Plummer 1

Philip Plummer

Mr. Pichette

Philosophy

December 3, 2018

Section One-Faulty Basis of Humanism

1. “Religious” Humanist believe the universe “In the beginning God created the heavens

is self-existing and not created (HM1 and the earth… God saw all that he had

affirm 1) made and said it was Good.”(Genesis

1:1,31) The universe was created by God as

stated in Genesis which goes against

Humanists beliefs.

2. There is no redemption or consequences for The Bible states that after the original sin

the actions we do on earth, only other man is born with a sinned nature. Only

humans can enforce judgement. “humans through the gift of God’s forgiveness we

are responsible for what we are or will can be saved and blessed with eternal life.

become. No deity will save us; we must In order to gain this forgiveness we must

save ourselves.”(HM2 affirm 1) demonstrate in our life our want for

redemption. “For God so loved the world

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that he gave his one and only Son, that

whoever believes in him shall not perish

but have eternal life. ​ ​For God did not send

his Son into the world to condemn the

world, but to save the world through him.

(John 3:16-17)

3. “man is a part of nature and has emerged Christians believe that God created everyone

from the result of a continuous process” with the capability to love one another and is

(HM1 affirm 2) Since there is no god humans incapable of existing without him.

must have evolved from millions of years of

slow development. Evolution contrasts

creationism entirely and still is a lackluster

subject.

4. Morals come from oneself not from a In the Bible, God gives the guidelines of

higher power. They state humans should maintaining the mind and body, the

have the“rights to premarital sex, birth sacredness of life before birth and after, and

control, abortion, and divorce.” (HM2 the importance of purity before marriage.

affirm 6).

5. “ man is a part of nature and that he has God says that we are created in his image.

emerged as the result of a continuous Christians believe that God created man

process”(HM1 affirm 2) and nature separately not one in the same.

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“​So God created mankind in his own 

image, in the image of God he created 

them; male and female he created them.” 

(Genesis 1:27)

6. Death is all there is and there's no point of  Christians strive to live holy and faithful 

stressing over the consequences of the  lives in order to return to our creator. “And 

afterlife. “Promises of immortal salvation  the dust returns to the earth as it was, and 

or fear of eternal damnation are both  the spirit returns to the God who gave it” 

delusional and harmful.” (HM2 affirm 2) (Ecclesiastes 12:7) Christians believe in a 

life after and an eternity with a loving God. 

7. Religious Humanists “...maintains that all  With Christian institutions, their goal is to 

associations and institutions exist for the  come together as a congregation to bring 

fulfillment of human life.”(HM1 affirm  glory to God. “For from him and through 

13) This basically means that their  him and for him are all things. To him be 

establishments main goals is the focus on  the glory forever and ever! Amen”(Romans 

human life and nothing else. 11:36) Paul talks about the importance of 

bringing glory to God since his glory 

surrounds humans everyday. 

8. Life is all there is so they believe the need  Christians believe in a purpose in life and a 

to live it up to the fullest cause of the  life after death. Christians don't focus on 
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constant fear of death “...nature as  the physical satisfaction in life and strive 

self-existing. We accept our life as all and  for a moral existence. 

enough...”(HM3 para 5)

9. Humanists believe that life is fully  As Christians, they believe God is a 

sustainable without God. “Humanism can  necessity for the fullness of life since of his 

provide the purpose and inspiration that so  ultimate importance in theirs.  

many seek; it can give personal meaning 

and significance to human life” (HM2 para 

6) 

10. Religious Humanists believe “religion  “Blessed are those who are persecuted for

must work increasingly for joy in  righteousness' sake, for theirs is the

living...add to the satisfactions of life”  kingdom of heaven” Matthew 5:10. 

(HM1 affirm 12) Christians believe the journey of being a 

Christian will not come easy and will face 

hardships. Also being apart of a religion is 

to praise a higher power rather than just 

focusing on human achievement.This is 

why Buddhism is often debated not to be a 

religion, but just a way of life.

 
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Section Two-Fallacies and Flaws

1. Appeal to Numbers (HM1, preface) “The importance of the document is that more that more

than thirty men have come to general agreement” It is using a both an inaccurate number

representation and using that as a universal acceptance because of it.

2. Fallacy of Repetition (HM1 affirm 15) “affirm life rather than deny it;(b) seek to elicit the

possibilities of life, not flee from it”. This merely restates affirmations stated already to prove

nothing, but acts like it brings the whole argument all together.

3. Generalization (HM2 para 4) “Faced with apocalyptic prophecies and doomsday scenarios,

many flee in despair from reason and embrace irrational cults and theologies of withdrawal

and retreat.” This statement generalizes that fear is used to terrify all and causes people to join

religions and cult for comfort.

4. Ad-Lapidem “Some forms of political doctrine, for instance, function religiously, reflecting

the worst features of orthodoxy and authoritarianism, especially when they sacrifice

individuals of Utopian promises” more statements of hypocrisy. The Manifesto attacks other

religions for making promises while at the same time making empty promises of their own; off

individualism bliss.
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5. Appeal to Silence (HM2 affirm 2) “There is no credible evidence that life survives the death of

the body.” Despite there being evidence lack of evidence for life after death, the same could be

said about nothing after death. This appears to be a common theme through these fallacies

with arguing for lack of proof while not supporting their own.

6. -7. Appeal to Tradition/Generalization “The individual born into a particular culture is a

largely molded by that culture” (HM1 para 7) This generalizes and assumes that everyone is

born into a culture and a religion. Its generalized in its assumption on tradition because people

can grow up with barely any influences and forge their own spiritual journey when their older.

8. Appeal to the Future “ Humanism can provide the purpose and inspiration that so many seek;

it can give personal meaning and significance to human life” (HM2, para 6) Humanism

appeals to the promise of a result that will happen and that hasn't been proven that provides

false hope.

9. Non-sequitur (HM2 Para 7)“Many kinds of humanism exist in the contemporary world. The

varieties and emphases of naturalistic humanism include ‘scientific, ‘ethical’, ‘democratic,

‘religious’, and ‘Marxist’ humanism”. While achieving a common goal in a small group is

possible, striving for multiple goals across humanity is impossible. Thus showing the

inconsistency in the Humanist common goal.

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10. Appeal to Future (HM2 affirm 1)“Nature may indeed be broader and deeper than we

now know; any new discoveries...will but enlarge our knowledge of the natural.” This talks

about a lack of presentable evidence but the future will provide evidence eventually in nature.
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Section 3- The Hard Questions

1. Why should humans live their lives to their fullest if there is no point to life itself? Life needs

a purpose or else it has no worth. There's no point of wasting time with an education or a job

or concerning about the future generations. (HM2, affirm 1)

2. How can there be no rules if you can’t harm others? That is just an oppression of someone's

sexual behavior looking from Humanist perspectives. (HM2, affirm 6)

3. How does Humanism conquer over all other religions? It has barely maintained the test of

time unlike most major world religions, how will it stand with weak basis?

4. Why should humans unify or have a comprehension of moral order? If we have survival

instincts, we should only be focused on the preservation of our own lives rather than others.

With this survival to the fittest mentality, the poor and mentally handicapped don't deserve to

live versus a fully capable person.

5. How are humans supposed to rely on humanism and its beliefs? Everyone in the world has

their own worldviews and sense of moralities. Bringing together all humans would be great,

but impossible by forcing people to accepts a new truth without solid evidence.(HM2, affirm

10)
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Counter Arguments

1. Humanism foundational beliefs is evolution and how Christians should leave their faiths from

evidence provided from it. Humanists believe that Christianity is irrational even though they

believe something came from nothing. Also their evidence of evolution hasn’t been proven

whatsoever, it still hasn't been proven why human had a drastic development.

2. An overarching theme throughout the three Manifestos is the belief that humans must be

unified in everything. This contradicts the statements they provide through their own argument

of individualism. Humanists can’t believe in unity when they state life in purposeless and

humans should live it how they please. With the culture today it is nearly impossible to find a

group of people who are in absolute agreement on everything. (HM2. Para 7) Even argues that

there are different types of of emphasises and the importance of free thought. While unity

looks great on paper, the execution would be impossible. Even Christianity has different sects

like Catholicism, Postestants, and Eastern Orthodox. They not might perfectly believe in all

the same principles, but towards the core Christians believe in God and Jesus as the savior.

3. Without proof of how they expect to achieve it, Humanism asserts that it can truly bring

meaning and significance into the lives of all people. Humanism is just depressing and leaves

life purposeless and useless. If they believe in evolution, than there is no purpose to life. As

humans, all we can amount to in our lives is just a small insignificant step toward humanities
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progress. It just so happens by chance humans have progressed this far compared to other

species.
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Conclusion- A Faith Strengthened

The three demonstrated Manifestos are the main structures for the Humanists arguments.

They state there is no higher power and no purpose to life. Humanists explains how everyone

should be their own God and live their lives by their own moral compass. Despite their claims,

humanism appears hypocritical by deconstructing religions for lack of evidential basis when not

having any of their own. The Humanist Manifestos don't even appear to be supported by

foundational evidence in the first place. They only provide details about the lack of religious

evidence, this hypocrisy is a whole other fallacy in itself. The irony also shows how they want

Christians to believe in something that requires no faith and undeniable truths while they lack

key connections from their own creation in evolution. Based on these ridiculous propositions and

a lack of a supporting argument, theses Manifestos only strengthened my faith. The only truths

come from the Bible and God himself, not a faulty self-centered mentality based on the self.

Though this, Christianity has withstood the test of time from what is found in the Bible, passed

down through tradition, and through historical/physical evidence.