On Humanism
Old: God created the world and humanity.
New: The world and humanity evolved.
Old: Hell is a place of eternal torment for the wicked.
New: Suffering is the natural result of breaking the laws of right living.
Old: Heaven is the place where good people go when they die.
New: Doing right brings its own satisfaction.
Old: The chief end of humanity is to glorify God.
New: The chief end of humanity is to improve ourselves, as individuals and as the human race.
Old: Religion has to do with the supernatural.
New: Religion has to do with the natural; the so-called supernatural is only the not-yet-understood natural.
Old: Humankind is inherently evil and a worm of the dust.
New: Humankind is inherently good and has infinite possibilities.
Old: Humankind should submit to the will of God.
New: Humankind should not submit to injustice or suffering without protest and should endeavor to remove its causes.
Old: Salvation comes from outside humanity.
New: Improvement comes from within. No person or god can save another person.
Old: The ideas of sin, salvation, redemption, prayer, and worship are important.
New: These ideas are unimportant.
Old: The truth is to be found in one religion only.
New: There are truths in all religions and outside of religion.
~ Charles Francis Potter, Originally published in 1930, Language updated in 1994
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2 comments:
"New: Suffering is the natural result of breaking the laws of right living."
What are the laws of right living?
"Old: Heaven is the place where good people go when they die."
If this was true, there would be no one in Heaven per Christian beliefs! (Potter even says as much when he says that the "Old" is that humankind is inherently evil.) Actually, Heaven is the place where people who have accepted Jesus' payment for their sins go.
"Old: There are truths in one religion only."
I agree with you here; this belief would be incorrect if it was the Christian belief. However, there are truths which are found outside the Bible, and anyone who says there aren't hasn't thought about it very long. For example, the Bible says nothing about the circulatory system, but we know how the circulatory system works and we know that it is true. Truths can be found outside of only what the Bible says.
Kelsie, Good points. I was a bit reluctant to post that quote as I don’t like how every point is worded either. I would say that the laws of right living translate to the golden rule.
Heaven, Paradise, Elysian Fields, Nirvana, etc., are concepts that have been used by countless religions to denote a blissful place and I think the author is obviously using it in a general way here.
I also don’t agree with his idea that “Humankind is inherently good.” I would say we are human and being human means being capable of both good and evil.
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