Is Secular Humanism a Religion? How about Atheism? Golf? Christianity? Does it Matter?

Friday, 10 May 2024. FFP#63

About the Friday Freethought Perennials in general: This subset of my blog is to answer questions, nearly always already answered by me and by many others but posed again and again—over many years and in many places—on freethought, atheism, secular humanism, secularism/church-state/”This is a Christian Nation,” and similar topics. These answers are mostly not intended to be original analyses, breaths of fresh air, so much as just putting a whole series of things on the record (I’d say “forever,” except I know better). One source for many of these answers is the 2012 Prometheus Books book by me and my son (Michael E. Buckner), In Freedom We Trust: An Atheist Guide to Religious Liberty—and that is where footnotes and careful citations of sources can be found. It’s available in many libraries and pretty readily in the used book after-market. I’ll cite writings of others that answer these things in more depth if I’m aware of them when I post these.

Atheism—a Religion? Secular Humanism? Golf? Christianity? Does it Matter?

Imagine you have a friend, “Arnold Hander,” who plays golf every Sunday, without fail. All his friends agree—

Arnie plays golf religiously. He much prefers to pray play with a group of fellow golfers, but he plays alone rather than not play. Not even rain stops him from going to the club and hitting some balls in the indoor driving range. In fact he always also goes to the club every Wednesday evening and seeks advice from the club golf pro—who he pays for the advice. And Arnie strives hard, though he fails often, to take the direction offered by the priest—pro.

Arnie also knows—and always tries to follow—all the rules of golf. He prides himself on being a good golfer—meaning both his skills but also his sense of fairness and honesty in competition. He consistently works to stick to the proper etiquette of golf.

Does that really make your friend religious, in your opinion?

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Religion = ?

What does anyone mean by “religion”? Is there a fixed, no-argument-about-it correct definition? Like most words, not everyone defines the word exactly the same way, and there really isn’t a final authority on the meaning of the word, except in terms of law, such as income tax regulations. There are Christians who declare, “I’m not religious—I just have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.” This is nonsensical to me, but it is surely based on a different definition of “religion” than I’d use. After all, if you think, as such Christians surely do, that Jesus Christ is divine and that everyone else should certainly join you in thinking so, how can that be anything except religious?

The key to defining words correctly, in most circumstances (not necessarily in legal senses) is communication. If the listener/reader means the same thing by a word as the speaker/writer intends, communication can be successful. If they mean different things to the advocate and the intended recipient, miscommunication can occur even when neither realizes it has.

In any case, before we address whether atheism, secular humanism, Christianity, or golf are religions, I should define the term.

Here are definitions I think are sensible and commonly accepted: a religion is

the belief in and worship of a superhuman power or powers, especially a God or gods

or

a particular system of faith and worship

—OxfordLanguages (“OxfordLanguages is the world’s leading dictionary publisher, with over 150 years of experience creating and delivering authoritative dictionaries globally in more than 50 languages")

There is a third definition from the same source that makes sense but is not what I think most people mean most of the time when they say “religion”—

a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance. "consumerism is the new religion"

It’s worth repeating, though: there is not any one source that can define a word with unquestionable authority. I’d add to OxfordLanguages’ definitions that, as I see it, a religion has a systematic, organized set of beliefs that are essentially unquestionable (dogma)—that must be agreed to if one is to be considered a member and possibly even if one is to be considered moral or decent. There are often with religions rituals—things done, often with other members, every day or month or week or on the same date every year. Rituals are also frequently associated with key moments in the lives of members, like weddings, baptisms, funerals, etc.

There are 1000s of religions and many more than are no longer practiced. I’m not naming or commenting on most, including several major religions, like Judaism and Islam, here.

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What Do Secular Humanism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Ethical Culture Have in Common?

Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black (1886-1971) once wrote (in a footnote—not as a court decision) that “Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, and Secular Humanism” are more or less godless religions. I lack expertise on the others he named, but I disagree with Justice Black on this, though he deserved respect in general as a thoughtful jurist.

Secular humanism does have some more-or-less-agreed-on principles, or “affirmations”—Paul Kurtz (1925-2012) was, by the way, my boss from 2001-2003, my friend, my mentor in many ways, and despite some all-too-human flaws, one of my heroes:

A Statement of Principles

Drafted by Paul Kurtz

We are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of human problems.

We deplore efforts to denigrate human intelligence, to seek to explain the world in supernatural terms, and to look outside nature for salvation.

We believe that scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the betterment of human life.

We believe in an open and pluralistic society and that democracy is the best guarantee of protecting human rights from authoritarian elites and repressive majorities.

We are committed to the principle of the separation of church and state.

We cultivate the arts of negotiation and compromise as a means of resolving differences and achieving mutual understanding.

We are concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and with eliminating discrimination and intolerance.

We believe in supporting the disadvantaged and the handicapped so that they will be able to help themselves.

We attempt to transcend divisive parochial loyalties based on race, religion, gender, nationality, creed, class, sexual orientation, or ethnicity, and strive to work together for the common good of humanity.

We want to protect and enhance the earth, to preserve it for future generations, and to avoid inflicting needless suffering on other species.

We believe in enjoying life here and now and in developing our creative talents to their fullest.

We believe in the cultivation of moral excellence.

We respect the right to privacy. Mature adults should be allowed to fulfill their aspirations, to express their sexual preferences, to exercise reproductive freedom, to have access to comprehensive and informed health-care, and to die with dignity.

We believe in the common moral decencies: altruism, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, responsibility. Humanist ethics is amenable to critical, rational guidance. There are normative standards that we discover together. Moral principles are tested by their consequences.

We are deeply concerned with the moral education of our children. We want to nourish reason and compassion.

We are engaged by the arts no less than by the sciences.

We are citizens of the universe and are excited by discoveries still to be made in the cosmos.

We are skeptical of untested claims to knowledge, and we are open to novel ideas and seek new departures in our thinking.

We affirm humanism as a realistic alternative to theologies of despair and ideologies of violence and as a source of rich personal significance and genuine satisfaction in the service to others.

We believe in optimism rather than pessimism, hope rather than despair, learning in the place of dogma, truth instead of ignorance, joy rather than guilt or sin, tolerance in the place of fear, love instead of hatred, compassion over selfishness, beauty instead of ugliness, and reason rather than blind faith or irrationality.

We believe in the fullest realization of the best and noblest that we are capable of as human beings.

Several of these principles (or affirmations) notably emphasize tentativeness and openness to revision. Several of them overlap somewhat with Christian ideas. Not all secular humanists agree to all of these nor about the relative importance of them, so none of them would count as “dogma” in my opinion.

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Golf, Atheism, Christianity, and Secular Humanism—Religions?

Golf

Despite all the superficial similarities to religion (see my description of the fictional Arnie, above), golf cannot reasonably be called a religion—mostly because there’s no belief in the supernatural involved.

Atheism

Atheism quite literally has nothing in common with religion: no belief in the supernatural, no rules or principles, no rituals, no declaration of what counts as moral, no generally acknowledged spokesperson (though I was asked in the past to serve as one, most—including me—would not have accepted me in that role). Atheism is only a statement of what is not believed, not a philosophy or set of statements thought to be true. There are atheistic philosophies but not—I’d argue—really a specific philosophy of atheism. Not even close to being a religion by most definitions. (As the late Clark Adams used to say, “If atheism is a religion, health is a disease. If atheism is a religion, bald is a hair color and not collecting stamps is a hobby.”) See the link to my earlier Letter, in which I reprinted my entry from the Handbook of Religion in March last year, below, for much more.

Christianity

There can be nearly endless arguments about what accurately sums up the religion of Christianity—Catholics versus Protestants, Methodists versus Baptists, fundamentalists versus moderates, evangelicals versus more “mainstream,” and with all kinds of variations even within such categories. People have killed and tortured each other over disagreements about what it takes to be a true Christian.

But few would argue that you can be a good Christian and not have any supernatural beliefs. Most would accept that a core belief of Christians is that Jesus Christ died for all our sins, and another that the Bible (some version of it) is sacred (whether inerrant or merely inspired). John 14:6 sums up most of this: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

I’m not sure that most Christians would accept that one can be a Christian without believing that Jesus Christ was divine and died for believers’ sins, and that makes these core beliefs articles of faith—of dogma. Thomas Jefferson called himself a Christian and explicitly rejected both of those ideas, but I don’t think most modern Christians would accept that he was a true Christian. Of course I have no authority to speak for them in anything like this.

If the word “religion” means anything like what most people have in mind when they say or write or hear or read the word, Christianity is a religion—or several religions, if you prefer.

Secular Humanism

Secular humanism does have some things in common with religions: secular humanists do have some opinions in common with each other and we have been (sporadically) organized. Some of us engage in or even create rituals. But we do not harbor supernatural beliefs and, arguably at least, we have principles or affirmations but not dogma. Despite some odd and illogical insistence by some Christians (more on that below), secular humanism is by definition not a religion.

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Religion or No?—Taxes, Education, and …

Religions are treated differently—and I think this is unfair and unconstitutional, as I have written before—from other nonprofits when it comes to taxes. As to federal income taxes, churches and “religious” organizations are not required to even apply for tax exempt status, and donors to them can take income tax deductions freely— and, unlike other nonprofits, “religious” organizations do not have to account for their income and expenses above a certain annual amount. And that distinction is often even more true regarding state and local real estate tax exemptions. So I could be said to have a strong vested interest in accepting that atheism or freethought or secular humanism are religions. Even though it would help organizations I support, I don’t accept that I have any religion and on principle I don’t belong to any religious organizations.

IRS Code: https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/churches-integrated-auxiliaries-and-conventions-or-associations-of-churches

An apparently common reason for Christians to claim that secular humanism is a religion is that it would mean, they insist, that Darwinian evolution is a “belief” of the “religion.” And therefore that evolution should not be taught (or that creationism should be) in high school biology. But, even if most secular humanists accept science and modern biological theory, so do many millions of theists, including many Christians. What is taught in high school biology is something to be decided by scientists and educational specialists, not church/state lawyers or leaders of religious or philosophical groups. The same sort of thing is true about teaching public school kindergarten students to love their neighbors and respect each other and to share. Whether a religion—any religion or lots of them—adopts a belief or idea is not what should determine what should be taught in a public school.

More—

https://secularhumanism.org/2015/01/cont-secularism-humanism-not-a-religion/

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Conclusion

Christians may or may not accept the biblical injunction included in James 1:27:

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

But a nonChristian secular humanist like me can find most of this to be a good idea without accepting the religion that includes it. And I’m pretty sure many Christians would thoroughly agree with some of the principles of secular humanism outlined by Kurtz, above. Religions and other worldviews, all of them, have many ideas on their lists of what is or isn’t good or wise. Many of those ideas may be worthy, whatever their source.

And let me be clear: if a Christian wants to think or say that my atheism or my secular humanism or my status as a liberal democrat or as a socialist or as a golfer—except that I don’t even play—is a “religion,” that’s OK with me. Some of those things (not golf) are related to religion and I think my worldview, my philosophy, my systematic opinions (any of these would be accurate, in my never humble opinion) deserve respect and First Amendment protections. But are any of them religions? Not by any reasonable definition.

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A relevant earlier Letter—

https://edbuckner.substack.com/p/adherent

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Note: Anyone may copy and publish what I or my guests write, provided proper credit is given, that it’s not done for commercial purposes, that I am notified of the copying (you can just leave a comment saying where the copy is being published), and provided that what we write is not quoted out of context or distorted.

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