Secular humanists deny the existence of God and His work in creation. They hold firmly to their own ability to solve and understand man’s origins. With this in mind, they embrace nature, reason, and science (with its methods) to explain the existence of the world and all living things. They hold to the belief that matter has always existed (Weider & Gutierrez, 2013, p. 64), and that which is around us today is from an evolutionary process that took place over a vast amount of time.
It is also the evolutionary process that Humanists use to explain man’s existence and how he is identified. Humanists do not consider the significance or value of God’s creation of mankind but believes man to be of the same worth among the animal kingdom as George Simpson explains in his book, The Meaning of Evolution, that mankind is a “form of matter…and sort of animal” which evolved from the Order Primates (Simpson, 1967, p. 345). And, as man has continued to evolve, he has reached a more intelligent state, making him unique among his species.
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However, they do believe that there is value in influencing their society in a positive way, working for the human good of all. Corliss Lamont states in his book, The Philosophy of Humanism, that both “human reason and human efforts” are mankind’s only hope in creating a better world (Lamont, 1997, p. 15).
Secular humanists reject God’s view on morality as well as rejecting the idea of absolute moral standard. They hold the view that truth is relative. It is from their own life experiences that moral values are validated (Humanist Manifesto, n.d.).