Humanists Want Community, Too
Thu, 01/01/2009 - 01:36 >> CausalCrunch
Friendly Atheist -- Robin Shulman of the Washington Post has an article in today’s paper about how non-religious parents are trying to recreate a “church” environment (community, values, rituals) without the religious factor.
| They are not religious, so they don’t go to church. But they are searching for values and rituals with which to raise their children, as well as a community of like-minded people to offer support.
Dozens of parents came together on a recent Saturday to participate in a seminar on humanist parenting and to meet others interested in organizing a kind of nonreligious congregation, complete with regular family activities and ceremonies for births and deaths. … Religious congregations are good at supporting parenting, said Gregory Epstein, the humanist chaplain at Harvard who organized the [secular parenting] seminar. Although most humanists may not believe in God, he said, they do believe in sharing their lives with others who share their values. “Why throw the baby out with the bath water?” Epstein asked. |
(Greg gets bonus points from me for using the phrase “throw the baby.”)
It’s amazing to me this is considered news.
I’m glad it’s getting attention, but it is that surprising to see that atheist parents want the same sort of community support and shared values for their children that religious parents do?
It must be… Too many people still attach a negative connotation to the word “atheist”:
| A recent study found that many Americans associate atheists with negative traits, including criminal behavior and rampant materialism.
People often ask, “How do you expect to raise your children to be good people without religion?” said Dale McGowan, the seminar leader and author of “Parenting Beyond Belief.” He suggested the retort might be something like, “How do you expect to raise your children to be moral people without allowing them to think for themselves?” He advocates exposing children to many religious traditions without imposing any. |
That’s not exactly what Dale said. He knows that many religious parents do, in fact, let their children forge their own paths:
| The quote above assumes that all religious parents do not allow their kids to think for themselves, a false and ridiculous assumption. For the record, my suggested reply to the question, “How are you going to raise your kids to be moral without religion?” was this: “Calmly reply, ‘Why, by avoiding moral indoctrination, of course, which research has shown to be the least effective way to encourage moral development. And what’s your plan?’” Oh well. I’m a silly, oversensitive monkey to even point it out. |
If the article helps introduce other atheist parents to the types of secular gatherings going on around them, then fantastic. I’m glad it was written.
But at what point will these stories stop being news?
How much longer will we be seeing stories about atheists parents wanting their children to get (*gasp*) good grades? To get a proper education about the various religious myths? To make life-long friends with people within their own non-religious community?
It’s not news. It’s normal.
We want the same things everybody wants. If anything is “news,” it’s that there are now more opportunities than ever before for atheist parents to become a part of these communities.
In that sense, any publicity about these gatherings is good publicity.
Find Original Article at Friendly Atheist Blog
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We are an online community of passionate, thoughtful people who believe that the consistent application of reason leads to a secular, progressive, naturalistic, and compassionate philosophy of life. We hold that all beings share an interest in their own happiness, and that compassion for others is often instrumental in attaining happiness. We also hold that incorporating compassion into our social, cultural, governmental, and political systems is the key to creating a society that is maximally free and fair to all beings. Though we reject the idea that there is any utopian cure for our world's ills, we believe that better solutions to complex problems can be found by using science and research in an effort to understand causes and consequences. [more]
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Beingism is a philosophy of life based on rationality and compassion for oneself and others. It is nondogmatic, progressive, and atheistic.
You might be a Beingist if you believe:
- Reason and science are our best means of understanding the universe.
- Everything that exists is natural -- nothing is supernatural.
- Ethical values are subjective, but nevertheless very important to people.
- There's no such thing as free will, and causality appears to play a significant role in the way our world operates.
Other premises include:
- Everyone wants to be happy and have a fulfilling life.
- A belief in free will as it is commonly understood is a major barrier to compassion and
- Although suffering is sometimes unavoidable, no one deserves to feel pain.
- People are generally more likely to be happy in a culture where power and control are shared together rather than held by elites.
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If you agree with these ideas and you wish to call yourself a Beingist, then you are one. Please join us! If, on the other hand, you're not sure about some of it -- or if you just flat out disagree -- let's communicate.
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Our mission is to establish a coherent vision of ethical behavior and social activism for people disinclined to accept religious and faith-based philosophies of life, and to further it by creating community and developing new and enjoyable ways of changing the world for the better.
It may be that nonreligious individuals are less likely to form communities than their religious counterparts. Certainly, the lack of a preexisting community (such as an established church) is a relative hindrance to community-building. No doubt also willingness to question pervasive societal norms, particularly when they are part of belief systems from which most people derive emotional, social, and/or financial support, probably tends to accompany an individualistic (rather than community-oriented) approach to life. In addition, social stigma reduces the community resources available to nonreligious people, both financially (e.g. nonreligious institutions are not given the same financial benefits as faith-based organizations) and socially (e.g., fear of discrimination leads to increased difficulty in reaching out to find others with similar values). Unfortunately, these factors have fractured communities of nonreligious people, making it extremely difficult for them to agree upon or articulate a positive vision for the future, or to create social change. This lack of community also leads religious communities to conclude that nonreligious people are without ethics.
When we say that we're "nonreligious," "agnostic," "atheist," or "unbelieving," we're really only saying what we aren't. These words certainly reflect an aspect of our identity, but we can be (and we are) much more than this: We are a community of people with many shared ideas and values, including reason, happiness, and compassion.
Creating the social change these values ask of us isn't always easy. Powerful forces oppose it, and devoting effort to creating change may mean hard work helping others or engaging in activism. It may mean giving up the time to do other fun activities. Sometimes it means being stigmatized by ideological enemies as unpatriotic, weak, contrary, or worse. And even if we don't fear wasting our efforts or being criticized, we may simply not know how to go about it by ourselves.
By working together, we can avoid many of these problems. By doing so, we not only get closer to creating the kind of society we want to live in, we also find ways to enjoy the process. By unleashing our creativity and passion in the common pursuit of a well-chosen goal, and by finding whatever connections between us as we may, we make it exciting and enjoyable. The point is that we can be ourselves -- and change the world.
Comments
Dylan
(anonymous user)
Humanist "churches" have been
Humanist "churches" have been around for almost half a century now. There's one every major city in North America called the Unitarian Universalist Church. It's a place for religious and non-religious humanists to come together. I was a child raised in the Unitarian way, and even though I don't go to church anymore, I'm proud of the spiritual education I had, and I suspect my parents are grateful for the community of people who helped raise me. By the time I was twelve, I had learned more about the practices and philosophies of the world's major religions than the majority of their practitioners. I personally doubt that an "atheist"-only church could get very far as you say, practicing principles of moral indoctrination. The Unitarian Universalist Church is based on the principles of humanism. It's well developed, established, carries out all the functions of religious gathering places in other religions. If you're looking for a place to bring your children and advance your own philosophical and spiritual development, free of fundamentalism. If you are interested, just google the unitarian church for a service or a discussion group near your (since the "Church" is a humanist organization, where "congregations" are too small, such as university campuses, or small towns, Unitarians generally organizing into discussion groups that meet and discuss philosophical issues weekly.)
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