Content notes for "Only to Be Understood"
These are the content notes for "Only to Be Understood."
"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
― Marie Curie
Los Angeles (USA - California) Friday, January 29, 2016 at 10:00:00 am PST
UTC-8 hours
Male (Maldives)
Friday, January 29, 2016 at 11:00:00 pm MVT
UTC+5 hours
Corresponding UTC (GMT) Friday, January 29, 2016 at 18:00:00
Humanist funeral customs include nonreligious activities, poems, condolences, and so forth.
* * *
The Principles of Secular Humanism
Principles of Secular Personism (in italics)
* We are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of human problems.
* We are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of 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 deplore efforts to denigrate intelligence in any form, to seek to explain the world in superstitious terms, and to look outside ourselves and each other for salvation.
* We believe that scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the betterment of human life.
* We believe that the responsible use of scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the betterment of all 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 believe in an open and pluralistic society and that participatory decision-making is the best guarantee of protecting sapient rights from authoritarian elites and repressive majorities.
* We are committed to the principle of the separation of church and state.
* (same)
* We cultivate the arts of negotiation and compromise as a means of resolving differences and achieving mutual understanding.
* We cultivate the arts of negotiation, mediation, and participatory decision-making as ways of resolving differences and achieving mutual understanding.
* We are concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and with eliminating discrimination and intolerance.
* We are concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and with eliminating discrimination and intolerance against all mindful beings.
* We believe in supporting the disadvantaged and the handicapped so that they will be able to help themselves.
* (same)
* 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 attempt to transcend divisive parochial loyalties based on elemental composition, species, origin, race, religion, gender, nationality, creed, class, caste, sexual orientation, gender expression, ethnicity, power status, or any other conceptual divisions and strive to work together for the common good of all life.
* We want to protect and enhance the earth, to preserve it for future generations, and to avoid inflicting needless suffering on other species.
* (same)
* We believe in enjoying life here and now and in developing our creative talents to their fullest.
* (same)
* We believe in the cultivation of moral excellence.
* We believe in the cultivation of moral excellence as the community grows in understanding what works toward the good of all, balanced by each individual's code of ethics as they have come to define it.
* 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 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. As children grow, they should earn more rights as they demonstrate readiness for those responsibilities.
* Authority and responsibility must always balance. Authority without responsibility invites corruption; responsibility without authority is both abusive and ineffective.
* 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 believe in the common moral decencies: altruism, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, responsibility. Personist ethics are amenable to critical, rational guidance. There are practical 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 deeply concerned with the moral education of children. We want to nourish reason and compassion in all youth.
* We are engaged by the arts no less than by the sciences.
* We are engaged by the arts and by the sciences in dynamic balance. Each individual should strive to discover an art and a science that brings them joy and satisfaction through a career or a hobby.
* We are citizens of the universe and are excited by discoveries still to be made in the cosmos.
* We are citizens of the universe and are excited by discoveries still to be made in the cosmos. We strive to regard everything with a sense of wonder.
* We are skeptical of untested claims to knowledge, and we are open to novel ideas and seek new departures in our thinking.
* We are skeptical of untested claims to knowledge, and we are open to novel ideas and seek new departures in our thinking. It is the responsibility of each individual to examine and weigh ideas before deciding whether to adopt them.
* We acknowledge that we do not know everything; some things may have no explanation that we can discover as yet, while others may have multiple explanations that we cannot refine to a single answer. We embrace the unknown and the unknowable, without abandoning the quest for knowledge or resorting to superstition.
* We observe that the truth has both objective (the pants are 32 inches long) and subjective (the pants are too long ... for my legs) aspects. It is our responsibility to distinguish between objective truths, subjective truths, falsehoods, and opinions.
* 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 affirm personism as a realistic and constructive alternative to theologies of despair, ideologies of violence, and promulgations of prejudice. It provides a source of rich personal significance and genuine satisfaction in the discovery of self and 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 optimism rather than pessimism, hope rather than despair, learning in the place of dogma, truth instead of ignorance, joy rather than shame, restitution over 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.
* We believe in the fullest realization of the best and brightest that we are capable of as sapient beings.
"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
― Marie Curie
Los Angeles (USA - California) Friday, January 29, 2016 at 10:00:00 am PST
UTC-8 hours
Male (Maldives)
Friday, January 29, 2016 at 11:00:00 pm MVT
UTC+5 hours
Corresponding UTC (GMT) Friday, January 29, 2016 at 18:00:00
Humanist funeral customs include nonreligious activities, poems, condolences, and so forth.
* * *
The Principles of Secular Humanism
Principles of Secular Personism (in italics)
* We are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of human problems.
* We are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of 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 deplore efforts to denigrate intelligence in any form, to seek to explain the world in superstitious terms, and to look outside ourselves and each other for salvation.
* We believe that scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the betterment of human life.
* We believe that the responsible use of scientific discovery and technology can contribute to the betterment of all 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 believe in an open and pluralistic society and that participatory decision-making is the best guarantee of protecting sapient rights from authoritarian elites and repressive majorities.
* We are committed to the principle of the separation of church and state.
* (same)
* We cultivate the arts of negotiation and compromise as a means of resolving differences and achieving mutual understanding.
* We cultivate the arts of negotiation, mediation, and participatory decision-making as ways of resolving differences and achieving mutual understanding.
* We are concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and with eliminating discrimination and intolerance.
* We are concerned with securing justice and fairness in society and with eliminating discrimination and intolerance against all mindful beings.
* We believe in supporting the disadvantaged and the handicapped so that they will be able to help themselves.
* (same)
* 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 attempt to transcend divisive parochial loyalties based on elemental composition, species, origin, race, religion, gender, nationality, creed, class, caste, sexual orientation, gender expression, ethnicity, power status, or any other conceptual divisions and strive to work together for the common good of all life.
* We want to protect and enhance the earth, to preserve it for future generations, and to avoid inflicting needless suffering on other species.
* (same)
* We believe in enjoying life here and now and in developing our creative talents to their fullest.
* (same)
* We believe in the cultivation of moral excellence.
* We believe in the cultivation of moral excellence as the community grows in understanding what works toward the good of all, balanced by each individual's code of ethics as they have come to define it.
* 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 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. As children grow, they should earn more rights as they demonstrate readiness for those responsibilities.
* Authority and responsibility must always balance. Authority without responsibility invites corruption; responsibility without authority is both abusive and ineffective.
* 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 believe in the common moral decencies: altruism, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, responsibility. Personist ethics are amenable to critical, rational guidance. There are practical 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 deeply concerned with the moral education of children. We want to nourish reason and compassion in all youth.
* We are engaged by the arts no less than by the sciences.
* We are engaged by the arts and by the sciences in dynamic balance. Each individual should strive to discover an art and a science that brings them joy and satisfaction through a career or a hobby.
* We are citizens of the universe and are excited by discoveries still to be made in the cosmos.
* We are citizens of the universe and are excited by discoveries still to be made in the cosmos. We strive to regard everything with a sense of wonder.
* We are skeptical of untested claims to knowledge, and we are open to novel ideas and seek new departures in our thinking.
* We are skeptical of untested claims to knowledge, and we are open to novel ideas and seek new departures in our thinking. It is the responsibility of each individual to examine and weigh ideas before deciding whether to adopt them.
* We acknowledge that we do not know everything; some things may have no explanation that we can discover as yet, while others may have multiple explanations that we cannot refine to a single answer. We embrace the unknown and the unknowable, without abandoning the quest for knowledge or resorting to superstition.
* We observe that the truth has both objective (the pants are 32 inches long) and subjective (the pants are too long ... for my legs) aspects. It is our responsibility to distinguish between objective truths, subjective truths, falsehoods, and opinions.
* 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 affirm personism as a realistic and constructive alternative to theologies of despair, ideologies of violence, and promulgations of prejudice. It provides a source of rich personal significance and genuine satisfaction in the discovery of self and 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 optimism rather than pessimism, hope rather than despair, learning in the place of dogma, truth instead of ignorance, joy rather than shame, restitution over 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.
* We believe in the fullest realization of the best and brightest that we are capable of as sapient beings.