Abstract
For Humanists, Humanism refers to a modern life stance rooted in rational thinking, providing a way of understanding our universe and our place in it in naturalistic terms, rather than in supernatural or theistic terms. As a philosophy of life, Humanism offers its adherents, both as individuals and as members of society, a secular ethic grounded in human values and in the human experience. As Humanists we are conscious of our common humanity and are impelled by a sense of the moral worth of all human beings. We want our actions to be guided by compassionate reason and the realization of humankind’s common destiny. As Humanists we reject absolute authorities and revealed wisdoms; we promote free inquiry; we refuse to let custom replace conscience and reason; and we defend intellectual integrity. We are committed to responsible freedom of thought and action and to civilized law. Asserting the centrality of the human being, the Humanist proposes that the purpose of life is that which each of us gives to it.
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References
M. N. Roy, New Humanism: A Manifesto ( Calcutta: Renaissance, 1953 ).
V. M. Tarkunde, Radical Humanism: The Philosophy of Freedom and Democracy ( Delhi: Ajanta Publishers, 1983 ).
UN Human Rights Committee General Comment 22 (1993) to ICCPR art. 18, in Religion and Human Rights: Basic Documents, Tad Stahnke and J. Paul Martin, eds. ( New York: Columbia University, 1998 ), 92–95.
Johan van der Vyver, “Religious Freedom and Proselytism: Ethical, Political and Legal Dimensions,” paper presented at the Oslo Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief, August 1998.
Originally the New Jersey cent of 1786, as well as the 1795 coins struck at the United States Mint, bore the motto “E Pluribus Unum,” which was first proposed in a design for the great seal of the United States that Thomas Jefferson first presented unsuccessfully to the US Congress in 1776. But the post-Civil War religious fanaticism saw the ascendance of President Lincoln’s handpicked appointee James Pollock, who became director of the US Mint. Pollock believed that the United States must become an official theocracy, and he was crucial in the attempt to Christianize American coins. “In God We Trust” was first used on the bronze two-cent piece issued from 1864 to 1873. In 1908, under Theodore Roosevelt, Congress passed a bill that ensured that the motto “In God We Trust” would be present on all gold and silver coins. With Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1955 bill, that became law without much discussion, and the motto was used on paper currency as well. In 1956, in the midst of the McCarthy era, a law was passed by Congress that made “In God We Trust” the national motto as well.
UN Human Rights Committee Concluding Observations: Israel, 8 August 1998, UN Doc. C C P R/C / 79/Add.93, para. 28; as quoted in Forum 18, Freedom of Religion 72.
The 1860 Blasphemy Law was modified in 1926 before Pakistan was born, and again in independent Pakistan in 1986 and in 1991 when criminal law was Islamicized.
See Hugo Daniel Estrella, Religious Intolerance in Argentina an IHEU Report presented to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief in 2001.
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Gogineni, B., Ramanadha, R., Gule, L. (2004). Humanism and Freedom from Religion. In: Lindholm, T., Durham, W.C., Tahzib-Lie, B.G., Sewell, E.A., Larsen, L. (eds) Facilitating Freedom of Religion or Belief: A Deskbook. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-5616-7_31
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-5616-7_31
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