How do Humanists fit into a political or social environment?
Presenter: Jim Skinner
February, 2011
Most Christians are supposed to subscribe to Jesus’ doctrine of ‘Blessed are the poor’ and ‘It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven’, when, in fact, they (and adherents of most religions) are wedded to the idea of wealth and the undesirability of have-not, welfare seekers in society. Are we any different?
[And if not, so what? Should we abandon our human values because they are also hypocritically espoused by some major religions? The fact that most religious leaders don’t live up to these values are the REASON that many people leave the Church!]
- Why should those who have worked hard [in fact, most great wealth – which is admittedly often not the source of tax dollars – derives through inheritance, investment, commodity speculation, and extralegal activities] to amass a nest egg feel responsible for the shiftless and lazy?
[This question is as offensive as asking whether mixed-race persons are fully human or have “souls,” whether homosexuality should be criminalized (both those topics are still hotly debated in Alabama), or whether women should be allowed to vote or work outside the home.
Funny how “shiftlessness and laziness” skyrocketed as jobs moved overseas! Is your club only open to people who are not receiving pensions or government assistance? Do people experiencing illness, old age, unemployment or disability suddenly become “shiftless and lazy”? If this is your position, why not say so in the charter? If it is not, why give it a platform as a “humanist” point of view?] - Most governments that are voted into power are wedded to the idea of a for-profit type of economy.
[But usually not by a majority of eligible voters – many people refuse to vote because none of the mainstream parties reflect their values.] - Attempts to form Marxist-type societies invariably lead to dictatorship [In fact, such governments are often democratically elected, as in Nicaragua, but relentlessly harassed] (USSR, China, North Korea) and/or succumb to capitalism.
[Yes, after a few decades of trade or mercenary soldiers burning schools and hospitals, shooting farmers in the fields, etc., they often decide they’d rather be Capitalist than dead! Even in Poland, where the Communists were bitterly hated for decades, after a few years of Capitalism the Poles soon voted them back into office!]
However, you could make amends and become “Fair & Balanced” by inviting a presentation by Cindy L’Hirondelle, who manages the Guaranteed Livable Income website: http://www.livableincome.org, which asks:
“Is the work ethic destroying our health and the environment?” Geneva Hagen