RE: Can Christians be humanists and moralists?
September 17, 2014 at 1:31 am
(This post was last modified: September 17, 2014 at 2:08 am by genkaus.)
(September 10, 2014 at 10:52 am)Blackout Wrote: It is possible for a Christian to be a humanist and a moralist if he/she creates very specific interpretations of the bible....
Given that the question was about someone who "consistently derives the sense of morality from the bible", wouldn't creative interpretation disqualify him from consideration?
(September 10, 2014 at 11:36 am)fr0d0 Wrote: Humanism as I understand it is selfishly human centred, and would be against Christian morals. Humanism can be the pursuit of personal pleasure to the exclusion of other humans. Certainly non humans and environmental concerns, for example.
That would be hedonism.
(September 10, 2014 at 11:36 am)fr0d0 Wrote: Otherwise, secular humanism is pretty much in line and mimics Christian values.
Its the other way around - Christians creatively reinterpreted their bible so that their values would match the emerging system of humanism.
(September 10, 2014 at 11:42 am)fr0d0 Wrote: It's not what you want to call humanism Wolfie. But a humanist explained his position to me as that.
Which humanist?
(September 10, 2014 at 11:48 am)Esquilax Wrote: In answer to the OP, I rather think most christians do consider themselves to be humanist and moralist- at least within the context of the good we associate with those terms. It's just that their view of reality incorporates a number of things that we atheists don't believe exist, and those things present their own moral considerations that, as often nonsensical as they are to us, are entirely consistent within the personal interpretation of christianity that a given theist believes.
Basically, yes christians can be humanists and moralists, it's just that the way they go about being such begins with a different set of priorities that sometimes contradict what we think of as being humanist.
I'd argue that those "number of things that we atheists don't believe exist and present their own moral considerations" are what would prevent them from being humanists, should they choose to remain consistent with their belief system.
Its not just about what your moral conclusions are but why they are so as well. The idea behind humanism is to regard humans (individually and collectively) as a primary consideration and reason a moral system based on it. Those "other things" that Christians believe in should, upon consistent application, require them to put their god before human considerations and have a moral system based on having faith in his commands. That those commands can be creatively reinterpreted to more closely match humanist principles doesn't make them so.
