to read "Humanism and Its Aspirations," the third Humanist Manifesto, click below. you'll also find links to the AHA site and the UN World Food Programme's FreeRice game.
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Idealism, Cynicism, Humanism
Of course absolutes of both extremes, idealism and cynicism, are just naïveté. Idealism should be tempered by prudence, cynicism by trust. Recognizing this, though, which view of humanity would you rather promote, as good or evil? We must constantly strive to promote humanity’s inherent goodness, and also to combat the potential for evil that still lurks. An atmosphere of cynical distrust discourages acts of altruism and kindness. If we ever want the fighting to stop, we need to learn to trust each other, to help each other, to love each other. If we want humans to be good, we need to believe that they can be good. This, my friends, is Humanism.
Esoteric: I am a Humanist (and so is The Doctor).
I am a humanist. I love humans, and despite how stupid, naïve, and self-concerned we often are as a species, I have an indestructible faith that - at our core - most of us have an honest desire to see that most everyone, including those not within our species, should lead a happy life. Nobody knows that quite like The Doctor. So in the comments are some of his musings about humanity.
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“I love humans - always seeing patterns in things that aren’t there.”
“But that’s what you do, the human race: make sense out of chaos, marking it out with weddings and Christmas and calendars. This whole process [of life and the Universe] is beautiful, but only if it’s being observed.”
“You humans, and your sciences… you’ve got a lot to unlearn.”
“Revenge is a very human emotion.”
“Your ancestors have a talent for self-destruction that borders on genius.”
“The secret to human creativity is inefficiency.”
“The human race… For such an intelligent lot, you aren’t half susceptible. Give anyone a chance to take control, and you submit just like that. Sometimes I think you like it - easy life.”
“Humans! You grab whatever’s nearest and bleed it dry!”
“The future pivots around you. Here. Now. So do good. For humanity. And for Earth.”
The Doctor on Neil Armstrong: “The human race will spread out among the stars. You just watch them fly! Billions and billions of them for billions and billions of years and every single one of them, at some point in their lives, will look back at this man taking that very first step and they will never ever forget it.”
“Facing death is part of being human; you can’t change that.”
“Guns, terrible inventions. Do you dare me to shoot you, to defend myself, or to seek revenge, or to gain power? Well guess what, I never would. Have you got that? I… never… would. When you [live your life]… remember that. Make the foundation of this society a man who never would!”
“Have a go at this: I have a pet elephant named Nellie. Now let’s assume, for the sake of argument, all elephants are pink, despite their appearances. Nellie is an elephant; therefore Nellie is pink. Logical? Perfectly! You know what a human would say? ‘Elephants aren’t PINK!’ Part of the beauty of humans is their ability to be completely illogical.”
“Look at these people, these human beings. Consider their potential! From the day they arrive on the planet, blinking, step into the sun, there is more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than—no, hold on. Sorry, that’s The Lion King. But the point still stands!”
The Doctor on the nature of human accomplishment: “So when it comes right down to it. Why did you come here? Why did you that? Why? I’ll tell you why.Because it was there. Human beings. You are amazing!”
THIS POST IS WONDERFUL. Yes! The Doctor is so one of my humanist heroes!
I’m sorry but I don’t want to be an Emperor, that’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another, human beings are like that. We all want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone and the earth is rich and can provide for everyone.
The way of life can be free and beautiful. But we have lost the way.
Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate;
has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed.
We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in:
machinery that gives abundance has left us in want.
Our knowledge has made us cynical,
our cleverness hard and unkind.
We think too much and feel too little:
More than machinery we need humanity;
More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness.
Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.
The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me I say “Do not despair”.
The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress: the hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people, will return to the people and so long as men die [now] liberty will never perish…
Soldiers: don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you as cattle, as cannon fodder.
Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t hate, only the unloved hate. Only the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers: don’t fight for slavery, fight for liberty.
In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written:
- “The kingdom of God is within man”
Not one man, nor a group of men, but in all men; in you, the people.
You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy let’s use that power, let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age and security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie. They do not fulfil their promise, they never will. Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfil that promise. Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness.
Soldiers! In the name of democracy: let us all unite!
"Charlie Chaplin’s final speech from The Dictator (via depthbutnotwidth)
One of the best. Always reblog.
Sounds Like Humanism
