A SENSE OF DEFINITION

Humanism is a worldview and a moral philosophy that considers humans to be of primary importance. It is a perspective common to a wide range of ethical stances that attaches importance to human dignity, concerns, and capabilities, particularly rationality. I lifted that particular definition from Wikipedia. To break it down, a humanist is someone who believes that anyone can do whatever they want, however they want, provided the means and end would satisfy the individual involved, and lives by their own set of rules. This implies that institutions like the written rule of law, the Bible, and even other people’s feelings are secondary to the individual’s whims. Based on this, humanists define and defend themselves based on characteristics and features which more often than not are not justified, logical or considerate. This theory is not a necessarily domineering one, just one that sees an individual the way he or she is, accepts that what the person is cannot change, and will not change, so the rest of the world should either deal with them that way, or look in another direction.

It sounds interesting, and senseless too when you hear someone say, I am the way I am because I was born that way, and there is nothing I can do about it. Less appreciated is when they are referring to such characteristics like being lazy, careless, anger-prone, over-indulgent, or even homosexual. To further compound this problem, notable icons and celebrities whenever they are interviewed make such claims, and when such admissions are made, the listening public are enamoured by their openness and honesty, that it becomes a personality trait to emulate. While there is no argument against honesty, the problem with such an argument is that people stop trying to be better than they already are; they stop growing because they have gotten a definition for themselves based on where and what they are, and are open about it. The Bible says, As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.

When one stops growing, he starts dying. When you feel you have reached your peak, your final definition of yourself, nothing will ever give you a different sense of whom you are. The truth, as I see it is that while I have painted a very unappreciable picture of humanism, most people without actually acknowledging their subscription to this school of thought, are humanistic in nature. Why, because they share a common trait with humanists – they are lazy, they are non-achievers, they have no true sense of self-worth. A man would only develop to the extent to which he gives himself room to do so. So many of us, either because we resist change, or are too comfortable with where we have found ourselves have come to define ourselves with specific tags that have become our limits, because if we do change or grow, we would have to get new definitions, and new identities for each change we make.

I think the best stance we can take is that we are continuous works in progress. Interestingly enough, most people who exhibit such humanistic views are within the age ranges of 18 and 45 years of age, which should be the most progressive years of life. We keep growing, we keep setting higher standards, seeking greater challenges, striving to be better than we were before. There is so much we can do, so much we can be. Why stop now because it is convenient?