What Unites and Divides Humanism

10/04/2016
01:38 pm ET
Roy Speckhardt
Executive Director, American Humanist Association

Humanists have an extraordinary level of agreement with near unanimity on many current issues. This is in stark contrast to many Christian sects, which often disagree amongst and within themselves. For example, according to Pew Research Center, 20 percent of white Evangelical Christians support same-sex marriage (74 percent opposed), while 49 percent of white Mainline Protestants were in favor (38 opposed), and 46 percent of Catholics were in favor (42 percent opposed). Meanwhile, 93 percent of humanists were in favor of same-sex marriage, a nearly unanimous level of support according to a 2011 study. Humanists also find themselves in over 90 percent agreement according to a survey by the American Humanist Association about offering comprehensive sex education in public schools, teaching evolution in science classrooms, supporting a woman’s right to reproductive choice, supporting end-of-life choices, and more.

But that level of agreement found among members of the American Humanist Association via the organization’s online polling doesn’t represent all nontheists. While atheists and agnostics (and any others who identify with labels that are defined by their rejection of supernatural sources of knowledge) tend to trend in the same liberal direction as humanists, that absence of a theistic belief doesn’t automatically make them committed to the pillars of humanism, which, in addition to reason, include compassion born of empathy and egalitarianism. Adding those components isn’t a perfect defense against societal prejudices, but it does provide the grounding to support moving beyond them when one’s exposed to education and experience.

The humanist movement itself isn’t without disagreement either. Indeed, being active in local humanist communities is almost a lesson in arguing one’s position because friendly debate is so common. Online, this is seen in various surveys and opinion pieces, where humanists present dissenting views. When confronting issues like gun control, pornography, and veganism, humanists sometimes find themselves in opposition to each other. Often the salient factor in such divisions is the emphasis of different values.

For example, while a majority of humanists recognize that the availability of violent weapons correlates with violent crime and so support significant gun control measures, not everyone agrees on how far to go with such policies. A significant number of humanists seem to emphasize the value of liberty over anti-violence measures when they express their strong interest in maintaining the ability to buy, own, and carry guns. Still, when humanists confront competing values like these, they often find middle ground. So the same folks who support gun ownership are often willing to accept modest measures such as waiting periods for gun purchases and mandatory registrations as ways to accommodate their values without facilitating violence.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/roy-speckhardt/what-unites-and-divides-h_b_12335544.html