Seth AllenICS2015 World Religions

ID# 100426312/18/12

Secular Humanism vs. Marxism/Leninism

Secular Humanism is an atheistic religion/worldview. It is one of the 4 major

worldviews, which are: Secular Humanism, Marxism/Leninism, Cosmic Humanism, and

Biblical Christianity. In this report I will describe the ten major disciplines included in the

major worldviews which are; theology, philosophy, ethics, biology, psychology,

sociology, law, politics, economics, and history. I will also be comparing the worldview

of Secular Humanism with Marxism/Leninism.

Secular Humanism is by definition; the worldview that assumes that there is no

supernatural (God, angels, or after life), nothing goes beyond the material universe. So

Secular Humanists are Atheists, thus saying that there is sufficient evidence that there

is no God or even that there is supernatural at all. Supernatural includes God, Satan,

angels, demons, souls, and consciences.

Now theology is the study of the nature of God, or just the study of God. The

Secular Humanists theology is Atheism. They do not believe there is a God or (as

previously stated) anything supernatural. There are three main written documents that

express the main beliefs of Secular Humanism. These are: 1The Philosophy of

Humanism, which insists that Humanism, “rejecting supernaturalism” and “seeking

man’s fulfillment in the here and now of this world,” has a long and honored tradition of

1 The Philosophy of Humanism- written by Corliss Lamont, pg. 145

atheism that began with Democritus in ancient Greece, and continued through history to

John Dewey in the twentieth century. The Humanist Manifesto I 2 described the

universe as “self-existing and not created,” later in the Manifesto it stated, “Time has

passed for theism…” Thus bringing us to our third document, The Humanist Manifesto

II 3, which states “We find insufficient evidence for belief in the existence of a

supernatural; it is either meaningless or irrelevant to the question of survival and

fulfillment of the human race.” Marxist theology is much like a Secularists theology, in

that they both have atheistic views, but the written documents are different from those in

Secular Humanism.

The next discipline I will be talking about is philosophy. The Secular Humanists

are naturalistic, while Marxists have a dialectical materialism philosophy. Secular

Humanists are slow to accept a certain philosophy because defining the Humanist

position would imply that absolute truth exists. Because absolute truth cannot be a part

of their worldview, they have accepted other positions such as: materialism, naturalism,

organicism, and other views presented by science. In dialectal materialism there are a

few parts that make up the philosophy of each world view, these are cosmology/

metaphysics which is the study of the universe, epistemology which refers to the theory

of one’s knowledge. The Secular Humanist believes that the physical universe was

brought to existence by accident and nothing exists beyond the physical realm

(cosmology). The Marxists also believe that the universe cam to existence through

accidental processes, like Secular Humanists. As for epistemology being the study of

knowledge and how it is obtained, both Humanists and Marxists believe that knowledge 2 Humanist Manifesto I – Written by John Dewey, Roy wood Sellars, John H. Randall, Jr., E. A. Burtt, and Edwin H. Wilson. Pg. 83 Humanist Manifesto II – Written by the Humanist group. Pg. 16

can only be found through science. And that anything can be known about the physical

universe.

The third discipline is ethics, which is the study of what you think is right and

wrong. A Humanist has a problem with their code of ethics because of their atheistic

theology. This is because with being atheist they have no moral code of ethics that they

should follow, like we as Christians have through the life and laws given to us by

God/Jesus. The Humanist ethics are based on ethical relativism. The Secular

Humanists have rejected the whole idea behind the existence of a code of ethics. So

the way they decide the difference between right and wrong depends on how the

individual interprets the right and wrong in every situation. The Marxists point to

proletariat morality, which is the domination of the proletariat class. Also they believe

that anything that is done for the benefit of the communist party is considered right.

The fourth discipline is Biology, which is how everything works and is created.

The Humanists view in biology is Darwinian evolution. The theory of evolution is

extremely important to the Humanists, because it is the only alternative explanation of

how the world was made without pointing to a supreme being involved in the creation of

all things. According to the Humanist Manifest I, “Humanism believes that man is a part

of nature and that he has emerged as the result of a continuous process.” While the

Marxist view is somewhat similar to the Secular humanists view by the means of how

the universe was created, through evolution, and the assumption that “science” can

prove this theory. But there are a few differences in the things they view as true. The

Humanist says that only the fittest will survive, and to the humanist combining mutations

with the theory of natural selection provides an answer for adaption. Marxism does not

openly accept these views into their view of evolution.

The fifth discipline is psychology, which is the study of the human mind and

behavior. The Humanist psychology is based on self-actualization. With the denial of

the supernatural, humanism doesn’t leave very much of the “science” of psychology to

study. So the Humanists base their study of psychology on physical things, such as;

the brain, environmental stimuli, and tangible human responses to that stimuli. Secular

Humanists self – actualization point in psychology is the realization that each individual

deep inside is good, but the society around them and the way they are brought up is at

fault for the bad things that they do. Both Marxists and Humanists embrace the

approach of behaviorism. Behaviorism by definition is the approach to psychology

focusing on behavior, denying any independent significance for mind and assuming that

behavior is determined by the environment.

The sixth discipline is sociology, which is the study of society. The Humanist

takes the stance of non-traditional family sociology. In the same way as in psychology,

the Humanist sociologists have to work to redefine science in a way that fits their

approach and still keeps religious approach on any aspect of life out of their worldview.

Secular Humanists believe in social activism partly because it gives more significance to

their discipline. The institution of the church is reached by the separation of church and

state. The Marxist view is the abolition of home, church and state. Marxist sociologists

say that their approach to sociology is the most scientific out of all of the other

approaches. Marxists believe that not only man is evolving through biology but also that

society is evolving through sociology. “The sociology of a Marxist is the view that all

social institutions as decided by the economic system on which society is based.”4 The

Marxists also believe that the next evolutionary level will be a world socialist

(communist) system. Which in time will remove religion completely, and they will

establish a proletarian system of public education.

The seventh discipline is Law. According to David Noebel, no Humanist leaders

have ever written a book specifically addressing the Humanist attitude toward law. But

this does not mean that they do not have some sort of legal assumptions. The

Humanists standpoint of law is Positive Law. This view is somewhat the same as the

view of sociology, where any evil displayed in man is because of the less-than-perfect

environment around the man. The way to change each individual is to change the

society each are in. Also the Humanist believes that being based on that God does not

exist (atheism) and that man is an evolving animal. So the question is: do rights

evolve? The Humanists make some daring assumptions “human rights.” Marxists have

the same view on law as does Secular Humanism in the areas that God does not exist

and that man (evolving animal) and social institutions are evolving, which makes them

both rely on some sort of the same legal positivism. But in the Marxist view each citizen

is held hostage by the arbitrary law of the state.

The eighth discipline is politics. According to Understanding the Times (page

270), “Virtually every Secular Humanist embraces that democracy as the most

acceptable form of government.” But for the humanist, democracy goes far beyond just

politics, and that it should be a guideline for every part of a man’s life. Corliss Lamont

4 Pg. 217 of Understanding the times, by David A. Noebel

states (in his Philosophy of Humanism pg. 262), “Humanist principles demand the

widest possible extension of democracy to most aspects of human living.” And later he

also says, “That the process of democratization entails a process of equalization.”

Humanists believe that through globalism, a peaceful world government will happen

because of man’s evolving to a higher state and will be able to control his own

evolution. Marxism believes in a new world order, which is where everyone will be

economically equal. To a Marxist democracy is a necessary evil; because of the

government that it imposes on the people (Marxists want proletariat morality.) They do

want a type of “democracy” known as the “dictatorship of the proletariat”. This

eventually evolves into communism.

The ninth discipline is economics. Both Humanism and Marxism believe in

Socialism5 as their “perfect” economic view. At different times there were controversial

opinions between humanists, some supported socialism, while others attacked it (with

rightful evidence from the past experiences of failure.6)

And finally the tenth discipline, which is History. History is the collection of past

events. The Secular Humanist believes in Historical Evolution, and the Marxists believe

in Historical materialism. When a Humanist looks back at history they see man’s

progress towards paradise. The Humanist is always insisting that they have a realistic

sight of humans history, and yet time and time again they make statements that

abandon their absolute faith in evolving humanity. The Marxist believes in historical

materialism. And they claim that their history is strictly based on the scientific view of

5 Definition: Any of various economic and political philosophies that support social equality, collective decision-making, distribution of income based on contribution and public ownership of productive capital and natural resources, as advocated by socialists.6 Pg. 303 Understanding the Times.

the world. They say, “Neither God, nor angels, nor Men’s souls act as the actual basis

for the workings of history; rather, matter obeying specific laws drives the progress of

the world.”7 So both Humanists and Marxists view history from an evolutionary point of

view, thus meaning that humanities history will always progress.

The most important aspect of both Secular Humanism and Marxism/Leninism is

their (atheistic) belief that there is no God. In Christianity our whole religion is based on

having an Almighty God at the center of our lives. And not only is God almighty, He is

also the divine Creator of the whole universe. One of the coolest parts about this is the

fact that He is so holy and perfect, and yet He still desires to have a relationship with

humanity (who have been corrupted with sin.)

Through all of this research I have learned a lot about how much two different

world views will have the same views in some areas, but in other areas they are

completely opposite. Another thing I have seen is, how much two secular worldviews

will change their view on something, just enough to keep the existence of the

supernatural out of their worldview. I have also learned how almost everybody in

society is introduced to some various forms of either Secular Humanism or Marxism.

For example, China is under Marxist rulers. They have been that way for quite a while

now, where they will call themselves an economic democracy (which is not possible,

because democracy is not associated with economics, but with the citizen role in

government.) So in more clear terms, I have learned some of the major differences and

similarities between Secular Humanism, and Marxism/Leninism.

Bibliography

7 Pg. 344 Understanding the Times.

"American Humanist Association." American Humanist Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Dec. 2012.American Humanist Association. Humanism and Its Aspirations. 2003. MS. N.p.Bragg, Raymond. "Humanist Manifesto I." 1933. MS. N.p.Kurtz, Paul, and Edwin Wilson. Humanist Manifesto II. 1973. MS. N.p.Lamont, Corliss. The Philosophy of Humanism. 8th ed. Washington D.C.: Humanist, 1997. Print.Noebel, David A. Understanding the Times. Abridged ed. Colorado Springs: ACSI, 1995. Print.