BERRY, HAROLD J WHAT THEY BELIEVE SECULAR HUMANISM. 1990 Back To The Bible Guides.
One of a series of pamphlets aimed at discouraging
Christians from flirting with religious cults and isms. The problem, as is
clear even from the title of this work is that Berry clearly regards anything
other than his personal beliefs as cultic and just plain wrong. Secular
Humanism is used to cover all aspects of atheism, agnosticism and disbelief. To
Berry it is the increasing Secularism of society that has led to an increase in
abortions (Yes, he is from that kind of Right Wing mentality that denies women
the right to choose). As he notes himself, there are many kinds of Humanism,
and yet he continues to write of the philosophy as if it is an organized single
teaching. He rightly sees the US Humanist tradition arising from The Unitarian
ministries. Unitarians largely discredited the Catholic doctrine of the Holy
Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Ghost as one). To reject the idea of God he was
for many, the next logical step. Berrys biggest problem with Humanists is that
they reject the Bible as having any authority in their lives. His solution to
this is to bombard the readers with Biblical quotations. This will clearly
appeal to Christians who share his beliefs, but it is unlikely to convert
atheists to the faith. In effect, Berry resorts to the old chestnut argument
that not believing in God leaves no basis for moral goodness in anyone. The
fact that Humanists have moral standards, and that it is possible to establish
moral, ethical codes of behaviour, which do not rest on a shaky religious
foundation, is well known. The Utilitarian principle of the greatest happiness
for the greatest number, though not without flaws, has its roots in democratic
politics not in scripture. Humanists can be good, decent loving people
without having to believe in God. To Berry such a stance is unacceptable, Harold J Berry died in February
2006.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DEEDD123EF931A25751C0A9609C8B63
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