Me, Me and More Me

On its surface, the philosophy of humanism seems to be a pretty good idea.

Since rational thinking and compassion are often in short supply in the world, a philosophy that emphasizes the need for both of those things would typically appeal to me. Honestly, if more people thought about why they do the things they do, and then thought about how their actions would affect everyone else, well the world would be an awesome place.

But, that's not all humanism deals with. At its core, the philosophy preaches that mankind understands right and wrong, innately, and that we don't need religious texts or supernatural beings to keep us on the right path. We, as humans, are the apex of the animal world, the most perfect being on this planet, and as such we have no need of the false wisdom of some far-away God.

And that's where I leave the humanism train.

For those of you who forgot, we're still discussing the six corrupting agents of religion and the black community. It's part of a series I began recently and humanism is the corrupting agent we're discussing today.

You know, I've had a lot of discussions with folks who see the whole "Christian" thing as a bunch of malarkey. They might be folks who dislike organized religion, or who think it's idiotic to think you know which God is the real God, sometimes I talk to cats who believe in another religion or folks that think my concept of Christianity is all skewed. But, the folks I've disliked talking to the most, the ones who I now try to avoid, are the ones who think that anybody who believes that a God exists should be branded with a big "VI" for village idiot and kicked off the Earth.

Yeah, those folks.

It seems like humanism caters to those people. The people who think that they are ultimate example of life, and that if we could just eliminate the corrupting influence of religion, mankind could finally get on with the business of solving all of life's mysteries. You know why I'm not a fan of those cats? Because they think life is all about them.

When you accept and promote the idea that mankind is the best life has to offer, the best result you can hope for is hubris. The worst, is a nihilistic outlook on life where no standards or values are respected. When each individual human being becomes their own god, when they accept the idea that they only truly need to look within themselves for answers, well that seems to be a recipe for disaster.

Welcome to Anyhood, USA.

Folks like to point to crack cocaine, or the decline of nuclear families as the reason for many of the problems in the black community. Sometimes they talk about discrimination, racism and other ills. But, me, well I'm convinced that black folks have begun to believe the hype. Far too many of have decided that it's all about "us."

These young cats on the street, and some of these older cats in the boardroom, have decided that nobody and nothing is more important than them. That they don't owe allegiance or fidelity or respect or anything to anyone. There is no God that can cast judgement on them, no standard of living besides "whatever it takes."

I know that atheists and agnostics hate to hear it, but to me, this seems to be the logical end of humanism. People believe that human beings can set their own "standards" establish their own guidelines and rules, but I remain unconvinced. I'm skeptical of a world without religion and the rules and guidelines religion establishes. From what I've seen in the black community and other communities, a reliance on the shifting internal morality of human beings, a disregard for the authority and power of God, only leads to chaos and violence.

Honestly, I think humans need that big, bad bogeyman in the sky, or at least his blueprint for right and wrong, to truly understand how to live their lives. I think that history shows that while religion is often used for evil, when practiced correctly, it is an incredible force for good. I think that when we puff ourselves up, when we see no one and nothing as having ultimate authority over us, we don't seem to treat our fellow human beings as valuable equals. This can happen even with religion, but I fear it is more common without it.

Some folks will disagree with me. They will say they have their own internal moral compass that is not swayed by the words of some fairy tale God. I say hogwash. I say that with the way religion has infiltrated every aspect of modern life, it is impossible to claim that you live life without any of God's morality. Sure, you may not worship him, but the concepts of right and wrong that govern acceptable behavior in this country come directly from what "thus says the Lord." People may not cling to all of the rules, but they are aware of the gist.

After all, how does the idea of "do unto others as they do unto you" serve the self interest of most humans? Yet, you hear it repeated by atheists and agnostics alike as a guiding belief in their life. They may call it karma, or some other name, but the concept is the same. We are too far down the road to ever truly eradicate religion, and pretending like it does not have power, that it does not serve a purpose is the height of idiotic arrogance.

We as humans, black and whatever else, must embrace the idea that we are not the most important beings on the planet. The mere fact of our humanity does not bestow on us a form of deity. There is something greater than us, and we need to respect this concept. Not only does it serve as a stabilizing force, it serves as a model of behavior for us to aspire to.

We ain't all that.


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