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 Humanism, What's That?: A Book for Curious Kids :: 1591023874
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| A conversation between Mrs. Green, a science teacher, and her students forms the basis of this thoughtful work. Starting with the historic concept of separation of church and state, the curious youngsters' insistent questions lead to a conversation of philosophic issues: When a fellow student is injured on her way to class, they wonder why they aren't allowed to pray for her in class. Why do some people believe in God while others don't? What gives life meaning? In the course of what becomes a parent-approved after-school discussion, Mrs. Green presents a humanist point of view, emphasizing science's explanation of life and freedom of thought. Complete with discussion questions, suggestions for activities, and a bibliography, this is a refreshing, innovative approach to presenting humanism to young adults. Editorial Descriptions are usually submitted by the manufacturers, publishers and authors. Contact us if you are one of them, and wish to change the above description. |
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Author: Guest
Helen Bennett's book is written in the form of a dialogue between a teacher and her pupils on the subject of Humanism and its role in human relations. It has all the appearance of nonfiction, in the sense that it takes the form of questions asked by pupils and the teacher's answers. It is, however, too carefully designed to be an unedited transcript of a single discussion that occurred at a specific time and place, and is in all likelihood a synopsis of several discussions with different groups of pupils. The teacher's answers to the pupils' questions are at all times intended to teach tolerance as well as other Humanistic principles espoused by the more enlightened religions. But perhaps the most significant paragraph in the whole book is the description of what happened when the fictional teacher asked her pupils to have their parents sign a permission slip for them to attend a discussion group to talk about Humanism.
"The class took permission slips home and six children (out of thirty-two) were allowed to take Mrs. Green's after-school class on Humanism. When the discussion group met, here is my best recollection of what happened" (p. 13) The rest of the book is the dialogue from their discussions.
When twenty-six out of thirty-two pupils are refused permission by their parents to attend a discussion of what Humanism is all about, it is self-evident that trying to overcome religious bigotry by reasonable discussion has little chance of making a difference. Bennett presumably wrote her book in the hope of doing just that. She should not hold her breath.
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