Humanist awakening

By Ken Burrows

The “Great Awakening” is a term used to describe the 18th century revival of religious activism and personal piety. It was often seen as a reaction to perceived Enlightenment secularism. Today a subtler “awakening” — a reversal of its namesake predecessor — is taking root as people drift away from religion. Surveys peg the U.S. percentage of people claiming “no religion” at about 25% and growing. The trend is most evident among younger age groups.

One notable individual who exemplifies this contemporary awakening is Bart Campolo, a one-time evangelical Christian preacher who’s become an outspoken humanist. Pivotal events in his life a few years ago led Campolo to seriously reflect on who he was and what he believed. Unlike his equally well known preacher father (Tony), Bart said his own faith had already become tenuous, and its doctrines and supernaturalism were “dialed far down.” He valued his caring ministries but concluded he could be a “minister” without the God factor.

So instead of ministering based on the bible, he switched to preaching and practicing secular humanism. He committed to the proposition that this life is all there is and that therefore we have to make the most of our finite time on earth. In doing so we should alleviate suffering and promote human flourishing as broadly as possible. His definition of “goodness” was no longer to blindly trust and obey fallible stories and ancient edicts but rather “thoughtfully figure out what fairness, kindness, and consideration look like” in our daily lives and interactions.

“Whose moral character do you admire most,” he wrote, “the person who does the right thing in order to gain rewards or avoid punishments—or the person who does it based on their understanding of what’s at stake for everyone, because they find doing right intrinsically fulfilling?” Bart added that one of his biggest problems with evangelical Christianity was its claim that people have no intrinsic goodness and deserve punishment “simply for being born human.”

Doing good for goodness’ sake and recognizing the commonality and worth of all human beings are key motivating principles for most humanists. Can there be any doubt how much our war-torn world and sharply divided country—with its conflicts often triggered by religious dogmas and intransigence—would benefit from widespread adoption of such principles?

This doesn’t make humanists flawless but does make them ethical and empathetic. Still, religionists frequently take issue with such god-free principles. Sam Hailes, editor of a leading Christian magazine, wrote that when Campolo changed his theology to match his humanist values, “it was the beginning of the end” because “faith stripped of its fundamentals is…anemic.” Bart’s father Tony wrote that a desire for moral goodness cannot be satisfied without Christian faith. However, among the highest priorities of humanism are altruistic action, compassion, personal responsibility, and a commitment to peace, social justice, and service to others. These priorities clearly embody moral goodness and are anything but anemic.

Campolo, now humanist chaplain at the University of Cincinnati, states that his work is “focused on inspiring people to make the most of their lives by actively pursuing goodness and meaning in an openly secular way.” He’s living out the simple truth that, contrary to what religious dogmatists say, people can be good without a god. It’s a truth more and more people are awakening to.

This essay appeared in the March 4, 2020 issue of the Colorado Springs Independent with the quotation below.

“Only with our acts of humanity can we become truly human.”
― Abhijit Naskar