How to respond to "Secular Humanism"?

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Carl:
You, and possibly he as well, are equating atheism with agnosticism, which questions the proofs for the existence of God but does not assert that God does not exist. Atheists most certainly believe there is no God. They are not confused about their conviction.
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We are at an impasse. Perhaps we’ll meet again.
 
We are at an impasse. Perhaps we’ll meet again.

If not in this world, hopefully at a better place in the next.
 
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Carl:
squirt

Atheists most certainly believe there is no God.
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Well, this is in contradiction of what the Catholic Encyclopedia says about atheism, and is in contradiction with my experiences in dealing with those who label themselves as atheists, inculding myself (at one time in the not so distant past).

Your definition captures a small subset of atheists.

Whether or not the original poster’s son is in that subset is something that he will only learn by talking with him.

The article that his son referenced might best be looked at as some sort of ‘starting point’ to get his parents to understand a bit about the way in which he looks at the world. A one-to-one conversation is probably the best way of finding out how strongly he holds to any particular ‘tenet’ (for lack of a better word) of the varied world of ‘secular humanism’ and why he finds ‘secular humanism’ more compelling than other ways of viewing the world.
 
menardsguy

You might try reading about St. Monica and St. Augustine. Augustine was very much a “worldly” person. He was honestly searching for the truth, he found it in the Catholic church and became one of the most respected church fathers. St. Monica wept and prayed for her wayward son. Prayer is the power you need.

My atheist husband converted about 8 years ago and I came back to the faith then as well. Life caused us to seek God (there were people praying for us we know now) and we came back. If I had stayed Catholic I would probably be of the cafeteria sort right now. Since I strayed and came back, I made it MY religion, not my parents, not something handed down to me etc. It took a long time, I was out of the church for 10+ years! Its difficult, at best, for most young people to submit and be obedient, especially with the popular culture the way it is now.

Trust God and pray. I will be praying for you & yours.
 
squirt

The ancient uses of the word atheist are not relevant to a modern discussion of atheism. The article you referenced in the Catholic Encyclopedia includes this sentence:

*For the common basis of all systems of theism as well as the cardinal tenet of all popular religion at the present day is indubitably a belief in the existence of a personal God, and to deny this tenet is to invite the popular reproach of atheism. *
 
menardsguy

If your son is hooked up with a secular humanist group, he will not mind if you ask him to read Voltaire’s essay on atheism. You might read it first, and then suggest your son take a look at it. Ask him what he thinks are the strongest and weakest points of Voltaire’s case against atheism. This way you have something to discuss; but Voltaire’s argument, rather than yours, becomes the sticking point for your son to overcome.

You know, of course, not to press the issue between you and him. Make sure it is Voltaire who takes the heat.

I try to imagine myself in your shoes, and this seems to me a feasible approach.
 
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Monarchy:
He questioned himself why he believes what he believes. Many atheists I know have been people who decided to strengthen their faith through study and learned a little too much.
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So you are saying that education leads to people losing faith in the church… Yay for education.
 
To all of those who posted, I give you my thanks. They gave me something to think and pray on. I remember in my youth my indecision, and then the Holy Spirit knocked me upside the head. I have to trust that the Spirit works on him also. I also need to make sure that I allow the Spirit to work in His time, not mine. I pray for all of you who visit these forums.

Mark

Tempis Fugit Momento Mori
 
We all do well to recall that faith is a gift. If we had absolute proof of our beliefs, we wouldn’t need faith.

Jesus said that no one comes to Him unless the Father call him.

We know that some will not believe, there is a hell, and many souls will end up there. The evangelicals and fundamentalists do not have territorial rights on the question “Are you saved?”

I would suggest that the young man in question be offered the chance to really study the faith with an open mind. Jesus said that the truth will set us free.

So there are three gifts: faith, hope, and love. The greatest of these is love. see 1 Cor 13
 
Prayer has helped out much: prayer from inside myself and all the prayers of everyone. Thanks
 
I noticed in your question that you may not have a full understanding of what “secular humanism” is all about. I believe a thorough understanding may help you to relate to what your son is encountering.
There are many books on the subject that may be beneficial.
I hope this is helpful.

Rich Mason
 
Good Point Bob
Secular humanism also tries to sell the Relativism bill of goods.
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moral relativism is a cheap cop out for those who don’t want to be told what is right and wrong. “Whatever I do is okay as long as I don’t hurt anyone”
 
all quotes come from this page:
secularhumanism.org/intro/affirmations.html
We are committed to the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and to the solving of human problems.
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Secular humanism claims to use science and reasoning to prove/deny everything but they use nothing to prove there’s no God. Catholics have reasons to prove the existance of God. ordinary atheists have their faith that there’s no God. but for Secular humanism this is getting rediculous. I have a look of their site and it shows no reason just “believe”
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.
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to put this simply: no consequences no moral. when one believes he can harm someone without being discovered then he’ll just do it. this is much worse than “Whatever I do is okay as long as I don’t hurt anyone”
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.
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aspirations include paraphilia. sexual preferences don’t exclude homosexual. reproductive freedom are most likely to be interpreted as the freedom of using artificial birth control and abortion in western culture. China lacks the freedom of giving birth to as many children as the couple want. the reproductive freedom can also be interpreted in a positive way. but from the article “The Catholic Doctrine and Reproductive Health” in their library I seriously doubt this.
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.
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I can’t believe pessimism, despair is directed to Christianity(perhaps other religions as well), since even going to Hell is better than non-existence. non-existence leads to despair while eternal life leads to hope. only when men are conscious of guilts and sins can they obtain real joy. serial killers have their fun when killing without realizing what they’re doing. without a good understanding of guilts and sins, one can’t have moral values as well. tolerance has nothing to do with fear. All religions have reasons for their faiths. while believing in atheism generally lacks reason.
 
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BobCatholic:
Secular humanism also tries to sell the Relativism bill of goods.

Unfortunately for them, relativism is self-refuting, using elementary logic.

Premise: Relativism says there is no absolute truth.
Premise: Relativism is an absolute truth.
Premise: Something that contradicts itself cannot be true. Truth cannot contradict itself.
Conclusion#1: Relativism contradicts itself.
Conclusion#2: Relativism cannot be true.

Done.

Now, that the existence of Truth is there, how can he find it through secular humanism which denies this truth?

He can’t.
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Thats pretty fascetious. One can easily say that Relativism isn’t an absolute truth but merely an observation or consequence of some other logical process and hence there is no contradiction.
 
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menardsguy:
I do not know if this belongs in here, but I need help. My 21 year old son has told us he no longer believes in God and has caused my wife and I some serious soul searching to find out what caused his change. He emailed me a site with the title of
“What Is Secular Humanism?”

secularhumanism.org/intro/what.html
What are some ways to combat this? What is this? Has anyone any ideas? I have read a small amount from this and it scares me. I have prayed and I am giving it up to the Holy Spirit to bring him back,:angel1: but I want to fight this with the rest of my children. Please, pray for him and if anyone has any answers, let me know.:banghead:
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Combat it? Why is your son’s viewpoint an enemy to you? I’d strongly suggest you simply let him find his own path. If he is into Secular Humanism he most likely won’t take well to an attemt to push a dogma on him and your good intentions will likely just push him further away. A much better way would just be to say to him “I don’t agree with your beliefs but I repect you and your right to do what you think is best.” That’s a lot more likely to calm any family rift and allow you two to have a good relationship and, who knows, by being open he’s more likely to repsect your life choices in return.
 
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