Manifesto Of Evolutionary Humanism

We are living in a time of asynchrony: While technologically we are firmly in the 21st century, our world views are still characterized by ancient legends which are thousands of years old. This combination of high-level technical ability and highly naïve child-like beliefs could have disastrous consequences in the long run. We are behaving like five-year-olds who have been given responsibility for a jumbo jet. One of the most depressing problems of our time lies in religious fundamentalists of all stripes casually making use of the fruits of the Enlightenment (freedom of expression, constitutionality, science, technology) in order to prevent its principles being applied to the domain of their own belief. For example, to further their beliefs, the 9/11 terrorists used airplanes constructed on the basis of scientific principles; principles to which their beliefs could never stand up. In return, the "fundamentalist with other means", George W. Bush, led the world into a devastating "crusade" against "terror" and the "axis of evil" making use of a technology which could never have been developed if scientists had contented themselves with the American President's child-like faith that the Bible's creation account is true. In the face of the dangers arising from the renaissance of unenlightened thinking in a technologically highly developed era, it is a matter of intellectual integrity to speak out clearly - especially where religion is concerned. Anyone who is capable of splitting the atom and communicating via satellites must possess intellectual and emotional maturity. That certain people or groups of persons avoid exposure to criticism by establishing "holy" (i.e. untouchable) rules and uphold their fallacies as mandatory for all time, may and can no longer be accepted practice in a modern society.

In this dazzling collection of essays covering a broad range of fields, from Darwinism and the global population explosion to bird watching, distinguished scientist and philosopher Sir Julian Huxley points out new frontiers for scientific research and reaffirms his belief in the intimate connection of the sciences, particularly biology, with the pressing social problems of the present and future. Huxley envisions new horizons for education and divinity within the framework of evolutionary humanism.

An academically respectable description and evaluation of secular humanism is available at last. The diversity within humanism receives full recognition in this book, as does the fact that not everything about humanism is bad from a Christian point of view. Indeed, the author continues, there are many emphases within humanism that are compatible with Christian beliefs, a thesis to which he devotes an entire chapter. Part 1 summarizes in turn eight prominent forms of humanism: Huxley's evolutionism, Skinner's behaviorism, Sartre's existentialism, Dewey's pragmatism, Marxism, Rand's egocentrism, Lamont's culturalism, and the coalitional form present in the humanist declaration and manifestoes. Emerging from these chapters are both the differences between humanists and the consensus that binds them together. It is this humanistic consensus, writes the author, that most radically conflicts with Christian beliefs and that is the number one problem in the United States today. After the chapter on the helpful emphases of secular humanism, part 2 details this movement's comparative inferiority, internal inconsistencies, religious inadequacies, and philosophical insufficiencies. The final chapter demonstrates that, while Christianity is consistent with the central principles of science, philosophy, epistemology, and ethics, humanism is not. There is no rational justification, the author concludes, for being a humanist.

The author details the cultural, philosophical and political history of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) especially in regards to Humanism and critical thinking. The evolution of the UUA from a focus on reason in religion to one of radical tolerance is described along with the loss on membership. Culturally important factors such as postmodernism, process theology, second wave feminism, value theory, new age, theological education, the "religious redefinition" game, population dynamics, and the age of narcissism in religion are brought together to show how multiple interacting forces have led to the UUA to ideological extremes of indiscriminate pluralism. The secular revolution is then described and possible solutions for the UUA going forward presented.