There is noletter that I have written that has caused me so much trepidation asthis letter as I am aware that in writing it I shall be treading ontender toes and offending many sensibilities. Yet, it is a sincereexpression of what I believe to be one of man's greatest needs inthese troubled times.

Man's questfor the meaning of his existence has led him into many avenues ofintellectual speculation, taken many forms, and resulted in thedevelopment of many faiths or religions. Homer Smith,eminentphysiologist and physician, in his book entitled, "Man and His Gods"lists no less than four thousand Gods that man has worshipped at onetime or another. They range from the deities of nature (sun, rain,wind, water) to those of the spirit (love, war, beauty, etc.) and areexemplified by the Gods of the Egyptians, the pantheons of Greece andRome, and the many aspects of the Hindu's Brahms, Shiva, and Siva. Inshort, during the course of man's cultural evolution, essentially thepast six thousand years, man has created innumerable faiths to enablehim to live in his earthly environment and to try to comprehend themeaning of life.

Today'sformal religions and this list is far from complete and the writingsthat inspired them might briefly be noted at this point: The newTestament of the Bible (Christianity), the Koran (Islamism, theBhaugavad-Gita, Yedas, and Upanishads (Hinduism), the Tripitaka(Buddhism), the Agamas (Jainism), the Analects and the Five K'ing(Confucianism), the Tao-Teh-Xing (Taoism), the Kofiki, Nihongi, andYengishiki (Shinotoism), the Avestas (Zoroastrianism), the OldTestament of the Bible (Judaism), the Writings of Bahaullah(Bahaism).

It isinteresting that all of today's formal religions were man created andeach had its origin as a departure from a preexisting faith, i.e.,Christianity from Judaism, Buddhism and Jainism from Hinduism,andIslamism from the Old Testament prophets, etc. In every instance thedevelopment of a new Faith was the result of a dissident who foundthe prevailing beliefs of his time inadequate to his generation andsought a means of improving the plight of his fellow man by creatingnew standards of conduct and new principles of behavior that werecritical of the existing Orthodoxy! Some of these men made it clearthat they were not Gods, but time and the veneration of their life'swork made them into deities; i.e., Buddha. The disciples of these mencreated a "God" where none was originally intended.

Today, andthis was also true 100 or 500 years ago, a case can be made that ourformal religions have done as much harm to mankind as any good thatmight have been brought to it. Witness today Protestant versusCatholic in Ireland; Arabs versus Jew in the Middle East; Moslemversus Hindu versus Christian in Bangladesh; Hindu versus Moslem inyesterday's Punjab; and furthermore, a brief recollection fromHistory of the Crusades (Christian versus Infidels), the inquisition(Catholic versus Heretic) and the conquests of Mexico and Peru(Catholic versus Heathen) and the innumerable religious wars. Onecould go on ad infinitum to make this point. In all fairness one mustconcede that today's formal religions by their antagonisms toward oneanother have done and are doing much to encourage man's inhumanity toman.

Except forBahaism virtually all of the world's great religions had theirorigins two thousand or more years ago and at a time when the earthwas considered flat and knowledge of evolution was non-existent. Itwas not surprising then that at that time the concept of a personalGod who could save one from Hell and eternal damnation and one whocould offer the prospect of a heaven and a life hereafter should takehold and flourish. Now that man has drilled 20,000 feet into theearth and found no hell, and explored outer space and found noheaven, he is restless and discontented with the fixed, rigid dogmasand creeds of the past, and seeks a more enlightened religion basedon scientific facts and unassailable truths.

Kai Nielsencommented upon the formal religions in this manner: "Any religion,whether Christian, Islamic, Jewish, Zoroastrian or what not thatmakes claims to special revelation is fundamentally misguided andmistaken."

Most of thepeople inhabiting the Earth today adhere to one or the other of theworld's great religions and most will contend that if their religionwere given a real trial and practiced as originally intended, allwould be well and a true salvation for mankind would be possible.This surely is a naive point of view as religious interpretationvaries with individuals and in support of this assumption is the factthat some 300 different Christian sects exist today. May I ask ifChrist ever envisioned such diversity and such fragmentation of hispreachings?

The realproblem confronting the formal religions is their failure to adapt tothe march of civilization and the explosion of knowledge.Unfortunately, a static religion is impossible to live with and isactually detrimental to the growth of man. Witness the dark ages whenall thought and inquiry was suppressed and men like Galileo andCopernicus were considered as heretics and prosecuted; some wereactually burned at the stake. It is not surprising then that 400years elapsed and nary a new thought came into being (Dark Ages). Theidea that the world was helio-centric rather than geo-centric wascrushed by the papacy. It was only during the Renaissance that mancast off the bonds of religious intolerance and became intellectuallyliberated and free to think as he pleased. Paul Blanchard's bookentitled, "Classics in Free Thought" summarizes well the emergence ofman's intellectual freedom.

It isinteresting that the two most dynamic movements of this generationand I'll purposely not use the words "religions" or "faiths," is thatof Leninism (USSR) and the Communist Internationale, and Maoism(People's Republic of China). In China all religious institutions areoutlawed) and each person's religion is "personal." If two or morepeople have the same "religion or beliefs" and meet together, it iscontrary to the new Chinese Constitution and is illegal. Thus, allchurches, synagogues, temples, etc., are converted to museums andlibraries. In Russia the Greek Orthodox Church and Islam aretolerated but the young are discouraged from participation and manyof the old churches are today essentially "Museums of the Past."

WhileLeninism and Maoism involve more than a billion of the earth'sinhabitants, it is too early to say that they too will go the way ofthe other religions noted above. For the moment they are the "in"thing for more than a quarter of the globe's inhabitants. Both Leninand Mao are deified today and literally worshipped as Gods. TheSino-Soviet divisiveness, however, may create a conflict (World WarIII) that may make the need for a new faith really understandable andinspirational. It might be surmised also that had Hitler succeededand all dissidents liquidated as Mao and Stalin had done with theirantagonists, it is more than likely that he, too, would be deified byhis followers.

May I saythat I am writing this as one who was raised in a formal religion(Episcopalian) and who cherishes the early days when I grew up in St.Peter's Parish in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. It is, incidentally, theoldest parish in the state of New Jersey, and its walls are hallowedwith American history and its gravestones date back to the latesixteen hundreds. In that church I served as a choir boy, acolyte,Sunday school teacher, Adult Bible teacher, and Junior and SeniorWarden. Today I can still find it in my heart to support thisinstitution as it was a very valuable influence in my life as a childand young man. It set standards of human behavior that were desirableand commendable. Today, however, I no longer subscribe to the dogmas,creeds, miracles, that were taught to me and, in fact, are not reallyessential for my well being or ease of mind today. Just as childrenoutgrow Santa Claus and Saint Nicholas, so can an adult mind outgrowthe myths, parables, and historical inaccuracies of formalreligions.

Although theformal religions may have failed us in resolving man's struggles withhis own kind, may I add that they have provided eloquentarchitectural testaments to the aspirations of man; i.e., SaintPeter's Cathedral, York Minster, Chartres, Suleiman's Mosque, theAlhambra, the Jain Temple, etc., and all provide in their uniquemanner inspirational experiences that transports us out of and abovethe animal kingdom, if only briefly and temporarily.

Ever sincethe dawn of civilization, man's chief preoccupation has been war andhistory, and national budgets today provide eloquent testimony tothis fact. Formal religions during the past 2,000 years have noteliminated war nor man's inhumanity to man nor will they ever do so!What is urgently needed today is one based on reason and anunderstanding of man as man.

Fatepermitting, and with the acquiescence of the editor, I should like topresent my opinion of man's needs today in a future letter or lettersto the editor of the Manchester Evening Herald.

Charles E. Jacobson, Jr., M. D.

45 Wyllys Street

Manchester, CT 06040

1975

In a previouscommunication entitled, "Needed: A New Religion, A Modern Faith," Ideclared that the formal religions conceived over 2000 years ago areno longer adequate to meet man's needs in this modern, complexworld.

Erich Frommin discussing formal religion said, "The question is not whether manreturns to religion and believes in God but whether he lives love andthinks truth. If he does so the symbol systems (formal religions) heuses are of secondary importance. If he does not, they are of noimportance."

George W.Beadle, Noble Laureate in Biology and former President of theUniversity of Chicago, stated: "I believe in organic evolution; thatis, I believe all organisms from the smallest sub-microscopic virusesto man himself arose from simpler forms by processes that take placewhen and where conditions favor them." He accepts the cosmologist'sview that at one time the universe consisted solely of hydrogen, thesimplest of all elements, and that from this one element the otherelements and then molecules of ever increasing complexity arose.Finally, out of inorganic material the first living molecules evolvedand life as such was born on earth. This happened in a natural andinevitable manner just as certain reactions have to happen in amodern chemist's test tube when conditions are ideal. By equallyinevitable stages complete living systems appeared and then creaturesof greater complexity. Finally, man came into being, man with hisunique ability to remember, reason, and communicate. This abilityenabled man to evolve a cultural evolution and with it religion, art,music, science, and technology came into the world.

When Beadlewas asked if he believed in God, he answered that he could as ascientist still have faith in the presence of an omniscient being butnot in a God that created man as man. He added that as a scientist hecould probably put all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle togetherbeginning with the simplest element hydrogen but he was at a completeloss to explain who provided the original hydrogen atoms.

From thisviewpoint, it can be argued, and rather forcefully, that if there bea God or omnipotent and omniscient spirit, it must be an impersonalforce or spirit, and not a personal God of any kind. In fact, it mustbe the very spirit or original creator that provided the hydrogen orits equivalents in terms of elementary particles (charms, quarks,Psi's, etc.) and which devised the natural and inexorable laws ofgravity, thermodynamics, conservation of energy, etc. These arenatural laws that man can never violate and which prevail not only inour universe but so far as can be determined, in other galaxies andcelestial bodies as well. As an example, no amount of prayers cansave a man falling from the Empire State Building were he to hit thehard pavement or if his rate of deceleration is greater than a tenthof a second!

Homer Smith,eminent physiologist, expressed his ideas of the evolutionary originof man in the following manner: "As a little lower than the angels,man would be ludicrous. As an animal, he has reason to be proudbecause he is the first who can ask himself whither' why, and whence?and confident because he can know himself as a creature of Earth whohas risen by his own efforts from a low estate. If he would risehigher, he must be true to earth, he must accept that he is itscreature, unplanned, unprotected, and unfavored, co-natural with allother living creatures and with the air and water and sunlight andblack soil from which their dynamic pattern has been fabricated byimpersonal and indifferent forces. In every wish, thought, and actionhe is seeking to escape the same protoplasmic disquietude that impelsthe meanest flesh crawling beneath his feet. He must find his valuesand his ends entirely within this frame of reference."

From theabove remarks of Beadle and Smith one can reasonably assume thatthinking men today accept man as simply a creature of evolution andrepresents its highest form. No divine intervention is needed toexplain man's presence on earth as the simple processes of evolutionover a period of 2 billion years are capable of providing thisexplanation. Admittedly, however, there are many gaps in ourknowledge of this evolutionary process but with the passage of time,more and more of these gaps are being addressed. Studies by Leakeyand research on the Neanderthal Man, the Peking Man, and the JavaMan, along with the contributions by Ardrey (African Genesis), Morris(Naked Ape), Montague (Human Evolution), etc., represents some of theefforts to explain man's primitive origin and as more of thisinformation is being brought to light, man's evolutionary origin isbecoming more verifiable.

In proposinga new faith based upon the conception of man as an evolved animal, anentirely new approach will be required and not that of merelyredesigning old religions. One of the better methods was utilized byBahaullah, a Persian philosopher and a member of its nobility, whoapproached it from an eclectic and syncretic point of view some 200years ago. At that time, after having studied all or most of theworld's great religions, he adopted the common denominators of all ofthem, or briefly stated, accepted the best in all of them. Upon thishe superimposed the idea of a world government or federation,believing that nationalism was at the root of many of man's problems.Despite this noble, conceptual edifice, and its apparent rationality,his preachings are not too well known today and apparently no moresuccessful than any of his predecessors.

J. Auer,writing in the "Religious Humanism" (Autumn 1977), notes that thereis a "fatigue phenomena in religions and that all religions must bereexamined anew by each succeeding generation because the times, theproblems, and the people themselves change." James E. Brayles,writing in the same issue, said any religion if it is to survive mustbe "internally coherent, not in conflict with established facts andnot implausible. It must be believable and intellectuallyrespectable." Furthermore, Gibbons in his "Classic History of Rome"stated, "The various modes of worship, which prevailed in RomanWorld, were all considered by the people as equally true; by thephilosophers as equally false; and by the magistrates as equallyuseful." Thus, one's perceptions of religion varied with one's statusin society and varied with one's intellectual and culturalbackground.

In my firstletter it was my intent to say that all of our formal religions havefailed because they were based upon a misconception of man and hisorigin, at least as it is known today. Furthermore, the old religionswere based upon beliefs in ideas that went beyond what was known atthe time, transcognitive, and which made it necessary to assume adivine origin for man. Today, this approach is no longer necessaryand "miracles" so common in the past can usually be explained todayin the light of our greater knowledge and understanding.

In my secondletter I've tried to provide some evidence to substantiate theevolutionary origin of man, and that he is nothing more than anevolved animal, an animal to be sure, who is "capable of identifyingthe cold and barren world of prosaic fact, while at the same time canwarm himself (as I am doing) by the fireside of fancy, taking counselof the wisdom and poetry of our sages. Man has the vision to enablehim to behold a guiding star in the dark mystery which girdles theearth, and imagination enough to enable him to conceive of a betterworld for us tomorrow."

Hopefully, ina future letter I can at least try and suggest a system that mightwork better than our standbys of yesterday.

Charles E. Jacobson, Jr., M. D.

45 Wyllys Street

Manchester, CT 06040

1975

In twoprevious letters I said the formal religions conceived two millenniumago were inadequate to meet man's needs today essentially becausethey failed to recognize man for what he is; namely, an evolvedanimal nothing more nor less, and not one conceived or created inGod's image. There is no need to reach outside of man to find hissalvation. Within man lies his hope and future and this is the pointof this letter.

The firstprerequisite for designing a system or philosophy to enable man tolive with man is to recognize man as man; as an evolved animal withonly six thousand years of cultural evolution. One hundred thousandand more years are his heritage anthropologically!

John Dewey,one of the foremost religious humanistic philosophers of ourhistorical era, recognized the need for man to find the solutions tohis own dilemmas within himself with no assistance from above and insigning the "Human Manifesto I" in 1933 particularly endorsed thethesis of religious humanism, "Though we consider religious forms andideals of our father's no longer adequate, the quest for the goodlife is still the central task of mankind. Man is at last becomingaware that he alone is responsible for the realization of the worldof his dreams...and must set his intelligence and will to thetask."

Homo Sapiensis man's taxonomic classification, and the title indicates a wise andintelligent animal. It is with the "wise and intelligent" aspect ofman that I must concern myself with as I seek to find the new faiththat is essential for mankind's survival.

It isprobably true that man's mind has probably not improved much, if any,since the days of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Newton, etc., and man'sconscience and consciousness of his unique role in the animal kingdomhas not progressed since the days of Pericles. Albert Einsteinexpressed it rather forcefully, "The splitting of the atom haschanged everything save our modes of thinking!"

Another factof life is that all animals of the same species, including man, arenot alike except for identical twins or the results of cloningexperiments. Each person today is different from all others, not onlygenetically but culturally as well. Our size, appearance, motivation,intelligence, etc., provides our individuality and the only commoninterest we may have is in our self-survival.

While itshould be apparent that men differ from one another, it is importantto realize that some of the differences are of tremendous importance.There are men of competence and men of incompetence, menconstitutionally adequate and men constitutionally inadequate, andmen born with all sorts of genetic defects. There are men of goodwill and men of bad will, selfish men and selfless men, and finallycunning and devious men who place self-aggrandizement above allgoals. Any faith that is proposed for such an assortment of humanitymust take into consideration the diversity of Homo Sapiens.

At this pointone might ask what great developments of a non-religious nature hasman created which has enabled him to live with himself and with hisfellow man. Several might be mentioned, all of which are essentiallyethical in character. The code of Hammurrabi, Plato's ideal republic,the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to theUnited Nations, to name only a few. All of these documents recognizeman's great potential as a social and communal animal and representhis highest aspirations. There are other writings which emphasize thereality of nature and the reality of man and point up the constantneed to be aware of his cunning and deviousness, despite his loftyaspirations.

In proposinga new faith for man, I am not proposing that he alter or change hisfundamental animal nature, as that is impossible. Norman Cousins inrecognizing man as man and in discussing the future of man said, "Manis not being called upon to rearrange the planets or to alter thecomposition of the sun. He is not being called upon to work miracles.He is only called upon to make decisions affecting his own welfare.Thomas Jefferson has also provided us with a first step toward ourgoal of a new faith when he said, "I will pay homage only to reasonand oppose all forms of tyranny over the mind of man." He was opposedto the closed mind of many of the world's formal religions.

Any systemdesigned to create a structure that would enable man to live with manmust recognize the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienablerights of all members of the human family, and these must includefreedom, justice, and peace in the world. Man's civil and politicalrights must be sustained and man's economic, social, and culturalrights can best be preserved under a world authority which willimplement, promote, and protect these rights all over the world.

Man's reasoncan propose a code of conduct (Humanism) based upon the principlesenunciated above, and an institution (World Government) that willenable him to be justly entitled "Homo Sapiens" and these shall bediscussed in another and last letter to sustain my conviction thatman needs a new faith.

Charles E. Jacobson, Jr., M. D.

45 Wyllys Street

Manchester, CT 06040

1975

To attempt todefine a way of life or a system of ethics and values that wouldenable man to live with man is certainly presumptuous for anyone toattempt, for far greater minds have attempted this in the past andwith little success. Witness the widespread violence throughout theworld today. However, progress can only come with change of aconstructive nature and no man can be denounced for trying to achievea better world for himself and his children. More than likely he,too, will fail as all others have done heretofore.

Humanism isthe answer to man's need for a modern faith. The very word itselfshould help to define itself, for I think everyone knows what onemeans when it is said one is a very "human" type of person. I shalltry, however, to define it more explicitly.

Protagaras isfrequently called the father of Humanism, and this is based upon hisstatement that "man is the measure of things, both of the existenceof what is, and the non-existence of what it is not." Protagaras wassaying, in essence, that man is the only and final arbiter of hisrole on this earth and should the occasion arise, only he can savehimself--no deity can do so! Man and man alone must acknowledge andassume responsibility for the human condition, both good and bad, andmarshal his intelligence and reason to cope with the problems ofmankind. Humanism commits man to the causes and ideals that seem tohim to have significance in his personal and social quest.

In trying todefine Humanism perhaps Paul Kurtz's definition is as good as any:"Humanism is a philosophical, religious, and moral point of view asold as human civilization itself. It has its roots in classicalChina, Greece, and Rome; it is expressed in the Renaissance and theEnlightenment, in the scientific revolution, and in the twentiethcentury."Paul H. Beattie, President of the Fellowship of ReligiousHumanists speaks of Humanism "as a frame of orientation, and anapproach to the human situation. It is not a final set of strategiesor answers. Its great promise is that it may be the the most usableand global philosophy available to the twentieth and twenty-firstcenturies." He further adds that "it is the philosophy most capableof making sense of all religions, and was a strong force in Buddhismand Confucianism and that strong currents of Humanism are also inJudaism, Christianity, Taoism, and even Islam, the most theocentricof religions."

The startingpoint of Humanism is the preservation and enhancement of all thingshuman and the realization of the human potentiality of eachindividual and of humanity as a whole.

The heart ofHumanism is contained in two Manifesto; the first (Manifesto I) wasdrafted in 1933 by a group of 34 liberal humanists. It was concernedwith expressing a general and philosophical outlook that rejectedorthodox and dogmatic positions, and provided meaning and direction,unity and purpose to human life. It was committed to reason, science,and democracy.

Forty yearslater (1973) Manifesto II was declared and was signed by men of thestature of Isaac Asimov (scientist), John Ciardi (poet), FrancisCrick (Noble Laureate in Physics), Andre D. Sakharov (Russian Academyof Scientists), Lord Ritchie-Calder (statesman), B.F.Skinner(Psychologist), Corliss Lamont (Social Scientist), Jacques Monod(Noble Laureate, Physiology), Sherwin Wine (Rabbi), Sir Julian Huxley(British Philosopher), Herbert J. Muller (Noble Laureate inGenetics), Gunnar Myrdal (Noble Laureate in Economics), andapproximately 275 more of the preeminent liberal minds in thisworld.

Rabbi Wine inhis book "Humanistic Judaism" defines religion as Man's way ofidentifying with the life process out of which he emerged, and theway he dramatizes his connection with the animate nature. Man is thesupreme fulfillment of the evolutionary process, whereby life hasbecome conscious of itself. With man, the evolutionary process endsand the creative process begins."

In an effortto be creative the authors of Manifesto II affirm a set of commonprinciples that can serve as a basis for universal and unitedaction--positive principles relevant to the present human conditionand designed for a secular society on a planetary scale.

To summarizethe principles in Manifesto II would be too lengthy for a letter ofthis kind but some 17 principles are discussed in detail including:ethics (moral values derived from human experience), the use ofreason and critical intelligence in resolving problems, therecognition of the preciousness and dignity of the individual personand the need to provide maximum individual autonomy and consistentwith social responsibility, the acceptance of sexuality in anunderstanding and tolerant manner, the fostering of civil libertiesin all societies, the encouragement of participatory democracy indetermining the values and goals that determine our lives, theseparation of church and state everywhere, the advocation of moralequality and the elimination of all forms of discrimination, theright to universal education all over the globe, the creation of aworld community, and the transcendence of the limits of nationalsovereignty, the peaceful adjudication of man's differences byinternational courts, global planning of an ecological and economicalnature, the provision of adequate funds and technical help, to helpthe disadvantaged peoples, and international cooperation in culture,science and the arts across ideological borders. The details of theseprinciples are found in Manifesto II published by Prometheus Books,Buffalo, New York.

While I grantthat man can never escape from his human frame, I do believe his mindis capable of self-transcendence and of achieving the "heaven thatlies about us." Humanism considers the complete realization of thehuman personality to be the end of man's life and seeks itsfulfillment in the here and now. Formal religions created the Kingdomof God in Heaven; Humanism seeks to create the commonwealth of man onEarth.

George B.Foster says "Man is an Earth child whose drama has meaning only onher bosom and all of our energies must go toward mastering ourunderstanding of mother nature and our Earth. Humanity has onlyitself to depend upon, and man alone is responsible for the world ofhis dreams and he alone has the power for its achievement."

Humanistsbelieve we must live openly together or we shall perish together.Humanism offers a philosophy for survival.

In my initialletter I noted that man's quest for the meaning of his existence hasled him into many avenues of intellectual speculation, taken manyforms, and resulted in the development of many faiths or religions.To a Humanist life only has meaning if his individual life and hispresence here on this earth has made this a better world. This is theonly manner in which his life can have any value or significance.

Charles E. Jacobson, Jr., M.D.

45 Wyllys Street

Manchester, CT 06040

1975