Everyone knows humanists are nonreligious -- so why include a course on religion and spirituality in a humanist curriculum? RSP100 will help you understand how humanists view religious claims and practices, why they are persuaded by a naturalistic worldview rather than a religious one, and how they meet their deepest and most human needs without belief in a supernatural realm.

Courses available in Area V:

Area V of the COHE examines the ways in which religion influences our lives and the reasons why humanists would want to step outside its confines to become more autonomous human beings. As human beings we are naturally inquisitive about life, we want to move forward, evolve, change, adapt, explore new horizons, and be open to the richness of new ideas. We all need some kind of forward vision. Some of us may not want to take this forward vision very far. Others want to fly to Mars.

It is no wonder, then, that beliefs in deities, in heaven and hell, and so on -- where forward visions are only for an afterlife or a next life -- scarcely match our modern aims and ways of existence. What we shall be looking at throughout Area V are all the reasons why humanists reject religious belief for a more natural, positive and optimistic view of a continuously evolving human being in this life. We shall, therefore, be thinking about the secular, humanist, criticisms of religion.

What is religion? Well, there are probably more definitions of this word than there are religions themselves. Think for a moment. How would you define religion? It's something you might want to ask your friends and acquaintances in order to assess how people generally define it.

Most might say it is a belief in some sort of divine being. But Buddhism is a religion yet rejects the belief that the Buddha is a god. This is certainly so for the conservative strand of Buddhism, Theravada, for which the Buddha may have been exceedingly wise, but it would be offensive to call him a god. Is religion, then, devotion to, and worship of, something?

Well, there are many people who are devoted fans of a particular football team, and they may even worship a hero or heroine from the world of sport, but we wouldn't say they belonged to a particular religion. In defining religion we can only do so from the particular perspective in which we stand. Here, it is a humanist one, and by definition, humanism concentrates on the human, on the environment of the human, the life of the human, the condition of the human. This suggests that it is the secular human being that concerns humanism, not any divinity projected beyond it.

So a humanist is likely to define religion as belief in supernatural ideas and phenomena that lie outside the human realm -- god, afterlife, reincarnation, heaven, hell, miracles and so on, and any combination of such supernatural aspects that combine to inform a particular religion or religious sect. This will be our working definition of the term religion throughout your Area V courses.

Humanism contends that it is the individuals that make up humanity who are responsible for shaping life, not something beyond them. Equally so it is those individuals that are responsible for shaping their own existences, and for creating a society that will allow each individual to fulfil his or her potential, at the same time maintaining a responsible attitude to the rest of society. And each person has one lifetime only in which to do this. Why humanists believe religion cannot fulfil such goals will be seen throughout your Area V courses.

So what of the other word in the Area V study area name? This is also a difficult word to define. Spirituality has normally been associated with religion in the past, suggesting what is to do with the spirit, as opposed to matter (though in fact such a differentiation has more to do with the Greek philosophy of Platonism and Neo-Platonism than biblical tradition).

However, today many people -- including some humanists -- use the term in a completely secular, non-religious sense. As we all know, there are times when we feel deeply moved within. It may be through music, through love, sex, holding a newly born baby, gazing at the stars. But we don't have to have a religion to experience these moments. Thus, spirituality is not the prerogative of those who believe in the supernatural. It is a natural part of what it is to be human.

Nevertheless, some humanists are opposed to the word, preferring to use terms that refer to the more scientific, biological and psychological tendencies of human beings. The problem here is finding a suitable word that does not become reductionist, that is to say, reducing the human being to mere chemical, genetic or biological components. At least spirituality is not a reductionist term. It is this kind of debate about the word that we shall take up in our initial exploration of the concept.

Either way, we shall explore spirituality as a very humanist facet of human existence in the modules that follow, defining secular spirituality as that which is experienced when an individual is moved to the heights or depths of his or her being in positive and meaningful ways.

There are some who claim that humanism is a religion, but this is certainly not so. Humanism has journeyed far from religious belief to categorical disbelief. Its views are alternatives to religious belief. Humanism is both atheistic and naturalistic -- the former characterizing it as devoid of belief in deities, the latter as devoid of belief in anything supernatural. Unlike religious views, then, humanistic views centre on what is secular -- this world, this life, and the functioning and interaction of humanity within it.  Back to top

The Area V Cornerstone Course: RSP100 will examine religious belief and practice in relation to humanist principles, and explore the reasons why religion is rejected by humanists. It will focus, too, on the foundations of religious belief, investigating why people have such belief, and how that belief places constraints on individual and societal life.

At the more advanced levels the Area V Cornerstone Course will discuss a wide range of concepts, including religious morality, the self, and the problem of evil and suffering. Above all, it will emphasize the importance of human autonomy and the development of the full potential for all that is good in individual and societal life. Your Area V Cornerstone Course will engage you, too, in interesting assignments. At the same time, it will illustrate the forthcoming areas in the modules to come in which you will acquire greater skills and knowledge.

The free RSP100-1 Introductory Module will examine how religion has so often limited our perspectives of the nature of the self. This module will investigate how religion can inhibit personal autonomy and the development of human potential and individuality, and why the full evolution of each individual self -- yourself -- is so essential for our common humanity. In this context, the rejection of some form of life after death -- so essential to religious belief -- will be explored as part of the humanist quest to ground individual existence in a one life only context. In this Module you will be able to try out some critical thinking assignments and other exercises that will relate to how you and your associates think about a number of issues, and how you might view such issues from a more humanist point of view.

The RSP100-2 Basic Module will develop further the seeds sown in the Introductory Module. It will begin with your own experiences in life. It will examine how religion often dominates the ways in which we celebrate the most important occasions in our lives -- birth, marriage and death. And it will look at how we can celebrate such occasions without religion, and how we can express the deeper spirituality of our humanity in doing so. Your Basic Module will also get you to think about related issues that are important in contemporary life -- abortion and euthanasia -- and why these are issues that cannot, and should not, be solved from the religious point of view.

In the RSP100-3 Comprehensive Module you will journey back to the roots of religion to examine why the scriptural texts cannot be regarded as anything more than legend and myth. You will be able to examine the claims that people make to prove that a divine being exists, and discover why they cannot be true. This is a module, then, that will also examine the humanist stance that a life without a god is a fuller, richer, and more natural response to the broad dimensions of living than religious belief. Building on the experience gained from the Basic Module you will be able to discover how and why spirituality can be lifted out of its associations with religion to become an essential part of your own individuality. Critical thinking assignments and exercises will also accompany this Module.

With sufficient student demand, higher level modules will be added to the Cornerstone Course. The RSP100-4 Advanced Module will develop many of the concepts explored in the Comprehensive Module, as well as introducing new ones. The module will begin with an examination of the debate between humanism and theology. It will examine the background of the Christian belief and the reasons why the Gospel traditions cannot be regarded as true. We shall also look at the Jesus legend in this module, and then move right up to our modern times with an examination of the charismatic phenomenon. Religious belief and faith, and their rejection by humanist calls for rationalism and reason, will then be explored. A major part of the module will be devoted to the constraints imposed by religious belief on our society, on individual and social freedom, on gender equality, and on education. It is at this level that your online debates and dialogues will take on exciting new depths and breadths.

The RSP100-5 Special Topics Module will develop your powers of critical analysis and thought considerably, at a level comparable to university modules. There will be some new terms to learn and investigate from the beginning. We shall look at the problems posed by theism (belief in a personal god, goddess, gods or goddesses), deism (belief in a creator deity who sets all in motion and then retires!), and the humanist responses of atheism and agnosticism. We shall also explore the nature of morality and see how religion has dictated so much of our conditioned moral behaviour. We shall see, too, how biblical morality left much to be desired, and how moral autonomy is one of the best potentials that each individual can humanistically develop. Theodicy (the problem of a so-called good deity and the presence of evil and suffering in the world) will be examined along with the humanist responses to it. Secular spirituality will feature considerably in this module. We shall think, too, about why people seem to need religion. Finally, we shall return to examine the nature of the self, the "soul," and the ego -- the "I-ness" of you and me. We shall emerge, finally, with a vision of the humanist autonomous self, the individual free from the restrictions of religious belief and practice.