By Wilson Adams
Humanism is the most fraudulently displayed and dangerous religion in America today. And it is a religion. Please don’t be deceived into believing that humanism is just a philosophy. That is the masquerade humanists have utilized for years to mislead millions. And, too, don’t be conned into thinking that because religious people believe in God, those who do not believe in God are not religious. That constitutes another mass deception the humanists have used to their advantage for years. Humanism is unmistakably and demonstrably a religion; an evangelistic religion that seeks to win converts and produce change in the moral fiber of this nation.
Humanism Is A Religion
Humanism has been a religion since its inception. However, only in the last few years have its advocates admitted it. Nine times, the Humanist Manifesto I (the humanist bible) clearly calls its beliefs a religion and concludes with the words, “So stand the theses of religious humanism.”(1) Lloyd Morain, former president of the American Humanist Association, stated:
Down through the ages men have been seeking a universal religion or way of life . . . . Humanism . . . . shows promise of becoming a great world faith.
Humanists are content with fixing their attention on this life and on this earth. Theirs is a religion without a God . . . . (emphasis added).(2)
The United States Supreme court calls humanism a religion. In the 1961 Torcasso v. Watkins case, Justice Hugo L. Black noted: “Among religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism and others” (emphasis added.)(3)
We tend to think that belief in God is a religion, and therefore disbelief is not a religion (and that is what humanists want us to think!). By using our faulty thinking against us, they have called their doctrine secular humanism, ours religion. Then by claiming that morals originated with the Bible, they, too, are labeled as religious. Thus, both religion and morality are excluded from our schools while secular humanism and amorality are advanced daily.
Thomas Jefferson, American statesman, author of the Declaration of Independence and instigator of much discussion over separation of church and state which finally led to the First Amendment, understood the problem and defined the term religion to include “all believers or unbelievers of the Bible If his definition is correct, and I believe it is, then if belief and its biblical moral values are expelled from our public schools, so also must we remove humanist unbelief and its resultant amorality. After all, our Constitution forbids that the government do anything to establish or advance religion. And secular humanism is a religion!
The Ten Religious Characteristics of Secular Humanism
1. They have a Bible. Humanist Manifesto I authored by John Deway in 193 3; and Humanist Manifesto II authored by Paul Kurtz in 1973 are the sacred scriptures to the humanist and serve as the basis for the principles being taught regularly in our schools. These two brief volumes are shocking to any godly individual and even more so when one discovers that they were signed by some of the most influential people in education today.
2. They have a stated dogma. All religions are based on doctrinal teachings. Humanism is no different. It has a well-defined theology centering around five areas:
* Atheism – disbelief in God.
* Evolution – belief in evolution.
* Amorality – rejection of absolute morals.
* Autonomous Man – deification of man as supreme.
*Socialist One World View – belief that man should build a one world community.
Tim LaHaye, in his book, The Battle for the Mind (pp. 130-131), states, “The theological position of humanism is so well-defined and established that if it were expelled from our public schools and its disciples were retired from government service through the ballot box, they would immediately declare themselves officially a religion and file as a tax exempt religious organization. They cannot do so now because they receive over 140 billion dollars annually to operate their vast network of churches, called schools, colleges, and universities. Why should they collect donations to support the propagation of their religion when, through our taxes, we pay for their services? Parents are compelled to send their impressionable children to schools where in the name of academic freedom, only the religion of humanism can be taught.”
3. They have an object of worship. The humanist god is man himself.
4. They have a priesthood. Every religion has a priesthood, no matter what it is officially called. Since the religion of humanism chose public education as its main method to influence the thinking of future generations we should not be alarmed to observe that the signers of the Humanist Manifesto I and II appear to be the Who’s Who list of American education. Here is a priesthood that earns its living communicating the religion of humanism in our public schools.
5. They have missionaries. Every religious body has its missionaries who preach and proselyte. Humanism is no different.
Before the religion of humanism became the official dogma of our public schools, teachers were trusted educators of our young, who took seriously their responsibility of teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, and the other necessary skills of life. That is no longer the case. Today’s teachers, according to some educators, are “change agents” – that is, agents of social change. As incredible as it may seem to you, their objective is to change our nation’s generation of children from their commitment to traditional moral values and the values of their parents to the new humanist values (which in my studied opinion are no values at all).(4)
Yes, under the disguise of academic freedom, these humanistic missionaries are free to teach their atheistic, amoral beliefs while ridiculing the Judeo-Christian ethic at every opportunity. One humanistic educator said, “If education is to meet the current and future needs of our society, humanistic objectives and humanistic thought must operate at the heart of every school and classroom in the nation.”(5) Sadly to say, in many places it does.
6. They have seminaries. The majority of graduate schools in the United States have been completely taken over by humanist thought, particularly is this true in the educational field. Today it is virtually impossible to get a PhD degree from any university that is not overwhelmingly humanistic in its teaching. Present-day teachers seminaries are called teachers colleges.(6)
7. They have their own temples. Humanists never need to raise money for the buildings to teach their religious doctrine. Their temples are called schools; their churches are called colleges; their cathedrals are called universities – and we pay for and provide them!
8. Humanism is rooted in eastern religions.
Humanism is a philosophical, religious, and moral point of view as old as human civilization itself. It has its roots in classical China, Greece and Rome; it is expressed in the Renaissance and the Enlightment, in the scientific revolution, and in the twentieth century.(7)
Such may explain why a relatively new course entitled, “Comparative Religions” is infiltrating our high schools. It is a humanistic affront to Christianity in which 90% of classroom time is spent exposing students to eastern religions of Buddhism, Taoism, Mohammedanism, and Hare Krishna. This course is a thinly opportunity to teach the mystical religions of the East to our children and at our expense. And why? Because humanists know what few Christians realize: humanism is the outgrowth of those Eastern religions.
9. They have a view of death. Science cannot prove or disprove life after death, but humanists teach as fact that it does not exist. How can they be so dogmatic? By faith, of course. Consequently their view of death and eternity is part of their religious propaganda. Such may once again explain why the course Death and Dying is now being offered to many high school students. It serves as an excellent way to attack the traditional beliefs in God,salvation, life after death, and other truths taught in the Bible.
10. They are religiously intolerant to any view but their own. “Academicfreedom ” is only an American dream. It means freedom for homosexuals, lesbians, feminists, abortionists, Marxists, and almost every other conceivable anti-moral, anti-American teaching, except the recognition of God the Creator of the traditional moral values that Christians and others share. In essence, “academic freedom” is religious intolerance.
| Humanistic Educational Intolerance
(chart by Tim LaHaye) |
|
| They Freely Teach | They Totally Forbid Teaching |
| Atheism | God the creator |
| Evolution as fact | Creation as scientific |
| Situation ethics | Moral absolutes |
| Explicit sex education | Biblical view of sexuality |
| Perversion as acceptable | Homosexuality as wrong |
| No life after death | Eternal life, heaven and hell, judgment |
| These concepts can be taught freely during school hours to captive children. | These concepts cannot be taught on school premises – even after school hours end. |
There can be no doubt that humanism is a religion. Mel and Norma Gabler of Garland, Texas, who are acknowledged to be the most informed individuals in the country on the context of public school textbooks, state unhesitatingly, “Humanism is a no-God religion and as much a religion as Christianity. This no-God religion is being passed on to our children through public education, in a subtle but effective manner.”(8) Yes, when a Unitarian Sunday school teacher can promote over 90016 of his religious beliefs in the public schools by labeling them “education” or “scientific humanism,” and get paid for it – that has to be the religious sham of the century!
Humanism Inspires Evangelistic Zeal
Leading humanists are filled with an evangelistic fervor to preach their humanistic gospel. With their hold on government, education and the media, 275,000 humanists are able to determine the direction of 216 million people. Consider that issues such as abortion on demand, legalization of homosexuality, ERA, government deficit spending, the size of government, elimination of capital punishment, national disarmament, increased taxes, women in combat, unnecessary school busing, etc., would all be overwhelmingly rejected if voted upon by the American people, but, our politicians continue to enact such legislation that is against the will of the populous. Why? Simply, we are being controlled by a small but extremely influential army of committed humanists who feel duty bound to turn traditionally moral-minded America into an amoral, humanistic country.
We must understand that our enemy is not the Soviet Union or Red China; it is the American humanists in government, in education, and in the media. And until we realize that humanism is a religion, and an evangelistic one at that, the humanists will continue to mentally brainwash and poison our young. I am against the religion of humanism for two basic reasons: I am a committed Christian, and I am a committed American. Humanism is vigoriously opposed to both. It is the most dangerous religion in America.
Endnotes
1. Humanist Manifestos I & II (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1973), p. 15.
2. Clare Chambers, The SIECUS Circle (Belmont, HA: Western Islands, 1977), p. 92.
3. Corliss Lamont, The Philosophy of Humanism (New York: Frederick Ungar Pub. Co., 1977), p. 24.
4. Tim LaHaye, The Battle for the Public Schools (Old Tappan, NJ: Revell Co., 1983), p. 83.
5. Arthur W. Combs, “Humanism, Education, and the Future,” Educational Leadership 35 (January 1978), p. 303.
7. Humanist Manifesto I & II, p. 15.
Guardian of Truth XXVIII: 13, pp. 401-403
July 5, 1984