The Manifesto is a product of many minds. It was designed to
represent a developing point of view, not a new creed. The
individuals whose signatures appear would, had they been writing
individual statements, have stated the propositions in differing
terms. The importance of the document is that more than thirty
men have come to general agreement on matters of final concern and
that these men are undoubtedly representative of a large number
who are forging a new philosophy out of the materials of the
modern world. -- Raymond B. Bragg (1933)
FIRST: Religious humanists regard the universe as self-existing
and not created.
SECOND: Humanism believes that man is a part of nature and that
he has emerged as a result of a continuous process.
THIRD: Holding an organic view of life, humanists find that the
traditional dualism of mind and body must be rejected.
FOURTH: Humanism recognizes that man's religious culture and
civilization, as clearly depicted by anthropology and history, are
the product of a gradual development due to his interaction with
his natural environment and with his social heritage. The
individual born into a particular culture is largely molded by
that culture.
FIFTH: Humanism asserts that the nature of the universe depicted
by modern science makes unacceptable any supernatural or cosmic
guarantees of human values. Obviously humanism does not deny the
possibility of realities as yet undiscovered, but it does insist
that the way to determine the existence and value of any and all
realities is by means of intelligent inquiry and by the assessment of their relations to human needs. Religion must formulate
its hopes and plans in the light of the scientific spirit and
method.
SIXTH: We are convinced that the time has passed for theism,
deism, modernism, and the several varieties of "new thought".
SEVENTH: Religion consists of those actions, purposes, and
experiences which are humanly significant. Nothing human is alien
to the religious. It includes labor, art, science, philosophy,
love, friendship, recreation -- all that is in its degree
expressive of intelligently satisfying human living. The
distinction between the sacred and the secular can no longer be
maintained.
EIGHTH: Religious Humanism considers the complete realization of
human personality to be the end of man's life and seeks its
development and fulfillment in the here and now. This is the
explanation of the humanist's social passion.
NINTH: In the place of the old attitudes involved in worship and
prayer the humanist finds his religious emotions expressed in a
heightened sense of personal life and in a cooperative effort to
promote social well-being.
TENTH: It follows that there will be no uniquely religious
emotions and attitudes of the kind hitherto associated with belief
in the supernatural.
ELEVENTH: Man will learn to face the crises of life in terms of
his knowledge of their naturalness and probability. Reasonable
and manly attitudes will be fostered by education and supported by
custom. We assume that humanism will take the path of social and
mental hygiene and discourage sentimental and unreal hopes and
wishful thinking.
TWELFTH: Believing that religion must work increasingly for joy
in living, religious humanists aim to foster the creative in man
and to encourage achievements that add to the satisfactions of
life.
THIRTEENTH: Religious humanism maintains that all associations
and institutions exist for the fulfillment of human life. The
intelligent evaluation, transformation, control, and direction of
such associations and institutions with a view to the enhancement
of human life is the purpose and program of humanism. Certainly
religious institutions, their ritualistic forms, ecclesiastical
methods, and communal activities must be reconstituted as rapidly
as experience allows, in order to function effectively in the
modern world.
FOURTEENTH: The humanists are firmly convinced that existing
acquisitive and profit-motivated society has shown itself to be
inadequate and that a radical change in methods, controls, and
motives must be instituted. A socialized and cooperative economic
order must be established to the end that the equitable distribution of the means of life be possible. The goal of humanism is
a free and universal society in which people voluntarily and
intelligently cooperate for the common good. Humanists demand a
shared life in a shared world.
FIFTEENTH AND LAST: We assert that humanism will: (a) affirm
life rather than deny it; (b) seek to elicit the possibilities of
life, not flee from them; and (c) endeavor to establish the
conditions of a satisfactory life for all, not merely for the few.
By this positive morale and intention humanism will be guided,
and from this perspective and alignment the techniques and efforts
of humanism will flow.
