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Principles of Secularism Defined · The Principles of Secularism

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  Chapter three of the Principles of Secularism by George Jacob Holyoke. This LibriVox recording
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  is in the public domain. Chapter three Principles of Secularism defined one. Secularism
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  is the study of promoting human welfare by material means, measuring human welfare by
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  the utilitarian rule, and making the service of others a duty of life.
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  Secularism relates to the present existence of man and to action, the issues of
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  which can be tested by the experience of this life, having for its objects
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  the development of the physical, moral, and intellectual nature of man to the
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  highest perceivable point, as the immediate duty of society, inculcating the practical sufficiency
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  of natural morality apart from atheism, theism, or Christianity, engaging it its
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  adherents in the promotion of human improvement by material means, and making these agreements
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  the ground of common unity for all who would regulate life by reason and ennoble
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  it by service. The secular is sacred in its influence on life, for
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  by purity of material conditions, the loftiest natures are best sustained, and the
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  lower the most surely elevated. Secularism is a series of principles intended for the
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  guidance of those who find theology indefinite or inadequate, or deem it unreliable.
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  It replaces theology, which mainly regards life as a sinful necessity, as a
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  scene of tribulation through which we pass to a better world. Secularism rejoices in
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  this life and regards it as the sphere of those duties which educate men to
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  fitness for any future and better life should such transpire. Two. A secularist
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  guides himself by maxims of positivism, seeking to discern what is in nature,
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  what ought to be in morals, selecting the affirmative in exposition, concerning himself
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  with the real, the right, and the constructive. Positive principles are principles
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  which are provable. A positive precept, says Bishop Butler, is a precept
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  the reason of which we can see positivism is policy of material progress. Three.
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  Science is the available providence of life. The problem to be solved by
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  a science of society is to find that situation in which it shall be impossible
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  for a man to be depraved or poor mankind are saved by being served.
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  Spiritual sympathy is a lesser mercy than that forethought, which anticipates and ec mixturpates
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  the causes of suffering. Deliverance from sorrow or injustice is before consolation. Doing
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  well is higher than meaning well. Work is worshiped to those who accept theism,
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  and duty to those who do not. Four. Sincerity, though not
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  errorless, involves the least chance of error, and is without moral guilt.
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  Sincerity is well informed. Conscientious conviction arrived at by intelligent examination, animating those
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  who possess that conviction to carry it into practice from a sense of duty.
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  Virtue, in relation to opinion, consists neither in conformity nor nonconformity, but
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  in sincere beliefs and in living up to them. Five Conscience is higher than
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  consequence. Footnote vida, Mister Holders, papers and footnote six. All pursuit
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  of good objects with pure intent is religiousness in the best sense in which this
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  term appears to be used. A good object is an object consistent with truth,
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  honor, justice, love. A pure intent is the intent of serving
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  humanity. Immediate service of humanity is not intended to mean instant gratification, but
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  immediate in contradistinction to the interest of another life. The distinctive peculiarity of the
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  secularist is that he seeks that good which is dictated by nature, which is
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  attainable by material means, and which is of immediate service to humanity. A
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  religiousness to which the idea of God is not essential, nor the denial of
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  the idea necessary. Seven. Nearly all inferior natures are susceptible of moral and
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  physical improvability. This improvability can be indefinitely secured by supplying proper material conditions.
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  These conditions may one day be supplied by a system of wise and fraternal cooperation,
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  which primarily entrenches itself in common prudence, which enacts service according to industrial
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  capacity and distributes wealth according to rational needs. Secular principles involve for mankind a
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  future where there shall exist unity of condition, with infinite diversity of intellect,
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  where the subsistence of ignorance and selfishness shall leave men equal and universal purity enable
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  all things noble society, the treasures of art, and the riches of the
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  world to be had in common. Eight. Since it is not capable of
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  demonstration whether the inequalities of ruth human condition will be compensated for in another life,
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  it is the business of intelligence to rectify them. In this world,
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  the speculative worship of superior beings who cannot need it seems a lesser duty than
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  the patient's service of known inferior natures and the mitigation of harsh destiny so that
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  the ignorant may be enlightened. And the low elevated end of Chapter three