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Religious Humanism:
A modern American movement composed chiefly of nontheistic humanists and humanist churches and dedicated to achieving the ethical goals of religion without beliefs and rites resting upon supernaturalism.
Merriam Webster's Third International Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, 1961
COMMENT by David E Schafer <deschafer@comcast.net>:
This minimal definition places insufficient emphasis on some additional characteristics of such religious institutions as churches, intended to serve human needs other than the purely rational and intellectual, including intergenerational programs and activities such as
(1) schools to teach both young people and adults about the history and psychology of the world's religious and nonreligious beliefs;
(2) individual and group participation in and appreciation of music, architecture, painting and sculpture, literature, dance, and other forms of esthetic expression and communication of the emotional content of common life and death experiences;
(3) the accepted use of terminologies appropriate to such esthetic and emotional expression (e.g., "love," "sorrow"); and
(4) skills of solitary and social adjustment to challenge, conflict resolution, and satisfaction in life. Moreover, it is ambiguous about "rites," being silent about possible value in "nonsupernatural rites."
Such community and private activities have been typically associated with traditional "religious" organizations more than with "secular humanist" ones, although recent years have seen secular proposals for similar directions in the name of "friendship clubs," etc.
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