Humanism is distinguished from either a wide category of humanism in that the lay humanist prefers loose inquiry above dogmatical wisdom—upholding the scientific method for inquiry, while rejecting revealed knowledge and theistic morality, though not necessarily faith. Humanism has appeal to atheists, agnostics, freethinkers, rationalists, skeptics, and materialists, when well as to occasionally Buddhists and Confucians.

Its basic dogma can be simplified when:

Man keep close at h& value and may solve mortal problems; Science, free speech, rational thought, democracy, and freedom in the arts last together; There exists nothing supernatural.

Secular humanism today
Lay human-centered organizations come obtained all told area of the globe: India, China, Australia, Europe, North America, etc.

A big human-centred organisation in the globe (relative to people) is Norway's Human-Etisk Forbund [http://www.human.no/templates/Page____2067.aspx], which had over 69,000 members out of a population of around 4.6 million in 2004 [http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/07/02/10/trosamf_en/tab-2004-10-21-01-en.html], though this is partly attributable to a unique set of Church-State relations.

Witharound certain areas of the globe, humanism finds itself in conflict by using religious fundamentalism, especially over a issue of the separation of church and state. Laic humanists tend to watch religious fundamentalists when superstitious, regressive & close minded. Fundamentalists view humanism as a threat to the values it say come placed call at the Bible and the Qur'an.

Modern and historical references

A term secularism was created around 1846 by George Jacob Holyoake in order to describe "a form of opinion which concerns itself only with questions, the issues of which can be tested by the experience of this life."

A earliest utilize of the sentence "secular humanism" was in the Supreme Court case Torcaso v. Watkins. In the 1961 decision, Justice Hugo Black commented in a footnote, "Among religions in this country which do not teach what would generally be considered a belief in the existence of God are Buddhism, Taoism, Ethical Culture, Secular Humanism, and others." Such footnotes, known as obiter dicta, are simply the personal observations of the judge, and hence are only incidental to reaching the opinion. It was late clarified per court that the term doesn't refer to a religion.

A term was seized upon by religious fundamentalists, often to cast humanists when anti-religious.

Per 1970s the term wwhen embraced by humanists who, although critical of religion inside its various pretext, were deliberately non-religious, as opposed to anti-religious, which means that it has nothing to wash by using spiritual, religious, or even even ecclesiastic philosophy, beliefs, or power structures. This understanding of humanism is the usual now.

Historical, & even infrequent academic usage of humanism, is related the writings of pre-Socratic philosophers. These writings were misused to obscurity until Renaissance scholars rediscovered & translated the two into modern language. So the term humanist might mean a humanities scholar (world health organization can be hostile to Secular Humanism & The Enlightenment), Renaissance intellectuals, and people world health organization use at times agreement by using a pre-Socratics.

Notable secular humanists
Occasionally notable laic humanists are Steve Allen Isaac Asimov Richard Dawkins Sanal Edamaruku E. M. Forster, see in particular What I believe Julian Huxley Paul Kurtz Corliss Lamont [http://www.corliss-lamont.org/] Taslima Nasrin Gene Roddenberry Bertrand Russell Carl Sagan Charles Schulz Michael Shermer Kurt Vonnegut Ibn Warraq E. O. Wilson

Secular humanism manifestos
There are at present x Humanist Manifestos & Declarations: [http://www.americanhumanist.org/about/manifesto1.html Humanist Manifesto I] (1933) [http://www.americanhumanist.org/about/manifesto2.html Humanist Manifesto II] (1973) [http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=main&page=declaration A Secular Humanist Declaration] (1980) [http://www.iheu.org/modules/wfsection/article.php?page=1&articleid=281#globalethics A Declaration of Interdependence] (1988) [http://www.iheu.org/modules/wfsection/article.php?page=1&articleid=6 IHEU Minimum Statement on Humanism] (1996) [http://MHEC.humanists.net/HUMNISM.HTM HUMANISM: Why, What, and What For, In 882 Words] (1996) [http://www.secularhumanism.org/manifesto/index.htm Humanist Manifesto 2000: A Call for a New Planetary Humanism] (2000) condensed version [http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=main&page=affirmations The Affirmations of Humanism: A Statement of Principles] [http://humaniststudies.org/humphil.html Amsterdam Declaration] (July 2002) [http://www.americanhumanist.org/3/HumandItsAspirations.htm Humanist Manifesto III (Humanism And Its Aspirations)] (2003)