Posted on 12/23/2008 8:06:22 AM PST by Between the Lines
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.
"It's exciting to know that we could be meeting people who we might perhaps raise children with," said Tony Proctor, 39, who owns a wealth management company and attended the seminar at Harvard University with his wife, Andrea, 35, a stay-at-home mother.
Humanism is both a formal movement and an informal identification of people who promote values of reason, compassion and human dignity. Although most humanists are atheists, atheism is defined by what is absent -- belief in God -- and humanists emphasize a positive philosophy of ethical living for the human good.
The seminar's organizers wanted to reach out to people like the Proctors -- first-time parents scrambling for guidance as they improvise how to raise their daughter without the religion of their childhood.
"I'm often told that when people have kids, they go back to religion," said John Figdor, a humanist master's of divinity student who helped organize the seminar. "Are we really not tending our own people?"
Across the country, religious observance hits a low for people in their mid-20s and steadily increases after that, "in conjunction with marriage and children," said Tom Smith, of the General Social Survey at the University of Chicago, which has polled people about religious affiliation and practice for decades.
Religious congregations are good at supporting parenting, said Gregory Epstein
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
It seems that they have mistaken the bathwater for the baby and threw out the wrong one.
Aren’t there enough “positive examples” down at the recycling center?
The problem is, people like the Proctors are very rare among the “humanist/atheist” movement. I know humanists and atheist will jump in to deny this, but it IS the truth. I really do hope they find a large enough group of like-minded individuals to form a “congregation”, but I doubt they can.
It would appear that the need for the sacred and to worship is ingrained within all of us.
The preacher side of me tends to say “image of God”.
Sounds like Unitarians.
Soon, we will be hearing humanist, humanist, humanist. And all aspects of daily life will have to change to make accomodations for them.
I've never had the desire, myself...but I would agree that most people feel such a need.
I'm not in the kiddie boat, yet, but folks like them are laying the ground work for the future.
I know I'm already going to send my kid(s) to Camp Quest and Space Camp. :)
When the human spirit, designed by God to yearn for commmunion with Him, desides that he cannot possibly exist and turns inward to the meaningless existance that is found without Him.
“Humanist”, what an innocuous yet egalitarian sounding word. The first was Robespierre. He led The Age of Reason in France. Later called The Reign of Terror. It ends with a guillotine.
“Ye shall be like gods”
How very well said,my friend.
Why don’t they just become Episcopalians? You don’t have to believe or know anything to be a member of that church, in fact they will even make you a “presiding bishop.”
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The MSM LOVES this. They love the idea that atheism - of which "humanism" is a branch or subset - should duke it out with theism. It's just as good as - equal to - should have equal time, morphing into - better than - inclusive, not divisive - etc.
It just a promotion of "I am meat, my kids are meat, there is no transcendent meaning or purpose to life, meaning and purpose and right and wrong are whatever you say they are and everyone else should respect that, except we will ultimately viilify all theists" etc etc. They want their atheist view to be the cultural standard, the default, and all religious views to be substandard.
That IS where this is going. Another point that they hide or hide from themselves is this: If there is no absolute truth, no absolute right and wrong, no Supreme Arbiter and Truth maker, then the Big Dog Wins.
PS - check out the Camp Quest linked to above, here's a quote:
Oops - their site is so weird you can't copy and paste!! Anyway, they mention the "separation of religion and government guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States"!!!! That is sick. Not true. What they are basically saying is that any viewpoints, convictions or truths founded or based on religion have no place in any public policy. This is dead wrong, as well as unconstitutional.
Humanist already have their temples: Government K-12 schools.
LOL!
They also serve as seminaries.
They also serve as seminaries.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Bingo!
Government schools are atheistic Humanist Seminaries.
I love the author’s use of the idiotic and oxymorinic “humanist master’s of divinity student”.
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