Humanism, not Secular Humanism

Many of the ideas of humanism I agree with a lot. In fact, I believe man has accomplished many great things throughout history. Many things from Greek and Roman philosophy, science, and art. Inventions that have bettered our lives. Men like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Leonardo Da Vinci, George Washington, Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, and on and on. There have been many accomplishments, achievments, and "wins" among humanity that we, as humans, can be proud of.

The internet, especially, has made sharing information quite easy. Tools such as search engines, chat rooms, blogs, online resource databases, even translation tools like Babelfish, have made sharing information across the globe possible, if not downright simple.
Pico Della Mirandola even wonderfully stated in "Oration on the Dignity of Man": "Imagine! The great generosity of God! The happiness of man! To man it is allowed to be whatever he chooses to be!" We are agents unto ourselves. We are free to choose our path. As is stated in the Book of Mormon by Lehi in 2 Nephi 2:27 "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." Man truly is great!

But, we must be aware, that if we are not careful, we may slip into Secular Humanism. When we drift into secular humanism, we begin to take God, the “Supreme Architect” as Mirandola called Him, out of the picture. In reality, what makes man great is his potential: as spirit children of God, we are endowed with divine potential. When we focus too much on what man has accomplished, we lose the true knowledge of who we really are. Humanism, in itself, is good, as long as we remember that all gifts and inventions we have received come from God through inspiration and bestowments of knowledge.

Voice of the Spirit

In light of all the talk that we had on technology and using it in my Honors 202 class yesterday, I thought it might be nice to ask the question: "Can you be sucked into technology and the digital world too much?"

Consider those who spend more time chatting online than talking to their own family. Consider those who text more than calling someone on their phone. Consider those who spend more time in the "World of Warcraft" world, or another digital world, more than they do in their own life.

With all this technology, it does give us a wonderful opportunity to learn and to grow, but at the same time, it can be detrimental to the relationships we have if we get sucked into it too much. It can also rob us of true knowledge, when we delve too much into the unimportant things. To help make my point, watch this new Mormon Messages video with President Faust's wise words on the voices we listen to today:

Voice of the Spirit


Just a warning to us all not to get too wrapped up in the digital world that we miss the most important messages around us.

Utopia...is it possible?

Many people believe that Thomas More's "Utopian" society would be one in which there are no problems at all. A place where there are no worries, and everything is perfectly wonderful. A place where there are no giant oil spills, but where the environment and technology are perfectly aligned. A place where everyone has a perfect life made for them, as if you were given a perfect life in "The Sims". A sort of "heaven" if you will. But is this ever really possible? And would we want it to be?

Problems and challenges are a way of learning. Even in More's society, he stated that they were "thus filled with a love of learning." Questioning the world around us, and solving problems, is what helps us to grow. It gives us purpose. It gives us a reason to live. Progression. It is the goal of every human being. It is the reason the Renaissance happened. It is the reason that the ideas of planetary motion changed multiple times. Trying to understand how the universe works and gaining a knowledge of truth is something that we, as humans, will constantly have a drive to do. Leonardo da Vinci even spoke of true learning, and how it comes through experience in "The Painter".

If there are no challenges and problems, how could we progress? Many views of heaven look at it as a place where there are no troubles or complications, and everything is just perfect. But that is not my view of heaven. Even God has had worries, problems, and concerns. In my view, heaven is a place that I can learn and grow, and be with my family (especially my wonderful wife) forever. I want a place where progression does not end; a view which the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has of "Heaven".