EMPIRIA Magazin
NOTE CARDS VIII.
THE AFFIRMATION OF HUMANISM:
A statement of principles
We are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of human problems.
We
deplore
efforts to denigrate human intelligence, to seek to explain the world in
supernatural terms, and to look outside nature for salvation.
We
believe that scientific discovery and technology
can attribute to the betterment of human life.
We
believe in an open and pluralistic society and
that democracy is the best guarantee of protecting human rights from
authoritarian elites and repressive majorities.
We
are committed to the principle of the separation of church and state.
We
cultivate the arts of
negotiation and compromise as a means of resolving differences and achieve
mutual understanding.
We
are concerned with securing justice and fairness
in society and with eliminating discrimination
and intolerance.
We
believe in supporting the disadvantaged and the
handicapped so that they will be able to help themselves.
We
attempt to transcend divisive parochial loyalties
based on race, religion, gender, nationality, creed, class, sexual orientation
, or ethnicity, and strive to work together for the common good of humanity.
We
want to protect and enhance the earth to preserve
it for future generations, and to avoid inflicting needless suffering on other
species.
We believe in enjoying life here and now and in
developing our creative talents to their fullest.
We
believe in the cultivation of
moral excellence.
We
respect the right to privacy. Mature adults
should be allowed to fulfill their aspiration, to express their sexual
preferences, to exercise reproductive freedom, to have access to comprehensive
and informed health-care, and to die with dignity.
We believe in the common moral decencies: ultraism,
integrity, honesty, truthfulness, responsibility. Humanist ethics is amenable
to critical, rational guidance. There are normative standards that
we discover together. Moral principals are tested by their consequences.
We
are deeply concerned with the
moral education of our children. We want to nourish reason and compassion.
We
are engaged by the arts no
less than by sciences.
WE
are citizens of the universe and
are excited by discoveries still to be made in the cosmos.
We
are skeptical of untested claims to knowledge,
and are open to novel ideas and seek new departures in our thinking.
We
affirm humanism as a realistic
alternative to
theologies of despair and ideologies of violence and a source of rich personal significance and genuine
satisfaction in the service to others.
We
believe in optimism rather than pessimism, hope
rather than despair, learning in the place of dogma, truth instead of
ignorance, joy rather than guilt or sin, tolerance in the place of fear, love instead of hatred, compassion
over selfishness, beauty instead of
ugliness, and reason rather than blind faith or irrationality.”
We
believe in the fullest realization of the best
and noblest that we are capable of as human beings.