Humanism
Humanism is a cultural movement that is often historically linked to the Renaissance in Europe, but the beliefs it centers are also traced back to ancient African, American, and Asian people, and Roman and Greek philosophers. Humanists believe in the inherent worth of humanity and emphasize individual potential and the agency of human beings to effect change.
We center that movement with a belief in the wisdom of those who have walked before us. Specifically, we lift up these quotes to describe the radical-love-lived-out world we are committed to co-creating.
“The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace.” Mahatma Gandhi
"Love is a combination of care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect and trust." bell hooks
“Flipping it another way; do gods give a damn about universal health care, access to stable, affordable housing, and the right to earn a living wage with benefits for everyone? What use are gods who don’t protect bodily autonomy and the right to self-determination for queer, nonbinary and gender nonconforming folks? What use are they if they don’t protect these rights for women or folks with disabilities? What do supernatural deities say about these specific socioeconomic, cultural, and social issues? Why do they remain abjectly silent if they are in fact omnipotent and omnipresent?” Sikivu Hutchinson
"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity." Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Strong communities are born out of individuals being their best selves." Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
It is in collectivities that we find reservoirs of hope and optimism.”
Angela Y. Davis
Foundations
We also affirm the foundations of Aigne's commitment to Humanism, reflecting the commitments of the Humanist Manifesto III.
1. Knowledge of the world is derived by observation, experimentation, and rational analysis. Humans are not supposed to just accept the world, especially the parts of the world that lead to trauma and harm for others. We commit to living and loving with the support of all of our senses.
2. Humans are an integral part of nature, the result of unguided evolutionary change.
When we fail to care for the world, we fail to care for ourselves because we are of and from nature.
3. Ethical values are derived from human need and interest as tested by experience.
The world changes and we must be willing to change with it as we experience new things.
4. Life’s fulfillment emerges from individual participation in the service of humane ideals.
We cannot spend our lives focused on the afterlife without attention to the needs of the world.
5. Humans are social by nature and find meaning in relationships; and when we work in mutual cooperation as a community, it benefits the entire society.
Human joy is accessed through our connections and relationships to each other.