Secular Humanism Recognized in Court

For years we have been saying that humanism is a religion—but now it’s official, at least in the state of Oregon.

In April, an inmate serving time at a prison facility in Oregon filed suit because he wasn’t allowed to form a humanist study group, since humanism wasn’t listed as a religious affiliation “under existing prison classifications,” according to the Huffington Post. The federal court recently ruled that denying him the right to hold a study group was against his constitutional rights and pronounced that humanism is indeed a religion.

The discussion of whether humanism qualifies as a religion has come up in more contexts than just prisons this year. For example, according to the Religion News Service, the US Army has classified humanism as a religion (though the US Navy still hasn’t). As I’ve said before, there are a number of definitions of religion out there, but a religion is simply a set of beliefs explaining the reality around us that usually involves a belief in a god or multiple gods. Humanism is a way of explaining the world and even has a god—man! Since humanists make mankind the measure of truth, they have put man in the place of God.

Why It Matters

Humanism is the belief that man determines truth and that there is no God. Foundational to this religion is evolution and millions of years. If we are simply the result of a chance accident and naturalistic processes over a period of time, as evolution teaches, then there is no God and we are accountable to no one. Man is the authority and man sets the rules—in other words, man is basically his own god! Humanism is the modern equivalent of Satan’s lie to Eve, “You will be like God” (Genesis 3:15). Humanism certainly is a religion, but it’s a religion of godlessness—and therefore meaninglessness and hopelessness.

And it is this religion that is the prevailing philosophy taught to students in public schools across America! These schools give lip service not to give preference to one religion over another, and yet humanistic philosophy fills the textbooks. Students are taught that knowledge is derived only from “rational” thought, humans are a part of nature and the result of unguided, naturalistic processes, and that morality and ethical values are the products of human experiences and needs. All of these are humanistic philosophies taught in the Humanist Manifesto! In throwing God and the Bible out of schools, they have not eliminated religion; they have simply replaced one religion with another one.

As Christians, we need to be active in teaching our children to think from a biblical—not a secular humanistic—worldview. The world is working hard to teach the next generation that man is the absolute authority and that man determines truth. And this runs completely against what the Bible teaches. We are not the product of evolution but were specially created by God in His image. Because we are created beings, only the Creator gets to set the rules, and we are accountable to Him.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

 

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.