I have never met a secular humanist. I can't imagine who all these invisible secular humanist who have so much power are.
Calling secular humanists "invisible" suggests they don't exist, when they do...by the millions as a matter of fact.
While there are several meanings for "Humanists", calling someone a Humanist is a term of honor for most. It's when the adjective "Secular" is added that the trouble begins.
"Secular" is from the Latin meaning "saeculum" which means "time" or "age" and to call someone secular means that he is in the times, of his age, or worldly with no vision of or in the perspective of eternity. The secularist doesn't believe that God exists or acts in human affairs. Moral standards are those merely accepted by society in which he lives and having no enduring or permanent value, those can change.
It follows then, for a person to be a secular humanist, they would have to follow secular humanism, right?
We know for sure that secular humanism exists and has been attested to by an organization call the American Humanist Assoc.(AHA) in its journal,
The Humanist. The movement was given legal status by the US Supreme Court in one of its landmark decisions, Torcaso v. Watkins, 1961.
In 1933, the AHA issued its creed, Humanist Manifesto, for the movement.
The tenets of Secular Humanism come from the Humanist Manifesto I and II and in the Secular Humanist Declaration. They are as follows:
The first tenet of Secular Humanism denies the relevance of Almighty God and in place of worship and prayer finds his faith in a heightened sense of personal life and in a cooperative effort to promote social well-being.
The second tenet of Secular Humanism is the belief that man can begin with himself and on the basis of “human reason” alone can think out the answers to the great questions which confront mankind.
The third tenet of Secular Humanism is the belief in the inevitably of progress perpetuated through the Evolutionary Theory and its cultural application of Social Darwinism.
The fourth tenet of Secular Humanism is the belief in science as the guide to human progress and the ultimate provider of an alternative to both religion and morals. Therefore, science itself assumes a religious character and we have certainly seen this recently in radical environmentalism and global warming alarmists.
The fifth tenet of Secular Humanism is the belief in self-sufficiency and centrality of man. This tenet encompasses the assertion of the autonomy and independence of man apart from Almighty God thereby releasing mankind from all obligations to Him. This tenet promulgates the idea that man’s future and salvation is in man’s hands, thus, man, not God controls the destiny of the human race.
Secular Humanism is propagated by secular humanists through public education, the media, the courts, and through governmental agencies.
Locamama, if you know anyone who falls into these categories, then you've met a secular humanist.