R E Humanism Wednesday 10 02 21 Symbols

R. E. Humanism Wednesday 10. 02. 21

Symbols and Meanings Can I create a symbol representing a value? Can I discuss the importance of values and their links to the ideas of Humanist thinkers? Can I explain what the ‘Happy Human’ symbol represents?

Decisions, Decisions Read the following sentences about humanism. We have to make good choices for ourselves and others. Humans need to decide how to behave based on the positive and negative consequences of their actions. We need to live good lives. We should make decisions based on facts and information. Reset boxes Imagine these sentences were heading up in a hot air balloon, and that some of them need to be bailed out for the balloon to fly. Which sentences would a humanist prefer to keep? You can only keep 2 sentences in the hot air balloon. Click on the boxes to make them disappear. Nobody can make a perfect choice.

Humanist Symbol The Happy Human is a symbol designed by Dennis Barrington. He won a competition organised by the British Humanist Association (BHA) in 1965. Over 150 designs were entered into the competition from many different countries across the world. It was chosen as the symbol because it was simple and while it looked like a human, it wasn’t male or female. Within a few short years, the symbol became the international symbol of humanism.

British Humanist Association One of the key differences between atheists (in general) and humanists is that some humanists have created organisations that have core aims that they all work towards. The British Humanist Association states that their values are: engaging in conversation and discussion with attention to evidence treating people with fairness and respecting and promoting freedom, human rights, and the law celebrating human achievement cooperating with others to make good things happen, including with those of different beliefs Not all humanists in Britain are part of this organisation, only those who choose to join. However, it does represent 40, 000 people in the UK who call themselves humanists.

Values: Ideas about what is good and the best way to live one’s life. Think about the values we have just learnt about. How do you think people should behave towards one another? Use the blank symbols to show 4 key values that you have and explain why they are important to you. How similar or different are they to the humanist values?

Symbols Select a value that is of the highest importance to you. Create a symbol that represents this value. Annotate the symbol, explaining the importance of its features for promoting your value.