Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

Humanist History Resources?

0 views
Skip to first unread message

arache

unread,
Jan 31, 2003, 2:48:01 PM1/31/03
to
Can anyone point me to sites where I might get a brief lesson on Humanist
struggles, particularly in times of war or persecution? Stories about
individuals and small groups rather than any organising body.
cheers,


Mark....@bristol.ac.uk

unread,
Jan 31, 2003, 7:15:52 PM1/31/03
to
arache <arac...@zoom.co.uk> wrote:
: Can anyone point me to sites where I might get a brief lesson on Humanist

: struggles, particularly in times of war or persecution? Stories about
: individuals and small groups rather than any organising body.

Do you mean you want to find cases where Humanists were persecuted
specifically, or examples of, say, how Humanists reacted to Nazi
occupation in general? I think Humanists havent come in for the same
magnitude of persecution that has been reserved for minority religions
over the ages.

I must admit, off the top of my head, I think it is only recently that
religions have decided that Humanism poses a greater threat than other
religions do. In the post-war West, the major religions have stopped
trying to destroy each other, and have turned their guns on deliberated
unbelief. This is probably a good thing for Humanism, since it is indeed
the logial alternative to *all* religions, and so should be able to (and
needs to be able to) hold its own even in the face of the growing
onslaught.
Mark
--

arache

unread,
Jan 31, 2003, 8:07:02 PM1/31/03
to
<Mark....@bristol.ac.uk> wrote in message news:H9Lsq...@bath.ac.uk...

> arache <arac...@zoom.co.uk> wrote:
> : Can anyone point me to sites where I might get a brief lesson on
Humanist
> : struggles, particularly in times of war or persecution? Stories about
> : individuals and small groups rather than any organising body.
>
> Do you mean you want to find cases where Humanists were persecuted
> specifically, or examples of, say, how Humanists reacted to Nazi
> occupation in general? I think Humanists havent come in for the same
> magnitude of persecution that has been reserved for minority religions
> over the ages.

Specific persecution, I'd be keener on first hand accounts rather than
overviews. As my children become thirteen I give them a copy of Anne Frank,
and not because of shared faith (which isn't), but because I wish to both
educate them against intolerance and explain the art of the bully (and how
to defeat it).

> I must admit, off the top of my head, I think it is only recently that
> religions have decided that Humanism poses a greater threat than other
> religions do.
> In the post-war West, the major religions have stopped
> trying to destroy each other, and have turned their guns on deliberated
> unbelief. This is probably a good thing for Humanism, since it is indeed
> the logial alternative to *all* religions, and so should be able to (and
> needs to be able to) hold its own even in the face of the growing
> onslaught.

Well I've never considered humanism a threat. Humanism is still belief as I
see it, which is to take something as true without true knowledge. I also
think you either believe something or you don't, you never un-believe it,
but then I'm not a fan of modern English.
cheers,


0 new messages