Cumbria Humanist Group

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Cumbria Humanist Group
Promoting a Positive Caring Outlook for the
Non-Religious

• Death Dying from the Humanist Perspective

St Johns Hospice, Lancaster. Wednesday, 9 June
2010.
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What is Humanism? Humanism is the belief that
we can live good lives without religious or
superstitious beliefs. Humanism encompasses
atheism and agnosticism but it is an active and
ethical philosophy far greater than these
negative responses to religion. Humanists make
sense of the world using reason, science,
experience and shared human values. Humanists
take responsibility for our actions and work with
others for the common good.
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What Humanists believe. Humanists believe in
individual rights and freedoms, but believe that
individual responsibility, social cooperation and
mutual respect are just as important. Humanists
believe that people can and will continue to find
solutions to the world's problems, so that
quality of life can be improved for everyone.
Humanists are positive gaining inspiration
from our lives, art and culture, and a rich
natural world. Humanists believe that we have
only one life it is our responsibility to make
it a good life, and to live it to the full.  
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NonReligious Population in the UK. Census
2001. Single question only. (although 2 in
Scotland upbringing and current). 78 / 16
religious / non-religious (Including almost
400.000 Jedi, thus giving the Star Wars cult the
status of a religion!) Guardian / ICM Poll
2006. Dedicated detailed survey. 33 / 66
religious / non-religious
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Non-Religious Viewpoints. To identify the range
of members beliefs and convictions from our
recent membership survey. (Please tick as
many as apply.) 1. I am primarily a humanist.
I have no religious belief and I see humanism as
replacing this in defining my social, moral and
ethical code. 2. I define my values by my
political and philosophical convictions and,
while I accept identity as a humanist, I do not
need this label to define my values. 3. I have
no religious belief I believe that religion is
harmful and we should fight to oppose it. 4. I
have no religious belief, but I have no objection
to those who do believe, so long as this remains
personal and plays no role in government or state
services. So I am primarily a secularist.
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Non-Religious Identities. Humanist replace
discarded faith with Humanist ID. Non-Religious
accept humanist label but dont need
it. Atheist has become identified as
aggressively anti-religion and so rejected by
some. (A-noelist, a-faerist ?
No!) Secular tolerant of faiths but separated
from government and state services. French
laicité.
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Common Values. Tolerance or Militant Atheism?
The Golden Rule Treat others as you would
want them to treat you. Human Values, common
to all (most!) faiths and none. (BBC Radio
Cumbria) Bertrand Russell, John Collins and
Bruce Kent in CND. David Jenkins, David
Shepherd, Derek Warlock, Richard Harries the
clergy who challenged Thatcherism in the
1980s. Quakers pacifism, internationalism.
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The History of Humanism. Classical Ancient
Humanism. Greek and Roman philosophers
Democritus, Epicurus, Lucretius. Rationalism,
science. Similar early movements in India (within
Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina schools?) and China
Confucius. During the Dark Ages, this was
suppressed in Europe by the increasing political
power of the Christian Church, (Roger Bacon) but
continued to progress in the Middle and Far East
in India and China and also in pre-and
post-Islamic Arabian civilisations. Science
and maths. Arabic numerals as we use now.
Algebra. Zero invented in India
revolutionised maths from the Roman numerals
system.
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Reformation, Renaissance Enlightenment (C15 to
C18) Erasmus, Luther, Calvin, Knox. Church of
England established. Capernicus, Galileo, Newton
(Royal Society) Harvey, David Hume (Scottish
Enlightenment) and Benjamin Franklin (US founding
father and scientist). (Renaissance of
Rationalism, but religion still has a major
role.) Some were threatened with prosecution
for atheism so called themselves deists. Deism
accepted a divine creator but rejected any
subsequent providential role for the god. 17th
Century. Some Protestants and Puritans associated
with left wing politics Levellers and Diggers
during the Commonwealth Gerrard Winstanley.
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Modern Secular Humanism. 19th Century
Freethinkers. Charles Bradlaugh first
atheist MP, founder of NSS in 1858. Refused to
take the oath and wasnt allowed to affirm so
could not take his seat in Parliament for several
years George Holyoake coined the word
secularism in 1846 and founded the London
Secular Society. Various ethical and secular
societies were founded during the late C19.
Rationalist Press Association. The Freethinker
magazine. Rationalist Association. New Humanist
Magazine. Union of Ethical Societies founded in
1896 and became BHA in 1967. (Harold Blackham)
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Modern Humanism. Science, Philosophy Culture
generally. . . C19. Charles Darwin, Alfred
Russel Wallace, Thomas Huxley, Mark Twain, Oscar
Wilde (and many more . . . ) C20. George
Bernard Shaw, Jacob Bronowski, Bertrand Russell,
George Orwell, John-Paul Sartre, Jonathan Miller,
David Attenborough, Richard Dawkins, Steve Jones,
Colin Blakemore, Polly Toynbee, Raymond Tallis,
Steven Rose, Stephen Pinker, A C Grayling, Lewis
Wolpert, Laurie Taylor, Julian Baggini, Lisa
Jardine, Dave Allen, Linda Smith, Douglas Adams,
Terry Pratchett, Ben Goldacre, Lucy Mangan, Simon
Singh, Evan Harris, Bob Marshall-Andrews . . .
(Historic role of humour and satire in
challenging religion.)
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Historic Roles of Religion? To explain the
unknown. Divine creator before any alternative
scientific explanation. To define societys
moral standards. Thou shalt / Thou shalt not.
Promise and Threat. (Compare with Golden Rule
human values shared by all faiths and none
learnt from experience and observation.) To
establish rituals around life events.
Development of culture music, stories,
pictures. Fables and parables to enforce
creation myths, social mores as above.
Political control. Pre-Enlightenment
Christian Church Political Power. Colonial
activity and proselytizing social provision
conditional upon conversion. Arnold Toynbee in
A Study of History (1934-54) The first role
of any society is to establish its own
religion.
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Evolutionary Role of Culture? As we moved from
hunter-gathering to settled farming,
socialisation probably led to art, music,
dancing, language and story-telling. (Or vice
versa?) Asking questions would lead to creation
myths and embryonic religions. Such activities
would sustain and advance society, although they
would also lead to differences and tribalism.
(Plus ça change . . . !) Such cultural advances
would lead to philosophy and early scientific
theories.
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Social Evolution. An ethical / moral society is
more likely to be a stable society. We learn the
most successful behaviour by reasoning from
experience and observation. Richard Dawkins (The
Selfish Gene 1976) memes units of cultural
transmission, cf. genes units of physical
inheritance. (Dubious Social Darwinism in
1980s girls pink and boys blue! In early C20
this was also used to support eugenic prejudices
survival of the fittest re-interpreted!)
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Spirituality. People of faith often find it hard
to understand how non-religious people can
experience spirituality. Animus Latin for
spirit (hence animation) but also mind,
soul, reason, consciousness, thought,
imagination, feelings, intellect.
Emotional response to a beloved person, music,
poetry, art, landscape etc. No incompatibility
with lack of supernatural beliefs. It may
(must?) have a neurological origin but that does
not diminish its significance. Human emotion.
Doesnt require an immortal soul or any
supernatural component.
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Changing Attitudes to Death. Historically, with
infectious diseases and other causes, death was a
common experience for all. With improved
sanitation and health care over the last century,
most people die in hospital and death has been
professionalised. Recent attitudes are
changing. Death is increasingly perceived as the
final act of Life, to be shared with loved ones.
The Hospice movement with its palliative care
provides support for this attitude.
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Rituals of Dying and Death. Humanism does not
formalise rituals. Rituals can provide comfort
for the dying person and the bereaved? Need to
take care that they do not prevail over these
emotions. Can also protect the dignity of the
dying person historic role? Humanist Funeral /
Commemoration is personal and celebrates the
Life.
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Humanist Funerals and Memorials To Celebrate a
Life. A humanist funeral is increasingly common
for those who neither lived according to
religious practices, nor accepted religious views
of life or death.  A humanist funeral or
memorial ceremony recognises no after-life, but
instead celebrates the LIFE of the person who has
died. Often the dying person will be involved
in planning their own memorial.
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BBC Radio 3 A Good Death. (The Essay,
broadcast April 2009) Series in which writers
and thinkers ponder the art of dying and confront
taboos around death.
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Episode 1. Mary Beard, professor of classics at
Cambridge University, explains how the Romans and
Greeks approached death and asks whether scenes
of showmanship, famous last words and stoical
endings really can help us when we come to face
our own inevitable demise.
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Episode 2. Writer Beryl Bainbridge looks back at
how the notion of death has overshadowed her own
life, from her wartime childhood to a brush with
death as an adult, and reveals her hopes and
expectations for her own demise.
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Episode 3. Baroness Mary Warnock looks at what
we can Learn from the Romantic poets when it
comes to dying well and warns that our obsession
with living almost at all costs can have
disastrous consequences.
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Episode 4. Rabbi Julia Neuberger, reflecting on
her own work with the dying, looks as how those
of different faiths, or no faith at all,
approach death and asks why we should all be
planning for the kind of death we want.
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Episode 5. Thomas Lynch, celebrated poet and
working undertaker, looks at the art of dying
through his own writing, reflecting on why death
has remained such a constant theme in his work,
and on why he sees little reason to fear death
itself.