What Kind of Humanism is That?

by ProfDave, ©2021 

(Sep. 8, 2021) — It all comes down to what human life is for, doesn’t it? Does it have a purpose? Is life sacred – other people’s lives or just my own good times? Does it have a purpose beyond the party? Is intimacy for my pleasure or my family? What kind of intimacy is there in “hooking up?” That’s at the bottom of the “culture wars,” isn’t it? Are other people in the world for my amusement? Are women just “a rag, a bone, and a hank of hair?” Do they need men like fish need bicycles? Is that what “secular humanism” has come to? What kind of humanism is that?

I’ll show you humanism: “in the image of God . . . male and female created He them.”  That makes the other guy just as sacred as me, whether he is black or white, rich or poor, brilliant or retarded, unborn or over the hill.  And a woman is just as sacred as a man, even if she isn’t the same: not a thing, not a sex object, not an assortment of body parts, not a blob of tissue to be aborted because she isn’t a boy.  How can you have freedom and equality if you don’t believe that?  That sacred humanity of both sexes is what makes marriage sacred.  From that sacred bond comes new life, nurtured in permanent commitment.  My grandson doesn’t need to learn in school about sex for its own sake with women (or men) in general.  He needs to learn what it takes to be united with one woman for life!

Nothing else will yield a healthy future for him and our society!  Nothing else is respectful of his humanity, his future wife’s humanity, and the humanity of the generation to come.  Just saying.  If those things are right, then some other things are just plain wrong – and not equality at all!

David W. Heughins (“ProfDave”) is Adjunct Professor of History at Nazarene Bible College.  He holds a BA from Eastern Nazarene College and a PhD in history from the University of Minnesota.  He is the author of Holiness in 12 Steps (2020).  He is a Vietnam veteran and is retired, living with his daughter and three grandchildren in Connecticut.