"Four Faiths in a Modern World: Humanism"
Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship
Bruce A. Bode
October 3, 2004

(Note: To go immediately to the sermon, please click here.)

Poetry for Order of Service

Others taunt me with having knelt at well-curbs
Always wrong to the light, so never seeing
Deeper down in the well than where the water
Gives me back in a shining surface picture
Me myself in the summer heaven godlike
Looking out of a wreath of fern and cloud puffs.
Once, when trying with chin against a well-curb,
I discerned, as I thought, beyond the picture,
Through the picture, a something white, uncertain,
Something more of the depths - and then I lost it.
Water came to rebuke the too clear water.
One drop fell from a fern, and lo, a ripple
Shook whatever it was lay there at the bottom,
Blurred it, blotted it out. What was that whiteness?
Truth? A pebble of quartz? For once, then, something.

(Robert Frost, "For Once, Then, Something")

Call to Worship

I ask knowledge what it can tell me of life. Knowledge replies that what it can tell me is little, yet immense. Whence this universe came, or whither it is bound, or how it happens to be at all, knowledge cannot tell me. Only this: that the will-to-live is everywhere present, even as in me. I do not need science to tell me this; but it cannot tell me anything more essential.

(Schweitzer, "The Ethics of Reverence for Life," from Christendom)

Lighting the Chalice

We come together this Sunday
To renew our faith in the holiness, goodness and beauty of life;
To reaffirm the way of the open mind and the full heart;
To reclaim the vision of an earth more fair, with all her people one.

Responsive Reading

MINISTER: Out of the stars in their flight, out of the dust of eternity, here have we come, stardust and sunlight, mingling through time and through space.

CONGREGATION: Out of the stars have we come, up from time; out of the stars have we come.

MINISTER: Time out of time before time in the vastness of space, earth spun to orbit the sun, earth with the thunder of mountains newborn, the boiling of seas.

CONGREGATION: Earth warmed by sun, lit by sunlight: this is our home; out of the stars have we come.

MINISTER: Mystery hidden in mystery, back through all time; mystery rising from rocks in the storm and the sea.

CONGREGATION: Out of the stars, rising from rocks and the sea, kindled by sunlight on earth, arose life.

MINISTER: Ponder this thing in your heart; ponder with awe: out of the sea to the land, out of the shallows came ferns.

CONGREGATION: Out of the sea to the land, up from darkness to light, rising to walk and to fly, out of the sea trembled life.

MINISTER: Ponder this thing in your heart, life up from sea: eyes to behold, throats to sing, mates to love.

CONGREGATION: Life from the sea, warmed by sun, washed by rain, life from within, giving birth, rose to love.

MINISTER: This is the wonder of time; this is the marvel of space, out of the stars swung the earth; life upon earth rose to love.

CONGREGATION: This is the marvel of life, rising to see and to know; out of your heart, cry wonder, sing that we live.

(Robert T. Weston)

Introduction to Reading

My reading this morning is a document published last year by the American Humanist Association whose purpose is to set forth the essential ideas and ideals of Humanists of whatever orientation, whether "secular Humanists," "religious Humanists," or simply "Humanists."

The document, titled "Humanism and Its Aspirations," is the successor to the "Humanist Manifesto" published in 1933, now known as "Humanist Manifesto I." A second document, titled "Humanist Manifesto II," was published 40 years later in 1973. And now this one, "Humanism and Its Aspirations, published after 30 more years, also known as "Humanist Manifesto III."

A number of Unitarian Universalist ministers have been involved in the formation of this document and are original signers, including The Reverend Kendyl Gibbons, recent past president of the Unitarian Universalist Ministerial Association, The Reverend John Weston, director of Ministerial Settlement for the Unitarian Universalist Association, and The Reverend David Bumbaugh, professor at Meadville Lombard Theological School, which is one of the two Unitarian Universalist seminaries.

Original signers of the document also include such publicly-known figures as novelist Kurt Vonnegut, filmmaker Oliver Stone, and Harvard professor and author, E. O. Wilson.

The document consists of an introduction, six affirmations with brief explanatory notes to each, and a brief conclusion. Though shorter than the previous Manifestos, this will require your full mental attention and concentration since documents of this sort do not contain much music or story-line.

HUMANISM AND ITS ASPIRATIONS

Humanist Manifesto III, a successor to the Humanist Manifesto of 1933*

Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity.

The lifestance of Humanism - guided by reason, inspired by compassion, and informed by experience - encourages us to live life well and fully. It evolved through the ages and continues to develop through the efforts of thoughtful people who recognize that values and ideals, however carefully wrought, are subject to change as our knowledge and understandings advance.

This document is part of an ongoing effort to manifest in clear and positive terms the conceptual boundaries of Humanism, not what we must believe but a consensus of what we do believe. It is in this sense that we affirm the following:

Knowledge of the world is derived by observation, experimentation, and rational analysis. Humanists find that science is the best method for determining this knowledge as well as for solving problems and developing beneficial technologies. We also recognize the value of new departures in thought, the arts, and inner experience - each subject to analysis by critical intelligence.

Humans are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change. Humanists recognize nature as self-existing. We accept our life as all and enough, distinguishing things as they are from things as we might wish or imagine them to be. We welcome the challenges of the future, and are drawn to and undaunted by the yet to be known.

Ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience. Humanists ground values in human welfare shaped by human circumstances, interests, and concerns and extended to the global ecosystem and beyond. We are committed to treating each person as having inherent worth and dignity, and to making informed choices in a context of freedom consonant with responsibility.

Life's fulfillment emerges from individual participation in the service of humane ideals. We aim for our fullest possible development and animate our lives with a deep sense of purpose, finding wonder and awe in the joys and beauties of human existence, its challenges and tragedies, and even in the inevitability and finality of death. Humanists rely on the rich heritage of human culture and the lifestance of Humanism to provide comfort in times of want and encouragement in times of plenty.

Humans are social by nature and find meaning in relationships. Humanists long for and strive toward a world of mutual care and concern, free of cruelty and its consequences, where differences are resolved cooperatively without resorting to violence. The joining of individuality with interdependence enriches our lives, encourages us to enrich the lives of others, and inspires hope of attaining peace, justice, and opportunity for all.

Working to benefit society maximizes individual happiness. Progressive cultures have worked to free humanity from the brutalities of mere survival and to reduce suffering, improve society, and develop global community. We seek to minimize the inequities of circumstance and ability, and we support a just distribution of nature's resources and the fruits of human effort so that as many as possible can enjoy a good life.

Humanists are concerned for the well being of all, are committed to diversity, and respect those of differing yet humane views. We work to uphold the equal enjoyment of human rights and civil liberties in an open, secular society and maintain it is a civic duty to participate in the democratic process and a planetary duty to protect nature's integrity, diversity, and beauty in a secure, sustainable manner.

Thus engaged in the flow of life, we aspire to this vision with the informed conviction that humanity has the ability to progress toward its highest ideals. The responsibility for our lives and the kind of world in which we live is ours and ours alone.

* Humanist Manifesto is a trademark of the American Humanist Association - © 2003 American Humanist Association

"FOUR FAITHS IN A MODERN WORLD: HUMANISM"

Introduction

My sermon this morning is the second in a series of five planned sermons based on an adult religious education curriculum of The Reverend Fred Campbell, a recently retired Unitarian Universalist minister, who found that in the 11 Unitarian Universalist congregations he served over a period of 31 years there were four basic faiths in these congregations which he identified as Humanism, Naturalism, Mysticism, and Theism.

Last Sunday I spoke about what I regarded as the "general ethos" or "larger belief-base" in which all of these four faiths exist and which provide a real, though unwritten, unity for Unitarian Universalists. I spoke of this ethos or larger belief-base as the "modern world-view," characterized by such beliefs as:

This is a thumbnail summary of what I would describe as the "modern world-view," typically embraced by Unitarian Universalists and providing the larger context in which the four faiths of Humanism, Naturalism, Mysticism, and Theism are set.

Now this Sunday I begin describing these four specific faiths that exist under the broader umbrella faith of this modern world-view. And I begin with Humanism.

Explanatory notes at the beginning

But before setting out, however, a couple of explanatory notes are needed:

First, the order in which I am presenting these "four faiths" is not meant to be loaded or in any way evaluative. Already, I've heard it both ways: that is, by putting Theism last it indicates that it is being built up to. And the other way around: by putting Theism last it is being diminished.

I intend neither of these. Rather, I'd like you to think of these four faiths as being laid out horizontally and democratically, not vertically and hierarchically - as, for example, like the continuum of the electro-magnetic spectrum in which the different bands of energy waves are laid out horizontally.

However, I would say that there is the following order and logic to the way in which these are laid out: namely, what might be called "the element of transcendence" becomes more pronounced as we move from Humanism through Naturalism and Mysticism to Theism.

In one way of speaking each of these four faiths is a "system of transcendence," in the sense of being the larger context in which an individual is embedded and out of which the individual finds meaning, value, and worth.

But what I mean here by saying that the "element of transcendence" is more pronounced as we move from Humanism to Theism is that in these latter faiths, particularly Mysticism and Theism, there is a greater emphasis placed on what is "other" than the material and natural than you find in the earlier faiths of Humanism and Naturalism.

One could also, to demonstrate the fairness of this scheme, turn the order around: that is, Humanism has a greater emphasis on the "imminent dimension of reality" than Theism at the other end of the continuum. In Humanism the fullness of reality is present right here on this earth in what is "manifest," in what you can touch and see and measure and grasp, whereas at the other end of the continuum the fullness of reality is more in what can be termed the "unmanifest," what is beyond touching, seeing, measuring, and grasping.

My aim in delineating these four faiths is to get at the "core reality" of each of them - to get so much into the heart of each that you would go away after each sermon believing that this is your faith or wishing it were your faith.

This is also to indicate that, in my judgment, a given individual is not all in one faith or all in another. As indicated, I think of these four faiths more as points or stations on a larger continuum rather than separate, isolated, and discrete entities. To find yourself more comfortable at one station than another does not mean that you can't also feel or find the other stations or points of view in yourself as well.

Now, with all of this introductory material out of the way, what is the Humanist faith or the Humanist "lifestance," as the latest Humanist document puts it?

The core of Humanism

The Humanist faith locates the meaning, value, and purpose in life as being centered in the human community and the human personality. The goal and task in a Humanist faith is that of fully developing the human personality and of "humanizing" human society. To borrow a traditional religious term, it is the attempt to bring the "Kingdom of God" to earth - a vision of love, justice, and peace for all peoples, in our time, on this earth, and through human will and effort.

The Reverend John Dietrich, a Unitarian minister and a pioneer of the Humanist faith in the early - to mid-1900's, wanted to gather all the reverence and deep emotional feeling previously directed to a transcendent deity and a future heavenly realm. He wanted to take this same feeling of awe, respect, reverence and love and re-direct and re-locate it to this earth and in particular to the development of the human personality and human society.

And this is what I would regard, then, as the core of Humanism: that our love, our focus, our energy, our devotion, our reverence is directed to this life in a very intentional way: a recognition of what a marvel we human beings are and a vision of what we yet may be.

How may the Humanist vision be accomplished?

So how do you bring about this vision? How do you "humanize" the world?

Well, say the Humanists, you can't do it without knowledge. All the best intention in the world may be misdirected if you don't have proper knowledge.

Thus, knowledge is important and necessary. We must learn about our world and ourselves; we must discover what the world is and who we are.

And what is the best method of gaining knowledge? Science, the scientific method.

Humanism has been characterized by its trust in the scientific, experimental method as the primary means of ascertaining "truth."

Science is the humble exercise of submitting your beliefs and opinions to doubt and testing, the willingness in the pursuit of greater truth and fuller development to put even your most cherished convictions to trial:

"Let us put our beliefs and opinions on the shelf for a time. Let us, to the extent that we can, stand back from ourselves and carefully and systematically examine this matter. Let us even devise experiments for all to see whereby we can test this matter."

The "faith" of the Humanist is a faith in this method as opposed to faith in what can't be seen or tested in these concrete ways.

Thus, Humanism is characterized by a faith in the human mind as well as a belief in the basic worth, dignity, and value of human beings. Not that the human mind is infallible nor that humans are the center of reality. Far from this: we humans are anything but perfect or whole, and we are but a speck of matter in the vastness of time and space. Yet this speck of being, this fleck of dust, has come to self-consciousness and is now capable of some self-direction and self-development.

The cosmos, obeying its own urges, laws, and principles has undertaken this immense evolutionary journey and it has birthed us: out of the stars have we come, out of the seas have we emerged, out of slime and ooze and mud of the earth have we arisen; and now we are awake and standing upright upon this earth.

For the sake of this cosmos and the immense journey that it has undertaken, let us stand tall and proud and dignified. Let us rejoice in the gifts we have been given. And let us not botch this experiment of nature. Let us be worthy of this heritage. Let us go forward with eyes that can see and hearts that can feel to build a better world.

No one else will do this for us. No gods or goddesses will come to our aid. We ourselves are the deities that in former times we have seen writ large in the heavens. But now the energy of that projection bounces back to us.

So let us step into ourselves. Let us step up to the plate. It is up to us to grasp the tiller. We must use and develop all the capacities with which nature has entrusted us. We must plan, and we must build, and we must create, and we must care, and we must love. And we must leave this world and our society better for our having been here.

Is there cosmic support for the Humanist vision?

And does reality and nature as a whole support this human and humanizing enterprise?

For the most part Humanism has taken the approach that the universe is indifferent to human aspirations, purposes, and goals. True, it has birthed us; true, it has equipped us, but it is neither for us nor against us.

In modern Humanism there is no perceived guiding or loving or caring intelligence that has brought us to this time and place. Evidence does not lead us this far.

Rather, we have evolved out of a cosmos with its own built-in structures and laws. It is now ours to discover what those structures and laws are and from them to construct our own purposes and plans, sometimes even in the teeth of the forces of nature.

Generally, modern Humanism takes the approach that there is no need or reason to go behind or beyond or beneath or within this concrete cosmos. This cosmos is. It is all there is. It is self-existing.

That, of course, is a great mystery to the human mind - how anything can be self-existing. The human mind, knowing its own time-conditioned and contingent nature, cannot imagine that which is not time-conditioned and contingent. It cannot imagine that which always was, is, and will be.

But the problem, say the Humanists, is not solved by postulating another reality or existence behind or beneath or beyond or within this one. You have just removed the problem one step from where it was; you haven't solved it.

So let us take this reality at face value. Let us operate with what we can see and touch and measure and grasp and know. Let us not engage in meta-physical speculation. Isn't there, after all, plenty for us to speculate on with regard to the physical and the natural? Why try to go outside of that to another reality? Isn't this reality quite enough?

Indeed, it is, say the Humanists. This is it! This is all and it is enough! It is quite enough.

And if it isn't all or enough, it is not clear what the "other" is. So it would seem prudent to stick with what can be known: to accept this reality that for us is sometimes full of awe and sometimes awful, but to accept it, to affirm it, and deal with it!

An illustrative poem

This is the point for me of the poem from Robert Frost that has been printed at the top of the Order of Service today.

With each of these four faiths, I will be trying to identify a representative poet that could be associated with that faith. And for Humanism I've picked Robert Frost. In a video clip I once heard him identify himself by saying, "I guess you could say I'm a humanist poet, mostly." He said something like that.

In this playful poem we see Frost at the curb of a well looking down into the water - a well representing the depths of things. He acknowledges having been accused of not seeing very deeply into things, of actually seeing only his own god-like reflection, like the deity Narcissus who was overly enamored with his image in the water.

"Ah, but once," says Frost, "when looking into the well I did see something more. It was something white, I believe, but I couldn't quite make it out. And just as I was looking, perhaps about to make out more clearly what it was, a single drop of water from a nearby fern dropped into the smooth water of the well, ruffled the surface of the water blurring the whole picture. What was it in the depths there? Truth? A white pebble? I don't know. But let's say, dear critics, that for once, then, I did see something more than this concrete physical reality."

Others taunt me with having knelt at well-curbs
Always wrong to the light, so never seeing
Deeper down in the well than where the water
Gives me back in a shining surface picture
Me myself in the summer heaven godlike
Looking out of a wreath of fern and cloud puffs [that's Narcissus].
Once, when trying with chin against a well-curb,
I discerned, as I thought, beyond the picture,
Through the picture, a something white, uncertain,
Something more of the depths - and then I lost it.
Water came to rebuke the too clear water.
One drop fell from a fern, and lo, a ripple
Shook whatever it was lay there at the bottom,
Blurred it, blotted it out. What was that whiteness?
Truth? A pebble of quartz? For once, then, something.

(Robert Frost, "For Once, Then, Something")

The point for me in this poem is that even if there might be some deeper and different reality than this concrete world and all of its wonders, we can't really know what that "more" is, and there's plenty here in what we can see to keep our attention. So this, implies the poet, is where I choose to dwell, not trying to see something more, but attending to the "more" that is already here.

The charge of skepticism

Thus, for modern Humanism there is no reality behind or beyond or beneath or within this one - no divine Being, no Creator God, such as you find in many religions.

Or, if for some Humanists there is a Creator God at the beginning of the cosmos, it is the deity of Deism, who, as it were, set the wheel of matter in motion, fixed it with its natural laws, and then gave over the work of creation to the creatures that evolved out of that cosmos, of which we humans are one very interesting example.

Because Humanism has not seen the need for a divine Creator or a reality other than this reality, they have sometimes gained the reputation of being "deniers." Thus, they have been labeled "skeptics," "atheists," "infidels," and most recently, "secular humanists," as well as other such derogatory terms.

To some degree some Humanists have taken pleasure in this role of being deniers or skeptics. Sometimes there has been a tone associated with Humanists as ones who take a certain glee in puncturing balloons or letting the air out of systems of belief.

There is now among those who identify themselves as Humanists an awareness of this image and an attempt to counter it. The document I used for our reading this morning is an example of this, an attempt, as it says, "to manifest in clear and positive terms" what Humanism stands for. Even the title, "Humanism and Its Aspirations," indicates this. It doesn't lead with the more in-your-face "Humanist Manifesto."

A new language of reverence

Some of you may have been aware that in our own religious association there was a bit of flap created a couple of years ago when our president, The Reverend William Sinkford, who has identified his faith as theistic in nature, called for a "new language of reverence" among us, an attempt to be more positive and embracing in our language, to be willing to use traditional religious terms, not to be afraid of them, nor to throw them out, but to try to connect with them and find larger meaning in them.

This call for a "new language of reverence" actually first came from an article by Professor David Bumbaugh at the Meadville Lombard Theological School. Bill Sinkford is aware of this and has given due credit.

It so happens, however, that Bumbaugh is a dedicated Humanist. I mentioned his name as one of the original signers of that new Humanist document I read earlier in the service. But what he was calling for was a new language of reverence for Humanists, a new language of reverence within Humanism.

Two years ago in Boston at the annual Unitarian Universalist General Assembly, I heard Bumbaugh speak to this subject - this was just before this new document came out, while they were still tweaking it - and he was appreciative of Sinkford's call for a new language of reverence, but he was quite critical of Sinkford's position in another way, for he wanted it to be a new language of reverence, not a re-working of traditional terms. He didn't know what this new language might be - that would be the creative task - but he was clear that he wanted it to be a new language.

But the larger point I want to make here is that Humanists are feeling the need to emphasize the positive and reverential dimensions of their perspective. They want to talk more about what they do believe and less about what they don't believe.

They want to emphasize the glory and wonder that is ours as human beings, and the greater glory that could be ours if only we will work together for human good and the good of our planet.

Conclusion

Is it so hard to be kind and fair and just to each other?! Let us not fight over systems of belief that we can't really prove! Instead, let us come together over what we do know.

We know enough. And we are learning even more all the time about what makes for a decent and humane life.

What a wonder we are and what a wonder this earth is! Whatever else we may be, we know now that we are part of this earth; we know now that we have come out of this earth.

And we also know that at the end of our lives we will return to this earth. Whatever else may be, at a minimum we will return to the dust of the earth.

Thus, while we have breath, and while we have minds to think and hearts to feel, let us think deeply about this "dust" that we are, and let us hold in reverence and awe this "dust of the earth," this "quiet dust":

Here in my curving hands I cup
This quiet dust; I lift it up.
Here is the mother of all thought;
Of this the shining heavens are wrought,
The laughing lips, the feet that rove,
The face, the body that you love;
Mere dust, no more, yet nothing less,
And this has suffered consciousness,
Passion, and terror, this again
Shall suffer passion, death, and pain.
For, as all flesh must die, so all,
Now dust, shall live. 'Tis natural;
Yet hardly do I understand -
Here in the hollow of my hand
A bit of God himself I keep,
Between two vigils fallen asleep.

(John Hall Wheelock, "This Quiet Dust")

Benediction

In the time of your life, live - so that in that good time
There shall be no ugliness or death
For yourself or for any life that your life touches.
Seek goodness everywhere; when it is found
Bring it out of its hiding-place
And let it be free and unashamed.
Discover in all things that which shines and is beyond corruption.
Encourage virtue into whatever heart
It may have been driven into secrecy and sorrow
By the shame and terror of the world.
In the time of your life, live - so that in that wondrous time
You shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world,
But shall smile instead to the infinite delight and mystery of it.

(Adapted from the preface of the "The Time Of Your Life" by William Saroyan)

Extinguishing the Chalice

Now may peace be in our hearts,
and understanding in our minds,
may courage steel our wills,
and the love of truth forever guide us.

(NOTE: This is a manuscript version of the sermon preached by The Reverend Bruce A. Bode at the Quimper Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on October 3, 2004. The spoken sermon, available on audio cassette at the Fellowship, may differ slightly in phrasing and detail from this manuscript version.)