What Is Spiritual Humanism and Why Does It Matter?

Hi, everyone — Reese invited me to share a short adaptation of a piece I wrote called “The Case for Secular Humanism (or Why Secular Communities Fail).” This piece articulates one way (of many) to think about Ascent. Good wishes!

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Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood had an expansive, loving worldview that motivated his quiet yet monumental goodness. Even though he was an ordained Presbyterian minister, Rogers was also “a student of Catholic mysticism, Buddhism, Judaism, and other faiths,” according to biographer Maxwell King. 

This expansive curiosity spilled over into other aspects of Rogers’ life. King notes that in the “Christmas Time With Mr. Rogers” special, “Rogers doesn’t say much about the birth of Christ. Instead he talks about families with different traditions for Christmas and Chanukah, as well as those who celebrate neither.” King also notes that in his religious sermons, Rogers emphasized the humanity of Jesus far more than the divinity. 

In other words, Rogers privileged what we all have in common above converting people to his particular religious belief. 

Martin Luther King had a similar worldview. He’d been through a faith crisis in college and understood that the Bible wasn’t a literal historical account of the world. Yet he also recognized that it still held power. He wrote, “I came to see that behind the legends and myths of the Book were many profound truths which one could not escape.” 

Like Rogers, King wasn’t a religious zealot who demanded that everyone bow to his set of beliefs. On the contrary, he celebrated spiritually motivated activists of all traditions, endorsing a Buddhist monk named Thich Nhat Hanh for a Nobel Peace Prize. 

And then there are a range of people who didn’t belong to a formal tradition but who nevertheless have held reverence for spirituality. The science fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin wrote a wonderful translation of the Tao Te Ching. The poet Mary Oliver wrote about prayer and nature in such a way that conveyed deep reverence for the world. And the Indian philosopher Krishnamurti incorporated ideas from a variety of religions despite not formally belonging to any.

What is the name for this worldview — a worldview that reveres all spiritual traditions and all of humanity beyond any particular tradition? 

One possible name for it is spiritual humanism. This worldview holds reverence for spirituality while also extending love within and beyond any tradition to include all of humanity. “Spiritual humanism,” writes the Islamic professor Syed Hasan Askari, “is not replacing religion by a new ideology. Spiritual humanism is enlightening the religious tradition to rise above closed identities.”

Rise above closed identities. 

Why does this concept matter?

By not positioning itself against religion, spiritual humanism opens itself up to the best of all traditions. It values the parables of Jesus, the paradoxes of Lao Tzu, the dialogue of the Bhagavad Gita, the poetry of Mary Oliver, the speeches of MLK, the meditations of Marcus Aurelius, the wisdom of Rumi, and on and on. It integrates wisdom wherever it surfaces. As such, it has roots, a lineage, a canon, a connection to the past. It places human beings in a story full of meaning, a story that instills a duty to pass along wisdom to the next generation in the hope that the future will bring more light to the mystery of life.

By positioning itself alongside and even within religion, spiritual humanism avoids getting bogged down with tribal arguments of any stripe, recognizing that all traditions — yes, even spiritual humanism — have flaws and must therefore be held lightly. 

Finally, spiritual humanism allows people to value their own spiritual experiences (which are frequently considered among life’s most meaningful moments) alongside the experiences of those in other traditions.

In this way, spiritual humanism celebrates all experiences that help people feel generous and fully alive. It encourages people to seek out this liveliness together in community across a variety of beliefs (or lack thereof).