Ken Smith reviews The Evil Inclination (and Other Tales of the Unexpected) by Frank Walker Sébastien Castellio Press (Cambridge). 2005. £10. reviews If there were a Humanist hagiography, Barbara Smoker would certainly be right on the first page as a heroine of the Faith. She has been a tireless campaigner for the Humanist movement, and various associated progressive causes, since the 1950s, and a ferocious opponent of religion. She is therefore in a good position to write an informed introduction to Secular Humanism.
First published in 1973, and thoroughly updated for the present edition, Humanism is aimed primarily at the 14–16 age-bracket but on the opening page it is ‘Dedicated to inquiring minds of whatever age’. The intention is that it should be used as a standard textbook in GCSE Religious Education lessons. One of the laudable victories of Humanism over the past 40 years is how it has managed to get non-religious ‘lifestances’ included as valid and respectable options in RE syllabuses. Books like this are therefore very important in making Humanism more mainstream.
The book is less than 80 pages long but in that short space Barbara Smoker has managed to cover all the key issues in a comprehensive manner. She begins the book with a brief discussion of the term ‘Humanist’ and how it has changed in meaning since the Renaissance when it referred to a passion for scholarship and the arts but did not exclude religion.
Now the term ‘Secular Humanist’ denotes ‘a positive, human-centred philosophy of life based on rationalism that is either atheist or agnostic, being concerned with life in this world, not with supposed gods or a hereafter’.
The grounding and justification of our fundamental beliefs about the world and our conduct in it are examined and some of the basic atheistic arguments against the existence of God are competently and clearly outlined. Basic religious themes are covered like: wonder at the existence of the universe; death; meaning and purpose in life; conscience; the problem of evil; freewill; religious experience; faith. Contemporary social and ethical issues are also covered, such as: marriage and divorce; abortion; euthanasia; our responsibility to future generations; our treatment of animals.
Over a quarter of the book is taken up by an account of the history of the development of the Humanist tradition. This runs from the ancient Greeks up to the twentieth century. Throughout the account the struggle to establish the invalidity and malignancy of religion is a running theme.
In the large section on the history of Humanism we are given a ‘myth of the origin’, which consists of ‘goodies’ (Humanists) and ‘baddies’ (Religious Believers) with a tendency to ‘massage’ the historical facts to fit the preconceived picture. For instance we are told that Confucius and Buddha are early humanists. While it is true they were not theists in the Christian sense, they undeniably held supernatural beliefs. We are also told that Periclean Athens is to taken as the model of a humanistic open society but no mention is made of the fact that Athens failed to extend democracy to women or slaves. Socrates is claimed as a hero of Humanism even though he believed in God and we are treated to the extraordinary assertion that the first six presidents of the USA rejected Christianity. True, perhaps, but they all believed in God.
There is a good spread of topics here to stimulate discussion in a classroom but I felt that many were glossed over with somewhat too much ease, although to be fair to the author, the constraints of space rendered it difficult to do true justice to her material.
RobWheeler is a member of SoF.He organises the Faversham Stoa philosophy pub discussion group – www.stoa.org.uk/faversham – and wrote the article about SoF on wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_of_Faith Answers to Crossword on page 18 Rob Wheeler reviews Humanism by Barbara Smoker SPES. 2005 (4th edition– originally published in 1973). £6.50. 79 pages. Key stage 4 - 15-16 year olds – for GCSE level. ISBN 0 902368 23 0 reviews The statement that there are as many different ‘Londons’ as there are people living in the city is a something of a truism. The title of this collection of fifty poems interspersed with prose, inevitably raises the question as to whose London we will find within and what kind of place it will turn out to be. Oxley writes as a one-time inhabitant and white-collar worker, a frequent visitor of London friends and sometime resident of a leafy campus off the Finchley Road, where ‘the rat-race-ride and the rural-ramble met in microcosm’. It was here, it seems, that the project for the present book was born; to ‘authenticate, in words more authentic still, my many London experiences.’ The geographical parameters of Oxley’s London are given in the texts and titles of individual poems. It encompasses Chelsea, Mayfair, Piccadilly, Wigmore Street, St John’s Wood, King’s Cross, Regent’s Canal, Parliament Hill, West Hampstead, Wembley Park, Leather Lane, Bunhill Fields, the Caledonian Road. The further suburbs are excluded and (with the exception of Twickenham) most that is south of the river; likewise (with the exception of the Isle of Dogs) most that is east of the Angel – these two exceptions being dealt with elegiacally in Twickenham Perdu and Isle of Dogs as Was.
Barbara Smoker, Humanism, SPES. 2005 (4th edition – originally published in 1973). £6.50. 79 pages. Key stage 4 - 15-16 year olds – for GCSE level. ISBN 0 902368 23 0