UUFSMA: “Exploring Modern Humanism”

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Sunday Service

“Exploring Modern Humanism”
Speaker: Lee Knox

Sunday, May 1, 2022
10:30 am

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/414604040 

Password: 294513

By Joseph Plummer

UUFSMA Board Secretary

What is Humanism? Is there a difference between Religious Humanism and Secular Humanism? How do Humanist beliefs integrate with Unitarian Universalist beliefs? During this UUFSMA Sunday Service, UU Fellowship member Lee Knox will endeavor to answer these questions and will provide historical background on the Humanist movement in the United States.

“I have been a Humanist, by belief, if not by name, most of my life,” Knox says. “I rely on reason and compassion, rather than supernatural constructs, to guide me in my quest to become a better person.”

Humanism has been described as a democratic and ethical stance toward life. It affirms that human beings have the right and responsibility to create meaningful lives of their own. It encourages building a more humane society through reason and free inquiry. It is not theistic, and it does not accept supernatural views of reality.

The philosophers, college professors, scientists, and Unitarian ministers who signed the first Humanist Manifesto in 1933 expressed this perspective in its preamble: “Today, man’s larger understanding of the universe, his scientific achievements, and deeper appreciation of brotherhood have created a situation which requires a new statement of the means and purposes of religion.”

The manifesto has been updated twice, most recently in 2003, when it was signed by the American biologist E.O. Wilson, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, novelist Kurt Vonnegut Jr., and Kendyl Gibbons, President of the Unitarian Universalist Ministers Association.

Lee Knox is a retired writer and artist who now calls San Miguel de Allende her full-time home. She is a former Board member of the Heart of America Humanists, a group of Kansas City based members of the American Humanist Association. For several years she co-hosted a weekly Humanist radio show called “The Voice of Reason” on Kansas City Community Radio.

To participate in our online Sunday Service, visit www.uufsma.org and click on the Zoom Service button on the home page. If requested, enter password: 294513. Sign-in from anywhere Sunday mornings between 10:15-10:25 am CST.

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In addition to continuing live Zoom services, UUFSMA has returned to limited in-person Sunday services. Reservations are no longer necessary. Space permitting, guests who show their vaccination card can join the in-person service (and be approved for future attendance). Our Fellowship welcomes people of all ages, races, religions, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Enjoy previous services at https://www.youtube.com/. Enter UUFSMA in the search box.