Ethics are guides for executing transactions. My ethics modifiable. They are modifiable by whether my transactions are verifiable as positive. I don't think falling short of an ideal (positive transactions) is religion.
Click to expand...

That's an interesting way of putting it, sounds like enlightened self-interest. I believe many of us also live with a scarcity mindset, where we don't realize that there's enough to go around and there's more to gain by helping each other out, than stealing and cheating.

Another light, but well-said maxim: 'relationships are like bank accounts, you can't take out more than you put in'
 
How can there be a non dogmatic morality? The lists themselves form a dogma or ideology.

The question is who sets the rules, punishments, and the moral boundaries. The modern progressives get around responsibility by simply saying most everything is ok. Anything offensive to anyone is immoral.

Without specifics any -ism as good as any other. People conform it to their own views and needs.
 
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