Introduction

For the last 12+ years my life has changed. My career focus has taken on a new role, one I am trying to actualize by reading, writing and working as a “humanist chaplain”. If you are already scratching your head or frowning...you can join the crowd puzzled by this title. It appeared on my university badge for years after volunteering to work locally at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in their Multi-faith Center here in the Greater Vancouver area of Western Canada in 2014. I am calling it my encore career after working as a psychologist, lecturer and organizational consultant for many years. This is in addition to my central role as a father of two grown adults, avid aging golfer, fly-fisherman and sports fan of too many teams to list. Moving from the USA to Canada has challenged and increased my athletic-based tribalism more than in my youth. If you are like me, these loyalties can be excessive driving “us” vs “them” division so if you knew all of my alliances you might put the book down as a fan of the opposition. However, I have been working on reducing this evolutionary tendency to compete by becoming more inclusive one of the motivating themes of this book.

Research on word identities by a Canadian university sociologist and chaplain has indicated that both the words “Humanist” and “chaplain” for many people even here in a secular cosmopolitan city in British Columbia are confusing or unfamiliar. This is increased by their hybridization on my badge as a Humanist Chaplain. So much so that I wrote an article for the Canadian Multi-faith Federation in Toronto (WWW.CMFSRC.CA) on how oxymoronic (paradoxical) this combo was and how it came into existence. (1) I don't know about you but when faced with confusion most of us want to dig down a bit and see what gives a name or title its definition even its history and how it came to be written and pronounced as such. The dictionary app on my phone is clicked many times every week, so feel free to use yours while reading this book if a term is written that is unfamiliar even though I have tried to limit the attempt to appear “sesquipedalian” oops... I mean pedantic or pretentious. But back to why this book.

A few years ago I went to Washington, D.C. to attend an Ethical Society meeting and gave a short talk on this form of secular chaplaincy in Canada and indicated to the participants, mostly younger than myself, the desire to write a book on Humanism. They were not all that excited. Those sitting around the table in my discussion group said... “We already have books on Humanism and have read enough philosophy on the topic”. So of course since many were secular-ethical leaders in their universities, institutions and congregations, plus a few chaplains from the American Humanist Association (AHA), I inquired as to what they would like to see written on this topic since my experience that only a selective few know what Humanism is. “Something more personal,” they suggested, “your journey and how we can find like-minded people and make a difference in this struggling and divided world”. That was my take away from their timely feedback.

So to this task I have dedicated myself....and the result is new modification merger which I have named Inclusive Humanism. As you continue to read you will see the book's emphasis on enhancing our knowledge but finding common ground to activate more “we” and less “they”. I see this as not only being rational but equally relational. If you are also wondering about the neologism (new word) “sacular morality”, read on in chapter 5 and you will learn about this hybrid combo of sacred + secular, also in the minds of many an oxymoron. These words have for centuries been descriptions of opposing cultural worldviews often to the point of war. If you try to look it up in your dictionary app it will show, “no results found” or possibly a related reference to the foundational bone in our spine, sacrum.... so please read on and I will explain it origin, history and proposed application.

Non-religious identifiers and those unaffiliated have been of late negatively called “nones” in polls and articles compared to religious believers. Both are extremely broad categories. I will dive into these muddy waters as at times to encourage ways for both religious and non-religious people to work together. But to the point, a few years ago at an Imagine No Religion Conference here in Vancouver, A.C. Grayling, one of my favorite writers on Secular Humanism and founder of the New College of the Humanities at Northeastern University London, told the audience that “Humanists are like herding cats”. Cats? Then he added we are not like religious pack animals or dogs who have alpha males and females and follow “dogma” and strict social rules to prevent becoming an outcast. We are an important “cat”egory of individuals perhaps loosely defined but non-conformist, free thinkers, trying to figure out what really matters and at times when necessary to stay current trying to “cat”ch up by updating. Okay, I have taken some liberties with our feline friends, A. C., but some alliteration appears frequently in my writing as both a memory aide and possibly to stimulate an occasional smile or chuckle.

What is important for this book is to point out that both dogs and cats are advanced animals defined by the mammalian category and as such they have many characteristics and behaviors that are similar. They both have been domesticated by humans, feed their litters with mother’s milk, play enthusiastically together as they grow to maturity and eventually separate to find their own mates and reproduce. At a very early age if introduced to each other, kittens will snuggle against a huge furry canine or a pup will lick the paws of an adult feline who responds with the sentiment of a caring parent licking her back. “Licking” is “liking” in the mammalian world. Exposed to each other in these playful and caring ways when young they are friends for life. Of course, if they live apart in the wild and become territorial, protective of their family and focus reflexively on their competitive differences they will become wary and even try to threaten and harm each other.

The reason for this animal analogy is that non-conforming Humanist cats can be domesticated right along with our dogma driven religious canines if the conditions particularly in the early days of maturation are conducive to sharing, caring, playing, learning about each other and reinforcing our freedom to believe as a series of choices that must be based on respecting our individual dignity. This form of finding common ground through respect and mutual assistance is a large part of what both Humanists and religious believers brings to the table in our pluralistic mammalian now primate to homo sapien zoo.

As a psychology student you learn quite early in your studies about Kurt Lewin’s Field Theory. B = f of (P, E). This equation says that B (behavior) is an f (function) of P (person) in an E (environment). It is called Field Theory because it covers a very large number of factors of why we do what we do as a function of our being unique homo sapiens adjusting to many complex environments. We each have a one-of-a-kind genetic pattern assembled in our DNA which interacts initially in epigenetic processes adapting to our individual environments which contextualizes our growth as a surviving and hopefully a thriving human being. We are unique persons (P) who mature in a plethora of environments (E) as different as a small nomadic, herder cultures numbering less than five hundred compared to a cosmopolitan city like Tokyo which if you include its prefectures is the world's most populous area with over 40 million residents.

Today, as a result of industrial developed environments that have grown for over three centuries most of us live in cities that have very mixed cultural ingredients even though most of us are also raised in a more inbred family context with certain traditions and values. As psychologists we believe humans are unquestionably influenced by the first faces we see, how we are touched, caressed and later spoken to with words we never forget even if some are deeply buried below consciousness. After conception our P is shaped primarily by our familial E until we mature and become mobile individualizers and can chose which alternative E(s) we might prefer. Personal agency has an infinite number of options for most of us some we never imagined.

Today in the 21st century we are not just an isolated specimen living in a very controlled E with very few options. Pluralism and exposure to many systems, groups, principles and values are a reality for most of us. It has been said in an ancient proverb of indigenous origin that “it takes a village to raise a child”. Where is our village in a town of thousands or a city of millions? In large urban centers there are many complex influencers besides our parents including neighbors, friends at school and church and a mixture of leaders, teachers and romantic partners. Additionally, the invention of Wi-Fi enabling our electronic devices the village has exploded and is often a very ephemeral digital broadcast or connection with anyone from almost anywhere. Has the podcast replaced the pulpit and one’s cell phone the community center? And AI...a form of accumulated knowledge that is certainly now not considered “artificial” but an algorithmic authentic authority. Has ChatGPT now replaced a conversation with your cleric, counselor or close friend? Has Meta available to the tips of your fingers replaced your trips to the library and scrutinizing hard-copy publications? You can personally answer... but the data supports its universal usage by almost all people, corporations and nations who have devices with digital access whether you consent to it or not.

This almost “superhuman” technology and its implications in our expanded modern village will be discussed later in the chapter on “ along with several other very critical and pressing issues that are certainly going to require some versions of “inclusive cooperation”. This pluralistic and cosmopolitan E is the primary cause of how the “us” versus “them” has changed dramatically from the small agrarian villages where religion and early philosophical exploration began and were recorded. This will be summarized in the first chapter describing the key historical contributors from the Axial Age to the Modern Age.

I was introduced to modern Humanism over thirty years ago by a University of British Columbia professor and well-published psychologist, Dr. Ernest Poser. He one of the founders of the first humanist groups along with his wife Jutta and colleague Dr. Mithra in Montreal, Quebec in the middle 1950’s. I mention this because he was Jewish, from an escaping immigrant family from Germany that came to England then Canada in 1940. It was in this cosmopolitan context that I met Dr. Poser and his family and was introduced to Canadian Humanism after giving a lecture in one of his classes. I was one of those typical humanities readers than knew of literary humanists during the Renaissance like the poet, Petrarch, often heralded as the first Humanist. Typical of the sacred-secular hybrids of the time he combined his religious and theological learning with ancient classical secular manuscripts as scholars in this era thought they had something valuable to teach humanity.

Dr. Poser or Ernie (he was a good friend by then) changed that common but not updated view of Renaissance Humanism with its modernization and institutional development in Europe and North America during and after World War II. He suggested several books which I read and my journey to modern Humanism had begun. After these discussions and readings I came to the realization that I was indeed a Humanist and had been one for years without ever using that identity.

During my graduate studies at Fuller Theological and Graduate Psychology School in pursuit of both Theological and Clinical Psychology degrees I was profoundly changed by textual criticism to more liberal views of my Christian faith and was profoundly reflective while being in personal therapy. I learned more objectively how I was raised, my privilege and struggles and the classes required in psychological development, cognitive science and how the mind works to preserve a self-serving bias, changed my life stance. At age 25 I began to ask more questions than trying to convince others my faith was right and began to identify by what would be called agnostic, or at least a skeptical theist. I was developing a new perspective which was more based on the social sciences and personal insight in this new non-religious journey. I wasn't really looking for a new church or community other than among my professional peers after becoming a practicing psychologist and lecturer. I could verbalize my beliefs but without any new identity. Dr. Poser change that now two decades after graduating, starting a family and having a clinical practice. Both my P and E changed and the label Humanist entered my world along with joining British Columbia Humanist Association our local group. Twenty years later, I found a new encore career that fit this identity and volunteer efforts as a Humanist Chaplain Vancouver, Canada.

I am sharing this as a response to what the peer-group in Washington DC asked for regarding my personal journey and because this book is part of a project to provide Multi-faith centers in North American with this book as a purchase or by donation if a chaplain so desires. I volunteer at both a hospital and university multi-faith or spiritual care centers and have worked with patients, staff, students and held seminars on the evolution of Humanism across the last three millennia. In addition, a significant number along with staff when discussing my “oxymoronic” title have volunteered after a brief description of Humanism “I think I'm one of you, a Humanist”. “Never knew that.”

If you ask AI it will state that there are “tens of thousands” of institutionally based sacred places outside of churches in North America alone so this is an immense commitment but one I feel is very compelling and overdue. Humanist chaplains here in Canada are the new kids on the block as I was accredited in 2020 as the first Canadian Humanist Chaplain. We are only 1600 years behind the Christian tradition and the legend of St. Martin's of Tours (no relation) who was a Roman Calvary officer who shared his “cappa” or cloak with a scantily clad beggar in the depths of winter outside Amiens, France. It became a very precious religious relic and preserved in a chapel by chaplains. That is a long and rich tradition and secular chaplains are now being trained and recruited as the new additions after the secular shift in the history of spiritual care. To us and others Humanist Chaplaincy seems on the surface a misnamed title but of secondary concern to our service efforts. It certainly stimulates many curious conversations and an opportunity to explain our approach regularly. This book is a referential enhancement of these discussions and lectures given as chaplain now for over a dozen year. Although the market maybe much larger it is written for all those that visit or read books in a multi-faith environment or for others interested in not only Humanism but how the secular and sacred can collaborate in these very challenging times.