A Quick Guide to Humanism (aka ‘the humanism cheat sheet’)

by Dr Heidi Nicholl, CEO Humanists Australia

What does the name mean? Is it all about humans?

The modern version of humanism evolved from the ‘freethought’ movement which started in the late 1800s in both the United Kingdom and America. A small number of Church congregations, led by presumably very charismatic Ministers, decided that while they were happy to go to Church each week, they believed in ethics more than they believed in God, the Bible, miracles etc.

The-ism: means to believe in God.

A-the-ism: adds an ‘a’ that means ‘without’. Atheism therefore means ‘without a belief in God’.

Human-ism: replaces the ‘God’ part of the-ism with human. Meaning, (sort of literally), that we believe in humans.

The main sense of being a humanist though is with reference to morality. In theistic systems, where people believe in a god or gods, the implicit, or explicit, implication is that humans are good because God has made them good. Subsequently, although we have free will, we should choose to be good due to fear of divine retribution or an eternity of hellfire and damnation.

Humanism, because it has a starting position which rejects belief in God, effectively says we evolved to have a capacity to act in either good ways or bad ways. We can choose to be good because we do have a moral compass, we’re not just good because we’re scared of a supernatural hell with pitchforks and demons.

Therefore, humanism is literally about being good without God.

Atheism defines people by what they are NOT. They are not believers.

Humanism defines people by what they ARE; people who believe in science and evolution, and who believe that humans can, and should be good, because it is the right thing to do, not because they have been frightened into it.

So, humanism is a positive life stance that says that you are a human being who tries to be good and doesn’t believe in God rather than not what you are not.

Do you have to be atheist? What about agnostics?

While humanism does require rejecting belief in the supernatural having perhaps some sort of sense, or questioning, that maybe there is something more ‘out there’, is probably OK.

Actually knowing that you believe in a supernatural explanation for the world, (e.g. crystal healing or horoscopes or numerology), means you can’t be a humanist.

What about animals? Is humanism ‘speciesist’?

Speciesist means prioritising one species over another. Although humanism sounds a bit like we’re all about humans, we’re actually much less speciesist than some religious individuals who believe that animals have been specifically provided for use by humans.

Humanists believe that humans are animals living in a fragile eco-system with other animals who also have value. Humanists definitely believe that humans have a duty to stop causing harm and that we ought to use human intelligence and ingenuity to fix the harms that we’ve caused already.

Some humanists, like the one writing this, are also vegan or follow a plant-based diet.

Compassion is an important value for humanists and many humanists believe that avoiding suffering or striving not to harm other living beings when it is not necessary to do so, is critically important. Not all humanists prioritise their values in the same way though and so it is acceptable to call yourself a humanist without being vegan or vegetarian.

Can religious people be humanists?

In short, no. The modern definition of humanism explicitly rejects belief in the supernatural. There were earlier uses of the word humanism going back to Ancient Rome and then the Enlightenment, but since the 1800s the word has been generally accepted to refer to a certain type of atheist.

As humanists are people who believe in living ethically without believing in God, religious people can’t be humanists. Religious people can, of course, be ethical and good and live a value driven life but humanist is not the right word for them as the word humanist intrinsically includes a rejection of belief in the supernatural.

Most, or possibly all, humanist organisations, including Humanists Australia, require that members accept the Minimum Statement on Humanism (derived from the Amsterdam Statement) which is a good working definition of humanism.

Humanists Australia is the national organisation for humanists in Australia advocating for positive social change, and providing authentic, heartfelt humanist ceremonies to mark life’s big milestones.

We have heaps of info on humanism including a short introductory course on humanism (with optional certificate of completion!) and further resources.

Please consider joining our mailing list or becoming a member if you’re interested in humanism and located in Australia.