Apologetics - Critical Thinking

I. What is Secular Humanism?

The worldview of Secular Humanism is concerned with the individual first and then with the human condition; using scientific and rational theories to explain the history of man as well as to find solutions to the many issues facing mankind and its future.

The Question of Origin: According to George Gaylord Simpson, a Harvard evolutionist, in The Meaning of Evolution, "Man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind. He was not planned. He is a state of matter, a form of life, a sort of animal" (1967, p. 345). Man began as a couple of random specks of material which gradually adapted and progressed into sentient beings.

The Question of Identity: Human beings are on the same level as all other animals, "To the secularist, we are nothing more than an advanced animal" (Weider & Gutierrez, 2011, p. 57). It is only through the randomness of the evolutionary process that we acquired working minds and personalities.

The Question of Meaning: "If mankind is a product of evolutionary forces and not a special creation of God, then man's real purpose is ambiguous at best" (Weider & Gutierrez, 2011, p. 59). The Humanist's purpose in the world is to try and reach their full, personal potential to give meaning to their lives and striving towards effecting a better society by their good works.

The Question of Morality: The Secular Humanist believes that all humans are, at their core, good and are able to judge what is right and what is wrong on what they intuitively know and how that knowledge fits into their society. In the words of the humanist Max Hocutt, humans "may, and do, make up their own rules....Morality is not discovered; it is made".

The Question of Destiny: Roger Ebert's thought on his death, "I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear". Death is final, there is nothing more. This life is...