Secular Humanism, Secular Humanism

Like other types of humanism, secular humanism is a life stance that focuses on the way human beings can lead good, happy and functional lives.

Secular humanism is also called "scientific humanism", because biologist Edward Wilson claimed it to be "the only worldview compatible with science's growing knowledge of the real world and the laws of nature". In Harvard Magazine December 2005, p. 33.

Hence, it would seem most accurate to say that this case affirmed that a religion need not be theistic to qualify as a religion under the law, rather than asserting that it established generic secular humanism as a religion.

Capistrano School District , 37 F.3d 517 (9th Cir. 1994), cert. denied , 515 U.S. 1173 (1995). In this case, a science teacher argued that, by requiring him to teach evolution, his school district was forcing him to teach the "religion" of secular humanism. The Court responded, "We reject this claim because neither the Supreme Court, nor this circuit, has ever held that evolutionism or secular humanism are 'religions' for Establishment Clause purposes." The Supreme Court refused to review the case.

It was used, for example, by Leo Pfeffer and by Joseph Blau, later professor of religion at Columbia University. However, as used initially the phrase did not have the connotations it later assumed. In 1958 Pfeffer used the term to mean "Those unaffiliated with organized religion and concerned with human values." As mentioned previously, "secular humanism" was a term used by Justice Black in 1961 to refer to a non-theistic variety of humanism that its adherents considered to be religious. The phrase was seized upon by religious fundamentalists, with the inclusion of the word "secular" often used to cast humanists as anti-religious. These in turn have been subsequently accused of intolerance.

This is how modern humanists most commonly understand "secular humanism." In a mockery of an Alabama judge's reference to secular humanism as a religion, the musician Frank Zappa, who was also a free speech advocate, established the "Church of American Secular Humanism." Church of American Secular Humanism - Zappa Wiki Jawaka The fact that the initials of the organization formed the acronym "CASH" was part of the joke. The humor columnist Art Buchwald wrote a column, "Secular Humanists: Threat or Menace?" In it, he poked fun at alarm about secular humanism.

Source: Wikipedia > Secular Humanism